Amnesty International Press Release Feed

China: Activists under threat after Obama visit

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:00:54 +0000

Chinese authorities must stop the harassment and arbitrary detention of dozens of human rights lawyers and activists who were targeted during US President Obama’s visit to the country earlier this week, Amnesty International said today.

Security forces have kept dozens of lawyers and activists under house arrest or under surveillance during President Obama’s visit and prevented them from having any contact with foreign journalists reporting on the visit.

“It is a very negative sign that the Chinese government now actually steps up its repressive tactics during sensitive public events,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director.

“This is a clear signal to China’s civil society, as well as to the United States, that the Chinese government will not abide by its international human rights obligations even when it knows the whole world is watching.” Said Sam Zarifi.

On the morning of November 19th Jiang Tianyong, a lawyer, was blocked by police at the gate of his home in Beijing’s Haidian district as he was walking his daughter to school. Jiang had just returned from the US two days earlier.

Jiang Tianyong was held for 13 hours and questioned by police in Yangfangdian district police station near his home in Beijing.

The police did not provide him with any documentation authorizing his detention. When Jiang challenged the lawfulness of his detention the police told him that he was held for “attacking the police”.

Police also questioned his seven year-old daughter at school while he was in custody. He was released on November 19th, but the police told him that “the issue is not ended yet”. On the morning of November 20th at least six police officers were stationed at the gate to Jiang Tianyong’s house. The police initially blocked him from leaving but relented after negotiation.

“The Chinese government’s intimidation and harassment of lawyers and activists shows a complete disregard for human rights, the law and legal professionals,” said Sam Zarifi. “These are not the actions of a government that is committed to the rule of law.”

Other human rights lawyers including Li Xiongbing, Li Heping and Mo Shaoping also faced harassment, with three or four police officers stationed in front of their homes. Some of the police officers remain outside the lawyers’ homes.

Before President Obama’s visit to the country many activist and petitioners complained of state intimidation with police being posted outside their homes in Shanghai, Beijing and elsewhere in the country.

During the visit, some activists were escorted out of Beijing or were held in unofficial places of detention often knows as “black jails”.

Human rights activist and lawyers in China face violations of their own human rights, including torture and other ill-treatment, intimidation and arbitrary detention for their peaceful human rights work.

Denmark: Government must arrest Sudanese President if he attends climate conference

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:59:03 +0000

Amnesty International has learned that the Danish government has invited Sudanese President al Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, to attend a meeting in Copenhagen on climate change in December.

“Denmark needs to make it clear that it will arrest President al Bashir if he travels to Copenhagen,” said Christopher Keith Hall, Senior Legal Adviser at Amnesty International.

“The International Criminal Court needs the cooperation of its member states. Under the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, Denmark has a duty to arrest and surrender any person within its territory who is subject to an arrest warrant issued by the ICC.”

“Denmark can and must demonstrate its leadership on bringing alleged perpetrators of the worst crimes to justice by acknowledging its duty to arrest,” said Christopher Keith Hall.

Amnesty International received the information during a meeting of member states to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant for President al Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur earlier this year.

Egypt: Military Court of Appeals fails to rectify injustice

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:18:14 +0000

Amnesty International condemns the failure of Egypt's military appeals court to overturn sentences imposed on leading members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood organization after unfair trials and calls on the authorities to stop trying civilians in military tribunals.

"The decision of the Supreme Court of Military Appeals to confirm the sentences of up to seven years' imprisonment imposed on 18 Muslim Brotherhood members - all of them civilians - is a stark failure to remedy the injustice done after a grossly unfair trial," said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa programme.

The appeal court's decision on Tuesday means that five of the 18 who remain imprisoned - the others were released in July by order of an administrative court - must now serve the remainder of their prison sentences. The five include Khairat al-Shatir, the third highest ranking Muslim Brotherhood leader, who was sentenced to seven years in prison.

On 17 November, the Supreme Court of Military Appeals rejected the appeals filed by all 18 defendants after they were convicted and sentenced to prison terms on 15 February 2008 after an unfair trial before the Supreme Military Court of Haikstip, northern Cairo. Seven others who had escaped arrest were tried in their absence at the same time and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.

"Trying civilians before military courts, whose judges are serving members of the military, flouts international standards of fair trial and is inherently unjust, regardless of whether the defendants are allowed a right of appeal or not."

A total of 25 defendants were sentenced on terrorism and money-laundering charges in connection with their membership of the Muslim Brotherhood. Fifteen others were acquitted. All denied the charges. Their trial opened on 26 April 2007, after President Mubarak ordered in February 2007 that they should be tried before a military court. Earlier, a civilian court had thrown out charges against 17 of them.

International observers sent by Amnesty International and other organizations were prevented from attending the trial sessions by the Egyptian authorities.

The Supreme Court of Military Appeals ruling came a month after the UN's leading expert on human rights and counter terrorism, Martin Scheinin, issued a damning report calling on the Egyptian authorities to stop trying civilians before military courts.

Another UN group, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, ruled in 2008 that the detention of 26 members of the Muslim Brotherhood arrested between December 2006 and January 2007 was arbitrary and urged the authorities to release them. Fourteen of the 26 were among those whose appeals were rejected on Tuesday.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Egyptian government to stop trying civilians before military courts. The procedures of military trials violate the right to a fair and public hearing before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law.

In military court trials, the right to appeal to a higher tribunal is limited to hearings before the Supreme Court for Military Appeals which is composed exclusively of military officers and which only examines the law, its interpretation and procedural issues, rather than the evidence itself or the factual basis of the charges.

"All of those who remain imprisoned as a result of this unfair trial and appeal process should be immediately retried by a civilian court that conforms to international fair trial standards or else released," said Malcolm Smart.

Note for editors:

The Muslim Brotherhood is widely seen as the foremost opposition group in Egypt. Although officially banned, 88 of its members and supporters sit in the Egyptian parliament as "independent" members. Leaders and supporters of the group are subject to frequent harassment by the authorities and repeated waves of arrests.

/ENDS

Public Document

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For more information please call Amnesty International's press office in London, UK, on +44 20 7413 5566 or email: press@amnesty.org

Amnesty International visits Honduras to assess human rights situation

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:48:59 +0000

An Amnesty International delegation will be travelling to Honduras between 24 November and 4 December to assess the human rights situation in the context of the political crisis facing the Central American nation.

The delegation will be meeting with a wide range of individuals including local human rights organizations, journalists, and prosecutors to discuss and document the state of human rights in the run-up to the general elections, scheduled for 29 November.

The organization will also seek to meet relevant authorities.

Amnesty International’s delegation will be made up by Javier Zuniga, Special Advisor to the Secretary General; Esther Major, Researcher on Central America and June Holmes, Campaigner on Central America.
If you are interested in receiving more information or arrange an interview with the delegation, please contact: Josefina Salomón, M (UK) +44 7778 472 116, jsalomon@amnesty.org

Australia: Government must end state-sponsored racially discriminatory measures

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:39:12 +0000

Slamming decades of failure by Australian governments to address the dire living conditions, disempowerment and discrimination faced by many of the country’s Indigenous peoples, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan warned that the government of Prime Minister Rudd must not squander its unique opportunity to right these historic wrongs.

In the latest in a long line of indignities, some 45,000 Aboriginal people are today still subject to state-sponsored racially discriminatory measures, including blanket quarantining of social security payments as a result of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).

“The blunt force of the Intervention’s heavy handed ‘one size fits all’ approach cannot deliver the desired results. The Government will not secure the long term protection of women and children unless there is an integrated human rights solution that empower peoples and engages them to take responsibility for the solutions,” Irene Khan said.

Welcoming the commitment she had received from Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin that the Government would introduce legislation to reinstate the Racial Discrimination Act in the Northern Territory, Irene Khan called on the Government to ensure that it does so in line with Australia’s international obligations not to discriminate against Indigenous peoples.

While noting that grave levels of violence against women and children is the stated rationale for the NTER, Irene Khan emphasized that respect for women and children’s human rights would not be secured without respect for all human rights for all.

“Indigenous people in remote Aboriginal communities deserve the same respect, safety and protection as does any Australian – but this will not be achieved in a sustained manner under the Emergency Response which is stigmatizing and disempowering an already marginalized people and which is in violation of Australia’s international obligations,” said Irene Khan.

As part of her visit to Australia, Amnesty International’s Secretary General visited the Utopia region in central Australia, an impoverished grouping of homeland communities 350 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs.

“For a country which by human development standards is the third most developed in the world and one which has emerged from the global financial crisis comparatively unscathed, such a level of poverty, is inexcusable, unexpected and unacceptable,” said Irene Khan.

“In the heart of this first world I found scenes more reminiscent of the third world. That Indigenous peoples experience human rights violations on a continent of such privilege is not merely disheartening, it is morally outrageous. The moral imperative to eradicate such poverty is no less an imperative on government than to eliminate torture.”

Irene Khan called for a new approach, grounded in a genuine respect for traditional culture and with human rights principles at its core, to tackle the complex problem of the entrenched poverty and discrimination faced by Indigenous peoples in Australia.

“There is a real risk of an enormous opportunity for change being squandered. The government’s apology to the Stolen Generations and other Indigenous Australians along with its support for the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is a welcome shift from the past. This Government is making a serious financial and political investment but to achieve the returns it wants, it must replace its blunt and blanket policy approaches.”

“The pathway out of poverty for Indigenous people must have the hallmarks of respect for human rights: voice must matter, equality cannot be compromised, security must be delivered on a human scale and active engagement for long term solutions must be made local, personal and perennial."

Amnesty International called on the whole of the government, not just individual Ministries, to develop an integrated approach – an approach that places all human rights – not merely some human rights - at the centre and which allows all human rights to be respected and exercised by Indigenous Australians.

“To fulfil its enormous potential on the regional and global stage, the Rudd Government must make ‘bringing human rights home’ its central goal,” concluded Irene Khan.

NOTE TO EDITORS

In 2007, the Australian Government launched an intervention into Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory. To enact the Northern Territory Emergency Response legislation and to implement the intervention, the Government suspended the Racial Discrimination Act and Northern Territory anti-discrimination legislation. Two years into a new government, more than 45,000 Aboriginal people are still subject to racially discriminatory measures, including the compulsory and blanket quarantining of social security payments in 73 Northern Territory communities.

Irene Khan is leading an Amnesty International visit to Australia between 15 and 20 November 2009. While in Australia, Irene Khan launched her book, The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights, which addresses these issues in depth.

More information about the book The Unheard Truth: Poverty and Human Rights is available at www.theunheardtruth.org

Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign aims to end the human rights violations that drive and deepen global poverty. The campaign is mobilizing people all over the world to demand that governments, corporations and others who have power, listen to the voices of those living in poverty and recognize and protect their rights.

Photographs and footage of Irene Khan’s Utopia Homeland visit are available. To obtain them, and for further information or to arrange an interview, please contact the Amnesty International Press Office on +44 207 413 55 66

Singapore: Defamation case threatens press freedom

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:42:25 +0000

The Singaporean parliament should enact new legislation protecting freedom of expression, Amnesty International said today, after a magazine and its editor agreed to pay S$405,000 (Approximately US$290,000) following a fine by the country’s highest court for alleged defamation.

The Dow Jones Company-owned Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) magazine and its editor Hugo Restal had published an article critical of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his father, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

The 2006 article entitled "Singapore's 'Martyr', Chee Soon Juan", contained allegations against the two leaders, including of corruption, which the Singapore Court of Appeal ruled as defamatory.

Dow Jones Company denied any wrongdoing but said they had to pay the fine.

In its ruling, the Singapore Court of Appeal held that “constitutional free speech in Singapore is conferred on Singapore citizens only.” It further held that Singapore does not recognize a special function for the press as a "watchdog".

“Laws that allow the authorities to impose restrictions on freedom of expression together with a pattern of politically motivated defamation suits, have created a climate of political intimidation and self-censorship in Singapore.” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Director. “This ruling further illustrates how press freedom is under threat in Singapore and sets a dangerous precedent for freedom of expression and journalism in the region.”

Amnesty International urges the Singapore parliament to enact legislation that would ensure the media's ability to perform its vital function as a watchdog while removing discrimination and undue restrictions from the laws on freedom of expression, to bring them into line with international law and standards.

The government of Singapore has a history of using civil defamation actions to stifle political opposition. Such defamation suits place unreasonable restrictions on the right of Singaporeans to peacefully express their opinions and to participate fully in public life.

Amnesty International remains concerned about the continuing use of restrictive laws and civil defamation suits in Singapore to penalise and silence peaceful critics of the government.

"If Singapore has pretensions to being an international commercial center, especially in the age of the internet, its legislature must immediately act to bring the country in line with commonly accepted concepts of free expression and media activity,"
said Sam Zarifi.

Journalists are finding it increasingly difficult to work without interference from the governing People's Action Party.

Background

International law recognizes limitations to the right to freedom of expression as enshrined in Article 19 of Universal Declaration on Human Rights however these restrictions must be demonstrably necessary for and proportionate to certain permissible purposes. The permissible purposes for such restrictions include “securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society.”

However, it is well established under international law that public officials must tolerate more, rather than less, criticism than private individuals.

Afghanistan: President Karzai must commit to human rights

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:18:40 +0000

Amnesty International urges Afghanistan’s newly re-elected President Hamid Karzai to prioritize human rights and the rule of law in his second term in order to strengthen the country’s stability and security.

“Afghans from around the country continue to tell us that they suffer from poor governance, endemic corruption, a weak and inept justice system and lack of respect for human rights and rule of law,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director. “All these factors weaken support for the government and its international allies.”

Amnesty International noted that the recent presidential elections were marred by human rights abuses by the candidates as well as the Taleban's increasing attacks against civilians. The organization raised concerns that the upcoming parliamentary elections, currently scheduled for August or September 2010, faced potentially even greater human rights violations as well as Taleban violence.

“Government officials and parliamentarians suspected of serious human rights violations and war crimes are enjoying blatant impunity. Many are also widely believed to be involved in corruption and criminal activities, but are rarely held accountable,” said Sam Zarifi.

“In order to rebuild the trust of the Afghan people and the international community, government officials and parliamentarians suspected of serious human rights violations must be kept out of the election process and held to account.”

Haiti: Government must eradicate child slavery

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:28:31 +0000

Authorities in Haiti must enact legislation to protect children working as domestic help in conditions that amount to slavery, said Amnesty International ahead of Universal Children’s Day.

Amnesty International today launched a campaign to press the government in Haiti to enact measures to protect child domestic workers from abuse, ill-treatment and exploitation.

Many Haitian families, too poor to support their children, are forced to send them to work as domestic help. The children -- most of them girls -- end up working long hours cleaning, cooking, fetching water for the whole household and looking after other children in the family.

“Most child domestic workers in Haiti live as virtual slaves,” said Gerardo Ducos, Haiti researcher at Amnesty International. “They work in inhuman conditions, suffering violence and abuse by their hosts, only for a plate of food.”

UNICEF estimated that there were as many as 100,000 girl domestic workers in Haiti in 2007.

Trapped in a situation of total dependence, many girls are compelled to put up with violence and sexual abuse. Some flee the employer or host family and live on the streets where they may have no option but to sell their bodies for sex in order to survive.

15-year-old Régina told Amnesty International that when she was 10, she was sent to work as a domestic servant, but she ran away because the beatings became unbearable. She spent the next four years at Foyer Maurice Sixto, a shelter for children who have been domestic workers. During that time she was able to go to school. When she turned 14, Régina went back home, were she suffered further abuse.

“Girls in Haiti are trapped in a spiral of poverty and violence,” said Gerardo Ducos. ”The eradication of this modern form of slavery is the only way to protect the rights of thousands of children."

Haitian laws do not provide a protective framework for children.

In 2003, the Law for the prohibition and elimination of all kind of abuses, violence and inhuman treatment of children came into force. This law removed a chapter of the Labor Code that regulated the work of children in domestic service but failed to ban the practice of children in domestic service.

The Code had prohibited the “employment” of children under 12 as domestic workers and had provided guarantees that those aged over 15 would receive a salary for their work. The Code required foster families, among other things, to request authorization from the Institute of Social Welfare and Research if they wished to employ a child as domestic worker.

“Ahead of Universal Children’s Day, Haiti should step up its commitment to the protection of girl domestic workers and take concrete steps to improve their situation,” said Gerardo Ducos.

Details on Amnesty International’s campaign “Overcoming poverty and abuse: Protecting girls in domestic service in Haiti” will be available from Wednesday 18 November 2009 at 00:01Hs GMT on www.amnesty.org.

ENDs/

Future of Guantánamo detainees must be resolved

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:17:37 +0000

The US government must redouble efforts to resolve the future of detainees still held at the military facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Amnesty International said after President Barack Obama acknowledged his administration would not meet his deadline for its closure.

“Over recent months, US authorities have allowed the Guantánamo detentions to become a political football, and the politics of fear to trump human rights”, said Susan Lee, Director of the Americas Regional Programme.

“Now, as should have been the case from day one, the government should resolve these detentions by either bringing the detainees to fair trial or immediately releasing them,” Susan Lee said.

On 22 January 2009, President Obama signed an executive order committing his administration to resolving the cases of the detainees held at Guantánamo “as promptly as possible”, and to closing the detention facility “no later than 1 year from the date of this order”.

In his comments today, President Obama would not put an exact new date on closure, stating only that he anticipated it would happen sometime later next year, and adding that it would “depend on cooperation from Congress”.

Hopes for an end to the Guantánamo detentions this year have receded over recent months as members of Congress sought to block the closure of the facility, and the administration has been slow to charge detainees.

At the same time, diplomatic efforts to find solutions for detainees who cannot be returned to their home countries for fear of the human rights violations they would face there have been undermined by the refusal of the US authorities to release any in mainland USA.

Amnesty International has long called for the Guantánamo detainees to be brought to trial in an independent and impartial court – not a military commission – or immediately released.

It has also repeatedly called for the USA not to seek the death penalty in any case.

Since President Obama took office, 26 detainees have been transferred out of Guantánamo, leaving 215 still there.

One detainee has been transferred to face trial in a federal court in New York and the administration has announced that another five will also be transferred to the city for such trials, with the likelihood that the death penalty will be sought against them.

The US Attorney General has also said the administration has decided to refer another five cases back to the Pentagon for trial by military commission.

In his 22 January order requiring his administration to ensure “prompt and appropriate” resolution of each and every Guantánamo case and to close the Guantánamo facility within a year, President Obama pointed to the “significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationally”.

“Those concerns have not gone away, and will be reignited by President Obama’s comments today”, Susan Lee said.

Egypt: Cairo’s poorest risk being buried alive in their homes

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:35:46 +0000

The Egyptian authorities must take immediate and inclusive steps to protect Cairo’s poorest inhabitants living in ‘unsafe areas’ where they are at risk from rockslides and other dangers, Amnesty International said in a new report released today. “Thousands of Egypt’s poor are trapped by poverty and neglect that could ultimately end in their deaths,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa director. “The government must urgently address the risks faced by those living in areas designated as ‘unsafe’ and find solutions by consulting with those directly affected.” Amnesty International’s report, Buried Alive; Trapped by Poverty and Neglect in Cairo’s Informal Settlements, castigates the Egyptian authorities for failing to take effective steps to protect the residents of Al-Duwayqa, an informal settlement in Manshiyet Nasser in east Cairo, from the fatal rockslide that hit on 6 September 2008. The report calls on the Egyptian authorities to alleviate the threats to lives in the 26 “unsafe areas” in Greater Cairo, and to protect the residents’ rights to health and adequate housing. Even though the risk of rockslide was well known, the government did not evacuate the impoverished residents before the 2008 disaster. The authorities say 107 people were killed and 58 injured in the Al-Duwayqa rockslide, but survivors say the toll of casualties was higher and report that many family members are still missing. An official investigation into the rockslide disaster has yet to produce any findings. “Denied an effective voice and largely ignored by those in power, many residents of Al-Duwayqa, and other ’unsafe areas‘ continue to live in fear on precarious hillsides or under high voltage power lines because they have nowhere else to go.” Amnesty International is calling on the Egyptian authorities to investigate thoroughly the reasons why the Al-Duwayqa tragedy was not averted and to take the necessary steps to ensure that there can be no repetition. “The government must develop a comprehensive programme of action to address the risks faced by those living in ‘unsafe areas’ and to uphold their rights to life, health and adequate housing”, said Malcolm Smart. “In doing so, they must seek the active participation of the affected communities, and they must be prepared to provide temporary housing promptly to people needing to be evacuated because of immediate risks, as well as permanent housing.” After the rockslide, the Egyptian authorities moved quickly to identify other danger areas nearby. They demolished more than one thousand threatened homes and, within a month, re-housed more than 1,750 families - though without giving them legal tenure and leaving them liable to future eviction. Other families were left homeless and the allocation of housing discriminated against women who were divorced or living apart from their husbands. Some families were forcibly evicted from Al-Duwayqa and others from Establ Antar, an informal settlement in south Cairo. These evictions were mostly carried out in breach of procedural protections required under international human rights law, often with little warning and backed up by the presence of security forces. Families from Establ Antar were relocated to a remote area in 6 October City, west of Giza, far from their places of work and were given no legal security of tenure. “Slum dwellers describe a life characterized by deprivation, neglect, insecurity and the constant threat of forcible eviction,” said Malcolm Smart. “The state must guarantee their right to adequate housing and put an end to forced evictions.” 26 areas in Greater Cairo have been identified as ‘unsafe’ by a government master plan to develop the city by 2050, but there appears to have been little or no consultation with the communities that will be affected. Residents of ‘unsafe areas’ face a double threat: lack of safety and possible forced eviction. “The tragedy in Al-Duwayqa was a disaster waiting to happen. And that was well known,” said Malcolm Smart. “More could - more should - have been done to avert it and to prevent the loss of life.” “The Egyptian authorities owe it to both the victims and those who survived that awful morning, just as they owe it others at risk, to ensure that there is no repetition and that the tragedy of Al-Duwayqa is not played out again in any of Cairo’s other ‘unsafe areas’. Egypt’s poor should not have to live any longer with the threat of being buried alive.” Over a billion people throughout the world live in slums, and this number is increasing. As part of its Demand Dignity campaign, launched in May this year, Amnesty International is calling for governments globally to provide adequate housing for its residents. Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign aims to end the human rights violations that drive and deepen global poverty. The campaign is mobilizing people all over the world to demand that governments, corporations and others who have power, listen to the voices of those living in poverty and recognise and protect their rights. ENDS/ Notes to Editors: · About half of Greater Cairo’s estimated 13.5 million urban population live in informal settlements built either on agriculture or desert land. Manshiyet Nasser is said to be one of the biggest informal settlements in Egypt. It is mainly built on the slopes of Al-Muqattam hill in east Cairo, which is desert land owned by the state where local authorities can order evictions administratively. Manshiyet Nasser is home to around a million people. They mostly work in the informal sector as artisans, vendors, construction workers, rubbish collectors or as daily wage labourers. · A forced eviction is the removal of people against their will from the homes or land they occupy without legal protection and other safeguards. Evictions should not be carried out until all other feasible alternatives have been explored, genuine consultation has taken place with the affected communities and appropriate procedural protections are in place.· For more information on the Demand Dignity campaign visit http://demanddignity.amnesty.org/campaigns-en/