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Former Guantánamo Bay detainees deserve justice in Italy

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:44:06 +0000

Amnesty International has urged the Italian government to ensure that two recently released former Guantánamo Bay detainees receive fair trials in Italy and are not sent back to Tunisia where they would be at risk of torture.

Tunisian nationals Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri are suspected of having committed terrorism-related crimes in Italy prior to their detention at the US detention centre at Guantánamo Bay.

They were taken into custody on their arrival in Italy in November after having spent over seven years without charge or trial at Guantnamo Bay.

"Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri endured years of illegal detention in conditions that amounted to ill-treatment. They will be in urgent need of appropriate psychological and medical services," said Julia Hall, Amnesty International's expert on counter-terrorism in Europe.

"The Italian government should take immediate measures to make sure that these men are not subject to further human rights violations."

Amnesty International has called on the Italian authorities to ensure that the men are lawfully detained.

The organization said that the authorities should evaluate the evidence against the men to ensure that any testimony extracted under torture or ill-treatment is not used in any criminal prosecution against them.

It also said that the authorities should refrain from withholding evidence on the basis of national security and provide compensation for the men if Italy was involved in their on-going detentions or other ill-treatment at Guantánamo Bay.

"If the Italian authorities were involved in intelligence sharing with the USA or other activities that contributed to the men’s unlawful detention and other violations of their rights at Guantánamo Bay, then they should be held accountable," said Julia Hall.

Amnesty International has also urged the Italian authorities to guarantee that Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri will not be expelled or deported to Tunisia or to any other country where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.

In recent years, the Italian government has attempted to deport and has deported a number of Tunisian nationals to Tunisia, in some cases in violation of rulings issued by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Court has also ruled that Italy violated the absolute ban on returns to risk of torture by sending some back to Tunisia. Amnesty International subsequently learned that some of the people returned to Tunisia reported being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment.

"The Italian government's disregard for requests from the European Court of Human Rights to halt deportations to Tunisia while the Court considers the case is very disturbing. It indicates that the government will dispense with the rule of law when it suits them," said Julia Hall.

"The authorities must guarantee now that they will observe the absolute ban on torture and not send Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri back to Tunisia where they will be at risk of such abuse."

France must not deport terror suspect to Algeria

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:46:54 +0000

France must not deport a man convicted of terrorist acts to Algeria where he may be at risk of incommunicado detention and torture or other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

According to a European Court of Human Rights’ judgement on Thursday, Kamel Daoudi’s expulsion to Algeria would expose him to inhuman or degrading treatment and would be in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

"Sending Kamel Daoudi to Algeria would put him at risk of being tortured. As a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights, France must not carry out the expulsion," said David Diaz-Jogeix, Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director.

The European Court’s judgement is significant as it spells out unequivocally that the prohibition on torture or other ill-treatment in the European Convention on Human Rights must be followed without exception.

"The Court has spoken. This is a clear signal to other European states that may be considering deporting people they regard as threats to national security to countries where they may be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. States enforcing such expulsions would be in violation of their obligations under international law," David Diaz-Jogeix said.

Amnesty International and other organizations have documented the ill-treatment of terror suspects in Algeria, where they have been held in unrecognized places of detention without contact with the outside world, at times for prolonged periods, putting them at risk of torture.

Originally an Algerian national, Kamel Daoudi acquired French citizenship but in 2002 he was stripped of it following allegations about his involvement with terrorist groups, even though the criminal case against him was still pending at the time.

In 2005, he was convicted of "criminal association in relation to a terrorist enterprise" and falsification of official documents and sentenced to nine years’ imprisonment (subsequently reduced to six years), and permanent exclusion from French territory.

On 21 April 2008, Kamel Daoudi was released from La Santé prison after serving his sentence and immediately taken into custody pending expulsion to Algeria.

Following a request by Kamel Daoudi’s lawyer, the European Court of Human Rights ordered the French authorities to suspend the deportation procedure while it considered whether Kamel Daoudi would be at risk ill-treatment if he returned to Algeria.

Danish government must arrest Sudanese President if he attends climate conference

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:05:21 +0000

Amnesty International has learned that the Danish government has invited Sudanese President Omar 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.

African governments must reaffirm commitment to International Criminal Court

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:05:12 +0000

Amnesty International on Wednesday urged African government representatives meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to reaffirm their support for the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a memorandum published this week, The International Criminal Court: The Contribution Africa Can Make to the Review Conference, the organization called on African governments to clearly state they would prevent any officials accused of genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes from seeking safe haven in their countries.

"Only justice can lay a firm foundation for lasting peace," said Kolawole Olaniyan, Africa Legal Adviser at Amnesty International.

"More than a decade ago, African states were amongst the strongest supporters of the proposal to establish a permanent international criminal court that would be able to investigate and prosecute those responsible for some of the worst crimes in the world – they must renew this commitment, as the survival of the ICC as an effective international body depends on this," said Kolawole Olaniyan.

"African victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes are some of the chief beneficiaries of the ICC – the ICC must be fully supported so that it can continue its important work on their behalf."

The call came after Sudanese President Omar al Bashir cancelled scheduled visits to South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria and Venezuela, when it became clear that he could face arrest and surrender to the ICC, particularly in light of African civil society protests to the visits.

In its memorandum, Amnesty International urged African states to strongly defend the provisions of the ICC that exclude any claimed immunity for state officials – regardless of rank, including heads of state – from prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

"Every single legal instrument adopted since the Second World War by the international community has rejected immunity from prosecution for any government official charged with genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," said Kolawole Olaniyan.

"In fact, every international court to consider the question of immunity since the establishment of the ICC has concluded that heads of state cannot successfully assert any purported immunity from prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes."

Amnesty International said that to ensure the ICC is an effective complement to national courts, it must be able to exercise its jurisdiction without political interference.

"With the exception of Darfur, all situations under investigation by the ICC were referred to the Prosecutor by African states themselves – the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda," said Kolawole Olaniyan.

The organization also urged African governments to evaluate carefully the positive and negative aspects of establishing a regional criminal court, as suggested by the African Union in an Assembly meeting in July 2009, especially its costs.

Nepal's Minister of Foreign Affairs commits to supporting international justice

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:10:26 +0000

Nepal's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sujata Koirala, took an important step towards ending impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on Sunday, in a meeting with delegates from Amnesty International Nepal.

The Minister gave Amnesty International a commitment to start the process for Nepal to ratify the Rome Statute. By ratifying, Nepal would join 110 other countries in committing to a new system of international justice.

The meeting marked the third anniversary of a resolution adopted by Nepal's parliament – the Constituent Assembly – calling for Nepal to ratify the Rome Statute. Previous governments failed to take the issue forward.

"Amnesty International urges the Minister to take immediate steps to ensure that Nepal ratifies the Rome Statute as soon as possible," said Madhu Malhotra, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Programme. "In particular, we encourage the government to submit the issue of ratification with its full support to the Constituent Assembly."

By ratifying, the government would accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate and prosecute future crimes (committed after ratification), if Nepal's authorities or courts are unable or unwilling to do so.

"Ratification of the Rome Statute is significant for Nepal which has recently emerged from a conflict during which thousands of people were killed, disappeared and tortured," said Madhu Malhotra.

Although ratification of the Rome Statute will not enable the ICC to investigate and prosecute crimes of the past – which must be addressed by other mechanisms - it is an important step to deter such crimes from ever being committed again in Nepal and to ensure that, if they do occur, there will be no impunity.

During the meeting, Amnesty International Nepal presented the Minister with more than 13,000 appeal letters that the organization has collected in recent months from Nepalese citizens and Amnesty International members around the world.

Czech Republic commits to international justice

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:12:48 +0000

The Czech Republic finally ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on Tuesday. The ratification follows more than 10 years of campaigning by Amnesty International Czech Republic and other civil society groups,

"Amnesty International welcomes this important step committing the Czech Republic to international justice and working to end impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," said Christopher Keith Hall, Senior Legal Adviser on International Justice.

The Czech Republic becomes the 110th state to ratify the Rome Statute. Significantly, the ratification means that all 27 EU member states are now states parties to the Rome Statute. The EU joins South American states that completed their regional support for the Court when Chile ratified on 29 June thus year.

"Step by step, country by country, the impunity gaps that have denied justice to untold numbers of victims of these horrific crimes are being closed," said Christopher Keith Hall, Senior Legal Adviser on International Justice.

However, the organization expressed concern about the number of countries that have ratified the Rome Statute but have not yet fulfilled their commitments to the Court. Many countries that have ratified have yet to implement the Rome Statute into national law or to enter into supplementary agreements with the Court on privileges and immunities, victim relocation and enforcement of sentences.

"Ratification is a major step, but only a first step," said Christopher Hall. "In particular, national law reform is vital to ensure that the Czech Republic can cooperate fully with the Court and that its national courts can fulfil their obligations to prosecute cases of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes."

African Union refuses to cooperate with Bashir arrest warrant

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:26:58 +0000

The African Union (AU) has refused to cooperate with a war crimes arrest warrant against Sudan President Omar al-Bashir. Amnesty International has described the AU's decision not to acknowledge the warrant, which was issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in March, as an insult to victims of human rights violations in Darfur.

"This decision by the African Union member states shows a disdain for those in Darfur who suffered gross human rights violations and makes a mockery of the AU as an international body," said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International's Africa Director.

"By supporting a wanted person accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, it undermines the credibility of states who are party to the Rome Statute and the AU as a whole."

The AU's resolution, adopted at the end of the 13th African Union Summit of Heads of States and Government Assembly held in Libya, would violate the obligations of African state parties to the Rome Statute to cooperate with the Court (article 86).

This includes the obligation to cooperate for the execution of arrest warrants. Africa played a leading – indeed, decisive - role in 1998 in the establishment of the ICC. Thirty African states have so far ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
African states strongly supported the creation of the ICC as a court of last resort to ensure that African victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes receive justice and reparations whenever states were unable and unwilling to investigate and prosecute such crimes.
Three African states, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, referred situations in their own countries to the ICC on such a basis. A fourth country, Côte d’Ivoire, has recognized the ICC’s jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes in its territory or by its citizens abroad.

States must be held accountable for violations abroad, says Amnesty International

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:16:34 +0000

Amnesty International has told the Council of Europe Assembly, that states should be held accountable for violations committed by their forces in operations outside their borders.

Speaking before a session of the Parliamentary Assembly in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Claudio Cordone, Amnesty International's Senior Director of Research and Regional Programmes, delivered a statement on behalf of the organization's Secretary General Irene Khan.

In the statement, Mr Cordone listed the death penalty, impunity, counter-terrorism, discrimination and freedom of expression as key areas of concern for the organisation.

Read the statement in full

UN Security Council should support ICC over Darfur

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 13:28:33 +0000

The United Nations Security Council should support the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) efforts to bring justice to the victims of war crimes in Darfur, according to Amnesty International.

The organization urged the Council on Thursday, to reject calls to block prosecutions of persons charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes and to take immediate, concrete steps to ensure that all persons named in ICC arrest warrants are arrested and surrendered to the ICC.

The Prosecutor of the ICC, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is scheduled to report the findings of his investigation into the situation in Darfur to the Council on Friday.

Among the cases being examined by the ICC in relation to the situation in Darfur, are the court's international arrest warrants against Sudanese government minister Ahmad Harun and Janjawid militia leader Ali Kushayb, issued in April 2007 and the arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al Bashir, issued on 4 March 2009.

All three men are wanted for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Sudanese government has so far refused to arrest them or hand them over to the ICC.

Sudanese authorities have a legal obligation to arrest anyone named in an ICC arrest warrant under Security Council Resolution 1593 (2005), which requires Sudan to cooperate with the ICC. Sudan has taken no serious step to investigate and prosecute anyone suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur, as the Prosecutor reported in the past.

Instead of heeding the Security Council's request to cooperate fully with the ICC, some states and organizations have invited a fugitive from international justice, President Omar al Bashir, for official visits and meetings with complete impunity.

"Four years ago the Security Council used its powers under Chapter VII of the UN Charter to refer the situation in Darfur to the ICC" said Tawanda Hondora, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Africa programme. "Now it is its duty to use the same powers to direct Sudan to hand all persons named in ICC arrest warrants over to the ICC and direct all other states to arrest and surrender them promptly to the ICC, as Brazil announced it would do. They must face a fair trial in an independent court without the possibility of the death penalty."

Amnesty International has said that it believes that the Security Council should define a framework to ensure the implementation of resolution 1593 and ICC decisions concerning the situation in Darfur.

Such a framework could include using the existing sanctions committee established pursuant to resolution 1591(2005) to cover those named in ICC arrest warrants or establishing some other body to oversee the implementation of measures intended to enforce the ICC arrest warrants. Such a body could direct each member state to provide reports on what steps they have taken to ensure that they have the legislation and procedures in place to arrest persons named in ICC arrest warrants and to implement ICC requests concerning their arrest, when such persons visit their countries.

President Obama defends Guantánamo closure, but endorses indefinite preventive detention

Fri, 22 May 2009 16:48:52 +0000

In a major speech on national security on 21 May 2009, US President Barack Obama restated his commitment to closing the Guantánamo detention facility and to ending the use of the so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" approved under the previous US administration.

But he also reiterated his decision to pursue trials by military commissions begun by President George W. Bush; stated his opposition to an independent commission of inquiry into human rights violations committed in what the Bush administration dubbed the "war on terror"; and endorsed the global "war" paradigm developed under that administration. Under this global war theory, President Obama pointed to the possibility that the USA would develop a preventive detention regime.

While his speech was littered with references to US values, President Obama did not once expressly mention human rights. Amnesty International deeply regrets that the administration has yet to firmly and expressly embrace the recognition of universal human rights and respect for international human rights law as not only applicable to all counter-terrorism measures and all detainees, but also (as the nations of the world agreed in the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy) as a key element of any effective plan for countering the threat posed by groups such as al-Qa’ida and others like it.