Amnesty International News & Updates Feed

Getting a glimpse of Guantánamo

Wed, 07 May 2008 12:46:52 +0100

Amnesty International is bringing a life-size model of a maximum security cell at Guantánamo to cities across the USA. The tour is a way to enable people in the United States to get a glimpse of the harsh realities of illegal detention and prolonged isolation.

Most of the detainees at Guantánamo are held in isolation, many of them with virtually no access to natural light or contact with other human beings, for up to 24 hours a day. Compounding their suffering is the fact that they have no indication of when or if they will be freed from Guantánamo.

Most are detained without charge. Those who have been charged face unfair trials by military commission. Some may face execution.

Starting in Miami on 8 May, the tour will make a stop in Washington D.C. on 26 June, to mark International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.

Visitors to the cell are encouraged to enter and to experience the conditions of isolation and then share their experience in a video message. Watch a panoramic photo from inside the model cell to get an idea. And before leaving, they can also take action to end illegal US detentions at Guantánamo and elsewhere.

Follow the cell as it travels across the USA:

Take action now:

Killings of trade unionists on the rise in Colombia

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:30:12 +0100

“We do not want marches crying for the dead, nor 1 May protests” - taken from a paramilitary death threat sent to trade unionists in the department of Santander on 22 April 2008.

Across much of the world, May Day – International Workers’ Day – represents an opportunity for workers to celebrate their rights and stand together in solidarity. May Day rallies are held from London to Moscow to Jakarta to Caracas to Cape Town.

Across the world, trade unionists face violence and oppression. Despite nearly 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which, in Article 23, guarantees everyone the right "to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his/her interests", this right is widely violated.

Year after year, Colombia has symbolised the most serious and consistent abuses of this human right. In Colombia, participating in May Day marches or engaging in other legitimate trade union activities cannot be taken for granted.

So far this year, some 22 trade unionists have been killed in Colombia, a significant increase on the number killed in the same period last year. Despite the setting up in Colombia of a permanent office of the International Labour Organization and a specialist unit to investigate human rights abuses against trade unionists, the security of trade unionists remains precarious.

On 17 April 2008, the body of Jesús Heberto Caballero Ariza, a leader of the Union of SENA Public Sector Employees (Sindicato de Empleados Públicos del SENA, SINDESENA) was found in Sabanalarga Municipality, Atlántico Department. His body was reported to bear signs of torture. Prior to his death, he was reported to have received death threats made by the “Aguilas Negras” paramilitary group.

His death occurred a few days before a death threat signed by “Aguilas Negras”, dated 21 April 2008, was circulated in Atlántico Department by email to trade union and human rights organizations. Jesús Heberto Caballero was reported to be exposing corrupt practices within the SENA, the National Apprenticeship Services (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje).

A member of the National Union of Coal Industry Workers (Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria del Carbón, SINTRACARBON), Adolfo Gonzalez Montes, was tortured and killed at his home in the town of Riohacha, in the department of La Guajira, on 22 March 2008. His killing coincided with telephone death threats received by other SINTRACARBON leaders.

Some of these leaders have also reported that their homes have been kept under surveillance by unidentified individuals. Adolfo González’s death comes as the trade union was preparing to start negotiations on working conditions with the companies that own the Cerrojón mining operation in La Guajira Department.

Paramilitary groups, often acting in collusion with or with the acquiescence of the security forces, have been responsible for most of the killings of trade unionists; the security forces and guerrilla forces have also been directly responsible for the killing of and threats against trade unionists. The aim of such threats and killings is clear – to undermine and discredit the work of trade unionists.

Since Amnesty International launched its report, Colombia: Killings, arbitrary detentions and death threats – the reality of trade unionism in Colombia, in July 2007, the Colombian government has argued that the human rights situation of trade unionists has improved dramatically.

Amnesty International acknowledged in its 2007 report that there had indeed been a drop in the number of trade unionists killed in comparison to the early 2000s. However, the organisation is marking May Day this year by calling on the Colombian government to do far more to protect trade unionists, particularly given the rise in killings again in 2008.

Trade unions, along with human rights and other social organizations, have often been labelled as guerrilla collaborators or supporters by government officials, as well as by the security forces and paramilitaries. Such accusations have often been followed by threats or attacks against human rights activists.

Amnesty International has highlighted how, over the last two decades, the numbers of trade unionists killed have experienced years of dramatic falls followed by large increases. The organization has insisted that a lack of decisive action by successive Colombian governments to end the over 90% impunity in such cases means that there cannot be any guarantee that a fall in figures one year necessarily translates into a sustainable improvement in the human rights situation.

The sharp increase in the number of trade unionists killed in the first four months of this year is a clear illustration of this problem.

The Colombian government has also argued that trade unionists are not the victims of human rights abuses as a result of their trade union work. Yet, Amnesty International repeatedly receives information indicating that death threats against and killings of trade unionists coincide with periods of labour dispute.

On May Day 2008, Amnesty International has called on the Colombian government to take decisive action to end the human rights crisis facing trade unionists in Colombia. The organization has called on the international community to insist that the Colombian government takes such action.

Other governments can ensure adequate resourcing of the office of the ILO’s permanent representative in Colombia. This would ensure that it is able to implement a mandate that involves active monitoring and reporting of the human rights situation facing trade unionists.

Other governments can also take action to ensure adequate resourcing of the specialist units created to investigate human rights abuses against trade unionists.

Refugee camp trauma continues for Palestinians

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:27:48 +0100

More than 3,000 Palestinian refugees are currently cut off from the rest of the world in dire conditions without access to adequate humanitarian assistance.

In March 2008, Amnesty International delegates met with Palestinian refugees stranded in al-Tanf camp in no-man’s land between the borders of Iraq and Syria.

Al-Tanf camp, a narrow strip of land wedged between a concrete wall and the main transit road from Baghdad to Damascus, is dry and dusty. Temperatures soar to 50ºC in summer and plunge to below freezing in winter.

The camp accommodates hundreds of Palestinian refugees seeking to flee from Iraq, where they were formerly long term residents. Palestinians have been among those particularly targeted for sectarian killings and violence.

Overcrowded tents are the only protection from the heat, the snow and the blinding sandstorms. Danger is everywhere, especially for the children. The land is infested with scorpions and snakes.

The school tents are unprotected from the busy highway, which has already claimed the life of a boy knocked down by a truck.

According to residents who spoke to Amnesty International delegates visiting the camp in March 2008, heating and cooking systems in the tents regularly cause fires that destroy tents – 42 tents in all so far.

Despite the unsafe and harsh conditions at al-Tanf, the number of Palestinian refugees from Iraq in the camp is growing as Palestinians who entered Syria on false passports are identified and deported to the camp. Many camp residents described to Amnesty International the horrific events that prompted them to flee Iraq and have left them traumatized.

The people in al-Tanf are also traumatized by the harsh conditions in the camp and the fear that they may be stuck there for many more years. One resident pleaded with Amnesty International delegates to "save us from this hell."

In addition, some 2000 Palestinian refugees are at al-Waleed camp in the Iraqi desert, facing even greater hardship as access by aid organizations and the UN Refugee Agency is extremely difficult. Their living conditions are dire and the only solution to their plight is resettlement to a third country.

As of February 2008, almost 300 other Palestinians were in al-Hol camp at al-Hassakah, north-east Syria; most were moved there from the Iraq-Jordan border in May 2006.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) believes resettlement in third countries is the only possible durable solution for the Palestinians from Iraq at the present time. While hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled from Iraq to Syria and Jordan, both countries have generally barred the entry of Palestinian refugees from Iraq.

The Chilean government has offered to resettle an initial group of 116 Palestinians from al-Tanf. So far some 64 have arrived in Chile with the remaining group due to follow shortly.

A number of other governments outside the Middle East are reported to have said that they will resettle some of al-Tanf’s residents, but the refugees’ plight is desperate and resettlement to a safe third country cannot come quickly enough.

Amnesty International has launched a global campaign to draw attention to the plight of Palestinian refugees from Iraq highlighting the need for immediate action.

The organization has asked its members and supporters to call for urgent international help in resettling these Palestinians and other particularly vulnerable refugees from Iraq.

Download interviews with some of the refugees in the camp:

Interview with a Palestinian women from the camp

Interview with a doctor from the camp

interview with Muhammad from the camp

Brazilian women's lives shattered

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 16:54:40 +0100

Women in Brazil are finding themselves left to pick up the pieces following criminal and police violence in shanty-towns.

Stories of urban violence in Brazil tend to focus on young men. Though men make up the bulk of the victims and perpetrators, the stories of women who are forced to live, bring up their children and fight for justice in Brazil’s lawless shanty-towns, are often ignored.

Brazilian cities have long suffered high levels of both criminal and police violence. Some of the poorest and most vulnerable communities in Brazil are often dominated by drug gangs. The government’s response has been a series of ever more confrontational crack-downs, involving police operations which target not just criminal gangs, but entire communities.

Backdrop of violence
Women in these communities live in a climate of constant insecurity. Far from providing protection, the police often subject women to illegal searches by male officers and abusive and discriminatory language and intimidation, especially when they attempt to intervene to protect a relative.

Women who fight for justice on behalf of their sons or husbands end up on the frontline of change, facing further threats and harassment. One woman told Amnesty International, “We can’t go on living under these conditions. We live in fear."

Women are also at risk from drug chiefs and gang leaders. They dispense punishment and protection and use women as trophies or bargaining tools. Growing numbers of women are becoming involved in the drug trade. Many of these women end up in Brazil’s overcrowded, unsanitary prison system, subject to physical and psychological abuse – and in some cases rape.

Impact
The knock-on effects of crime and violence reverberate through entire communities, severely affecting the provision of basic services, such as healthcare and education. If local clinics fall within the territory of a rival gang, women can be forced to travel miles to see a doctor. Maternity services, crèches and schools can be closed for long periods because of police operations or criminal violence. Healthcare workers and teachers are often too scared to work in crime-blighted neighbourhoods.

Stopping the violence
Women who spoke to Amnesty International gave very clear messages of what is needed:

a police force which protects them and their families and provides genuine security
equal access to justice, irrespective of social class;
protection so they can continue their struggle to defend human rights;
social and economic support when a relative is injured or killed by police or criminal violence.

The Brazilian state has introduced some positive initiatives, including strengthening the protection of women suffering from domestic violence. But long term policies are urgently needed to tackle the broader issues of the impact of violence on women in excluded communities.

Action needed now
The Brazilian federal government must act to integrate the needs of women into the new public security plan, the National Public Security and Citizenship Programme (Programa Nacional de Segurança Pública com Cidadania, PRONASCI)

Brazil: ‘From burning buses to caveirões’: the search for human security (Report, 2 May 2007)
Brazil: ‘They come in shooting’: Policing socially excluded communities (Report, 2 December 2005)

Unlawful homes for Israeli settlers, demolitions for Palestinians

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:42:53 +0100

Mobile homes for an illegal Israeli settlement in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) got the go-ahead within a week of Israeli bulldozers demolishing Palestinian homes and property in the area. It emerged last Wednesday (26 March) that Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has approved the transfer of five mobile homes to the Israeli settlement of Teneh Omarim in the region.

Only the week before, Israeli army bulldozers demolished nine homes and two livestock enclosures in several Palestinian villages in the southern occupied West Bank. The demolitions were carried out on 19 March in the hamlets of Qawawis, Imneizil, al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa in the South Hebron Hills.

Those whose homes were demolished included families with children. In the villages of al-Dairat and Umm Lasafa, the Israeli army destroyed the homes of brothers Yasser and Jihad Mohammed al-'Adra, and Ismail al-'Adra. As a result, Yasser al-'Adra, his wife and six children, Jihad al-'Adra, his wife and their five children, and Ismail al-'Adra, his wife and their three children, were left homeless.

Expansion of Teneh Omarim and other illegal settlements in the OPT continues, in violation of international law that forbids an occupying power from transferring its civilian population into the territory that it occupies.

The Israeli settlements include neat, modern houses with electricity and water distribution systems. Palestinians have lived in the area for generations but none of their hamlets in the area are "recognized" by the Israeli authorities. This means they do not receive any services – light, water, sewage, education or health – and the homes and other structures may be demolished at any time.

Palestinian villagers are also prohibited for the most part from building new homes or building rain water harvesting cisterns to cater for a growing population or to assist development. No new structures can be built unless permits have first been obtained from the Israeli army, but such permits are invariably refused.

The South Hebron Hills, or Masafer Yatta as it is known to Palestinians, is an area in the southernmost area of the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Apart from small stone-built villages in the west of the area, many of the people live in tents and large caves.

Most of the Palestinians in the area are shepherds, but, in recent years, the scarcity of rain water has reduced the availability of grazing land for their flocks and their ability to cultivate their land. In addition, the frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and the increased restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on their movements have further reduced their access to grazing land and their ability to cultivate their land.

Israeli settlers, in contrast, have been allowed to appropriate more and more land. Palestinians have lived in the area since long before the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, though some Palestinians moved to the area when they were forced to leave their lands further south in 1948.

When Palestinian homes are demolished, other means of livelihood such as animal pens are also destroyed. Currently, the mosque in the village of al-Tuwani is under a demolition order, as is a schoolroom in the remote village of Dqaiqa.

Palestinian villagers are frequently harassed by Israeli settlers and Palestinian shepherds fear to graze their flocks near Israeli settlements.

International volunteers from the Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Operation Dove have had a presence in al-Tuwani, the largest village in the area, since 2004 in order to help protect the villagers and to record acts of violence and harassment against them. Israeli peace activists also visit frequently.

During March 2008, at least six attacks on Palestinian shepherds by Israeli settlers or police were reported, with violence and threats of arrest being used against the shepherds to force them to move them away from what they were told was a "closed military zone".

Following many settler attacks on Palestinian children going to school and their international escorts, the Israeli army now sends a military jeep to escort the schoolchildren. Sometimes, however, this escort arrives too late or fails to deter attacks.

On 19 March 2008, for example, two international observers were attacked by Israeli settlers while they were attempting to monitor the military escort of Palestinian schoolchildren. On 29 March, settlers were reported to have thrown stones at children making their way to school but the military escort failed to intervene.

Amnesty International is urging the Israeli authorities to cease demolishing Palestinian homes in the occupied Palestinian territories, cancel all demolition orders and take steps to prevent and punish settler attacks on Palestinians and on international observers seeking to protect them. The organisation is calling also for an immediate end to the construction or expansion of Israeli settlements in breach of international humanitarian law.

Open Letter to the United Nations

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 16:05:27 +0000

Following the resignation of Louise Arbour last week, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called on the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to implement a transparent, consultative process for selecting a strong, independent and outspoken new High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Dear Secretary-General,

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, has set a high standard in promoting and protecting human rights throughout the world. As you begin to look for the next High Commissioner, we are writing to emphasize the high expectations which our organizations have for the successor to this important office. Appointing an extremely capable and highly qualified High Commissioner is crucial at this time when fundamental principles of human rights are challenged and the independence of the High Commissioner’s Office is under attack. We appreciate the strong statement you made in Geneva, supporting the High Commissioner’s Office as well as its independence, and we urge you to continue to defend vigorously the office’s ability to operate without interference from any source.

Criteria /Qualifications for appointment
Our organizations believe that the new High Commissioner must be a person of the highest international standing and integrity, and have a proven track-record of public advocacy for human rights. She or he must be a human rights champion ready to be outspoken and independent in fulfilling the office’s mandates. The High Commissioner must be a strong leader with a clear vision for the protection of all human rights, and bring dynamism, courage and commitment to the position. She or he must be able to inspire those working for the promotion and protection of human rights and the broader international community. In addition, the next High Commissioner should be someone with proven management skills and the ability to navigate effectively within a complex human rights community which comprises governments, civil society and other stakeholders.

We urge you to look at candidates from all countries and to select an exceptionally well-qualified candidate who would be able to meet the demands of this important post from the moment he or she assumes the post.

Selection process
The selection process will be very important in ensuring that the best qualified candidate for the position of High Commissioner is identified. You have stressed the importance of accountability, professionalism and transparency for the United Nations, and we urge that you apply these principles as well to the selection of the new High Commissioner. We recommend the following:

A formal description of the qualifications you are seeking in the next High Commissioner should be formulated relying on the qualities set out above, and should be made public. This description would assist in the identification of candidates and facilitate your assessment of their competencies.
The process must be transparent and include wide consultation with all stakeholders, governmental and nongovernmental, including civil society, notably NGOs dealing with human rights.
There should be a set timetable for nominations, shortlists and final selection to provide a framework for the selection process that ensures transparency and accountability.

The appointment processes for both the current UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the Administrator of UNDP provide useful guidance in this regard. In both cases, the shortlist of candidates was made public, an important step in ensuring that the Secretary-General had the broadest possible input in making those appointments. A similar process would greatly enhance the credibility of your ultimate appointment, and assist you in selecting the most outstanding candidate for this crucial post.

Human rights, with peace and security and development, are one of the three pillars of the United Nations. It is vital that the next holder of this position be a compelling leader for human rights within the United Nations system and throughout the world. In this year of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we urge you to put in place a process that reflects the gravity and significance of this appointment to human rights victims and defenders worldwide.

Yours sincerely,

Irene Khan                                        Kenneth Roth
Secretary General                            Executive Director
Amnesty International                   Human Rights Watch

Former detainee reveals details of secret CIA program

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:49:27 +0000

The cruelty and illegality of the US government’s program of secret detentions can be illustrated by one man’s story. It is the story of a man who was never charged with any crime, but who was held in secret CIA custody for nearly three years, becoming the victim of enforced disappearance.

This man is 31-year-old Yemeni national Khaled Abdu Ahmed Saleh al-Maqtari, one of the men most recently released from the CIA’s secret detention program. In interviews with Amnesty International, he has given a full account of his ordeal since he was taken into custody by US forces in Iraq in January 2004.

Initially held in Abu Ghraib, Khaled al-Maqtari was transferred first to a CIA secret prison in Afghanistan, and then, in April 2004, to a second secret prison in an unidentified country – possibly in Eastern Europe. He was held there in complete isolation for a further 28 months, before being sent to Yemen and eventually released in May 2007.

His account contains numerous allegations of torture and other ill-treatment in detention. These include prolonged isolation, repeating beatings, sleep deprivation, forced nudity, exposure to extremes of hot and cold, as well as sensory deprivation and overload with bright lighting and loud music or repeated sound effects.

The effects of torture

Khaled al-Maqtari is now a free man, but he suffers the effects of psychological and physical torture and other ill-treatment.

The abuses that have affected him most, he said, were the years of endless isolation, his total uncertainty about his future, the constant monitoring by cameras and his segregation from the outside world, particularly the lack of contact with his family.

“At no point during his 32-month confinement was Khaled al-Maqtari told where he was or why. He did not have access to lawyers, relatives or any person other than his interrogators and the personnel involved in his detention and transfers. This clearly violates the USA’s international obligations. The US government has a case to answer”, said Anne FitzGerald, Senior Adviser at Amnesty International, who interviewed Khaled al-Maqtari.

Khaled al-Maqtari has not received any reparation from US authorities, who have yet to even acknowledge his detention.

Torture and enforced disappearance are both crimes under international law. They cannot be justified under any circumstances. Amnesty International has called on the US authorities to end these practices and bring those responsible for human rights violations to justice.

Women unite to defend their rights

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:16:51 +0000

On 8 March, International Women’s Day, women across the world will take to the streets to express their commitment to the defence of human rights, often at great risk to their safety.

These rights include freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, the right to be treated equally under the law, sexual and reproductive rights, and the rejection of violence against women. But, in promoting these rights, activists come face to face with discriminatory laws, policies and practices.

Aline Castellanos is a leading member of the Committee for Parliamentary Dialogue and Equality in Mexico. She documented and publicized human rights violations in the Oaxaca region of the country during widespread protests in 2006. At that time, Aline Castellanos was working to encourage women’s activism and heighten women’s visibility in public life.

On 28 April 2007, Aline’s house was broken into and searched. The following day, a judge re-issued a warrant for the arrest, despite the fact that it had been successfully challenged twice before. She subsequently fled Oaxaca, fearing arrest on charges of assault, which appear to be baseless.

Given the nature of the harassment, threats and marginalization women human rights defenders can face, their protection is of particular concern. Women can be victims of a host of violations, some gender-specific, including sexual attacks.

Many women activists carry out their work in societies that impose heavy restrictions on women and find themselves vulnerable to harassment and abuse. In some contexts, working on issues viewed by some as unpopular and controversial, such as women’s rights, results in human rights defenders, their families and communities being targeted by the state authorities or other groups.

Delaram Ali is an active member of the organization Campaign for Equality, an Iranian human rights network which works to end legalized discrimination against women. She was arrested in June 2006 during a peaceful demonstration and was sentenced to 30 months in jail. This sentence has been suspended temporarily.

In Zimbabwe, forced evictions and government policies on land reform have had a disproportionately negative impact on women. As economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe have worsened, this has affected access to food, health, education and housing. Women have had little choice but to publicly condemn the government while demanding respect for these rights. Since 2000, hundreds of women have been arbitrarily arrested, detained, beaten and even tortured while in police custody.

Governments are obliged to both promote and protect the work of human rights defenders. Governments must:

Acknowledge the role human rights defenders play in documenting violations of human rights and in upholding democratic practices.
If the rights of defenders are violated, then governments must ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.

Women human rights defenders often face a whole series of violations designed to silence them and paralyse their work. On International Women’s Day, women defenders will once again speak out for human rights. Their voices must be heard.

Killed for telling the truth

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:16:25 +0000

"It is the journalists that are telling the world what is happening... This is why everyone wants to silence us. I have thought I will die in this job, but even when I am scared I can’t be silent because, if I do not tell these stories, no one will protect the civilians. We are their only advocates." – A Somali journalist

Journalists in Somalia are being killed for reporting the truth about the country's bloody conflict, according to research by Amnesty International.

At least nine journalists have been killed since February 2007, five of them in intentionally targeted attacks. Many more have been threatened, arbitrarily arrested and harassed. Over 50 journalists have fled the country. The crackdown on independent media has seen newspapers and radio stations forcibly shut down.

Among the dead include Ali Iman Sharmarke, head of the HornAfrik media company, who was killed by a car bomb in August while he was on his way home from the funeral of a murdered colleague.

Death threats
Fighting between Ethiopian-backed Transitional Federal Government forces (TFG) and armed opposition groups in Somalia has escalated since November 2007. Journalists say they have received death threats from both sides –attempts to silence reporting of human rights violations.

Journalists who fled the capital Mogadishu have told Amnesty International that they regularly received death threats by mobile phone, particularly when they reported on the conflict.

Many were from people identifying themselves as TFG security officers, demanding to know why incidents or military operations had been reported. Amnesty International was also told of threats made by the armed groups.

“I wrote a story that two insurgents were killed. I was called on my mobile, and the caller said, ‘Why did you write that?’ I said, ‘It is the truth, I have to write it’. He said, ‘You are going to be in the list which we are going to kill’,” said one journalist.

Censorship and closure
TFG forces have repeatedly closed media outlets, particularly Mogadishu-based radio stations, following news reports that reflected negatively on the TFG or broadcasts of interviews with members of armed opposition groups.

In 2007, these closures had been steadily increasing in duration, with Shabelle Radio and Simba Radio closed from 12 November until 3 December by the Governor of Banadir Region and Mayor of Mogadishu, Mohamed Dheere.

He was quoted ordering media houses to cease reporting on military operations without prior written consent, also warning: "Interviewing government opponents inside and abroad is forbidden and any journalists or any radio station (which) transmits their views… will be considered a criminal."

Media offices attacked
TFG troops attacked the Shabelle Radio office in Mogadishu on 18 October 2007, following a nearby grenade attack against them. They fired automatic weapons into the second and third floor windows for more than five hours, trapping several journalists inside and injuring a security guard.

Journalists told Amnesty International they believed they were going to die, and had called their families to say goodbye.

“We got under the tables. They used a vehicle-mounted machine gun. The bullets came in, smashing all the windows. They were firing for hours. Eventually we escaped one by one from one of the doors at the back. After this, the troops based themselves there at our office, and we weren't able to work until 1 November.”

Two weeks later, a security guard from the office of HornAfrik had his throat cut during a raid by Ethiopian troops. This brutal act prompted many journalists to flee Mogadishu in fear for their own safety.

"When we saw that one of us was slaughtered by the Ethiopian troops, we were afraid that they would do this to us,” one said.

Journalists in Somalia who report on the conflict are vital to the defence of human rights. Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme, said they believe attacks on the media are intended to hide violations of those rights.

"The organization is calling on the authorities in Somalia to respect and protect freedom of expression and to protect journalists from systematic attacks. It also calls on Ethiopian forces in Somalia and armed opposition groups to stop the intimidation and attacks against journalists and the media," said Michelle Kagari.

Three years after editor's murder, Azerbaijan journalists still abused

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:19:36 +0000

Azerbaijani journalist Elmar Hüseynov was murdered outside his home in the capital Baku, three years ago on Sunday. His case has become a symbol of the continuing human rights abuses faced by journalists in the country.

The outspoken editor-in-chief of Azeri opposition magazine Monitor, Hüseynov was shot seven times walking out of a lift on 2 March 2005. Thought to be the victim of a contract killing, Hüseynov’s death is the most serious case in a continuing series of assaults on opposition journalists.

His colleagues and international press freedom organizations ascribed his murder to the political content of the newspaper, which closed following his death.

In July 2006, a former Ministry of Internal Affairs official, charged with kidnapping and murder, admitted to Hüseynov’s murder while testifying at his own trial. He claimed that he carried out the killing on behalf of the former Minister of Economic Development, himself on trial for plotting the overthrow of the government. So far no one has been prosecuted for Hüseynov’s murder.

Marking the third anniversary of Hüseynov’s death, Amnesty International has called upon the Azerbaijani authorities to fulfil their international and domestic legal obligations to guarantee freedom of expression.

Azerbaijan continues to imprison journalists for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression. Despite the release of five journalists in December 2007, others remain behind bars in cases which human rights activists in the country consider politically motivated.

One of those still in prison is opposition newspaper editor Eynulla Fətullayev who, after years of harassment by the authorities, was tried twice in 2007. He was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment on charges of defamation, terrorism, incitement of ethnic hatred and tax evasion.

Eynulla Fətullayev worked on Monitor until it was closed. He then launched two popular opposition newspapers, Realny Azerbaydzhan (Real Azerbaijan) and Gündəlik Azərbaycan (Azerbaijan Daily). Both newspapers closed in May 2007 after a series of inspections of their premises by the authorities.

A series of vicious physical assaults against journalists by unknown assailants in 2006 and 2007 remain unpunished with little or no investigation. This climate of impunity has seen one assault in a busy street in broad daylight, the attackers having no fear of prosecution.

The situation has not been helped by the mixed messages sent by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. He said in April 2005, “it is unacceptable for government officials to attack journalists”. However, he told a meeting of police academy graduates in July 2007 that he had “banned sanctions” against police who had used violence against journalists in disturbances in October 2005. He went on to say that he would “always support the police” in such cases.

The lack of police investigation into cases of violence and harassment against journalists means that there are few suspects or arrests and that many crimes have so far gone unpunished.

The editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Bizim Yol (‘Our Way’) and Deputy Chairman of the Popular Front of Azerbaijan party, Bahəddin Həziyev, was abducted and beaten by unidentified men on 18 May 2006. The men were reported to have told him to stop writing “critical articles”.

The men then drove their car over his legs and left him on the shores of a lake outside Baku. Bizim Yol had alleged corruption in the oil and fishing industries and had named several high-ranking officials. Speaking to Amnesty International in July 2006, Baxaddin Xəziəv said that the police showed no interest in investigating the case and had recorded it as a case of minor injury rather than abduction and grievous bodily harm.

A journalist working for the Azadlıq newspaper, Nicat Hüseynov, was attacked by unknown men on 25 December 2006 as he left his home in Baku for work. He was thrown to the ground, beaten and attacked with a knife. Eyewitnesses called for help and the attackers fled in a waiting taxi.

He was later hospitalized with internal injuries, head injuries and a minor stab wound. Hüseynov had published articles on alleged corruption in high office and claimed to have received threatening phone calls before the attack. In January 2008, he was still suffering severe headaches and nosebleeds; no progress was reported in the investigation of his case.

A journalist for the Impuls newspaper, Süheylə Qəmbərova, was reported to have been beaten by court verdict executors on 28 September 2007 while researching an article on forced evictions. She was beaten alongside evicted residents who had asked to see the court orders approving the evictions. Her sister reported that Sühayle Qamberova was pushed to the floor and kicked in the head and body. She was later hospitalized.

“Unfortunately the Azerbaijani authorities continue to send mixed signals on freedom of expression”, said Laurence Broers, Amnesty International’s researcher on Azerbaijan. “On the one hand, the authorities condemn assaults on journalists while, on the other, law enforcement agencies and the judiciary are failing to prosecute assaults against them.

"Other government officials have abused Azerbaijan’s defamation laws to silence critical reporting. To demonstrate their commitment to human rights principles, the Azerbaijani authorities should release prisoners of conscience, decriminalize defamation, ensure the thorough, independent and impartial investigation of assaults on journalists and bring perpetrators to justice."