Amnesty International News & Updates Feed

Women, violence and poverty - breaking out of the gender trap

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:05:20 +0000

Why is it that more than two thirds of the world's poor are women, although women are only half of the world's population?

Discrimination is a key driver of poverty and women often face discrimination on multiple grounds – they may be denied their rights because they are women and because they belong to a marginalized group.

Women living in poverty also face discrimination simply because they are poor. This discrimination can mean that women are excluded from access to justice, protection or services.

In some countries discrimination is built into the laws, while in many other countries it persists despite equality laws.

Women are often responsible for providing for their families, though are often paid less than men for the same work, do work in the informal sector with no job security and have less access to resources such as land, credit and inheritance rights.

Many women living in poverty don’t have access to healthcare because they can’t afford to pay for it or reach health services. Women in South Africa, particularly black women, are disproportionately affected by poverty and the HIV pandemic.

Transport costs are high in relation to people’s income and women living in poor rural communities often find it difficult to reach hospitals and maintain their treatment. Many women don’t have adequate food, which is essential for coping with the side effectives of anti-retroviral medication.

Women’s low social status compounds the problem as when there’s not enough food to go around, they are likely to be the last to eat.

The discrimination women face is linked to violence against women. It shapes the forms of violence that a woman experiences. It also makes some women more likely to be targeted for certain forms of violence because they have less social status than other women and because perpetrators know such women are less likely to report abuse or seek assistance.

Caught in cycles of poverty and violence
Violence, for women, is both a cause and a consequence of poverty - violence keeps women poor, and poor women are most exposed to violence. Women who suffer from violence lose income and their capacity to earn a wage is impaired.

Being poor may make women make difficult choices which puts them or keeps them at risk from violence. A woman who is economically dependent on her abusive partner may see no way to support herself and her children if she leaves.

A girl who becomes pregnant as a result of a rape may find herself excluded from school, with fewer prospects of finding safe work and an independent future.

Poverty is widespread in Haiti and many parents in rural areas make the choice to send their children to cities in the hope that their life chances will be improved. More than 100,000 girls between 6 and 17 in Haiti are in domestic service.

Children in domestic service work long hours doing domestic chores, looking after other children in the family and selling goods in markets and are provided lodging. Far from their relatives and friends, and trapped in a situation of total dependence on their employers, many girls are exposed to physical abuse and sexual violence. With virtually no one concerned for their welfare and few prospects of finding safer work, these girls live a lonely, isolated and vulnerable existence.

Women’s lives, men’s decisions
Poverty can restrict women’s opportunities to make choices about their own lives. This can be exacerbated by custom, culture and religion which often combine to deny women access to decision-making processes and even crucial choices over their lives and bodies, such as whether to become mothers. In the Philippines, government policies limit women’s control over whether and when to become pregnant as policies prioritise ‘natural’ family planning methods such as periodic abstinence or withdrawal.

Lack of access to free contraception hits poor women hard as they struggle to find the money to buy the contraception they need, especially at a time of economic crisis when the costs of goods and commodities are rising. Up to three quarters of sexually active adolescents do not use any contraception.

Childbirth is a high risk activity in the Philippines, where ten women die every day from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. High rates of maternal death are compounded by a total ban on abortion meaning that if women do find that they have a mistimed or unwanted pregnancy, they are left with few safe options. At least 400,000 Filipino women resort to clandestine abortions every year and estimate suggest that around 800 women die each year from complications from unsafe abortions.

Girls miss out on education
Violence and poverty often combine to trap women in difficult situations though education can provide an escape route. Getting an education can open up the possibility of economic independence, increasing women’s choices of how to live their lives. Education is a human right, yet more than 55 millions girls worldwide do not attend school as violence and discrimination impede girls’ access to education.

In Tajikistan, many families cannot afford the basic essentials needed for their children’s schooling – text books, clothes and transport. So rather than sending girls to school, they prioritize the education of boys, who are likely to earn more in later life. Many girls do not complete their education but instead care for family members, work in the fields or at the market, or get married at an early age. A lack of education not only reduces women’s chances of economic independence, but also the possibility of them learning about their rights.

Women speak out
When women know they have rights, they will claim them despite all the obstacles they face. There are inspiring examples to be found throughout the world. Whether acting as human rights defenders or simply as members of their families and communities, women drive social progress and human rights advancement for all. In some countries, women are active participants in the political process and have made significant strides towards political and economic equality.

Progress on paper
Sustained progress by women’s rights activists over the past decade has brought significant advances in the international community’s commitment to the advancement of women’s rights. At the international level there are legally binding agreements to protect and promote women’s rights while equality between men and women is a key principle reflected in all human rights standards. At national level there are laws in many countries to protect women’s rights, though these laws do little to improve the lives of women if they are not enforced.

There are no legitimate excuses to explain why governments have failed to fully implement and make effective the national and international laws passed over the last few decades to end violence against women and end discrimination and despite the leaps forward, many women’s lives have hardly improved. Women continue to be the most affected by poverty, violence, environmental degradation and disease. One thing is certain: equality and rights can only be achieved when women actively participate in political processes and when their voices are heard.

The way forward
States and international institutions must work harder to protect women’s rights, but everyone one of us has a role in creating the political will for change. We can challenge our governments to improve women’s rights at home, and all around the world, though international cooperation.

In September 2009, all government agreed to the creation of a strong new United Nations agency for women. This agency will have greater capacity to help the UN and governments to ensure women and girls around the world enjoy their rights in practice. This new agency urgently needs sustained political commitment and funding to succeed.

Take action to support the creation of a strong new women’s agency at the UN and to stop violence against women in South Africa and Haiti

Russian President must act to end attacks on human rights activists

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 14:59:50 +0000

Human rights activists in Russia and the North Caucasus face increasing violence and intimidation three years after the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Amnesty International said on Monday.

In a letter to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Amnesty International urged him to take genuine steps to stop the attacks and for his administration to demonstrate a commitment to bring the perpetrators of such crimes to justice.

“That those who murdered Anna Politkovskaya and ordered her killing remain free reflects a failure by the Russian authorities to fully investigate such crimes,” said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

A number of people who have spoken out against human rights violations in the country, including human rights activists, lawyers and journalists, have been killed or faced intimidation, most likely as a result of the work they were doing.

In January this year, Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer who had been working closely with Anna Politkovskaya, was shot dead in Moscow. Anastasia Baburova, a journalist, was gunned down at his side.

Attacks against those working to protect human rights are common in the North Caucasus. On 15 July, Natalia Estemirova of the Memorial Human Rights Centre was abducted in Grozny, the capital of the Chechen Republic. Her body was found later the same day in Ingushetia.

Natalia Estemirova had received a number of threats in connection with her human rights work.

Her killing has taken place in a climate when human rights activists have been verbally attacked by the Chechen authorities, who accuse them of being supporters of illegal armed groups.

Amnesty International condemns comments of high ranking officials given around the time of her killing.

In early July, Adam Delimkhanov, a member of the Russian Parliament and a close ally of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, was shown on Chechen TV, threatening “so-called human rights defenders, who support terrorists.” In an interview with Radio Liberty shortly after Natalia Estemirova’s murder, President Ramzan Kadyrov dismissed her work as irrelevant and described her as a person who ‘never had any honour or sense of shame.’

“It is of the utmost importance that the investigations into the killings of Natalia Estemirova, Stanislav Markelov, Anastasia Baburova and Anna Politkovskaya are conducted in an independent and impartial manner, and, where grounds exist, do not stop short of investigating possible links with government officials, including the highest government officials,” Irene Khan said.

Amnesty International in particular continues to be concerned about the safety of Natalia Estemirova’s colleagues from Memorial offices in the North Caucasus and in Moscow.

Akhmed Gisaev had been working with Natalia Estemirova and, shortly before her killing, had been researching together with her a case of alleged extrajudicial execution in a Chechen village.He reported that he was being followed and had been threatened that he might meet the same fate.

Other recent attacks include Zarema Saidulaeva, head of the humanitarian organization Let’s Save the Generation, and her husband, Alik Dzhabrailov, who were both killed on 11 August. They were abducted from their office in Grozny by men identifying themselves as law enforcement officials, and a few hours later they were found dead in the boot of their car.

The office of Mothers of Dagestan for Human Rightsin Makhachkala, capital of Dagestan was recently burned down. Two representatives of this organization, Svetlana Isaeva and Gulnara Rustamova, as well as other human rights activists, lawyers and journalists from Dagestan, were named as aiders and abetters of members of illegal armed groups in leaflets distributed in Makhachkala. The leaflet called for a “blood feud” against these people.

“It is time President Medvedev showed the political will to protect people that stand up for human rights in Russia. He must act now to end the climate of fear and intimidation,” Irene Khan said.

Amnesty International has called on President Medvedev to ensure that all these crimes are fully investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice in trials that meet international standards. Three years on from the murder of Anna Poilitkovskaya, the Russian authorities must take action to end the attacks against those working to protect human rights in the country.

Journalists in Honduras: "They know who we are"

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:44:54 +0000

Testimony from Marvin Ortiz, a journalist with Radio Globo in Honduras

On Monday at 5am, we started broadcasting with our normal schedule, starting with the Radio Globo news from 5 to 8am, presented by the director of our radio station and two other journalists. At around 5.20am, they heard someone beating on the door and people shouting "get outside!". They were soldiers and police who had come to confiscate all the radio equipment.

My colleagues heard the sound of shots aimed at the lock on the door, as if to break it and get inside the building. At that moment, several journalists decided to jump from the third floor of the radio station building. Now they’re bruised and wounded. Luckily, a passerby saw them, gave them first aid and took them to a safe place.

When the soldiers and police entered the radio station, without warning, they took all the equipment, everything you need to run the radio, computers, microphones, the console, the telephone switchboard, the amplifiers, and even the aerials. They destroyed the news table. They took everything away in a police patrol car.

After that they started to occupy the building. As well as the radio station, a state agency also works in the same building – the National Register of Persons – and when the staff of that agency arrived, the police wouldn’t let them in. All they could do was punch in their time cards and go home.

I arrived at the radio station at around 7am. I was with a colleague. Straight away the police and soldiers started to harass us. They threatened and harassed us. They took photos of us and insulted us.

They confiscated the equipment of several journalists who were covering the shut-down of the radio, and arrested some of them.

Everybody left the building at around 9am.

All of this happened because of an Executive Decree issued by the de facto government led by Roberto Micheletti, which suspends Hondurans’ constitutional guarantees and restricts freedom of expression. The Decree specifically mentioned Radio Globo and Canal 36 [TV station], which has also been shut down.

Since the coup d’état, Radio Globo has maintained its stance of informing the public about what has been happening in our country. We condemn the coup d’etat. We give a space to people to express themselves freely and to make their complaints.

There are around 50 of us who work at the radio station, including reporters, presenters, operators and administrative staff. There is a high level of persecution directed against us and a lot of fear. We never feel safe.

A lot of people gathered near the radio station to protest against the [de facto] government’s decision to close it down.

At the moment, Radio Globo is only operating via the Internet at www.radiohonduras.com. Yesterday [Monday], we had about 400,000 listeners. People are waiting to see what happens to the radio station.

Following the intervention of several human rights organizations, the military and police decided to end their occupation of the radio station. A group of lawyers are working at the moment to ensure that the radio can start to operate again without restrictions on its broadcasts.

Today [Tuesday], there are only two of us here, both presenters. We’re broadcasting via the internet because the ban, the Decree, doesn’t allow us to broadcast using a radio frequency.

Threats, repression and arrests of journalists continue, but we reporters continue working. We have to go to where the news is happening but it’s frightening because we know that there could be repression against us, especially because they already know who we are. They know we’re part of the Radio Globo team.

We have a commitment to the people, to our profession and to our family.

In spite of everything, we’re going to carry on, informing.

Counting the human cost of Sri Lanka's conflict

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:09:03 +0000

The Government of Sri Lanka announced a plan on 23 May to resettle most civilians displaced by conflict by the end of the year. The government’s target of 80% was later revised downward to 60%.

The 180-day process was to include both people newly displaced by fighting in the north, as well as people who had been displaced for extended periods of time.

Some Sri Lankan families have been displaced for years or decades and the process of resettling them has been ongoing. Minister of Resettlement and Disaster Relief Services Rishad Bathiudeen told Sri Lanka’s Parliament in August that the Government had re-settled more 59,000 war-displaced families in recent months, mainly victims of earlier displacements in the east.

According to UN relief statistics, as of 28 August, 266,567 people displaced by conflict in the north after 1 April 2009 remained in camps and hospitals. This is down from about 280,000 in June. Almost 250,000 of them were in Vavuniya district.

The Government’s plan to return people to their places of origin has four phases, with families from eastern Sri Lanka and Jaffna returned first, followed by Vavuniya, Mannar and finally from the former LTTE strongholds of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu. The Office of the President is responsible for coordinating this plan.

By the end of August, 6,490 people were reported to have been released from camps to stay with host families or in elders’ homes by the end of August. The majority of these people were elderly or disabled. 5,123 people were returned to Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mannar, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts between 5 August and 28 August.

On 26 August, some 800 Hindu and Catholic priests were released from camps for displaced people in Vavuniya. On 20 August, 130 people displaced in 2006 were moved from sites in Batticaloa District to Trincomalee District, but they were unable to return home because their land is within a military-designated High Security Zone. They have been accommodated in a school and another public building.

Remembering the world's disappeared in 2009

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:01:28 +0000

Rosendo Radilla was 60 when he was forcibly disappeared in August 1974. A social activist and former mayor of Atoyac municipality, Guerrero state, Mexico, he was last seen in a military barracks, days after he was detained at a roadblock. Fellow detainees reported that he had been tortured.

As in other enforced disappearance cases, successive Mexican governments have refused to clarify what happened to Rosendo Radilla. But his family also refused to give up and took his case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. This year, they hope that the court ruling will force the Mexican government to tell them the truth and ensure their right to justice.

"People ask 'why don’t you forgive?'", says Rosendo Radilla's daughter Tita Radilla Martinez. "Because they don't tell me what they did to my father. Is he dead or alive? I don’t know. I remember he would often feel cold. When he was detained I thought about that. Is he cold, hungry or thirsty? Is he in pain? How is he? We've spent our whole life like this. They say 'Don’t reopen the wound'. 'Reopen'? The wound is open, it never healed."

All around the world, families are waiting to find out what happened to those loved ones who have been taken away from them by agents of the state or by people acting with its support or acquiescence.

Friends and relatives have no means to find out what has happened to them. The disappeared are beyond the protection of the law. Anything could happen to them. Many are tortured. Many are killed.

Sunday 30 August marks the 26th International Day of the Disappeared. Every year, Amnesty International, along with other NGOs, families associations and grassroots groups, remembers the disappeared and demands justice for victims of enforced disappearances through activities and events.

Governments use enforced disappearance as a tool of repression to silence dissent and eliminate political opposition, as well as to persecute ethnic, religious and political groups.

More than 3,000 ethnic Albanians were the victims of enforced disappearances during the armed conflict in Kosovo in 1999. These were at the hands of the Serbian police, paramilitary and military forces. More than 800 Serbs, Roma and others were abducted by armed ethnic Albanian groups. Some 1,900 families in Kosovo and Serbia are still waiting to find out what happened to their relatives.

Enforced disappearances often take place in connection with counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism operations. Chechnya, which tried to secede from the Russian Federation in 1991, has since been ravaged by two armed conflicts and a counter-terror operation. Both Russian federal forces and Chechen law enforcement officials have been implicated in enforced disappearances, which run into the thousands.

In the Philippines, over 1,600 people have disappeared since the 1970s, mostly during counter-insurgency operations against left-leaning or secessionist groups.

James Balao, an Indigenous Peoples' rights activist and researcher, disappeared in September 2008, while driving to visit his family in La Trinidad, Benguet province.

He was stopped and bundled into a white van by armed and uniformed men claiming to be police officers. Eye-witnesses signed affidavits describing his capture and are now in hiding in fear of being persecuted.

The families and friends of those who disappear are left in an anguish of uncertainty, unable to grieve and go on with their lives. Chief Ebrima Manneh, a Gambian journalist, was arrested in July 2006 for trying to publish a BBC article critical of the Gambian government. His whereabouts remain unknown despite a landmark ruling by a West African regional court ordering the Gambian government to release him and pay damages. Ebrima Manneh’s mother says she finds it hard to enjoy anything because her son is constantly on her mind. The family told Amnesty International that they felt increasingly isolated because other people were afraid to associate with them. They also face hardship because the depended on Ebrima Manneh’s salary.

To combat enforced disappearance, in 2006 the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Once entered into force, the Convention will be an effective way to help prevent enforced disappearances, establish the truth about this crime, punish the perpetrators and provide reparations to the victims and their families

The Convention's definition of enforced disappearance is:
"The arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons, or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law."

The Convention addresses the violations linked to an enforced disappearance and the problems facing those who try to investigate and hold perpetrators to account. It also recognizes the families' rights to know the truth about the fate of a disappeared person and to obtain reparations.

The Convention obliges states to protect witnesses and to hold any person involved in an enforced disappearance criminally responsible. It also requires states to institute stringent safeguards for people deprived of their liberty; to search for the disappeared person and, if they have died, to locate, respect and return the remains.

The Convention also requires states to prosecute alleged perpetrators present in their territory, regardless of where they may have committed the crime,unless they decide to extradite them to another state or surrender them to an international criminal court.

A Committee on Enforced Disappearances will oversee the Convention's implementation and will review complaints from individuals and states.

The Convention is now only a few ratifications away from entering into force. Amnesty International calls on all governments that have not done so already to ratify the Convention as soon as possible. Ratification will send a powerful signal that enforced disappearances will not be tolerated and will give those searching for their loved ones a much needed new tool.

Malaysia postpones caning of woman for Ramadan

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 16:27:56 +0000

Authorities in Malaysia on Monday postponed the caning of a Muslim woman convicted of drinking alcohol in public, until the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Welcoming the temporary reprieve, Amnesty International called on the Malaysian government to stop using the penalty of caning altogether.

“This case highlights the epidemic of caning and flogging going on in Malaysia,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director. “Since 2002, more than 35,000 people have been caned or flogged, most of them irregular migrants.”

Kartika Sari Devvi Shukarno was to be remanded at the Kajang women's prison in the state of Pahang from Monday, where she was to be caned within seven days.

According to media reports, she was being driven from her father's house to the prison, when the van she was in turned around and brought her back.

Authorities in Pahang said the delay would run until the month of fasting ends. Monday was the third day of Ramadan.

Kartika Sari Devvi Shukarno, 32, was sentenced to six strokes of the cane for drinking beer in a hotel bar in December 2007. She was also fined RM5,000 (approximately US$ 1,400) by a court administering Islamic Shariah law in the Malaysian state of Pahang after she pleaded guilty to the offence.

She has not appealed against her sentence. If the caning goes ahead she will be the first woman in Malaysia to be punished in such a way.

In June 2009, the Malaysian government announced that they had sentenced 47,914 migrants to be caned for immigration offences since amendments to its Immigration Act came into force in 2002. At least 34,923 migrants have so far been caned between 2002 and 2008, according to the country’s prison department records.

Amnesty International called for the government to repeal all laws providing for caning and all other forms of corporal punishment.

“Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is prohibited under international human rights law,” said Sam Zarifi. “The Malaysian government should do all it can to stop this inhumane punishment being used in any circumstance.”

Caning is currently used as a supplementary punishment for at least 40 crimes in Malaysia, but this is the first time it has been used against anyone found guilty of violating the country’s religious laws. The Shariah law applies only to Muslims, who make up 60 percent of the country’s 28 million population.

Malaysian woman first to be caned under Shariah law

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 14:54:43 +0000

A Malaysian state court sentenced a Muslim woman to six strokes of the cane after she was caught drinking beer in a hotel in the Malaysian state of Pahang.

Amnesty International called on the Malaysian government to immediately stop the use of caning as a punishment. The organization also called for the government to repeal all laws providing for caning and all other forms of corporal punishment.

Kartika Sari Devvi Shukarno, 32, was also fined RM5,000 (approximately US$ 1,400) by a court administering Islamic Shariah law in the Malaysian state of Pahang after she pleaded guilty to the offence. The court has ordered that she be remanded at the Kajang women’s prison from Monday and caned within seven days of this date.

“Caning is a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and is prohibited under international human rights law,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director. “The Malaysian government should do all it can to stop this inhumane punishment being used in any circumstance.”

Electoral Media Restrictions Undermine Democratic Process in Afghanistan

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:49:46 +0000

On the eve of the presidential elections in Afghanistan, Amnesty International has called on the Afghan government to reverse its ban on national and international media from reporting on cases of violence and insecurity occurring during Thursday’s election.

The decision was made following a National Security Council meeting on Tuesday and was announced by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Ministry said that journalists must avoid reporting on any election-related violence or security incidents that may occur during polling.

“The Afghan government should immediately dissolve the restrictions on media reporting and allow the national and international media to practice freedom of expression and the right of the people to access information,” Said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Program Director.

In the run up to the election, Amnesty International has documented intimidation of critical Afghan journalists by both the Afghan government and Taleban insurgents.

Amnesty International believes that restricting media reporting on election day will undermine the efforts of the international community and the achievements of the Afghan government for maintaining freedom of expression and access to information in Afghanistan.

“Freedom of expression lies at the heart of the democratic process. The Afghan government is contradicting this very principle in trying to restrict reporting by journalists at a time when the Afghan people need more information, not less,” said Sam Zarifi.

China Sichuan earthquake activists to be tried

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:14:59 +0000

Two activists who offered assistance to survivors of the May 2008 earthquake in Sichuan province, China, will be tried this month. Their detention is part of the authorities' continuing effort to hamper peaceful and lawful human rights activities using China's criminal law.

Huang Qi will be tried behind closed doors tomorrow by Houwu District People's Court in Chengdu city on allegations of "unlawfully holding documents classified as highly secret". He will face up to three years in prison if convicted.

Another earthquake activist, Tan Zuoren, will be tried at Chengdu Intermediate People's Court on 12 August on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”. He is accused of defaming the Chinese Communist Party and government with his online coverage of the authorities' handling of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989.

Local sources believe, however, that Tan Zuoren's detention is linked to his intention to publicly issue, on the first anniversary of the earthquake, an independently investigated report on the collapse of school buildings caused by government corruption.

"After more than 13 months in detention, Huang Qi is suffering from serious health conditions, including two tumours which have developed since his detention, and there are fears that he has not received adequate medical treatment," said Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Programme Deputy Director.

"The authorities have turned down repeated requests made by his family to release him on bail pending his trial."

Huang Qi has repeatedly been questioned about help he gave to parents bringing legal action against the local authorities in relation to the Sichuan earthquake. Their children died when school buildings collapsed in the earthquake and the families believe that corruption, involving the local authorities, resulted in poor construction of public buildings that collapsed in the earthquake.

Amnesty International has called on the Chinese authorities to drop the politically motivated prosecution against Huang Qi and Tan Zuoren and to release them immediately and unconditionally.

Syrian lawyer faces prosecution for defending human rights

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:14:51 +0000

A leading Syrian human rights lawyer was formally charged last Thursday in relation to his legitimate work in defending the rights of political prisoners in Syria. Amnesty International is calling for his immediate release.

Muhannad al-Hassani, who had regularly carried out observations of trials before the Supreme State Security Court, was arrested by Syrian State Security on 28 July and charged with "weakening national sentiments" and "spreading false news".

He was referred to the Justice Palace in Damascus on Thursday, where he was interrogated and formally charged in a closed session in which his lawyer was not allowed access. He could face up to 15 years in prison.

Muhannad al-Hassani had been interrogated on several occasions before the arrest, questioned for his defence of political detainees and for the work of his organization, The Syrian Human Rights Organization (SAWASIYAH).

SAWASIYAH monitors and publicizes human rights violations committed by the Syrian authorities. Muhannad al-Hassani is the Chair of the organization's Board of Directors.

Syrian authorities have previously prevented Muhannad al-Hassani and other human rights lawyers from travelling abroad in order to take part in human rights events and training seminars. This is a well-established pattern used by the Syrian authorities to harass and punish human rights defenders and to suppress political dissent.

"Amnesty International is concerned that Muhannad al-Hassani faces imprisonment because of his legitimate human rights work," said Malcolm Smart from Amnesty International. "Other people imprisoned solely for their human rights work include Anwar al-Bunni, a prominent human rights defender and lawyer in Syria who is serving five years in prison for 'spreading false information harmful to the state'."

Anwar al-Bunni had made a statement to a Qatar-based newspaper in April 2006. In it, he said that the death in custody of Muhammad Shaher Haysa, a political detainee, had been caused by "ill-treatment possibly amounting to torture".