Amnesty International News & Updates Feed

Migrants face illegal arrest in Mauritania

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:18:39 +0100

Irregular migrants trying to reach Europe are being arrested, ill-treated and collectively expelled from Mauritania without opportunity to challenge the decision according to a new Amnesty International report.

Published on Tuesday 1 July the report, Mauritania: Nobody wants anything to do with us, arrests and collective expulsions of migrants denied entry into Europe, also says that sometimes migrants aren’t even sent back to their own home countries.

Since 2006, thousands of migrants accused of setting out from Mauritania with the intention of entering Europe via Spain’s Canary Islands, have been arrested.

Many of those people have been held in a detention centre at Nouadhibou in northern Mauritania. Some have been ill-treated by members of the Mauritanian security forces.

Nationals of West African countries say they have been arbitrarily arrested in the street or at home and accused, apparently without any evidence, of intending to travel to Spain.

According to the National Security Service, 3,257 people were held in the centre in 2007, all were then sent to Senegal and Mali, regardless of their nationality or country of origin. These people are left at the border, often without much food and with no means of transport.

Salvatore Saguès, Amnesty International’s West Africa Researcher, said that “This policy of arrests and collective expulsions by the Mauritanian authorities is the result of intense pressure exerted on Mauritania by the European Union (EU), and Spain in particular, as they seek to involve certain African countries in their attempt to combat irregular migration to Europe.”

Amnesty International calls on the Mauritanian authorities to ensure that their security forces are abiding by international law.

The organization also calls on the EU and its member states, most notably Spain, to take responsibility for ensuring that migrants are treated according to international human rights standards.

“EU states are using countries such as Mauritania to manage the flow of migrants who attempt to reach Europe from their territory. They have become the de facto ‘policemen of Europe’,” said Salvatore Saguès.

Europe must face facts on rendition

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:34:19 +0100

“My life has changed and I feel like a destroyed man…. All night long I suffer nightmares and all day long I remember torture so I shake. “

Abu Omar, describing how he feels after the torture suffered in Egypt.

Usama Mostafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar, was snatched by US and Italian agents from the streets of Milan on 17 February 2003. CIA agents then rendered him, via Germany, to Egypt, where he was held for nearly four years, including 14 months in secret detention. He says that, for seven months, he was tortured up to 12 hours a day.
Abu Omar is one of the six cases of rendition and secret detention – involving thirteen men - highlighted in the report State of denial: Europe’s role in rendition and secret detention.

The report describes the involvement of European states - ranging from allowing CIA flights headed for rendition circuits to use European airports and airspace to hosting secret detention centres, or “black sites” – and their failure to admit or investigate violations carried out by their nationals or on their territory.

“European governments are in a state of denial and have been sidestepping the truth for too long,” said Amnesty International. “Their involvement in renditions and secret detention runs in stark contrast to their claims to be responsible actors in the fight against terrorism.”

Amnesty International’s six-point plan for Europe to end renditions and secret detention calls on states to condemn rendition and secret detention and take positive steps to bring those responsible to justice, ensure reparations for the victims and bring those responsible to justice.

What you can do now:

In view of France’s Presidency of the European Union, please send an email to President Nicolas Sarkozy and urge him to lead the EU Council to take action to end rendition and secret detention (link to rendition web action)

Demand justice for victims of rendition and secret detention.

Routine abuses in the name of security in Tunisia

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 10:34:47 +0100

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of people, including children, suspected of terrorism-related offences, have been arrested in Tunisia since the introduction of the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2003. Authorities use the broad definition of ‘terrorism’ in this law to criminalize legitimate and peaceful opposition activities.

Many have been tortured and otherwise ill-treated, held in incommunicado detention and subjected to enforced disappearances in the last five years. At least 977 people have been tried and sentenced since June 2006 - after unfair trials before military and other courts - to long prison terms or even death.

The Tunisian government continues to say that the human rights situation in the country is improving. The legal reforms that should offer better protection for human rights are, in practice, little more than hollow promises.

Abuses by security forces continue unabated and are committed with impunity, as the report In the Name of Security: Routine Abuses in Tunisia reveals.

Despite the record of violations, Arab and European governments and the US government have returned people they suspected of involvement in terrorism to Tunisia, where they have then suffered arbitrary arrest and detention, torture or other ill-treatment, and blatantly unfair trials.

A responsibility of all governments

The Tunisian government has a duty to protect its population from violent attacks, but when doing so it must comply with its obligations under international law. The government must condemn torture and other ill-treatment and bring to justice those responsible for authorizing and inflicting it.

Foreign governments should reject the rhetoric of the Tunisian government and face up to the reality of human rights violations in the country. Instead of forcibly returning Tunisian nationals, they should ensure that all cooperation in the context of counter-terrorism complies with human rights standards and put pressure on the Tunisian government to prevent torture and hold torturers to account.

One thousand protesters unaccounted for in Tibet lock-down

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 17:06:48 +0100

As the Olympic torch relay travels to Lhasa, Amnesty International urged the Chinese government to provide information about the over 1,000 people detained during the protests last March and called for free access to Tibet by independent observers.

The call came as Amnesty International published an update on the situation in Tibet since the outbreak of violence – looking at the continuing violent crackdown against protesters, the situation of those detained, including those reported to have been beaten and deprived of proper health care and adequate food, and the severe censorship facing journalists and Tibetans.

“There is very little information coming out of Tibet, but the information we have paints a dire picture of arbitrary detentions and abuse of detainees,” said Sam Zarifi, Asia-Pacific Director at Amnesty International.

“With the torch relay about to enter Tibetan areas, this should be an opportunity to shine some light on the situation there.”

Official reports only provide information on a small number of those who have been sentenced after questionable trials.

Foreign journalists are still blocked from entering Tibet. Limited reports that have come through friends and family members to the media and Tibetan organizations say police and security forces have confiscated mobile phones, computers and other communications equipment in hundreds of raids on monasteries, nunneries and private homes, physically preventing thousands from communication with the outside world.

Those who dare to find ways of sending information to foreign media or human rights organizations regarding protests and arrests, risk arrest and imprisonment.

“The complete lock-down in Tibet is allowing human rights abuses such as arbitrary detentions, ill treatment and severe censorship to go unreported and unpunished,” said Sam Zarifi.

“Hundreds of people languish in Chinese prisons for peacefully expressing their opinions, in appalling conditions and without their relatives even knowing where they are. The passing of the torch should allow journalists a chance to see the actual situation on the ground and promote the ‘Free and Open Olympics’ promised in the Beijing Olympic Action Plan.”

Chinese authorities have not only detained monks and nuns and other protesters, they have also targeted Tibetan artists who did not have any direct involvement in the on-going protests. What these figures had in common was involvement in efforts to preserve Tibetan culture. Jamyang Kyi, a well-known singer, TV presenter and producer, was arrested on 1 April from her work place at the Qinghai TV station and held incommunicado for at least one month before, it is believed, being placed under house arrest, only after paying a significant fee.

Background Information
Initial protests after March 10 turned violent and targeted ethnic Han Chinese individuals and businesses. But protesters, often led by monks and nuns, are believed to have been mainly peaceful since March 14, when the Dalai Lama exhorted demonstrators to avoid violence.

The Olympic torch relay is travelling through China under great scrutiny and with journalists highly controlled in areas such as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The original schedule for the torch relay travelling through Tibet has been changed and it is now reported to be on Saturday 21 June.

Iraqi refugees facing desperate situation

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 21:38:33 +0100

"Omar, a 69-year-old refugee from Baghdad, said he will die a 'slow death' if assistance is stopped. He and his family have depended on food and medical assistance since they fled to Syria in 2006." – UNHCR, May 2008.

Iraq remains one of the most dangerous places in the world. Its refugee crisis is worsening. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, an estimated 4.7 million have been displaced both within and outside Iraq and for many the situation is desperate.

A new report by Amnesty International, Rhetoric and reality: the Iraqi refugee crisis, says that the international community continues to fail to respond to the crisis in a meaningful way. Countries like Jordan and Syria host most of the refugees but are simply not equipped to meet the needs of all those arriving.

Syria alone may be hosting more than a million refugees. As of 2007, only 1 percent of the total Iraqi displaced population was estimated to be in the industrialized world.

To mark World Refugee Day, Amnesty International has called on the international community and, in particular, those states who participated in the US-led invasion of Iraq, to take real steps to alleviate the suffering of those displaced. The organization said these countries must urgently act on their responsibility to assist the host nations and humanitarian organizations operating in the region to support the large numbers of refugees.

"Many refugees are finding it difficult to survive," said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. "They are banned from working and unable to pay rents, buy adequate food for themselves and their families, or obtain medical treatment. Those lucky enough to escape Iraq rely on savings which, for many, are rapidly running out."

Many families are destitute and facing impossible choices and new risks, like having to resort to child labour and the prospect of being forced through circumstances to undertake "voluntary" return to Iraq.

Humanitarian agencies cannot cope with growing demands as more refugees need help with the basics to survive. The UNHCR had planned that by the end of the year it would be distributing food to around 300,000 people in Syria alone. However, the agency recently announced that inadequate funding means that, by August 2008, it will not be able to "cover all basic health needs of Iraqis, and many serious and chronically ill Iraqis will not be able to receive their monthly medication."

Current food aid for 150,000 refugees in Syria and Jordan could be reduced, forcing many Iraqis "into further destitution and raise the likelihood of higher malnutrition rates and increased child labor."

Amnesty International believes it is imperative that the international community increase its contributions to humanitarian agencies such as UNHCR, as well as to the countries hosting Iraqi refugees. Furthermore, there must be a real and sustained effort to resettle vulnerable refugees, such as those with serious medical conditions, to countries where they will receive adequate care.

Manal (not her real name), a refugee living in Damascus, told Amnesty International in February 2008 that three of her children, aged between six and 15 years, work so the family can survive.

Her six-year-old boy sells chewing gum in the street, for about one US dollar a day; her 10-year-old daughter sells chewing gum about three days a week; her oldest son polishes shoes, for the equivalent of about US$2 a day. Her daughter is the only one who goes to school. The family fled to Syria in 2006 after their house in Baghdad was damaged by explosions.

Despite claims among the international community that an "improvement" in the security situation in Iraq has led to people "voluntarily" returning, in reality, most return because they have run out of money and can no longer survive. They return despite the real danger to their lives.

Apart from failing to provide adequate practical and financial support, some states are also rejecting the asylum claims of Iraqis at an alarming rate. More European states are deporting rejected asylum-seekers to Iraq, including countries like Sweden, once a positive example to its European neighbours. Some states are using indirect ways to return people to Iraq, for example cutting off assistance to rejected Iraqi asylum-seekers and therefore forcing them to return "voluntarily".

The failure to respond to the crisis is contributing to the severe deterioration of human rights protection for individuals forced to flee their homes in search of safety. Support is desperately needed so that host countries in the region can meet their own responsibilities in allowing access to all those fleeing violence and human rights abuses.

External Link:

Iraqis in Egypt: Time is running out (Video)

Amnesty International is not responsible for the contents of external sites.

Myanmar government puts cyclone survivors at increased risk

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 11:05:23 +0100

Myanmar's government is keeping aid from reaching survivors of Cyclone Nargis and stepping up efforts to force them out of emergency shelters, according to new research published by Amnesty International. The government's actions place tens of thousands of already vulnerable survivors at increased risk of death, disease and hunger.

On 20 May, Myanmar’s government, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), announced an end to the rescue and relief phase of the disaster response and the beginning of the reconstruction phase. Since then, the SPDC has launched a campaign to force homeless cyclone survivors out of government and unofficial resettlement camps.

The authorities have targeted schools and monasteries, as both were used as polling stations for the delayed May constitutional referendum, and because the school term began on 2 June.

Most of the displaced survivors cannot return to their original homes as large swathes of the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the cyclone, remain largely uninhabitable.

"After surviving the cyclone's fury, thousands of cyclone survivors are now suffering at the hands of the SPDC," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar researcher.

Amnesty International’s findings, which include eyewitness accounts and interviews with people with first-hand information from cyclone-hit areas, highlight the urgent need for the SPDC and international donors to adopt human rights standards as safeguards in the disaster response.

Amnesty International is also concerned about aid delivery. On 16 May, the SPDC mouthpiece New Light of Myanmar pledged to "conduct investigation into the cases [of misappropriation of aid] to expose the offenders and take punitive action against them in accordance with the law." Amnesty International has welcomed such steps and calls on the SPDC to strictly monitor the distribution of aid by its officials and to investigate any allegations of theft, abuse of power or other diversion of aid.

"Given the SPDC’s long track record of abuses, humanitarian agencies should be especially alert to the SPDC diverting or obstructing their aid," said Zawacki, who has been in the region for the past month gathering information from the affected areas.

Amnesty International has confirmed more than 30 instances and accounts of people being forcibly removed from emergency shelters in monasteries, schools and other places.

In the last two weeks, the relocation campaign has become more systematic and widespread. The authorities have forcibly relocated people out of Maungmya, Maubin, Pyapon, and Labutta, where they had been originally displaced, back to their original villages.

Of the 45 camps that existed in Pyapon, by 28 May only three remained. On 23 May, authorities in Yangon forcibly removed more than 3,000 cyclone survivors from an official camp in Shwebaukan in North Dagon Myo Thit, and from an unofficial camp in State High School No. 2 in Dala township.

Abuses also include confiscation and misuse of aid. Amnesty International has received over 40 reports or accounts of aid being confiscated by government officials, diverted or withheld instead of being handed to cyclone survivors.

Despite statements against such conduct by senior SPDC leadership, local officials can act with impunity. For example, Amnesty International received eyewitness testimony that on 26 May, at the Pan Hlaing bridge in Yangon’s Hlaing Tharyar township, Police Major U Luu Win stopped 48 trucks carrying supplies from private Myanmar donors. As of 1 June, the police had not released the trucks.

See also:
Myanmar ethnic group faces crimes against humanity (Report, 5 June 2008)

Myanmar ethnic group faces crimes against humanity

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:06:20 +0100

For over two years the Myanmar army has been waging a military offensive against ethnic Karen civilians in the eastern parts of the country. The ongoing offensive includes widespread and systematic violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, according to a new Amnesty International report. The report describes these violations as crimes against humanity.

The report, Crimes against humanity in eastern Myanmar, says that nearly 150,000 people have been internally displaced in Kayin State and the eastern Bago Division. Many have also been subjected to unlawful killings; enforced disappearances; the imposition of forced labour, as well as the destruction of villages, crops and food-stocks and other forms of collective punishment.

Such violations have been directed at civilians, simply on account of their Karen ethnicity or location in Karen majority areas, or in retribution for activities by the Karen National Liberation Army.

Amnesty International has said that it is concerned that the violations are the result of official State Peace and Development Council (SPDC, the Myanmar government) and tatmadaw policy. The organization has called for an immediate halt to all violations of international human rights and humanitarian law by government forces and aligned militias and for UN Security Council to impose a comprehensive mandatory arms embargo on Myanmar.

See also:
Myanmar government puts cyclone survivors at increased risk (Report, 5 June 2008)

Routine killings of civilians in Somalia

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:44:30 +0100

The dire human rights and humanitarian crisis facing the people of Somalia has been revealed in a groundbreaking new Amnesty International report.

First-hand testimony from scores of traumatized survivors of the conflict is included in the report, which exposes the violations and abuses they have suffered at the hands of a complex mix of perpetrators.

These include Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops on the one hand, as well as armed groups on the other. For many civilians, there is nowhere to go to escape the violence.

“The people of Somalia are being killed, raped, tortured; looting is widespread and entire neighbourhoods are being destroyed,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.

Witnesses told Amnesty International of an increasing incidence of what it locally termed as “slaughtering” or “killing like goats” by Ethiopian troops, referring to killing by slitting the throat. The victims of these killings are often left lying in pools of blood in the streets until armed fighters, including snipers, move out of the area and relatives can collect their bodies.

“The testimony we received strongly suggests that war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity have been committed by all parties to the conflict in Somalia – and no one is being held accountable,” said Michelle Kagari.

“The human rights and humanitarian situation in Somalia is growing worse by the day. This report represents the voices of ordinary Somalis, and their plea to the international community to take action to end the attacks against them, including those committed by internationally-supported TFG and Ethiopian forces.”

Security in many parts of Mogadishu is non-existent and the entire population of the city bears the scars of having witnessed or experienced egregious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“There is no safety for civilians, wherever they run. Those fleeing violence in Mogadishu are attacked on the road and those lucky enough to reach a camp or settlement face further violence and dire conditions.”

The Transitional Federal Government, as the recognized government of Somalia, bears the primary responsibility for protecting the human rights of the Somali people. However, the Ethiopian military, which is taking a leading role in backing the TFG, also bears responsibility.

“Attacks on civilians by all parties must stop immediately. Also, the international community must bear its own responsibility for not putting consistent pressure on the TFG or the Ethiopian government to stop their armed forces from committing egregious human rights violations.”

Amnesty International has urged that the capacity of the UN Political Office for Somalia be strengthened, and that AMISOM – and any succeeding UN peacekeeping mission – be mandated to protect civilians and include a strong human rights component with the capacity to investigate human rights violations. The organization has also called for the UN arms embargo on Somalia to be strengthened.

Olympics Countdown

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 18:01:01 +0100

Amnesty International has published a series of reports in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics detailing the human rights issues in China.

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)