Web pages about "Crimes Against Humanity And War Crimes"

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)

Myanmar: Cyclone survivors at increased risk because of Myanmar government’s actions

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:38:02 +0100

Myanmar’s government is stepping up efforts to force survivors of Cyclone Nargis out of emergency shelters and is keeping aid from reaching them, according to new research published by Amnesty International today. 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.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, including eye witness accounts and interviews with people with first-hand information from cyclone-hit areas, Amnesty International’s findings underscore the urgent need for the SPDC as well as 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 welcomes 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 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, further south 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.

Background
Cyclone Nargis, devastated the Irrawaddy delta on 2 and 3 May 2008, killing tens of thousands of people. More than 130,000 people are believed to be dead or missing and 2.4 million have been seriously affected, many left without essential food, shelter or healthcare. A month after the cyclone, the United Nations announced that it has only been able to provide aid to 40 per cent of the survivors.

The crisis in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis is occurring against a backdrop of grave and longstanding human rights violations. The SPDC currently holds over 1,850 political prisoners in poor conditions. Nearly all key political activists languish behind bars or in hiding. Critics of government policy are routinely harassed, threatened and arrested. For over two years in eastern Myanmar, the army has waged a continuous offensive targeting ethnic Karen civilians in which it has engaged in widespread torture, forced labour, and forcible displacement. Read more on this in the report Crimes against humanity in eastern Myanmar.

Myanmar Briefing: Human rights concerns a month after Cyclone Nargis

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

Russian authorities ruled responsible for Chechen women's disappearance

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 17:35:30 +0100

In a ruling made on 29 May 2008, the European Court of Human Rights has found the Russian authorities responsible for the May 2003 enforced disappearance of two young Chechen women, Aminat Dugaeva and Kurbika Zinabdieva.

“The Court’s ruling is a step forward in the search for justice for Aminat, Kurbika and their families. We will continue to campaign on their behalf and urge the Russian authorities to ensure that the women’s disappearance is fully investigated and that those responsible are brought to justice,” said Nicola Duckworth of Amnesty International.

The women, members of the same family, were abducted on the night of 16 May 2003 from Kurbika’s home in Ulus-Kert, Chechnya, by a group of 20 men wearing blue uniforms and balaclavas.

Aminat was only 15 years old at the time. Kurbika, who suffered from a brain tumour and epilepsy, needed constant care. Their families have had no news of them since.

In its decision of 29 May, Gekhayeva and others v. Russia, the European Court of Human Rights strongly supported the family’s allegation that the abductors were in fact Russian servicemen. The Court also criticised the Russian authorities for their failure to provide documents about the investigation into the case.

The European Court found that the official investigation, launched in 2003, has been incomplete and inadequate. It was suspended from June 2004 to August 2006 and so far has failed to identify those responsible for the women’s disappearance.

As a result, the Court found the Russian authorities to be in grave violation of the European Convention on Human Rights, concluding that:

There had been a violation of the right to life, given that the women had to be presumed dead following their unacknowledged detention by Russian servicemen and that the authorities had not justified the use of lethal force by their agents.
The unacknowledged detention of Aminat and Kurbika violated their right to liberty and security.
The Russian authorities’ handling of complaints by the victims’ families constituted inhuman treatment, given the stress and anguish they had suffered.

The Court also concluded that the Russian authorities had failed to carry out an effective criminal investigation. Serious shortcomings included the authorities’ initial refusal to open a criminal investigation and the suspension of the investigation for more than two years.

Call for arrest of suspected Sudanese war criminals

Tue, 13 May 2008 17:48:03 +0100

Over 2.3 million people have been displaced in the Darfur conflict. More than 90,000 people are believed to have been killed as a result of the conflict, and over 200.000 are thought to have died from conflict related causes. Thousands of women have been raped since the conflict began.

On 27 April 2007 the International Criminal Court (ICC), an international tribunal, issued two arrest warrants against government minister Ahmad Harun and Janjawid leader Ali Kushayb. The two are suspected of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in Darfur, including murder, rape and torture.

The Sudanese authorities have refused so far to allow Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb to be tried by the ICC.

Take action to ensure that persons accused of the worst human rights violations are brought to justice.

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.

Indonesia urged to ratify the Rome Statute

Fri, 02 May 2008 16:26:36 +0100

Indonesia must fulfil its commitment to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in 2008, Amnesty International has urged.

In 2004, the President of Indonesia adopted a National Plan of Action on Human Rights. Significantly, the Plan states that Indonesia intends to ratify the Rome Statute in 2008.

Midway through 2008, however, it remains uncertain whether Indonesia will achieve its target. In particular, national legislation providing for cooperation with the International Criminal Court has not yet been enacted.

Amnesty International has called on Indonesia to take all necessary steps to ratify the Rome Statute this year, to demonstrate its commitment to end impunity for the worst human rights violations: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

What is the International Criminal Court?
The International Criminal Court is a permanent independent judicial body created by the international community to prosecute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Under a system of complementarity, it will only act when national authorities are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute crimes.

The Rome Statute was adopted at an international conference in Rome on 17 July 1998. To date 106 countries - more than half of the world - have ratified. The International Criminal Court, which began work on 1 July 2002 has already commenced four investigations into crimes committed in the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur (Sudan) and Uganda. Its first trial is expected to start this year.

Ethiopia must release mosque attack children

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:11:14 +0100

Ethiopian forces and forces of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) have been accused of targeting civilians in an attack on a Mogadishu mosque on Saturday. Twenty-one people were killed in the attack, which Amnesty International has said may constitute a war crime.

Eleven of the twenty-one dead were killed inside the mosque, including the Iman Sheik Saiid Yahya, Sheik Abdullah Mohamud and a number of Tabliq Islamic scholars. At least ten other individuals were killed in the area around the mosque. Their bodies were later brought to the mosque by local residents.

Seven of the twenty-one were reported to have died after their throats were cut, a form of extra-judicial execution practised by Ethiopian forces in Somalia.

The mosque was raided during extensive conflict in the north eastern area of Mogadishu, in which a number of Ethiopian soldiers were reported to have been killed. According to eye-witnesses, the eleven killed inside the mosque were unarmed civilians taking no active part in hostilities. A spokesperson for the Ethiopian government has denied the involvement of Ethiopian troops in these killings.

Amnesty International is also concerned that approximately 41 children, estimated to range from 9 to 18 years of age, were taken by the Ethiopian military from the Al Hidya mosque where they were attending religious classes. The children are reported to be detained at the Ethiopian military base close to the pasta factory in Mogadishu. Other younger children present were not arrested.

Witnesses have told Amnesty International that Ethiopian forces said these children would be released "once they had been investigated" and "if they were not terrorists".

The Ethiopian military and TFG forces have been fighting against armed groups opposed to them for two days. The Elman Human Rights Organisation has documented 81 deaths and more than one hundred injured in the fighting. It is not known how many of these were civilians.

The attack on the mosque followed increasing attacks by armed groups opposed to the TFG on towns in southern and central Somalia. Local residents of Beledweyne City have reported that members of the Al-Shabab militia killed four teachers in an attack on 13 April. An Al-Shabab leader has claimed that the teachers were shot in crossfire.

The targeting of civilians constitutes a war crime. Amnesty International has called for international action to end impunity for crimes such as these, which are being committed in many areas of Somalia. The organization has said that the Ethiopian Government and TFG must ensure an independent investigation into these killings.

"Any Ethiopian soldiers found to be responsible must be prosecuted in accordance with international fair trial standards without use of the death penalty," said Amnesty International.

The organization is also calling on the United Nations Security Council to take action to end impunity throughout Somalia, through the establishment of an international Commission of Inquiry or similar mechanism to investigate serious human rights abuses and violations being committed in armed conflict in the country.

Thousands lost in Kashmir mass graves

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 12:28:23 +0100

Hundreds of unidentified graves – believed to contain victims of unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other abuses - have been found in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir.

Amnesty International has urged the Indian government to launch urgent investigations into the mass graves, which are thought to contain the remains of victims of human rights abuses in the context of the armed conflict that has raged in the region since 1989.

The findings appear in the report Facts under Ground, issued on 29 March by the Srinagar-based Association of the Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP). The report details the existence of multiple graves which, because of their proximity to Pakistan controlled-areas, are in areas not accessible without the specific permission of the security forces. Since 2006, the graves of at least 940 people are reported to have been discovered in 18 villages in Uri district alone.

The Indian army has claimed that those found buried were armed rebels and "foreign militants" killed lawfully in armed encounters with military forces. However, the report recounts testimonies from local villagers saying that most buried were local residents hailing from the state.

The report alleges that more than 8,000 persons have gone missing in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The Indian authorities put the figure at less than 4.000, claiming that most of these went to Pakistan to join armed opposition groups.

In 2006, a state police report confirmed the deaths in custody of 331 persons, and also 111 enforced disappearances following detention since 1989.

Unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture are violations of both international human rights law and international humanitarian law, set out in treaties to which India is a state party. They also constitute international crimes.

Amnesty International has called on the Indian government to unequivocally condemn enforced disappearances in Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into all sites of mass graves in the region are immediately carried out by forensic experts in line with the relevant UN Model Protocol.

All past and current allegations of enforced disappearances must be investigated and, where there is sufficient evidence, anyone suspected of responsibility for such crimes must be prosecuted in fair trial proceedings, with all victims granted full reparations.

Carnage and despair in Iraq

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:14:10 +0000

Five years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country is still in disarray. The human rights situation is disastrous, a climate of impunity has prevailed, the economy is in tatters and the refugee crisis continues to escalate.

A new Amnesty International report, Carnage and Despair: Iraq five years on, says that, despite the heavy presence of US and Iraqi security forces, Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed every month.

Armed groups, including those opposed to the Iraqi government and the US-led Multi-National Force (MNF), have been responsible for indiscriminate bombings, suicide attacks, kidnappings and torture.

Since early 2006, violence has intensified and become more sectarian, with Sunni and Shi’a armed groups targeting followers of opposite faiths and driving whole communities out of mixed neighbourhoods. This has contributed to the displacement of over four million people. Two million of these are now refugees in Syria and Jordan.

Civilians are also at risk from MNF and Iraqi security forces, with many killed by excessive force and tens of thousands detained without charge or trial. The death penalty was reintroduced in 2004 and hundreds of people have been sentenced to death. At least 33 people were executed in 2007, many after unfair trials.

With the rise of fundamentalist religious groups, conditions for women have also worsened. Many have been forced to wear Islamic dress or targeted for abduction, rape or killing. A survey conducted by the World Heath Organization (WHO) in 2006/2007 in Iraq found that 21.2 percent of Iraqi women had experienced physical violence.

The situation in Iraq has not been helped by the Iraqi government’s failure to investigate effectively the many incidents of human rights abuse - whether committed by security forces or militia groups – and to bring those responsible to justice.

Economic conditions also remain very poor, with most Iraqis suffering from lack of food, shelter, water, sanitation, education, healthcare and employment.

Oxfam reported in July 2007 that 70 percent of Iraqis lacked access to safe drinking water and 43 percent were living on the equivalent of less than a dollar per day. Eight million Iraqis are in need of emergency assistance, with children the worst hit. Child malnutrition rates have increased from 19 percent during the period from 1991-2003, when international sanctions were imposed on the country under Saddam Hussein, to 28 percent in 2007.

The predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq has been more stable with fewer acts of violence, and has seen growing economic prosperity and foreign investment. However, here too there continue to be serious human rights violations, including arrests for peaceful political dissent, torture, ill-treatment, the death penalty and the killing of women in so-called honour crimes.

The invasion of Iraq started on 19 March 2003, with US military strikes on Baghdad. US President George W Bush declared the war over that May and, on 8 June 2004, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1546, declaring that Iraq’s occupation would end on 30 June 2004.

The Resolution stated that the MNF would stay in Iraq until the end of 2005. Since then, the MNF’s presence has been extended on a yearly basis by the UN Security Council and the Iraqi government.

Executive power was transferred back to an Iraqi government in June 2004 but successive administrations have been unable to stop the violence and bring a durable peace. According to a January 2008 survey by the WHO and the Iraq's Health Ministry, 151,000 people were killed from March 2003 till June 2006. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), some 34,452 people were killed during 2006, with thousands injured.

Palestinian homes demolished without warning

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:46:11 +0000

The Israeli army demolished more homes in Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning. The homes and property of Palestinian families in the villages of Hadidiya, Jiftlik and Furush Beit Dajan, in the Jordan Valley area of the occupied West Bank, were demolished.

Amnesty International's researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories witnessed the demolitions. Donatella Rovera described the scene:

"In all the places, most of the people are children. These homes mostly have three generations – the grandparents, parents and children. In Hadidiya, there were four families, in Furush Beit Dajan, five families.

"All of the people have had homes demolished before, but this time they had no warning. The people were very, very upset. They were running to get their things out of their homes, but the bulldozer just went on demolishing."

Soldiers of the Israeli army arrived early in the morning in jeeps accompanied by a bulldozer and then demolished the buildings where the four families were living. The destroyed properties belonged to Mohammed Fahed Bani Odeh, Mohammed Ali Shaikh Bani Odeh, Ali Shaikh Musleh Bani Odeh and Omar 'Arif Mohammed Bisharat and their families – at least 34 people, including some 26 children.

After destroying these homes, the soldiers moved on to destroy homes and livelihoods in Jiftlik and Furush Beit Dajan, where homes have previously been demolished in recent months.

"In Jiftlik, they are destroying a farm – it is one of the rare farms here and there is otherwise not much livelihood for the people. They first bulldozed the vegetable area a couple of months ago; then they bulldozed the home last month," said Donatella Rovera.

"The family of Mahmud Mat'ab Da'ish, his wife and seven children were given a tent by the Red Cross and they started planting vegetables again. Today, the army has been bulldozing the green plants.

"In all three locations the soldiers haven't allowed us to get near, I don't even know if they have a military order to destroy everything - we asked them but they didn't show us anything."

The families in Hadidiya have lived in the same area for generations, herding sheep and goats and cultivating land on the Jordan hills. They have come under increasing pressure from the Israeli army to leave the area. The same four families had their homes destroyed in February this year and other homes were demolished several times by the Israeli army in 2007.

The demolitions are part of intensified efforts by the Israeli army to expel Palestinians from the area of the Jordan Valley. Much of the Jordan Valley, including the Hadidiya area, has been designated by the Israeli authorities as a "closed military area" and the army has been exerting increased pressure on local Palestinian villagers to force them to out of the area.

For years, the Israeli authorities have pursued a policy of discriminatory house demolition, on the one hand allowing scores of Israeli settlements to be built on occupied Palestinian land, in breach of international law, while simultaneously confiscating Palestinian lands, refusing building permits for Palestinians and destroying their homes. The land vacated has often been used to build illegal Israeli settlements. International law forbids occupying powers from settling their own citizens in the territories they occupy.

The demolitions come one day after the Israeli government came under international criticism for approving the construction of hundreds of new houses for Israelis in the Givat Ze'ev settlement north of Jerusalem. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the government to "halt settlement expansion" in the West Bank. Javier Solana, the European Union (EU)'s foreign policy chief, said the EU opposed the move to expand the settlement.