Amnesty International Appeals for Action Feed

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.

Pressure is on to elect strong and effective Human Rights Council

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 13:58:01 +0100

The UN General Assembly will elect, in direct and individual elections and by secret ballot, 15 new members of the Human Rights Council on 21 May 2008. The Council is the principal human rights political body of the United Nations.

All members of the United Nations have a duty to ensure that the Human Rights Council is a strong and effective body for the protection and promotion of all human rights in all countries. To achieve this, it is crucial that all states elected to the Council demonstrate commitment to the highest human rights standards.

Governments must put human rights at the heart of their decisions and vote only for those countries that are truly committed to promoting and protecting human rights.

Nearly 20 countries have, so far, declared their candidature to the Council and, in line with current practice, all candidate countries should now submit voluntary human rights pledges.

Amnesty International does not campaign for or against individual countries, but makes information available to Member States to help inform their voting in these elections. This information includes human rights profiles of candidate countries and an overview of their election pledges for purposes of comparison.

Governments are acting on our behalf in these elections and should be aware that the world is watching these elections in the hope that truly human rights committed members are elected to serve on the Council. You can help keep the pressure up by calling on your government’s representatives to the United Nations to vote to ensure a strong Human Rights Council.

Human Rights Council elections 2008
2008 Elections to the UN Human Rights Council. Prospective members of the Human Rights Council must demonstrate solid commitment to human rights

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.

Free Nigerian prisoner

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 17:46:17 +0100

Patrick Okoroafor was just 14 years old when he was arrested in May 1995. Two years later, he was sentenced to death for robbery, along with six others. He did not have the right to appeal and was reported to have been tortured while in police detention.

In 2001, his sentence of death was pronounced “illegal, null and void”, but he was never released. He remains locked up "during the pleasure of the Governor of Imo State" (at the discretion of the Imo State Governor) - effectively in indefinite detention - in Aba prison, Abia state, having spent almost half his life in detention.

“Patrick only went to the police station because the police wanted to inspect a car our mother had bought from one of the other suspects. That is when they arrested him. We tried to get him released, but the police refused,” says his brother. He claims Patrick was tortured by the Nigerian police, who beat him and pulled out his teeth with pliers.

Along with one of the six other co-defendants, Chidiebere Onuoha, who was 15 at the time of arrest, Patrick petitioned for clemency on grounds of age. On 18 July 1997, Patrick's sentence was commuted to life imprisonment but Chidiebere Onuoha and the five other men were publicly executed.

Prison has also had serious consequences for Patrick's health; he suffers from asthma attacks described by prison authorities as "frequent and life-threatening" and his condition "worsens daily".

In November 2001, Patrick pleaded for pardon, writing: "The tribunal ritual was a nightmare to me because I’m totally innocent of the charges levelled against me, I have spent these years of undeserved incarceration crying, praying and reading…” His plea was rejected by the Imo State Governor in March 2002.

Amnesty International, along with the Nigerian Bar Association and Nigerian NGOs, has called for his release.

Darfur's children of conflict

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:38:48 +0100

The United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force to Darfur (UNAMID) was deployed on 31 December 2007, but little has changed for the children of the region. Since December there have been a number of attacks by government forces and armed militia.

Each attack has left men, women and children dead and displaced. Obstructions to the effective deployment of UNAMID by the Government of Sudan and armed groups have continued.

The Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which provides the legal framework within which UNAMID operates, was signed on 9 February 2008 by the Government of Sudan and UNAMID. The force, however, still suffers from inadequate military hardware and human resources and it is not yet effectively protecting civilians.

A generation of Darfuris is growing up in extreme fear and insecurity. Of the four million people affected by the conflict in Darfur, 1.8 million are children under 18.

Of the 2.3 million people who have been displaced, one million are children. Since April 2006, the conflict has created 120,000 newly displaced children.

In February 2008, Sudanese forces and government-backed militias attacked villages in West Darfur. 800 children between the ages of 12 and 18 were left unaccounted for by the attacks.

This April, children in Darfur reaching their fifth birthdays will have never known peace. This marks five years in which the international community has failed to respond adequately to the scale of the crisis.
Many of the children living in the camps are traumatized by what they have seen. Children outside the camps live in fear of attacks on their villages. Schools have been burnt down.

The children in the camps and outside the camps are facing an uncertain future and some are recruited, forcibly or willingly, to serve as child soldiers. The climate of fear, rising domestic and sexual violence and uncertainty is compromising their security today. The lack of access to education is jeopardizing their future.

Hu Jia jailed for three and a half years

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 10:37:13 +0100

Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia has been convicted of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to three and a half years inprison.

After months under house arrest, Hu Jia was detained on 27 December 2007. He was formally charged on 28 January 2008 and went on trial on18 March at the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court.

"This verdict is punishment for Hu Jia’s public critiques of human rights violations in China and a warning to any other activists in China who dare to raise human rights concerns publicly,” said Amnesty International.

“It also makes a mockery of promises made by Chinese officials that human rights would improve in the run-up to the Olympics.”

Prior to his formal detention, Hu Jia had publicly expressed concerns over human rights abuses by police in Beijing, including the arrest of activists without the necessary legal procedures. This included the case of land rights activist Yang Chunlin and human rights defender Lu Gengsong, both also detained on subversion charges.

While detained, Hu has been subjected to 47 lengthy and repeated interrogations. He was denied access to his lawyer, members of his family and medical treatment, including necessary daily medication for liver disease resulting from a Hepatitis B infection. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, is still under house arrest with their newborn baby.

Amnesty International considers Hu Jia a prisoner of conscience and has demanded his immediate and unconditional release. The organization urges the International Olympic Committee and world leaders with a stake in the Olympics to publicly express their concern about his plight - and that of numerous other peaceful activists in China who have been silenced in the run-up to the Games. A failure to speak out would be a "conspiracy of silence" that will be perceived by the authorities as a tacit endorsement of such repression.

Hu started his activism as an AIDS activist in 2001. He is the co-founder of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education and of Loving Source, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children from AIDS families.

Due to his activities and outspokenness, Hu Jia was repeatedly harassed and beaten by police. According to his wife Zeng Jinyan: “Not counting one time in 2002, when Hu was detained by police while interviewing AIDS village inhabitants, he will have been under various forms of imprisonment for exactly four years on 3 April 2008.”

Hu’s focus broadened and he began reporting on wider human rights violations and giving interviews to foreign media. In November 2007, he participated via webcam in a European Union parliamentary hearing in Brussels in which he stated that China had failed to fulfill its promises to improve human rights in the run-up to the Olympics.

In an article on his blog dated 10 September 2007, Hu Jia says: "Everyone should know that the country that is about to host the Olympics is one without democratic elections, freedom of religion, independent courts or independent unions. It prohibits protests and labor strikes. It is a state that carries out widespread torture, discrimination, and employs a large secret police system. It is a nation that violates human rights standards and human dignity, and is not ready to fulfil its international obligations."

In a joint press conference with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband in Beijing on 28 February 2008, China's foreign minister Yang Jiechi said: "No one will get arrested because he said that human rights are more important than the Olympics. This is impossible."

Amnesty International believes this verdict makes a mockery of the notion that Chinese citizens are free to hold opinions and to speak their mind without retribution from the authorities, and serves as a warning to other activists in China who might dare raise human rights concerns publicly.

Related information

What human rights legacy for the Beijing Olympics? (Report abstract, 2 April 2008)

Permission denied - housing rights activist in prison

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:54:35 +0100

Housing rights activist Ye Guozhu is serving a four-year prison sentence after he applied for permission to hold a demonstration against forced evictions in Beijing.

In December 2004, Ye Guozhu, then aged 49, was convicted of “picking quarrels and stirring up trouble” because of his opposition to the seizure and demolition of property to make way for new construction projects for this year’s Olympic games.

Ye Guozhu’s restaurant and living quarters were among many properties seized when officials of Beijing’s Xuanwu District conspired with developers to forcibly evict a large number of city residents. He received no compensation.

He is reported to have been tortured while in detention. Suspended from the ceiling by the arms and beaten repeatedly by police before his trial, he was also beaten with electro-shock batons in Chaobai prison, Beijing, towards the end of 2006.

He was then sent twice to Qingyuan prison for periods of “discipline”, most recently in February 2007 for 10 months, apparently because he tried to appeal his conviction.

The Chinese authorities have failed to either confirm or deny these reports, but official sources have confirmed that he was receiving treatment for ‘hypertension’. They have also confirmed that he was held in Chaobai prison and due for release on 26 July 2008.

The prison authorities are reported to only be giving him basic medicine for high blood pressure and preventing members of his family from supplying him with medicine. Ye is believed to be held incommunicado while under “discipline” in Qingyuan prison.

Ye Mingjun and Ye Guoqiang, son and brother of Ye Guozhu, were detained by Beijing police on suspicion of "inciting subversion" at the end of September 2007. They had protested against forced evictions that were reported to have been carried out to clear space for construction for the Beijing Olympics.

Ye Mingjun was released on bail in October 2007, but warned not to speak to the media as this could have a “negative impact” on his situation and that of his father. Ye Guoqiang was released on bail in January 2008, but on condition that he did not contact anyone overseas or continue with his petitioning activities.

The development of Beijing in preparation for the Olympics has seen many homes torn down. Jiang Yu, spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said that, as of June 2007, 6,037 families had been displaced by Olympics related projects since 2002.

The Geneva-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions estimates that more than 1.25 million people have been displaced in Beijing in connection to urban redevelopment projects, some of which are directly linked to construction projects for the Beijing Olympics, and that that number will rise to 1.5 million by August 2008. Many have reportedly been evicted without full procedural protection or due process and without adequate compensation.
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Most residents are relocated to what has been called poor housing on the outskirts of Beijing. Real estate companies – often owned by or affiliated with the local authorities carrying out the evictions – may then sell the land to developers for a profit.

Forced evictions are in violation of human rights including the right to adequate housing enshrined in Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which China has ratified. While the Chinese government has taken steps to protect people from forced evictions – implementation of such laws and regulations remains weak.

Amnesty International considers Ye Guozhu to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely as a result of his peacefully held beliefs. Amnesty International calls for his immediate and unconditional release.

The organization further calls on the Chinese government to stop the forced eviction of individuals from their homes carried out without full procedural protection, due process, government provision of adequate alternative accommodation for those unable to provide for themselves, and adequate compensation for any property affected.

Time to release Aung San Suu Kyi

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:59:06 +0000

There are more than 1,850 known political prisoners and prisoners of conscience in Myanmar (formerly Burma). Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is the best-known.

The co-founder of Myanmar's main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), Aung San Suu Kyi is also one of the country's best-known political figures and campaigners for human rights.

Aung San Suu Kyi has endured unofficial detention, house arrest and restrictions on her movement since 1989, all aimed at preventing her from becoming the national leader of Myanmar. She has been under house arrest since July 2003 and her most recent detention will be up for review on 27 May 2008.

Aung San Suu Kyi is also a member of the global Elders but, because she is under strict house arrest, she cannot join them in their international work celebrating and promoting the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Her continued absence is a powerful reminder of the unrelenting repression in Myanmar and what must be done to make human rights a reality.

For more information about Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and three other prisoners of conscience from different generations, please see:
Myanmar: Eighteen years of persecution

International Women's Day 2008. Safe Schools: every girl's right!

Sat, 01 Mar 2008 15:26:53 +0000

International Women’s Day is a time to celebrate women’s achievements and look ahead to the exciting opportunities that await women. The key to a bright future is choice. Women must be free to choose the path that is right for them, a path that is out of harm’s way and allows them to move forward and realize their potential.

Education is a crucial step in this journey. It is crucial to breaking cycles of poverty, violence and disease. Education is a human right, and therefore every girl’s right.

As the 100 year anniversary of International Women’s Day draws close, and 60 years after human rights were enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, girls across the world find a range of barriers to education:

Girls are assaulted on the way to school, attacked in schools grounds and teased by their classmates. Some are threatened with sexual assault by other students, coerced into sex by teachers, even raped in the staff room.
In countries wracked by war, girls are at risk from armed groups and from attacks on their schools. Sexual abuse and exploitation are problems for girls living in refugee camps or displaced people’s camps.
Certain girls face an increased risk of violence at school. Certain aspects of girls’ identities, including their sexuality, status as migrants, orphans or refugees, caste, ethnicity and race, can increase their risk of abuse.
Although free primary education should be available to all children, schools around the world commonly charge user fees. Girls are more likely to be excluded than boys when there isn’t enough money to go round.

Violence leads to countless girls being kept out of school, dropping out, or not fully participating in school life. Effects range from pain and fear, to lowered self-esteem, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and depression. In many cases, abuses go unreported.

The problem is exacerbated by the fact that girls often choose not to report what continues to be a taboo issue in some societies, or for fear of retaliation. That leaves such acts under-reported and allows their perpetrators to go unpunished.

There is no justification for the lack of action. The issue is not about resources but political will. Governments, teachers and school authorities must work to prevent violence against girls in schools, must promptly investigate reports of abuse, impose appropriate punishments on offenders, support those who have suffered from violence to recover and ensure that such abuses do not recur.

Join Amnesty International’s campaign to protect girls’ rights to safety, equality and education. Make schools safe for girls.

READ MORE:
Safe Schools
Stop Violence Against Women

Rights under siege in post-election Zimbabwe

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:22:31 +0000

In the wake of the presidential and parliamentary elections which took place in Zimbabwe on 29 March 2008, violent attacks on opposition supporters are increasing.

By 18 April, Amnesty International had received confirmed reports of one death and over 240 people injured as a result of state-sponsored human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

The number of casualties has risen sharply since the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) called a general strike on Tuesday 15 April. Forty-two recorded cases were treated by doctors on 17 April alone.

At least 150 people have been arrested since 14 April and on the morning of 18 April were detained in Harare Central police station alone.

Violence appears to be targeted at active supporters of the MDC and their families, particularly those in rural areas and low income suburbs where the MDC appears to have gained more votes than the ruling the Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party. Mashonaland East and West provinces have been particularly badly affected and numbers of reported incidents of violence are on the increase in Harare.

Victims report receiving death threats unless they vote "correctly" in a second round of voting should it be found that there was no outright winner of the presidential vote.

Many of the casualties have seen their homes, food reserves and livestock destroyed and are now displaced. Hundreds of homesteads are reported to have been burnt in Manicaland and Mashonaland East.

Perpetrators of the violence include so-called “war veterans” and supporters of the ruling party, as well as police officers and soldiers. State actors are accused of working hand-in-hand with ZANU-PF supporters. Individuals have been abducted from their homes by members of the military, in uniform and in plain clothes, as well as by ZANU-PF supporters.