Amnesty International News & Updates Feed

Pakistan ratifies key UN human rights treaty

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:24:14 +0100

Pakistan has ratified a key UN human rights treaty and signed two others.

“Becoming a state party to UN human rights conventions is a key step to ensuring human rights are respected, protected and realized for all in Pakistan in line with international standards,” said Amnesty International.

The organization has called on the Pakistani authorities to grasp this opportunity and address the pressing human rights problems in the country.

When presenting its candidature for the elections of the Human Rights Council in April 2006, Pakistan committed itself to early ratification of core human rights treaties.

On 17 April 2008, Pakistan moved to uphold this pledge, ratifying the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and signing both the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT).

Amnesty International has repeatedly, over many years, urged Pakistan to ratify these and other UN human rights treaties.

Amnesty International has called upon the Government of Pakistan to promptly ratify the ICCPR and the UNCAT and enact implementing legislation to ensure that the three treaties become part of Pakistan’s domestic law. It should also ratify all other human rights treaties and their optional protocols, as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and give full effect to international human rights treaties in policy and practice.

Amnesty International has also urged the new Pakistan authorities to release, or else disclose, the fate and whereabouts of all victims of enforced disappearance; to end all secret, incommunicado and administrative detentions; to end all torture and other ill-treatment and repeal all laws which carry cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments; and to declare a moratorium on all death sentences and commute the death sentences of the over 7000 people currently on death row.

Royal pardon for Moroccan demonstrators

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:29:19 +0100

Eight men convicted of undermining the monarchy in Morocco last year have been released after they were pardoned by the King on Friday, 4 April. Nine others facing judicial proceedings based on the same charges also benefited from the Royal pardon.

All of those pardoned were members of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights. Seven of them were arrested on 1 may 2007 for chanting slogans critical of the monarchy, five in Lksar Elkbir and two in Agadir. They were sentenced to between three and five years in prison.

Ten others were arrested in later demonstrations in solidarity with the detainees, among them 73-year-old Mohamed Bougrine. He was also sentenced to prison and his health was said to deteriorate while in detention.

The monarchy remains a taboo subject in Morocco. Any criticism of the king can be considered to undermine the monarchy. In recent years, several people, including journalists and political activists, have been prosecuted and in some cases, sentenced to prison terms for peacefully expressing views critical of the monarchy.

Amnesty International, who adopted the men as prisoners of conscience, imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their rights, welcomed their release.

However, the organization voiced concern that Moroccan legislation can be used to criminalise the peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.

Amnesty International is urging the Moroccan authorities to bring Moroccan legislation into line with their obligations under Article 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Iranian trade unionist freed

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 17:43:32 +0100

A prominent trade unionist in Iran has been released from detention after serving a one-year prison sentence. Independent labour activist, Mahmoud Salehi, one of the co-founders of the Bakery Workers’ Trade Union in Saqez, was released on bail on Sunday 6 April, according to reports.

Mahmoud Salehi has been the object of strong, unified international lobbying by international trade union and human rights’ organizations since 2007. Amnesty International has joined with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) to launch a series of joint demonstrations and protests in front of Iranian embassies around the world.

Salehi was originally sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for organizing an independent workers rally in Saqez on International Labour Day, 1 May 2004. His sentence was reduced on appeal to one year’s imprisonment and a three-year suspended prison term.

He finally began serving the sentence on 9 April 2007 in Saqez, before being transferred to a high security prison in Sanandaj, capital of Kordestan Province. His state of health severely deteriorated while in jail, after prison authorities repeatedly denied him proper medical care for acute kidney failure and other serious ailments.

An international day of action on 6 March 2008 brought trade union and other activists into the street in 35 countries, demonstrating in support of both Salehi and Mansour Ossanlu (or Osanloo). Ossanlu is President of the Tehran bus drivers’ union and remains in detention at Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison.

One week later, the authorities levelled new charges against Salehi, who had originally been due for release on 23 March. Observers believe the new accustations were brought against him as a reaction to the day of action and in retaliation for solidarity messages that Salehi had managed to smuggle out of jail.

Since his release, Salehi has returned to Saqez, where he was met by family and friends. The ITUC, ITF and Amnesty International have welcomed news of Salehi’s release, but, in a joint statement, reminded Iran’s authorities that Ossanlu and other unjustly imprisoned trade unionists must be freed.

Activists released from prison in Ethiopia

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 12:19:51 +0100

Two human rights activists have been released from prison in Ethiopia having been detained since November 2005. Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie were released on Friday after receiving a presidential pardon.

The two signed a letter "acknowledging mistakes" committed in relation to the 2005 elections. It is not yet clear if the pardon is unconditional.

Daniel Bekele is the policy manager of ActionAid in Ethiopia. Netsanet Demissie is the founder and director of the Organization for Social Justice in Ethiopia. Both are prominent human rights lawyers.

Both men chose to enter a defence, unlike other co-accused, during a trial that ran for over two years. In December 2007, they were convicted by a majority verdict of the Ethiopian Federal High Court of provoking and preparing "outrages against the Constitution" and were sentenced to 30 months imprisonment.

According to Amnesty International, the prosecution failed to present evidence that either Daniel Bekele or Netsanet Demissie incited violence and the judges convicted them on the basis of the testimonies of two witnesses whose credibility was doubtful and strongly contested by the defence. The Ethiopian government barred representatives from Amnesty International from observing the trial in July 2007.

Amnesty International welcomed the releases, but said that the two prisoners of conscience should be compensated for the time they spent in prison.

"These two men did not commit any acts for which they need to seek pardon," said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty International’s Africa Programme.

“They were prisoners of conscience, detained and convicted solely for their peaceful work as human rights defenders. They should have their convictions unconditionally pardoned, and should receive compensation for the period they were unfairly imprisoned.”

Freedom for Moroccan jailed over Facebook profile

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 14:30:53 +0000

A Moroccan who was jailed for creating a Facebook profile of a prince has been released from prison. Fouad Mourtada, a 26-year-old IT engineer, was freed on Tuesday after being pardoned by the king.

Fouad Mourtada had been given a three-year prison term and fined 10,000 dirhams (US$1,320) in February for creating a profile of Morocco's Prince Moulay Rachid on Facebook. He was convicted after a trial in Casablanca.

Two Amnesty International delegates observed the trial. They said they were concerned that the trial failed to satisfy international fair trial standards.

Benedicte Goderiaux, one of the organisation's observers, welcomed the release, but said "Allegations that Fouad Mourtada was ill-treated by police during interrogation still need to be investigated."

Guatemala disappearance trial begins

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 11:03:48 +0000

Guatemala's first ever trial for enforced disappearances began last week. A former paramilitary, Felipe Cusanero, was accused on Monday 10 March of participating in the enforced disappearance of six civilians, with the complicity of the army.

Cusanero is accused of forcibly disappearing Lorenzo Ávila, Alejo Culajay, Filomena López, Encarnación López, Santiago Sutuj y Mario Tay between November 1982 and October 1984.

The prosecution began in 2003 when six inhabitants of Choatalum filed a legal complaint against Cusanero before the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Chimaltenango. According to the UN-sponsored Commission for Historical Clarification, reporting in 1999, Choatalum, a small village within the Municipality of San Marin Jilotepeque, witnessed a large number of human rights violations during the internal armed conflict.

The term "enforced disappearance" refers to state-sponsored abductions in which the victim's whereabouts and fate remain unknown. The internal armed conflict, which began in 1960, left an estimated 200,000 people dead (including approximately 45,000 "disappearances”) before hostilities ended with a peace agreement in 1996.

Breakthrough in Canadian Indigenous rights flashpoint

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:37:26 +0000

An Indigenous Canadian community’s longstanding campaign to stop clear-cut logging on its land has prompted a multinational paper company to stop buying wood fibre from the area.

On 27 February, Boise Inc announced that it would “stand in support of Amnesty International’s recommendation” and not buy any wood fibre from the traditional territory of Grassy Narrows First Nation in northwest Ontario until the community has given its consent to logging.

“Boise has done the right thing,” says Craig Benjamin, campaigner for the human rights of Indigenous peoples for Amnesty International’s Canadian section. “The company has set an example that we hope other companies and the Province of Ontario will follow.”

The Anishnaabe people of Grassy Narrows rely on the forest for hunting, trapping, harvesting food and other activities central to their culture and their livelihood. In 1873, they signed Treaty No 3 with the Government of Canada, recognizing that they had the right to pursue those activities throughout their traditional land use area.

Amnesty International’s ongoing research at Grassy Narrows has confirmed that the province of Ontario has allowed large-scale logging to proceed without adequate human rights protections and in violation of its own obligations under Canadian law.

On 2 December 2002, the youth of Grassy Narrows laid down in the path of industrial logging machines, blocking access to their traditional territory. Their action sparked the longest-standing Indigenous logging blockade in Canadian history.

In January 2007, Grassy Narrows community leaders declared a moratorium “on further industrial activity in our Traditional Territory until such time as the Governments of Canada and Ontario restore their honour and obtain the consent of our community in these decisions that will forever alter the future of our people.”

Courts have repeatedly ruled that governments in Canada have a clear legal obligation to carry out meaningful consultation in every instance when considering plans that could impact on the rights of Indigenous peoples.

The Supreme Court of Canada says that when the rights of Indigenous peoples are at stake, there is a duty to consult "in good faith and with the intention of substantially addressing the concerns of the aboriginal peoples whose lands are at issue."

Despite this, Ontario’s government has done little to protect the rights of the people of Grassy Narrows, who have had control over their traditional lands and territories taken from them before.

In the 1950s, the building of two hydro-electric dams flooded large areas of land. Wild rice beds central to their culture were wiped out. Sacred sites and the local fishery were also disrupted.

In the 1970s, a pulp and paper mill contaminated their rivers with an estimated ten tonnes of mercury. This has caused long-term health problems.

Today, about half of their traditional territory has been logged to supply mills run by the transnational corporations Abitibi Consolidated and Weyerhaeuser.

In September 2007, an Amnesty International paper detailed Grassy Narrow’s history of disastrous social and economic upheaval as a consequence of government decisions. The paper called on the province “to respect the moratorium declared by the people of Grassy Narrows and to halt all clear-cut logging and other industrial development in the traditional territory until free, prior and informed consent has been given.”

Three Australians spared death penalty in Bali

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 17:34:17 +0000

Three members of the so-called Bali Nine have had their death sentences reduced to life imprisonment following a judicial review by the Supreme Court. Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen and Tan Duc Thanh were spared execution by firing squad.

The three had been on death row since 2006 when the Supreme Court, ruling on an appeal, had increased their original life sentences, for smuggling drugs in Bali, to sentences of death.

Three of the Bali Nine continue to face execution. Scott Rush, Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan challenged the validity of the death penalty in drugs cases before the Constitutional Court, but had their case rejected in October 2007. Renae Lawrence is serving a 20-year sentence and Michael Czugaj and Martin Stephens were sentenced to life.

Amnesty International welcomed the news of the three commuted sentences and called on the Indonesian Government to abolish the death penalty.

“The application of the death penalty is a violation to the right of life and the right not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” said Tim Parrrit, Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director.

In total, 11 people were sentenced to death in Indonesia last year.

Tim Parritt said that, while it is legitimate for the Indonesian government to take appropriate law-enforcement measures against drug offenders, there is no scientific evidence that the death penalty deters would-be traffickers more effectively than other punishments.

“We call on the Indonesian government to follow the example set by 135 countries around the world which have already abolished the death penalty in law or practice, including neighbouring Philippines which abolished the death penalty in 2006,” said Tim Parritt.

The trend towards total abolition continued in 2007 with the UN General Assembly adopting a resolution calling for a global moratorium on executions. The resolution was supported by 104 countries in favour, with 54 countries against.

Cuba signs up for human rights

Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:22:17 +0000

Cuba signed two major human rights treaties at the UN in New York on Thursday. The country’s Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez Roque, signed the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The treaties commit Cuba to respect rights including freedom of expression and association, and freedom of movement

Amnesty International welcomed the news and called on the country to ratify both treaties without reservation. Fernanda Doz Costa, Cuba researcher at Amnesty’s Americas Programme, said that the Cuban authorities "must honour their human rights commitments by introducing measures to guarantee freedom of expression and independence of the judiciary, starting with the unconditional release of the current 58 prisoners of conscience.

"Amnesty International urges Cuba to accept the full range of obligations under these covenants, because human rights norms are the legal expression of the essential rights that every person is entitled to as a human being."

The covenants were signed just days after 76-year-old Raul Castro was unanimously selected to succeed his brother Fidel as leader by Cuba’s National Assembly. Speaking about the new Cuban leadership, Amnesty International Special Advisor Javier Zuñiga said that they "must take advantage of this change to introduce much needed reforms to guarantee the protection of human rights."

Zuniga also called for "the judicial review of all sentences passed after unfair trials, the abolition of the death penalty and the introduction of measures to ensure respect of fundamental freedoms and the independence of the judiciary."

Cuba has recently released four political prisoners arrested during a crackdown on the opposition in 17 & 18 March 2003. Reporters Jose Ramon and Alejandro Gonzalez, dissident Omar Pernet and trade unionist Pedro Alvarez were among 75 prominent figures convicted of being mercenaries in the pay of the US government. Amnesty International also welcomed their release considering it "a very positive step", but urged Raul Castro to urgently release the 58 remaining incarcerated prisoners of conscience.

Mr Roque announced the Cuban government’s intention to sign the agreements in December 2007. The announcement coincided with an increasing crackdown against dissidents between 21 November and 10 December – International Human Rights Day – when many political dissidents were arbitrarily arrested because of their involvement in peaceful protests.

At the time of the announcement, Kerrie Howard, Deputy Director at Amnesty International’s Americas Programme, said that "the Cuban government must signal its true commitment to human rights treaties by acting to release all those detained solely for their peaceful political activities and ensuring that all human rights are respected and promoted across the country."

FARC releases four more hostages

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:34:58 +0000

Four more hostages have been released by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Former Congress members Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Pérez, Orlando Beltrán and Jorge Géchem were released on Wednesday after over six years in captivity. Their release was reported to have been brokered by Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez.

The releases raise hopes that the guerrillas will free more of their estimated 700 hostages. Amnesty International, in welcoming the releases, called for the urgent release of all remaining hostages being held throughout the country.

Susan Lee, director of Amnesty International’s Americas programme, said that the releases are "very positive news but we must not forget about the hundreds of civilians who are still being held hostage across Colombia. They must be immediately and unconditionally released."

However the FARC, who want to exchange their high-profile prisoners for hundreds of jailed guerrillas, have indicated that they will not free any more hostages until Colombia creates a demilitarised zone for talks. Colombian President Álvaro Uribe has said that he will only offer peace talks to FARC if they first lay down their weapons, which they have refused to do.

All parties in Colombia's long-running armed conflict – the security forces, paramilitaries acting alone or in conjunction with the armed forces, and guerrilla groups – continue to abuse human rights and violate international humanitarian law.

"We urge both sides in the conflict to stop targeting civilians and call on the Colombian government to investigate all human rights abuses committed in the country and to bring those responsible to justice," said Susan Lee.