Web pages about "Disappearances And Abductions"

Ingrid Betancourt freed

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:36:08 +0100

Amnesty International has welcomed the news that on 2 July former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt at last gained her freedom after more than six years in captivity at the hands of the guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

Ingrid Betancourt, kidnapped in 2002, was freed along with three US contractors, kidnapped by the FARC in 2003, as well as 11 members of the Colombian security forces held captive by the guerrilla group. The Colombian government has said the 15 were freed following a military operation by the Colombian security forces.

"We must not, however, forget the hundreds of other civilians still being held, mainly by the FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN), which must release all of them immediately and unconditionally, as well as commit to put an immediate end to all kidnapping and hostage-taking", Amnesty International said.
All those held captive must be treated humanely, regardless of whether these are civilians or members of the security forces.

Spotlight on torture

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:24:55 +0100

On 26 June, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Amnesty International members and supporters are taking action around the world. They are calling on governments to reaffirm their commitment to the consensus affirmed after the Second World War - that torture and other ill-treatment are absolutely prohibited.

Click on the pictures to the right to watch a slideshow with images of the day.

Recently, there has been a new and acute threat to the international prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment in the context of government responses to the threat of terrorism. It is the validity of the absolute prohibition itself that has been challenged by the actions of governments around the world.

What this means in reality is that individuals are subjected to horrific practices. In the context of government counter-terrorism strategies, Amnesty International has documented practices such as:

beatings, electric shocks, simulated drowning, prolonged isolation and other physical abuse;
the return of individuals to countries where they are at risk of torture, sometimes on the basis of flimsy “diplomatic assurances”;
secret detention.

Amnesty International is calling on all governments to: condemn all forms of torture and other ill-treatment; prevent torture, including through ending secret and incommunicado detention; and hold to account those responsible for authorising, facilitating, or inflicting torture or other ill-treatment.

Today is not a day of passive remembrance but one for action: governments and citizens across the world should act to reverse the trend of recent years and eradicate these cruel and inhuman practices.

Don’t let torture go unchallenged:

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;

Write to the Tunisian government and demand it taks steps to end torture and other ill-treatment;

Video: Torture can never be justified

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:43:42 +0100

Video placeholder

In the video:

Murat Kurnaz, former detainee in Afghanistan and Guantánamo

President Jimmy Carter, US President 1977 - 1981

Manfred Nowak, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture

Mary Robinson, Former Irish President 1990 - 1997

Abu Omar, Victim of rendition and secret detention

Malcolm Nance, former counter-terrorism advisor for the US government

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.

Video: Abu Omar, victim of rendition and secret detention

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:57:10 +0100

Video placeholder

US and Italian agents snatched Abu Omar from the streets of Milan in February 2003

He was rendered by US agents, via Germany, to Egypt, where he was held for nearly four years, including 14 months in secret detention.

End rendition and secret detention: Europe’s duty

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:38:49 +0100

European states have been implicated in the US-led rendition and secret detention programme, in which people have been unlawfully detained and transferred from one country to another outside of any judicial process.

Some have been transferred from US custody to countries where torture and other ill-treatment is known to accompany interrogation; others have been transferred into US custody and subsequently held in detention centres in Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

A number of individuals have been subjected to enforced disappearance, including in secret CIA detention, and the whereabouts of some three dozen people remain unknown. Every one of the victims of rendition interviewed by Amnesty International has said they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in custody.

Investigations by the Council of Europe and the European Parliament have recommended that Member States take measures to prevent such human rights violations occurring in the future and to ensure redress, including reparation, to the victims.

These recommendations have not been implemented to date.

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)

No hiding place for torture

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:41:52 +0100

Article 5 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment. 60 years after it was adopted unanimously at the United Nations, Amnesty International documented torture in at least 81 countries.

The organization has documented torture for decades, but governments’ actions in recent years have challenged the validity of the prohibition itself, particularly in the context of counter terrorism.

This month, Amnesty International will seek to reverse this trend. In partnership with the Global Elders, the organization will call on governments to condemn and prevent torture and other ill-treatment and hold to account those responsible.

No justification for torture

Government responses to the attacks of 11 September 2001, and attacks in other countries since then, have amounted to a serious assault on the framework of human rights. They have not only used torture, they have sought to justify it in the name of security.

Detainees have been subjected to secret detention, enforced disappearance and indefinite detention without charge or trial. They have been transferred from one state to another without due process and have been sent to countries where they have faced torture. Such practices and lack of accountability have facilitated the spread and acceptance of torture.

Counter Terror with Justice

Torture is a crime that cannot be justified under any circumstances. Governments must bring to justice those responsible for authorising and inflicting it. The conditions which allow it to flourish, particularly illegal detention, must be brought to an end.

Governments have a duty to protect their population from violent attacks, but real security can only be achieved through justice and the promotion of human rights.

What you can do:

Amnesty International will organize actions on and around 26 June, International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Contact your local office and get involved;
Take action now to end illegal US detentions;
Stay informed by signing up to our e-newsletter and visiting our activism blog.

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.

Zimbabwe violence reaches crisis levels

Fri, 16 May 2008 18:08:33 +0100

Zimbabwean “war veterans” are forcibly recruiting local youths to attack perceived supporters of the opposition as violence in the country reaches crisis levels, Amnesty International has warned.

“Those who refuse to commit violence are assaulted and accused of being MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) supporters by the ‘war veterans’,” said Simeon Mawanza, Amnesty International’s Zimbabwe researcher.

Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that large numbers of ZANU-PF supporters and “war veterans” are assaulting perceived MDC supporters in Mberengwa district in Midlands province and Mazowe district in Mashonaland Central.

In Mberengwa, a large gang of ZANU-PF supporters -- most of them youths forcibly recruited by “war veterans” -- are going around attacking homes of people suspected of voting for the MDC in the 29 March 2008 elections. A similar gang was reported by an eyewitness in the Chiweshe area in Mazowe district.
Police appear to be unwilling to stop the violence, only acting to arrest MDC supporters suspected of carrying out attacks on perceived ZANU-PF supporters.

“We are particularly worried about people living in more remote rural areas, where violence is taking place away from the spotlight,” said Mawanza. “The situation for these victims of violence is dire. Humanitarian organisations and local non-governmental organisations are being targeted for helping victims, who are being blocked from receiving medical assistance.”

Victims of attacks in rural areas are walking long distances to escape the violence and increasingly seeking refuge in towns and cities. Some schools in rural areas have been forced to close as teachers perceived to be supporters of the MDC flee from the state-sponsored violence.

Amnesty International fears for the safety of Tonderai Ndira, a supporter of the MDC who was reportedly abducted from his home in Mabvuku, a low income suburb of Harare, on 14 May in the early hours of the morning. Reports indicate that nine armed men in plain clothes assaulted him before driving him away while he was still naked in a white Toyota truck. He has not been seen since.

Tonderai Ndira is one of the 32 MDC members who were tortured by state agents while in detention in 2007. He was detained for more than two months in Harare Central Remand Prison before the charges against him were dropped.

Amnesty International has also received a report of the alleged abduction of Sinoia Pfebve (79) and his wife Serena Pfebve (76) on 13 May by people believed to be “war veterans” in the Mukumbura area in Mt. Darwin district, Mashonaland Central province. They are believed to have been taken to Nyakatondo Primary School, where the abductors are camped. The Pfebve family have political connections to the MDC: the couple’s son was an MDC candidate in the parliamentary election in 2000 and a by-election in 2001.

At least 22 people have been killed, and over 900 have been treated for injuries sustained from the violence, since the elections took place. Several hundreds have been hospitalised. Hundreds of families have been forced to flee their homes after they have been burnt by gangs of “war veterans” and ZANU-PF youths.

Amnesty International has called on the Zimbabwean government to publicly denounce all acts of violence by ZANU-PF supporters, “war veterans” and soldiers, as well as by any other party, and work with other political parties to end political violence immediately.