Web pages about "Prisoners Of Conscience"

25 years remembering the disappeared

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:39:18 +0100

Jorge Alberto Rosal Paz "disappeared" in Guatemala on 12 August 1983. The 28-year-old agronomist was kidnapped by armed military personnel in a jeep, while driving between Teculutan and Zacapa. He was never seen again.

When he "disappeared", Jorge Rosal was married with a daughter. His wife was expecting their second child. It is believed he had no political or religious affiliations. Despite reported sightings of him in detention after his kidnapping, the Guatemalan authorities denied all knowledge of what had happened.

Jorge’s family took his case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. In 2000, the Guatemalan State issued a statement acknowledging its institutional responsibility in Jorge Rosal's case and others. In 2004, a friendly settlement was agreed between the State and Jorge Rosal's family.

Jorge Rosal is just one of hundreds of thousands of people who have been victims of enforced disappearances around the world in the past 25 years. And hundreds of thousands of family members and friends are still left without any knowledge of their fate. They will all be remembered on Saturday 30 August, on the 25th anniversary of the International Day of the Disappeared.

The Day of the Disappeared was started in 1983 by the Latin American non-governmental organization FEDEFAM (Federación Latinoamericana de Asociaciones de Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos) at a time when disappearances arose from authoritarian rule.

Very little has improved since then. The government practice of kidnapping, abducting or detaining people and holding them in secret has continued and spread as more countries accept and justify this crime.

Enforced disappearances are taking place in all regions of the world, in countries such as Algeria, Colombia, Nepal, the Russian Federation, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, Tunisia and the former Yugoslavia – to name but a few.

On 6 September 2006, US President George W Bush confirmed an open secret that the CIA was operating a programme of prolonged incommunicado detention in secret locations. This practice has involved governments around the world to varying degrees.

Those held in the programme are victims of enforced disappearance. They are being held without anyone knowing where they are and are at risk of torture and death. President Bush reauthorized the programme in 2007.

Since Pakistan joined the US-led "war on terror" it too has joined the list of countries practicing enforced disappearance. People who have disappeared include foreign and Pakistani nationals suspected of links to terrorist groups and political opponents of the Pakistani government pushing for greater rights for their communities, including Baloch and Sindhis.

In the 25th anniversary year, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances reported 41,257 pending cases across 78 countries. In the first year of the Day of the Disappeared, the Working Group reported 1,733 cases of disappearances across 11 countries.

In the last year the worst national statistics referred to the Working Group were in Sri Lanka where 5,516 are currently registered as disappeared and 30 new urgent action cases were identified in relation to alleged disappearances.

The trend of disappearances has changed over 25 years. The Working Group and the Day of the Disappeared were started at a time when disappearances arose from authoritarian rule in Latin America. Today, disappearances tend to occur in nations suffering from internal conflict such as Colombia, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Philippines and the Russian Federation.

On 8 August 2007, Ibragim Gazdiev was out driving his brother's car when he was reportedly seized by armed men in camouflage in Karabulak, in the Russian Republic of Ingushetia. He was surrounded, forced into another car and driven away. He has not been seen since.

He is believed to be detained incommunicado by the Russian Federal Security service. The authorities however, deny that they are holding him.

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (Convention against Enforced Disappearance) was adopted by the UN general assembly on 20 December 2006.

The culmination of years of hard work by associations of relatives of victims, NGOs such as Amnesty International and key governments, The Convention against Enforced Disappearance is one of the strongest human rights treaties ever adopted by the UN.

Key to the Convention is the definition of enforced disappearance, the scope of extraterritorial jurisdiction that States must exercise, its provisions for reparations and implementation and the establishment of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances.

The Convention's definition of enforced disappearance is:
"The arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons, groups or persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law."

Amnesty International calls upon all States to ratify the Convention without delay and to enact effective implementing legislation in accordance with their international obligations, thereby joining together to put an end to enforced disappearance, one of the worst violations of human rights.

So far, Albania, Argentina, Mexico and Honduras are the only States to have ratified the Convention. Another 73 have signed it. The most recent State to sign is the Netherlands on 29 April 2008.

Launched in September 2007, the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances (ICAED) exists to promote the ratification and implementation of the Convention.

On Saturday 30 August, across all continents, the ICAED's members, NGOs, families associations and grassroots groups are organizing events to celebrate the International Day of the Disappeared.

Amnesty International supports the International Coalition Against Enforced Disappearances. On the ICAED's website you can sign an open letter which will be sent to all governments demanding that they put an end to this crime and ensure justice to families and victims of disappearance.

Take part and join our effort to ensure that victims and their families have access to justice, and not forget past crimes. Go to the ICAED's website at www.icaed.org.

Amnesty International welcomes life sentences for Argentinean military officers

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:47:23 +0100

Two officers during Argentina's oppressive military regime were given life sentences for the kidnapping, torture and disappearance of former senator Guillermo Vargas Aignasse in April 1976.

Amnesty International said the sentences against former military general Luciano Benjamín Menéndez and his subordinate Antonio Bussi are further testimony that crimes such as torture and disappearances have no place in today’s world.

“The sentences against Bussi and Menéndez are proof of the steps Argentina is taking to deal with its past,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International.

Amnesty International also called on the Argentinean authorities to take more effective action to protect witnesses and allocate all necessary resources to the investigation of the disappearance of Jorge Julio López – who has been missing since 17 September 2006, after he acted as a witness in a separate trial of the former Director of Investigations of the Buenos Aires Province Police, Miguel Etchecolatz.

Background Information
During Argentina’s military government (1976 to 1983) thousands of people were “disappeared”, extrajudicially executed and tortured. More than 9,000 people are officially listed as having disappeared during the military's systematic crackdown on leftist opponents; however, human rights groups have estimated the number of victims to be 30,000. The amnesty laws in Argentina which had protected the security forces from prosecution were declared null and void in June 2005.

Luciano Benjamin Menéndez (81) was the commander of the regional Third Army Corps in Córdoba and controlled one of the regime's most notorious torture centres. Antonio Bussi (82) led military operations in Tucumán and eventually governed the province after the 1976 military coup. Córdoba and Tucumán were among the most affected areas by human rights violations during the military regime.

Menéndez, six other former military officials and one civilian were also convicted in July 2008 for the kidnapping, torture and extrajudicial executions of four people in 1977.

No moving backwards for Myanmar

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:08:22 +0100

By Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Researcher on Myanmar

"We must move forward, forward in Myanmar. There is no backwards for us." These words were spoken to me by a participant in the "8888" uprising in Myanmar who was forced to flee his country. Twenty years after the brief flowering of people power in Myanmar, however, little has improved for the millions of people still suffering under repressive rule.

If the future is to be better, the UN Security Council and Myanmar’s Asian neighbours must cease turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Myanmar and begin to take bold and effective measures toward stopping them.

On 8 August 1988, students took to the streets in Yangon (then still Rangoon) to demand democracy and human rights from their government. Over the next six weeks, the demonstrations grew in number and popular support and spread across the country, before the security forces moved in and violently suppressed the uprising. They killed more than 3,000 people and caused the enforced disappearance of an unknown number of others.

The massacre so shocked the world that many people both inside and outside the country believed that it marked "the end" in Myanmar; human rights violations on such an egregious scale would no longer be tolerated by the international community. Sadly for the people of Myanmar, however, they were wrong.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the main opposition party, Nobel Peace laureate, and icon of the Burmese human rights movement, has been under some form of detention for nearly 13 of the last 19 years. U Win Tin, a senior member of her party and 78 years-old, has been imprisoned for all of those 19 years, the longest-serving prisoner of conscience in Myanmar. Thousands of other political prisoners have been detained since 1988; 137 have died in custody, some from torture or lack of medical attention.

More than 2,000 people are now behind bars, more than a third of whom the government detained during its violent crackdown on the monk-led demonstrations last fall — the third major demonstration since 8888 through which the Burmese have tried, against ruthless and heart-rending odds, to demand their rights. Just days after the crackdown, monks and dissidents on the Thai-Myanmar border told me harrowing accounts of the recent violence and their narrow escape from the country.

Outside of the cities — and the international spotlight — the Myanmar army has continued to wage war over the past twenty years against the country’s ethnic minorities as well, among them the Karen. Campaigns against the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) have been relentless since the early 1990s. Three years ago the army commenced another major offensive against the Karen, which continues to this day, though this time the army is actively avoiding the KNLA and instead targeting defenseless villagers.

On a widespread and systematic basis, the army is perpetrating a catalogue of serious human rights violations against the Karen, including extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, forced labour, crop destruction and confiscation, restrictions on movement, arbitrary levies and fines and anti-personnel land mines.

Another effect of both the 8888 uprising and the ethnic persecution is that hundreds of thousands of people in the past two decades have been forced to flee their homes to seek shelter elsewhere in Myanmar or in neighbouring countries. No fewer than half a million people in a nation of approximately 51 million are internally displaced within Myanmar. As I have witnessed myself, most live in deplorable conditions and constant fear, wondering if the world even knows about them.

Just under half that number are officially recognized as refugees in the surrounding countries, though several times more are not officially recognized and thus have even fewer rights. Many refugees have become some of the world’s most committed and courageous human rights activists — members of Myanmar’s "88 Generation" — as another entire generation of children has been born in exile.

Three months ago, the government wilfully neglected its people when Cyclone Nargis struck Myanmar. Relief workers, diplomats, journalists, and Burmese survivors told me again and again with horror and disbelief how the government violated its own citizens’ human rights to food, shelter, health, and to life itself on a massive scale.

The government refused to deploy its own much-touted army of 400,000 soldiers to the affected areas and rejected international assistance. Instead, the authorities saw fit to frog-march traumatized, bereaved, and hungry people to "vote" for a new constitution that both fails to protect human rights and codifies impunity for officials who violate them.

The exodus of refugees from Myanmar and the government’s response to the cyclone have generated the kind of human suffering that the UN system was designed to address. The UN has sent numerous official and unofficial missions to Myanmar since 1988 — with two more taking place this month — and has a large humanitarian presence there now, but with little or no impact on human rights.

But the one UN body with real power, the Security Council, has been unable or unwilling to take effective action. It has neither visited Myanmar to obtain first-hand information on the situation on the ground nor imposed a comprehensive mandatory arms embargo on the country. The only resolution condemning Myanmar’s human rights record was vetoed in January 2007 by permanent members China and Russia, while Indonesia, a non-permanent member at the time, abstained.

Since then, the Council has managed only two Presidential Statements on Myanmar, one in October 2007 that "strongly deplored" last fall’s crackdown, and another in May 2008 that "underlin[ed] the need" for Myanmar to ensure inclusiveness and credibility in its constitutional referendum later that month. Stronger language was objected to by, among others, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

While ASEAN’s statements critical of the crackdown last fall and the continued detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi have been welcome, the organization—and its member countries—have been inexcusably forgiving of Myanmar’s human rights record over the past twenty years. India, a powerful neighbouring state and the world’s largest democracy, has also been disturbingly compliant.

Just as with the 8888 uprising, many people hope that the government’s response to Cyclone Nargis signals the "the end" of such enormous human rights violations in Myanmar. Whether it really does this time, however, depends not only on the Burmese — whose "88 Generation" continues to courageously lead the way — but on the political will of the UN Security Council and Myanmar’s Asian neighbours as well. Twenty years is a long time, but it is not too late.

This article originally appeared in the Bangkok Post in Thailand on 8 August 2008.

Syria: Amnesty International welcomes release of prisoner of conscience

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:05:31 +0100

Amnesty International today welcomed the release of Syrian prisoner of conscience Dr ‘Aref Dalilah.

“We hope that the long overdue release of Dr Dalilah is followed by the release of all other prisoners of conscience in Syria,” said Amnesty International.

Dr Dalilah -- who served seven years of a 10-year sentence mostly in solitary confinement -- was released following a presidential amnesty. The reason for his release is unclear, but may be related to his deteriorating health. Dr Dalilah said he was not informed of any conditions or restrictions on his release, but is unsure whether he will be able to travel outside the country.

Thousands of Amnesty International members around the world had been campaigning for Dr Dalilah’s release since his arrest on 9 September 2001, when Amnesty International declared him to be a prisoner of conscience.

Speaking to Amnesty International today, Dr Dalilah said: "I am thankful for all the efforts made by everyone at Amnesty International and all those who took part in actions on my behalf. We are united in the struggle for the causes of justice and democracy. This struggle is still ongoing."

Dr ‘Aref Dalilah was one of ten people detained during the “Damascus Spring”, a brief period of increased tolerance by the authorities for freedom of expression and pro-reform activities that followed Bashar al-Assad’s inauguration as President in July 2000. He was handed down the longest sentence.

Amnesty International said that Dr Dalilah’s release does not close the chapter of “Damascus Spring” detentions, as two other members of the “Damascus Spring” group who already served their sentences have been re-arrested and are now in detention. Kamal al-Labwani has been sentenced to a further 15 years for his pro-democracy activities and Habib Saleh is being tried for having published political articles on the internet.

Hundreds of political prisoners remain imprisoned in Syria. These include 14 people detained since late 2007 for their involvement in the pro-democracy umbrella group, the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change.

Notes to editors:

• Dr ‘Aref Dalilah was the Dean of the Faculty of Economics of Aleppo University but was dismissed from this post reportedly because of his outspoken views against government corruption and his calls for the government to grant freedom of expression to match its economic reforms.
• His arrest in Damascus followed his attendance at a seminar where political reform was discussed. His arrest was part of a wider clampdown by the Syrian authorities on civil society groups between August and September 2001, in which at least 10 people were arrested.
• Dr Dalilah was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on 31 July 2002 by the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), whose procedures fall far short of international standards, for “attempting to change the constitution by illegal means”. It was the longest sentence handed down to any of those arrested for their participation in the “Damascus Spring”.
• ‘Aref Dalilah was reportedly beaten at ‘Adra prison before his trial. His lawyer, ‘Anwar al-Bunni, who is himself now a prisoner of conscience held in ‘Adra prison, presented a bloodstained handkerchief as evidence of how ‘Aref Dalilah had been beaten during an SSSC hearing on 3 June 2002. The president of the court, a military officer, ordered ‘Anwar al-Bunni out of the court and banned him indefinitely from practising before the SSSC.
• ‘Aref Dalilah is now seriously ill. He suffers from diabetes and deep-vein thrombosis, a condition which impedes or stops blood flow in his left leg. In May 2006, he suffered a stroke and lost some of the feeling on the left side of his body.

Ye Guozhu must be released immediately

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:34:20 +0100

Amnesty International today demanded the immediate release of housing rights activist Ye Guozhu, who was arrested and sentenced in December 2004, after he applied for permission to hold a demonstration against forced evictions in Beijing.

The Chinese authorities say they will now not free Ye Guozhu when his four-year prison sentence expires on 26 July. Instead he will remain imprisoned until at least 1 October, after the end of the 2008 Olympic Games.

"Ye Guozhu is being kept in prison to prevent him from speaking out about the people, like himself, who were forcibly evicted from their homes in Beijing to make room for the Olympics," said Amnesty International.

"This is in complete contradiction of the promises China made to improve human rights before the start of the Games."

According to Ye's family, the Chaobai prison authorities telephoned them on 22 July, informing the family that they should not go to the prison to receive Ye Guozhu on 26 July, the original date for his release.

The prison authorities were reported to have said that Beijing Xuanwu district police had taken Ye away. The Xuanwu District police later said that for the good of the family and to keep them out of trouble during the Games, the police would take care of Ye Guozhu.

They would not however, allow him to return home until sometime after 1 October 2008. The police refused to let the family meet Ye Guozhu or tell them where he is now being detained.

Ye Guozhu, considered by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, 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 next month’s Olympic Games.

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

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.

Activist released in Uzbekistan

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:05:53 +0100

Uzbekistani human rights defender Mutabar Tadzhibaeva, who was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2006, was unexpectedly released on Monday, 2 June.

The prisoner of conscience, who won the 2008 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders last month, was driven to her home in Margilan and reunited with her family. Tadzhibaeva passed her thanks to NGOs including Amnesty International, which had campaigned for her release.

"I spent 900 days on a "torture island"; 700 of those days I spent in solitary confinement," she revealed. "I endured only because of the support of people who were concerned about my fate. Only this gave me strength. I want to thank them for not forgetting those nearest and dearest to me - that knowledge helped me remain determined."

Mutabar Tadzhibaeva was detained on 7 October 2005, on the eve of an international conference on human rights defenders in Dublin, Ireland, which she was due to attend. She had come under increasing pressure from the authorities for her human rights activities, including for speaking out about the government's crackdown on human rights activities since the May 2005 mass killings in Andizhan.

On 6 March 2007, she was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. She faced 13 economic and political charges, including "membership of an illegal organization" and "using funds from Western governments to prepare or distribute materials containing a threat to public order and security".

According to Mutabar Tadzhibaeva's oldest brother, she did not know that she was being released, but instead thought she was being taken for medical tests to a hospital in Tashkent. Mutabar's brother told the independent uznews.net website that his sister looked pale and had lost weight, but that emotionally she was fine.

Tadzhibaeva's release was hailed by her colleagues, with human rights activists citing the release as the result of international pressure. The remaining six years of her eight-year sentence have been commuted to a three-year suspended sentence.

Tiananmen activists must be released

Fri, 30 May 2008 18:53:02 +0100

Wednesday 4 June 2008 marks the nineteenth anniversary of the Chinese government's crackdown on the pro-democracy demonstrations in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Hundreds of civilians were killed and thousands injured by the Chinese military, with tens of thousands arrested during the protests in 1989. Many other activists have subsequently been imprisoned for highlighting or questioning the government's actions that year.

With two months to go before the Olympics in Beijing, Amnesty International asks the Chinese authorities again to release those still in prison, to hold those to account those responsible for the crackdown, and to allow public mourning for and commemoration of the victims. Such a response will go a long way toward ensuring that the Olympic Games leave a positive human rights legacy.

On 2 June, from London to Tel Aviv to Mexico City, thousands of Amnesty International supporters will hold demonstrations. Many will lay red and white flowers in solidarity with the relatives of those killed and arrested. Many will also hold a one-minute silence to commemorate the victims of the recent earthquake in the Chinese province of Sichuan.

Amnesty International commends the Chinese authorities for their prompt and responsive reaction to the needs of the many victims of this natural tragedy.

On the anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protestors 19 years ago, Amnesty International urges the Chinese authorities to respond with similar openness toward the families of those who were killed and those who were imprisoned or otherwise silenced for exercising their right to protest.

Official statistics are secret, but according to the US-based Dui Hua Foundation, between 60 and 100 prisoners are still being held. On the eve of the anniversary this year, the Chinese Human Rights Defenders network published a list of 8 individuals who remained in prison in and around Beijing alone.

The Chinese authorities freed several prisoners in 2006 but continue to keep them under tight police surveillance and prevent them from engaging in any activities deemed politically sensitive, including speaking to journalists about their experiences.

Those who remain in prison include:

Miao Deshun, detained in June 1989 and convicted of arson. His original suspended death sentence was reduced to life imprisonment in 1991, and then to 20 years’ imprisonment in 1998. He is currently held at Yanqing Prison on the outskirts of Beijing and due for release on 15 September 2018.

Liu Zhihua was among a group of workers who organised a strike at the Xiangtan Electrical Machinery plant in Hubei province. His original sentence of life imprisonment for giving ‘anti-government’ speeches and inciting a mob to engage in ‘beating, smashing and looting’ was reduced to 15 years in September 1993, but extended again by five years in 1997 after he was involved in a brawl. With his sentence reduced by a further two years for good behaviour in 2001, he is currently due to be released on 16 January 2011.

Wang Jun, at the time an 18-year-old worker from Shaanxi province, was given a suspended death sentence for throwing rocks, breaking street lamps and setting fire to several vehicles during a "serious political disturbance" at the Xincheng Factory in Xi’an city on 22 April 1989. He is currently held at Fuping prison in Shaanxi province. After four sentence reductions, he is due for release on 11 December 2009.

More recently, journalists and other activists seeking to keep the crackdown in the public eye have been harassed, detained and imprisoned. They include:

The Tiananmen Mothers, a group of human rights activists whose children and other close relatives were killed during the crackdown, who have been calling on the Chinese authorities to allow victims’ families the right to mourn in public, to end persecution of victims and their families, to release all those still imprisoned for taking part in peaceful protests and to implement a full and open inquiry into events of June 1989. Government authorities continue to subject them to harassment, discrimination and arbitrary detention.

Yang Tongyan (pen-name: Yang Tianshui), a freelance writer, continues to serve a 12-year prison sentence in Nanjing Municipal Prison, Jiangsu province, for "subversion" in connection with several charges, including writing in support of political and democratic change in China. He had previously served a ten-year prison sentence for criticizing the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement and allegedly trying to form an opposition political party. In 2007 he was reportedly forced to work making footballs and basketballs in an apparently toxic environment for 8-10 hours per day, but was transferred to lighter work as a prison librarian at the end of the year

Shi Tao continues to serve a 10-year sentence for sending an email summarizing a Chinese Central Propaganda Department communiqué on how journalists should handle the fifteenth anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement. At the end of June 2007, he was transferred to Deshan Prison in Changde city, Hunan province, where his conditions of detention appear to have improved and he is now allowed to receive regular visits from his mother. The Supreme People’s Court has reportedly accepted an application to review his case, but there has been no further response.

Kong Youping, a former trade union activist, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in September 2004 after he had posted articles and poems on the Internet calling for a reassessment of the 1989 pro-democracy movement. He is serving his sentence in Lingyuan prison, Liaoning province.

Human rights abuses in Sri Lanka flourish under veil of secrecy

Fri, 02 May 2008 18:22:04 +0100

Ensuring respect for human rights around the world very often relies on impartial and rigorous media coverage – without exposure and public scrutiny abuses can flourish under a veil of secrecy and denial.

The importance of the media in conflict situations cannot be overstated, without reports, pictures and film of the fighting and the violence, no-one knows enough to put the pressure on the participants to ensure human rights are respected.

This need is particularly strong in Sri Lanka, where fatalities on all sides are believed to be very high with large numbers of civilians caught in the crossfire. All parties to the conflict are responsible for grave violations of human rights and breaches of international humanitarian law.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern that "since the start of the year civilian casualties had gone up as the number of indiscriminate attacks had grown in the north, east and south of the country."

Despite the gravity of the human cost of war, Sri Lanka is a conflict where journalists face unjustified restrictions on reporting and there are very few established facts. In fact, both sides consistently contradict each other.

The conflict in Sri Lanka is between government forces, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and armed Tamil groups alleged to be aligned with the government. Sri Lanka, as Amnesty International reported in its February report Silencing Dissent, is a country where media coverage of war has effectively been silenced – through threats, restrictions and violence.

The conflict in the north and east of Sri Lanka has continued to escalate since the ending of the ceasefire agreement on 16 January 2008. The withdrawal of the Sri Lankan Monitoring Mission responsible for monitoring the implementation of the 2002 ceasefire agreement means that there is a vacuum of independent reporting of human rights violations. This makes it more urgent that journalists are allowed to report without undue restrictions and document human rights abuses on the ground.

Yet journalists are often barred from conflict areas. The LTTE does not allow independent reporting in the areas under its control, while the government masks the cost of the war.

According to the Free Media Movement, a Colombo-based media watchdog, Government of Sri Lanka officials have barred photographers in the past week from entering hospitals in Colombo where Sri Lanka Army (SLA) soldiers injured in battle in late April are being treated.

According to the International Federation of Journalists, 25 journalists from the minority Tamil community had fled the Jaffna peninsula where government forces are battling Tamil Tiger rebels.

It is two years since support staff Suresh Kumar and Rajiv Kumar were gunned down at the Jaffna-based Uthayan newspaper office on 2 May 2006. The newspaper has come under severe attack because of its alleged Tamil nationalist stance. Seven media workers have been killed in Jaffna since the beginning of May 2006, four of these working with Uthayan.

Gunmen on motorcycles attacked the office and killed the two workers in the absence of the journalists the gunmen were apparently looking for. The killers still walk free.

"Publishing our daily newspaper in Jaffna is an increasingly Herculean and dangerous task with armed gunmen who continuously threaten our work and our lives," said the editor of Uthayan.

To date, the organisation is unaware of any investigation that has led to the arrest and prosecution of those believed responsible for the killing of journalists and other media workers.

In another incident, journalist Jayaprakash Sittampalam Tissainayagam was arrested on 7 March and has been held in the Terrorist Investigation Division Detention centre in Colombo since. The authorities have claimed that he is held on suspicion of involvement with the LTTE, although he has not been charged with any offence.

Amnesty International has said that his detention is arbitrary. He is at risk of going blind if he does not receive specialist treatment for a serious eye condition.

In all, at least 10 media workers have been unlawfully killed in Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2006. Others have been arbitrarily detained, tortured and allegedly disappeared while in the custody of security forces.

For Press Freedom Day 2008, Amnesty International has urged the Sri Lankan government to protect media workers and their rights to life, liberty and security of person, in compliance with Sri Lanka’s obligations under international law.

The organization has also called on the government to respect media workers and publicly announce that killings, threats, or other attacks will not be tolerated and to investigate all cases of attacks, disappearances and killings of media workers promptly, independently, impartially and effectively, irrespective of the identity of perpetrators or victims.

The organisation is also calling on the LTTE to issue instructions to all its members to cease all killings, threats or other attacks on media workers. All parties to the conflict must stop targeting journalists.

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.