Web pages about "United Nations"

Global week of action to support Arms Trade Treaty

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 11:11:05 +0100

Activists and supporters of the Control Arms Campaign in more than 50 countries will be taking part in the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) week of action, starting on Saturday 13 September.

The World is Watching week will see campaigners urge their governments to reach an agreement on an effective Arms Trade Treaty as quickly as possible. UN member states will consider such negotiations at the General Assembly meeting of the First Committee on Disarmament and Security in October.

Each year at least a third of a million people are killed with conventional weapons. Many more are injured, abused, forcibly displaced and bereaved as a result of armed violence. Many of the weapons used to commit these violations are sourced on the poorly regulated international arms market.

Events planned for the week of action include awareness raising football matches in Mali, a street march in Tanzania, a film screening in Edinburgh, a parade in Mongolia and a stunt outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Spain.

The ATT week of action is part of Amnesty International's celebration of the 60th anniversary year of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It also coincides with the release of the Amnesty International report, Blood at the Crossroads: Making the case for a global arms trade treaty. Released on 17 September, the report describes how arms supplies fuel serious human rights abuses around the world.

Worldwide support for a UN process to develop a global Arms Trade Treaty was reflected when 153 states voted in favour (1 against (USA), and 24 abstained) during the General Assembly in December 2006 and during 2007 when almost 100 submitted their views to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon, proposing human rights protection as one of the top considerations.

Throughout 2008, a group of government experts from 28 countries has been meeting at the UN to discuss the content of the treaty. With further successful campaigning, it is hoped that discussions leading to the negotiation of the treaty could continue into 2009.

Blocking aid workers in Sri Lanka endangers trapped civilians

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 10:40:58 +0100

The Sri Lankan government’s order for United Nations (UN) and non-governmental aid workers to leave the war-torn northern Wanni region could further endanger tens of thousands of displaced persons trapped between the two parties to the conflict, Amnesty International warned.

National staff of international aid agencies now left behind in the Wanni fear that the withdrawal of international staff will make them more vulnerable to abuses by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Amnesty International has received credible reports that the LTTE has prevented civilians from moving to safer places in government controlled areas. The LTTE is also actively recruiting minors in camps for the newly displaced.

"Aid agencies provided a lifeline to tens of thousands of trapped civilians. If aid workers are pulled out of the region, food, shelter and sanitation supplies have even less chance of reaching civilians most in need," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director.

Aid workers in the Wanni told Amnesty International that they feared the government lacks the capacity to provide basic essentials and safety for those who have had to flee their homes as fighting has intensified between Sri Lankan forces and the LTTE. Seven international aid agencies, including the World Food Program, were providing emergency food assistance in the Wanni.

“The Sri Lankan government has now assumed total responsibility for ensuring the needs of the civilian population affected by the hostilities are met. If the government is telling aid workers to pull back, then it must show it has the capacity to feed and protect its own citizens left behind,” said Sam Zarifi.

Amnesty International called on the Sri Lankan government to allow independent international monitors into the Wanni to oversee and ensure that convoys with food, medical and other essential supplies enter into the area, as well oversee the distribution of such supplies.

“Independent monitors are essential to help ensure that basic necessities are reaching those in need, without discrimination. Without independent monitors in the region, there will be a complete void of information about any casualties or the state of shelters," said Sam Zarifi.

Despite government claims about setting up humanitarian corridors allowing for the safe passage of civilians out of the Wanni, Amnesty International has only received reports of unrestricted passage through the Omanthai checkpoint. Under international law, the government should ensure that people know where these corridors are and how they can reach them.

Background
The government announced on Monday 8 September, that it could no longer ensure the safety of aid workers in the area and requested that United Nations and humanitarian agencies staff move out to government-controlled territory.

Under international humanitarian law, both the Sri Lankan government and the LTTE are obliged to treat those not taking active part in the hostilities humanely at all times, and without discrimination. In addition to prohibiting directing attacks at such people or carrying out indiscriminate attacks, this provision includes the obligation to ensure that humanitarian supplies reach all of those who need it.

The United Nations has begun shifting international workers from Kilinochchi to government-controlled Vavuniya. The International Committee of the Red Cross has issued a statement that it plans to continue assisting those in need, regardless of location.

The Sri Lankan military has launched a major offensive to reclaim areas of the north and east previously controlled by the LTTE. Families have been displaced several times while fleeing from aerial bombardment by government forces.

UN counter-terrorism review should make human rights a priority

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:25:38 +0100

As the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) conducts the first major review of its Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, an Amnesty International report shows how governments have so far failed to uphold the Strategy's human rights standards.

Adopted on 8 September 2006, the UN Strategy was the first global attempt to agree on a set of practical action points to combat terrorism. In the Strategy, all States recognize, unequivocally, that human rights are the fundamental basis for the fight against terrorism.

However, Amnesty International's report, Security and Human Rights: Counter-terrorism and the United Nations, concludes that there is a huge gap between governmental rhetoric and human rights observance on the ground.

Published on 3 September, a day before the UNGA review, the report also says that much more needs to be done to mainstream human rights throughout the UN system and that States must demonstrate the political will to translate stated human rights commitments into action.

The report considers the impact of terrorism on human rights, examines UN work on counter-terrorism, notably of the Security Council, and conducts a brief review of the type of human rights violations committed in the pursuit of counter-terrorism measures, citing a range of country examples from all over the world.

The report says that since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the USA and in other countries since then, a wide range of counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices have eroded human rights protection - such as that to freedom of expression and not to suffer torture or other ill treatment - as governments claim the security of some can only be achieved by violating the rights of others.

The Security Council, in pushing for the criminalization and suppression of terrorism worldwide without taking due care for the protection of human rights, must also take some responsibility for the adverse consequences.

The UNGA review is a crucial opportunity for the UN to act. Amnesty International has therefore called on the UNGA to mark the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by making the implementation of the human rights provisions of the Strategy a top priority for the coming year.

The Security Council must also address the human rights deficit in its work by adopting strong human rights language in its resolutions dealing with terrorism and giving greater importance and resources to the protection of human rights in its counter-terrorism work.

“The response of governments to the threat of terrorism is one of the fundamental human rights challenges of our time,” said Yvonne Terlingen, Head of Amnesty International's Office at the United Nations.

"Human rights and security go hand in hand. Human rights are key to achieving peace. The only way of countering terrorism is with justice."

Amnesty International welcomes appointment of new UN human rights chief

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 18:38:53 +0100

Amnesty International today welcomed the UN Secretary-General's decision to appoint Judge Navenethem Pillay as the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The organization believes that Judge Pillay's legal career, activism in defending opponents of apartheid and her role as an international judge in the Rwanda Tribunal and the International Criminal Court will stand her in good stead when she assumes the post of High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"International human rights standards are increasingly under attack. As the UN's top human rights official, Judge Pillay will need to be a leader and champion for human rights everywhere," said Amnesty International.

"She must be a forceful, independent and fearless human rights advocate addressing violations wherever they occur -- and be willing to speak out regardless of the power or influence of the country concerned."

Amnesty International called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support the High Commissioner for Human Rights in retaining the independence of her Office.

"The UN Secretary-General must be an advocate for human rights straight from the top and must give his full support to the High Commissioner and in preserving the independence of her office," said Amnesty International.

"The High Commissioner holds a position of leadership that can guide and inspire the United Nations and those working for human rights protection everywhere. Amnesty International looks forward to working closely with the new High Commissioner in addressing these complex challenges all over the world."

Economic, social and cultural rights strengthened

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 18:39:50 +0100

The United Nations Human Rights Council has adopted a new legal instrument to strengthen the protection of economic, social and cultural rights.

The Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights was adopted at the council’s session on Wednesday 18 June.

The Optional Protocol will provide the opportunity for individuals seeking a remedy for violations of economic, social and cultural rights to have their complaints adjudicated by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.

It would be used to help in such cases as the exclusion of Romani children from education in many European countries, to the violation of housing rights in a number of African countries.

Amnesty International welcomed the Optional Protocol as an “historic moment in the quest for ensuring access to justice for victims of human rights violations.

“Violations of economic, social and cultural rights, including rights to adequate housing, food, water and sanitation, as well as the rights to health and education, are felt most frequently and most severely by marginalised groups and people living in poverty.”

With the adoption of the Optional Protocol, the United Nations has taken a significant step towards achieving the promise of the UDHR to give greater effect to the right to a remedy for violations of economic, social and cultural rights.

While welcoming the development, Amnesty International said “the Optional Protocol could, and should, have been a stronger instrument, which built more closely on the experience of existing communications’ mechanisms.

The organization called the agreed text “an honourable compromise that should serve as a catalyst for the development of effective remedies for violations of economic, social and cultural rights”

Amnesty International also called on the all members of the UN to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the UDHR with the adoption of the Optional Protocol, in its current form, by the General Assembly on the 10 December 2008.

World must act on food crisis

Fri, 23 May 2008 15:09:58 +0100

Statement by Amnesty International to the United Nation Human Rights Council’s first thematic special session on the world food crisis.

Mr. President,

Amnesty International welcomes the convening of the Human Rights Council’s first thematic special session on the world food crisis.

We believe that the world food crisis is a global human rights emergency that has been fuelled by violations of human rights, including the right to adequate food. It is crucial that the international community respond swiftly to ensure adequate food to prevent hunger, and to identify and address the underlying causes of growing food insecurity.

We remind the Council of the millions of people who face food insecurity and hunger as a direct result of human rights violations. The organisation has documented discrimination, the political manipulation of food distribution, obstruction of necessary humanitarian assistance and other human rights violations leading to mass hunger in a range of countries including, in particular, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (notably in the Gaza strip), Myanmar, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan (Darfur), and Zimbabwe.

In Gaza, the current crisis has exacerbated the already dire living conditions of the 1.5 million Palestinian population resulting from the Israeli-imposed blockade which hinders access to food and the passage of other essential goods, including medical supplies and humanitarian assistance.

Amnesty International also expresses its serious concern at the continued obstruction by the government of Myanmar of necessary humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of people who are on the brink of starvation and life threatening diseases as a consequence of a natural disaster. The organisation has reported on the impact of arbitrary food requisitioning on food security over many years and is particularly concerned at recent reports of continued rice exports at a time when a large portion of the population is facing the prospect of death by starvation.

We also draw the attention of the Human Rights Council to a series of reports we have received concerning the excessive use of force and other human rights violations by some States while responding to food riots and protests and against human rights defenders, including in Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Haiti, Egypt, and Senegal. Where “food hoarding” is a serious issue that requires state action, states must respond within the human rights framework.

The current food crisis requires concerted action by UN member States through increased and effective international cooperation within the framework of international human rights law and standards. The obligation of international cooperation requires all states in a position to do so to provide assistance to other states that seek it and would otherwise be unable to meet their ‘minimum core obligations’ to ensure that the population is free from hunger. States must also ensure that their policies do not infringe on the enjoyment of the right to food in other countries and must cooperate to facilitate access to food. At the national level, States should comply with their immediate obligation to ensure that adequate food is available and accessible to combat hunger and to prioritise the most vulnerable, requesting international assistance where necessary to ensure freedom from hunger.

We support the call made in the joint statement submitted by Food First Information Network (FIAN) to ensure that the promotion and protection of human rights are at the centre of all international efforts to find solutions to the food crisis.

The Human Rights Council can also itself and through its mechanisms play a vital role in ensuring that human rights are respected in the response to the global food crisis and that the violations at the root of the current crisis are recognised and addressed.

Amnesty International therefore urges the Human Rights Council to:
•   Investigate the role that national and international policies and human rights violations, including discriminatory or politically motivated access to food, have played in creating or deepening food insecurity in different countries;
•   Call on all states to ensure that human rights are respected in any steps taken to respond to the current food crisis;
•   Call on all states to ensure that international cooperation and assistance is adequate to address the effects of the food crisis and fully respects human rights;
•   Urge states to fully cooperate with the Special Rapporteur on the right to food, including by responding promptly and in full to his urgent appeals, communications and requests for visits, and by giving positive consideration to his recommendations; and
•   Call on all states to ensure that any responses to protests or riots are strictly proportionate and otherwise respect human rights and that allegations of human rights violations are promptly and fully investigated, with disciplinary and criminal proceedings as appropriate to the gravity of the offence.

The convening of this special session should be the beginning of engagement by the Human Rights Council on this issue.

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

Pakistan: New government sends a positive signal to the world by ratifying UN human rights convention

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:55:03 +0100

Amnesty International welcomes Pakistan’s ratification of a key human rights treaty and signing of 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 calls 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 now calls 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;
To ratify all other human rights treaties and their optional protocols, as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
To give full effect to international human rights treaties in policy and practice;
Release, or else disclose the fate and whereabouts of all victims of enforced disappearance;
End all secret, incommunicado and administrative detentions;
End all torture and other ill-treatment and repeal all laws which carry cruel, inhuman or degrading punishments;
Declare a moratorium on all death sentences and commute the death sentences of the over 7000 persons currently on death row.

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.

Secrecy surrounds death penalty

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:08:25 +0100

At least 1,200 people were executed in 2007 and many more were killed by the state, in secret, in countries including China, Mongolia and Viet Nam.

The figures come from Amnesty International's yearly statistics, Death Sentences and Executions in 2007, issued on Tuesday, which say that at least 1,252 people were executed in 24 countries and at least 3,347 people were sentenced to death in 51 countries. Up to 27,500 people are estimated to be on death row across the world.

The figures also show an increase in executions in a number of countries. Iran executed at least 317 people, Saudi Arabia 143 and Pakistan 135 – in comparison to 177, 39 and 82 executions respectively in 2006.

Eighty-eight per cent of all known executions took place in five countries: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the USA. Saudi Arabia had the highest number of executions per capita, followed by Iran and Libya. Amnesty International has been able to confirm at least 470 executions by China – the highest overall figure. However, the organization has said that the true figure for China is undoubtedly much higher.

China, which the report refers to as the world's top executioner, classifies the death penalty as a state secret. As the world and Olympic guests are left guessing, only the Chinese authorities know exactly how many people have been killed with state authorization.

"The secretive use of the death penalty must stop: the veil of secrecy surrounding the death penalty must be lifted. Many governments claim that executions take place with public support. People therefore have a right to know what is being done in their name," said Amnesty International.

During 2007, many countries continued to execute for crimes not commonly considered criminal, or after unfair procedures. Among them:

Ja'Far Kiani, father of two, was stoned to death for adultery in Iran in July.
A 75 year-old North Korean factory manager was shot by firing squad in October for failing to declare his family background, investing his own money in the factory, appointing his children as its managers and making international phone calls.
Mustafa Ibrahim, an Egyptian national, was beheaded in Saudi Arabia in November for the practice of sorcery.
Michael Richard was executed in Texas, USA, on 25 September after a state courthouse refused to stay open an extra 15 minutes to allow the filing of an appeal based on the constitutionality of lethal injections. Richard's attorneys had been unable to file the appeal on time because of computer problems; problems they had already brought to the court's attention. The US Supreme Court then refused to stop the execution. Earlier in the day, however, it had agreed in a Kentucky case to review the lethal injection issue, a decision that led to a de facto moratorium on all other lethal injection executions around the country. The Supreme Court's ruling is expected later this year.

Three countries – Iran, Saudia Arabia and Yemen – carried out executions for crimes committed by people younger than 18 years of age, against international law.

However, 2007 was also the year where there was good news about the death penalty. The United Nations General Assembly voted – by 104 to 54, with 29 abstentions – to end the use of the death penalty.

"The UN General Assembly took the historic decision to call on all countries around the world to stop executing people. That the resolution was adopted in December with such a clear majority shows the global abolition of the death penalty is possible," said Amnesty International.

"The taking of life by the state is one of the most drastic acts a government can undertake. We are urging all governments to follow the commitments made at the UN and abolish the death penalty once and for all."

Breakthrough UN resolution on global moratorium on executions (News, 15 November 2007)
Amnesty International's Death Penalty page