The Wire

February 2005 Vol. 35. No. 01

AI Index: NWS 21/001/2005

Refugee rights are being eroded in central Africa

Refugees’ rights to international protection in central Africa are being eroded with the apparent complicity of governments and UNHCR

Refugees in Tanzania are living in fear of being forced to return to countries against their will, and with no guarantees for their safety. Recent statements from the Tanzanian authorities advocating the creation of safe havens in refugees’ home countries and the need to "close the factories that manufacture refugees" fuel their feeling of vulnerability.

Berenardi N. left Rwanda with his father in 1959 when he was a child and settled in Tanzania. On 26 February 2004, he was stopped by Tanzanian authorities who demanded his papers. He told them that he had left his papers at home and asked to be allowed to get them. Instead, he was beaten, imprisoned for six days and then taken to the Rwandese border by Tanzanian soldiers. His wife and children remained in Tanzania and since then he has had no news of them.

UNHCR changed its policy regarding Rwandese refugees in September 2002. It now actively promotes their voluntary repatriation. This decision was not based on objective information regarding the human rights situation facing returning refugees to Rwanda. Close to 25,000 Rwandese refugees were forcibly repatriated from Tanzania in the last two months of 2002. The international protection and assistance given to Rwandese refugees currently in Tanzania is questionable. UNHCR has also considered withdrawing the refugee status of Rwandese refugees by invoking "cessation clauses", thereby terminating their international protection.

Even after the forced repatriation of Rwandese, Tanzania hosts one of the largest refugee populations in the world. Over the years it has provided a safe haven for refugees from the Great Lakes region – notably Burundi, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

There are close to 800,000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania. Some of them have been living in Tanzania for over 30 years and are financially independent and pay taxes. Many of their children have never set foot in their "home" country and few families still own land there. Earlier arrivals of refugees were located in isolated areas and given parcels of land to cultivate or were integrated into villages. More recent influxes of refugees have been housed with no land to grow food. Furthermore, recent changes in regulations have made it illegal for any refugees to leave the designated camps, leaving the more recent arrivals completely dependent on food provided by the World Food Programme (WFP). The food they receive falls short of the WFP standard rations due to frequent bottlenecks in the food pipeline and insufficient donations. When refugees do venture out of the camps, they report being beaten or asked for bribes by Tanzanian police.

UNHCR began to facilitate the repatriation of Burundian refugees from Tanzania in 2002. Ninety thousand refugees were repatriated in 2004. Observers note that UNHCR has been under significant pressure from the Tanzanian and Burundian governments to organize repatriations quickly, and may have foregone certain safeguards. Both Burundian and Tanzanian politicians have visited the refugee camps repeatedly to pressure refugees to return home. Recently, Burundian officials crossed into Tanzania to screen new Burundian asylum seekers when they were already in Tanzania – an action that does not conform to international refugee law.

One reason for the pressure to repatriate Rwandese and Burundian refugees may be Tanzania’s fear that it might be drawn into regional conflicts. Another interpretation is that politicians, in the run-up to the October 2005 elections, have increasingly used refugees as a scapegoat for security concerns in Tanzania.

There appears to be a regional push to return refugees to areas that are not yet safe and from which refugees continue to flee. AI has received reports that refugees from Burundi have been turned away at the border and prevented from registering with UNHCR. On 18 October 2004, 68 Burundians at a reception centre in Lukole B camp and outside UNHCR compound in Ngara were loaded into vehicles by Tanzanian police and taken across the border to Burundi, although they may well have had a valid fear of persecution in Burundi.

Tanzania has not always received the necessary support from international donors. Host governments and donors must live up to their commitments to support these refugees. The trend of forced repatriation needs to be re-examined and significantly shifted to ensure that voluntary repatriation operations guarantee that refugees are able to return home with safety and with dignity.

Patterns of impunity in French police abuse

Étienne Leborgne, a Paris taxi driver, born on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, injured a police officer while escaping a police control in January 1996. Three days later he was found by three plain-clothes police officers. After refusing to leave his car, his side window was shattered by one officer while another, after firing twice at the ground, raised his weapon and fired it at Étienne Leborgne’s face from a distance of 10 centimetres, killing him. Two years later the investigating judge and appeal section of a Paris court found that the death had been the result of "incontestably" disproportionate action by the police. However, the police officer was acquitted in 1999. The prosecutor, who often effectively acts as the police defence, argued that Étienne Leborgne had shown a "suicidal" attitude to the police in refusing to obey orders and the fatal shooting had been justified.

In July 2001, 16-year-old minor "Yacine" was taken to a police station in Asnières, Hauts-de-Seine, for an identity check. After reportedly insulting officers, he was taken into a corridor, out of sight of video cameras installed to film the questioning of minors in police custody, and punched, kicked and kneed so hard in the testicles that he had to have emergency surgery for the removal of one of them. "Yacine" had not been able to contact his mother while in custody, although this is required by law, and she was only informed of his arrest after he had been taken to hospital. In December 2004, two police officers were given nominal, suspended prison sentences of eight and four months respectively, allowing them to qualify for an amnesty and remain in police service. The prosecutor had requested their acquittal.

The acquittal of the police officer for the death of Étienne Leborgne and the token sentences meted out to police officers for the brutal treatment of a minor are characteristic of the apprehension with which judges and courts, throughout the years, have dealt with cases of police brutality and abuse.

AI will shortly be issuing a report on France which tackles a wide range of concerns, including abusive identity checks, failure to respect the rights of detainees in police custody, problems in registering complaints, prosecutorial and police inertia, delays in judicial proceedings, and token sentencing. It illustrates with over 20 cases of fatal shootings, deaths in custody or torture and ill-treatment, the problem of effective impunity of police officers at a time when complaints of police torture and ill-treatment are soaring. All but one of these cases, followed by AI over the years, involve persons of foreign origin, and reflect the gross disproportion in the number of foreign nationals or persons of foreign origin who are subjected to identity checks, and the inadequacies in police training on matters of race.

Peace requires justice for women and girls in Liberia

"I deplore the fact that sexual and gender-based violence continue to be used as a weapon of war in African conflicts… Every effort must be made to halt this odious practice, and bring the perpetrators to justice." Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General, 6 July 2004

The long and difficult process of rebuilding Liberia, devastated by 14 years of armed conflict, has begun slowly. Peace will be elusive, however, unless those responsible for crimes under international law are held criminally responsible, the truth is established and the victims obtain full reparations.

Among the most serious crimes were widespread and systematic rape and other forms of sexual violence committed by all parties to the conflict – the former government of Liberia, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia and Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy.

Thousands of women and girls have been affected. Visiting Liberia in November 2003 and July 2004, AI representatives heard many harrowing accounts: gang-rape; 14-year-old girls abducted on their way to school, raped and forced into sexual slavery; pregnant women who lost their babies after being raped; and women raped at gun-point and threatened with death if they resisted.

There can be no impunity for rape and other forms of sexual violence committed during the conflict – these are crimes against humanity and war crimes. Not only has no one been prosecuted for these crimes, but it also remains unclear if, how and when justice will be achieved for the victims.

Liberia’s transitional government currently has no policy to bring the perpetrators to justice. Neither has the inter-national community shown any resolute commitment to end impunity for such crimes in Liberia.

A priority for the government, working with the UN, the wider international community and Liberian civil society, must be the development and implementation of a long-term action plan to restore justice and the rule of law and end impunity. Investigation and documentation of crimes at an early stage is essential, however, in order to facilitate eventual prosecutions.

Sexual violence, including rape, can result in severe physical injury and psychological trauma, often with long-term consequences, which require medical, surgical or psychological responses. The provision of health facilities in Liberia, however, is described by the UN as among the worst in the world. The extent of sexual violence and its legacy require an urgent and sustained response from both the international community and the government.

Although hostilities have now ended, women and girls in Liberia remain vulnerable to sexual violence and exploitation. The risks are heightened by conditions in camps for internally displaced people where vast numbers remain, and by extreme poverty and loss of independence. The fact that perpetrators remain free and have no fear of paying the consequences of their crimes, however, also contributes to endemic sexual violence.

Full and meaningful participation by Liberian women in their country’s recovery is essential in order to ensure that the rights of women and girls are protected in the future.

See Liberia: No impunity for rape – a crime against humanity and a war crime(AFR 34/017/2004).

[Picture caption]

An AI representative talks to women at Kakata internally displaced people’s camp, Margibi County, Liberia, November 2003. Several women gave harrowing testimonies of rape and other forms of sexual violence. Adding to the trauma, many have little or no access to medical support.

Domestic violence rife in Russian Federation

"[He] beats you, that means [he] loves you" is a well-known proverb in the Russian Federation, often used to console a woman who has been beaten by her partner.

Natalia Sereda from Women’s Alliance in Barnaul, western Siberia, told AI that her organization contacts the police and asks them to intervene whenever they learn that domestic violence is taking place. The police often refuse to go, even though they have been informed about the incident. On more than one occasion the police claimed that they did not have fuel for the car. Natalia Sereda has used her car to take the police officers to the address.

Women’s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Russian Federation sometimes have to use unusual methods to protect women from domestic violence. In some regions they have developed links with the police by offering practical help and training to the often under-resourced police stations. In return, the police then tell women who contact them how to get in touch with the crisis centre. Some police officers are now working with women’s NGOs, social services and the judiciary to help to combat domestic violence.

In 2004 Russia ratified the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, thus giving individuals a mechanism through which to report their concerns. While women’s crisis centres welcome this step, there are more challenges ahead.

After several years of lobbying and campaigning by women activists, there is still no law on domestic violence in the Russian Federation. The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, who visited Russia in December 2004, concluded that "violence against women (and sex discrimination) are still low on the state agenda". Police are frequently reluctant to investigate cases because, they say, so many women later withdraw their complaint.

According to women activists, women do so because they don’t want their partner to go to prison or pay a fine from the family’s resources. They also fear that their partner will suffer torture and ill-treatment, which are widespread in the prison system. Because there are so few shelters, a woman who has brought a complaint against her partner may still have to live with him, and may be in constant fear of further violence.

AI has launched a petition on its Russian website, calling on President Vladimir Putin to ensure that:

• statistics about incidents of domestic violence, investigations into them and the number of prosecutions are

regularly published

• educational programmes are developed to help to change common stereotypes, including that domestic violence is a private matter

• domestic violence is recognized as a serious crime and legislative and other measures are taken to effectively combat it

• all necessary protection and assistance is given to the victims

• experienced women’s NGO experts are engaged in the legislative process

• special training for professional groups dealing with domestic violence (police, media staff, social workers, judges) is introduced

• governmental bodies cooperate with NGOs to end domestic violence.

Free Peru’s ‘innocent prisoners’ now

"I was tortured by the Intelligence Service… they smashed my teeth in… they broke one of my ribs… they threatened to arrest my wife, my parents who are elderly and my son who was only just nine months old."

Testimony from an "innocent prisoner" given to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in September 2002

Hundreds of men and women in Peru have languished in prison for the past 20 years unjustly accused of "terrorism". There is no evidence that they have used violence or are connected to armed opposition groups. AI considers them to be prisoners of conscience; in Peru they are known as "innocent prisoners".

Laws introduced in 1992 by the late President Alberto Fujimori, in an attempt to eradicate the armed opposition group Shining Path, led to hundreds of people being falsely imprisoned on "terrorism"-related charges. Since 1996 successive governments have acknowledged the need to review these cases and hundreds of "innocent prisoners" have been released. However, during the last few years there has been a gradual reduction in the number of people appointed to carry out these reviews.

Some of those imprisoned have been well-known public figures, journalists, community leaders and trade unionists, arbitrarily detained for their criticism of the government. Others were arrested simply because they were studying in universities considered to be under the control of armed opposition groups. Most of them, however, belong to the poorest sections of the population which have historically been most vulnerable and suffered the greatest discrimination: indigenous peoples, peasants, unskilled workers and students, all from rural areas. Often they have been defended by court-appointed lawyers, many of whom have not had the same level of training as a paid lawyer. Many of them were also subjected to torture and ill-treatment while in custody in order to force them to confess or to implicate relatives or acquaintances.

A ruling by the Constitutional Court in 2003, overturning and ruling unconstitutional some of the sentences passed on people tried under the 1992 "anti-terrorism" legislation, was welcomed. New laws were passed to conform with this ruling, ordering new trials to be held in the ordinary courts. However, because of the slowness of trial proceedings in the Peruvian justice system, it may take years for the remaining "innocent prisoners" to be released as a result of retrials.

The 16 prisoners of conscience currently in prison, some of whom have been there for over 10 years, should be released immediately and unconditionally. They probably represent only a fraction of the total number of prisoners still in detention on false "terrorism" charges. All "innocent prisoners" should be identified and unconditionally released.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was set up in 2001 with a mandate to establish the circumstances surrounding the human rights abuses committed between May 1980 and November 2000 by the state and armed opposition groups. AI urges the Peruvian government to implement the recommendations made in the Commission’s final report of August 2003.

For further information see Peru: Free the "innocent prisoners" now!(AMR 46/001/2005).

Worldwide Appeals

USA

Guantánamo detainee must be given prisoner of war protection

Pre-trial proceedings in the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a Yemeni national detained at the US military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, were dramatically halted on 8 November 2004. A soldier entered the military commission room and handed a piece of paper to the commission’s presiding officer. Shortly afterwards, the commission panel announced that the proceedings were in indefinite recess.

The proceedings were halted because of a ruling by US District Judge Robertson, presiding over Salim Ahmed Hamdan’s appeal in the federal court in Washington DC. He ruled that Salim Ahmed Hamdan cannot be tried by military commission unless a "competent tribunal", as required under Article 5 of the Third Geneva Convention, determines that he is not entitled to prisoner of war status. "Until or unless such a tribunal decides otherwise", Judge Robertson wrote, "Hamdan has, and must be accorded, the full protections of a prisoner-of-war".

Since December 2003, Salim Ahmed Hamdan had been held in pre-trial isolation in Guantánamo Bay, in what AI considers to have been cruel and inhuman conditions of detention with potentially serious psychological consequences. Judge Robertson ordered that Salim Ahmed Hamdan "must be released from the pre-Commission detention wing of Camp Delta and returned to the general population of detainees, unless some other than the pending charges against him requires different treatment".

The US administration is appealing against Judge Robertson’s decision.

Please write, urging the US administration to recognize this ruling as another sign of the serious national and international concern about the military commissions and to abandon such trials once and for all. Please also call for all Guantánamo detainees to be brought to trial in full accordance with international fair trial standards, without resort to the death penalty, or else be released.

Send appeals to: Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, The Pentagon, Washington DC 20301, USA. Fax: + 1 703 697 8339

Email via: http://www.defenselink.mil/faq/comment.html

Yemen

Chief editor imprisoned because of his beliefs

Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, editor-in- chief of al-Shura, the weekly publication of the opposition Union of Popular Forces, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment and his newspaper was closed down for six months in September 2004. He is detained in the Central Prison in Sana’a and AI believes that he is a prisoner of conscience.

He was arrested in connection with his alleged support of the late Hussain Badr al-Din al-Huthi, a cleric from the Zaidi community. Hundreds of people were killed during clashes between the security forces and followers of the cleric which took place between June and September 2004. Hussain al-Huthi’s followers were detained for shouting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans after Friday prayers, following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Tensions escalated to armed clashes with the security forces. On 10 September 2004, government officials announced the death of Hussain al-Huthi.

AI is concerned at reports that Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani has been beaten on at least two separate occasions by other prisoners. AI calls on the authorities to ensure that he is protected from harm and to launch an impartial investigation into the allegations.

Colleagues were reportedly refused permission to visit Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani until December 2004, over three months after his arrest and subsequent detention.

Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani is appealing against his sentence. His appeal, set for the beginning of December, was delayed until January. At the time of writing, the outcome of his appeal was unknown.

Seven other journalists working for al-Shura were reportedly summoned to court for questioning in connection with articles they had written and are awaiting the court’s verdict.

Please write, calling on the government to release Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani or charge him with a recognizably criminal offence and give him a fair trial including the right to appeal. Call on the authorities to allow him access to lawyers, visits and medical assistance if necessary.

Send appeals to: His Excellency Dr Rashad Muhammad Al-Alimi, Minister of the Interior, Ministry of the Interior, Sana’a, Yemen. Fax: + 967 1 332 511

Saudi Arabia

Possible death sentence for 13 Nigerian men

Thirteen Nigerian men are at risk of being sentenced to death and executed in Saudi Arabia. They were among hundreds detained in Jeddah on 29 September 2002, after a policeman was killed following an alleged dispute between local men and African nationals who were working as car cleaners. All the others have been deported.

The 13 Nigerians were brought before three judges in a closed court session on 22 November. They could not fully understand the proceedings, which were conducted in Arabic with no translation. They have had no lawyers or consular representation since their arrest over two years ago.

The 13 men were reportedly tortured and ill-treated when they were arrested, including being suspended by their feet and beaten. One of the men allegedly received electric shocks to his genitals.

It is not known whether the policeman had children. If he did, and the 13 Nigerians are sentenced to death, they must remain in prison until the eldest child reaches the age of 18, when they can accept or reject the payment of diya(blood money) in place of the death penalty. If the policeman had no children, the 13 are at risk of imminent execution.

Please write, calling for the 13 Nigerians not to be sentenced to death. Seek assurances that the men will not be tortured and call for them to be given immediate access to a lawyer, consular representation and adequate translation facilities.

Send appeals to: His Royal Highness Crown Prince Abdullah bin ‘Abdul ‘Aziz Al-Saud, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, Royal Court, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Updates [see alsoLibya upholds death sentences in ‘Muslim Brothers’ caseon page 4]

Laos

AI is delighted that prisoners of conscience Feng Sakchittaphong and Latsami Khamphoui have been reunited with their families in France. Both men were released from prison in October 2004 at the end of their 14-year sentences. They were arrested and tried in grossly unfair trials for advocating peaceful political and economic change in Laos. Sadly, fellow prisoner of conscience Thongsouk Saysangkhi died in February 1998, having been consistently denied the medical treatment that he

urgently needed.

See Worldwide AppealOctober 1995.

Algeria

Prisoner of conscience Hafnaoui Ghoul thanked AI members for their support on his release from detention on 24 November 2004. The human rights activist and journalist had been imprisoned since May 2004 for criticizing local officials. However, his younger brother, Ahmed Ghoul, was imprisoned in October after attending a political meeting with him. He remains in custody.

See Worldwide AppealAugust 2004.

Chile

The Chilean Supreme Court of Justice ruled on 4 January that Augusto Pinochet should stand trial on charges of human rights abuses – nine charges of kidnapping and one of murder. He will be the first former Head of state to be tried for human rights abuses committed during "Condor Operation" – a strategy agreed between the military governments of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia, during the 70s and 80s, with the aim of silencing political opponents.

China

Mongolian political prisoner Hada continues to suffer cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment in Chifeng Prison, Inner Mongolia. According to a recently released prisoner, Hada has been repeatedly chained to a "shackle board" – a metal plank with handcuffs at each corner – and has been prohibited from speaking to fellow inmates.

Please write, calling for his immediate and unconditional release. Send appeals to: Chairman of the Nei Menggu Autonomous Regional People’s Government, Yang Jing Zhuxi, Nei Menggu Zizhiqu Renmin Zhengfu, 1 Xinhua Dajie, Huhehaoteshi 010055, Nei Menggu Zizhiqu, China.

See Worldwide AppealNovember 1997.

USA

Saifullah Paracha was transferred from Bagram airbase, Afghanistan, to Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, in September or October 2004. The International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed this transfer to his family on 14 October.

Hundreds of people of around 35 different nationalities remain held without charge or

trial at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, many without access to any court, legal counsel or family visits. Denied their rights under international law and held in conditions which may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, the detainees face severe psychological distress. There have been numerous suicide attempts.

Please write, urging that Saifullah Paracha be given a prompt and fair trial or else released.

Send appeals to: Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld (see above under USA for address details).

See Worldwide AppealJuly 2004.

Arms and injustice continue to fuel the war in Sudan

Pilot: "We have searched all areas and haven’t found anyone. It is only empty areas."

Military ground control: "Make sure that any area you search you burn it immediately. Just burn it, burn it... So as not to come back again."

Sound recording of a Sudanese Air Force bombing raid over Darfur picked up on short-wave radio © Philip Cox, Native Voice Films

‘The only thing in abundance in Darfur is weapons. It's easier to get a Kalashnikov than a loaf of bread.’

Jan Egeland, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, July 2004

Governments worldwide have knowingly let arms be exported to Sudan, supplying the government and its militias with aircraft and weapons likely to be used to attack civilians.

Over the last 20 years, the supply of arms to Sudan has enabled the government to arm and deploy untrained and un-accountable militias. They have armed nomad militias to attack not only the insurgents but also the civilian population, killing villagers, destroying homes and looting property. As a result, almost six million people have been forcibly displaced by conflict in Sudan to date.

Military aircraft, tanks, artillery and small arms have been exported to Sudan by many countries. AI continues to call on the UN Security Council to impose a mandatory arms embargo on Sudan to prevent supplies reaching the parties to the conflict in Darfur, including the government forces, until effective safeguards are in place to protect civilians from grave human rights abuses.

The government continues to deny that its forces have not only failed to protect the civilian population but also have actively participated in killings, forced displacement and rape. So far no suspected perpetrators of gross human rights violations have been brought to justice in Sudan.

The Comprehensive Peace Treaty on the north-south conflict in Sudan was signed on 9 January. However, no mention of bringing the perpetrators of grave human rights violations to justice is made in the eight protocols and agreements, already signed, which make up the Comprehensive Peace Treaty. Yet both sides have been guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The impunity enjoyed by those who committed atrocities in southern Sudan has undoubtedly helped to fuel the atrocities committed in Darfur. The perpetrators of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other violations of international human-itarian law and human rights law in Sudan must be held accountable.

As the wife of a Nuba man who disappeared during the conflict told AI: "We are waiting for peace and we will welcome peace... But we are still afraid to ask about our husbands and brothers. Will we be able to ask when peace comes? We will never forget those who have not come back. We cannot have peace of mind if we do not know what happened to them. We do not even know what to say to our children".

A major cause of the conflicts which shattered the lives of so many Sudanese has been injustice and the proliferation of arms. If the commitment to peace in Sudan by parties to the Comprehensive Peace Treaty and the international community is to be meaningful, such concerns must be addressed as a matter of urgency to ensure lasting peace.

See Sudan: Arming the perpetrators of grave abuses in Darfur(AFR 54/139/2004).

For AI’s latest information on Sudan go to: http://web.amnesty.org/pages/sdn-index-eng

The most important lesson of your life

"Education is the key to unlocking other human rights"

Katarina Tomasevski, former UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, 2003

Human rights education is essential to strengthen young people’s understanding and respect for human rights and fundamental freedom in society. Under international law, all governments have a duty to teach children about human rights.

Human rights education must be implemented throughout the whole of the education system to help children develop social and moral responsibility.

As part of the UN World Programme for Human Rights Education which began in January, AI has produced posters and postcards for use in schools. Primary and secondary school children are being encouraged to send postcards to the minister for education in their country. They are calling for human rights to be a regular part of the school curriculum and for resources to be made available for this to happen in every school.

For more information see www.amnesty.org/hre

Abolition of the death penalty in West Africa – major gains

On 10 December 2004, Senegal abolished the death penalty. The bill was passed with an overwhelming majority. Senegal became the fourth member state of the Economic Community of West African States to outlaw capital punishment, after Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Côte d’Ivoire. Under President Abdoulaye Wade’s leadership, the bill had been adopted unanimously by the government in July 2004. Senegal had not carried out executions since 1967 but continued to pass death sentences as recently as July 2004.

Encouraging developments have occurred in Nigeria and Sierra Leone where both countries took important steps towards the abolition of the death penalty in October 2004.

In Nigeria, the National Study Group on the Death Penalty – in charge of conducting a national debate – presented its report to the Federal Government. It called on the government to impose a moratorium on executions and to commute to life imprisonment the sentences of all death row prisoners whose appeals have been concluded. President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is personally opposed to the death penalty, launched the national debate in November 2003.

In Sierra Leone, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) finally published its report. Among its key recommendations, the TRC asked the government: "to abolish the death penalty by repealing immediately all laws authorizing the use of capital punishment". This recommendation is categorized as "imperative", that is, the government should implement it "without delay". The TRC further recommended the introduction of a moratorium on all executions pending a vote on abolition of the death penalty by Parliament. It also urged that any pending death sentences be immediately commuted by President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. This positive move was, however, under-mined on 20 December 2004 when 10 men were sentenced to death after being convicted of treason by the High Court in Freetown. AI called on President Kabbah to respond to the spirit and letter of the TRC’s report and immediately commute these and all other pending death sentences.

AI has been actively campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty in West Africa since October 2003. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It violates the right to life. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. It has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments.

USA ties military aid to human rights in Nepal

The US Congress has passed a bill linking military assistance for Nepal to improvements in human rights.

Any US military assistance is now dependent on the Nepalese authorities’ compliance with human rights orders issued by the country’s Supreme Court. The bill obliges the government to cooperate with the National Human Rights Commission of Nepal (NHRC) by granting access to all places of detention, and to resolve all security related cases involving individuals in government custody. The government must also show that it is taking effective steps to end torture by its security forces and to prosecute those responsible for human rights violations.

Following the passing of the bill in 2004, the Nepalese Chief of Army Staff has agreed to respect court orders and cooperate with the NHRC. However, it remains to be seen whether the army will abide by these commitments and improve its human rights record.

The bill also condemned the widespread atrocities against civilians carried out by the Maoist insurgency in Nepal. AI USA have campaigned hard with other organizations, submitting proposals to the US Congress, to get this groundbreaking bill passed by the US Senate.

Libya upholds death sentences in ‘Muslim Brothers’ case

The death sentences of two university professors, Salem Abu Hanak and Abdullah Ahmed ‘Izzedin, were upheld on appeal in December 2004.

The decision, which was pronounced after an unfair trial, is subject to review by the Supreme Court and cannot be implemented without the consent of Libya’s highest judicial body, the Supreme Council of Judicial Bodies. The sentences were originally handed down in 2002.

The two men were among scores of individuals arrested in 1998 on suspicion of supporting or sympathizing with the banned Libyan Islamic Group (al-Jama’a al-Islamiya al-Libya), also known as the Muslim Brothers. Some 83 other prisoners of conscience, sentenced in the same trial in 2002, had their sentences upheld. These men were given prison terms ranging from 10 years to life and have no further chance of appeal. See Worldwide AppealMay 2002.

Please write, calling on the Libyan authorities to withdraw the death sentences and to release immediately all those held solely for the peaceful expression of their political beliefs.

Send appeals to: Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi, Leader of the Revolution, Office of the Leader of the Revolution, Tripoli, Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Telex: 70 0901 20162 ALKHASULY

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