US: Clinton Should Stress Human Rights on Africa Trip
(New York) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton should emphasize human rights on her seven-nation trip to Africa, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Clinton.
Iran: Joint statement by Shirin Ebadi and Irene Khan
he human rights crisis in Iran is deepening daily and next week’s expected inauguration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a second term as president may spark further protests and a massive new clampdown, warned Irene Khan, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, and Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi today.
“Three days ago, thousands of people in over 100 cities across the world joined in a Global Day of Action in protest at the numerous arrests, beatings and killings that have accompanied the Iranian authorities’ attempt to force through the declared election result, which is so widely disputed,” said Irene Khan. “The purpose was to express our solidarity with those whose rights are being violated in Iran, and to send a message to Iran’s Supreme Leader and those about him that the violations must cease. The world is watching.”
Shirin Ebadi, Iran’s most distinguished lawyer and human rights defender, is in London at Amnesty International’s invitation.
An organization that she founded in 2001, the Centre for Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), was summarily shut down by the Iranian authorities last December because of its efforts to promote human rights and defend people who were detained and tortured. At least three of its leading members – journalist Abdolreza Tajik as well as Abdolfattah Soltani and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, both leading human rights lawyers – have been detained since the start of the election-related protests. Two of them are held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, but the whereabouts of Mohammad Ali Dadkhah is unknown, raising particular fears for his safety.
“My colleagues have been rounded up because of their work to promote justice and the rule of law, and to defend the human rights of people in Iran,” said Shirin Ebadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. “They are now languishing in jail like so many others in my country because they stand up for universal values – the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and to register one’s protest peacefully without fear of arrest or attack by strong-arm forces like the Basij.”
Irene Khan and Shirin Ebadi cautioned that international attention and efforts must not fade, however intransigent the authorities in Tehran appear.
“People in Iran need international support now more than ever as the political divisions in Tehran play themselves out,” said Shirin Ebadi. “International attention and pressure must be sustained and intensified if it is to have impact on those calling the shots in Tehran.”
“In particular, the UN needs to play a more determined and decisive role,” said Irene Khan. “Through its human rights and other mechanisms, the UN must investigate the violations taking place in Iran and compile evidence that can be used, one day, to bring those responsible to account.”
Shirin Ebadi is visiting London as part of international efforts to highlight human rights abuses in Iran and to support a worldwide action that Amnesty International is launching in defence of the CHRD and its members, and to demand that it be allowed to reopen and continue its work.
Iraq: Protect Camp Ashraf Residents
(New York) – Iraqi authorities should conduct an independent investigation into the deaths of at least seven Iranians during a police raid on Camp Ashraf, where several thousand members of an Iranian dissident group, Mojahedin Khalq Organization, have lived for over two decades, Human Rights Watch said today.
More executions in Japan as other countries reject the death penalty
Three men were hanged in Japan on Tuesday, bringing the total number of executions carried out in the country this year to seven.
Hiroshi Maeue and Yukio Yamaji were executed in Osaka and Chen Detong, a Chinese national, was executed in Tokyo.
Increasingly countries are moving away from using the death penalty as the ultimate punishment. More than 70 per cent of countries have a moratorium on executions or have abolished capital punishment but in Japan executions have continued to rise.
"In South Korea there have been no executions for more than 10 years. In Taiwan there have been no executions for three years. But in Japan executions continue to rise bucking the international trend away from the death penalty,” said Martin Macpherson, Amnesty International’s Director of the International Law and Organizations programme.
"Many countries have demonstrated that serious crime can be combated without resorting to capital punishment and that there is no compelling evidence that the death penalty is more of a deterrent than life sentences," Martin Macpherson said.
Japan recently introduced a new lay-judge system that will include citizens in serious criminal cases, including death penalty cases. Lay-judges will sit with professional judges to determine guilt or innocence and decide on sentencing. The first trials under this new system are due to start on 3 August this year.
"With the introduction of the new lay-judge system Japan should seize the opportunity to review its laws on capital punishment and immediately halt all executions in accordance with the UN General Assembly resolutions calling for a moratorium on the death penalty," Martin Macpherson said.
Executions in Japan are by hanging and are usually carried out in secret. Prisoners are typically given a few hours notice but some may be given no warning at all. This means that prisoners who have exhausted their appeal options spend their time on death row knowing they could be executed at any time. Their families are typically notified after the execution has taken place.
Chen Detong’s defence argued to the Supreme Court that he was mentally-ill ("quasi-insane") at the time of committing the crime. Japanese law requires a reduction of punishment where an accused or convicted person has a diminished capacity or competence at the time of the crime, during the legal process or at the time of execution.
However, the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence on Monday. Maeue and Yamaji both withdrew their appeals at the High Court. Maeue and Yamaji were the subjects of an urgent action issued by Amnesty International on 27 February 2009.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases, as a violation of the right to life and the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. The organization says that as the death penalty is irrevocable, there is always the risk that an innocent man or women will be executed. Furthermore the death penalty is inherently arbitrary and discriminates against those who are poor, marginalized or belong to minority communities.
Burundi: Gays and Lesbians Face Increasing Persecution
(Bujumbura) – An April 2009 law that criminalizes homosexual conduct threatens to exacerbate the deplorable treatment of gays and lesbians in Burundi, Human Rights Watch said in a multimedia project published today.
Africa: Reaffirm Support for International Criminal Court
(Pretoria) – More than 130 civil society and human rights groups from across Africa issued a statement today calling upon African states that are parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reaffirm their commitment and their obligation to cooperate with the court.
Eight reported killed as Iraqi forces attack Iranian residents of Camp Ashraf
Eight people are reported to have been killed and up to 400 injured after Iraqi forces attacked unarmed Iranian residents of Camp Ashraf, north of Baghdad, on Tuesday. Amnesty International has called on the Iraqi government to investigate the apparent excessive use of force by its security forces.
Hundreds of armed security forces used bulldozers to force their way into the camp at around 3pm local time. They used tear gas, water cannons and batons against unarmed residents who tried to stop them from entering the camp.
Video footage, seen by Amnesty International, clearly shows Iraqi forces beating people repeatedly on different parts of the body, including the head. Of the 400 people injured, 13 are said to be in a critical condition.
In addition to the numerous casualties, camp residents say that around 50 people were arrested. Their current whereabouts are unknown.
In the last few months, the Iraqi government has publicly stated that it wants to seize full control of Camp Ashraf. On Monday, government spokesperson ‘Ali al-Dabbagh told an Iraqi satellite television channel that the government "will take over the responsibility of internal security affairs of Camp Ashraf". The authorities are reported to be planning to establish a police outpost inside the camp.
Amnesty International now calls on the Iraqi government to reveal the whereabouts of the 50 people detained and ensure that they are protected from torture or other ill-treatment, as well as from forcible return to Iran.
Around 3,500 residents of Camp Ashraf are members or supporters of the People’s Mojahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), an Iranian opposition organization whose members have been resident in Iraq for many years. Until recently the PMOI was listed as a "terrorist" organization by the European Union and other governments, but in most cases this designation has now been lifted on the grounds that the PMOI no longer advocates or engages in armed opposition to the government of Iran.
The US forces provided protection for the camp and its residents, who were designated as "protected persons" following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, but this situation was discontinued following the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the US and Iraqi governments, although the SOFA makes no reference to Camp Ashraf or its residents.
Kenya must provide shelter for 3,000 forcibly evicted in winter
Three thousand people in Nairobi are now exposed to the cold and rain of Kenya’s winter after they were forcibly evicted from their homes last week.
Amnesty International said on Tuesday that Kenya’s government should provide emergency shelter and other humanitarian aid to those evicted.
Police told residents of Githogoro Village, Nairobi, they had 72 hours to dismantle their homes before the bulldozers, which were lined up at the edge of the settlement, moved in. The evictions appear to have been carried out as part of the government of Kenya’s plans to build a new road, the Northern Bypass.
“It’s a disgrace that thousands of men, women and children were evicted without adequate notice or consultation and during the season in which the Kenyan weather is at its worst,” said Irene Khan, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “Many families have been living in the settlement for almost fifty years and now have no option but to sleep in the rubble of their homes.”
Communal toilets were also reported destroyed as part of the forcible evictions, increasing the risk of the spread of disease among the remaining residents who have inadequate access to clean water and other essential services.
“The Kenyan authorities have a duty of care towards their citizens and should ensure the victims of these forced evictions have access to shelter, clean water and other essential services,” said Irene Khan. “Kenya’s government is failing to deliver on its promise to comply with international human rights law regarding evictions and until it does, there should be an immediate end to all forced evictions.”
Since the establishment of the very first informal settlements in Kenya, large-scale forced evictions have regularly occurred in a manner that contravenes international human rights standards. In a report released in June 2009 Amnesty International identified up to 127,000 people in Nairobi at immediate risk of having their makeshift homes and informal businesses demolished under a government-led plan to clean up the river basin.
Through its Demand Dignity campaign, launched in May 2009, Amnesty International is calling on governments globally to take all necessary measures, including the adoption of laws and policies that comply with international human rights law, to prohibit and prevent forced evictions.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi named Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience
Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been awarded the 2009 Amnesty International Ambassador of Conscience award. The announcement was made by Irish rock band U2 in Dublin on Monday night.
U2’s lead singer Bono announced Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s award before the band performed the song ‘Walk On’, which they have dedicated to her on every night of their ‘360 Degrees’ tour.
“Her crime is that if she were to participate in elections, she’d win,” Bono told the crowd. “This week, the brutal force that has her incarcerated will decide in a mock trial if she will spend the next five years in a prison. We must not stand by as she is silenced again. Now is the time for the UN and the entire international community to speak with one voice: Free Aung San Suu Kyi.”
Bono was joined on stage for the song by dozens of Amnesty International activists wearing masks of the Burmese pro-democracy leader, in front of a capacity crowd of 80,000.
“It was a tremendously powerful event,” said Amnesty International Ireland Executive Director Colm O’Gorman. “The crowd was visibly uplifted by the band’s message of support for Aung San Suu Kyi and for human rights.”
Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan said that Daw Aung San Suu Kyi remained “a symbol of hope, courage and undying defence of human rights, not only to the people of Myanmar but to people around the world.”
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, is one of over 2,100 people currently imprisoned in Myanmar for their political beliefs. She has been detained for over 13 of the past 20 years, mostly under house arrest.
Her house detention order was set to expire on 27 May 2009 but she was arrested and placed on trial on 18 May for violating the terms and conditions of her house arrest . The trial concluded on 28 July and a verdict is expected soon. If convicted, she could face up to five years in jail.
Vaclav Havel, who received the inaugural Ambassador of Conscience Award in 2003, said: ‘I know from my own experience that international attention can, to a certain extent, protect the unjustly persecuted from punishments that would otherwise be imposed.
“That is why, shortly after I was elected President [of the Czech Republic], I nominated Mrs Suu Kyi for the Nobel Peace Prize. Goodness knows what would have happened if her fate had not been highlighted, as it is again today.”
The Ambassador of Conscience Award, now in its sixth year, is Amnesty International’s most prestigious award. It recognises exceptional leadership in the fight to protect and promote human rights. Past winners of the award include U2, Peter Gabriel, Nelson Mandela and Mary Robinson.
Sri Lanka: Free Civilians From Detention Camps
(New York) – The Sri Lankan government should immediately release the more than 280,000 internally displaced Tamil civilians held in detention camps in northern Sri Lanka, Human Rights Watch said today.