Russia: Complying With European Court Key to Halting Abuse
(Moscow) – Russia has ignored a series of judgments by the European Court of Human Rights on Chechnya, fueling unchecked violence in the North Caucasus, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
Several reported dead in Honduras turmoil
The Honduran authorities must immediately halt their "repressive"response to a week of violent political unrest that left five peoplereportedly killed, Amnesty International has said.
Police are alleged to have shot dead an 18-year-old man in San Pedro Sula on Tuesday. Four more deaths have been reported in the capital Tegucigalpa amid widespread demonstrations against the de facto authorities.
"The de facto authorities must put an immediate halt to these repressive tactics and commit to respecting fundamental human rights," said Susan Lee, Amnesty International’s Americas Director.
There has been a sharp rise in police beatings, mass arrests of demonstrators and intimidation of human rights defenders since the return to Honduras on Monday of deposed President Manuel Zelaya, who was expelled from the country in a coup in June.
There are reports that protestors have been shot by security forces. A 65-year-old man died of gunshot wounds during a demonstration in Tegucigalpa. The circumstances of three more reported deaths in the capital remain unclear.
The man reported to have been shot dead in San Pedro Sula was identified as José Jacobo Euceda Perdomo, 18.
Amnesty International understands that police raided poor residential neighbourhoods in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, searching for opponents of the authorities who had taken part in protests.
Police are reported to have fired live ammunition and tear gas as they entered homes, before beating and detaining individuals. Young people appear to have been particularly targeted.
The location of those detained in Tegucigalpa remains unclear. Some were taken to the main police stations, while others may have been held in the residential neighbourhoods.
Such irregular methods of detention place individuals at risk of grave human rights abuses, since their detention may never be formally registered.
Witnesses in Tegucigalpa have also reported seeing soldiers randomly beating people on the street with wooden clubs.
Concerns about human rights in Honduras have intensified since the democratically elected President Zelaya was forced from power on 28 June and expelled from the country by a military-backed group of politicians led by Roberto Micheletti, former leader of the National Congress.
There has been widespread unrest in the country since the coup d’etat with frequent clashes between the police, military and civilian protestors. Tensions have mounted since the return of deposed President Zelaya on 21 September.
Amnesty International has documented the restrictions that have been imposed on freedom of expression since the coup d’état. These include the closure of media outlets, the confiscation of equipment and physical abuse of journalists and camerapersons covering events.
"The people of Honduras deserve a speedy resolution to this increasingly serious situation," said Susan Lee. "The efforts of the international community to broker a negotiated outcome to the political confrontation offers the best opportunity to avoid a human rights crisis and must be backed by all political sides in Honduras."
Iranian refugees still detained in Turkey despite court ruling
Two Iranian refugees, who remain in detention in Turkey despite a European Court of Human Rights ruling on Tuesday, should be released, said Amnesty International. The court ruled that Mohsen Abdolkhani and Hamid Karimnia had been arbitrarily detained in Turkey without access to a lawyer or an asylum procedure, and other violations.
The Court concluded that the two men, who were former members of the People’s Mojahedin Organization in Iran (PMOI), would face a real risk of death or ill-treatment if returned to Iran or Iraq.
Amnesty International called on the Turkish authorities to release Mohsen Abdolkhani and Hamid Karimnia as well as others currently in detention following a decision by the European Court of Human Rights to stay their deportation.
"Mohsen Abdolkhani and Hamid Karimnia have been held in unlawful detention for more than a year," said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s expert on Turkey. "They should be released immediately along with all others in a similar position, but not included in this application."
Amnesty International had previously written to the Turkish authorities requesting the release of the applicants and seven other individuals who were held in detention following applications to the court.
Mohsen Abdolkhani and Hamid Karimnia were recognized as refugees by UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, while they were resident in a camp created by United States forces in Iraq. Their status was recognized on the grounds of their political opinions and their links with the PMOI.
After the camp was closed in April 2008, the two men fled to Turkey, but were apprehended by security forces and deported back to Iraq without any legal procedure. After re-entering Turkey, they were once again apprehended and subsequently convicted of illegal entry into Turkey.
Despite their statements to police and to the court that their lives would be at risk if returned to Iran or Iraq, the authorities attempted to deport them again, this time to Iran.
They were transferred in September 2008 to the Kirklareli Foreigners’ Guesthouse after their application to the to the European Court of Human Rights against the deportation was lodged. They remain in detention more than a year later.
Throughout their detention, the men have been denied access to an asylum procedure, to meet with their lawyers and to any mechanism to challenge the legality of their detention.
Amnesty International is calling on the Turkish authorities to overhaul its legislation relating to the detention of refugees and asylum-seekers.
"Turkey must end the practice of detaining refugees and asylum-seekers for immigration purposes in line with international human rights standards which require that detention is only used in the most exceptional circumstances," Andrew Gardner said.
Vietnam: Government Rejects UN Proposals to Improve its Rights Record
(New York) – The Vietnamese government has rejected and ignored recommendations to improve its deteriorating human rights record raised during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review process that ended this week, Human Rights Watch said today.
Governments sign up to defend economic, social and cultural rights
Twenty states began signing an international agreement to address violations of economic, social and cultural rights at the United Nations in New York on Thursday. For the first time, the Optional Protocol on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights establishes a mechanism to access justice at an international level for people whose rights are violated.
Many people around the world, particularly those living in poverty and discriminated against, suffer violations of their rights and are denied justice at the national level. The Optional Protocol will enable them to seek justice at the international level and will also support efforts within countries to ensure that effective remedies are available to victims.
"Justice for people whose economic, social and cultural rights are violated, took a decisive step forward today," said Muthoni Wanyeki of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission. Muthoni Wanyeki – representing a coalition of over 300 NGOs, including Amnesty International, campaigning for the Optional Protocol – is taking part in the Treaty Event for Heads of State at UN Headquarters in New York.
“The Coalition welcomes this significant beginning towards universal support for this historic mechanism. 33794 individuals and NGOs from 111 countries have signed a global petition calling on all States who are eligible to do so to become a party to the Optional Protocol through ratification.”
The following States have signed the Optional Protocol: Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Ecuador, Finland, Gabon, Ghana, Guatemala, Luxembourg, Mali, Montenegro, The Netherlands, Portugal, Senegal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Ukraine, and Uruguay.
Peru: Investigate Threats Against Rights Defender
(Washington, DC) – Peruvian law enforcement authorities should take immediate action to investigate threats against the former president of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Dr. Salomón Lerner Febres, and ensure his safety, Human Rights Watch said today.
“Deplorable” death threats from Gambia’s president
The Gambian president’s reported threat to kill anyone who wants to destabilize the country, was deplorable, Amnesty International has said. Speaking on on national television on Monday, President Yahya Jammeh also specifically threatened human rights defenders, and those working with them, by emphasizing that their security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by the government of Gambia.
"We call on President Yahya Jammeh to immediately retract these statements and to affirm The Gambia government’s commitment to respect, protect and promote human rights in line with its constitution and obligations under international law," said Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International’s Africa Programme Director.
Amnesty International has also called on the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, and the Executive Secretary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Mohammed Ibn Chambas, to condemn the statements made by President Yahya Jammeh in the strongest possible terms.
Amnesty International released the report Gambia: Fear Rules in November 2008. The report illustrates how human rights violations in Gambia are perpetrated by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), army and police against real and perceived opponents of the government on a routine basis.
The report demonstrates that once people are in the custody of the government, they are susceptible to a whole range of human rights violations including unlawful detention, torture while in detention, unfair trials, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial executions.
Amnesty International, along with civil society groups across Africa and press freedom organizations, organized a day of action on 22 July 2009 to protest continuing human rights violations in The Gambia, including repression of the media.
France: Don’t Return Calais Migrants to Greece
(Paris) – Many of the hundreds of migrants arrested by French authorities following the destruction of their makeshift camp in Calais are at risk of being sent back to Greece, Human Rights Watch said today.
Beatings and detentions follow Honduras demonstrations
Amnesty International has received continuing reports of numerous demonstrators being beaten by police and some several hundred detained across Tegucigalpa, the capital city of Honduras. The reports follow the break up by police of a mass demonstration outside the Brazilian Embassy on Tuesday.
Reports also indicate similar human rights violations across the country. There has been a sharp rise in police beatings, mass arrests of demonstrators and intimidation of human rights defenders since the return to Honduras on Monday of President Manuel Zelaya Rosales. The President was expelled from the country in a coup d’etat in June.
Amnesty International has warned that fundamental rights and the rule of law in the Central American nation are in grave jeopardy.
"The situation in Honduras can only be described as alarming," said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International. "The attacks against human rights defenders, suspension of news outlets, beating of demonstrators by the police and ever increasing reports of mass arrests indicate that human rights and the rule of law in Honduras are at grave risk."
According to reports received by the organization, around 15 police fired tear gas canisters at the building of the prominent human rights organization, the Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras (Comité de Familiares de Detenidos Desaparecidos en Honduras) on Tuesday morning. Around 100 people, including women and children, were inside the office at the time.
Many had come to denounce police abuses during the break up of a demonstration earlier outside the Brazilian Embassy, where ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has taken refuge.
Amnesty International has received information that dozens of protestors were taken to unauthorised detention sites across the capital on Tuesday night. Although most of those detained have been released, mass arbitrary arrests may make those detained vulnerable to human rights abuses such as ill-treatment, torture or enforced disappearance.
Amnesty International has documented the limits which have been imposed on freedom of expression since the coup d’état. These include the closure of media outlets, the confiscation of equipment and physical abuse of journalists and camerapersons covering events.
Radio Globo and TV channel 36 yesterday suffered power stoppages or constant interruptions to their transmissions which prevented them from broadcasting.
"The only way forward is for the de facto authorities to stop the policy of repression and violence and instead respect the rights of freedom of expression and association," said Susan Lee. "We also urge the international community to urgently seek a solution, before Honduras sinks even deeper into a human rights crisis."
EU: Demand Justice for Victims of Gaza War
(Brussels) – The European Union and its member states should fully endorse the report of the United Nations fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict led by South African judge Richard Goldstone and demand justice for the victims of serious violations of international humanitarian law, Human Rights Watch said today.