Burma: End Repression of Buddhist Monks
(Bangkok) – Buddhist monks in Burma face continuing repression, intimidation and harsh prison sentences two years after the military government’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrations, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
Maternal death rate in Sierra Leone is a “human rights emergency”
As world leaders meet at the United Nations in New York to discuss increased funding for healthcare in developing countries, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan has launched a campaign to reduce maternal deaths in Sierra Leone.
The report Out of Reach: The Cost of Maternal Health in Sierra Leone uses graphic and personal testimonials to show how women and girls are often unable access lifesaving treatment because they are too poor to pay for it.
In Sierra Leone, one in eight women risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth. This is one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.
Thousands of women bleed to death after giving birth. Most die in their homes. Some die on the way to hospital; in taxis, on motorbikes or on foot. In Sierra Leone, less than half of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant and less than one in five are carried out in health facilities.
"These grim statistics reveal that maternal deaths are a human rights emergency in Sierra Leone," said Irene Khan, launching the report in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.
"Women and girls are dying in their thousands because they are routinely denied their right to life and health, in spite of promises from the government to provide free healthcare to all pregnant women."
At the United Nations General Assembly meeting on 23 September, access to healthcare in the developing world will be high on the agenda.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce a series of new finance packages devoted to improving healthcare in the developing world with particular focus on infant and maternal health. Sierra Leone is expected to be among the recipients of the fund.
"Additional money is desperately needed in Sierra Leone but will not reach women and children in remote areas who are at greatest risk," said Irene Khan. "The lives of women and girls will only be saved when the health system is properly managed and the government is held to account.
"Money alone will not solve the problem. In Sierra Leone severe discrimination and the low social status of women underlies the terrible tragedy of maternal deaths. This is a country where girls are forced into early marriage, excluded from schools and face sexual violence. Women’s health needs are given a low priority by their own families, community leaders and their government."
Irene Khan’s visit to Sierra Leone marks the start of Amnesty International’s action against maternal mortality in the country. A "campaign caravan" will tour Sierra Leone over the coming weeks, providing information and fuelling debate on the issue of maternal health.
Amnesty International believes poverty is a human rights issue. This year, it launched a global campaign called Demand Dignity, which calls for an end to the human rights violations that drive and deepen poverty.
The Demand Dignity campaign mobilises people across the world to demand that governments and corporations listen to the voices of those living in poverty and respect their rights.
Iran: Appoint Special UN Envoy to Investigate Rights Crisis
(New York) – Member states of the United Nations should use President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit to the UN General Assembly to address Iran’s worsening human rights crisis, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran and Human Rights Watch said today.
Time for justice as Taiwanese prisoner faces 11th retrial
Taiwan’s High Court has been urged to ensure a fair trail for a death row inmate preparing to face his 11th retrial in 21 years on Tuesday.
Chiou Ho-shun was first tried in two cases related to the deaths of a nine-year-old boy and a middle-aged woman in 1987. He was sentenced to death for robbery, kidnapping, blackmailing and murder in 1998.
He has been detained for over 21 years while the cases have bounced between the High Court and the Supreme Court for retrial.
Amnesty International called on the Court to conduct the latest trial in accordance with international fair trial standards, including prohibiting confessions obtained through torture and to refrain from imposing the death penalty.
"Under international fair trial standards, defendants should have the right to be presumed innocent and tried without undue delay," says Roseann Rife, Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director at Amnesty International. "This unresolved case lasting for more than two decades deserves a prompt resolution."
The cases against Chiou Ho-shun and his two other co-defendants, Lin Kun-ming and Wu Shu-chen, were flawed, according to the latest verdict document of the Supreme Court.
The Court noted that the defendants’ fingerprints were not found at the crime scene.
Other concerns are that the defendants had been denied access to legal counsel during the investigation stage; initial confessions of the defendants were extracted through torture; and the courts in previous trials had failed to exclude these confessions in reaching the guilty verdicts and the subsequent death sentence of Chiou Ho-shun.
No material evidence such as the murder weapon, victims’ bodies and their clothes have been found.
Since Chiou Ho-shun and 11 other co-defendants were tried in the two cases in 1987, nine of the defendants having either died or completed their sentences.
In 1994, a number of police officers handling the case were convicted for their involvement in extracting confessions through torture. In spite of this, during all the retrials, several dozen judges at the High Court have insisted on using the “torture-free” portions of the confessions.
On 6 August 2009, the Supreme Court overturned portions of the original rulings against Chiou Ho-shun and the two other co-defendants, and returned the case to the High Court for retrial.
An estimated 65 people have been sentenced to death in Taiwan and are awaiting appeals or execution as of July 2009.
Although no executions have been carried out in Taiwan since December 2005 and former president Chen Shui-bian publicly opposed the death penalty, the current de facto moratorium has no legal basis.
Morocco: End Police Actions Against Persons Accused of Breaking Ramadan Fast
(New York) – Moroccan authorities should drop all proceedings against a group arrested for planning a forest picnic as a low-key protest against a law barring Muslims from eating publicly during Ramadan’s fasting hours, Human Rights Watch said today.
Yemen must reveal whereabouts of detained journalist
The Yemeni authorities must clarify the whereabouts of journalist Muhammad al-Maqalih, who was seized by plain-clothed assailants in the capital Sana’a late on Thursday.
Human rights activists believe that he is being held by National Security officials (al-Amna Qawmi) in Sana’a.
The 49-year-old had recently been reporting on the ongoing conflict in the Sa’da region of northern Yemen, which has seen fierce clashes between rebels and government forces.
Muhammad al-Maqalih was snatched from Ta’iz street in Sana’a at 11pm local time on 17 September.
Amnesty International suspects his apparent disappearance is the result of his strong opposition and criticism of the government, in particular over the armed clashes raging in Sa’da and the killings of civilians by government forces.
Critics and opponents of the state in Yemen are often at risk of arrest and detention, particularly at times of political crises such as the current armed clashes in Sa’da.
Amnesty International has called on the authorities to clarify Muhammad al-Maqalih’s whereabouts and to release him without delay if he is being held solely for his criticism of the government, which would make him a prisoner of conscience.
The Yemeni authorities should ensure that Muhammed al-Maqalih is protected from torture and other ill-treatment, and allowed prompt and regular access to lawyers of his choosing, his family and any medical treatment that he may require.
Yemen’s Sa’da region, whose inhabitants are predominantly members of Yemen’s Zaidi Sh’ia minority, has experienced several periods of conflict in recent years with recurrent armed clashes between government security forces and followers of the late Zaidi Shi’ia cleric, Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in 2004.
The latest upsurge in violence began in mid-August, when the area was placed under a virtual state of emergency and government forces mounted an escalating series of attacks, including bombing raids against villagers and towns in an apparent attempt to crush the Houthi militants.
Last week, Amnesty International called on the Yemeni authorities to investigate all allegations of serious violations by their forces. These include the reported bombing raid on 16 September 2009 that is said to have killed about 80 civilians at Adi village in the Harf Sufyan area of Amran province, near Sa’da.
Italy/Libya: Migrants Describe Forced Returns, Abuse
(Rome) – Italy intercepts African boat migrants and asylum seekers, fails to screen them for refugee status or other vulnerabilities, and forcibly returns them to Libya, where many are detained in inhuman and degrading conditions and abused, Human Rights Watch said in a report issued today.
Dominican Republic delivers “huge blow” to women’s right to life
The Dominican parliament has voted in favour of constitutional changes that could lead to a total ban on abortions, a move Amnesty International says will put women and girls at risk and increase maternal deaths.
Approved by a majority vote of 128 to 34, Article 30 would introduce inviolability of life from "conception to death".
"Dominican Parliamentarians have delivered a huge blow to the right to life of women and girls," said Susan Lee, Director of Amnesty International’s America’s programme.
It is widely acknowledged that this will lead to changes in the Penal Code, which could lead to a ban on abortions in all circumstances.
Now that it has been approved, Article 30 could severely limit the availability of safe abortions, even in cases when a woman is suffering from life-threatening complications or is in need of life-saving treatment incompatible with pregnancy – such as that for malaria, cancer or HIV/AIDS.
Furthermore, access to safe abortion for women or girls who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest would become even more restricted.
Amnesty International recently published a report looking at the impact of the total ban on abortion in Nicaragua.
According to official data, the ban is contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country — 33 girls and women have died in pregnancy so far in 2009 compared to 20 in the same period last year. Because of inadequacies in the country’s collection of maternal health data, these official figures are believed to be only a minimum.
On Monday, Amnesty International called on the Congress of the Dominican Republic to reject the current formulation of Article 30.
"Amnesty International will continue to stand in support of all Dominicans who oppose imprisonment or other criminal penalties for abortion," said Susan Lee.
"We will also continue to advocate ensuring that safe and legal abortion services are available, accessible, and of good quality for all women and girls who require them in all cases where the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest and when the pregnancy poses a risk to the life or health of the woman."
Saudi Arabia must assist refugees fleeing Yemen fighting
Saudi Arabia must not close its borders to civilians fleeing the conflict raging in Yemen’s Sa’da region, Amnesty International said on Thursday in a letter addressed to the Minister of Interior.
The warning comes amid reports that some have been denied entry and others have been forcibly returned to the conflict zone where a reported bombing raid by government forces on Wednesday was said to have killed about 80 people.
"The Sa’da region has been largely sealed off to the outside world by Yemeni forces since the current upsurge in fighting between government troops and armed Zaidi Shi’a militants began last August, but it is clear that civilians are bearing the brunt of the conflict," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
"Scores, perhaps hundreds, of civilians have already been killed and for many now, fleeing into Saudi Arabia is the only way to get out of the firing line. They must be allowed to enter and be afforded adequate protection."
At present, the situation along the border between Yemen’s Sa’da region and Saudi Arabia is unclear. News reports suggest that more than a dozen members of one Yemeni family who crossed into Saudi Arabia in late August were rounded up and pushed back across the border and that others are said to have been prevented from entering Saudi Arabian territory.
Saudi Arabia has never become party to the main UN treaty governing the treatment of refugees.
It is nevertheless bound under international law not to turn away people seeking asylum, either by sealing its borders or by forcibly returning people on its territory, if on return they may be at serious risk of human rights abuses.
"While the Saudi Arabian authorities have been playing a positive role in helping organize the flow of humanitarian assistance to beleaguered civilians in Sa’da governorate, they must not force the return of any people seeking safe haven," Malcolm Smart added.
Yemen’s Sa’da region, whose inhabitants are predominantly members of Yemen’s Zaidi Sh’ia minority, has experienced several periods of conflict in recent years with recurrent armed clashes between government security forces and followers of the late Zaidi Shi’ia cleric, Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in 2004.
The latest upsurge in violence began in mid-August, when the area had been placed under a virtual state of emergency and government forces have mounted an escalating series of attacks, including bombing raids against villagers and towns in an apparent attempt to crush the Houthi militants.
International humanitarian law expressly prohibits attacks which directly target civilians, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks. The Yemeni government and the Houthi armed militants are legally bound to respect international humanitarian law and must ensure that their forces refrain from carrying out such unlawful attacks.
"The Yemeni authorities must investigate, fully and promptly, all allegations of serious violations by their forces such as the reported bombing raid yesterday which is said to have killed many civilians, at Adi village in the Harf Sufyan area of Amran province near Sa’da," said Malcolm Smart.
South Korea releases Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress
Amnesty International on Friday welcomed the release of the Secretary General of the World Uighur Congress, following his detention at Incheon International airport in Seoul, South Korea but said the authorities should not have denied him entry to the country.
Dolkun Isa had been held at the airport for two days after being denied entry to South Korea.
"We welcome the news that Dolkun Isa was released and that he has safely returned home to Germany," said Roseann Rife, Amnesty International Asia Pacific deputy director.
"We are, however, disappointed that the South Korean authorities did not permit Mr Isa to enter South Korea to attend the World Forum for Democratization in Asia in Seoul as he had planned."
Mr Isa has travelled widely around the globe to participate in activities promoting human rights for Uighurs in China.
The Chinese authorities have accused the World Uyghur Congress and its President Rebiya Kadeer in particular, of having masterminded recent riots in Urumqi. The authorities have not substantiated such claims with any credible evidence.
Dolkun Isa fled China in 1997 obtaining asylum in Germany and became a German citizen in 2006.
In 2006, Husein Dzhelil, a Canadian citizen originally from Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, was detained in Uzbekistan and handed over to China.
In China he was held incommunicado, tortured, denied access to Canadian consular officials and finally sentenced to life imprisonment for “plotting to split the country” and “joining a terrorist organization”. He remains in prison in China.