Salil Shetty next Secretary General of Amnesty International
Amnesty International has appointed Salil Shetty as its next Secretary General. Shetty, an Indian national, has been the Director of the UN’s Millennium Campaign for the past six years and the Chief Executive of international anti-poverty NGO ActionAid before then.
"We are thrilled that Salil will be joining us and leading Amnesty International as we renew our fight to end injustice – campaigning with those imprisoned because of their ideas, those on death row, those being tortured, and those who have their rights denied because they live in poverty," said Peter Pack, the chair of Amnesty’s International Executive Committee [the organization's governing body].
"As we approach our 50th anniversary, we have ambitious plans to expand our work, especially in the global south, and Salil has a solid track record in mobilising people, civil society, governments and international organizations in the fight for people’s rights and dignity. He’s absolutely the right person to take Amnesty International into the next stage of our work," added Peter Pack.
"I feel privileged to be given this amazing opportunity at a time when the world needs human rights for all more than ever before," said Salil Shetty.
Salil Shetty will start in June 2010. He succeeds Irene Khan who steps down after eight years as Amnesty International’s Secretary General on 31st December 2009.
China: Forcibly Returned Uighur Asylum Seekers At Risk
(New York) – The Chinese government should immediately allow access to the 20 Uighur asylum seekers who were forcibly deported to China on December 19, 2009, in what was a breach by the Cambodian government of its obligations under international law, Human Rights Watch said today. The group of Uighurs included 17 men, one woman, and two children.
European Court: Landmark Ruling on Racial and Religious Exclusion
(London) – The ruling today by the European Court of Human Rights, that the exclusion of Jews and Roma from Bosnia’s highest state offices is unlawful discrimination, is a major step toward ending racial and religious exclusion in Europe, the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and Human Rights Watch said today.
Not Done Yet
The Copenhagen climate summit has ended without the fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement that millions of citizens around the work demanded.
More than 120 world leaders who gathered in Copenhagen have been unable to resolve the issues blocking the road towards a just outcome, leaving the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people at greater risk of losing their homes, health and livelihoods as a result of climate change.
Even so, it is impossible to be without hope. A movement touching millions of people in hundreds of countries around the world has grown, because civil society has cooperated on this issue as never before.
More than 250 organisations, including Amnesty International, came together to form an unprecedented alliance under the TckTckTck banner. Three days of global action broke records on climate demonstrations, and this global movement – perhaps the most diverse ever seen – stands united.
Millions of people around the world look to the future and see hope, justice, and opportunity. They will continue to speak out to get the real deal that the world needs in 2010. The most marginalized and vulnerable people need to be heard by leaders if a climate deal is going to meet their needs.
The many challenges presented along the path have been met by a surge of people from all around the globe who have demanded and will continue to demand a real deal.
The world’s leaders still have a chance to get it right. They must realize that the world expects this and will not accept anything less.
They’re not done yet. Neither are we.
Afghanistan: Investigate Death in Custody
(New York) – The Afghan government should conduct an independent investigation into the suspicious death in custody of a suspect held by its intelligence service, the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Human Rights Watch said today.
Iranian must release student pictured ‘dressed as woman’
Amnesty International has called for the release of an Iranian student leader whose arrest and detention have inspired men to cover their hair in an online solidarity photo campaign.
Majid Tavakkoli was arrested in student protests on 7 December and was later pictured wearing female clothes in an apparent attempt to humiliate him.
Now many Iranian men inside and outside the country have taken pictures of themselves wearing various forms of hijab, such as headscarves or the chador, in protest and solidarity. Many pictures include the slogan "We are all Majid".
As part of the online photo campaign, which has seen hundreds of images uploaded on Facebook, women have also pictured themselves with false moustaches, in a further gesture of solidarity and to rebut the authorities’ tactic to ridicule Majid Tavakkoli.
Majid Tavakkoli’s whereabouts are unknown and he is at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Amnesty International believes he is a prisoner of conscience, held solely for his peaceful expression of his right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
"The Iranian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Majid Tavakkoli and any other students detained around the 7 December demonstrations solely for the peaceful expression of their rights to freedom of expression, association or assembly," said Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Majid Tavakkoli was arrested as he left Amir Kabir University of Technology in Tehran, where he had given a speech at a student demonstration marking Student Day in Iran.
The following day, Fars News Agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian judiciary, published pictures of Majid Tavakkoli wearing women’s clothing.
It claimed he had been wearing them at the time of his arrest in order to escape detection.
Student and other websites, which have alleged that Majid Tavakkoli was beaten at the time of his arrest, have denied that he was wearing the clothes when arrested, but suggested he was forced to wear them afterwards.
Dozens of students and others were arrested before, during and after the 7 December protests that took place in cities across the country. Many have been released, but an unknown number remain in detention.
Amnesty International has also called on the Iranian authorities to promptly and impartially investigate the reports that Majid Tavakolli was beaten during his arrest.
China: Liu Xiaobo’s Trial a Travesty of Justice
(New York) – By mounting a pre-determined political trial of China’s most prominent dissident, the Chinese government is violating the rights of Liu Xiaobo and showing contempt for its universal human rights commitments, Human Rights Watch said today.
Uzbekistan: Pressure Grows on Opposition, Rights Activists
(New York) – The Uzbek government is intensifying its crackdown on political opposition and human rights activists in advance of December 27, 2009, elections, Human Rights Watch said today.
Sahwari human rights activist returns home after hunger strike
Amnesty International has welcomed the news that Aminatou Haidar, a Sahrawi human rights activist who has spent the past month on hunger strike in Lanzarote airport, has returned home and been reunited with her children.
Aminatou Haidar said that she was allowed to fly back to Western Sahara on a private plane after being informed by a Spanish official that an agreement was reached between the Moroccan and Spanish authorities. Her passport was returned to her on arrival by the Moroccan authorities.
She told Amnesty International on Friday that her return was “a victory for human rights and justice”.
Aminatou Haidar has been on hunger strike since 15 November after she was expelled from Western Sahara by the Moroccan authorities. She was admitted to hospital on Thursday morning as her health deteriorated.
“We are delighted that Aminatou Haidar has finally been allowed home and obtained back her passport,” said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“There must, however, be no conditions imposed on her as a result. She, and other Sahrawi human rights defenders, should be able to enjoy their right to freedom of expression without fear of retribution.”
A plane carrying Aminatou Haidar, her sister and her doctor landed in Laayoune at about midnight on Thursday. There was reportedly a heavy security presence in the city, particularly around Aminatou Haidar’s family home.
According to Morocco’s official news agency, the activist was allowed to return following requests by “friend” countries to find a humanitarian solution. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton welcomed Morocco’s decision to allow Aminatou Haidar to return “on humanitarian grounds”. Amnesty International has called for her unconditional return since she was stranded in Lanzarote airport.
Aminatou Haidar was detained at Laayoune airport in Western Sahara on 13 November when she returned from a month-long visit to other countries, including the USA, where she received the 2009 Civil Courage Prize, awarded annually “for steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk.”
She was questioned about why she had given her home as Western Sahara rather than “Moroccan Sahara” on her landing card; she was also asked about her travel, as well as her political opinions and affiliations.
Her Moroccan passport was then confiscated and she was detained in the airport overnight.
She says that on 14 November Moroccan officials offered to release her if she would publicly acknowledge Morocco’s “sovereignty” over Western Sahara. She refused to do so, and a few hours later she was put on a flight to Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
Amnesty International wrote to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on 11 December, urging him to continue his efforts to obtain Aminatou Haidar’s return to Western Sahara, unconditionally and without delay, and to ensure that her documents were returned to her.
Amnesty International also reiterated its call for the inclusion of a human rights monitoring component in the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, in place since 1991 to monitor a ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario Front, and to organize and conduct a referendum on the status of the territory.
The incorporation of a human rights component in the UN Mission’s mandate, up for renewal in April 2010, would be an important step forward towards addressing human rights violations in Western Sahara.
Western Sahara is the subject of a territorial dispute between Morocco, which claims sovereignty, and the Polisario Front, which calls for an independent state in the territory and has set up a self-proclaimed government-in-exile in refugee camps in south-western Algeria.
Libya: Security Agency Should Comply with Judicial Orders and Free 330 Prisoners
(New York, December 18, 2009) – Libya’s Internal Security agency should comply immediately with judicial orders ordering the release of the 330 prisoners the agency is detaining without any legal basis, Human Rights Watch said today.