Iran: Free Three Americans Held Since July
(New York) – Iranian authorities should immediately release the three Americans held in detention for nine months without charge, in violation of Iranian law, Human Rights Watch said today.
Human rights must be top priority in Colombia election campaign
All presidential candidates urged to send out a clear message that, if elected, they will put an end to many decades of abuses and impunity.
Amnesty International has urged Colombia’s presidential election candidates to make human rights a top priority ahead of the 30 May poll.
Independent candidate Antanas Mockus and former defence minister Juan Manuel Santos are two of main contenders in the race to succeed current President Álvaro Uribe.
“It is shocking that, in a country where human rights are routinely abused by those participating in the 45-year-old internal armed conflict, the issue has not been given the priority it deserves,” said Susan Lee, director of Amnesty International’s Americas programme.
In an effort to push the issue of human rights up the electoral agenda two Colombian civil society organizations, the National and International Campaign for the Right to Defend Human Rights and Medios para la Paz have invited vice-presidential candidates to participate in a debate on human rights in Bogotá, Colombia, on 5 May.
Amnesty International also condemned the failure of all the parties to the conflict – be they the guerrilla, paramilitary groups or the security forces – to protect civilians from the human rights consequences of the conflict and to respect their right not to be drawn into the hostilities.
The current government of President Álvaro Uribe was criticized for its “stubborn and illogical refusal to acknowledge the existence of an armed conflict,” and its denial that “Colombia continues to suffer from serious human rights and humanitarian problems.”
“Every year, hundreds of thousands of civilians are forced to flee their homes because of the conflict, while many others are threatened, killed, disappeared or kidnapped,” said Susan Lee.
“The situation faced by Indigenous Peoples, and Afro-descendant and peasant farmer communities, as well as by human rights defenders, is especially precarious. We urgently need to know what the new president will do about it.”
Despite some advances in some high-profile criminal investigations into human rights abuses, impunity remains the norm and most perpetrators have never been identified, let alone tried and convicted.
“The sad truth is that the vast majority of human rights abusers continue to simply get away with it, while many of those involved in key investigations where some progress is being made, such as lawyers, public prosecutors, judges and witnesses, are routinely threatened or killed.
“The new government must be clear about what it will do to ensure that the victims and their families receive the justice they deserve.”
“We hope that all the candidates will send out a clear message that, if elected, they will have the political determination to put an end to many decades of human rights abuses and to overcome the endemic and shameful impunity that has ensured that such abuses continue to this day,” said Susan Lee.
If none of the candidates obtains more than 50 percent of the vote in the May poll, a second round will take place in June. The new government would take office in August.
Russia: Act on Findings Implicating Chechnya Leader
(New York) – The Russian government should closely examine evidence gathered by the Austrian government which indicates the president of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, ordered the kidnapping last year of a Chechen refugee in Vienna, Human Rights Watch said today. The refugee, Umar Israilov, died as a result of gunshot wounds inflicted by his assailants.
Zambia: Prison Conditions Endanger Inmates
New Israeli military order could increase expulsions of West Bank Palestinians
Under the new order, those considered “infiltrators” can be deported to other states or forcibly transferred to the Gaza Strip, and face criminal charges.
Amnesty International has said it is concerned that a new Israeli military order could facilitate the expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.
Military Order No. 1650, which came into force in the West Bank on 13 April, broadens the definition of the term “infiltrator” to include anyone present in the West Bank without a permit issued by the Israeli authorities.
Those considered “infiltrators” can be deported to other states or forcibly transferred to the Gaza Strip, and face criminal charges.
In a letter to Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday, Amnesty International said that it feared this broad definition could facilitate the expansion of the Israeli authorities’ current practice of expelling individuals from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip
“This new military order is scandalous in the light of the Israeli authorities’ long-standing practice of expelling individuals from the West Bank,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa programme.
“Since 2003 Israel has forcibly relocated Palestinians living in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip on the basis that their addresses were registered in Gaza.”
On 28 October 2009, Israeli forces in the West Bank detained Berlanty Azzam, a 21-year-old Palestinian student, who was weeks away from graduating from Bethlehem University. She was handcuffed, blindfolded and forcibly transferred to Gaza.
On 9 December 2009, the Israeli High Court of Justice decided not to allow Berlanty to return to Bethlehem University to complete her studies.
Israel’s argument centred on the Gaza address registered on her identity card and its claim that the permit she acquired to travel to the West Bank from Gaza in 2005 was insufficient.
“We are also concerned that the broadened category of ‘infiltrator’ may also be applied to individuals who entered the West Bank many years ago and have filed applications with the Israeli authorities for family unification,” said Philip Luther.
“To our knowledge, thousands of such applications remain outstanding.”
Since June 2007, the Gaza Strip has been under a tight Israeli blockade which restricts the entry of basic goods, including food, fuel, educational and medical items, and construction materials.
The forcible transfer of Palestinians from the West Bank to Gaza, as well as the deportation of Palestinians to other states, is a violation of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which states: “Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.”
The Israeli authorities have also deported Palestinians from the West Bank to other countries in the past.
In 1992, 415 people suspected of involvement with Hamas and Islamic Jihad were illegally deported by Israel to Lebanon. Then in 2002, Israel deported 13 Palestinians involved in the siege of the Church of the Nativity to European states, with a further 26 being forcibly transferred to Gaza.
Expelled from the West Bank (Case study, 28 April 2010)
UN: Iran’s Withdrawal From Seeking Council Seat a Victory for Rights
(New York) – Iran’s withdrawal from the race for a seat on the United Nations Human Rights Council is a victory for human rights and those who seek a stronger UN human rights body, Human Rights Watch said today. However, further improvements to the council’s membership require giving states a choice of candidates in all regions, Human Rights Watch said.
Malaysia: Earn Seat on UN Human Rights Council
(New York) – Malaysia should urgently adopt human rights reforms to justify its candidacy for the United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to Prime Minister Najib Razak.
Mexican authorities urged to investigate attack on rights observers
Amnesty International has urged the Mexican authorities to investigate an attack on human rights observers in the state of Oaxaca, that reportedly left at least two people killed and several injured and missing.
Amnesty International has urged the Mexican authorities to investigate an attack on human rights observers in the state of Oaxaca, that reportedly left at least two people killed and several injured and missing.
According to initial reports, an International Caravan of Human Rights Observers that were going to document human rights abuses in the Indigenous Triqui region, came under fire by armed men as they travelled in the area on Tuesday.
The organisation called on the Federal Attorney General to immediately investigate the incident.
“Oaxaca authorities have for many years been unwilling to investigate grave human rights violations in that State. The Attorney General must now take immediate steps to protect those affected by the attack and carry out a full and impartial investigation,” said Guadalupe Marengo, Deputy Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Iraq: Detainees Describe Torture in Secret Jail
(Baghdad) – Detainees in a secret Baghdad detention facility were hung upside-down, deprived of air, kicked, whipped, beaten, given electric shocks, and sodomized, Human Rights Watch said today. Iraq should thoroughly investigate and prosecute all government and security officials responsible, Human Rights Watch said.
LGBT rights in Moldova must be respected after pro-equality march is banned
Amnesty International has condemned a Moldovan appeal court’s decision to uphold a ban on an upcoming pro-equality march due to “security and public morality concerns”.
Amnesty International has condemned a Moldovan appeal court’s decision to uphold a ban on an upcoming pro-equality march due to “security and public morality concerns”.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights activists had planned to attend the demonstration on Sunday in the capital, Chi?in?u, to call for improved anti-discrimination legislation in Moldova.
However, Chi?in?u city authorities applied to get the march banned in response to numerous petitions from a range of religious and other anti-LGBT rights groups. Meanwhile, a counter-demonstration organized by those groups has been allowed to take place on the same day.
“It is truly grotesque that individuals and groups who are marching in favour of equality and respect for human rights should be prevented from doing so,” said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination in Europe.
“Meanwhile, those who seek to sow division and prejudice are allowed to celebrate their successful restriction of other people’s right to freedom of assembly in Chisnau’s main square.”
The Chi?in?u Court of Appeal refused to allow the pro-equality demonstrators to assemble in the Great National Assembly Square – the main square in Chi?in?u where all important public events take place.
Instead, the Court has allowed the demonstration to take place in a secluded park some distance from the city centre.
GenderDoc-M, the organization behind the planned march, is appealing the decision to the Supreme Court.
“Public morality concerns can never be used to justify restrictions on the freedom of expression of LGBT people,” said John Dalhuisen.
“The right response to the threat of disturbance by counter-protestors is not to cave in to their demands, but to police them properly and ensure that those seeking to exercise their right to freedom of expression lawfully are in fact able to do so in safety and in dignity”.
Amnesty International is calling on Chi?in?u City Hall, and the Moldovan authorities, to ensure that the march planned by LGBT rights activists for Sunday 2 May is able to take place in the main central square with all the necessary security arrangements.
“For several years now, LGBT activists have either been denied the right to organize public events, or faced disruption and violence when they have done,” said John Dalhuisen.
“This appalling series of violations of the rights of LGBT persons in Moldova must stop. The Moldovan authorities have a chance to put this right on Saturday: they should not miss it.”
International human rights law states that freedom of expression and assembly extends to all groups, including LGBT people. These rights also cover ideas and views that shock or offend other parts of society.
International human rights law standards also place a positive obligation on states to protect those seeking to peacefully exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly from the threat of violence or disruption.