Israeli killings of Gaza ship activists must be investigated
Amnesty International has called for Israel to launch an immediate, credible and independent investigation into the killing by its armed forces of at least 10 activists on boats protesting the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
Amnesty International has called for Israel to launch an immediate, credible and independent investigation into the killing by its armed forces of at least 10 activists on boats protesting the Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.
“Israeli forces appear clearly to have used excessive force,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“Israel says its forces acted in self-defence, alleging that they were attacked by protestors, but it begs credibility that the level of lethal force used by Israeli troops could have been justified. It appears to have been out of all proportion to any threat posed.”
As a first step, Amnesty International has called on the Israeli authorities to make public immediately the rules of engagement issued to the troops who carried out this lethal attack.
“The activists on the ships made it clear that their primary purpose was to protest against the continuing Israeli blockade, which constitutes a form of collective punishment and so a breach of international law,” said Malcolm Smart.
For nearly three years, Israel, which is the occupying power in the Gaza Strip, has implemented a policy of banning all movement of goods and people, except for the most basic humanitarian necessities, which are imported by international aid agencies. Only a fraction of patients in need of treatment outside Gaza are allowed out, and dozens have died waiting for Israeli permission to travel.
“The blockade does not target armed groups but rather punishes Gaza’s entire population by restricting the entry of food, medical supplies, educational equipment and building materials,” said Malcolm Smart.
“Unsurprisingly, its impact falls most heavily on those most vulnerable among Gaza ’s 1.5 million people: children, the elderly and the sick. The blockade constitutes collective punishment under international law and must be lifted immediately.”
Israel has a duty under international law to ensure the welfare of Gaza ’s inhabitants, including their rights to health, education, food and adequate housing.
France-Africa Summit: Support Justice to End Atrocities
(Nice) – Heads of state attending the France-Africa summit should make a strong commitment to provide justice for victims of human rights abuses and to bring perpetrators to account, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Conference of Heads of State of Africa and France will meet in Nice, France on May 31 and June 1, 2010.
Sri Lanka: New Panel Doesn’t Satisfy US Concerns
(New York) – Sri Lanka’s new Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, to look into the armed conflict that ended last year, falls far short of minimum standards sought by the United States, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
EU-Russia Summit: Turn Words on Rights Into Action
(Moscow) – The European Union should urge Russia to make good on its reform promises by making concrete human rights improvements, Human Rights Watch said today. The EU and Russia will hold a summit meeting May 31 through June 1, 2010 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Mexico: Supreme Court Protects Rape Victims
(New York) – In a landmark decision today, Mexico’s Supreme Court required all of the country’s states to distribute emergency contraception and to provide access to abortion for rape victims. The decision affirms women’s rights to health and life by enabling rape victims to avoid forced pregnancies, Human Rights Watch said.
Global: Maternal and Reproductive Health Care Failings
City officials convicted over deadly Cairo rockslide
Amnesty International has welcomed the holding to account of eight Cairo city officials convicted of negligence over the deaths of at least 119 people in a rockslide that hit a Cairo slum in September 2008.
Amnesty International has welcomed the holding to account of eight Cairo city officials convicted of negligence over the deaths of at least 119 people in a rockslide that hit a Cairo slum in September 2008.
All eight defendants, including a vice-governor of the Egyptian capital, were sentenced to jail terms on Wednesday for involuntarily causing deaths and injuries through negligence in connection with the fatal rockslide in Al-Duwayqa, east Cairo. All eight remain free on bail, until an appeal court rules in the case.
The court found that Cairo’s local authorities knew of the risks in the area, meaning the deaths could have been prevented. If the sentences are upheld by the appeal court, the victims of the rockslide and their families will be able to claim compensation.
Some of them received the verdict with joy, proclaiming “Long live justice”. Others expressed frustration that the officials found culpable remain free.
Amnesty International had been campaigning for justice for the victims of the Al-Duwayqa rockslide, and for the evacuation of thousands of poor residents who are forced to live in inadequate and unsafe housing in unstable hillside locations.
The Egyptian Centre for Housing Rights, which acted as a civil party in the trial, said the sentences would not have happened without Amnesty International’s pressure.
“The prosecution of the Cairo city officials represents a major step towards justice for the victims of the Al-Duwayqa rockslide,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“We hope it spurs the Egyptian authorities into taking further action to ensure that all people currently living in dangerous areas around Cairo are properly protected in the future.”
The Manshiyet Nasser Court of Misdemeanours sentenced the vice-governor of Cairo to five years in prison. The seven other defendants were sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.
They include the head of Manshiyet Nasser Neighbourhood Authority at the time of the rockslide and his predecessor, along with five other employees responsible for building, housing and monitoring rockslide risks in the area.
Amnesty International called for the protection of residents of “unsafe areas” in Cairo in its November 2009 report Buried Alive: Trapped by poverty and neglect in Cairo’s informal settlements. The following month, the Public Prosecutor indicted the eight officials and referred them to court to stand trial.
The court ruled out requests from lawyers acting for the defence and civil parties to hold higher officials accountable and call the Governor of Cairo and the former Minister of Housing, Utilities and Urban Development as defendants.
The rockslide crashed down the Al-Muqattam Hill onto the Ezbet Bekhit informal settlement in Manshiyet Nasser neighbourhood on 6 September 2008.
Twenty-six areas in Greater Cairo have been identified as “unsafe” by a government master plan to develop the city by 2050. In March 2010, Cairo authorities estimated that 17,600 families were living in imminent danger of death in Manshiyet Nasser alone.
About 6,300 families from the neighbourhood have been relocated to alternative housing since the rockslide of 2008, although in many cases there were concerns that they had been forcibly evicted.
“The Al-Duwayqa tragedy was a disaster waiting to happen,” said Philip Luther. “The Egyptian authorities owe it to both the victims and those who survived that awful morning to ensure that such a tragedy can never happen again.”
Cairo’s poorest risk being buried alive in their homes (Research, 17 November 2009)
Peru must drop charges against Indigenous leader
Amnesty International has urged the Peruvian authorities to drop unsubstantiated charges against a prominent Indigenous leader, who was detained on his return to the country this week after almost a year in Nicaragua.
Amnesty International has urged the Peruvian authorities to drop unsubstantiated charges against a prominent Indigenous leader, who was detained on his return to the country this week after almost a year in Nicaragua.
Segundo Alberto Pizango Chota is accused of being responsible for violence between Indigenous rights activists and police, in which 33 people were killed and at least 200 injured in Bagua, northern Peru, in June last year.
However, at the time of the violence Alberto Pizango, leader of indigenous rights organization AIDESEP (Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana), was in Lima, hundreds of kilometres away.
Alberto Pizango has been charged with “rebellion, sedition and conspiracy against the state and the constitutional order”, and “apology of crimes against public order”.
“The charges against Alberto Pizango appear to be politically motivated and must be dropped immediately,” said Guadalupe Marengo of Amnesty International
On his return from Nicaragua on Wednesday, Alberto Pizango was detained by police at Lima airport. He was released on Thursday but still faces prosecution.
In a statement shortly after his release Alberto Pizango said: “I have returned to my home country of Peru, not only to face the law and demonstrate that I am innocent of the charges made against me, but also to contribute to the necessary reconciliation between Peruvians,”.
On 5 June 2009, violence broke out after police officers dispersed a road blockade organized by Awajún and Wampís Indigenous people in a stretch of the Fernando Belaúnde Terry highway, known as the Curva del Diablo (Devil’s Bend) leading to Bagua, in Bagua province and Bagua Grande, in Utcubamba province.
Among those killed, 23 were police officers and 10 were civilians, including five Indigenous people.
Eleven of the police officers were killed while they were held hostage by Indigenous protestors at a petrol station 80km from Bagua near the town of Imacita, Bagua province; 12 were killed during the police operation at the road blockade and the whereabouts of one police officer remains unknown.
The evidence for the charges against Alberto Pizango appears to rest solely on a press conference he gave on 15 May 2009 where he called for an “Indigenous insurgence” against the government.
At the press conference he clarified that the call for insurgency was a call to the government to annul a series of laws which were being passed without the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous people, as a first step to initiating a dialogue as equals.
The following day Alberto Pizango and other AIDESEP leaders signed an agreement with the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s office retracting the call to insurgence, which was posted on the Human Rights Ombudsperson’s website as well as being reported in the press.
“These tragic events were the predictable and preventable result of the continued disregard by the Peruvian authorities of their duty to respect, promote and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon region” said Guadalupe Marengo. “The recent approval by Congress of the Law of Consultation, which is an important step in the right direction, shows that the government of Peru is beginning to understand this. We trust that the President will now promulgate it without further delay.”
Burma: 20 Years After 1990 Elections, Democracy Still Denied
(New York) – On the twentieth anniversary of Burma’s historic 1990 elections, the Burmese military government shows no signs of relaxing its stranglehold on power, Human Rights Watch said today.
Elections planned for 2010, the first in 20 years, appear designed to enshrine military rule with a civilian face, Human Rights Watch said.
Jamaica violence investigation must be thorough
Dozens of people have been killed in the capital city of Kingston during a security operation to arrest an alleged drug dealer.
Amnesty International has called for a thorough investigation into the deaths of dozens of people in the Jamaican capital Kingston during a security operation to arrest an alleged drug dealer.
The violence started in the capital city of Kingston on Sunday 23 May, as armed supporters of alleged drug dealer Christopher “Dudus” Coke protested against his potential extradition to the US.
Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding declared a state of emergency on Sunday, giving the security forces broad new powers to restrict freedom of movement, search premises and detain persons suspected of involvement in unlawful activities without a warrant.
“While the Jamaican police have a duty to maintain law and order, the attribution of extraordinary powers to the security forces may lead to human rights violations,” said Kerrie Howard, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s America’s programme
According to reports, estimates of the death toll vary from 44 to 60. At least three members of the security forces have also been killed.
Security forces have so far accounted for four firearms seized, quite a low number compared with the number of people killed.
“The human rights record of the police force in Jamaica is dire. Every year the police are responsible for a high number of killings. Evidence indicates that many of these killings are unlawful,” said Kerrie Howard.
“In this context, residents of the affected areas, including those not involved in the armed confrontation, may become victims of abuses by the security forces. Only an impartial and thorough investigation of every death or injury caused by the use of force will enable the facts to be established regarding possible unlawful killings or extra-judiciary executions.
Police in Jamaica killed 253 people in 2009, a figure consistent with previous years.
In most cases, the police justify these killings as the result of shoot-outs with gunmen, especially in the context of gang violence in marginalized inner-city communities.
The high number of killings, the virtual absence of injuries or fatalities of police officers, combined with eyewitness testimonies and other evidence, indicate that many of the killings involved excessive or arbitrary use of force by the police and that, in many cases they amounted to unlawful killings, including extrajudicial executions.
“Collection of evidence and access to independent ballistic and forensic expertise will be crucial in order to ensure that those responsible of human rights violations are identified and brought to justice,” said Kerrie Howard
Amnesty International said it is also concerned at reports that more than 500 people have been detained since the state of emergency was introduced.
“Even during officially declared states of emergency, Jamaica is required under international law to guarantee the rights of everyone detained, including having their detention reviewed by an independent tribunal,” said Kerrie Howard.
