States urged to support rights to water and sanitation
United Nations says an estimated 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water while more than 2.6 billion people have no access to basic sanitation.
Amnesty International has called on all United Nations (UN) members to uphold the rights to water and sanitation, after the General Assembly voted in favour of recognizing the rights.
The UN said an estimated 884 million people lack access to safe drinking water while more than 2.6 billion people have no access to basic sanitation.
The resolution was supported by 122 countries while 41 countries abstained from voting and none voted against.
“After this promising first step, all states must now take the opportunity to protect the life and health of millions and unreservedly support the rights to water and sanitation, said Amnesty International’s specialist on the right water, Ashfaq Khalfan.”
The rights will next be debated by the Human Rights Council in Geneva in September.
Germany, India, China, Brazil and South Africa supported Wednesday’s resolution but the UK and the US, who were among those abstaining from voting, argued that there is no legal basis for the right to water and sanitation.
“There is no legal reason why countries could not support the resolution, the right to water is already part of international law and there is also a strong legal basis for the right to sanitation,” said Ashfaq Khalfan.
“Women who risk their lives when they go to public toilets at night and people whose children die due to lack of clean water should be able to hold their leaders to account over clean water and sanitation,” said Ashfaq Khalfan.
The vote comes after every state in the Asia-Pacific region, South Asia, Africa and South America, at several summits over the past 5 years, recognised the rights to both water and sanitation.
All 165 member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Council of Europe have also recognised the right to water.
Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign aims to end the human rights violations that drive and deepen global poverty. The campaign will mobilise people all over the world to demand that governments, corporations and others who have power listen to the voices of those living in poverty and recognise and protect their rights. For more information visit the Demand Dignity website
Honduras: Ongoing Attacks Foster Climate of Intimidation
(Washington DC) – Six months after President Porfirio Lobo took office, Honduras has made little progress toward addressing the serious human rights abuses since the 2009 coup, Human Rights Watch said today. Threats and attacks against journalists and the political opposition have fostered a climate of intimidation, while impunity for abuses remains the norm.
Iran: Release and Provide Urgent Medical Care to Jailed Activist
(New York) – The Iranian Judiciary should provide urgent medical care to Mohammad Sadigh Kaboudvand and free him from his unfair detention, Human Rights Watch said today. Kaboudvand, a leading advocate of Kurdish rights in Iran, is serving an 11-year sentence on politically motivated charges.
Morocco: Terror Convictions Upheld for 35, Including Political Figures
(New York) - A Moroccan appeals court has confirmed the conviction of 35 defendants, including six political figures, in the so-called "Belliraj" terrorism case, apparently without addressing the procedural irregularities that denied the defendants their right to a fair hearing in the lower court, Human Rights Watch said today.
Belarus frees conscientious objector
Yevgeny Yakovenko, who refuses to carry arms because of his pacifist convictions, was amnestied by a panel of judges.
Amnesty International has welcomed the release of a conscientious objector in Belarus who had been sentenced to one year in prison for “evading military service”.
Yevgeny Yakovenko, who refuses to carry arms because of his pacifist convictions, was amnestied by a panel of judges in the south-eastern city of Gomel on 23 July.
He was released under an amnesty marking the 65th anniversary of the end of the second world war.
He has repeatedly requested that he be allowed to perform an alternative military service.
“Yevgeny Yakovenko’s release is a positive step but there is still no alternative civilian service in Belarus, which means that he may be summoned to perform military service again,” said Heather McGill, Amnesty International’s researcher on Belarus.
“The authorities must ensure that Yevgeny Yakovenko’s right to conscientious objection is observed and that he is not prosecuted again for his beliefs.”
Yevgeny Yakovenko’s release comes after two other conscientious objectors, Ivan Mikhailau and Dzmitry Smyk, were freed in May.
Both men had refused to carry arms on religious grounds and had asked to perform an alternative civilian service.
Yevgeny Yakovenko, a member of opposition party the Belarusian Christian Democracy, was charged with “evading military service” on 20 January 2010.
He was found guilty by the Central District Court in Gomel on 4 June.
On 10 June Amnesty International sent a letter to the Prosecutor General in Belarus, Grigory Alekseevich, calling for Yevgeny Yakovenko’s release.
The Constitution of Belarus allows for the possibility of exemption from military service and for the substitution of military service by an alternative service to be determined by the law.
However, the laws allowing for an alternative civilian service have not yet been passed which means that many young men continue to be prosecuted.
“The Belarusian authorities must absolve all conscientious objectors from military service and provide them with a genuine civilian alternative,” said Heather McGill.
The right to refuse to perform military service for reasons of conscience is inherent in the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Belarus: Further information: Belarusian conscientious objector acquitted (Urgent action, 19 May 2010)
Belarusian conscientious objector jailed (News, 2 February 2010)
Arizona: US Court Blocks Immigration Law’s Worst Aspects
(Washington, DC) – A ruling by a US district court in Arizona on July 28, 2010, will temporarily block enforcement of the most problematic provisions of Arizona’s recent law targeting immigrants, Human Rights Watch said today.
US: End in Sight for Infamous Crack Cocaine Laws
(New York) – Legislation approved by the House on July 28, 2010, will dramatically alter the historically more punitive approach to federal crack cocaine offenders that led to racial disparities in sentencing, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill, which the Senate passed in March, is on its way to President Barack Obama for his signature.
Japan executions of two men condemned
Amnesty International has condemned the executions of two Japanese men in the first death sentences carried out since the country’s new government came to power last year.
Amnesty International has condemned the executions of two Japanese men in the first death sentences carried out since the country’s new government came to power last year.
Convicted killers Ogata Hidenori, 33, and Shinozawa Kazuo, 59, were hanged in the Tokyo Detention Centre on Wednesday, exactly one year after the last executions took place.
“Japan continues to go against the international trend toward abolition and mete out this cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,” said Donna Guest, Deputy Director of the Asia Pacific Programme.
“A day that should have marked one year without executions has instead seen Japan return to carrying out state-sponsored killings.”
The executions are the first to be approved by Minister of Justice, Keiko Chiba, since she took office under the Democratic Party of Japan in September 2009.
Minister Chiba, who has previously spoken out against executions, announced plans to set up a working group on the death penalty within the Ministry of Justice, following the double hanging.
However, there are concerns among non-governmental organizations in Japan that more executions will take place outside of Tokyo in the coming days. There are currently 107 people on death row in Japan.
“A working group to discuss the death penalty is not enough. There needs to be an open and public debate and an immediate moratorium on executions while the discussion takes place,” said Donna Guest.
Shinozawa Kazuo was convicted of killing six women when he set fire to a jewellery shop in 2000, while Ogata Hidenori was sentenced to death for killing a man and a woman in 2003.
Japan executed seven people in 2009 but no death row inmates had been killed since 28 July 2009.
Executions in Japan are by hanging and are typically carried out in secret. Death row inmates are only notified on the morning of their execution and their families are usually informed only after the execution has taken place.
This means that prisoners live in constant fear of execution. Enduring these conditions for years or even decades has led to depression and mental illness among death row inmates.
Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases as a violation of the right to life. It calls on the government of Japan to immediately commute all death sentences and introduce a formal moratorium on executions as a first step towards abolition of the death penalty.
64-year-old Falun Gong Practitioner Dies from Torture in Beijing Labor Camp
A 64-year-old woman has died from torture-related injuries while being held in a Beijing labor camp, the Falun Dafa Information Center has learned.
India: Don’t Repeat Misuse of Counterterrorism Laws
(New York) – The Indian government should revise its draconian 2008 amendments to counterterrorism laws that can lead to serious violations of human rights, Human Rights Watch said in a new report released today. The amendments mirror previous counterterrorism laws that had been allowed to lapse or were repealed because of the abuses committed under them, Human Rights Watch said.