Up to 20,000 at risk of forced eviction in Zimbabwe
Authorities urged to halt pending evictions from a settlement on the outskirts of Harare for failure to pay prohibitively high lease renewal fees.
The Zimbabwean authorities must halt the pending evictions of up to 20,000 people from an informal settlement on the outskirts of Harare for failure to pay prohibitively high lease renewal fees charged by the authorities, Amnesty International said on Thursday.
Most of the residents of Hatcliffe Extension were allocated plots of land for new homes after they were forcibly evicted by the authorities under the country’s 2005 mass forced evictions programme. Operation Murambatsvina saw around 700,000 people lose their homes and/or their livelihoods.
“Residents of Hatcliffe Extension are among the poorest and most marginalized in Zimbabwean society and many households have no means of paying the lease renewal fee, especially as a lump sum,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Africa.
“Instead of threatening vulnerable people with eviction, the government must provide protection from the cycle of insecurity and further violations by providing security of tenure and affordable payment plans for leases.”
Hatcliffe Extension is one of a number of settlements set up under Operation Garikai – the government programme that was initiated to resettle those left homeless after Operation Murambatsvina.
In reality, only a small number were resettled. The majority were forced into overcrowded existing housing stock while others were forcibly relocated to rural areas by the government.
“Operation Garikai was wholly inadequate as a remedy for the serious violations of the right to adequate housing perpetrated under Operation Murambatsvina,” said Michelle Kagari.
Five years after the mass forced evictions, residents at Operation Garikayi settlements are surviving in deplorable conditions in plastic shacks without access to basic essential services.
“Residents of Hatcliffe have been utterly let down by the government. It is therefore all the more shocking that instead of taking steps to improve their current situation, the government is threatening action that will certainly increase suffering and deprivation,” said Michelle Kagari.
In June, the authorities posted notices at Hatcliffe Extension saying that all leaseholders should pay for the renewal of their agreements by 30 September. Failure to pay would result in residents losing their land which would then be allocated to others on the housing list. There has been no consultation with the residents on the renewal process and the fee set by the authorities.
Many of the settlement’s 3,000 households have no means of meeting the fee of up to US$140 set by the government. Operation Murambatsvina, as well as destroying homes, also destroyed the informal employment sector, depriving thousands of reliable income. The unemployment rate in Zimbabwe stands at around 90 per cent.
Since June, the residents have made several unsuccessful attempts to engage with the relevant authorities.
The problem of excessive lease fees is not restricted to Hatcliffe Extension. Residents of other informal settlements set up under Operation Garikai are also under threat of eviction.
Earlier this month, police burnt down shacks at an informal settlement in Harare’s Borrowdale suburb, making over 200 survivors of Operation Murambatsvina homeless.
“The government of Zimbabwe must review and revise Operation Garikayi, in genuine consultation with survivors, to address the housing needs of all survivors of Operation Murambatsvina,” said Michelle Kagari.
Through the Demand Dignity campaign, launched in May 2009, Amnesty International is calling on governments globally to take all necessary measures, including the adoption of laws and policies that comply with international human rights law, to prohibit and prevent forced evictions.
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, big 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 pages
Zimbabwe: Community evicted without warning (Urgent action, 8 September 2010)
Zimbabwe’s 700,000 victims of forced eviction still ignored five years on (News, 18 May 2010)
Tunisia: Government Ratifies Cluster Munition Ban
(New York) – Tunisia ratified the international treaty banning cluster munitions on September 28, 2010, becoming the first country in the Middle East and North Africa to do so. The move should encourage others from the region to ratify or accede to the treaty, Human Rights Watch said.
Convictions of Chinese peaceful protesters condemned
Eight men and two women convicted of ‘gathering a crowd to disturb social order’ following a Feb 2009 demonstration outside a court in the southwestern province of Sichuan.
Amnesty International on Wednesday condemned the conviction of 10 peaceful protesters in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan and called on the Chinese government to immediately release them.
The eight men and two women were convicted on Tuesday of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order” following a Feb 2009 demonstration outside Chengdu City Intermediate People’s Court.
Bao Junsheng (56) , Zeng Li (44), Huang Xiaomin (48), Zeng Rongkang (56), Xing Qingxian (44), Yan Wenhan (47), Lu Dachun (44) and Yang Jiurong (46 f) received prison sentences of between two and three years. Xu Chongli (57f) and Liu Jiwei (56) were released under a one- two year supervision order.
“This case raises some disturbing questions about China’s commitment to basic human rights,” said Catherine Baber, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Deputy Programme Director.
“These individuals were part of a peaceful protest calling for judicial reform. Instead of justice, they were arrested, tortured and now face unwarranted prison sentences.”
Six of those convicted were members of a group of approximately 30 people who chained themselves together outside the court on 23 Feb 2009 to protest against a series of court judgments.
Yan Wenhan and Huang Xiaoming are local activists who filmed the protests, Xing Qingxian posted his account of the story online, based on witness Lu Dachun’s photos and information.
The protesters and witnesses were not detained at the scene, but only after articles and videos about the protest spread on the internet.
The group stood trial at Leshan City Intermediate People’s Court on 7 and 8 April 2010, but the case was sent back to prosecutors for more investigation.
At that trial, six of the 10 defendants – Zeng Rongkang, Yang Jiurong, Huang Xiamon, Yan Wenhan, Xing Qingxian and Lu Dachun – alleged that they had been subjected to torture and degrading treatment during their detention by police.
They said they had been slapped, interrogated for long periods, deprived of sleep and subjected to the “tiger bench”, a form of torture involving stretching and shackling of limbs, resulting in extreme strain on the victim’s knees.
Their lawyers contend that the trial was not fair as they were not permitted to submit evidence to defend their clients and were constantly interrupted when making their legal arguments. Instead, the evidence allowed was mainly based on police statements and interrogation notes, much of it contradictory.
“Chinese officials need to revisit the events, allegations and sentences in this case,” said Catherine Baber. “The 10 should be immediately released and the government should ensure peaceful protests are allowed to take place.”
Urgent Appeal: After Suffering Years of Torture, “Upstanding” Man on the Verge of Death in Chinese Prison Camp
A 55-year-old man is near death after suffering years of torture at the hands of Chinese police, according to multiple reports from China.
Third ruling condemns Paraguay for its treatment of Indigenous Peoples
Amnesty International has urged the Paraguayan authorities to return land to an under-threat indigenous group, after a court condemned the government’s treatment of the marginalised community.
Amnesty International has urged the Paraguayan authorities to return land to an under-threat indigenous group, after a court condemned the government’s treatment of the marginalised community.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that the Xákmok Kásek community should be allowed to live on its traditional land. Many community members have been forced to disperse to alternative sites due to inhumane living conditions. Paraguay is the only country in the Americas to have been condemned three times by this regional human rights court.
The community, which comprises around 60 families, has been denied access to the land for over 20 years and deprived of its traditional means of subsistence: hunting, fishing and gathering.
“The Paraguayan authorities have shown a shocking disregard for the well-being of its indigenous population. With every day that passes, the government is condemning these communities to a life of misery and threatening their survival,” said Louise Finer of Amnesty International.
The Xakmok Kásek indigenous community, part of the Enxet ethnic group, is claiming 10,700 hectares of land, currently located within a private farm in the Paraguayan Chaco. It took its case to international human rights bodies after two decades of fruitless negotiations within the country.
In 2005 and 2006, the Court condemned Paraguay for the violation of the rights of the Yakye Axa and Sawhoyamaxa communities, who are forced to live in poverty along the side of a highway because their ancestral lands are privately owned by others.
The Court gave the Paraguayan authorities three years to comply with these rulings. Both deadlines have long expired, but they have yet to return the land to the communities.
“It is deplorable that these two communities are still waiting for the State to take decisive action,” said Louise Finer.
“This third ruling against the state – a record in Latin America – shows that instead of taking action to reverse the historic legacy of indigenous rights violations, Paraguay is allowing it to continue.”
The Inter-American Court on Human Rights ruled in the Xákmok Kásek case that Paraguay violated the rights to life, legal protection and communal property of the community. It also found that the rights of the child and to non-discrimination had been violated.
It criticised Paraguayan authorities for their passivity, inactivity, lack of diligence and failure to respond to the Xákmok Kásek community’s claims.
The Court found Paraguay legally responsible for the death by preventable causes of thirteen members of the Xákmok Kásek community.
Official statistics indicate that there are 108,600 indigenous people in Paraguay, representing 1.7 per cent of the population. In fact the figure is probably considerably higher.
Paraguay: Indigenous leaders receive death threats (Report, 10 September 2010)
Make our rights law: Enforce economic, social and cultural rights (Report, 31 August 2010)
Bahrain: Rescind Travel Ban on Rights Defenders
(New York) – Bahrain should immediately rescind a travel ban against prominent human rights defenders whom authorities recently prevented from leaving the country, Human Rights Watch said today.
Prominent Iranian blogger jailed for more than 19 years
Amnesty International has expressed concern over the sentencing of an Iranian-Canadian blogger to more than 19 years in prison for his online comments.
Amnesty International has today expressed concern over the sentencing of an Iranian-Canadian blogger to more than 19 years in prison for his online comments.
According to the Iranian website Mashreghnews, Hossein Derakhshan was convicted by Branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court of “cooperating with hostile states“, “propaganda against the system”, “propaganda in favour of counter-revolutionary groups, “insults to the holy sanctities”, and “the set-up and management of vulgar and obscene websites”.
The site also said that the court sentenced him to 19½ years in prison, a five-year ban on political and journalistic activities and “repayment of received funds of 30,750 Euros, US$2,900, and UK£200 British Pounds”. The site did not provide further information about what the funds were allegedly for.
“As far as we can tell, Hossein Derakhshan has been very harshly sentenced by the Iranian authorities after an unfair trial, merely for exercizing his right to freedom of expression. If this is the case, he should be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
As is common in cases portrayed by the authorities as relating to “national security”, Hossein Derakhshan’s lawyer has not been given a copy of the verdict nor yet had adequate opportunity to take note of the full details of his conviction and sentence.
Hossein Derakhshan, 35, who wrote his blog mostly from outside Iran, is credited with helping to spark a surge in blogging on reform issues in Iran in 2001 by posting simple instructions in Persian on how to set up a site and begin writing online comments.
“The Iranian authorities routinely resort to bringing vaguely worded charges relating to national security, which do not amount to recognizable criminal offences, against those who peacefully express dissent,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
“We know from long experience that the fairness of trials before Revolutionary Courts is seriously compromised. This blogger spent well over a year held without charge in a legal limbo in circumstances where he was prevented from receiving visits from his family and lawyer. Many others held in such circumstances have later stated that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated while held”
At first a journalist in Tehran before moving to Canada in 2000, Hossein Derakhshan returned to Iran at the end of October 2008 and continued to blog from there but was arrested at his family home in Tehran on 1 November 2008.
He has 20 days in which to lodge an appeal and is believed to be held in Evin Prison, Tehran.
US: Senate Should Act to Tackle Violence Against Women
(New York) – The US Senate should quickly approve a bipartisan bill that sets out a new strategy for US engagement in the struggle to end violence against women worldwide, Human Rights Watch said today. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is scheduled to take up the bill on Wednesday, September 29, 2010.
Guinea: One Year On, No Justice for Bloody Stadium Massacre
Dominican Republic should investigate abduction allegations against anti-kidnap police
Juan Almonte Herrera, a member of the Dominican Committee of Human Rights, has not been seen since last September when a group of armed men forced him into a car and drove away.
Amnesty International has urged the authorities in the Dominican Republic to investigate the whereabouts of Juan Amonte Herrera who is believed to have been abducted by anti-kidnapping police officers.
On 28 September 2009, Juan Almonte Herrera, a member of the Dominican Committee of Human Rights, was on his way to the Santo Domingo office where he worked as an accountant, when a group of armed men forced him into a car and drove away. He has not been seen since.
One year on, Juan’s family and lawyers are yet to receive any official communication on the status of the investigation into his disappearance despite fears that he could be being held incommunicado or have been killed.
“The Dominican authorities should investigate this disappearance or reveal Juan’s whereabouts if he is being held by the security forces. It is very worrying that one year on after his disappearance they appear to have done very little to discover his fate,” said Chiara Ligouri, Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International.
The police had announced on Dominican television that two hours after his detention that Juan was himself being investigated over the alleged kidnapping of a 19-year-old in the eastern town of Nagua, and have since maintained that Juan Almonte remains a fugitive.
At the end of October 2009, two unidentified charred bodies were found in a car in Santo Domingo. Juan’s sister identified one as being that of Juan Almonte. However, when DNA tests were carried out they were negative, and the family has questioned how the tests were carried out.
Following their call for an investigation, his relatives and lawyers have reported to have been placed under surveillance by the police.
They told Amnesty International they have been followed in cars and watched from the street in front of their house. Juan’s sister has received telephone calls asking her to stop publicising the case. They have reported the incidents of surveillance to the authorities, who offered them protection from the police, something they consider inadequate.
“The Dominican authorities must provide adequate protection to Juan Almonte Herrera’s family and lawyers, as a matter of urgency and according to their wishes,” said Chiara Ligouri.
Amnesty International said it is concerned by continuous reports of human rights violations by police and security forces in the Dominican Republic.