Bolivia must investigate violence at disability protest
Bolivia’s authorities must initiate a prompt, full and independent investigation into reports that police used excessive force against people with disabilities during a demonstration in La Paz on Thursday, Amnesty International said.
Several people were injured or fainted after the police set up a cordon near the city’s Plaza Murillo and repelled protesters who tried to advance, reportedly using pepper spray and electric shocks indiscriminately.
Officials said police were acting in response to violent attacks by demonstrators, and police officers were also injured in the clashes.
“Disturbing reports and images from near Plaza Murillo seem to show the police lashing out indiscriminately against the protesters, many of whom were using wheelchairs,” said Guadalupe Marengo, Deputy Americas Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“Bolivian security forces have a duty to maintain public order, but they should always do so in compliance with international human rights standards on the use of force. Any allegations of abuse should be thoroughly and impartially investigated.”
The clashes in La Paz ended a 100-day journey for many of the protesters, who had covered some 1,000 miles across the country to demand an increase in state subsidies for people with disabilities.
On Thursday, the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies passed a law for the preferential treatment of people with disabilities (Ley general y trato preferente para personas con discapacidad).
The protesters claim that the government failed to take into account their demands when drafting the law. In particular, they are calling for a better work opportunities and an increase in the state disability allowance.
“The authorities should ensure that Bolivia’s people with disabilities are consulted on any proposed law affecting them. Any measure must fulfil their needs as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” said Guadalupe Marengo.
Police in La Paz are accused of using excessive force against a protest led by people with disabilities who demand an increase in state subsidies.
16° 31′ 41.754″ S, 68° 10′ 42.2616″ W
Azerbaijan: Homeowners Evicted for City Beautification
(Baku) – The government of Azerbaijan has forcibly evicted homeowners and demolished their homes for urban development projects in Baku, the capital, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
Bolivia must investigate violence at disability protest
Bolivia’s authorities must initiate a prompt, full and independent investigation into reports that police used excessive force against people with disabilities during a demonstration in La Paz on Thursday, Amnesty International said.
Several people were injured or fainted after the police set up a cordon near the city’s Plaza Murillo and repelled protesters who tried to advance, reportedly using pepper spray and electric shocks indiscriminately.
Officials said police were acting in response to violent attacks by demonstrators, and police officers were also injured in the clashes.
“Disturbing reports and images from near Plaza Murillo seem to show the police lashing out indiscriminately against the protesters, many of whom were using wheelchairs,” said Guadalupe Marengo, Deputy Americas Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“Bolivian security forces have a duty to maintain public order, but they should always do so in compliance with international human rights standards on the use of force. Any allegations of abuse should be thoroughly and impartially investigated.”
The clashes in La Paz ended a 100-day journey for many of the protesters, who had covered some 1,000 miles across the country to demand an increase in state subsidies for people with disabilities.
On Thursday, the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies passed a law for the preferential treatment of people with disabilities (Ley general y trato preferente para personas con discapacidad).
The protesters claim that the government failed to take into account their demands when drafting the law. In particular, they are calling for a better work opportunities and an increase in the state disability allowance.
“The authorities should ensure that Bolivia’s people with disabilities are consulted on any proposed law affecting them. Any measure must fulfil their needs as set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” said Guadalupe Marengo.
Police in La Paz are accused of using excessive force against a protest led by people with disabilities who demand an increase in state subsidies.
16° 31′ 41.754″ S, 68° 10′ 42.2616″ W
Malaysia: ‘Sexual Diversity’ Festival Ban Needs Court Review
(New York) – The Malaysian government should not seek to block judicial review of the 2011 ban on the Seksualiti Merdeka (”Sexual Diversity”) festival, Human Rights Watch said today. The Kuala Lumpur High Court will hear the case filed by festival organizers on March 1, 2012.
Senegal: Presidential candidates urged to decry political violence
All Senegal’s presidential candidates must urge calm among their supporters, Amnesty International said in a public appeal issued ahead of the first round of elections on Sunday, 26 February.
The run-up to the poll has been marred by political violence, and there are fears armed supporters of the presidential candidates could spark fresh violence during or after election day.
For more than a month, public demonstrations have been banned and security forces have repeatedly used excessive force against protesters in the capital Dakar and other cities, killing several. One policeman has also died in clashes.
“As election day approaches in Senegal, all presidential candidates must call for calm to avoid a repeat of the violent scenes of recent weeks,” said Salvatore Saguès, Amnesty International’s West Africa Researcher.
“The Senegalese authorities must rein in the security forces, ensuring they comply with international standards on maintaining public order and containing violence during demonstrations.”
Under UN standards on policing demonstrations, security forces may use firearms only when less dangerous means are not possible. They may only use the minimum amount of force necessary to avoid loss of life or serious injury to themselves or others.
Amnesty International also calls on the Senegalese authorities to release all peaceful protesters detained amid the recent election-related demonstrations and to uphold citizens’ right to free expression.
Senegal’s presidential candidates must call for calm ahead of the first round of elections this weekend.
14° 45′ 52.128″ N, 17° 20′ 40.7976″ W
Bahrain: Hundreds Railroaded in Unjust Trials
(Beirut) – Bahrain has routinely convicted hundreds of opposition activists and others of politically motivated charges in unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today.
Poland must investigate state role in US secret prisons
Poland must cease hiding behind state secrecy and allow a fully transparent investigation into its role in the US-led rendition and secret detention programmes, Amnesty International said.
The call came after the Polish Prosecutor General changed the prosecutor in charge of an investigation into the matter for the second time in a year. No explanation has been offered for the decision.
“To ensure credibility, the chief prosecutor must cease hiding behind the veil of state secrecy and explain why the latest prosecutor was replaced,” said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism and human rights.
“Several changes over the course of this investigation have caused delays in securing real accountability.”
The recent decision is yet another worrying signal of how an excessive reliance on state secrecy may jeopardize the investigation’s credibility.
Transparency must be a critical component of the investigation – both in the interest of the public but also considering that two former detainees have been granted the status of victims in the context of the investigation.
In 2002, Saudi Arabian national Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was arrested in Dubai while a Palestinian man born in Saudi Arabia, Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn – also known as Abu Zubaydah – was arrested in Pakistan.
They were handed over to US custody and held in secret detention sites run by the USA’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for around four years.
During that time, they had no contact with the outside world, were held in solitary confinement, and were allegedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment whilst under interrogation.
This included “waterboarding”, and allegedly other beatings and kicking, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, stress positions, and threats. In September 2006, they were transferred to Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, where they remain.
Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Nashiri have alleged they were detained in a secret CIA prison in Poland between 2002 and 2003. These prisons were operated as part of the covert CIA-run rendition and secret detention programmes after the 11 September 2001 attacks in the USA.
Amnesty International believes the men and their representatives must be granted effective access to information obtained in the course of the Polish Prosecutor General’s investigation and should be kept informed of the timing and progress of the proceedings.
In accordance with Poland’s international legal obligations, the government should make every effort to maximize the participation of victims who allege that they have been tortured and ill-treated, and subjected to enforced disappearance.
Amnesty International calls on the Prosecutor General’s office to report publicly on what steps are being taken to ensure that an independent, impartial, thorough, and effective investigation is being carried out that will result in accountability, in terms both of individual criminal responsibility and Poland’s broader human rights responsibilities.
Poland’s human rights performance is coming under review this year both by the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review, and through an upcoming report by the European Parliament on the CIA’s alleged transportation and illegal detention of prisoners in European countries.
Amnesty International expects the Polish government to take these initiatives as an opportunity to show what progress has been made on this issue in line with its international legal obligations.
An investigation into Poland’s role in the US-run rendition and secret detention programmes has lacked transparency.
53° 17′ 24.6336″ N, 20° 55′ 4.6884″ E
New York: Investigate Police Surveillance of Muslims
(New York) – New York authorities should fully investigate New York City police for violating religious freedom in their surveillance of Muslim “communities of interest,” Human Rights Watch said today.
Libya: Militia Should Transfer Journalists to State
(Tripoli) – A Tripoli-based militia from Misrata should immediately transfer to the Libyan government two illegally detained British journalists and the three Libyans who were traveling with them, Human Rights Watch said today. The men are among thousands of people held illegally by militias in Libya.
Tunisian official’s rhetoric undermines human rights
Amnesty International has written to the Tunisian Minister of Human Rights to express its alarm at statements the Minister made about homosexuality in a television interview earlier this month.
In a letter of 23 February, the organization urged Samir Dilou, Minister of Human Rights and Transitional Justice to retract comments made on 4 February in which he said homosexuality was not a human right and was a perversion that needed to be treated medically.
Speaking in response to questions regarding a new gay magazine in Tunisia, Samir Dilou also said that “freedom of expression has limits. They [gay, lesbian and bisexual people] must respect the red lines that are defined by our culture, religion and heritage.”
“These comments are extremely disappointing, especially coming from the very person who should be ensuring that the human rights of all Tunisians are protected,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“These are not just words. Condoning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is a blank check for the most serious human rights violations.”
“The Minister must retract his statements and speak up in defence of the human rights of all Tunisians.”
In its letter Amnesty International points out that homosexuality stopped being seen as an illness or a ‘perversion’ by world medical organizations and associations decades ago.
The World Health Organisation officially removed ‘homosexuality’ from its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems in 1990, whilst the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders removed it in 1973.
Studies have shown that homophobic comments by leaders and government have a trickle-down effect, and can encourage people to think that it is acceptable to discriminate, intimidate and target lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The organization said that this was the latest of a number of statements by members of Tunisia’s new political elite in recent months that undermined human rights.
On 23 January Sadok Chourou, a member of parliament in the Ennahda party – which has the most seats in the National Constituent Assembly – gave a speech in Parliament in which he justified the use of violence against protesters. He argued that religious text allow for those who “corrupt the earth” to be killed, crucified or their hands and feet cut off.
On 9 November last year Suad Abderrahim, also an Ennahda member of parliament, said in a radio interview that single mothers should not be supported by the state because their behaviour did not fit Tunisian culture and should not be encouraged.
The letter comes as the Tunisian authorities faces increasing pressure to show leadership on human rights.
In mid-February, the visit to Tunisia of Wajdi Ghoneim, a prominent Egyptian cleric known for his support of female genital mutilation (FGM), stirred wide-spread controversy and prompted the Tunisian Ministry of Women to publicly denounce the practice.
“We welcome the fact a minister has spoken out strongly against the practice of FGM,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui. “However, such statements are undone by others condoning human rights violations.”
“By using this kind of language and tone to describe vulnerable or marginalised groups and protesters, members of the Tunisian political elite are undermining human rights and effectively paving way for its abuse.”
“The Tunisian authorities need to show real leadership rather than merely paying lip service to human rights.”
The Tunisian Minister for Human Rights has been urged to retract homophobic comments that undermine human rights.
34° 49′ 35.148″ N, 9° 25′ 34.572″ E