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The President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, has committed to lifting all financial barriers to emergency obstetric care and access to family planning, as part of a strategy to fight maternal mortality in the country.

President Compaoré expressed this commitment during a meeting with an Amnesty International delegation led by interim Secretary General Claudio Cordone, and following the publication of an Amnesty International report highlighting the barriers women face in Burkina Faso to receiving adequate health care during pregnancy and child birth.

"The lifting of financial barriers for emergency obstetric care, accompanied by improvements in the quality of care and family planning will significantly reduce the number of deaths and complications for women in child birth," said Claudio Cordone. "Every woman has the right to life and the right to health. No woman should die giving birth when her death could have been prevented."

The government of Burkina Faso has made significant efforts towards improving maternal health during the last decade and Amnesty International welcomes the openness and constructive engagement it has experienced from the government while working on this issue. Costs associated with pregnancy and childbirth have been significantly reduced in Burkina Faso but remain an obstacle for many women in the country.

Pregnant women’s lives in Burkina Faso can be endangered by the distance they have to travel to access adequate care, as well as corrupt practices by some medical personnel and lack of effective mechanisms to ensure monitoring and accountability. More than 2,000 women continue to die every year during pregnancy and childbirth.

"Ultimately, in order to fully address maternal death there is a need to tackle the various forms of discrimination against women which prevent them from taking part in decisions on family planning and accessing health care," said Claudio Cordone.

"Amnesty International will continue to work with civil society organizations, medical associations and government officials to address such discrimination and the poverty that fuels it."

The Amnesty International delegation also met Burkina Faso’s First Lady Chantal Compaoré, the President of the National Assembly, Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, the Prime Minister, Tertius Zongo, the Minister of Health, Seydou Bouda and the Minister for the Promotion of Human Rights, Salamata Sawadogo.

During these meetings, interim Secretary General Claudio Cordone shared the findings and recommendations of a two-year research project published in the report, Giving Life, Risking Death: Maternal Mortality in Burkina Faso.

The meetings with the authorities followed two weeks of discussions throughout the country with local communities, health professionals and local government officials. Amnesty International was able to take the testimonies of the people who suffer daily from the loss of their mothers, wives, and sisters to the authorities in the country.

"All the families we met told us that giving birth should be a joy, but that all too often it becomes an ordeal that no one should have to suffer," said Claudio Cordone.

During a meeting with international donors, Amnesty International urged them to continue their support for the Burkina Faso government with adequate, long-term and sustainable technical and financial assistance to ensure the availability and accessibility of emergency obstetric care.

Amnesty International also welcomed the adoption by the Burkina Faso National Assembly in December 2009 of a law implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and called for an early abolition of death penalty.

Amnesty International on Thursday called on the Chadian government to allow United Nations (UN) peacekeepers to continue protecting 250,000 refugees from Darfur and 170,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) in the east of the country.

The government has insisted that the United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) must leave Chad when its mandate expires on 15 March 2010, arguing that the force has failed its mandate.

"Hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians would be exposed to increased attacks by Chadian armed opposition groups, irregular militias, criminal gangs and members of the Chadian security forces, if MINURCAT were to leave" said Tawanda Hondora, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Africa programme.

MINURCAT has been deployed to eastern Chad since March 2008 to protect and enable humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of refugees and IDPs that have sought shelter in the area.

Deployment has been slow over the past two years but the force is now for the first time deployed at around 70 percent of the level set by the UN Security Council and has received technical support from various countries.

Attacks on humanitarian workers and civilians, which reached alarming levels in the last months of 2009, have begun to decrease as MINURCAT soldiers have been able to carry out patrols in sensitive areas they were previously unable to patrol.

"The Chadian government has the responsibility and duty to protect its own population and other persons living on its territory but for many years it has shown itself incapable and unwilling to do so with respect to Eastern Chad," said Tawanda Hondora.

Human rights violations including rape and recruitment of child soldiers are carried out with almost total impunity in eastern Chad, by members of Chadian and Sudanese armed opposition groups, bandits and members of the Chadian security forces.

Amnesty International said it also fears that humanitarian agencies that assist refugees, IDPs and the local population in eastern Chad would be forced to close some or all of their programmes if MINURCAT were to pull out as the security vacuum left behind by the UN withdrawal would make it too dangerous for many to operate.

"This would leave hundreds of thousands without essential humanitarian assistance and facing increased security risks due to the absence of an international presence," said Tawanda Hondora.

"The UN Security Council must not accede to the request of the Chadian authorities until it is clear that the government of Chad is capable and prepared to protect the human rights of people living in eastern Chad."

In January 2010, the government of Chad sent a note verbale to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) requesting it to not renew the mandate of the United Nations Mission to the Central African Republic and Chad.

Following this request, the UN Secretary-General sent a Technical Assessment Mission to Chad to discuss the issue with Chadian authorities.

Chadian officials who met the UN team are reported to have confirmed the government’s insistence that MINURCAT’s mandate not be renewed when it expires on 15 March 2010.

On 8 February 2010, during a trip to Sudan, Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno reaffirmed that it is his government’s position that MINURCAT must leave Chad at the expiration of its mandate.

The UNSC passed Resolution 1778 (2007) on 25 September 2007 establishing both a military and policing component to MINURCAT. The military force was deployed on 15 March 2008.

For the first year it was under the command of the European Union. Command of the military force was transferred to the UN as of 15 March 2009.

MINURCAT has the mandate, inter alia, to contribute to the protection of refugees, displaced persons and civilians in danger by facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance in eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic.

Activist Ana María Pizarro, tells Amnesty International how
pregnant women are at risk of losing their lives because of Nicaragua’s abortion ban.

"Many young women say ‘I can’t risk getting pregnant in this country’"

There can’t be a law in Nicaragua which criminalizes something which only happens in women’s bodies, because from that moment we are no longer equal before the law.  

Women in Nicaragua are afraid to have a family, to get pregnant. Many young women say ‘I can’t risk getting pregnant in this country because I’m frightened that a (medical) complication could lead to my losing my life’.

I worked in the public health service for 10 years. Before, there used to be an analysis committee for the interruption of pregnancies, in the public hospitals. Now in the public hospitals, out of fear, women are left to die. There are cases of (pregnant) women who have treatable illnesses which aren’t treated.

Women who have money can pay for a [clandestine] abortion and poor women have to carry on using basic, dangerous methods because they aren’t allowed to have an abortion in safe conditions.

We’re creating a problem of social justice because in both of these cases, women can be sent to prison. The difference is that the poor women are going to die, and the women who aren’t poor won’t run any risk because they will be able to find professionals who can carry out an abortion safely.

One of the cases I know happened in Condega, in one of the provinces of Nicaragua.

A young woman of 25 arrived at a health centre one Sunday at 5am, where they diagnosed that she had had an induced abortion. In the space of two hours, the nurse and the doctor from the health centre informed the police and at 7am the police were inside the health centre interrogating the young woman.

The doctor, while a sample was being taken from the young woman’s womb, filmed and took photos of the young woman, who was naked at the time. Then the police took photos of the young woman while the procedure was being carried out – again, while she was naked.

On the Monday the young woman was transferred to hospital and reported to the public prosecutor’s office. The public prosecutor’s office sent the case to the forensic doctor, who carried out a forensic assessment of her and on the Tuesday the young woman was being accused in court. She was interrogated while she was on a drip and under treatment.

The doctor said that the young woman didn’t need a lawyer, they compelled her to testify and to incriminate herself. They obliged her to give information about details like how the abortion had been carried out.

Without a trial they ordered her to six months under house arrest, which is what the law stipulates. Since they had obliged her to give evidence against herself, a trial wasn’t necessary. She’s living out her sentence now.

The whole thing was carried out so quickly. This is not at all the case with rapists, with murderers, with those who abuse women, or when it’s an issue of corruption or violence, both of which affect Nicaragua so hugely.

The United Nations should urge Nicaragua to repeal its ban on abortion following a human rights’ review of the country on 8 February, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

During the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, UN members will have the opportunity to raise questions about the country’s absolute ban on abortion.

Nicaragua’s revised Penal Code, which came into effect in July 2008, stipulates prison sentences for girls and women who seek an abortion and for health professionals who provide health services associated with abortion. The prohibition includes cases where the life of the woman is at risk or when pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

"Nicaragua’s ban on abortion is the result of a shocking and draconian law that is compelling rape and incest victims to carry pregnancies to term and causing a rise in maternal deaths," said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International. "UN member states should take this opportunity to hold Nicaragua to account for a law that violates women’s right to life, health and dignity."

The organization also reiterated its call on the Nicaraguan authorities to decriminalize abortion in all circumstances. Amnesty International said Nicaragua should ensure that women and girls have access to safe and legal abortion services when an unwanted pregnancy is a result of rape or incest or when it threatens the woman’s health or life.

The revised Penal Code introduces criminal sanctions for doctors and nurses who treat a pregnant woman for medical conditions such as cancer or cardiac emergencies where the treatment may cause injury to or death of the embryo or foetus.

Nicaragua’s Penal Code is in conflict with the country’s Obstetric Rules and Protocols issued by the Ministry of Health. The protocol mandates therapeutic abortions as clinical responses to specific cases.

Amnesty International’s researchers have found that in Nicaragua the absolute ban on abortions particularly affects young girls who are victims of rape or incest.

According to a survey of media reports between 2005 and 2007; 1,247 girls were reported in newspapers to have been raped or to have been the victims of incest in Nicaragua. Of these crimes, 198 were reported to have resulted in pregnancy. The overwhelming majority of the girls made pregnant as a result of rape or incest (172 of the 198) were between 10 and 14 years old.

The organization also found an increase in maternal deaths since the introduction of the ban.

In the first 19 weeks of 2009, some 16 per cent of all maternal deaths were as a consequence of unsafe abortion compared to none in the same period in 2008.

Four UN expert committees established by treaties, the Committee against Torture, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Human Rights Committee and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women have already condemned this law and urged its revision, but the Nicaraguan government continues to ignore these calls.

"Nicaragua’s law criminalizing abortion goes against the advice of four UN treaty bodies and fails to meet its obligations under international human rights laws," said Widney Brown. "Nicaragua needs to repeal this law immediately and enact laws and policies that promote the rights of women and girls by ensuring their rights to health, life and to be free from violence, coercion and discrimination."

Nicaragua’s ban on abortion is a cause of grave concern in the wider international community. Tens of thousands of Amnesty International activists appalled at the impact of the ban on women’s and girl’s human rights, have signed petitions and contacted the Nicaraguan authorities to call for the repeal of the law.

The Universal Periodic Review is an opportunity for the UN Human Rights Council to examine the human rights record of all member states. Each country is reviewed every four years with the aim of ensuring states are meeting all of their human rights obligations.

Two weeks after the earthquake that devastated Haiti, its people are confronted with a human rights crisis. Amnesty International has identified some of the country’s biggest human rights challenges and outlined a plan that puts protection of human rights at the core of relief and reconstruction efforts.

Exploitation of children
With families separated and schools destroyed, thousands of children in Haiti have been left without protection. The most vulnerable could become prey to the traffickers.

There is also a risk that children could be caught in irregular adoption processes – a risk increased by the interest of families abroad who would like to adopt Haitian children orphaned by the earthquake. Haitian institutions also have a lack of capacity to determine the status of children and ensure their rights are protected Separated and unaccompanied children might wrongly be considered orphans.

International adoption should be a last resort, used only after domestic alternatives have been exhausted. The Haitian authorities must ensure children are not taken out of the country without the completion of formal legal proceedings for international adoption.

Family tracing should be a priority for the international community, the Haitian authorities and international aid agencies.

Security and law enforcement
The Haitian government’s ability to ensure the rule of law has been severely undermined by the earthquake. Establishing a functional justice system to deal with the most serious crimes should be a top priority.

There is a growing concern that prisoners convicted of violent crimes who escaped from Port-au-Prince’s National Penitentiary are trying to regain control of the most deprived and vulnerable communities.

In response to this threat, community members have organized themselves to prevent gangs from taking over communities. However, this could put community members at risk of spiralling violence. Amnesty International has received reports of lynchings and incidents of mob justice where alleged looters have been killed.

There are also reports of alleged looters being shot by police. Haitian authorities must ensure that firearms are only to be used by police in self-defence and as a last resort. The Haitian authorities must also set up a provisional detention centre, as the country’s main prison has been destroyed and other detention centres are overcrowded.

Rights of the displaced
Hundreds of thousands of people have been left homeless by the earthquake and many have fled the devastated areas.

Displaced people must be supported to make voluntary and informed decisions about their future. Any relocation of internally displaced persons from camps or disaster areas must be voluntary, unless the safety and health of those affected requires evacuation. They should not be coerced in any way, including through the suspension of assistance. All displaced persons have the right to return to their former homes unless safety issues prevent it.

Violence against women
In post-disaster situations, women and girls are often particularly at risk from sexual violence, exploitation by traffickers and reduced access to sexual, reproductive and maternal health services. Their disadvantage in accessing aid is well documented.  
Those involved in the relief and reconstruction efforts must ensure that the prevention of all gender-based violence, in particular sexual violence, is integrated into their work.

Accountability of international forces
More than 10,000 US troops, 150 military personnel from the Dominican Republic and 800 Canadian soldiers have been deployed in Haiti to provide security for the distribution of aid.

The terms of deployment and rules of engagement must be clarified from the onset and respected by all international forces The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) personnel must also be governed by strict rules of accountability. In the past, leaving accountability for violations solely to the discretion of troop-contributing countries to UN peacekeeping missions has lead to impunity for serious human rights abuses.

Haiti’s foreign debt
In 2009, international financial institutions and other creditors cancelled US$ 1.2 billion of Haiti’s foreign debt. Despite this, Haiti still owes hundreds of millions of dollars to its creditors.

The repayment of this debt now represents an unacceptable burden on Haiti’s population and national economy. Amnesty International has called on all creditors to cancel Haiti’s debt. Insistence on repayment would hinder Haiti’s ability to meet its human rights obligations.

All financial resources available to Haiti in the years to come must be channelled to reconstruction programmes that ensure Haitians’ welfare and access to basic services, and equitable and sustainable development.

Image caption: Men fight over a bag of rice during UN food distribution, Port-au-Prince, Haiti, © AP GraphicsBank

Women are dying needlessly during pregnancy and childbirth because discrimination prevents them from accessing sexual and reproductive health services, leaving them unable to make key decisions on their pregnancies, Amnesty International said in a report released on Wednesday.

Every year in Burkina Faso more than 2,000 women die from complications during pregnancy and childbirth, according to government figures. Amnesty International’s report Giving Life, Risking Death finds that many of these deaths could have been easily prevented if women were given access on time to adequate health care.

"Every woman has the right to life and the right to adequate healthcare, and the government should redouble its efforts to address preventable maternal death," said Claudio Cordone, interim Secretary General of Amnesty International. "Women in Burkina Faso are trapped in a vicious cycle of discrimination which makes giving birth potentially lethal."  

Most women in Burkina Faso are subordinate to the men in their lives with little or no control over key decisions such as when to seek medical care and the timing and spacing of their pregnancies in spite of having equal status under Burkinabe law. Women and girls continue to be subjected to early marriages and female genital mutilation.

The Burkina Faso government, with the help of the donor community, has developed ambitious strategies that have lowered maternal death rates in some parts of the country. However these are undermined by failures in implementation and a lack of accountability that allows medical personnel to get away with abuses, such as illegal demands for payments.

Poverty is a key contributing factor in preventable maternal death, particularly for impoverished women living in rural areas who face both financial and geographical obstacles to accessing healthcare.

In 2006, the Burkinabe government introduced a policy to subsidize 80 per cent of the cost of childbirth and making it completely free for the most impoverished women. However this policy is not well publicised leaving it open to exploitation by corrupt medical staff. Criteria have not been elaborated to establish who qualifies for subsidized care so costs continue to act as a barrier in accessing medical care.

The Amnesty International report says that unequal access to adequate health facilities especially in rural areas; shortages of medical supplies and trained personnel and negative or discriminatory attitudes of health workers are also preventing women from seeking care.

"Maternal death is a tragedy that robs thousands of families of wives, mothers, sisters and daughters each year," said Claudio Cordone. "So long as women are not allowed control over their own bodies, they will continue to die in their thousands."

The authorities have responded to the report which was sent to them in advance by welcoming "the meticulous and important" work done by Amnesty International, while stressing that the cases of misbehaviour by medical personnel were "isolated" and reiterating the authorities’ commitment to address the problem of maternal mortality in the country.
    
Amnesty International has called on the government to expand and improve access to family planning services, to remove financial barriers to maternal healthcare services, to ensure an even distribution of health facilities and trained staff across the country and to set up a well-publicized and accessible accountability mechanism to help combat corruption and mismanagement.

Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries in the world, ranked 177 out of 182 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s 2009 Human Development Report.

Between January 28 and February 9 a campaign caravan will tour Burkina Faso spreading news of Amnesty International’s campaign to end maternal mortality in the country and providing information to stimulate debate.

Between 10 and 13 February the interim Secretary General of Amnesty International will meet with the country’s top authorities to share the outcome of the caravan and discuss government plans to address maternal mortality.

The campaign to end maternal mortality in Burkina Faso is a part of Amnesty International’s Demand Dignity campaign launched in May 2009.

In September 2009 Amnesty International launched a campaign to end maternal mortality and a campaign caravan in Sierra Leone.

Amnesty International believes poverty is a human rights issue and through the Demand Dignity campaign is calling for an end to the human rights violations that drive and deepen poverty.

The campaign mobilizes 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 http://demanddignity.amnesty.org/

Amnesty International has urged the Saudi Arabian authorities not to carry out the public flogging of a 13-year-old girl charged with assaulting a teacher at her school.br /
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The teenager will reportedly receive 90 lashes in front of her classmates, as well as a two-month prison sentence, following her conviction at a court in the city of Jubail on Tuesday.br /
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ldquo;King lsquo;Abdullah Bin lsquo;Abdul lsquo;Aziz Al-Saud must intervene immediately to ensure that the flogging sentence is immediately rescinded,rdquo; said Claudio Cordone, Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s interim Secretary General. br /
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ldquo;He must also take steps to reform Saudi Arabian law and criminal procedure to ban the use of cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment, in particular floggings of children.rdquo;br /
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The full details of the charges against the girl, as well as the nature of the alleged assault, are currently unclear. However, it appears that the alleged assault occurred after the girl was caught in school with a mobile phone equipped with a camera. Such phones had been banned at the school.br /
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The case follows a media report in December that the Minister of Interior had ordered that the flogging sentences imposed on an elderly woman and two men for khilwa in March 2009 should be carried out. Khilwa is the offence of being caught alone in private with a member of the opposite sex who is not an immediate family member.br /
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Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi, a 75-year-old Syrian woman, and one of the men were sentenced to 40 lashes and four monthsrsquo; imprisonment. The other man was sentenced to 60 lashes and six monthsrsquo; imprisonment by a court in the town of al-Shamli, north of Riyadh.br /
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nbsp;ldquo;The criminalization of khilwa is a violation of the rights to freedom of expression and to privacy as set out in international human rights standards,rdquo; said Claudio Cordone. br /
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ldquo;The flogging sentences imposed on Khamisa Mohammed Sawadi and the two men sentenced with her should be rescinded.rdquo;br /
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Flogging is mandatory in Saudi Arabia for a number of offences and can also be used at the discretion of judges as an alternative or in addition to other punishments.br /
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Sentences can range from dozens to tens of thousands of lashes, and are usually carried out in instalments, at intervals ranging from two weeks to one month. The highest number of lashes imposed in a single case recorded by Amnesty International was 40,000 lashes. They were imposed in 2009 in a case of a man tried on murder charges.br /
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The use of corporal punishments such as flogging violates the absolute prohibition against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment set out in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to which Saudi Arabia is a state party. br /
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The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture has stated that ldquo;corporal punishment is inconsistent with the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.rdquo;

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/haiti-quake-100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International called on the United Nations to put in place measures for the protection of human rights and the most vulnerable among the survivors of Tuesday’s devastating earthquake. br /
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Amnesty International saluted the speedy and courageous efforts of UN, relief and development workers in Haiti and around the world assisting with humanitarian efforts to save lives, clear the devastation and restore basic services and the country’s crumbling infrastructure. br /
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The organization also asked for particular attention to be provided to ensuring respect for human rights and protection of children and those left orphans as a consequence of the earthquake. Girls in particular are at higher risk of sexual abuse and attack. br /
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ldquo;The current situation of lawlessness in Haiti and the increased vulnerability of women and children creates the perfect environment for human rights abuses and crimes such as rape and sexual abuse to take place undetected and go unpunished,rdquo; said Gerardo Ducos, Haiti researcher at Amnesty International. br /
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ldquo;Protecting vulnerable groups from sexual violence is as important as providing them with relief.rdquo;nbsp; nbsp;br /
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Amnesty International made the call as thousands of Haitians are feared dead after a 7.1 earthquake struck the country on Tuesday. Thousands of people are still unaccounted for and survivors await relief efforts from international donors to provide them with access to drinkable water, food and medical care.nbsp; nbsp;br /
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In the wake of the disaster, the law enforcement capacity of the Haitian National Police and the justice system are severely compromised as most of its infrastructure has collapsed and many officials remain unaccounted for.nbsp; nbsp;br /
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Amnesty International has previously documented shocking levels of sexual violence against women and girls across the country. br /
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ldquo;Before the devastating earthquake, Haiti was unable to effectively protect human rights and in particular, women and girls from sexual violence. Unless action is taken now while relief efforts are ongoing, the situation is only likely to deteriorate,rdquo; said Gerardo Ducos.nbsp; nbsp;br /
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Amnesty International conveys its deepest sympathies to the families and friends of the victims and a message of solidarity to the Haitian people.nbsp;nbsp;

Czech education authorities have said they will take measures to end the wrongful placing of Romani children in schools for pupils with quot;mild mental disabilitiesquot;, in response to Amnesty International’s report on the issue on Wednesday.br /
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The report criticized the Czech authorities for placing Romani children in so-called practical schools, leaving them with a sub-standard education.br /
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Following the publication of the report, the Czech Ministry of Education commended Amnesty International’s findings and pledged to instruct all directors of practical primary schools to only register children who have quot;mild mental disabilitiesquot;. br /
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quot;All the other children belong in ordinary primary schools,quot; said Minister Miroslava Kopicova in an official statement on the Ministry’s website.br /
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quot;Although the Czech authorities’ reaction to our report is welcome, Amnesty International would like to reiterate once again our key recommendation — a moratorium on placing any children into practical schools during 2010-11, pending a comprehensive review of the whole system,quot; said Nicola Duckworth, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia programme.. br /
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ldquo;We hope the authorities will implement this recommendation which we view as essential in order to end discrimination in the education system.rdquo;br /
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Amnesty International’s report, emInjustice renamed: Discrimination in education of Roma persists in the Czech Republic/em, examines the systematic discrimination that exists in the Czech education system.br /
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Amnesty International visited several schools in Ostrava and found that Romani children are over-represented in so-called practical schools and classes intended for pupils with quot;mild mental disabilities,quot; due to the failure of mainstream educational establishments to meet their needs.br /
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In some places, Romani children make up more than 80 per cent of the students in schools for children of mild mental disabilities. Assessments that place them there fail to factor in cultural and linguistic differences of Romani children.br /
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Romani children are also segregated in Roma-only schools, which often offer a lower quality education, limiting their future education and employment opportunities.br /
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quot;In our meetings, Czech government officials agreed with the conclusions of our research and were open to our recommendations on what needed to be done to reverse the issues identified. We are looking forward to seeing concrete progress in this regard,quot; said Nicola Duckworth.br /

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ECA/czech-roma-education100.jpg alt= title= /br/p
The Czech authorities are continuing to place Romani children in schools for pupils with quot;mild mental disabilitiesquot;, leaving them with a sub-standard education, Amnesty International said in a report published on Wednesday.br /
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quot;Systematic discrimination against Romani children in education continues despite repeated international and national exposure. The Czech authorities must end the segregation of Roma children in schools and act to tackle the underlying causes of discrimination,quot; said Nicola Duckworth, director of Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme.br /
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Amnesty International’s report, emstrongInjustice renamed: Discrimination in education of Roma persists in the Czech Republic/strong/em, examines the systematic discrimination that still exists in the Czech education system, despite a 2007 judgment by the European Court of Human Rights.br /
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The Court found that the Czech Republic had discriminated against Romani children by placing them in quot;special schoolsquot; for children with mental disabilities, where they received a sub-standard education.br /
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With a new Schools Act in 2005, the Czech authorities merely renamed quot;special schoolsquot; as quot;practical elementary schoolsquot;, but the system which places children in these schools and teaches a limited curriculum, essentially remains the same.br /
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quot;Recent measures to support Romani children in mainstream education announced last November by the Czech authorities do not go far enough as they are neither comprehensive nor legally binding,quot; said Nicola Duckworth.br /
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Amnesty International visited several schools in Ostrava, where in 1999 18 Romani children initially filed the court case, which eventually led to the European Court judgement.br /
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The organization found Romani children are still over-represented in so-called practical schools and classes intended for pupils with quot;mild mental disabilities,quot; due to the failure of mainstream educational establishments to meet their needs.br /
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In some places, Romani children make up more than 80 per cent of the students of practical elementary schools.br /
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Romani children are also segregated in Roma-only schools which often offer a lower quality education, limiting their future education and employment opportunities.br /
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The placement in practical schools and classes for pupils with quot;mild mental disabilitiesquot; is based on the results of assessments that fail to factor in cultural and linguistic differences of Romani children and may be compounded by the prejudice of staff conducting them.br /
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quot;The duty to ensure the successful inclusion of Romani children into integrated mainstream schools lies with the Czech authorities who have a unique opportunity to reverse decades of discrimination and segregation,quot; Nicola Duckworth said. br /
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quot;Education is the way out of a vicious circle of poverty and marginalization that affects a large part of the Roma population in the country. Unless the Czech authorities give them equal opportunities, they will be denying Romani children their chances for a better future and full participation in the life of the country.quot; br /
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Amnesty International has called on the Czech authorities to:br /
/p
ul
liFreeze all placements of children into practical schools and classes for pupils with quot;mild mental disabilitiesquot; for the school year 2010/11, pending a review of the need for such a curriculum and schools;/li
liEnforce in law the desegregation of education and adopt a comprehensive plan with clear yearly targets to eliminate school segregation of Romani children;/li
liEnsure that additional support is immediately made available for children who need it in order to effectively participate in and develop to their fullest potential within the integrated mainstream elementary school./li
/ul
p
nbsp;
/p
p align=right
a href=http://www.changeit.czimg src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/AI/action-button-en.gif alt= title= class=asset-align-right//aemstrongSupport the appeal to Minister of Education of the Czech Republic, Her Excellence Miroslava Kopicovaacute;, to end the education system’s discrimination against Romani children. /strong/em
/p
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img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/iran-mosleh-zmani-100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International has condemned the execution of an alleged juvenile offender in Iran on Thursday, at least the fifth such execution in 2009.br /
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Mosleh Zamani was hanged at Dizel Abad Prison at 4am, along with four other unidentified prisoners.br /
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He was sentenced to death in 2006 for allegedly raping his girlfriend when he was 17.br /
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quot;Once again, despite domestic and international calls for the Iranian authorities to uphold their international obligations, they have executed someone who was under 18 at the time of his alleged crime,quot; said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s Middle East and North Africa Programme. quot;How many more will die before Iran stops this dreadful practice?quot;br /
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Mosleh Zamanirsquo;s death brings the number of alleged juvenile offenders executed in Iran since 1990 to at least 46.br /
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Amnesty International was told that 200 people demonstrated outside the prison on Wednesday in protest at the executions.br /
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The organization has called since 2007 for Mosleh Zamanirsquo;s death sentence to be overturned.br /
br /
Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Both of these prohibit the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders, people under 18 at the time of the offence of which they have been convicted.br /
br /
Iran is one of very few countries in the world that still execute juvenile offenders. br /
br /
According to Amnesty International’s information, Mosleh Zamani was convicted of abducting a woman several years older than him, with whom he was allegedly having a relationship, and raping her. His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in July 2007. He may not have had adequate legal representation. br /
br /
Previously held in Sanandaj Prison in Kordestan province, Mosleh Zamani was recently transferred to Dizel Abad Prison in Kermanshah province, where he is believed to have been placed in solitary confinement on 11 December 2009, frequently a signal that execution is imminent. However, his execution was not carried out at that time, apparently for medical reasons.br /
br /
Amnesty International had also learnt that Mosleh Zamani’s alleged victim had asked that his life be spared, stating that they had had consensual sex. The Appeal Court judge refused to take that into consideration, stating instead that Mosleh Zamani should be executed in order to quot;set an examplequot; to other young Iranians.br /
br /
quot;It is all the more important in death penalty cases, where the accused faces an irreversible punishment, that international standards for fair trial are observed,quot; said Philip Luther. quot;Time and again we hear of cases where proceedings do not appear to meet those standards.quot;br /
br /
In many cases, juvenile offenders under sentence of death in Iran are kept in prison until they pass their 18th birthday, after which their executions are scheduled. In this period, some win appeals against their conviction. Others have their sentence overturned on appeal and are freed after a retrial. Some are reprieved by the family of the victim in cases of murder and are asked to pay diyeh (compensation) instead.Some, however, do not benefit from such measures and are consequently executed.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/egypt-blog-300.jpg title=Shaimaa alt=Shaimaa height=300 width=250 class=asset-align-right/strongPeople are taking partnbsp; in Amnesty International’s a href=http://www.amnesty.org/en/individuals-at-risk/write-for-rightsWrite for Rights action/a /strongstrongthis week/strongstrong by writing letters and signing petitions to show solidarity with individuals who suffer human right abuses./strongbr /
br /
emShaimaa is the wife of human rights defender Musaad Suliman Hassan Hussein (known by his pen name a href=http://www.amnesty.org/en/individuals-at-risk/write-for-rights/musaad-abu-fagrMusaad Abu Fagr/a), who has been in administrative detention in Egypt since February 2008. br /
br /
He was arrested following demonstrations in Sinai against plans by the authorities to demolish thousands of homes near the border with the Gaza Strip.nbsp; br /
/embr /
strongBy Shaimaa/strongbr /
Two years have passed since my husband Musaad Abu Fagr was arrested. For my daughter Ranad and I, every day that passes feels like 10 years. br /
br /
Ranad was three years old when my husband was arrested. She used to sleep after he kissed her goodnight and wake up after a kiss from him. He used to drive her to school every day. nbsp;br /
br /
Ranad is now five years old. Even though I try to play this role as her mother, Ranad misses her fatherrsquo;s presence in her life. What hurts me is that her father used to do a lot of things for her; he used to play with her and take her to the playground or the sports club. br /
br /
She always repeats his words, and when she goes to bed, Ranad sends kisses to her father and when she wakes up she asks: ldquo;Did Musaad get my kisses?rdquo;.br /
br /
Everything she does proves how much she misses her father. When we go to visit Musaad in prison, she does not leave his lap. She touches his face with her little hands, looks at him and asks: ldquo;When will you come back with us?rdquo;.br /
br /
This question hurts me and her father a lot because she is a child entitled to enjoy having both her parents with her. She wishes that her father is always with her, just like her friends.br /
br /
It breaks my heart when sometimes she asks: ldquo;Why isn’t Musaad out of prison yet so that he can pick me up from school?rdquo;.br /
br /
Undoubtedly, my daughter has a lot of questions. I donrsquo;t have an answer for many of her questions and sometimes I try to avoid answering them. It pains me when she says: ldquo;Mama I do not like soldiers because they took Musaadrdquo;. It saddens me when she says: ldquo;I want to break the prison gate and pull Musaad out of prisonrdquo;.br /
br /
The fact that she misses her father so much and my inability to make her wish come true makes me feel helpless. I always tell her that her father is in prison because he defended the oppressed people in Sinai.br /
br /
My husband did not break any law or the Constitution. On the contrary, he always tells me when I visit him in prison that he did what was dictated by his conscience. All he wanted was to make the voices of marginalized people who are treated as second-class citizens heard and their problems known. He called for their rights to be upheld through seminars and conferences, through his political activities and through his articles and work as a writer and a novelist.br /
br /
How can it be that a man who read Hemingway’s great quot;A farewell to armsquot; and learnt from Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Mandela, is now in prison?br /
br /
How can it be the case at a time when the world is heading towards democracy and respect for human rights and respect for freedom of opinion and expression?br /
br /
a href=http://www.amnesty.org/en/individuals-at-risk/write-for-rights/musaad-abu-fagrimg src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/AI/action-button-en.gif title=Take Action alt=Take Action height=73 width=114 class=asset-align-right//aCountries honour writers and thinkers because they are sensitive to the people and are aware of their problems and always seek the progress of humanity. My husbandrsquo;s place is not in prison. His place is outside prison defending the rights of those who have been marginalized.

The Iranian authorities must halt Wednesday’s planned execution of a juvenile offender, Amnesty International has urged. br /
br /
Mohammad Reza Haddadi, now aged 21, is due for execution in the city of Shiraz, in southern Iran. He has been sentenced to death for a crime that took place when he was 15 ndash; and which he denies committing.br /
br /
On Sunday, Marsquo;soumeh Tahmasebi, one of Mohammad Reza Haddadirsquo;s lawyers, said that she had not been informed of the scheduled execution, as is required under Iranian law, but that another prisoner had telephoned Mohammad Reza Haddadirsquo;s father to tell him that his son would be executed on Wednesday. nbsp;br /
br /
This is the fourth time Mohammad Reza Haddadirsquo;s execution has been scheduled and postponed and only the Head of the Judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani, can now stop the execution from taking place.br /
br /
ldquo;It is shocking that Iran continues to flout international law by arranging to kill those accused of committing crimes when they were children,rdquo; said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Middle East Deputy Programme Director at Amnesty International. ldquo;Not only did Mohammad Reza Haddadi not receive a fair trial, but the repeated halting and rescheduling of his execution date has also compounded his suffering,rdquo; br /
br /
ldquo;We appeal to the Head of the Judiciary to immediately issue an order to stay this execution and to review his case to ensure that Mohammad Reza Haddadirsquo;s death sentence is overturned once and for all.rdquo;br /
br /
Amnesty International is concerned that the prison authorities may go ahead with the execution without informing his lawyer in advance, as required under Iranian law.nbsp; Two juvenile offenders ndash; Behnam Zarersquo; and Sayed Reza Hejazi – were executed in the same prison in August 2008 without their lawyer being informed beforehand.br /
br /
Since January 2009 Iran has executed at least 4 people for crimes they were alleged to have committed when under the age of 18.nbsp; Most recently, Behnoud Shojaee was executed on 11 October, for allegedly killing another youth when only 17.nbsp; His execution had previously been postponed six times.br /
br /
Iran is a state party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which prohibit the use of the death penalty against people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18.br /
br /
strongBackground /strongbr /
Mohammad Reza Haddadi was sentenced to death in 2004 for a murder which took place when he was 15. His death sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court in July 2005.br /
br /
Mohammd Reza Haddadi initially confessed to the murder, but retracted the confession during his trial, saying he had claimed responsibility for the killing only because his two co-defendants had offered to give his family money if he did so. His co-defendants later supported Mohammad Reza Haddadi’s claims of innocence, and withdrew their testimony that had implicated him. They were both over 18 at the time of the crime and received prison sentences.br /
br /
He was first scheduled for execution in October 2008, but it was stayed on the order of the Head of the Judiciary. His execution was then scheduled again on 27 May 2009 and 16 July 2009.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ASA/sri-lanka-displaced-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International is calling on the Sri Lankan government to permanently release civilians who have been illegally detained in camps following the end of the civil war six months ago. br /
br /
ldquo;The authorities must make good on their declared intentions to free some 120,000 people and do so unconditionally,rdquo; said Yolanda Foster, Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s expert on Sri Lanka. br /
br /
ldquo;A permanent release from camps must be accompanied by assurances that people are not subjected to further questioning or re-arrest in new locations.rdquo;nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
ldquo;Itrsquo;s also critical that the government maintain its responsibility to care for displaced people wherever they choose to go.rdquo; br /
br /
The Sri Lankan government said today that families living in camps for the displaced in Vavuniya will be given a choice about whether to remain in camps, to seek alternative accommodations or attempt to return home. br /
br /
However, Amnesty International has received information about restrictions on the way in which families can leave the camps. Media reports have suggested that some people may be asked to return to the camps after only 15 days. br /
nbsp; br /
Another concern is the lack of assistance for those who have been released so far. A church group has reported that people have been bussed from Manik Farm and simply lsquo;dumped, left on the roadrsquo; at Adampan in Mannar. br /
br /
The government is giving conflicting messages about the process of return and it is not yet clear whether freedom of movement will also apply to camps in other parts of the country. br /
br /
As releases and resettlement efforts accelerate, Amnesty International urges Sri Lankan authorities to allow displaced people to make informed and voluntary decisions about return and resettlement. br /
br /
ldquo;The Sri Lankan authorities must alert displaced people to the living conditions in the places they come from so that they can make plans about their future. They should also provide them with clear information about their rights, their legal status and procedures for tracing family members,rdquo; Yolanda Foster said. br /
br /
ldquo;Humanitarian and human rights organizations should be given unimpeded access to displaced people. For those attempting to resettle, such organizations should be permitted to monitor their safety and wellbeing and ensure their needs are being met, including that they are protected against further human rights violations.rdquo; br /
br /
ldquo;Thousands of people have started to leave camps in the north east but the promise to unlock the camps must be followed up by the protection of the rights of the internally displaced people both within and outside the camps.rdquo; br /
br /
strongBackground /strongbr /
After fierce fighting and the deaths of thousands of civilians in May 2009, the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). br /
By the end of May 2009 300,000 displaced people who had fled fighting were detained in camps supervised by the military. br /
br /
In response to the unlawful detention of hundreds of thousands of displaced people, Amnesty International launched a global campaign ldquo;Unlock the Campsrdquo;, calling for liberty and freedom of movement for the displaced. Over 40,000 activists have taken action.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/yemen-women-100.jpg alt= title= /br/Women in Yemen face systemic discrimination and endemic violence with devastating consequences for their lives, Amnesty International said in a campaign report on Wednesday.br /
br /
Their rights are routinely violated because Yemeni laws as well as tribal and customary practices treat them as second class citizens.br /
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Women are not free to marry who they want and some are forced to marry when they are children, sometimes as young as eight.br /
br /
Once married, a woman must obey her husband and obtain his permission just to leave the house.br /
br /
Women are valued as half the worth of men when they testify in court or when their families are compensated if they are murdered. br /
br /
They are also denied equal treatment when it comes to inheritance and are often denied it completely.br /
Women are dealt with more harshly than men when accused of ldquo;immoralrdquo; acts, and men are treated leniently when they murder female relatives in ldquo;honour killingsrdquo;.br /
br /
Such discriminatory laws and practices encourage and facilitate violence against women, which is rife in the home and in society at large.br /
br /
Despite this, recent years have seen some positive developments for womenrsquo;s rights, such as the creation of the quasigovernmental National Womenrsquo;s Committee (NWC) in 1996 and the appointment in 2001 of a minister of state for human rights, which was upgraded to ministerial level in 2003. br /
br /
The government has also engaged with intergovernmental bodies and reported to the UN committee overseeing the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, to which Yemen is a party.br /
br /
On Friday 20 November, the Committee Against Torture expressed its concern at the quot;legalityquot; of early marriages of girls, calling it quot;inhuman and degrading treatmentquot;.br /
br /
Most significantly, women themselves have helped to create a vibrant civil society, and womenrsquo;s non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have achieved some success in some campaigns for reforms. In 2009, for example, the government repealed Article 3(1) of the 1990 Nationality Law to allow children born to a Yemeni mother and a non-Yemeni father to qualify for Yemeni nationality.br /
br /
However, other reforms are urgently needed. Amnesty International is calling for an end to discriminatory laws and violence against women, adding its voice to the demand of women in Yemen for full and equal access to their human rights.br /

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ASA/srilanka-menik-farm-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International has welcomed the government of Sri Lanka’s promise to lift by 1 December any restrictions on movement of at least 130,000 people displaced by the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). br /
nbsp; br /
quot;Now the Sri Lankan government needs to demonstrate that it will provide the displaced with necessary assistance such as shelter, food and security as they re-establish their homes,quot; said Madhu Malhotra, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific programme. br /
br /
Hundreds and thousands of Tamils who escaped the war have been detained in camps under military control for the past six months, deprived of their freedom of movement. Many of them survived months of difficult conditions as they were forced to travel with retreating LTTE forces who forcibly recruited civilians, including children, and in some instances used civilians as human shields. br /
br /
The Sri Lankan government has agreed to give people a choice about whether to remain in camps to seek alternative accommodation or attempt to return home. br /
br /
quot;For months vulnerable people have been held in inadequate conditions in camps lacking adequate sanitation facilities and clean drinking water. If the Sri Lankan government follows through on its promise to allow thousands of people to return home, it would be the first step in the long struggle ahead for people rebuilding their devastated lives,quot; said Madhu Malhotra. br /
br /
Amnesty International stressed the continued need to protect the rights of internally displaced people both within and outside the camps. br /
br /
The organization also urged the Sri Lankan authorities to abide by the principles of International humanitarian law and ensure that displaced people are supported to make voluntary and informed decisions about their future. br /
br /
quot;Humanitarian and human rights organizations should be given unimpeded access to displaced people and those attempting to resettle to monitor their safety and wellbeing and ensure their needs are being met, including that they are protected against further human rights violations,quot; said Madhu Malhotra. br /
br /
Since the war ended in May, an estimated 12,000 displaced people (including children) suspected of links to the LTTE have been arbitrarily arrested, separated from the general displaced population and detained by the authorities in irregular detention facilities, such as vacated school buildings. br /
br /
Amnesty International said it is concerned about lack of transparency and accountability in that process, which is conducted outside of any legal framework and the increased dangers to detainees when they are held incommunicado. br /
br /
The organization said that persons arrested on suspicion of links to the LTTE and accused of crimes should be charged with legitimate offences, tried and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ASA/srilanka-menik-farm-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International has welcomed the government of Sri Lanka’s promise to lift by 1 December any restrictions on movement of at least 130,000 people displaced by the war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE). br /
nbsp; br /
quot;Now the Sri Lankan government needs to demonstrate that it will provide the displaced with necessary assistance such as shelter, food and security as they re-establish their homes,quot; said Madhu Malhotra, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific programme. br /
br /
Hundreds and thousands of Tamils who escaped the war have been detained in camps under military control for the past six months, deprived of their freedom of movement. Many of them survived months of difficult conditions as they were forced to travel with retreating LTTE forces who forcibly recruited civilians, including children, and in some instances used civilians as human shields. br /
br /
The Sri Lankan government has agreed to give people a choice about whether to remain in camps to seek alternative accommodation or attempt to return home. br /
br /
quot;For months vulnerable people have been held in inadequate conditions in camps lacking adequate sanitation facilities and clean drinking water. If the Sri Lankan government follows through on its promise to allow thousands of people to return home, it would be the first step in the long struggle ahead for people rebuilding their devastated lives,quot; said Madhu Malhotra. br /
br /
Amnesty International stressed the continued need to protect the rights of internally displaced people both within and outside the camps. br /
br /
The organization also urged the Sri Lankan authorities to abide by the principles of International humanitarian law and ensure that displaced people are supported to make voluntary and informed decisions about their future. br /
br /
quot;Humanitarian and human rights organizations should be given unimpeded access to displaced people and those attempting to resettle to monitor their safety and wellbeing and ensure their needs are being met, including that they are protected against further human rights violations,quot; said Madhu Malhotra. br /
br /
Since the war ended in May, an estimated 12,000 displaced people (including children) suspected of links to the LTTE have been arbitrarily arrested, separated from the general displaced population and detained by the authorities in irregular detention facilities, such as vacated school buildings. br /
br /
Amnesty International said it is concerned about lack of transparency and accountability in that process, which is conducted outside of any legal framework and the increased dangers to detainees when they are held incommunicado. br /
br /
The organization said that persons arrested on suspicion of links to the LTTE and accused of crimes should be charged with legitimate offences, tried and prosecuted in accordance with the law.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/haiti-schoolgirl-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/p
Authorities in Haiti must enact legislation to protect children working as domestic help in conditions that amount to slavery, said Amnesty International ahead of Universal Childrenrsquo;s Day. br /
br /
Amnesty International launched a campaign on Wednesday to press the government in Haiti to enact measures to protect child domestic workers from abuse, ill-treatment and exploitation. br /
br /
Many Haitian families, too poor to support their children, are forced to send them to work as domestic help. The children — most of them girls — end up working long hours cleaning, cooking, fetching water for the whole household and looking after other children in the family. br /
br /
ldquo;Most child domestic workers in Haiti live as virtual slaves,rdquo; said Gerardo Ducos, Haiti researcher at Amnesty International. ldquo;They work in inhuman conditions, suffering violence and abuse by their hosts, only for a plate of food.rdquo; br /
br /
UNICEF estimated that there were as many as 100,000 girl domestic workers in Haiti in 2007. br /
br /
Trapped in a situation of total dependence, many girls are compelled to put up with violence and sexual abuse. Some flee the employer or host family and live on the streets where they may have no option but to sell their bodies for sex in order to survive. br /
br /
15-year-old Reacute;gina told Amnesty International that when she was 10, she was sent to work as a domestic servant, but she ran away because the beatings became unbearable. She spent the next four years at Foyer Maurice Sixto, a shelter for children who have been domestic workers. During that time she was able to go to school. When she turned 14, Reacute;gina went back home, were she suffered further abuse. br /
br /
ldquo;Girls in Haiti are trapped in a spiral of poverty and violence,rdquo; said Gerardo Ducos. rdquo;The eradication of this modern form of slavery is the only way to protect the rights of thousands of children.quot; br /
br /
Haitian laws do not provide a protective framework for children. br /
br /
In 2003, the Law for the prohibition and elimination of all kind of abuses, violence and inhuman treatment of children came into force. This law removed a chapter of the Labor Code that regulated the work of children in domestic service but failed to ban the practice of children in domestic service. br /
br /
The Code had prohibited the ldquo;employmentrdquo; of children under 12 as domestic workers and had provided guarantees that those aged over 15 would receive a salary for their work. The Code required foster families, among other things, to request authorization from the Institute of Social Welfare and Research if they wished to employ a child as domestic worker. br /
br /
ldquo;Ahead of Universal Childrenrsquo;s Day, Haiti should step up its commitment to the protection of girl domestic workers and take concrete steps to improve their situation,rdquo; said Gerardo Ducos. br /
/p
div align=left
img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/AI/action-button-en.gif title=Take Action alt=Take Action height=73 width=114 class=asset-align-right/ustrong/strong/u
/div
div align=left
ua href=http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/protect-girls-domestic-labour-haiti-181109strongAppeal for action/strong/abr /
/u
/div
Protect girls in domestic labour in Haitibr /
p
nbsp;
/p
p
nbsp;
/p

Amnesty International has called on the Peruvian authorities to step up recent efforts to decriminalise abortion in the country.br /
br /
Peru’s Congressional Commission last week issued a proposal to allow decriminalise abortion in certain circumstances, including when a woman or girl is pregnant as a result of rape.br /
br /
quot;The removal of criminal sanctions will hopefully contribute to preventing women and girls suffering the anguish and serious health risks of seeking an unsafe, illegal backstreet treatment with uncertain outcomes, no proper aftercare and the possibility of being imprisoned if found out,quot; said Guadalupe Marengo, Amnesty International’s Americas Deputy Director.br /
br /
Amnesty International has welcomed the Commission’s proposal and urges it to continue the debate it has begun on the issue. br /
br /
The Peruvian authorities should promote an environment with no restrictions on women’s access to sexual and reproductive health information and services. nbsp;br /
br /
Amnesty International believes that in order to eliminate unsafe abortions and other violations of womenrsquo;s rights, all laws which permit the imprisonment or imposition of any other criminal sanction on women for seeking or having an abortion must be repealed. br /
br /
A woman or girl child who has already had her human rights violated as a result of rape, sexual assault or incest must not then have her rights further violated by being criminalised for seeking an abortion in the case of a pregnancy resulting from the original abuse.
br /

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/iran-behnoud-100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International has condemned the execution of Behnoud Shojaee, a 21-year-old Iranian, at Tehran’s Evin Prison at dawn on Sunday, for a murder he was accused of having committed when he was 17.br /
br /
Behnoud Shojaee was sentenced to qesas (retribution) by the Criminal Court in Tehran on 2 October 2006, after he was found guilty of killing a youth during a fight in a park on 18 June 2005.br /
br /
His execution had previously been postponed some six times. According to his lawyer, about 200 people gathered outside the prison before the execution in an attempt to plead with the victimrsquo;s family to spare Behnoud Shojaeersquo;s life.br /
br /
The family of a murder victim have the right either to insist on execution, or to pardon the offender and receive the payment of diyeh, or financial compensation. A convicted murderer has no right to seek pardon or commutation from the state, in violation of Article 6(4) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Iran is a party.br /
br /
The family refused to pardon Behnoud Shojaee, and his lawyer said that the victimrsquo;s mother and father pushed the stool from under his feet after the noose had been placed around his neck.br /
br /
Amnesty International called the execution a gross violation of international law, which prohibits the execution of those under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged offence.br /
br /
Aged just 17 when the killing took place, Behnoud Shojaee intervened to stop a fight between a friend and another boy, Ehsan in a park in Tehran. The boy then started a fight with Behnoud Shojaee and threatened him with a knife. During the fight Behnoud Shojaee picked a shard of glass and stabbed Ehsan once in the chest, before fleeing the scene.br /
br /
Behnoud Shojaee maintained throughout his trial that he only stabbed Ehsan once even though the coroner’s report stated that the victim died as a result of sustaining several injuries. His claims were never investigated and Behnoud Shojaee’s sentence was nevertheless upheld by the Supreme Court on 30 June 2007.br /
br /
During his trial, Behnoud Shojaee was not afforded legal representation and was therefore made to write a request for re-examination and re-trial of his case himself.br /
br /
On Saturday, the international community marked the World Day against the Death Penalty.br /
br /
Amnesty International has called on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt all scheduled executions ndash; particularly that of Safar Angooti, another juvenile offender at risk of execution this week – and to commute all death sentences.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/iran-abbas-hosseini-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International has welcomed a move by the Iranian authorities to postpone the execution of an Afghan national accused of commiting a murder while still a child.br /
br /
Abbas Hosseini was set to be executed on Monday, but judicial authorities in the city of Mashhad reportedly agreed to the postponement to allow more time to persuade the victimrsquo;s family to accept financial compensation in return for settling the case.br /
br /
No new date for the execution is known to have been set yet.br /
br /
Amnesty International urges the Iranian authorities to review his sentence so that he no longer faces the death penalty. As he was under 18 at the time of the alleged crime, his execution is strictly prohibited under international law.br /
br /
Abbas Hosseini was sentenced to death in June 2004 for the murder of a man whom he said had tried to rape him in July 2003. br /
br /
Hosseini was due to be executed on 1 May 2005, but was granted a one-week stay of execution at the last minute to give the victimrsquo;s family another opportunity to accept payment of emdiyeh/em, or blood money, a form of financial compensation for the blood relatives of the man who died.br /
br /
In the meantime, the Head of the Judiciary ordered the local judiciary in Mashhad not to proceed with the execution and Abbas Hosseinirsquo;s case was sent for review. On 27 April 2008, the Supreme Court sent the case for retrial on account of Hosseinirsquo;s age at the time of the crime. He was sentenced to death again on 5 August 2008 by the General Juvenile Court in Mashhad.br /
br /
This sentence was upheld on 29 December 2008 by Branch 33 of the Supreme Court and was given final approval by the Head of the Judiciary, paving the way for the execution which was to take place Monday.br /
br /
Amnesty International believes that the protracted judicial uncertainty surrounding the review and retrial of his case, and the repeated halting at the last minute of his scheduled executions, do nothing except compound his suffering, and that of his family.br /
br /
Since 1990, at least 41 alleged juvenile offenders have been executed in Iran and over 140 are known to remain on death row. At least three have been executed so far in 2009, in breach of Iranrsquo;s international obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child which unequivocally ban the execution of juvenile offenders.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AFR/sierra-leone-irene-doctors-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/As world leaders meet at the United Nations in New York to discuss increased funding for healthcare in developing countries, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan has launched a campaign to reduce maternal deaths in Sierra Leone. br /
br /
The report strongOut of Reach: The Cost of Maternal Health in Sierra Leone/strong uses graphic and personal testimonials to show how women and girls are often unable access lifesaving treatment because they are too poor to pay for it. br /
br /
In Sierra Leone, one in eight women risk dying during pregnancy or childbirth. This is one of the highest maternal death rates in the world.br /
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Thousands of women bleed to death after giving birth. Most die in their homes. Some die on the way to hospital; in taxis, on motorbikes or on foot. In Sierra Leone, less than half of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant and less than one in five are carried out in health facilities. br /
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quot;These grim statistics reveal that maternal deaths are a human rights emergency in Sierra Leone,quot; said Irene Khan, launching the report in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown. quot;Women and girls are dying in their thousands because they are routinely denied their right to life and health, in spite of promises from the government to provide free healthcare to all pregnant women.quot; br /
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At the United Nations General Assembly meeting on 23 September, access to healthcare in the developing world will be high on the agenda. br /
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce a series of new finance packages devoted to improving healthcare in the developing world with particular focus on infant and maternal health. Sierra Leone is expected to be among the recipients of the fund. br /
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quot;Additional money is desperately needed in Sierra Leone but will not reach women and children in remote areas who are at greatest risk,quot; said Irene Khan. quot;The lives of women and girls will only be saved when the health system is properly managed and the government is held to account.br /
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amp;quot;Money alone will not solve the problem. In Sierra Leone severe discrimination and the low social status of women underlies the terrible tragedy of maternal deaths. This is a country where girls are forced into early marriage, excluded from schools and face sexual violence. Women’s health needs are given a low priority by their own families, community leaders and their government.quot;br /
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Irene Khan’s visit to Sierra Leone marks the start of Amnesty International’s action against maternal mortality in the country. A quot;campaign caravanquot; will tour Sierra Leone over the coming weeks, providing information and fuelling debate on the issue of maternal health.br /
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Amnesty International believes poverty is a human rights issue. This year, it launched a global campaign called Demand Dignity, which calls for an end to the human rights violations that drive and deepen poverty. br /
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The Demand Dignity campaign mobilises people across the world to demand that governments and corporations listen to the voices of those living in poverty and respect their rights.br /
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a href=http://twitter.com/IrenekhanFollow Irene Khan on Twitter/abr /
a href=http://livewire.amnesty.org/category/sierra-leone/Follow Amnesty International’s blog from Sierra Leone/abr /
a href=http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/sierra_leone/slpetition.phpSign a petition to end maternal mortality in Sierra Leone/a

The Dominican parliament has voted in favour of constitutional changes that could lead to a total ban on abortions, a move Amnesty International says will put women and girls at risk and increase maternal deaths.br /
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Approved by a majority vote of 128 to 34, Article 30 would introduce inviolability of life from quot;conception to deathquot;. br /
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quot;Dominican Parliamentarians have delivered a huge blow to the right to life of women and girls,quot; said Susan Lee, Director of Amnesty International’s America’s programme.br /
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It is widely acknowledged that this will lead to changes in the Penal Code, which could lead to a ban on abortions in all circumstances.br /
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Now that it has been approved, Article 30 could severely limit the availability of safe abortions, even in cases when a woman is suffering from life-threatening complications or is in need of life-saving treatment incompatible with pregnancy ndash; such as that for malaria, cancer or HIV/AIDS.br /
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Furthermore, access to safe abortion for women or girls who are pregnant as a result of rape or incest would become even more restricted.br /
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Amnesty International recently published a report looking at the impact of the total ban on abortion in Nicaragua. br /
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According to official data, the ban is contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country — 33 girls and women have died in pregnancy so far in 2009 compared to 20 in the same period last year. Because of inadequacies in the countryrsquo;s collection of maternal health data, these official figures are believed to be only a minimum.br /
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On Monday, Amnesty International called on the Congress of the Dominican Republic to reject the current formulation of Article 30.br /
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quot;Amnesty International will continue to stand in support of all Dominicans who oppose imprisonment or other criminal penalties for abortion,quot; said Susan Lee.br /
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quot;We will also continue to advocate ensuring that safe and legal abortion services are available, accessible, and of good quality for all women and girls who require them in all cases where the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest and when the pregnancy poses a risk to the life or health of the woman.quot;br /