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img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/usa-gitmo-cells-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/strongemquot;A commitment to human rights starts with universal standards and with holding everyone accountable to those standards, including ourselveshellip; When injustice anywhere is ignored, justice everywhere is denied. Acknowledging and remedying mistakes does not make us weaker, it reaffirms the strengths of our principles and institutions.quot;/em/strongbr /
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Not Amnesty International’s words, but those of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last month in an address on the Obama administration’s quot;Human Rights Agenda for the 21stCenturyquot;. – Accountability, she said, was elemental to the administration’s approach, and it was under this principle that President Barack Obama had ordered an end to CIA torture and closure of the Guantaacute;namo detention facility.br /
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While Secretary Clinton’s words are welcome, the fact is that a year into the new administration, almost 200 individuals remain detained without fair trial at the Guantaacute;namo prison camp, and accountability and remedy for the human rights violations committed against these and other detainees in what the USA previously called the quot;war on terrorquot; remain more myth than reality.br /
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It is nearly eight years, for example, since Abu Zubaydah was arrested in Pakistan. He was hidden away in secret CIA custody for the first four and a half years, subjected to torture and enforced disappearance, crimes under international law for which no-one has been brought to justice. For the past three years he has been in Guantaacute;namo, still held without charge or access to remedy. The Obama administration continues to resist disclosure of what happened to him and others held in secret CIA custody.br /
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Information which the administration had wanted to keep classified emerged in federal court earlier this month in the case of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, namely that he had been subjected to quot;enhanced interrogation techniquesquot; for 14 hours over five days at some point in secret CIA custody.br /
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In its written briefing to the court, the Obama administration argued that its predecessor had quot;justifiablyquot; treated Ghailani as an quot;intelligence assetquot; rather than a criminal defendant, despite a pre-existing indictment in US federal court against him at the time of his arrest in Pakistan in 2004.br /
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It added that the Bush administration had made the quot;entirely reasonablequot; decision to continue to hold Ghailani without charge as an quot;enemy combatantquot;. Ahmed Ghailani was held in secret CIA custody for two years, and in Guantaacute;namo for nearly three more years, before being transferred to New York for trial in June 2009. No one has been brought to account for the human rights violations perpetrated against him.br /
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The impunity goes well beyond abuses in the CIA programme. Shortly before President Obama took office, for example, the Bush administration’s Convening Authority for military commissions confirmed that Saudi Arabian national Mohamed al Qahtani had been tortured in military custody at Guantaacute;namo. Despite this admission, a year later, with Mohamed al Qahtani still held without charge in Guantaacute;namo, no criminal investigation is known to have been opened into the torture allegations.br /
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Earlier this month, a US federal judge found quot;crediblequot; the allegations that Yemeni national Musa’ab al Madhwani had been subjected to acts amounting to torture and other ill-treatment in a secret US facility in Kabul before his transfer to Guantaacute;namo where he remains detained without charge more than seven years later.br /
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What accountability will there be for this abuse? None, it would seem, unless the current administration has a rethink about whether accountability and adherence to the USA’s international human rights obligations will truly be among its governing principles.br /
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In litigation implicating the USA’s international obligations to ensure accountability and remedy for past human rights violations, the Obama administration has all too often adopted a stance that promotes impunity and blocks remedy. For example, in its first year it has:br /
ul
liinvoked the state secrets privilege to seek dismissal of a lawsuit brought by five detainees for the human rights violations, including crimes under international law, they say they were subjected to in the CIA quot;renditionquot; programme;/li
liopposed a lawsuit brought by four UK nationals for the torture and arbitrary detention to which they say they were subjected in Guantaacute;namo, the administration arguing that it was quot;not clearly establishedquot; at the time of the men’s detention that they had the rights they said were violated and that the officials concerned were therefore quot;shieldedquot; from civil liability. In December, the US Supreme Court sided with the administration and declined to take the case;/li
liintervened to petition a federal court to dismiss a lawsuit filed against John Yoo, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the US Justice Department, for the role the lawsuit claims he played in unlawful detention conditions and interrogation techniques. The Obama administration argued that the context of quot;the detention and treatment of those determined to be enemies during an armed conflicthellip; implicating matters of national security and war powersquot; counselled against the quot;judicial creation of a money-damage remedyquot;;/li
limaintained the Bush administration’s denial of and opposition to access to lawyers and courts for those held at the US airbase in Bagram in Afghanistan, cementing the accountability gap for abuses committed there and the detaineesrsquo; lack of effective remedy for them;/li
lirefused to release of photographs and other documentary material relating to detainee abuses./li
/ul
When the USA assumed its seat on the UN Human Rights Council in 2009, the Obama administration said: quot;Make no mistake; the United States will not look the other way in the face of serious human rights abuses. The truth must be told, the facts brought to light and the consequences facedquot;. A year on, the administration continues to look the other way when it comes to full disclosure of and remedy for human rights violations perpetrated by the USA in the name of quot;countering terrorismquot;.br /
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The change of tone the Obama administration has brought to the USA’s pronouncements on human rights is welcome. It must now match these words with concrete action, including on accountability, remedy, and ending the Guantaacute;namo detentions in line with its international human rights obligations.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/guantanamo100.jpg alt= title= /br/p
Amnesty International has urged the Italian government to ensure that two recently released former Guantaacute;namo Bay detainees receive fair trials in Italy and are not sent back to Tunisia where they would be at risk of torture. br /
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Tunisian nationals Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri are suspected of having committed terrorism-related crimes in Italy prior to their detention at the US detention centre at Guantaacute;namo Bay. br /
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They were taken into custody on their arrival in Italy in November after having spent over seven years without charge or trial at Guantnamo Bay. br /
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quot;Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri endured years of illegal detention in conditions that amounted to ill-treatment. They will be in urgent need of appropriate psychological and medical services,quot; said Julia Hall, Amnesty International’s expert on counter-terrorism in Europe. br /
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quot;The Italian government should take immediate measures to make sure that these men are not subject to further human rights violations.quot; br /
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Amnesty International has called on the Italian authorities to ensure that the men are lawfully detained. br /
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The organization said that the authorities should evaluate the evidence against the men to ensure that any testimony extracted under torture or ill-treatment is not used in any criminal prosecution against them.br /
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It also said that the authorities should refrain from withholding evidence on the basis of national security and provide compensation for the men if Italy was involved in their on-going detentions or other ill-treatment at Guantaacute;namo Bay. br /
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quot;If the Italian authorities were involved in intelligence sharing with the USA or other activities that contributed to the menrsquo;s unlawful detention and other violations of their rights at Guantaacute;namo Bay, then they should be held accountable,quot; said Julia Hall. br /
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Amnesty International has also urged the Italian authorities to guarantee that Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri will not be expelled or deported to Tunisia or to any other country where they would be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. br /
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In recent years, the Italian government has attempted to deport and has deported a number of Tunisian nationals to Tunisia, in some cases in violation of rulings issued by the European Court of Human Rights. br /
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The Court has also ruled that Italy violated the absolute ban on returns to risk of torture by sending some back to Tunisia. Amnesty International subsequently learned that some of the people returned to Tunisia reported being subjected to torture or other ill-treatment. br /
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quot;The Italian government’s disregard for requests from the European Court of Human Rights to halt deportations to Tunisia while the Court considers the case is very disturbing. It indicates that the government will dispense with the rule of law when it suits them,quot; said Julia Hall. br /
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quot;The authorities must guarantee now that they will observe the absolute ban on torture and not send Adel Ben Mabrouk and Riadh Nasseri back to Tunisia where they will be at risk of such abuse.quot;
/p

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/guantanamo100.jpg alt= title= /br/The US government must redouble efforts to resolve the future of detainees still held at the military facility in Guantaacute;namo Bay, Cuba, Amnesty International said after President Barack Obama acknowledged his administration would not meet his deadline for its closure. br /
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quot;Over recent months, US authorities have allowed the Guantaacute;namo detentions to become a political football, and the politics of fear to trump human rights,quot; said Susan Lee, Director of the Amnesty International’s Americas Regional Programme. br /
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quot;Now, as should have been the case from day one, the government should resolve these detentions by either bringing the detainees to fair trial or immediately releasing them,quot; Susan Lee said.br /
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On 22 January 2009, President Obama signed an executive order committing his administration to resolving the cases of the detainees held at Guantaacute;namo quot;as promptly as possiblequot;, and to closing the detention facility quot;no later than one year from the date of this order.quot; nbsp;br /
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In his comments on Wednesday, President Obama would not put an exact new date on closure, stating only that he anticipated it would happen sometime later next year, and adding that it would ldquo;depend on cooperation from Congress.quot;br /
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Hopes for an end to the Guantaacute;namo detentions this year have receded over recent months as members of Congress sought to block the closure of the facility, and the administration has been slow to charge detainees. br /
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At the same time, diplomatic efforts to find solutions for detainees who cannot be returned to their home countries for fear of the human rights violations they would face there have been undermined by the refusal of the US authorities to release any in mainland USA. br /
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Amnesty International has long called for the Guantaacute;namo detainees to be brought to trial in an independent and impartial court ndash; not a military commission ndash; or immediately released. br /
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It has also repeatedly called for the USA not to seek the death penalty in any case.br /
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Since President Obama took office, 26 detainees have been transferred out of Guantaacute;namo, leaving 215 still there. br /
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One detainee has been transferred to face trial in a federal court in New York and the administration has announced that another five will also be transferred to the city for such trials, with the likelihood that the death penalty will be sought against them. br /
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The US Attorney General has also said the administration has decided to refer another five cases back to the Pentagon for trial by military commission.br /
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In his 22 January order requiring his administration to ensure quot;prompt and appropriatequot; resolution of each and every Guantaacute;namo case and to close the Guantaacute;namo facility within a year, President Obama pointed to the quot;significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationallyquot;.br /
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quot;Those concerns have not gone away, and will be reignited by President Obama’s comments todayquot;, Susan Lee said.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/guantanamo100.jpg alt= title= /br/The US government must redouble efforts to resolve the future of detainees still held at the military facility in Guantaacute;namo Bay, Cuba, Amnesty International said after President Barack Obama acknowledged his administration would not meet his deadline for its closure. br /
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quot;Over recent months, US authorities have allowed the Guantaacute;namo detentions to become a political football, and the politics of fear to trump human rights,quot; said Susan Lee, Director of the Amnesty International’s Americas Regional Programme. br /
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quot;Now, as should have been the case from day one, the government should resolve these detentions by either bringing the detainees to fair trial or immediately releasing them,quot; Susan Lee said.br /
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On 22 January 2009, President Obama signed an executive order committing his administration to resolving the cases of the detainees held at Guantaacute;namo quot;as promptly as possiblequot;, and to closing the detention facility quot;no later than one year from the date of this order.quot; nbsp;br /
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In his comments on Wednesday, President Obama would not put an exact new date on closure, stating only that he anticipated it would happen sometime later next year, and adding that it would ldquo;depend on cooperation from Congress.quot;br /
br /
Hopes for an end to the Guantaacute;namo detentions this year have receded over recent months as members of Congress sought to block the closure of the facility, and the administration has been slow to charge detainees. br /
br /
At the same time, diplomatic efforts to find solutions for detainees who cannot be returned to their home countries for fear of the human rights violations they would face there have been undermined by the refusal of the US authorities to release any in mainland USA. br /
br /
Amnesty International has long called for the Guantaacute;namo detainees to be brought to trial in an independent and impartial court ndash; not a military commission ndash; or immediately released. br /
br /
It has also repeatedly called for the USA not to seek the death penalty in any case.br /
br /
Since President Obama took office, 26 detainees have been transferred out of Guantaacute;namo, leaving 215 still there. br /
br /
One detainee has been transferred to face trial in a federal court in New York and the administration has announced that another five will also be transferred to the city for such trials, with the likelihood that the death penalty will be sought against them. br /
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The US Attorney General has also said the administration has decided to refer another five cases back to the Pentagon for trial by military commission.br /
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In his 22 January order requiring his administration to ensure quot;prompt and appropriatequot; resolution of each and every Guantaacute;namo case and to close the Guantaacute;namo facility within a year, President Obama pointed to the quot;significant concerns raised by these detentions, both within the United States and internationallyquot;.br /
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quot;Those concerns have not gone away, and will be reignited by President Obama’s comments todayquot;, Susan Lee said.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/usa-obama-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Barack Obama should follow the lead of the UN General Assembly and take all necessary steps to end its economic embargo against Cuba, said Amnesty International on Thursday, after the UN body condemned US sanctions against the island.br /
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Amnesty International said that it believes the embargo is particularly affecting Cubansrsquo; access to medicines and medical technologies, putting lives at risk.br /
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In a record vote, 187 countries said the US should end its embargo against Cuba.br /
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The US, Israel and Palau voted against the resolution. Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.br /
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It is the 18th consecutive year the UN has passed such a resolution and the first under President Obama.br /
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quot;The US embargo against Cuba is putting at risk the lives of millions by preventing them from accessing vital medicines and medical technologies,quot; said Kerrie Howard, deputy director of Amnesty International’s Americas programme. quot;These sanctions are immoral and should be lifted immediately.quot;br /
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Because of the US embargo, Cuba faces severe restrictions in importing medicines, medical equipment or technologies from the USA or from any US company abroad. The sanctions also limit other imports to the island and restrict travel and the transfer of money.br /
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According to data from the United Nations, Cubarsquo;s inability to import nutritional products for consumption at schools, hospitals and day care centres, is contributing to a high prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia. UNICEF reported that in 2007, 37.5 per cent of Cuba’s children under three years old had anaemia. br /
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Childrenrsquo;s health was also put at risk by a decision from US syringe suppliers to cancel an order of three million disposable syringes made in 2007 by UNICEFrsquo;s Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization when it became known that the units were destined for the implementation of a programme in Cuba.

Amnesty International has called on the government of Cuba to lift the travel restrictions on Cuban blogger Yoani Saacute;nchez, preventing her from travelling to New York to receive an international journalism award.br /
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quot;The immigration office has just confirmed that they maintain the prohibition on letting me leave the countryquot;, wrote Yoani Saacute;nchez on her Twitter page on Monday.br /
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This is the fourth time that Yoani Saacute;nchez has been refused permission by the authorities to travel outside Cuba in the past two years.br /
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Yoani Saacute;nchez was awarded a special citation for journalistic excellence by the board of the Maria Moors Cabot Prize, the oldest international award in journalism, for her writing on the Generation Y website which receives 1 million hits a month. br /
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In Generation Y, Yoani Saacute;nchez writes about daily life in Cuba. She was due to accept the award on Wednesday at Columbia University, in New York city.br /
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quot;The Cuban authorities often routinely deny exit visas and bar from leaving their country those who, like Yoani Saacute;nchez, express critical views of the government,quot; said Kerrie Howard, director of Amnesty International’s Americas Programme. br /
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quot;Restricting freedom of movement by denying an exit visa to Yoani Saacute;nchez constitutes an unnecessary punitive measure for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and association.quot;br /
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In May, the Cuban authorities denied Sanchez permission to fly to Madrid to accept an award for digital journalism. br /
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Sanchez is known as an outspoken advocate for freedom of expression and unrestricted access to internet. Her blog, Generaion Y has been intermittently blocked by the authorities and cannot currently be read within Cuba.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/usa-obama-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/US President Barack Obama extended the White House’s 47-year trade embargo against Cuba on Tuesday – missing an opportunity to improve the human rights situation for people on the island. br /
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Amnesty International had called on President Obama not to renew the sanctions, which limit Cubansrsquo; access to medicines and are endangering the health of millions.br /
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quot;The US embargo against Cuba is immoral and should be lifted,quot; said Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan earlier this month. quot;Itrsquo;s preventing millions of Cubans from benefiting from vital medicines and medical equipment essential for their health.quot;br /
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In a statement, Mr Obama said that it was in the US national interest to extend the ‘Trading With The Enemy Act’, which covers the trade embargo. It is largely a symbolic step as the final decision on ending the embargo rests with Congress. br /
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According to data from the United Nations, Cubarsquo;s inability to import nutritional products for consumption at schools, hospitals and day care centres is contributing to a high prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia. According to UNICEF, in 2007 the condition affected 37.5 per cent of Cuban children under three years old.br /
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Childrenrsquo;s health was also put at risk by a decision from US syringe suppliers to cancel an order of three million disposable syringes made in 2007 by UNICEFrsquo;s Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization when it became known that the units were destined for the implementation of a programme in Cuba.br /
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Similar situations have affected the implementation of UN programmes to prevent and fight HIV/AIDS on the island.br /
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quot;Although responsibility for providing adequate health care lies primarily with the Cuban authorities, governments imposing sanctions such as embargoes need to pay special attention to the impact they can have on the targeted countryrsquo;s population,quot; said Irene Khan. nbsp;br /
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Since gaining power, President Obama has lifted some of the restrictions allowing Cuban-Americans to visit relatives whenever they want and send money home. br /
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Amnesty International has called on members of US Congress to repeal the legislation defining the trade embargo.br /