http://ownme.msk.ru Сервис свежайших превью новостей правительства США Wed, 28 Jul 2010 17:20:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/myanmar-urged-to-end-repression-of-ethnic-minorities-before-elections/ http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/myanmar-urged-to-end-repression-of-ethnic-minorities-before-elections/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:38:10 +0000 aron 15440 at http://www.amnesty.org
Myanmar's government must halt its repression of ethnic minority activists before forthcoming national and local elections, Amnesty International warned in a major report released on Tuesday.

The 58-page report, The Repression of ethnic minority activists in Myanmar, draws on accounts from more than 700 activists from the seven largest ethnic minorities, including the Rakhine, Shan, Kachin, and Chin, covering a two-year period from August 2007.

The authorities have arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases tortured or even killed ethnic minority activists. Minority groups have also faced extensive surveillance, harassment and discrimination when trying to carry out their legitimate activities.   

"Ethnic minorities play an important but seldom acknowledged role in Myanmar's political opposition," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar expert. "The government has responded to this activism in a heavy-handed manner, raising fears that repression will intensify before the elections."

Many activists told Amnesty International that they faced repression as part of a larger movement, as in Rakhine and Kachin States during the 2007 Buddhist monk-led "Saffron Revolution". Witnesses described the killings and torture of monks and others by the security forces during its violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations in those states.

Others said they were pursued for specific actions, such as organizing an anti-dam signature campaign in Kachin State.   

Even relatively simple expressions of political dissent were met with punishment as when Karenni youths were detained for floating small boats on a river with "No" (to the 2008 draft Constitution) written on them.

"Activism in Myanmar is not confined to the central regions and urban centres. Any resolution of the country's deeply troubling human rights record has to take into account the rights and aspirations of the country's large population of ethnic minorities," said Benjamin Zawacki.   

More than 2,100 political prisoners, including many from ethnic minorities, languish in Myanmar's jails in deplorable conditions. Most are prisoners of conscience who have expressed their beliefs peacefully.

Amnesty International urged the government to lift restrictions on freedom of association, assembly, and religion in the run-up to the elections; to release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience and to remove restrictions on independent media to cover the campaigning and election process.

Amnesty International called on Myanmar's neighbours in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as China, Myanmar's biggest international supporter, to push the government to ensure that the people of Myanmar will be able to freely express their opinions, gather peacefully, and participate openly in the political process.

"The government of Myanmar should use the elections as an opportunity to improve its human rights record, not as a spur to increase repression of dissenting voices, especially those from the ethnic minorities," said Benjamin Zawacki.

This year, Myanmar will hold its first national and local elections in two decades.   

In 1990, two years after mostly peaceful anti-government protests resulted in the deaths of at least 3,000 demonstrators, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and a coalition of ethnic minority parties resoundingly won national elections.   

The military government ignored the results, however, and continued their long-standing campaign against the political opposition.   

Myanmar's most well-known human rights activist, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD, has been under some form of detention for over 15 of the last 20 years.

In 2007, monks from ethnic minority Rakhine State initiated country-wide demonstrations against the government's economic and political policies, in what has become known as the Saffron Revolution.

In May 2008, a week after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country, the government insisted on holding a referendum on the draft constitution. The official results were that 99 percent of the electorate had gone to the polls, 92.4 percent of whom had voted in favour. While the 2008 Constitution potentially allows for greater representation in local government, it ensures that the military will continue to dominate the national government.   

Ethnic minorities constitute some 35-40 percent of the country's population, and form the majority in the seven ethnic minority states. Each of the country's largest seven ethnic minorities has engaged in armed insurgencies against the government, some of which continue to date.

Amnesty International has documented serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity by the government in the context of the Myanmar army’s campaigns against ethnic minority insurgent groups and civilians.]]> http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/myanmar-urged-to-end-repression-of-ethnic-minorities-before-elections/feed/ 0 http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/myanmar-urged-to-end-repression-of-ethnic-minorities-before-elections/ http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/myanmar-urged-to-end-repression-of-ethnic-minorities-before-elections/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:38:10 +0000 aron 15440 at http://www.amnesty.org
Myanmar's government must halt its repression of ethnic minority activists before forthcoming national and local elections, Amnesty International warned in a major report released on Tuesday.

The 58-page report, The Repression of ethnic minority activists in Myanmar, draws on accounts from more than 700 activists from the seven largest ethnic minorities, including the Rakhine, Shan, Kachin, and Chin, covering a two-year period from August 2007.

The authorities have arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases tortured or even killed ethnic minority activists. Minority groups have also faced extensive surveillance, harassment and discrimination when trying to carry out their legitimate activities.   

"Ethnic minorities play an important but seldom acknowledged role in Myanmar's political opposition," said Benjamin Zawacki, Amnesty International's Myanmar expert. "The government has responded to this activism in a heavy-handed manner, raising fears that repression will intensify before the elections."

Many activists told Amnesty International that they faced repression as part of a larger movement, as in Rakhine and Kachin States during the 2007 Buddhist monk-led "Saffron Revolution". Witnesses described the killings and torture of monks and others by the security forces during its violent suppression of peaceful demonstrations in those states.

Others said they were pursued for specific actions, such as organizing an anti-dam signature campaign in Kachin State.   

Even relatively simple expressions of political dissent were met with punishment as when Karenni youths were detained for floating small boats on a river with "No" (to the 2008 draft Constitution) written on them.

"Activism in Myanmar is not confined to the central regions and urban centres. Any resolution of the country's deeply troubling human rights record has to take into account the rights and aspirations of the country's large population of ethnic minorities," said Benjamin Zawacki.   

More than 2,100 political prisoners, including many from ethnic minorities, languish in Myanmar's jails in deplorable conditions. Most are prisoners of conscience who have expressed their beliefs peacefully.

Amnesty International urged the government to lift restrictions on freedom of association, assembly, and religion in the run-up to the elections; to release immediately and unconditionally all prisoners of conscience and to remove restrictions on independent media to cover the campaigning and election process.

Amnesty International called on Myanmar's neighbours in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as China, Myanmar's biggest international supporter, to push the government to ensure that the people of Myanmar will be able to freely express their opinions, gather peacefully, and participate openly in the political process.

"The government of Myanmar should use the elections as an opportunity to improve its human rights record, not as a spur to increase repression of dissenting voices, especially those from the ethnic minorities," said Benjamin Zawacki.

This year, Myanmar will hold its first national and local elections in two decades.   

In 1990, two years after mostly peaceful anti-government protests resulted in the deaths of at least 3,000 demonstrators, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and a coalition of ethnic minority parties resoundingly won national elections.   

The military government ignored the results, however, and continued their long-standing campaign against the political opposition.   

Myanmar's most well-known human rights activist, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the NLD, has been under some form of detention for over 15 of the last 20 years.

In 2007, monks from ethnic minority Rakhine State initiated country-wide demonstrations against the government's economic and political policies, in what has become known as the Saffron Revolution.

In May 2008, a week after Cyclone Nargis devastated the country, the government insisted on holding a referendum on the draft constitution. The official results were that 99 percent of the electorate had gone to the polls, 92.4 percent of whom had voted in favour. While the 2008 Constitution potentially allows for greater representation in local government, it ensures that the military will continue to dominate the national government.   

Ethnic minorities constitute some 35-40 percent of the country's population, and form the majority in the seven ethnic minority states. Each of the country's largest seven ethnic minorities has engaged in armed insurgencies against the government, some of which continue to date.

Amnesty International has documented serious human rights violations and crimes against humanity by the government in the context of the Myanmar army’s campaigns against ethnic minority insurgent groups and civilians.]]> http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/myanmar-urged-to-end-repression-of-ethnic-minorities-before-elections/feed/ 0 http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/irans-report-to-un-paints-distorted-picture-on-human-rights/ http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/irans-report-to-un-paints-distorted-picture-on-human-rights/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 16:00:50 +0000 aron 15415 at http://www.amnesty.org
The Iranian government's view of the state of human rights in the country is severely distorted, Amnesty International said on Friday in an analysis paper prepared ahead of a review of Iran by the UN Human Rights Council.

The Amnesty International paper was prepared in response to Iran's own submission to the UN in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review. The UN Human Rights Council's Working Group will evaluate Iran's human rights record on 15 February.   

During the review, UN member states have the opportunity to raise questions about Iran's human rights record and make recommendations to the Iranian government, which may then say which, if any, it will accept.

"The Iranian authorities seem either to have lost touch with reality or are unwilling to acknowledge it," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. "The government report reads as if there is no human rights crisis, just politically motivated criticism."

"UN member states must look at what is actually happening in Iran: mass arrests and detentions, beatings of peaceful demonstrators, torture and deaths in custody, 'show trials' and politically motivated executions. Complacency or misplaced solidarity with Iran should not stand in the way of demands for Iran to fulfil its human rights obligations."

Amnesty International's analysis includes examples that illustrate Iran's failure to uphold human rights, such as those to a fair trial, to freedom of expression and, in the case of women and ethnic and religious minorities, to freedom from discrimination, and highlights obfuscations in the Iranian government report.

Iran's report states that it prohibits the use of torture to force "confessions" but the reality is very different. Torture and other ill-treatment for the purpose of extracting "confessions" are widespread. Recent Iranian broadcasts of extracts of "show trials" taking place in Tehran, show haggard-looking defendants apologizing and delivering what appear to be coerced "confessions".

Iran's judicial system is not the independent force depicted in the government's report, with sensitive cases heavily influenced by political considerations. It also discriminates against women from top to bottom. Women are absent in any of the senior, decision-making posts, while a woman's testimony in court is worth only half that of a man's and she receives only half the compensation of a man for bodily injury or death.

Amnesty International's report criticizes Iran's failure to engage with human rights organizations and UN human rights experts, consistently stalling on allowing visits - contrary to Iran's own assertions that it has co-operated with human rights groups. Amnesty International has been denied access to Iran to conduct firsthand research into human rights violations since April 1979.

Several human rights bills, currently pending before the Majles, have been under consideration for years without progress. These include the Juvenile Crimes Investigation Bill, which could reduce the number of death sentences imposed on juvenile offenders, and the bill setting out "political crimes" which was drafted over five years ago, by a previous parliament.

Amnesty International acknowledged some of the improvements in legislation referred to in Iran's report to the UN. These include the revival of the Offices of the Prosecutor, the equalization of diyeh for Muslims with non-Muslims and efforts to combat human trafficking.

"It is time for Iran to implement the necessary measures to improve human rights in the country by allowing human rights defenders to work without fear, journalists to freely report, people to protest without being exposed to violence and ensuring mechanisms are developed to improve justice and ensure accountability," said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.]]> http://ownme.msk.ru/obrazovanie/irans-report-to-un-paints-distorted-picture-on-human-rights/feed/ 0