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Amnesty International on Wednesday called on Zimbabwe’s President Mugabe and Prime Minister Tsvangirai to fulfil their promise to reform state institutions, in a bid to end human rights violations that have continued in the country since the formation of the unity government one year ago.
 
Torture, harassment and politically motivated prosecutions of human rights defenders and perceived opponents have persisted, while villagers in parts of Zimbabwe have suffered ceaseless intimidation by supporters of former ruling party ZANU-PF.   

"The Attorney General’s office, police and army have been left to freely violate human rights in pursuit of a political agenda," said Erwin van der Borght, director of Amnesty International’s Africa programme.

"By delaying reform, the situation in Zimbabwe remains fragile as perpetrators continue to escape justice and are instead effectively given the all clear to continue violating human rights."

Amnesty International called on the unity government to end on-going harassment of human rights defenders. Several peaceful protests organized by civic movement Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were violently broken up by police in 2009.

Seventeen human rights and political activists who were abducted by state security agents in 2008 continue to face charges that are widely believed to be trumped up. One of them, Jestina Mukoko, director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, had her prosecution permanently stayed by the Supreme Court in September 2009 because of overwhelming evidence that she had been tortured.

"The government must end the incessant harassment of human rights activists and take steps to seriously protect rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly," said Erwin van der Borght.

The Zimbabwean army and intelligence services, as well as the Attorney General’s office, have remained under ZANU-PF control, following an agreement brokered by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) in 2008. The police are co-chaired by ZANU-PF and MDC-T ministers.

"The onus is on President Mugabe and ZANU-PF to ensure that key institutions under their control are reformed to end the culture of impunity that still threatens stability in the country," said Erwin van der Borght.   

Amnesty International’s call for reform comes amid reports that villagers in parts of Zimbabwe are being threatened with violence by army backed supporters of ZANU-PF, in an attempt to force them to endorse the heavily criticized Kariba draft constitution.   

The Kariba draft constitution, agreed by unity government parties in September 2007, has been strongly criticized by some civil society organizations as an attempt by the parties to impose a constitution without consultation.

Villagers in Mutoko, Muzarabani and MT Darwin are reportedly being warned that they will face beatings unless they support the ZANU-PF position. Similar threats were made and materialized in the run-up to the June 2008 presidential elections.

"These are early warning signs that the situation could deteriorate if no urgent measures are taken to stop state security agents from carrying out violent political campaigns," said Erwin van der Borght.
 
"Past involvement on their part has resulted in gross human rights violations, including deaths and torture of perceived opponents."

The government has so far failed to investigate gross human rights violations allegedly carried out by security forces during the run-up to the second round of the 2008 presidential elections, which left at least 200 people dead, over 9,000 injured and tens of thousands displaced.

"The unity government must investigate past and present allegations of human rights violations by state security agents, including torture and ill treatment of detainees," said Erwin van der Borght.

Gross human rights violations have also been taking place within the army.

At least two soldiers were tortured to death in October 2009 while being interrogated by intelligence and military police officials in Harare. Another soldier was reported to have committed suicide while in solitary confinement and several others are still receiving medical treatment for injuries caused by torture.

The victims had been arrested along with at least 95 others, on suspicion of breaking into an armoury at Pomona barracks and stealing 21 guns.
 
"Zimbabwean state bodies are riddled with human rights abusers that in many cases carry out violations with impunity," said Erwin van der Borght.   

"Without genuine reform of institutions this abuse is very likely to persist."

Amnesty International has called on the Sri Lankan government to end its crackdown on journalists, political activists and human rights defenders following last week’s presidential election.
 
Opposition supporters and journalists have been arrested, several prominent newspaper editors have received death threats and trade unionists and opposition supporters have been harassed since the poll.
 
The Centre for Monitoring Election Violence (CMEV) reported more than 85 post-election incidents, including two murders and several assaults. The CMEV has not released details of these incidents.
 
Pressure on government critics has been mounting since President Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected on 26 January, defeating his former Chief of Defence Staff – retired army general Sarath Fonseka.
 
“Victory against the Tamil Tigers followed by an historic election should have ended political repression in Sri Lanka but instead we have seen a serious clampdown on freedom of expression,” said Madhu Malhotra, Amnesty International’s Asia- Pacific Deputy Director.
 
Sri Lankan journalists have given Amnesty International a list of 56 of their colleagues who face serious threats, including some working for the government-owned Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, as well as Independent Television Network, Lak Hada and the Lake House Group.
 
“Threats, beatings and arrests mean that Sri Lankan human rights activists live in fear of the consequences of expressing their political opinions,” said Madhu Malhotra.
 
Security officials detained 13 former military officials supporting the defeated presidential candidate Gen Sarath Fonseka on 29 January during a raid on the candidate’s campaign office. They are being held incommunicado, according to opposition lawyer Shiral Lakthilaka.
 
The government has accused Fonseka and his supporters of plotting a coup d’etat.  
 
Also on 29 January, police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) raided the office of newspaper Lanka Irida and arrested chief editor Chandana Sirimalwatte, who remains in detention.

The newspaper had openly campaigned for opposition candidate Sarath Fonseka during the elections. The office was raided again the following day.
 
Offices of the popular internet site, Lanka E News, were sealed off by the authorities and Amnesty International received reports that a number of unidentified gunmen visited the Lanka E News office on at least two occasions during last week.
 
Sri Lankan journalist and political analyst Prageeth Eknaligoda, a contributor to the site, disappeared on his way home from work two days before the election and is still missing.

When his wife reported his disappearance to the Homagama police, she was herself detained for several hours. Eknaligoda had been actively reporting on political events in the run-up to the election and had recently spoken out in favour of Sarath Fonseka.
 
“President Rajapaksa’s government has to show that it will now try to deal with the human rights violations that have plagued Sri Lanka, instead of using the post-election period to launch a new crackdown,” said Madhu Malhotra.
 
Numerous serious assaults by unknown perpetrators against journalists have not been properly investigated or prosecuted. Amnesty International calls on the Sri Lankan authorities to change this pattern and demonstrate their commitment to human rights standards by ensuring the prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation of these recent attacks.

Amnesty International on Tuesday warned that the government’s heavy-handed response to the threat posed by al-Qa’ida puts Yemen at risk of being locked in a downward spiral on human rights.

In its latest briefing paper on Yemen, published ahead of Wednesday’s international high level meeting in London, Amnesty International highlights an increase in human rights violations against those who criticize or oppose the government.

"The fear is that international demands for a crackdown on suspected supporters of al-Qa’ida will be interpreted by the government as a green light to crush all opposition with no consideration for human rights," said Malcolm Smart, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa programme.

The government appears to have further intensified its new sweep against al-Qa’ida suspects following reports that a Nigerian national alleged to have tried to blow up a plane over Detroit last December had received training in Yemen.

Security forces claim to have killed and captured a number of leaders and activists of the group. Family members of such suspects have also been killed by government forces.

Attacks by al-Qa’ida, and groups apparently linked to it, have occurred sporadically throughout the last decade.

But most human rights abuses have taken place during conflict between government forces and armed rebels from the Zaidi Shi’a minority in the north and a strengthening, largely peaceful separatist movement in the south, both reportedly unconnected to al-Qa’ida.

"The government has resorted to increasingly repressive methods to counter this opposition, including waves of arrests, incommunicado detention and unlawful killings," said Malcolm Smart.

"Counter-terrorism is no excuse to sideline human rights. Whilst the government has a duty to protect people and hold to account those engaged in terrorism it must abide by its obligations under international law."

In Sa’da, in the north of the country, the long running conflict between government forces and the Huthis, armed fighters belonging to the Zaidi Shi’a minority, resumed with new intensity last August and has been marked by serious abuses on both sides.

Both sides are alleged to have killed civilians and according to the UN’s refugee agency, so far more than the 200,000 people have been forcibly displaced.

The government has sealed off the area, preventing independent reporting of the conflict, and aid agencies have faced continuing problems as they seek humanitarian access to those at risk

Civilians have also been put at risk, and some possibly killed, by Saudi Arabian security forces that have carried out attacks against rebels in Yemen’s northern border region. These attacks lacked any safeguards for the protection of civilians.

In Aden and other cities and towns in the south the government has faced growing protests from local people over the government’s failure to address discrimination.

The government’s response to these protests has been heavy-handed, with unarmed demonstrators being shot in the streets and those leading local demands arrested and detained. Since the protests began in 2007, the security forces have arrested and detained, in many cases arbitrarily, thousands of demonstrators and bystanders.

Independent media in Yemen has also come under sustained attack in connection with the unrest in the south of the country. The authorities have stormed newspaper offices, blocked distribution of newspapers and arrested journalists critical of the government.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ECA/russia-stanislav-markelov-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/One year after the murder of human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova, Amnesty International has reiterated its call on the Russian authorities to stop persecuting human rights activists and bring those responsible for the murders to justice in an open and fair trial.br /
br /
quot;The killing of several well-known human rights and civil society activists over the last year and the failure to bring to justice those responsible for previous murders, shows a lack of respect for the work of human rights activists in Russia,quot; said Amnesty International’s Europe and Central Asia Programme Director Halya Gowan.br /
br /
quot;Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova as well as Stanislav Markelov’s close allies and friends Anna Politkovskaya and Natalia Estemirova spoke out against human rights abuses. For that, their most basic human right, the right to life, was violated.quot;br /
br /
Stanislav Markelov was shot dead in the centre of Moscow on 19 January 2009 after attending a press conference at which he had discussed plans to appeal against the early release of a Russian former colonel who was imprisoned for the murder of a Chechen girl.br /
br /
Anastasia Baburova, a journalist from the newspaper Novaya Gazeta who was accompanying Stanislav Markelov, was seriously injured when she tried to stop the killer. She died later that day in hospital.br /
br /
In November 2009, two people were detained and charged with both murders. One of the accused, Nikita Tikhonov, had been a suspect in the killing of a young anti-fascist whose family was represented by Stanislav Markelov.br /
br /
In January, Nikita Tikhonov was reported to have withdrawn an earlier confession, claiming he had made it while under pressure.br /
br /
Natalia Estemirova, one of the leading members of the Russian human rights NGO Memorial in Grozny, Chechnya, was abducted and shot dead in July 2009.br /
br /
Journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered on 7 October 2006 in Moscow. She had faced intimidation and harassment from Russian authorities, including the authorities in Chechnya, due to her outspoken criticism of government policy and action.br /
br /
Neither killers have been brought to justice.br /
br /
quot;These human rights activists spoke up in the name of victims of serious human rights abuses and brought to light the truth about their abuse. They had only words as instruments to fight for human rights but these words cannot be stopped by bullets,quot; said Halya Gowan.

Moroccan authorities have failed to deliver on their promises to tackle
the legacy of gross human rights violations committed in Morocco and
Western Sahara between 1956 and 1999, Amnesty International said ahead
of a report to be published on the issue.br /
br /
The organization said Moroccan authorities have failed to provide
justice to the many victims of the ldquo;years of leadrdquo;, decades in which
hundreds of people were victims of enforced disappearances and
thousands of others were arbitrarily detained or tortured.br /
br /
An official commission established by King Mohammed VI six years ago to
investigate human rights violations committed by the Moroccan security
services between 1956 and 1999 has failed to fully deal with the legacy
of the violations.br /
br /
The Equity and Reconciliation Commission (Instance Equiteacute; et
Reacute;conciliation, IER) finished its work four years ago. The King then
tasked the Advisory Council on Human Rights (Conseil Consultatif des
Droits de l’Homme, CCDH), the national institution for the protection
and promotion of human rights, to follow-up on the IER’s work and
recommendations.br /
br /
The IER was able to reveal only part of the truth about the gross
violations of the past and was given no role to pursue justice for the
victims. It recommended a number of legal and institutional reforms to
ensure that such violations cannot occur again, but the overwhelming
majority of these have not been implemented.br /
br /
The CCDH is due to publish a report Thursday 14 January detailing its efforts to carry forward the IERrsquo;s work. br /
br /
Amnesty International’s report, Broken Promises: the Equity and
Reconciliation Commission and its follow-up, published last week,
expressed concern at the slow pace of implementation of the IERrsquo;s
recommendations. Amnesty International has called on King Mohamed VI to
honour the expectations raised by the IERrsquo;s work.br /
br /
quot;In order not to undermine the progress made since the inauguration of
the IER in 2004, it is crucial that the Moroccan authorities tackle the
shortcomings and gaps in the process of addressing the legacy of the
past,quot; said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s Middle East and
North Africa Director. br /
br /
The systematic use of torture and other ill-treatment, enforced
disappearances and arbitrary detention of thousands of individuals
plagued the period under the rule of King Hassan II (1961-99).br /
br /
Hundreds disappeared at the hands of the Moroccan security services,
especially when the Moroccan authorities felt threatened by internal or
external opposition.br /
br /
Victims of enforced disappearance included activists in opposition
parties, trade unionists and even farmers who had led demonstrations. br /
br /
The phenomenon disproportionately affected Sahrawis. Most of them are
thought to have disappeared because of their real or suspected support
for the independence of Western Sahara, a territory Morocco annexed in
1975.br /
br /
The Commissionrsquo;s final report was made public in January 2006. It
acknowledged the responsibility of the Moroccan authorities for gross
human rights violations, recommended reparation for victims and called
for further actions by the Moroccan authorities to guarantee that such
violations do not recur.br /
br /
Amnesty International’s report warns that four years after the IER
completed its work, its achievements risk being debilitated by the lack
of political will of the Moroccan authorities.br /
br /
It also says that the onus is on the Moroccan authorities to deliver on
promises and to implement key recommendations made by the IER to ensure
non-repetition.br /
br /
The IER investigated over 700 cases of enforced disappearance occurring between the mid-1960s and the early 1990s. br /
br /
br /
The IER said that it had resolved 742 cases of enforced disappearance.
The 66 pending cases were investigated by the CCDH, of which it
confirmed to have resolved about 60. br /
br /
Despite repeated promises, a list of all clarified cases has not yet been published.br /
br /
The Amnesty International report criticizes the IERrsquo;s failure to
recommend that the authorities address justice for the victims as a
natural progression of its work in investigating human rights
violations.br /
br /
The IER also failed to call for a vetting mechanism to ensure that
officials reasonably suspected of committing human rights violations
are suspended.br /
br /
Amnesty International recognizes that some positive steps have been
taken, particularly in providing financial compensation to victims, but
also in medical rehabilitation and restoration of employment. However,
there is no appeal mechanism to enable victims to challenge decisions
in their cases.br /
br /
quot;Amnesty International believes that there can be no genuine
reconciliation without restoring the dignity of victims by providing a
full explanation of reasons why they were victimized,quot; said Malcolm
Smart.br /
br /
quot;Without holding perpetrators accountable for their crimes and
introducing real safeguards to protect society from the recurrence of
such gross human rights violations, talk of a genuine desire to face
the past in the aim of building a better future seems hollow.quot;br /

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/mexico-report-100.jpg alt= title= /br/New evidence of serious human rights violations carried out during
military operations to combat organized crime and drug cartels in
Mexico has been unveiled in a report published by Amnesty
International. nbsp;br /
br /
ldquo;There is a disturbing pattern of crimes committed by the military in
their security operations, abuse that is being denied and ignored by
both the civilian and the military authorities in Mexico,rdquo; said Kerrie
Howard, deputy director of Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s Americas programme.br /
br /
In its report, emMexico: Human rights violations by the military/em, Amnesty
International accuses the authorities of failing to fully probe
allegations of abuses committed by the military, including enforced
disappearances, extrajudicial and unlawful killings, torture, ill
treatment and arbitrary detentions.br /
br /
By the end of June 2009, almost 2,000 complaints of abuse by the
military had been received by the National Human Rights Commission in
Mexico since the start of 2008.nbsp; Only 367 were received in 2007 and 182
in 2006. nbsp;br /
br /
Amnesty International believes that this information does not fully
reflect the extent of abuses being carried out but that it is
indicative of a growing trend of abuses. nbsp;br /
br /
A human rights organization in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, told Amnesty
International they had received 70 complaints involving arbitrary
detention, torture and other ill-treatment by the military between
January 2008 and September 2009.nbsp; But only 21 individuals lodged legal
complaints.nbsp; The rest feared that threats against them would transform
into attacks. br /
br /
ldquo;The cases that we have been able to investigate are truly shocking.nbsp;
But what is more shocking is that we know that this is only the tip of
the iceberg.nbsp; We are able to go into specific detail on a number of
cases whilst the government continues to deny that there are cases of
human rights abuses that need to be investigated,rdquo; said Kerrie Howard.br /
br /
Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s report goes into detail on five cases of
serious human rights violations committed by the military against 35
individuals between October 2008 and August 2009 in the states of
Chihuahua,Tamaulipas and Baja California.br /
br /
On 21 October 2008, witnesses saw 31 year-old Sauacute;l Becerra Reyes and
five other men arrested by soldiers in a car-wash in Ciudad Juaacute;rez,
Chihuahua state. br /
br /
Five days later, the five men arrested with Sauacute;l were transferred from
a military base to the Federal Attorney Generalrsquo;s Office and charged
with drug and firearm offences. Saulrsquo;s detention was never acknowledged
and he was never seen alive again.br /
br /
Several official complaints were made about Sauacute;l lsquo;s disappearance but
none led to an effective investigation by the authorities. Despite a
petition from a federal judge, civilian and military authorities
repeatedly denied knowledge of Saulrsquo;s whereabouts. br /
br /
Sauacute;lrsquo;s body was found in March 2009. His death certificate said he died
one day after his detention of a cerebral hemorrhage from head trauma.
The authorities carried out no further autopsy.br /
The federal judge closed the case and passed it to the Chihuahua state
prosecutorrsquo;s office to be investigated as an ordinary murder with no
reference to evidence of military involvement. br /
br /
ldquo;Mexico is facing a major public security crisis and the government has
a clear responsibility to combat organized crime and drug cartels by
all legal means,rdquo; said Kerrie Howard. br /
br /
ldquo;This is a difficult and dangerous job, but the severity of a crisis
should not be used as a pretext for turning a blind eye when abuses are
committed.rdquo; br /
br /
Amnesty International also complained that the few cases of military
abuse that are taken forward are dealt with in virtually closed
military courts where victims and their relatives have no access to
information or status on which they can challenge judicial or court
proceedings. br /
br /
The lack of independence and impartiality of military prosecutors and
courts has repeatedly resulted in the denial of justice to victims and
impunity for perpetrators. br /
br /
ldquo;The abuses we have seen contribute to the deterioration of the security situation in Mexico,rdquo; said Kerrie Howard. br /
br /
ldquo;By failing to take action to prevent and punish serious human rights
violations the Mexican government could be seen to be complicit in
these crimes.rdquo; br /
br /
Amnesty International urged the Mexican authorities to recognize the
seriousness and scale of the reports of human rights abuses committed
by members of the military as well as the level of complicity of
civilian authorities in covering up these abuses and to make the issue
a government priority. br /
br /
The government must take immediate steps to ensure prompt and impartial
investigations by the civilian authorities so those responsible are
brought before the civilian courts and victims receive reparations.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/honduras-dina-100.jpg alt= title= /br/p
As Honduras’ president elect Porfirio Lobo prepares to take power, new questions arise about events that have taken place since the coup drsquo;etat last June. br /
br /
An Amnesty International delegation in the country talked to human rights activists about the hidden crisis affecting the Central American nation.
/p
p
strongRead interviews with activists/strong:br /
a href=#DinaDina Meza/a – ldquo;We have gone back 30 yearsrdquo; br /
a href=#DonnyDonny Reyes/a – ldquo;Most crimes against LGBT people are lost in limbordquo;br /
a href=#AlexisAlexis Quiroz/a – ldquo;The population needs to be informed to make objective decisionsrdquo;br /
br /
/p
strongGilda Rivera/strongstrong: ldquo;Women are at higher risk because they are considered second class citizensrdquo;/strongbr /
br /
img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/honduras-hilda-300.jpg title=Hilda alt=Hilda height=300 width=250 class=asset-align-right/Gilda
Rivera works in an apparent oasis of calm on a hill in Tegucigalpa.
When you are there, among the plants and paintings which decorate the
building, itrsquo;s hard to imagine the stories she and her organization
hear. But some days, an unknown car appears and parks suspiciously in
the close vicinity of the offices for no apparent reason and waits,
then it leaves.br /
br /
Gilda is the director of the Centre for Womenrsquo;s Rights (Centro para
Derechos las Mujeres), a group that works to document and combat
violence against women in Honduras. nbsp;br /
br /
In a report published recently, the group painted a dark picture of
what it is like to be a woman in Honduras, where hundreds have been
victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence and murder. br /
br /
Gilda says the situation for Honduran women has always been worrying
but since the coup drsquo;etat of June 2009, things have deteriorated
rapidly. br /
br /
ldquo;When the whole population is facing human rights violations, women are
at even greater risk because we are considered second class citizens,rdquo;
said Gilda. br /
br /
The Centre for Womenrsquo;s Rights has documented a number of cases of
sexual violence against women reportedly committed by members of the
security forces since de coup drsquo;etat, particularly in the north of the
country. br /
br /
ldquo;A woman was detained by police officers after a demonstration, taken
to a piece of wasteland and raped by four police officers. She
recognized some of them from the names she could see on their uniforms.
br /
br /
quot;They left her there. She was forced to move away from her home because
of the fear she feels. This is the punishment women experience for
daring to speak out – to participate, to be citizens.rdquo;br /
nbsp;br /
Gilda is convinced that the historical lack of investigations and
justice for women who have suffered violence is contributing to more
cases of abuse. br /
br /
ldquo;The coup drsquo;etat ruined much of what we had gained and achievedhellip; all women have received is more violence.rdquo;br /
br /
hr /
br /
img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/honduras-dina-300.jpg title=Dina alt=Dina height=300 width=250 class=asset-align-right/strongDina Meza/stronga title=Dina name=Dina/astrong: ldquo;We have gone back 30 yearsrdquo; /strongbr /
Dina Meza lives and talks human rights at every opportunity she is given. As a journalist, an activist and a member of COFADEH (Committee of Relatives of the Disappeared in Honduras), one of Honduras’ oldest human rights organizations, she knows all too well what it means to work on an issue that is not always popular with the authorities.br /
br /
The past five months have been particularly challenging for Dina and her colleagues at COFADEH. Its members have spent countless days and nights collecting testimonies of threats, harassment, police beatings, arbitrary arrests, ill treatment and killings across the country. br /
They then file habeas corpus and other legal remedies on behalf of those affected by the repression.br /
br /
In one of the most serious incidents, on 23 September, police threw tear gas canisters inside their office in Tegucigalpa, while Dina and other colleagues were inside the building. The message was clear from those who had taken power: defending human rights was part of the problem, not the solution.br /
br /
Dina believes the underlying problem in Honduras is a lack of justice prevailing since the 1980s, when hundreds of people were killed or disappeared at the hands of the countryrsquo;s security forces. br /
br /
ldquo;The generations who were repressed in the 80s ndash; the men and women killed, disappeared, and whose relatives still havenrsquo;t received justice ndash; all this accumulated impunity and the human rights abusers who are calmly walking the streets of Honduras, this all has to do with whatrsquo;s happening now. It teaches us that when repression goes unpunished, it happens again,rdquo; Dina said.br /
br /
ldquo;We have legal repression, police repression, military repression – so what does this mean? We have to reform and reconstitute all these institutions and start again, with a new procedure.rdquo;br /
br /
hr /
br /
strongDonny Reyes/stronga title=Donny name=Donny/astrong: ldquo;Most crimes against LGBT people are lost in limbordquo;/strongbr /
img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/honduras-donny-300.jpg title=donny alt=donny height=300 width=250 class=asset-align-right/Before the political crisis blew up in Honduras, Donny Reyes was trying to put his country on the map internationally, working to raise awareness of the abuses and discrimination suffered by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and transgender people. br /
br /
But as the Central American nation slid into political turmoil, human rights were sidelined. br /
br /
ldquo;We had started talks with the Public Prosecutorrsquo;s Office, with members of the police and some members of the government for the investigation [of crimes against the LGBT community] and access to some public services. This stopped after the coup drsquo;etat,rdquo; Donny explained. br /
br /
According to information published by the organization Donny works for, the Rainbow Association, killings of transsexual people have also increased sharply since the coup drsquo;etat. br /
br /
Research conducted by Rainbow found that there were 12 killings of gay, lesbian, trans sexual and transgender people in Honduras in the whole of 2008. In the four months since the coup drsquo;etat, that figure reached 14. br /
br /
ldquo;These are the violent deaths and crimes that we have documented. It doesn’t include the many others we donrsquo;t know of – the ones that are left in impunity, lost in limbo,rdquo; said Donny.br /
br /
The activist ndash; who was himself a victim of abuse at the hands of the security forces in 2007 ndash; said the most worrying point of the crisis was during the state of emergency in the first week after the coup drsquo;etat, when curfews were implemented in different areas of the country.br /
br /
During that time, at least three members of the LGBT community were killed. Fabio Zamora was shot in the head while he was working in a market. Marion Cardenas was shot in the forehead on 29 June. Vicky Hernandez died the same way in San Pedro Sula, during the curfew on 28 June. br /
br /
ldquo;During the state of emergency you could feel a climate of fear, collective panic. Nothing could move here if it hadnrsquo;t been authorized by the armed forces, particularly the army. When the state of emergency was declared that day, everybody just ran home to hide and find refuge. What the authorities would do that night was nobodyrsquo;s responsibility.rdquo; br /
br /
hr /
br /
strongAlexis Quiroz/stronga title=Alexis name=Alexis/astrong: ldquo;The population needs to be informed to make objective decisionsrdquo;/strongbr /
In Alexisrsquo;s office, an old house in Tegucigalpa, the TV is stuck on one channel, Canal 36, one of the main news stations in the country. But there are no images on the screen. Instead, a multi-coloured test card reads: ldquo;They interfere with Canal 36rsquo;s signal to prevent us from informing you.rdquo;br /
br /
This very sentence is reflective of the situation faced by journalists across Honduras and the changes in the way the media operates in the context of Hondurasrsquo; political crisis.br /
br /
ldquo;Before the coup drsquo;etat we had some differences of opinion with the government but we didnrsquo;t have censorship; we didnrsquo;t have violence against journalists or other people who spoke out against the government,rdquo; said Alexis br /
br /
ldquo;Now we even have decrees which say that nobody can say anything against a public official, you canrsquo;t express any kind of unfavourable opinion against a public official.rdquo;br /
br /
C-Libre, the organization where Alexis works, has recorded 130 incidents of threats, dismissals and attacks against journalists since the coup drsquo;etat on 28 June. br /
br /
ldquo;Military occupation of media outlets is high, the level of physical attacks against journalists is very high, and there are threats ndash; these are the three most pressing issues. We have at least 130 cases, including closures of media outlets.rdquo;nbsp;

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AMR/honduras-demo-100.jpg alt= title= /br/At the end of a 10-day visit to Honduras during the country’s presidential elections, Amnesty International has called for an independent investigation to ensure all those responsible for human rights abuses are brought to justice and the victims given reparations. nbsp;br /
nbsp; br /
quot;The crisis in Honduras does not end with the election results, the authorities cannot return to business as usual without ensuring human rights safeguards,quot; said Javier Zuacute;ntilde;iga, head of the Amnesty International delegation in Honduras. br /
nbsp;br /
quot;There are dozens of people in Honduras still suffering the effects of the abuses carried out in the past five months. Failure to punish those responsible and to fix the malfunctioning system would open the door for more abuses in the future.quot; br /
nbsp;br /
During its visit to Honduras, Amnesty International’s delegation documented numerous cases of human rights abuses carried out since last June, when President Manuel Zelaya was forced into exile. br /
br /
These included killings following excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests of demonstrators by police and military, indiscriminate and unnecessary use of tear gas, ill treatment of detainees in custody, violence against women, harassment of activists, journalists, lawyers and judges.nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;br /
nbsp;br /
The organization found that members of the military assigned to law enforcement duties were involved in committing serious human rights violations such as killings following excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and illegal raids. br /
nbsp; br /
Amnesty International also found that the civilian de facto authorities failed to do anything to prevent the indiscriminate use of tear gas against protesters. In some cases gas canisters were thrown inside offices. nbsp;br /
nbsp;br /
Most people interviewed said that after being injured or made ill by the gas, they were too scared to seek medical assistance as police and military entered hospitals in order to intimidate them. br /
nbsp; br /
On 23 September, Marta (not her real name) was attacked by police while she was taking part in a demonstration. She was hit with a tear gas can, which burned her leg and caused her to have breathing problems. While she was hiding from the gases in a church, police caught up with her and hit her so badly they broke her arm. She didnrsquo;t go to the hospital until several days later because she was scared the police would harass her there. Her arm still hasnrsquo;t recovered and the burn to her leg is still visible. br /
nbsp; br /
quot;We spoke to people who still had eye irritation and burns to the skin several weeks after having been affected by tear gas,quot; said Javier Zuacute;ntilde;iga. quot;Not only did police use gas against peaceful protesters and in enclosed buildings, doctors were not given information about the chemical substances used in the cans to enable them to treat victims properly.quot;nbsp; nbsp;br /
nbsp;br /
quot;The security forces’ use of tear gas raises questions about the level of training received that could have minimized the risks of serious injury or death,quot; said Javier Zuacute;ntilde;iga.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;br /
nbsp;br /
Representatives of human rights organizations, journalists, lawyers and judges told Amnesty International about the threats and harassment they received for being seen as opposed to the de facto authorities. br /
nbsp; br /
Members of a national judges association were called to a hearing to account for their participation in peaceful demonstrations. br /
nbsp; br /
quot;During the crisis, institutions in Honduras have blatantly failed to protect basic human rights,quot; said Javier Zuacute;ntilde;iga. quot;It is particularly worrying that in Honduras the conditions which enable human rights abusers to go unpunished exist.quot; br /
nbsp; br /
Amnesty International urged the future Honduran government to:br /
ul
liRepeal all legislation, decrees and executive orders issued by the de facto authorities;/li
liEnsure the military return to their barracks and that their law enforcement function is withdrawn;/li
liEnsure that all members of the security forces are held accountable for human rights abuses committed between 28th June and end of November;/li
liDevelop a National Plan for the protection of human rights./li
/ul
p
quot;It is essential that the international community does not forget people in Honduras by giving a blank cheque to the new authorities over-looking the abuses of the past five months,quot; said Javier Zuacute;ntilde;iga.
br /
br /
/p
ul
linbsp;Call on Honduras to hold security forces accountable for human rights a href=http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action/call-honduras-hold-security-forces-accountable-human-rights-abusesimg 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//aabusesnbsp;/li
/ul

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AFR/guinea-conakry-bullet-100.jpg alt= title= /br/Guinea’s security forces are continuing to arrest and harass activists and others, following a massacre during a political protest on 28 September, Amnesty International found during a recent visit to Guinea. br /
br /
Mouctar Diallo, vice-president of Guinea’s national human rights commission, was arrested on 26 November. Amnesty International discovered that Diallo is being detained in military Camp Alpha Yaya, for quot;endangering the security of the statequot;. br /
br /
The Amnesty International delegation, that returned from Guinea on Tuesday, also found cases of over 40 people who attended the rally and whose whereabouts are still unknown. This includes dead bodies that were identified in photographs and film footage taken at the stadium but were not subsequently found at any of Conakryrsquo;s hospitals, morgues, mosques or military camps including Camp Alpha Yaya Diallo. br /
br /
The whereabouts of others who attended the rally is now unknown. Amnesty International fears that they may have been killed or subjected to enforced disappearance. br /
br /
The official death toll from the protest at Conakry’s stadium is given as 58 people but human rights organizations report that at least 157 people died. br /
br /
Amnesty International has also uncovered fresh evidence about disturbing levels of sexual violence during the massacre. br /
br /
Over 30 women told Amnesty International they were raped during the events of 28 September. Medical records gathered from Conakry’s Donka hospital indicate that at least 32 female participants in the rally showed evidence of being raped. br /
br /
One woman recalled seeing her friend attacked by five members of the quot;red beretsquot; ndash; the Presidential Guard: quot;They ripped off her clothes with a bayonet, pinned her to the ground and raped her. They then fired a bullet into her vagina.quot; br /
br /
Several women interviewed by the delegation said they had been arrested by quot;red beretsquot; soldiers at the demonstration and then held for over five days, during which time they were drugged, beaten and repeatedly raped while being filmed with mobile telephones. br /
br /
quot;A climate of fear continues in Guinea. The authorities can no longer turn a blind eye to the human rights violations committed by its security forces,quot; said Gaetan Mootoo of Amnesty International. br /
br /
quot;The authorities must fully support the efforts of the UN’s International Commission of Inquiry and ensure the perpetrators of these crimes are brought to justice.quot; br /
br /
Amnesty international discovered that the security forces are also clamping down on any potential internal dissent within the military.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
The delegation learned that eight military officers have been arrested since the events of 28 September and remain in detention on Ile de Kassa, an island outside of Conakry. br /
br /
strongInternational military assistance /strongbr /
br /
Amnesty International has gathered information about international military assistance and training provided to specific units of Guinea’s regular military and security forces involved in the 28 September violence, and is concerned that such assistance may have ignored and failed to address the past human violations committed by these units. br /
br /
The assistance includes combat training provided by the government of China since at least 2006 to members of battalions within the Presidential Guard. Technical assistance in the training and organisation of up to 4000 new recruits of the Gendarmerie Nationale was also provided since 2008 by the government of France. Members of both the quot;red beretsquot; and Gendarmerie Nationale units were present at Conakry stadium on 28 September. France has suspended military cooperation with Guinea since 28 September. br /
br /
Amnesty International also saw 60 Kalashnikov-type cartridge cases gathered from Conakry stadium and two other locations in Conakry ndash; in Kosa and Ratoma – following the 28 September violence. Nearly 20 per cent of these appear to have been manufactured in 2006 and 2008, indicating recent ammunition supplies to Guinearsquo;s security forces despite repeated unlawful killings and the excessive use of force since 1998. br /
br /
quot;The 28 September massacre and its aftermath is the latest example of a decade-long record of human rights violations by the security forces.quot; said Gaetan Mootoo. quot;Governments must immediately stop any support given to the Guinea security forces that could facilitate further violations.quot; br /
br /
Amnesty International has also learned that the Guinean government has recently approached the government of Morocco for assistance in restructuring their armed forces. Any programme of security sector reform must be transparent and address impunity for past violations and operationalize human rights law. br /
br /
strongTraining camps for militia group members /strongbr /
br /
The delegation found evidence of militia groups operating alongside governments forces but outside formal military and police structures. Many demonstrators present at the stadium provided consistent accounts of the presence of significant numbers of civilian-dressed men working with the security forces, armed with knives and other weapons. br /
br /
The organisation has received information about the recruitment and training up to two thousand young men in two camps to the south-east of Conakry, as well as reports of organised gatherings and recruitment of youths in the Kaporo suburb of Conakry itself. This activity appears to have begun around August 2009 and is now being carried out partly by foreign trainers in the camps outside Conakry.

Amnesty International has expressed its concern for a Syrian political activist, held incommunicado since 15 November and believed to be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment.br /
br /
Yousef Dheeb al-Hmoud was arrested at his home in the city of Deir az-Zawr, eastern Syria. His family were unable to identify the security force that the arresting officers belonged to.br /
br /
The authorities have not revealed where Yousef Dheeb al-Hmoud is being held, why he was arrested or whether he will be charged. He had previously been summoned for questioning by Syrian security forces on several occasions, most recently by Political Security earlier this month.br /
br /
Yousef Dheeb al-Hmoud is a member of the Islamic Democratic Current, an Islamist political group which demands democratic reform in Syria and is opposed to the use of violence. It is part of the Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change (DDDNC), an unauthorized umbrella body comprising opposition groups in Syria.br /
br /
There are widespread reports of torture and other ill-treatment in Syria’s detention and interrogation centres. People suspected of affiliation to unauthorized Islamist groups are at particular risk of arbitrary detention, torture or other ill-treatment. Syrian security forces personnel generally benefit from impunity for such violations.br /
br /
Scores of people were arrested in August 2008, mostly in Deir az-Zawr, but also in the cities of Aleppo and Hama. One of those arrested, Mohammed Amin al-Shawa, died in custody in January 2009; according to Syrian human rights organizations, he died as a result of being tortured.br /
br /
At least nine others are still detained incommunicado at an unknown location. According to Syrian human rights organizations, many appear to have been arrested because the authorities interpreted their appearance and lifestyle as indications of their affiliation to unauthorized Islamist groups.br /
br /
Freedom of expression and association is strictly controlled in Syria, aided by ldquo;state of emergencyrdquo; laws which have been in force since 1964. Only the Barsquo;ath Party and some parties linked to it are officially recognized as political parties in Syria and human rights organizations are not authorized to operate.br /
br /
Peaceful critics of the Syrian authorities, members of human rights organizations and others suspected of being political opponents risk arrest, harassment and persecution.br /
br /
Twelve individuals are serving two-and-a-half-year prison sentences for their involvement in the DDDNC. The 12 were convicted by the Damascus Criminal Court on 29 October 2008 of ldquo;weakening national sentimentrdquo; and ldquo;broadcasting false or exaggerated news which could affect the morale of the countryrdquo;. They were all arrested between 9 December 2007 and 5 February 2008 and initially held incommunicado at the State Security Branch in Damascus, where at least eight of them were beaten.br /
br /
They were punched in the face, kicked and slapped and forced to sign false ldquo;confessionsrdquo;. Amnesty International said it considers them to be prisoners of conscience and has called for their immediate and unconditional release. Two of the 12, Dr Yasser al-lsquo;Eiti and Ahmad Torsquo;meh, belong to the Islamic Democratic Current.br /
br /
Amnesty International has called on the Syrian authorities to ensure that Yousef Dheeb al-Hmoud will not be tortured or otherwise ill-treated.br /
br /
The organization has urged the authorities to immediately allow him visits from his family, a lawyer of his choosing, and any appropriate medical treatment he may require.br /
br /
It has also called on the Syrian authorities to release Yousef Dheeb al-Hmoud unless he is to be charged with a recognizably criminal offence and tried promptly in proceedings which meet fair trial standards.

The Kenyan government has failed to implement a fair and credible judicial process to try those accused of carrying out human rights violations, including possible crimes against humanity, during last yearrsquo;s post-election violence, said Amnesty International. br /
br /
Amnesty International voiced its dismay at the process following a statement issued yesterday by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) that he will seek to open an investigation into post-election violence in Kenya. br /
br /
ldquo;The Kenyan government has left the ICC no option but to open an investigation by its failure to do so itself,rdquo; said Godfrey Odongo, Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s East Africa researcher. br /
br /
ldquo;Kenya has failed to define the crimes against humanity committed by members of all parties during the elections last year as crimes under national law. By doing so, it has opened the door to an ICC investigation and prosecution.rdquo; br /
br /
Kenya enacted the International Criminal Court Act, 2008, defining crimes against humanity and other crimes under international law as crimes under Kenyan law, but only if committed after January 2009. br /
br /
That law also provides for cooperation with the ICC, but permits the Attorney General, a political official, broad discretion to refuse to cooperate with the Court. br /
br /
ldquo;Kenya seems unwilling and unable to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the violence, particularly those at the highest level in political parties and in the government,rdquo; said Godfrey Odongo. br /
br /
The country has failed to amend the Constitution to permit the establishment of a special court that could try some of those suspected of responsibility for possible crimes against humanity during the elections last year. br /
br /
The ICC has only a limited capacity to investigate and try persons suspected of crimes against humanity, and Kenya has a duty to ensure effective prosecution at the national level to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes. br /
br /
Following the enactment of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Act, 2008, there is now a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) in place and the TJRC has indicated it will start hearings by mid next year. br /
br /
However to date there is no clear government policy on how any local judicial processes to try persons suspected of crimes committed during the violence would be complementary to the ICC process and the ongoing truth, justice and reconciliation process. br /
br /
ldquo;A Justice, Truth and Reconciliation Commission can begin to establish the truth about what happened during the terrible weeks following the election ndash; but it cannot determine guilt or innocence of those accused, which remains an obligation of the Kenyan judiciary,rdquo; said Godfrey Odongo.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/egypt-abuomar-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/The convictions of US and Italian intelligence agents for their involvement in the abduction of Usama Mostafa Hassan Nasr (better known as Abu Omar) mark a step toward accountability for crimes committed in the course of the USArsquo;s ldquo;renditionrdquo; programme, said Amnesty International on Thursday. br /
br /
ldquo;The simple truth of this case is that a man was kidnapped in broad daylight, and thennbsp; illegally transferred to Egypt where he reported being tortured,rdquo; said Julia Hall, Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s expert on counter-terrorism in Europe. br /
br /
ldquo;Such acts can not and should not go unpunished and the agents responsible must be held accountable for the fact that they were complicit in a number of other serious crimes, including enforced disappearance and torture committed against Abu Omar.rdquo;nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
The Milan prosecutors had issued arrest warrants for the US defendants in 2005 and 2006, but successive Italian Justice Ministers refused to transmit them to the US government. br /
br /
ldquo;The prosecutors did everything in their power to ensure that the US agents appeared in court,rdquo; said Julia Hall. br /
br /
ldquo;By refusing to forward the extradition requests to the USA, the Italian government dealt a serious blow to the fairness of the proceedings.rdquo; br /
br /
None of the US citizens who were convicted appeared in court. Although Italian law allows for trials in absentia, international law requires that a person be present at his trial to hear the full prosecution case, put forward a defence, challenge the evidence and examine witnesses. If they are apprehended in future, the US nationals convicted in absentia, are entitled to a new trial before a different court and to the presumption of innocence in that new trial. br /
nbsp; br /
ldquo;The Bush administration erected a wall of silence, refusing to acknowledge the Abu Omar case or the role its own intelligence agents played in it,rdquo; said Julia Hall. br /
br /
ldquo;It is time for the Obama administration to right that wrong. The US government should not offer safe haven to any person suspected of involvement in enforced disappearance or torture.rdquo; br /
br /
Amnesty International has called on the USA to initiate an independent and impartial criminal investigation into Abu Omarrsquo;s abduction, enforced disappearance and torture and to prosecute those CIA agents and military officials suspected of involvement in those crimes. The Italian government should cooperate in full with any state seeking to investigate and prosecute persons alleged to have been involved in Abu Omarrsquo;s abduction and rendition.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
The Egyptian authorities must also thoroughly investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the enforced disappearance and torture of Abu Omar in Egypt. br /
br /
The Milan court provisionally awarded Abu Omar one million euros and his wife, Nabila Ghali, 500,000 euros for the abuse and injustice they suffered.nbsp; The Court referred the compensation issue to a civil court for further consideration.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
ldquo;Victims of enforced disappearance and torture have a right to justice, truth and full reparations,rdquo; said Julia Hall. br /
br /
ldquo;The Italian court awarded monetary compensation to Abu Omar and his family for Italyrsquo;s role in their abuse and suffering, and now the US and Egyptian governments should follow suit.rdquo; br /
br /
strongBackground /strongbr /
Those convicted included 22 US agents or officials of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and one US military officer. Three other US nationals, including the then CIA station chief in Rome, were granted diplomatic immunity and the cases against them were dismissed.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
Two Italian military intelligence agents (of the then-called Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare or SISMI) were also convicted, and sentenced to three years. The cases against the former head of SISMI, Nicolograve; Pollari and his deputy, Marco Mancini, were dismissed based on ldquo;state secretsrdquo; privilege, as were the cases of three other Italians. br /
br /
The accused were prosecuted for their involvement in the February 2003 abduction of Abu Omar, who was forcibly disappeared from a Milan street and flown via Germany to Egypt, where he was secretly detained for 14 months and allegedly tortured.nbsp; Those convicted were charged only with involvement in Abu Omarrsquo;s abduction, not for his enforced disappearance or torture.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/egypt-abuomar-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/The convictions of US and Italian intelligence agents for their involvement in the abduction of Usama Mostafa Hassan Nasr (better known as Abu Omar) mark a step toward accountability for crimes committed in the course of the USArsquo;s ldquo;renditionrdquo; programme, said Amnesty International on Thursday. br /
br /
ldquo;The simple truth of this case is that a man was kidnapped in broad daylight, and thennbsp; illegally transferred to Egypt where he reported being tortured,rdquo; said Julia Hall, Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s expert on counter-terrorism in Europe. br /
br /
ldquo;Such acts can not and should not go unpunished and the agents responsible must be held accountable for the fact that they were complicit in a number of other serious crimes, including enforced disappearance and torture committed against Abu Omar.rdquo;nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
The Milan prosecutors had issued arrest warrants for the US defendants in 2005 and 2006, but successive Italian Justice Ministers refused to transmit them to the US government. br /
br /
ldquo;The prosecutors did everything in their power to ensure that the US agents appeared in court,rdquo; said Julia Hall. br /
br /
ldquo;By refusing to forward the extradition requests to the USA, the Italian government dealt a serious blow to the fairness of the proceedings.rdquo; br /
br /
None of the US citizens who were convicted appeared in court. Although Italian law allows for trials in absentia, international law requires that a person be present at his trial to hear the full prosecution case, put forward a defence, challenge the evidence and examine witnesses. If they are apprehended in future, the US nationals convicted in absentia, are entitled to a new trial before a different court and to the presumption of innocence in that new trial. br /
nbsp; br /
ldquo;The Bush administration erected a wall of silence, refusing to acknowledge the Abu Omar case or the role its own intelligence agents played in it,rdquo; said Julia Hall. br /
br /
ldquo;It is time for the Obama administration to right that wrong. The US government should not offer safe haven to any person suspected of involvement in enforced disappearance or torture.rdquo; br /
br /
Amnesty International has called on the USA to initiate an independent and impartial criminal investigation into Abu Omarrsquo;s abduction, enforced disappearance and torture and to prosecute those CIA agents and military officials suspected of involvement in those crimes. The Italian government should cooperate in full with any state seeking to investigate and prosecute persons alleged to have been involved in Abu Omarrsquo;s abduction and rendition.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
The Egyptian authorities must also thoroughly investigate and bring to justice those responsible for the enforced disappearance and torture of Abu Omar in Egypt. br /
br /
The Milan court provisionally awarded Abu Omar one million euros and his wife, Nabila Ghali, 500,000 euros for the abuse and injustice they suffered.nbsp; The Court referred the compensation issue to a civil court for further consideration.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
ldquo;Victims of enforced disappearance and torture have a right to justice, truth and full reparations,rdquo; said Julia Hall. br /
br /
ldquo;The Italian court awarded monetary compensation to Abu Omar and his family for Italyrsquo;s role in their abuse and suffering, and now the US and Egyptian governments should follow suit.rdquo; br /
br /
strongBackground /strongbr /
Those convicted included 22 US agents or officials of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and one US military officer. Three other US nationals, including the then CIA station chief in Rome, were granted diplomatic immunity and the cases against them were dismissed.nbsp; nbsp;br /
br /
Two Italian military intelligence agents (of the then-called Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare or SISMI) were also convicted, and sentenced to three years. The cases against the former head of SISMI, Nicolograve; Pollari and his deputy, Marco Mancini, were dismissed based on ldquo;state secretsrdquo; privilege, as were the cases of three other Italians. br /
br /
The accused were prosecuted for their involvement in the February 2003 abduction of Abu Omar, who was forcibly disappeared from a Milan street and flown via Germany to Egypt, where he was secretly detained for 14 months and allegedly tortured.nbsp; Those convicted were charged only with involvement in Abu Omarrsquo;s abduction, not for his enforced disappearance or torture.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/AFR/zimbabwe-mugabe-100.jpg alt= title= /br/Amnesty International warned on Wednesday that Zimbabwe is on the brink of sliding back into the post-election violence that marred the country last year, risking undermining the stability brought about by the creation of the unity government in February. br /
br /
The organization called on Southern African Development Community (SADC) foreign ministers, visiting Zimbabwe on Thursday to assess the eight month-old unity government, not to ignore the worsening human rights situation. br /
br /
In recent weeks, there have been several arrests of civil society leaders and reports of harassment and intimidation of political opponents by ZANU-PF supporters in rural areas. In particular, Amnesty International has received reports of increased threats of violence in Mashonaland East and Central provinces against known supporters of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. br /
br /
On 25 October, Cephas Zinhumwe, Executive Director of the National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO), and Dadirai Chikwengo, NANGO board chairperson, were both arrested by police in Victoria Falls after NANGO convened a workshop for NGO directors. br /
br /
ldquo;Dozens of human rights and MDC activists are on trial for simply exercising their internationally recognized rights, including the rights to freedom of association, peaceful assembly and expression. Some of these people were victims of enforced disappearance in 2008,rdquo; said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty Internationalrsquo;s Africa Programme br /
br /
Amnesty International urged the SADC ministers to rethink the role of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), created under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) establishing the unity government, to ensure the implementation of the agreement, including its human rights aspects. br /
br /
ldquo;JOMIC is ineffective and has fallen victim to political polarisation. It is very weak and is solely dependent on the good will of the feuding parties ndash; a recipe for disaster,rdquo; said Erwin van der Borght. br /
br /
Amnesty International also challenged the SADC and the African Union (AU) to tackle human rights violations by government bodies under the control of ZANU-PF. br /
br /
ldquo;Some elements in the unity government continue to persecute perceived political opponents through unlawful arrests and malicious prosecutions. This is fuelling tension in the unity government and increasing fear amongst the people,rdquo; said Erwin van der Borght. br /
br /
ldquo;SADC needs to recognize this recent deterioration in the human rights situation and tackle it immediately ndash; before it degenerates further.rdquo; br /
br /
The organization said that central to addressing the crisis in Zimbabwe was the need to rein in the countryrsquo;s security agencies and end the culture of impunity for human rights violations. Amnesty International called on the Zimbabwean government to implement institutional reforms, including reforming the countryrsquo;s security agencies to ensure that they respect and protect human rights of all people in Zimbabwe. br /

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ECA/russia-natalia-estemirova-100.jpg alt= title= /br/The information that came to light during a trial initiated by Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov against human rights activist Oleg Orlov has served to highlight the dangers faced by human rights activists working on Chechnya, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.br /
br /
quot;The failure of the authorities to respect the work of independent human rights organizations and to recognize human rights organizations as an integral part of a functioning society has placed the lives of human rights activists at risk and has created a climate of fear,quot; said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.br /
br /
A district court in Moscow on Tuesday found in favour of President Kadyrov’s libel suit against Oleg P Orlov, head of the human rights group Memorial. Oleg Orlov had made a statement accusing Ramzan Kadyrov of quot;being responsiblequot; for the murder of Chechen human rights worker Natalia Estemirova in July. In the statement published on Memorialrsquo;s website on 15 July, the day of Natalia Estemirovarsquo;s killing, Oleg Orlov said: quot;We donrsquo;t know whether he [Kadyrov] gave the order himself or this was done by his aides to please their boss.quot;br /
br /
Oleg Orlov and Memorialnbsp; were ordered to pay damages to President Kadyrov and to publish a retraction on the Memorial website.br /
br /
The witness statements made during the trial reiterated concerns raised by Amnesty International and other human rights NGOs that the Russian authorities were not doing enough to stop harassment of and the violent attacks against human rights activists in Russia and the North Caucasus.br /
br /
The bodies of human rights activist Zarema Sadulayeva and her husband, Alik (Umar) Dzhabrailov were found in the boot of a car in August in the Chechen capital Grozny. They had both been shot.br /
br /
Their murders followed the killing of Natalia Estemirova, one of the leading members of Memorial, on 15 July. She was abducted in Grozny on her way to work. Her body with gunshot wounds was found on the same day in the neighbouring republic of Ingushetia.br /
br /
Natalia Estemirova’s work was crucial in documenting human rights violations in the region, such as torture and other ill-treatment, unlawful killings and enforced disappearances, since the start of the second Chechnya war in 2000. She also devoted herself to providing assistance to displaced people and other socially disadvantaged groups.br /
br /
Human rights lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were killed on 19 January in the centre of Moscow in the broad daylight.br /
br /
Both Natalia Estemirova and Stanislav Markelov were close friends of journalist and human rights activist Anna Politkovskaya, who herself was murdered on 7 October 2006 in Moscow. She had faced intimidation and harassment from the Russian authorities, including the authorities in Chechnya, due to her outspoken criticism of government policy and action.br /
br /
After Anna Politkovskaya began writing about the armed conflict in Chechnya and the North Caucasus in 1999, she was detained and threatened with serious reprisals, including death threats, on several occasions.br /
br /
To commemorate the third anniversary of the Anna Politkovskaya’s death actions are taking place in cities across Europe — Moscow, St. Petersburgh, London, Paris.br /
br /
quot;Given the failure to date to bring perpetrators of the murder of Anna Politkovskaya to justice, it is imperative for the credibility of the Russian authorities’ commitmentnbsp; to their international obligations to ensure that the investigations into the killings of human rights activists will be thorough and impartial,quot; said Nicola Duckworth.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/MENA/yemen-al-maqalih-100.jpg alt= title= /br/The family of a Yemeni journalist believed to have been detained by the government has demanded his release, Amnesty International has been told.br /
br /
Both the family of Muhammad al-Maqalih and human rights activists believe that he is being held by National Security officials as a result of his strong opposition and criticism of the government over the armed clashes in Sa’da, in the north of the country.br /
br /
The journalist, a 49-year-old father of seven children, was abducted from a street in the Yemeni capital Sana’a on 17 September by a group of men in an unmarked white van. There has been no news of him since.br /
br /
Muhammad al-Maqalih’s family have staged three sit-in protests outside the President’s office over the last two weeks, which have been attended by both journalists and the general public.br /
br /
quot;Provisionally we want the authorities to inform us of his whereabouts and allow us to see him and see how he is,quot; Bilal al-Maqilah, Muhammad al-Maqalih’s son told Amnesty International.br /
br /
quot;Our ultimate demand is that he is released.quot;br /
br /
Muhammad al-Maqalih’s family have made requests to both the Minister of the Interior and the Attorney General for information on their father’s whereabouts. Bilal told Amnesty International that the Attorney General subsequently wrote a letter to the Head of Political Security asking him to clarify Muhammad al-Maqalih’s place of detention.br /
br /
quot;We regarded this as indication that the Attorney General is of the view that my father is detained by the Political Security,quot; he said.br /
br /
Critics and opponents of the state in Yemen are often at risk of arrest and detention, particularly at times of political crises.br /
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Yemen’s Sa’da region, whose inhabitants are predominantly members of Yemen’s Zaidi Sh’ia minority, has experienced several periods of conflict in recent years. There have been recurrent armed clashes between government security forces and followers of the late Zaidi Shi’ia cleric, Hussein al-Houthi, who was killed in 2004.br /
br /
The latest upsurge in violence began in mid-August, when the area was placed under a virtual state of emergency and government forces mounted an escalating series of attacks.br /
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Muhammad al-Maqalih, who was the editor of al-Ishtraki, a Web site affiliated with the opposition Socialist Party, had been reporting on the conflict.br /
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quot;We believe he was detained because of the concerns he expressed in relation to sensitive issueshellip;such as Sa’da,quot; Bilal al-Maqilah said.br /
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quot;He was outspoken and raised his concerns in different forums. We are suffering mentally, we are in anguish about where he is, how he spends his day, whether he is subjectednbsp; to torture or humiliation. This fills us with a deep feeling of injustice.quot;

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ASA/china-xiaobo-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Chinese authorities have increased surveillance, harassment and imprisonment of activists ahead of the countryrsquo;s 60th anniversary on Thursday, Amnesty International has said.br /
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The organization estimates that several hundred activists and dissidents are under various kinds of surveillance or house arrest and thousands of petitioners are being swept out of Beijing.br /
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quot;The Chinese government wants to celebrate the country’s success while ensuring that no dissenting view or complaint is heard,quot; said Roseann Rife, director of Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific programme.br /
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quot;As a result, what the Chinese government is highlighting is its own fear of giving the Chinese people a real voice to talk about the reality of their lives, good and bad.quot;br /
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Petitioners seek justice directly by presenting their cases to central authorities in Beijing after failing to redress their grievances locally.br /
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The crackdown is to prevent activists from raising human rights concerns that challenge the authorities’ image of social harmony, Amnesty International said.br /
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The organization has continued to receive reports that many are being kept in ldquo;black jailsrdquo; and other informal detention facilities outside Beijing.br /
nbsp;br /
In the past few weeks, the authorities have also increased their surveillance of petitioners, human rights activists, religious practitioners and ethnic minorities. br /
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This is being done to ensure that they do not raise human rights issues and complaints in any forums during the National Day celebrations. br /
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Chinese media reported on 25 September that local authorities were told by the central government departments that manage petitioners – the State Bureau for Letters and Visits and the Public Security Bureau – that they should review their records and keep anyone who has filed a petition under local surveillance during this time period. br /
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Beijing authorities regularly forcibly return petitioners to their hometowns before major events or celebrations as they believe petitioners would reflect badly on the country’s international public image. br /
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ldquo;We call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally lift all restrictions on human rights activists and release all prisoners of conscience across the country,rdquo; said Roseann Rife.br /
br /
Amnesty International recently recorded the following incidents:br /
ul
liZeng Jinyan, wife of imprisoned human rights activists Hu Jia, was asked by authorities to leave Beijing on 25 September and not to return until after 10 October. Zeng Jinyan has been under tight surveillance since her husband was imprisoned in April 2008, effectively halting much of the couplersquo;s human rights work./li
liOn 23 September, police informed the lawyer of detained human rights activist Liu Xiaobo that his client had to remain in detention for further investigation of suspicion of quot;inciting subversion of state powerquot;. Liu Xiaobo was seized from his home in Beijing by the police on 8 December 2008, two days before he was due to launch Charter 08, a blueprint for legal and political reform in China./li
liIn mid September, several Beijing activists were forced to leave the city. Those included former political prisoner and China Democratic Party member Gao Hongming, housing rights activist Wang Ling, who was sent to Re-education Through Labour during the 2008 Olympics, and pro-democracy activist Qi Zhiyong who was left disabled from a gunshot injury during the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown. /li
liSince 22 September, Tian Qizhuang, a director of the Open Constitution Initiative (OCI), has not been seen by his family. On 24 September, he called his son explaining he is under police surveillance and asking him to prepare some clothes for him. OCI Founder Xu Zhiyong remains under surveillance and the organizationrsquo;s finance secretary Zhuang Lu has had only limited contact with her immediate family since her release on 23 August./li
/ul

A detainee was seriously injured and had to be hospitalized as a clash broke out between the Sri Lankan Army (SLA) and detainees being held at a school in Vavuniya in north-eastern Sri Lanka on Tuesday.br /
br /
The detainee, Sri Chandramorgan from Kanahapuram, Kilinochchi, was initially reported to have been killed by the army when he tried to escape from the Poonthotham Teachers Training College, which serves as an unofficial detention centre. The rumour sparked unrest in the camp and the road to the facility was closed by authorities.br /
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ldquo;The danger of serious human rights violations, including torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings increases substantially when detainees are held in locations that are not officially acknowledged places of detention and lack proper legal procedures and safeguardsrdquo;, said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Director.br /
br /
Detention centres such as the Poonthotham Teachers Training College are irregular places of detention. Since May 2009, an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 individuals suspected of ties to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE or Tamil Tigers) have been detained in irregular detention facilities operated by the Sri Lankan security forces and affiliated paramilitary groups. nbsp;br /
br /
Several such groups are active in Vavuniya and have been implicated in human rights violations, including Peoplersquo;s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Eelam Peoplersquo;s Democratic Party (EPDP) and both factions of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP). br /
br /
On 25 May, just a week after the Sri Lankan government declared victory over the Tamil Tigers, Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka announced that 9,000 Tamil Tigers cadres had surrendered to the army. br /
br /
Since then, there have been regular reports of arrests. Some have been officially acknowledged and reported in the Sri Lankan press and others reported by relatives of detainees in displacement camps. nbsp;br /
br /
Many of these detainees are being held incommunicado, meaning they have not had access to family members or legal counsel and have not appeared in court. nbsp;br /
br /
Amnesty International has confirmed the location of at least 10 such facilities in school buildings and hostels originally designated as displacement camps in the north. There have also been frequent reports of other unofficial places of detention elsewhere in the country. br /
br /
The International Committee of the Red Cross has no access to these detainees and there is no transparency about their registration and treatment. br /
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Incommunicado detention of suspects in irregular places of detention (i.e. places other than police stations, officially designated detention centres or prisons) has been a persistent practice in Sri Lanka associated with torture, killings and enforced disappearances. br /
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Amnesty International has called on the Sri Lankan government to ensure that the screening process for suspected combatants is carried out in ways that guarantee the human rights and dignity of all those involved. br /
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Arrangements should be made for independent monitoring of screening processes. Tamil Tigers suspects must be held only in recognised places of detention and be brought before a judicial authority without delay after being taken into custody.

img src=http://www.amnesty.org/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/imagecache/previewsize/sites/impact.amnesty.org/files/PUBLIC/Regions/ECA/spain-detention-100×100.jpg alt= title= /br/Spain must end the practice of incommunicado detention as it violates the rights of people deprived of their liberty, said Amnesty International in a report published on Tuesday.br /
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quot;It is inadmissible that in present day Spain anyone who is arrested for whatever reason should disappear as if in a black hole for days on end. Such lack of transparency can be used as a veil to hide human rights violations,quot; said Nicola Duckworth, Europe and Central Asia Programme Director.br /
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In its report, emstrongOut of the shadows: End incommunicado detention in Spain/strong/em, Amnesty International illustrates how Spain has one of the strictest detention regimes in Europe which is in breach of the country’s obligations under international human rights law.br /
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Spain’s law of criminal procedure allows for a detainee to be held incommunicado for up to five days in all cases and for up to 13 days if suspected of terrorism-related offences. The 13-day period consists of up to five days of incommunicado detention in police custody, which can be extended by a further five days incommunicado in preventive imprisonment. An additional three days of incommunicado detention may be imposed by a judge at any time during the investigation.br /
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quot;While held incommunicado, detainees cannot talk to a lawyer or a doctor of their choice. Their families live in stress not knowing what has happened to them and many detainees held incommunicado report that they have been tortured or ill-treated, but such allegations are rarely investigated,quot; Nicola Duckworth said.br /
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quot;Incommunicado detention denies detainees the right to fair trial. Such detention in itself may constitute cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. It does not comply with international human rights standards.quot;br /
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International organizations have repeatedly expressed concern about the risk of torture and other ill-treament during incommunicado detention. Such is the case of Mohamed Mrabet Fahsi who was arrested on terrorism-related charges on 10 January 2006 in his home near the city of Barcelona. During his detention incommunicado he was not able to call his own lawyer. Mohammed Fahsi told Amnesty International that he was tortured and ill-treated but both the doctor who examined him and the investigative judge ignored his complaints.br /
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The Spanish government has justified the use of incommunicado detention on grounds of national security and public safety.br /
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quot;Incommunicado detention must be relegated to the past. No other European Union country maintains a detention regime with such severe restrictions on the rights of detainees,quot; Nicola Duckworth said.br /
br /
Amnesty International has called on the Spanish authorities to:br /
ul
liScrap legislation allowing incommunicado detention;/li
liAllow all detainees to speak in confidence with a lawyer without police officers present;/li
liAllow all detainees to have a lawyer of their choice who will be present during questioning;/li
liAllow all detainees to be examined by a doctor of their choice;/li
liAllow all detainees to have their families notified of their detention and location;/li
liMake compulsory in all cases the video and audio recording at places where detainees may be present, except where this may violate their right to private consultations with their lawyer or doctor;/li
liInvestigate promptly, thoroughly and impartially all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment made by detainees./li
/ul

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/Only a fraction of nearly 300,000 people who were displaced by recent fighting in the north east of Sri Lanka have been allowed to leave government camps since the war ended in May. More than a quarter of a million people remain detained and under military guard in crowded, unsanitary conditions that are still far below international standards. br /
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The government finally agreed on Tuesday to allow displaced people wishing to leave the camps to stay with relatives who were willing to accommodate them, but families of the displaced told Amnesty International they had not been consulted by the government about the process for leaving and were sceptical of the governmentrsquo;s screening process. br /
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Monsoon rains due in October threaten to swamp tents and flood latrines. Pre-monsoon rains have already flooded some camps and forced people to relocate within the camps. However, the government of Sri Lanka, citing varying security concerns, has continued to prevent people from leaving.br /
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quot;If the government follows through on its promise, it could considerably reduce overcrowding,quot; said Yolanda Foster of Amnesty International. quot;The next hurdle these people face is the bureaucracy associated with the governmentrsquo;s lsquo;screeningrsquo; process, which is intended to weed out members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam it says are still hiding within the civilian camp population.quot; br /
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One family member of the displaced held at Manik Farm reacted with caution to the announcement. quot;The government has made many promises… we cannot be certain that our relatives will be offered a chance to leave, they will probably get caught up in unnecessary red tape and delays.quot;br /
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Nobody but the authorities really knows how the screening works or what criteria they use to determine if someone is a security threat ndash; all that is known is that it takes time. By the end of August, the government said that it had registered about half of the newly displaced people. This means that there must be about 130,000 to go.br /
br /
The government has also said that it has detained about 10,000 people suspected of ties to the Tamil Tigers ndash; the real numbers could be higher. These detainees are held without charge or trial, in what are described by the government as quot;rehabilitation campsquot;. Their whereabouts and conditions of detention in many cases are unknown. br /
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The International Red Cross (ICRC) said Friday that it is being denied access to these detainees. Incommunicado detention has been shown to greatly increase the risk of torture and extrajudicial killing. There is a long history of both in Sri Lanka.br /
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Cabinet Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon in early September that the government would re-settle displaced people in the North as soon as the de-mining process was completed and infrastructure and basic services were restored. However, true reconstruction and resettlement of areas devastated by war could take many months. nbsp;br /
br /
Playing with Wordsbr /
quot;’Resettlement’, ‘return’ and ‘release’ are terms that are often used interchangeably to discuss the fate of Sri Lankarsquo;s displaced people,quot; according to Yolanda Foster. quot;Resettlement and lsquo;returnrsquo; imply durable solutions to the problem of displacement. ‘Release’ simply means people are free to go.quot; nbsp;br /
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quot;As an immediate matter, the government should allow freedom of movement for all the displaced, even if durable solutions such as resettlement take longer. All Sri Lankan citizens have a right to liberty and freedom of movement, regardless of where they reside. br /
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quot;In the case of displaced people, this means both choosing long-term accommodations and more temporary arrangements, such as staying with family members or friends. If they choose to remain in the camps for want of a better alternative, displaced people should also be at liberty to come and go.quot;br /
br /
Durable solutions to Sri Lankarsquo;s massive displacement problem will not happen overnight. De-mining, where necessary, is time consuming, costly and difficult; rebuilding infrastructure takes time. When displaced civilians are freed from camps and allowed to return to their home areas, they may well have to live in temporary accommodations for a long time while they rebuild their lives.br /
br /
Judging from earlier efforts to find durable solutions for displaced civilians in Sri Lanka ndash; including people displaced by natural disasters outside the conflict zone ndash; it could be years before many of them are effectively quot;settled.quot; br /
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Controversy continues over discrepancies in the official count of people in the camps. A report from the Vavuniya District Secretary (the highest ranking local official in the area) to local police stated that as many as 10,000 displaced people who fled the conflict zone through May 2009 were unaccounted for. br /
br /
This discrepancy may be due to several factors: bad record keeping; some detainees escaping the camps by bribing officials; and, of most concern, the unknown fate of thousands of displaced people, many of them suspected of being LTTE cadres, in the custody of Sri Lankan authorities. Enforced disappearances have been reported by families in the camps. br /
br /
The governmentrsquo;s ban on most international protection activities remains in place. Humanitarian workers are not allowed to talk to camp inmates or to enter tents in the camps. nbsp;br /
br /
quot;Without independent monitoring of the human rights situation in the camps and unimpeded human rights protection activities by humanitarian agencies, it is difficult verify these reports,quot; said Yolanda Foster. br /
br /
quot;A transparent, independently monitored screening and registration process would provide a more accurate count of the number of people detained in the camps, would help facilitatenbsp; family reunification and releases, and could help identify the whereabouts of people who may have been have arrested.quot;