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President of Burkina Faso commits to lifting financial barriers to maternal health in a meeting with Amnesty International

aron — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:10:31 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Indigenous Mexican women framed over kidnapping are prisoners of conscience

aron — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 12:03:56 +0000

Amnesty International on Friday accused the Mexican government of unfairly imprisoning two indigenous women for the kidnapping of six police officers in 2006 and demanded their immediate release.

The two women, who were sentenced to 21 years in prison, are awaiting the outcome of their retrial. Amnesty International has adopted them as "prisoners of conscience".

Alberta Alcántara and Teresa González Cornelio have been held in the Centro de Readaptación de San José El Alto prison since August 2006. In January 2009 they were convicted of kidnapping six agents of the Mexican Federal Investigation Agency (AFI).

The agents claim they were held hostage by the women and other market stall holders during a raid on pirate DVD vendors on Santiago Mexquititlán square in March 2006. The only evidence against them is a photograph published in a newspaper in which Alberta and Teresa are standing next to the AFI agents.

"There is absolutely no credible evidence against Alberta and Teresa," said Rupert Knox, Mexico Researcher at Amnesty International. "We believe they have been framed as a convenient target because of their marginal status in society as poor indigenous women."

Alberta and Teresa were originally detained and charged together with market stall holder Jacinta Francisco Marcial, who was released in September 2009. In her case, Mexico's Federal Attorney General's Office decided to drop the case during the retrial because of lack of evidence.

However, despite a similar lack of evidence, the same office decided to continue to press charges against Teresa and Alberta and seek their reconviction. The final hearing of the women's retrial was held on 3 February 2010. The judge now has 30 days to issue a new sentence.

"The case is emblematic of the discrimination and unfair trials that many indigenous people face in Mexico's criminal justice system," said Rupert Knox. "The Mexican government must release them both immediately and without conditions. Reparations must also be awarded."

Alberta is from Santiago Mexquititlán, Municipio de Amealco de Bonfil, Querétaro. She is 31 years old. Before her detention she worked in a clothes factory and on a small plot of land owned by her family. She also made rag dolls to supplement the family income. She left school aged 13 to start work.

Teresa was born in San Francisco Shaxni, Municipio de Acambay, Mexico state. She is 25 years old. Before her detention she worked on the family land and made rag dolls. She is married to Alberta's brother Gabriel. She gave birth to Jasmin, now 11 months old, while she was in prison.

On 26 March 2006, six police officers filed a complaint with the Attorney Federal alleging they had been kidnapped by locals during a market raid earlier in the day in Santiago Mexquititlán.

Four months later, the Attorney Federal ordered the arrest of three indigenous women whose faces appeared next to the police officers in a photo in a local paper. The women did not have access to an interpreter during judicial proceedings and their state appointed public defender never explained their rights or defence.

During the cross examination, the police officers contradicted each other and their main witness failed to ever appear before the court.

Гаити 'S вызовом правам человека

aron — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:36:50 +0000

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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