Iraq: human rights abuses against Palestinian refugees
This report examines the precarious situation of Palestinian refugees in Iraq. It includes a historical background of this refugee community, descriptions of the serious human rights abuses being committed against them, the appalling conditions in the camps near the Iraq/Syria border, particularly al-Waleed and al-Tanf camps, and Amnesty International’s recommendations for protecting Palestinian refugees.

Many Palestinians living in Iraq have fled their homes, mostly in Baghdad, after receiving written threats warning them to leave the country or face death. Some are in hiding inside Iraq; others are stranded in makeshift camps near the Iraq/Syria border with no apparent solution to their plight. Some Palestinians have been arrested and detained by Iraqi security forces or by the Multi-National Force (MNF) on suspicion of involvement in insurgency activities or links with Sunni insurgents. Most of those arrested have been released without charge, but many say they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention.

Palestinian refugees have been targeted by armed militia groups affiliated to Shi’a religious parties because of their ethnicity and because they are reputed to have received preferential treatment under the former Ba’ath government headed by Saddam Hussain.

The 15,000 or so Palestinians who are still in Iraq, including those in camps near the border with Syria, are in legal limbo. They are recognized as refugees by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). However, few countries in the region or beyond are willing to accept them for resettlement. So far, the Iraqi government and the MNF have failed to provide them with adequate protection.

Millions in Flight: The Iraqi Refugee Crisis
More than four years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, stability and peace remain out of reach for the people of Iraq. The increasingly desperate humanitarian situation of Iraqis who have been displaced inside and outside their country has been largely ignored by the rest of the world, including states whose military involvement in Iraq has played a part in creating the situation from which millions of people have fled. Governments have paid lip-service to the needs of the Iraqi displaced, but real and on-going commitment to support them has not emerged to anything like the extent necessary to address this dire and deepening crisis.

This briefing summarizes the findings of Amnesty International’s analysis of the response by the international community, focusing on a number of selected states. It also provides information on the situation in Syria and Jordan, the main host countries for Iraqi refugees. It includes recommendations addressed to the members of the international community that have a responsibility to respond to this crisis, highlighting the need to live up to their burden and responsibility sharing obligations and ease the strain on the countries currently bearing the weight of the crisis.

The law of the land: Amnesty International Canada’s position on the conflict over logging at Grassy Narrows
This briefing paper is informed by a research mission to Grassy Narrows in April 2007 that involved representatives of Amnesty International Canada and the global movement of Amnesty International, as well as independent experts on Indigenous rights issues. The people of the Asubpeeshoseewagong Netum Anishinaabek (Grassy Narrows First Nation) in northwestern Ontario have said no to industrial development in their traditional territory. For more than a decade, the Band Council, individual trappers and others in the community have written to the federal and provincial governments and to the forestry companies operating in their territory to denounce clear-cut logging as incompatible with traditional ways of life. Canadian courts have affirmed that any decisions with the potential to impact on the rights and interests of Indigenous peoples require the involvement of the affected people. In every instance, there is a minimum legal duty to carry out prior consultation with the sincere intent of accommodating Indigenous concerns. In releasing these preliminary findings, Amnesty International Canada is renewing its call for the Government of Ontario to respect the moratorium declared by the people of Grassy Narrows and to halt all clearcut logging and other industrial development in the traditional territory until free, prior and informed consent has been given.

Persecution and Resistance: The Experience of Human Rights Defenders in Honduras and Guatemala
Human rights defenders are crucial actors of our time. They are at the forefront of the struggle for civil, political, social and economic rights – a position which often puts them at particular risk of attacks and intimidation. In Central America, Amnesty International has documented attacks and threats against human rights defenders working to promote and protect a wide range of rights, some of whose cases are highlighted in this report. They represent some of the most marginalized civil society groups – from Indigenous peoples to members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, and women’s groups.

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Mexico: Oaxaca – clamour for justice
In June 2006 widespread protests demanding the resignation of the State Governor erupted in Oaxaca State. For several months Oaxaca City was brought to a standstill. The political turmoil lasted into 2007 and provoked a prolonged public security crisis. Most protests were peaceful. However, there were many violent clashes between sections of the opposition movement, the security forces and supporters of the local state government. At least 18 people were killed in circumstances that have yet to be clarified and many others were seriously injured. The majority of those killed were demonstrators, but at least two were opposed to the protest movement. The disturbances also resulted in significant damage to people’s livelihoods and property.

This report focuses on some of the serious human ights violations reported during the crisis, such as excessive use of force (including lethal force), arbitrary and incommunicado detention, ill-treatment and torture, threats, harassment of human rights defenders and journalists, and violations in due process and the right to fair trial. Municipal, state and federal police reportedly committed the majority of these abuses. In several cases uniformed police or groups of armed men operating in apparent coordination with the security forces were also responsible.

Zimbabwe: Between a rock and a hard place – women human rights defenders at risk
The human rights situation in Zimbabwe has been deteriorating rapidly since 2000. Human rights violations are taking place in a context characterised by a fast-shrinking economy that is being accelerated by government policies. Those policies, particularly on land reform and forced evictions, have contributed significantly to reducing the entire population’s capacity to obtain access to their rights to food, health, education and housing. Zimbabwean women, who are active in dedicated women’s rights organizations and in other human rights organizations, are mobilising to confront the government in response to the violation of economic and social rights. They are demanding respect for and protection of their own human rights and the rights of members of their communities.

This report focuses on the circumstances of women human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. It explores their motivations and objectives. It documents human rights violations experienced by women human rights defenders, and the tools of repression used by the government to crush dissent. The report also looks at the government of Zimbabwe’s obligations under regional and international human rights treaties, and makes recommendations to the government of Zimbabwe, the Southern Africa Development Community and the international community, particularly the African Union.

Indian helicopters for Myanmar: making a mockery of the EU arms embargo?
EU non-governmental organisations are concerned at reports from credible sources that the Government of India may transfer military helicopters to the Government of Myanmar (Burma) as part of the two countries’ increasing military co-operation. EU and US based companies have been extensively involved in the design and production of these helicopters, the transfer of which would risk undermining existing EU and US sanctions and arms embargoes on Myanmar. This report examines EU (and, to a lesser extent, US) involvement in the making of India’s Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH).

India has reportedly been in negotiations with Myanmar since late 2006 to supply military helicopters, including the ALH which is highly likely to contain components, technology and munitions originating from EU Member States and the US. Both the EU and the US have had long-standing sanctions and embargoes in place to prevent the transfer of military equipment to Myanmar, in response to the continuing violations of human rights.

The international community has extensively documented concerns about grave international human rights and international humanitarian law violations by the Myanmar authorities, including by the army (tatmadaw) in areas of armed conflict and counter-insurgency operations and ethnic minority areas.

Turkey: The Entrenched Culture of Impunity Must End
Victims of human rights violations perpetrated by the police and gendarmerie in Turkey continue to face an entrenched culture of impunity. Their chances of securing justice are remote in a criminal justice system in which institutions and personnel regularly treat the interests of the state and its officials as ultimately in greater need of protection than those of individual citizens. This report looks at the persisting impunity for grave human rights violations: torture, ill-treatment and killings. Particular attention is paid to the process of investigating and prosecuting police and gendarmes for these crimes and to the various factors that contribute to a culture of impunity during investigation and trial. For this purpose, out of many cases reviewed by Amnesty International five are included here at some length. The cases demonstrate how flawed procedures at the investigation stage as well as flawed decisions by prosecutors and judges may contribute to a failure to secure the conviction of perpetrators of human rights violations.

Colombia: Killings, arbitrary detentions, and death threats - the reality of trade unionism in Colombia
More than 2,000 trade unionists have been killed and 138 have been victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia over the last two decades. In more than 90 per cent of cases, those responsible have not been brought to justice. Despite a reduction in recent years in the number of trade unionists killed, Amnesty International (AI) considers that the human rights situation facing trade unionists remains serious. The Colombian authorities have taken some steps to improve their safety. However, more decisive action must be taken to ensure that freedom of association rights are respected, in practice as well as in law.

Iran: The last executioner of children
Iran has the shameful status of being the world’s last official executioner of child offenders – people convicted of crimes committed when they were under the age of 18. It also holds the macabre distinction of having executed more child offenders than any other country in the world since 1990.

Although executions of child offenders are few compared to the total number of executions in Iran, they highlight the government’s disregard for its commitments and obligations under international law, which prohibits in all circumstances the use of the death penalty for child offenders. The executions also gravely undermine the particular obligation that all states have relating to the protection of children – one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

Amnesty International is calling on Iran's judicial and political authorities to order an immediate moratorium to prevent further executions of child offenders and to amend the laws so no children who commit crimes can be sentenced to death.

Canada: Inappropriate and excessive use of tasers
In a recently released report, Amnesty International presents its assessment that tasers are not being used appropriately by police officers in Canada. The cases included in the report -- such as the use of the weapon to rouse an unconscious man -- indicate that tasers are being used too readily by law enforcement officers and too low down the use-of-force scale and not as a weapon of last resort. The evidence presented suggests that taser use in Canada falls far short of meeting international standards, which among other things stipulate that force should be used only as a last resort and that the amount of force must be proportionate to the threat encountered and designed to minimize damage and injury. Amnesty International maintains its position that the use of stun guns by law-enforcement officials anywhere should be suspended until a thorough, impartial and independent investigation into the medical and other effects of the weapon. The report ends with a series of detailed recommendations on safer use of the taser for those police departments who continue to use the weapon.

Hungary - Cries unheard: The failure to protect women from rape and sexual violence in the home
This report on Hungary demonstrates -- including through interviews with women who have been raped and subjected to domestic violence, with police officers, judges and human rights organizations -- the widespread silence and denial about sexual violence in general and violence by intimate partners in particular. It provides stark examples of the devastating impact of such crimes on women’s lives, and of the blatant prejudice and discrimination against women in the law, criminal justice system and support services. It looks at obstacles impeding women’s access to justice and redress, and identifies the government’s obligations under international law.

Brazil - ‘From burning buses to caveirões’: the search for human security
This short report updates Amnesty International’s public security campaign. A 2005 report by Amnesty International - Brazil: ‘They Come in Shooting’: Policing socially excluded communities - looked at the high levels of violence that have long plagued Brazil’s urban centres. It showed how years of state neglect had trapped poor neighbourhoods between the violence of criminal gangs and police brutality. This "criminalisation of poverty" had not only put residents’ lives at risk, but had reinforced patterns of social exclusion that have sustained human rights abuses. A lack of long-term policy-making had put everyone at risk – including the police. Amnesty International urged the federal and state authorities to put forward detailed, long-term plans to stop the bloodshed and reverse the slide into ever greater lawlessness

The current report summaries the recent shocking events in public security in Brazil, and assesses the state and federal governments’ responses to them. In the light of the increasing vulnerability of the state to criminality, it looks at failures across the criminal justice system, including widespread corruption that has allowed organised crime to set down roots, and fundamentally undermined society’s trust in the justice system and the police.

The Olympics countdown – repression of activists overshadows death penalty and media reforms
This briefing updates two previous "Olympics Countdown" reports published by Amnesty International. New measures have recently been introduced in China with regard to two human rights issues which Amnesty International is highlighting in connection with China’s hosting of the Olympics: the death penalty and media freedom. In this update, Amnesty International summarizes these reforms and assesses how far they fulfil China’s promises to improve human rights in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, which will take place in August 2008. The briefing also includes developments with regard to the use of "Re-education through Labour" (RTL) and other forms of punitive administrative detention as well as the general situation for human rights defenders in China. There is little evidence of reform in these latter areas, with the Olympics apparently acting as a catalayst to extend the use of administrative detention, at least in Beijing, and a continued crackdown on human rights defenders, including prominent rights defence lawyers and those attempting to report on human rights violations.

Maze of Injustice: The failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA
More than one in three Native American or Alaska Native women will be raped at some point in their lives. Most do not seek justice because they know they will be met with inaction or indifference. As one support worker said, "Women don’t report because it doesn’t make a difference. Why report when you are just going to be revictimized?" Sexual violence against women is not only a criminal or social issue, it is a human rights abuse. This report unravels some of the reasons why Indigenous women in the USA are at such risk of sexual violence and why survivors are so frequently denied justice. Chronic under-resourcing of law enforcement and health services, confusion over jurisdiction, erosion of tribal authority, discrimination in law and practice, and indifference – all these factors play a part. None of this is inevitable or irreversible. The voices of Indigenous women throughout this report send a message of courage and hope that change can and will happen.

Unjust and unfair: The death penalty in Iraq
The use of the death penalty has increased rapidly in Iraq since it was reinstated in mid-2004. Since then more than 270 people have been sentenced to death and at least 100 people have reportedly been executed. There were no executions reported in 2004 and at least three men were executed in 2005, but since then there has been a rapid rise in executions with at least 65 people, including at least two women, reportedly executed by hanging in 2006.

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception as a violation of the right to life and as the ultimate form of cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment.

The restoration of the death penalty in Iraq and its extension to additional crimes was a grave and retrograde step. More than this, it was a grievously short-sighted development, one that has contributed to, rather than helped alleviate, the continuing crisis in Iraq.

Afghanistan - All who are not friends, are enemies: Taleban abuses against civilians
Afghan civilians have paid a heavy price since hostilities between the Taleban and US-led coalition forces began in October 2001 – and they continue to do so. Both sides have committed serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law – the ‘laws of war’ – resulting in the deaths or injury of Afghan civilians.

Egypt – Systematic abuses in the name of security
This report is based on research conducted in Egypt and elsewhere, interviews with victims of human rights violations and their relatives, and communications with government officials. It is published at a time of increased repression of the opposition and free speech in Egypt, and when the authorities are considering new anti-terrorism legislation that threatens to entrench patterns of abuse witnessed in the past 40 years.

Torture and other ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detention, and grossly unfair trials before emergency and military courts have all been key features of Egypt’s 40-year state of emergency and counter-terrorism campaign. In March 2007 members of parliament were asked to approve amendments to 34 articles of the Constitution proposed by President Mubarak in December 2006 and thereby to write into permanent law emergency-style powers that had led to serious human rights violations for decades. The amendments were approved.

Amnesty International fears that the constitutional amendments and the planned anti-terrorism law will be used to further stifle peaceful political dissent, as well as cement patterns of serious abuses by security forces. This report ends with a list of detailed recommendations.



Despite Egypt’s long and well-publicized record of such serious human rights violations, governments in other countries, notably the USA, have chosen to send detainees there in the context of the global "war on terror". These transfers have been carried out unlawfully, without any due process and in clear breach of the principle of non-refoulement – the absolute prohibition of sending anyone to a country where they would be at risk of serious human rights abuses such as torture and other ill-treatment, or enforced disappearance. The resultant abuses, as testified by detainees cited in this report as well as many others, have been all too predictable.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Cruel and Inhuman: Conditions of isolation for detainees at Guantánamo Bay
This report describes Amnesty International’s concerns about the current conditions of detention in the US military base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. As of 1 April 2007, approximately 385 men of around 30 nationalities remained detained as “unlawful enemy combatants”, many have been held for more than five years without charge or trial or knowing if or when they will be released.

Despite being provided with what the US government has called “high quality” medical care, adequate food, sanitation and access to religious items, most detainees have languished in harsh conditions throughout their detention, confined to mesh cages or in held in isolation in maximum security cells. Moreover, a new facility which opened in December 2006, known as Camp 6, has created even harsher and apparently more permanent conditions of extreme isolation and sensory deprivation.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - Justice delayed and justice denied? Trials under the Military Commissions Act
In the "war on terror", detainees in US custody have been treated as potential sources of information first and potential criminal defendants a distant second. Now, more than five years after detentions began, trials of a selected few detainees are looming. Plucked from years of secret or virtually incommunicado detention and interrogations, these detainees will be tried not by the ordinary courts, but by military commissions tailored to fit this broader policy framework. The government may introduce evidence while keeping secret the methods used to obtain it. The military judge will be able to close the proceedings in order to prevent the disclosure of classified intelligence activities. The right to trial within a reasonable time, guaranteed in US federal courts and courts-martial, is denied to "alien unlawful enemy combatants". Indeed, a previously secret 2003 Pentagon report on interrogations advised that not only the openness of military commission trials, but also the timing of the prosecutions themselves, would have to be weighed against "the need not to publicize interrogation techniques". When prosecutions are eventually brought, coerced evidence will be admissible.

CÔTE D’IVOIRE - Targeting women: the forgotten victims of the conflict
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of women and girls have been victims of widespread and, at times, systematic rape and sexual assault committed by combatant forces or by civilians with close ties to these forces. In the context of the political and military crisis which has divided Côte d’Ivoire since September 2002, leaving the south controlled by the government and the north by an armed opposition group, the New Forces (Forces Nouvelles), national and international human rights provisions are no longer observed. All armed factions have perpetrated and continue to perpetrate sexual violence with impunity. Hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) have sought refuge in the government-controlled south and hundreds of thousands of refugees have fled to neighboring countries, including Liberia, Guinea, Mali and Burkina Faso. The resulting humanitarian crisis has placed women in particular in positions of extreme vulnerability, leading to increased poverty and higher rates of sex work as women separated from their families struggle to survive.

This report is the result of research conducted primarily in 2005 and 2006, including interviews in Côte d’Ivoire with rape victims and their relatives, local human rights activists, local and international humanitarian organizations. This report contains recommendations addressed to the Ivorian government as well as the New Forces, asking them to prevent and eradicate sexual violence committed by their forces and supporters and put an end to impunity by bringing those responsible to justice. The report also calls on all the parties, as well as the international community, to address the urgent needs of rape victims, in particular, access to adequate medical care.

People's Republic of China - Internal migrants: Discrimination and abuse. The human cost of an economic ‘miracle’
Tens of millions of migrants in China are denied rights to adequate health care and housing, and are excluded from the wide array of state benefits available to permanent urban residents. They experience discrimination in the workplace, and are routinely exposed to some of the most exploitative conditions of work. Internal migrants’ insecure legal status, social isolation, sense of cultural inferiority and relative lack of knowledge of their rights leaves them particularly vulnerable, enabling employers to deny their rights with impunity. The children of internal migrants do not have equal access to free, compulsory, education, and many of them have to be left behind in the countryside.

While internal migrants from rural areas are now able to work in the cities, unlike during the Maoist era when they were all but shut out, they are required to register as temporary residents there, a process which a majority find difficult or impossible to complete.
Many migrant workers are thus not able to complete all the required documentation for being properly registered, with the result that from the perspective of state authorities they are in the cities illegally. This makes them vulnerable to exploitation by the police, landlords, employers, local officials, as well as permanent urban residents. “Undocumented” internal migrants in China continue to risk arrest and forcible removal back to their home-towns.

While the central government is taking more seriously the plight of internal migrant workers, and has passed regulatory measures seeking to improve their working and living conditions, Amnesty International considers that change has been slow and implementation
inadequate.

European Union: Stopping the Trade in Tools of Torture
Amnesty International has campaigned for many years to end the trade in “torture equipment”. The prohibition on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment extends to all circumstances, even during war. The right to freedom from torture is so absolute that it can never be restricted. Torture is always, in every situation,
unacceptable. Amnesty International therefore welcomes the introduction of the Regulation
but is concerned about “loopholes” contained within the Regulation, which must be addressed by the European Commission, and weaknesses in the national implementing legislation of EU Member States. In particular, this report identifies certain types of equipment with no practical use other than for the purpose of torture and other ill-treatment but which is offered for international sales to law enforcement agencies and is not yet prohibited by the new Trade Regulation.

Anti-Terrorism Act’s investigatory hearings and preventive arrest provisions should not be renewed

Indonesia - Exploitation and abuse: the plight of women domestic workers
It is estimated that there are approximately 2.6 million domestic workers in Indonesia. Poorly educated, unskilled, from poor backgrounds, conducting menial tasks and without career prospects, they are often considered and treated as second-class citizens. Under international law, all workers are entitled to core labour rights, including the right to wages which provide them with an adequate standard of living, reasonable limitation of working hours, the right to rest, the right to holiday, and the right to join a trade union. Yet, Indonesian domestic workers are denied these rights.

Based on evidence gathered by an Amnesty International delegation to central and eastern Java, this report outlines the human rights abuses women and girl domestic workers in Indonesia face and makes recommendations to the Indonesian government to take urgent steps to ensure that this situation does not continue. In particular, it calls on the Indonesian government to condemn violations and take measures to address the abuse of domestic workers’ human rights, ensure fair conditions of work for all workers, and operate a “zero tolerance” policy on violence against women – a scourge which affects too many women domestic workers and constitutes a grave violation of their human rights.

Laws without justice: Human rights violations and impunity in the public security and criminal justice system
This report examines in detail some of the serious failings of the public security and criminal justice system, which often result in abuses, and the arbitrary and unfair application of the law. Amnesty International makes recommendations to the government in five key areas: international human rights standards; public security and the criminal justice system; accountability; human rights defenders and the rights of victims.

Chad - ‘Are we citizens of this country?’ Civilians in Chad unprotected from Janjawid attacks
This report documents evidence of the deliberate and targeted killing of communities, the rape and other crimes of violence against women, and the destruction of homes and civilian property in eastern Chad. Amnesty International’s research focused on the Dar Silah region but Amnesty International is concerned that such human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law have been committed throughout eastern
Chad. Amnesty International’s research strongly suggests that killings, rape and forced displacement have been committed in a systematic and widespread manner and that crimes against humanity have been committed. In some cases such acts have constituted
war crimes.

The government of Chad, in the face of such atrocities committed on its soil, has failed to protect the civilian population from Janjawid attacks. Officials have admitted as much to Amnesty International. By withdrawing and withholding troops from the Chad/Sudan border to fortify its positions against attacks from Chadian rebels, the Chad government left the civilian population unprotected from Janjawid and Chadian rebel attacks. The security vacuum created is leading to increased militarization as communities arm and form community defence militias. Amnesty International understands that urgent pleas by local authorities for the deployment of government forces to protect civilians under attack have often been rebuffed by army commanders whose forces are often only a short distance away.

Angola - Lives in ruins: forced evictions continue
Between 2001 and 2006 thousands of families were forcibly evicted from various neighbourhoods in the Angolan capital of Luanda. These forced evictions were typically carried out without prior notification or consultation, without due process and with recourse to excessive use of force. The forced evictions left tens of thousands without shelter.

The forced evictions have targeted the poorest families who have least access to the means of securing their tenure and for whom the state has done little to provide affordable adequate housing. Hundreds of those forcibly evicted remain without shelter and have not received compensation. Some were forcibly relocated to other areas, which were almost invariably far away from schools and places of work, and which often lacked services such as sanitation and amenities. Furthermore, they were not given security of tenure to the land making them vulnerable to further forced evictions. The evictions have had the effect of driving people deeper into poverty.

Amnesty International is concerned that a visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on adequate housing to Angola, planned for February 2006, was postponed by the Angolan government. This report is based on information gained through communication with contacts based in Angola and additional background research.

Read the full report: Angola - Lives in ruins: forced evictions continue

Living in the Shadows: A primer on the human rights of migrants
Amnesty International (AI) is concerned about the human rights of all migrants. AI looks at the "life-cycle" of migration: the decision to leave the country of origin; the migratory journey, including time spent in countries of transit; arrival and stay in the country of destination; possible return back to the country of origin. Through this life-cycle, AI focuses on the situations during which migrants are most vulnerable to abuse, and on those individuals or groups of individuals most at risk – including irregular migrants, migrant children and migrant women.

Pakistan: Working to stop human rights violations in the ‘war on terror’
In cooperating with the US-led "war on terror", the Pakistani government has committed human rights violations against hundreds of Pakistani and foreign nationals. Hundreds of people have been arbitrarily arrested and detained in secret, becoming victims of enforced disappearance. Many have been tortured, with their families subjected to harassment and threats. The right to habeas corpus has been systematically undermined: state agents have refused to comply with court directions or have lied in court. Hundreds of detainees have been unlawfully transferred (sometimes in return for money) to other countries, including the US Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay (Cuba), Bagram airbase (Afghanistan) or are believed to have been sent to secret detention centres elsewhere. Such transfers violate Pakistan’s Extradition Act and the principle of non-refoulement which prohibits the transfer of people to countries where there is a risk of them being subjected to serious human rights violations such as torture and other forms of ill-treatment or enforced disappearance. Agents from other countries, including the USA, appears to have known of, visited and interrogated people held unlawfully in secret places of detention.

Amnesty International delegation visited Islamabad to release a report – Pakistan: Human rights ignored in the "war on terror" – on 29 September 2006, to the media. The delegation also held a workshop jointly with the non-governmental Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), met an emerging support group of families of victims of enforced disappearance and held talks with government officials.

The Government of Pakistan has refused to acknowledge that these human rights violations have occurred. In the two months since the release of the report further human rights violations in the context of the "war on terror" have come to Amnesty International’s notice.

This report describes the developing political situation in Pakistan, the new cases and issues reported to Amnesty International, government responses to Amnesty International’s report and the joint workshop with the HRCP.

Business as Usual: Violence Against Women in the Globalized Economy of the Americas
Serious and widespread violations of the basic rights of women, including violence, are longstanding and commonplace throughout the Americas.

A complex web of factors fuels violence against women, including gender discrimination, impunity, poverty and racism. Amnesty International is concerned that inadequate attention has been paid to the degree to which trade and investment policies can contribute to increasing economic inequality and vulnerability of women to violence. The UN Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women optimistically notes that “the establishment of the new international economic order based on equity and justice will contribute significantly towards the promotion of equality between men and women.” Far from realizing the UN’s hope of an economic order based on equity and justice, new economic policies are a backdrop to ongoing, serious human rights violations and violence for women throughout the Americas.

This briefing paper highlights three contexts in which the vulnerability of women puts their human rights at risk: impacts of economic changes and upheaval on women in Indigenous communities; the specific threats faced by women migrants; and the violence against women who speak out against economic changes in order to defend human rights.

Available in English, French, and Spanish.

Linguistic minorities in Estonia: Discrimination must end
Overview

Estonia has a sizeable Russian-speaking linguistic minority which constitutes approximately a third of the population. Persons belonging to this minority enjoy very limited linguistic and minority rights, and often find themselves de facto excluded from the labour market and educational system through a system of rigorous language and citizenship requirements for employment and limited possibilities of studying in minority languages in higher education. Such comprehensive and restrictive citizenship requirements for employment both in the public and private sector, together with Estonia’s failure to effectively fulfill several linguistic and educational rights, have led to a situation in which there are disproportionately high levels of unemployment among the Russian-speaking linguistic minority. This in turn has further contributed to social exclusion and vulnerability to other human rights abuses. In consequence, many from this group are effectively impeded from the full enjoyment of their economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights).

Although some significant steps have been taken in recent years by the Estonian authorities, Amnesty International believes that the current policies fail to constitute a coherent framework within which these ESC rights can be guaranteed for persons belonging to the Russian-speaking linguistic minority. Amnesty International is therefore calling on the Estonian authorities to remove barriers to the full and effective enjoyment of ESC rights.

Central African Republic: Government tramples on the basic rights of detainees
In March 2006, Amnesty International started receiving reports of a number of arrests of people suspected of supporting armed groups opposed to the government of President François Bozizé. Relatives of those arrested and local human rights organizations expressed fears that the detainees were being ill-treated and that they were being denied visits by their relatives and access to legal counsel. Some of the detainees were reported to be in ill health but not receiving necessary medical treatment.

In May 2006, three Amnesty International delegates visited the Central African Republic (CAR) to gather information about these arrests and other human rights concerns in the country. The Amnesty International delegates discovered systematic violations of international law and standards on the right to liberty and security of the person, the right to a fair trial, the right to humane conditions of detention, the right to freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, the right to the best attainable standard of physical and mental health, and the right to food.

Amnesty International is publishing this report to inform the CAR authorities and the international community of its concerns regarding the violation of the detainees’ rights which are enshrined in both national laws and international law and standards. In this report, Amnesty International urges the CAR authorities to ensure that the detainees’ rights are respected. In particular, the authorities must ensure that the detainees are treated humanely, and released if they are not charged or if they are acquitted by a competent court after a trial that accords with international fair trial standards.

Nigeria: Rape - the Silent Weapon
Amnesty International has found that the Nigerian police force and security forces commit rape in many different circumstances, both on and off duty. Rape is at times used strategically to coerce and intimidate entire communities. Amnesty International has met some of the women and girls who have been raped, some of whom have been abducted by the security forces in areas of the country where violence is rife, and has documented their harrowing experiences – most recently during visits to Nigeria in January and February 2006.

Russian Federation: Torture and forced "confessions" in detention
In May 2002, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) examined the Russian Federation’s third periodic report of its implementation of obligations under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention against Torture). While noting some positive steps, the CAT stated that it was deeply concerned over, among other things, "numerous and consistent allegations of widespread torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of detainees committed by law enforcement personnel, commonly with a view to obtaining confessions".

This month, the CAT has been examining the fourth periodic report and what progress the Russian Federation has made since May 2002, towards eliminating torture and other ill-treatment, including during police custody and pre-trial detention.

Israel/Lebanon: Out of all proportion - civilians bear the brunt of the war
This report, the third published by Amnesty International on aspects of the conflict, focuses on Israeli attacks in which civilians were killed as well as the impact on civilians of other attacks by Israeli forces. It also examines allegations that Hizbullah used civilians as “human shields”. Previously Amnesty International focused on Israel’s attacks on the infrastructure in Lebanon and on Hizbullah’s rocket bombardment of northern Israel.

False starts: The exclusion of Romani children from primary education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia
This report highlights the lack of access of Romani children to primary education in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia. Too often, Roma do not attend school, or do so only intermittently. With high drop-out rates, many fail to complete even primary education. Some are segregated in "Roma only" groups or classes, where they are offered only a reduced curriculum. Racist attitudes and prejudice are prevalent, even among some teachers and educators working with Romani children.

Belarus: Domestic Violence - More than a private scandal
Violence against women in the family exists throughout Belarus. Women from all social levels and backgrounds fall victim to this form of gender-based violence. Violence against women is an abuse of their basic human rights, including their right to physical and mental integrity, their right to life and their right to equality with men. Throughout the world women are hit, beaten, raped, and in some cases even killed by their intimate partners, while many more endure psychological violence and economic control. The stories they tell differ little from one country to another.

Spain and Morocco: Failure to protect the rights of migrants - one year on
Amnesty International has documented and received reports of serious human rights violations against migrants and asylum-seekers trying to cross the border between Morocco and Spain at the Spanish enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. Violations included killings of migrants and asylum-seekers trying to cross the border, the use of excessive force by law enforcement officials, collective expulsions, and violations of the principle of non-refoulement.

DRC: Children at war, creating hope for the future
One of the most disturbing features of the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been the widespread and systematic use of children aged under 18 as fighters, porters, domestic servants or sexual possessions by government forces and armed groups. It is estimated that at least 30,000(1) children were attached to the armed forces and armed groups in the conflict zones of eastern DRC, constituting up to 40 per cent of some forces. Girls were estimated to represent up to 40 per cent of these children(2) and in early 2005 it was believed that around 12,500 girls were associated with the armed forces and groups.(3) Some children interviewed by Amnesty International were aged as young as six when they were recruited. Under international law, the recruitment and use of children under 15 is considered a war crime, and the recruitment and use of children under 18 is prohibited.

Mexico: Violence against women and justice denied in Mexico State
The Mexican Government has ratified international human rights instruments that recognize women’s right to live free from violence and oblige it to prevent and punish all forms of violence against women. One of its immediate responsibilities is to prevent and punish any violence perpetrated by its officials. This report shows how the Mexican authorities are still failing to take effective steps to ensure that such abuses do not go unpunished.

Sudan: Crying Out for Safety
The people of Darfur are crying out for security. Thousands of civilians have been killed, tortured and raped, and hundreds of thousands have been forcibly displaced since 2003. Even as the government of Sudan resists the deployment of international peacekeepers in Darfur, it has launched a new military offensive in the region. Civilians are being killed in aerial bombardments and ground attacks by government forces and Janjawid militia.

Arms Without Borders: Why a globalised trade needs global controls
Globalisation has changed the arms trade. Arms companies, operating from an increasing number of locations, now source components from across the world. Their products are often assembled in countries with lax controls on where they end up. Too easily, weapons get into the wrong hands.
Each year, at least a third of a million people are killed directly with conventional weapons and many more die, are injured, abused, forcibly displaced and bereaved as a result of armed violence.
Rapidly widening loopholes in national controls demonstrate how this globalised trade also needs global rules. The time for an effective international Arms Trade Treaty is now.

Pakistan: Human rights ignored in the ‘war on terror’
The Pakistani government has committed numerous human rights violations as a result of its cooperation in the US-led "war on terror". Hundreds of people have been arbitrarily detained. Many have been subjected to enforced disappearance - held secretly, incommunicado and in undisclosed locations, with the government refusing to provide information about their fate and whereabouts. Many have been tortured or ill-treated. Their families, distressed about lack of information about fate or whereabouts of their loved ones, have been harassed and threatened when seeking information. The right to habeas corpus has been systematically undermined: state agents have refused to comply with court directions to provide information about the whereabouts of detainees or have denied any knowledge in court. Many detainees have been unlawfully transferred to the custody of other countries, notably the USA.

People's Republic of China: The Olympics countdown - failing to keep human rights promises
With just two years to go until the Olympic Games take place in Beijing, the Chinese authorities are failing to meet the human rights commitments they made when Beijing was awarded the Olympics in April 2001.(1) Serious human rights violations continue to be reported across the country fueling instability and discontent. Grassroots human rights activists continue to be detained and imprisoned, and official controls over the media and the Internet are growing tighter.

This report summarizes a number of Amnesty International¡¯s human rights concerns in China ¨C concerns which the organization is continuing to highlight as key areas for reform in the run-up to the Olympics. They are: the continuing use of the death penalty and abusive forms of administrative detention, the arbitrary detention, imprisonment, torture and harassment of human rights defenders, including journalists and lawyers, and the censorship of the Internet. Amnesty International considers that positive reforms in all of these areas are essential if China is to live up to its promises to improve human rights.

Under fire: Hizbullah's attacks on northern Israel
During the recent 34-day war between Hizbullah and Israel in which both sides committed serious violations of international humanitarian law, Hizbullah’s rocket attacks on northern Israel amounted to deliberate attacks on civilians and civilian objects, as well as indiscriminate attacks, both war crimes under international law. Its attacks also violated other rules of international humanitarian law, including the prohibition on reprisal attacks on the civilian population.

Hizbullah fired several thousand rockets into northern Israel, killing 43 civilians, including four who died of heart attacks. The victims, among them seven children, included Jewish and Arab Israelis. Many other civilians were injured. Throughout the conflict, hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians remained in the north within range of the rockets, many seeking safety in underground bomb shelters for much of the time. Others – between 350,000 and half a million people – fled their homes and were forced to seek refuge elsewhere.

Zimbabwe: No justice for the victims of forced eviction
In May 2005 the government of Zimbabwe launched Operation Murambatsvina, a programme of mass forced evictions and demolitions of homes and informal businesses. The operation targeted poor urban and surrounding (peri-urban) areas nationwide. The evictions and demolitions were carried out without adequate notice, court orders, due process, legal protection, redress or appropriate relocation measures, in violation of Zimbabwe’s obligations under international human rights law. They were carried out despite the government’s acknowledgement that the country already faced a severe housing shortage.(1) During the operation police used excessive force: property was destroyed and people were beaten.

Israel/Lebanon: Deliberate destruction or "collateral damage"? Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure
"The civilian population in Lebanon and in northern Israel have been the biggest losers in this senseless cycle of violence that is now exactly one month old...Civilians were supposed to be spared and in this conflict they are not."-- Jan Egeland, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, 10 August 2006

Between 12 July and 14 August, a major military confrontation took place between Hizbullah and Israel, following the capture of two Israeli soldiers, and the killing of others, by Hizbullah in a raid across the border between Israel and Lebanon. Israel conducted attacks throughout Lebanon from land, sea and air, killing some 1,000 civilians. Hizbullah launched thousands of rockets on northern Israel, killing some 40 civilians. Hundreds of thousands of civilians in Israel and Lebanon were displaced.

Chad/Sudan: Sowing the seeds of Darfur Ethnic targeting in Chad by Janjawid militias from Sudan
A new human rights tragedy is unfolding today in the eastern part of Chad. It is a direct product of the long-running crisis in Sudan’s neighbouring Darfur region, where the Janjawid, funded by the Sudanese government, have been attacking and systematically displacing those ethnic groups associated with Sudanese armed groups opposed to the Sudanese government. In Darfur, the Janjawid, often assisted by the Sudanese air force, caused the forcible displacement of some 2 million people and many thousands of deaths. These ruthless, mobile fighters have now extended their activities into eastern Chad. There, they have targeted a diverse range of ethnic groups who identify themselves and are identified by others as "African" rather than "Arab." The Janjawid have stolen the cattle that are their main source of wealth, driven them from their homes and villages, and killed or dispersed their inhabitants.

PHILIPPINES: Political Killings, Human Rights and the Peace Process
Over recent years reports of an increased number of killings of political activists, predominately those associated with leftist or left-orientated groups,(1) have caused increasing concern in the Philippines(2) and internationally.(3)

Sierra Leone: Women face human rights abuses in the informal legal sector
Women in rural Sierra Leone(1) have few protections from discrimination and other human rights violations and abuses. They face formal and official discrimination under the law, in customs and in rulings in matters of personal status, marriage and inheritance. Although there is a system within the formal sector through the Local Courts which officially adjudicates on these matters, Chiefs often perform these judicial functions illegally. Amnesty International has found that not only do Chiefs act outside their jurisdiction, at times they collude with men in the community to forcibly evict women and children from their homes or subject them to arbitrary detention and other forms of gender based violence.

Sierra Leone: No one to turn to: Women’s lack of access to justice in rural Sierra Leone
"I couldn’t go to the chief [as] he would not have taken my matter seriously; I didn’t go to the local court [as] I had no money. If human rights had not been there I don’t know what I would have done. I suppose I would have left it to God."

Amnesty International considers the discrimination women suffer and their lack of access to justice in Sierra Leone to be of serious and urgent concern. This briefing paper provides an overview of the barriers that women face in accessing justice that Amnesty International found on a recent visit and includes recommendations to address them. The briefing paper, to be followed by a longer report in 2006, specifically targets participants of the Stakeholders Conference on Human Rights, being held in Freetown, Sierra Leone from the 6-8 December 2005(1). The Conference brings together the Government of Sierra Leone, United Nations agencies, donors, international organizations and members of civil society to discuss the critical human rights issues facing Sierra Leone. These discussions will feed into the National Human Rights Action Plan and into the work of the Human Rights and Rule of Law component of the United Nations Integrated Office in Sierra Leone (UNIOSIL) - due to start operations in early 2006(2).

Human rights, trade and investment matters
This collection of articles explores some of the connections between trade, investment and human rights, examines the role of financial institutions in shaping standards, considers the potential for integrating human rights into trade and investment agreements, and reflects on the opportunity to advance the process of developing universally recognized standards for business.

ISRAEL/LEBANON:ISRAEL AND HIZBULLAH MUST SPARE CIVILIANS Obligations under international humanitarian law of the parties to the conflict in Israel and Lebanon
The armed conflict between Israel and Hizbullah continues to be characterized by killing of civilians, mass forced displacement and attacks on civilian infrastructure. The evidence so far, including the pattern of attacks, the extent of civilian casualties and statements by the parties indicates that serious violations of the laws of war have been committed and continue to be committed by both sides in the conflict. Both sides must comply with fundamental tenets of international humanitarian law, including the principles of proportionality, distinction and civilian immunity. They must also comply with international criminal law.

Jordan:"Your confessions are ready for you to sign" Detention and torture of political suspects
Torture and other ill-treatment of political detainees has been a longstanding problem in Jordan, one that remains as persistent today as when Amnesty International began regularly documenting the problem over 20 years ago.(1) Despite the mounting evidence and Jordan’s obligations under international human rights treaties, the Jordanian authorities have failed to take effective action either to prevent torture or to punish those responsible. On the contrary, the Jordanian authorities continue to be complicit in torture: they maintain a system of incommunicado detention which facilitates torture and other ill-treatment of detainees and a related special security court whose judgments regularly appear to be based on little more than "confessions" which defendants allege were extracted under torture or other duress.

Undermining freedom of expression in China: the role of Yahoo!, Microsoft, and Google.
Amnesty International has produced many reports documenting the Chinese government’s violations of human rights.(1) The expansion of investment in China by foreign companies in the field of information and communications technology puts them at risk of contributing to certain types of violation, particularly those relating to freedom of expression and the suppression of dissent. Our reason for focusing on Internet companies in this report is that we believe that they are part of the problem, and because we would like them to act as a ‘force for the good’ in becoming part of the
solution towards improving the human rights situation in China.

Guatemala: No protection, no justice - killings of women UPDATE:Figures and Cases

Guatemala: No protection, no justice: killings of women (an update)

"Will this day be my last?":The death penalty in Japan
"Life is precious. One human life is of more importance than the whole earth. The death penalty is certainly the grimmest of all punishments. It is the ultimate one and is indeed unavoidable. The reason is simply that it involves the eternal deprivation of life, the source of dignified human existence".
Excerpt from a decision of the Japanese Supreme Court, 12 March 1948 (1)

Unrestrained powers: Torture by Algeria’s Military Security
The Algerian authorities have been engaged in counter-terrorism measures for well over a decade and during the 1990s were widely criticized for human rights violations committed in the name of counter-terrorism. Recently, however, Algeria has become a prime ally of the USA and other governments involved in the "war on terror".

East Africa and the Horn of Africa:"Defending the Defenders":a Human Rights Defenders Conference 30 October- 4 November 2005, Entebbe, Uganda
Amnesty International (AI) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defender Project (EHAHRDP)(1) organised a Human Rights Defenders Conference in Entebbe, Uganda, from 30 October to 4 November 2005. The conference brought together 43 human rights defenders, including 19 women defenders, from East Africa and the Horn of Africa. Participants at the conference represented organizations or coalitions of human rights defenders from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland, Sudan (including South Sudan), Tanzania (mainland and Zanzibar), and Uganda.

Letter to The Honourable Stockwell Day regarding stay of removal while threat of torture examined

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Memorandum to the US Government on the report of the UN Committee Against Torture and the question of closing Guantánamo
The United States must defend liberty and justice because these principles are right and true for all people everywhere. These nonnegotiable demands of human dignity are protected most securely in democracies. The United States Government will work to advance human dignity in word and deed, speaking out for freedom and against violations of human rights and allocating appropriate resources to advance these ideals. The National Security Strategy of the USA, March 2006

Sri Lanka Waiting to go home - the plight of the internally displaced

Darfur crisis: Testimonies from Eastern Chad
The following accounts from Chadian internally displaced persons represent a selection of the testimonies gathered by Amnesty International in Eastern Chad in June 2006.

Kimberley Process: An Amnesty International Position Paper Recommendations to the Kimberley Process (KP) participants in order to effectively strengthen the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)
On 1 December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on the role of the trade in diamonds in fuelling conflict. The resolution supported the creation of an international certification scheme in an attempt to break the link between the illicit trade in rough diamonds and mass human rights abuses associated with armed conflict, as witnessed in countries such as Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sierra Leone. A civil society campaign brought international attention to the problem of conflict diamonds and put pressure on the international community to take action. The adoption of a UN Resolution and the imposition of UN sanctions related to armed conflicts in several African countries galvanized the international community and the diamond industry to put in place a certification process to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the legitimate trade. That process came to be called the "Kimberley Process", named after a meeting in Kimberley, South Africa, in 2000 where several diamond producing states first met to address the issue of conflict diamonds.

Sexual violence against women and girls in Jamaica: “just a little sex”
"The lawyer made me feel like a slut in court. He tried to convince the court that I was guilty for them doing such a terrible thing to me,"(1) recalls one Jamaican woman who was abducted from her workplace and gang-raped at gunpoint.

Let the justice system do its work
For the complete statement, please click on the PDF link below.

Caring for human rights: Challenges and opportunities for nurses and midwives
Nurses deal with human rights issues daily, in all aspects of their professional role. Nurses may be pressured to apply their knowledge and skills in ways that are detrimental to patients and others. There is a need for increased vigilance, and a requirement to be well informed, about how new technology and experimentation can violate human rights. Furthermore nurses are increasingly facing complex human rights issues, arising from conflict situations within jurisdictions, political upheaval and wars. The application of human rights protection should emphasise vulnerable groups such as women, children, elderly, refugees and stigmatised groups.(1)

Partners in crime: Europe’s role in US renditions
"The body of information gathered makes it unlikely that European states were completely unaware of what was happening, in the context of the fight against international terrorism, in some of their airports, in their airspace or at American bases located on their territory. Insofar as they did not know, they did not want to know. It is inconceivable that certain operations conducted by American services could have taken place without the active participation, or at least the collusion, of national intelligence services."

Dick Marty, Rapporteur of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe(1)

People’s Republic of China: Sustaining conflict and human rights abuses. The flow of arms accelerates
China is emerging as one of the world’s major arms exporters.(1) It is increasing its reach and influence in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and arms sales are an integral part of the trade links it is developing with countries in these and other parts of the world. Over the last 20 years China has supplied a range of military, security and police equipment to countries with a record of gross human rights violations. Much international debate about China’s controls on arms exports has focused on the transfer of nuclear or long-range missile technology to countries such as Iran, North Korea and Pakistan. Yet the routine export of conventional weapons and small arms has been contributing to human rights violations including in brutal armed conflicts.

Lebanon
Limitations on Rights of Palestinian Refugee Children

Briefing to the Committee on the Rights of the Child

42nd session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (the Committee), May-June 2006: Comments by Amnesty International on the compliance by Lebanon with its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the Convention)

International Non Governmental Organisations’ Accountability Charter

'I am not ashamed!': HIV/AIDS and human rights
in the Dominican Republic and Guyana
"I was living with someone who was HIV positive. When she died, then I found out… I went for a test because she did not say anything to me… At first I went a bit mad… but I decided to take the treatment because it is not the end of the world… I have learned to live with it, cope with it… I am not ashamed!"
26-year-old man living with HIV/AIDS, Guyana, January 2006.

HIV/AIDS is the biggest public health challenge of our time. More than 40 million people are currently infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In the last five years, 3 million people have died each year from AIDS-related illnesses.(1)

"…the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, through its devastating scale and impact, constitutes a global emergency and one of the most formidable challenges to human life and dignity, as well as to the effective enjoyment of human rights."
UNGASS: Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS.(2)

Uzbekistan: Andizhan - Impunity Must Not Prevail

"Do not interfere in our affairs, not under the pretext of furthering freedom, democracy, and do not create precedents of telling us what to do, whom to befriend and how to orient ourselves"
(President Karimov addressing Western countries, whom he accused of trying to discredit Uzbekistan, at a joint press conference during the state visit of President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakstan on 20 March 2006, Reuters)

Dead on Time – arms transportation, brokering and the threat to human rights - Full Report
Growing state-sponsored out-sourcing and the increasing private mediation of international arms distribution and procurement is adding to the risk of arms being delivered, diverted and used for grave human rights violations. Yet current government efforts to improve the monitoring and regulation of such intermediate activities in the arms trade are weak and faltering.

Dead on Time – arms transportation, brokering and
the threat to human rights -- Executive Summary
Growing state-sponsored out-sourcing and the increasing private mediation of international arms distribution and procurement is adding to the risk of arms being delivered, diverted and used for grave human rights violations. Yet current government efforts to improve the monitoring and regulation of such intermediate activities in the arms trade are weak and faltering.

Russian Federation: Violent racism out of control
Racist attacks and killings of foreigners and ethnic minorities are reported with shocking regularity in Russia and, disturbingly, their frequency seems to be increasing.(1) Victims whose cases have come to the attention of Amnesty International include students, asylum-seekers and refugees from Africa and Asia, as well as people from the south Caucasus, from South, Southeast and Central Asia, from the Middle East and from Latin America. However, citizens of the Russian Federation are no less at risk of physical attack. Anyone who does not look typically ethnic Russian, for example, individuals from ethnic groups of the North Caucasus, in particular Chechens, as well as members of the Jewish community, Roma and children of mixed parentage are at risk. Even ethnic Russians who are seen as sympathizing with foreigners or ethnic minority groups, for example, fans of rap or reggae music, members of other youth sub-cultures, and campaigners against racism, have also been targeted as they are perceived as "unpatriotic" or "traitors". Attacks have been reported in towns and cities across the Russian Federation.

USA: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S SUPPLEMENTARY BRIEFING TO THE UN COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE
This briefing includes further information on the implementation by the United States of America (USA) of its obligations under the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Convention; UN Convention against Torture), with regard to the forthcoming consideration by the UN Committee Against Torture (the Committee) of the USA’s second periodic report.(1) The briefing updates Amnesty International’s concerns with regard to US "war on terror" detention, interrogation and related policies, as outlined in its preliminary briefing of August 2005, and provides additional information on domestic policies and practice.

ETHIOPIA:Prisoners of conscience on trial for treason: opposition party leaders, human rights defenders and journalists
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about this treason trial scheduled to open substantively on 2 May 2006 with the presentation of the prosecution case before the Federal High Court in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. On trial, and charged with crimes punishable by the death penalty, are newly-elected opposition party members of parliament, human rights defenders and journalists, whom Amnesty International considers to be prisoners of conscience.

It is a matter of rights: Improving the protection of economic,social and cultural rights in Canada. Briefing to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights on the occasion of the review of Canada’s fourth and fifth periodic reports concerning rights referred in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Canada prides itself, with good reason, on its overall domestic record of protecting human rights generally, including economic, social and cultural rights, as well as its commitment to promoting stronger human rights protection abroad. Amnesty International recognizes that Canada has done much in both regards.

Algeria: Torture in the "War on Terror": A memorandum to the Algerian President
The attached memorandum addressed to Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika describes Amnesty International’s concerns in relation to continuing reports of secret detention and torture of terrorist suspects in Algeria. It makes recommendations to address these concerns and invites the Algerian authorities to provide information on any investigations that have taken place in respect of 12 specific cases of alleged secret detention and torture and other ill-treatment that have been reported to Amnesty International since 2002.

FACTS AND FIGURES ON THE DEATH PENALTY (1 January 2006)
The following document is regularly updated on the Amnesty International website, www.amnesty.org

Death sentences and executions in 2005
During 2005, at least 2,148 people were executed in 22 countries. At least 5,186 people were sentenced to death in 53 countries. These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Below the radar: Secret flights to torture and ‘disappearance’
Amnesty International uses the term "rendition" to describe the transfer of individuals from one country to another, by means that bypass all judicial and administrative due process. In the "war on terror" context, the practice is mainly – although not exclusively – initiated by the USA, and carried out with the collaboration, complicity or acquiescence of other governments. The most widely known manifestation of rendition is the secret transfer of terror suspects into the custody of other states – including Egypt, Jordan and Syria – where physical and psychological brutality feature prominently in interrogations. The rendition network’s aim is to use whatever means necessary to gather intelligence, and to keep detainees away from any judicial oversight.

Turkey: Article 301: How the law on "denigrating Turkishness" is an insult to free expression
The prosecution of the internationally acclaimed novelist, Orhan Pamuk, for "denigrating Turkishness" has been instrumental in bringing public attention to a restrictive law which muzzles peaceful dissenting opinion in Turkey. Amnesty International has called for the repeal of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code on the grounds that it poses a direct threat to the fundamental right to freedom of expression. This right is enshrined in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Turkey is a State Party. The Turkish authorities are therefore obligated to ensure that freedom of expression is upheld and observed for all those under their jurisdiction. Yet Amnesty International remains concerned about the steady flow of prosecutions that continue to be brought against a number of individuals in Turkey across the political spectrum. They include writers, journalists, publishers and human rights defenders. What characterizes all of them is that they have peacefully expressed opinions that are deemed to "denigrate" Turkishness, the Republic, parliament, the government, the judiciary or the security services. If imprisoned under Article 301, Amnesty International would consider them to be prisoners of conscience.

Zimbabwe: Shattered lives - the case of Porta Farm
In May 2005 the government of Zimbabwe embarked on Operation Murambatsvina (Restore Order), a programme of mass forced evictions and the demolition of homes and informal businesses. The operation, which was carried out in winter and against a backdrop of severe food shortages, targeted poor urban and peri-urban areas countrywide. In a critical report released on 22 July 2005 the United Nations (UN) estimated that in the space of approximately six weeks some 700,000 people lost their homes, their livelihoods, or both.

Guatemala: Land of injustice?
In 1992 workers at Maria Lourdes Farm began to claim the proper minimum wage and labour entitlements. Despite court judgments in their favour, by 2003 they had still not received their outstanding wages. They occupied the farm to bring pressure to bear on the farm owner. Subsequently their lawyers were charged with “threats and coercion”; and community members were arrested for usurpation, intimidated and threatened by security guards employed by the farm owner, and had crops and property destroyed. They were forcefully evicted in March 2004 and their houses were destroyed. In July 2004 a security guard allegedly in the pay of the farm owner raped the 15-year-old daughter of one of the community leaders. In October 2004 the workers were finally given an area of land worth approximately half of what they were originally owed. The community consider this a success by Guatemalan standards.

USA :Amnesty International’s continuing concerns about taser use
In November 2004 Amnesty International published a report detailing its concerns about taser use in the USA, including the circumstances in which more than 70 people had died in the USA and Canada after being struck with the weapons.(1) While coroners had usually attributed the deaths to other factors, such as drug intoxication, there was increasing concern as to whether the taser could exacerbate a risk of heart failure or other adverse effects in such cases. Amnesty International also raised concern about the lack of strict guidelines governing taser use in the USA, as well as the risk of abuse inherent in electro-shock weapons which, portable and easy to use, have the capacity to inflict severe pain at the push of a button, often without leaving marks. Amnesty International called on all US police departments and authorities to suspend their deployment of tasers pending a rigorous, independent inquiry into their use and effects. It made a similar call to the Canadian authorities.(2) For those departments who continue to deploy tasers, Amnesty International has called for their use to be strictly limited to situations where there is an immediate threat of death or serious injury, which cannot be contained by lesser means, and where a police officer would otherwise resort to firearms to protect life.

Military commissions for "war on terror" detainees:Amnesty International's campaign to stop torture and ill-treatment in the "war on terror"
Human rights are under threat. The absolute ban on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment ¨C one of the most universally accepted human rights ¨C is being undermined. In the "war on terror", some governments are not only using torture and ill-treatment, they are seeking to justify it. They argue that interrogation methods which amount to torture or ill-treatment, and detention conditions which constitute ill-treatment, are both justifiable and necessary.

Stonewalled – still demanding respect: Police abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the USA
This report is based on the report Stonewalled: police abuse and misconduct against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the U.S. produced by Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) in 2005. It is based on research conducted between 2003 and 2005 which focused primarily on four very different and geographically diverse US cities – Chicago (Illinois), Los Angeles (California), New York (New York), and San Antonio (Texas). All four cities have well-documented histories of police brutality and misconduct and each has taken at least some steps to address these human rights abuses. They, therefore, provide an insight into the progress that has been made and the challenges that remain.

One of the difficulties experienced by Amnesty International (AI) in researching abuses against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people both in the community at large and by state officials, is the lack of information gathering by the authorities and non-governmental organizations at state or national level. Even in the four cities highlighted, the local capacity to document abuses by the police where LGBT people are specifically targeted is limited.

Strengthening compliance with UN arms embargoes –key challenges for monitoring and verification
Brian Wood*
States have a legal obligation to comply strictly with arms embargoes imposed by the Security Council under the authority of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. Rigorous design, monitoring and compliance with the agreed terms of such embargoes can contribute significantly to the promotion of international peace and security, and to the respect of a wide range of human rights and fundamental freedoms as required in international law. The authority of the Security Council and the United Nations is greatly undermined by persistent violations of UN embargoes and impunity of the violators.

Israel/Occupied Territories: Open letter from the Secretary General to the Parliamentary candidates: Put human rights protection on the Israeli election agenda
As Israel embarks on new legislative elections on 28 March 2006, Amnesty International calls on all Israeli political parties and their candidates to put human rights at the top of their agenda and to put forward clear strategies and action plans to ensure that the enjoyment of fundamental human rights becomes a reality for people in all sectors of society.

Brazil: "We have come to take your souls":
the caveirão and policing in Rio de Janeiro
"Imagine an official armoured vehicle, emblazoned with a skull and a sword, with police who come in shooting – first at the streetlights, then at the neighbourhood’s residents… this is the caveirão. An eleven-year-old boy had his head torn off his body by shots which came from the caveirão – and we, the residents, still have to prove that it was the police." Resident of Caju community, where the caveirão has been deployed, 2 December 2005.

"We operate as we would in a conventional war, where the tank leads the way and the infantry surrounds the enemy." BOPE commander, Colonel Venâncio Moura

Solomon Islands:Women confronting violence
"Kidnapping, murder, rape and torture have gone unchecked. Police are unable or unwilling to investigate many of these crimes. There are too many examples of criminals evading arrest, charges or detention, protected by corrupt politicians, officials, police or prison guards."(1)

Central African Republic:Five months of war against women
In September 2003, following allegations of widespread and systematic rape by combatants in the armed conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), Amnesty International (AI) decided to send two researchers to the capital, Bangui, to gather further information. From the limited information available before September 2003, AI was concerned that the extent of rape in late 2002 and early 2003 was greater than in previous years. However, specific details were few and the scale remained unclear. Fearing stigmatization and rejection, most of the victims were reluctant – mostly unwilling - to talk publicly about their ordeal.

France: Violence against women: a matter for the State
Long seen by many as a private matter that should remain in the private arena, violence against women is seen by Amnesty International as a matter for the State. On 23 November 2005, the government published data from a survey carried out among police services that reveal figures that were already suspected but not any the less damning because of it: in France, a woman dies after being beaten by her partner every four days. More than half of such women have been subjected to domestic violence previously. The aim of this report is to document not the violence itself but the response made to it by the French authorities. Its findings and recommendations are the fruit of one year’s work researching and bringing together data obtained from actors involved in this field.(1)

Beyond Abu Ghraib: detention and torture in Iraq
"I have lost a year and a half of my life"
43-year-old former security detainee and father of three daughters following his release in September 2005; he alleged that he was ill-treated while held in US detention in Iraq.

Nearly three years after United States (US) and allied forces invaded Iraq and toppled the government of Saddam Hussain, the human rights situation in the country remains dire. The deployment of US-led forces in Iraq and the armed response that engendered has resulted in thousands of deaths of civilians and widespread abuses amid the ongoing conflict.

Italy:Invisible children - The human rights of migrant and asylum-seeking minors detained upon arrival at the maritime border in Italy
Minors are often forgotten in discussions on global migration and asylum. According to UNHCR, at any one time there may be up to 100,000 unaccompanied children in Western Europe alone. As many as 20,000 unaccompanied minors lodge asylum applications every year in Europe, North America and Oceania.(1) Children are particularly vulnerable to human rights abuses, both as minors and as migrants/asylum-seekers, and are thus subject to an intersectional vulnerability. In Italy, many migrant and asylum-seeking minors, whether accompanied by family members or alone, are put in immigration detention centres each year after arrival at the maritime border without an opportunity to challenge the lawfulness or arbitrariness of their detention. Their exact number is not available due to a lack of transparency in the Italian immigration system. Because the practice of routine, generalized detention does not comply with international human rights laws and standards, such detention is not subjected to protective assessments (such as whether it is in the child’s best interests) as required by the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).

UNITED KINGDOM: Human rights: a broken promise: Summary report
Citizens should have statutory rights to enforce their human rights in the UK courts. We will by statute incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law to bring these rights home and allow our people access to them in their national courts. The incorporation of the European Convention will establish a floor, not a ceiling, for human rights. [emphasis added]
1997 Labour Party’s General Election Manifesto

Should legal obstacles arise we will legislate further, including, if necessary, amending the Human Rights Act in respect of the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, 5 August 2005

The 1997 general election returned a Labour administration to power after a period of 18 years of Conservative government. Under Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Labour government, true to its 1997 election promise, published a White Paper entitled: "Bringing Rights Home", presaging the momentous introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) which gave effect in domestic law to most of the rights enshrined in the (European) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). Rather than incorporating the ECHR into domestic law, the HRA sets out in primary legislation, domestically, human rights that are "expressed in the same terms" as their equivalents in the Convention.
Amnesty International commended the UK authorities for the introduction of the HRA as an initial step to deepening a human rights culture.

UNITED KINGDOM: Human rights: a broken promise
Citizens should have statutory rights to enforce their human rights in the UK courts. We will by statute incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law to bring these rights home and allow our people access to them in their national courts. The incorporation of the European Convention will establish a floor, not a ceiling, for human rights. [emphasis added]
1997 Labour Party’s General Election Manifesto

Should legal obstacles arise we will legislate further, including, if necessary, amending the Human Rights Act in respect of the interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Prime Minister Tony Blair, 5 August 2005

The 1997 general election returned a Labour administration to power after a period of 18 years of Conservative government. Under Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Labour government, true to its 1997 election promise, published a White Paper entitled: "Bringing Rights Home", presaging the momentous introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) which gave effect in domestic law to most of the rights enshrined in the (European) Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR). Rather than incorporating the ECHR into domestic law, the HRA sets out in primary legislation, domestically, human rights that are "expressed in the same terms" as their equivalents in the Convention.
Amnesty International commended the UK authorities for the introduction of the HRA as an initial step to deepening a human rights culture.

Iran: New government fails to address dire human rights situation
Six months after Dr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took up office as the country’s new president, the human rights situation in Iran remains dire. Scores of critics and opponents of the government continue to be imprisoned, many following grossly unfair trials, the death penalty is widely used and torture is common. The authorities maintain strict controls on freedom of expression and association, and religious and ethnic minorities are subject to persecution. Women are severely discriminated against in both law and practice and those lawyers, journalists and others who dare speak up in support of human rights -

Colombia: Reporting, Campaigning and Serving without Fear: The Rights of Journalists, Election Candidates and Elected Officials
In an election year – with Congressional and Presidential elections being held on 12 March and 28 May, respectively – Amnesty International is calling on the parties to Colombia’s long-running armed conflict to guarantee the right of candidates and voters, those already in elected office and journalists covering the elections, to report, campaign, vote and exercise their office free from fear. Failure to provide such guarantees risks seriously undermining the rule of law in Colombia and could raise doubts about the fairness of the poll.

Sri Lanka:A Climate of Fear in the East
The human rights situation in eastern Sri Lanka has deteriorated dramatically over the last two years, as levels of violence have escalated, resulting in widespread human rights abuses and a climate of fear and insecurity. Ever since the signing of the 2002 ceasefire agreement (CFA) between the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) there have been large numbers of reported ceasefire breaches(1), including armed ambushes, abductions and intimidation, as well as human rights abuses under international law, such as politically motivated killings, torture and the recruitment of children as soldiers. Although such ceasefire breaches and human rights abuses have been regularly reported since the signing of the CFA in 2002, since February 2005 they have escalated in number and are now taking place on an unprecedented scale. While all communities are affected, the majority of the violence has been against Tamils.

USA:Guantánamo: Lives torn apart – The impact of indefinite detention on detainees and their families
As the unlawful detentions of ‘enemy combatants’ at the US detention centre at the Guantánamo Bay naval base, Cuba, enter their fifth year, Amnesty International is renewing its call for the detention centre to be closed and for all those held to be released or given fair trial according to international law and without recourse to the death penalty on the US mainland. Four years since the first transfers to Guantánamo, approximately 500 men(1) of around 35 nationalities remain held at the detention facility unlawfully. Reports from the detainees and their lawyers suggest that many have been subjected to torture or other forms of ill-treatment in Guantánamo or in other US detention centres. Some have embarked on a prolonged hunger strike, among them those who have requested not to be force-fed in order that they may be allowed to die. There have been numerous suicide attempts and fears for the physical and psychological welfare of the detainees increase as each day of indefinite detention passes.

Georgia: Torture and ill-treatment still a concern after the "Rose Revolution": Summary
When coming to power following the "Rose Revolution" in November 2003, the government inherited a system in which torture and ill-treatment were widespread and perpetrators routinely went unpunished. While important steps have since been taken, the government still has a long way to go to end torture and ill-treatment in the country.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:The execution of mentally ill offenders
I cannot believe that capital punishment is a solution – to abolish murder by murdering, an endless chain of murdering. When I heard that my daughter’s murderer was not to be executed, my first reaction was immense relief from an additional torment: the usual catastrophe, breeding more catastrophe, was to be stopped – it might be possible to turn the bad into good. I felt with this man, the victim of a terrible sickness, of a demon over which he had no control, might even help to establish the reasons that caused his insanity and to find a cure for it...
Mother of 19-year-old murder victim, California, November 1960(1)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:The execution of mentally ill offenders: Summary Report(1)
I cannot believe that capital punishment is a solution – to abolish murder by murdering, an endless chain of murdering. When I heard that my daughter’s murderer was not to be executed, my first reaction was immense relief from an additional torment: the usual catastrophe, breeding more catastrophe, was to be stopped – it might be possible to turn the bad into good. I felt with this man, the victim of a terrible sickness, of a demon over which he had no control, might even help to establish the reasons that caused his insanity and to find a cure for it...
Mother of 19-year-old murder victim, California, November 1960

Today, at 6pm, the State of Florida is scheduled to kill my brother, Thomas Provenzano, despite clear evidence that he is mentally ill.... I have to wonder: Where is the justice in killing a sick human being?
Sister of death row inmate, June 2000

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Behind closed gates: ethnic discrimination in employment
Between 1992 and 1995 the three major ethnic groups of today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats, fought a bitter conflict for political and economic power. Tens of thousands of people were killed and millions were driven from their homes as attempts were made to create "ethnically cleansed" territories. Tens of thousands of workers in these territories were discriminated against and unfairly dismissed because of their ethnicity.

Nigeria: Making the destitute homeless – forced evictions in Makoko, Lagos State
"My baby boy is four days old. I delivered him here after my house had been demolished. Only my mother was here to help me, and the boy has not seen a doctor or nurse yet. My husband [has] run away after the bulldozers came in on Thursday. Now I spend the nights in the class rooms in the school with many other families. I have no money."
Miriam Usman, 30, who gave birth in the demolition site of Makoko in Lagos in late April 2005, only days after bulldozers razed the community(1)

USA: Who are the Guantánamo detainees?
CASE SHEET 15: Yemeni national: Abdulsalam al-Hela
Full name: Abdulsalam al-Hela
Nationality: Yemeni

Occupation: Businessman
Age: 34
Family status: Married with two children

USA: Who are the Guantánamo detainees?
CASE SHEET 16: Sudanese national: Sami al Hajj
Full name: Sami al Hajj
Nationality: Sudanese
Occupation: Cameraman/journalist
Age: 35
Family status: Married with one child

USA
Who are the Guantánamo detainees?
CASE SHEET 11: Bahraini national: Jumah al-Dossari
Full name: Jumah Mohammed Abdul-Latif al-Dossari
Nationality: Bahraini national
Age: 32
Family status: Divorced with a young daughter

USA: Days of adverse hardship in US detention camps - Testimony of Guantánamo detainee Jumah al-Dossari
Below is the testimony of Jumah al-Dossari, which he wrote in July 2005 in the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay naval base, Cuba. The hand written testimony was given to Amnesty International by Jumah al-Dossari’s civilian lawyer. At the date of publication Jumah al-Dossari remains detained in Guantánamo Bay. This testimony is Jumah al-Dossari’s personal account of his experiences in Pakistani and US custody, and the views expressed in it are his own.

The call for tough arms controls: Voices from Haiti
‘When there are guns, there are more victims. Before it was the macoutes [paramilitaries led by former dictators Francois and Jean-Claude Duvalier] and former [demobilized] soldiers who had the guns. Now, it’s the people who live in your own neighbourhood who commit the violence.’
— Malya, a woman living in Martissant, a Port-au-Prince neighbourhood, November 2005

The call for tough arms controls: Voices from the Democratic Republic of the Congo
‘There are so many weapons here that each person makes his own law. There is practically complete impunity. Anyone who holds a weapon has authority over anyone and can threaten anyone.’
— Jean-Charles, humanitarian officer in the Democratic Republic of the Congo since 2001, Bukavu, South Kivu

The call for tough arms controls: voices from Sierra Leone
"Before the war we had lights, there was water in the taps, but now because of these guns, we have nothing. Now we put kerosene in our lamps and have to fetch water. We had school libraries, now the buildings are standing empty." --Zainab Kamara, counsellor, Makeni, Bombali District

Thailand: "If you want peace, work for justice"
Political violence in Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala Provinces in the Muslim majority far South of Thailand escalated sharply after a raid on an army camp there by an unidentified armed group on 4 January 2004. Since then more than 1,000 people have been killed, including both civilians and members of the security forces. Attacks by armed groups have continued on an almost daily basis, as the authorities have struggled to address the violence by deploying significantly increased numbers of security forces in these provinces and enlarging their powers by enacting new security legislation. The conflict has had an extremely adverse impact on local people, as their ability to travel, trade and work in safety has been greatly restricted, affecting almost all areas of their lives.

IT IS TIME TO COMPLY: Canada’s Record of Unimplemented
UN Human Rights Recommendations
The Committee notes with concern that many of the recommendations it addressed to [Canada] in 1999 remain unimplemented.

Russian Federation: Nowhere to turn to -
Violence against women in the family
"How did I end up in this cage, chained?" - Oksana, 54 years old, Russian Federation

Every hour a woman in the Russian Federation dies at the hand of a relative, her partner or former partner. Violence against women in the family(1) occurs in all 89 regions of the Russian Federation. It occurs in families of different social spheres and ethnic backgrounds; it is not a private matter but affects society as a whole. Amnesty International is concerned that throughout the Russian Federation, too little is done to prevent violence in the family, to protect those who have become victims and to bring to account perpetrators of violence in the family. Violence against women in the family is a human rights violation, a form of discrimination which states are obliged to act against under international law. The Russian Federation is a party to a number of treaties which oblige the state to protect those under its jurisdiction from human rights abuses, including from violence in the family. This includes the obligation to take measures to prevent acts of violence against women in the family and to provide protection for victims of such abuses. Such measures should include, but are not limited to public awareness raising and training of law enforcement officials, the enactment of specific legislation and the funding of shelters, hotlines and other services for victims of violence in the family.

Myanmar: Travesties of Justice – Continued Misuse of the legal system
Despite releases of political prisoners in July 2005, Amnesty International remains concerned that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) have continued to abuse the justice system to silence peaceful dissent. This misuse denies the rule of law and the enjoyment of basic political freedoms in the country, and human rights in Myanmar generally. People continue to be arrested and imprisoned in Myanmar solely on account of their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement.

Reject rather than regulate: Call on Council of Europe member states not to establish minimum standards for the use of diplomatic assurances in transfers to risk of torture and other ill-treatment
Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, call upon member states of the Council of Europe, and the Council of Europe as an institution, to reject any proposals to establish minimum standards for the content and use of diplomatic assurances against the risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment ("other ill-treatment"). The organizations consider that the elaboration of such standards (and reliance on diplomatic assurances) is incompatible with the states’ obligations and the aims and principles of the Council of Europe to prevent torture and other ill-treatment.

ERITREA: Religious Persecution
Basic human rights denied
Amnesty International has received disturbing reports of increasing violations in Eritrea of the right to freedom of religion, belief and conscience. While Jehovah’s Witnesses have been subjected to severe persecution for the past decade on account of their religious beliefs, this report focuses on widespread detentions and other human rights violations of members of evangelical Christian churches in the past three years, intensifying in 2005. Since 2002, their churches have been shut down by the government and many members have been tortured in an attempt to force them to stop worshipping and to thereby abandon their faith. Members of new groups within the officially-permitted Orthodox Church and Islam have also been detained on account of their beliefs.

Brazil:"They come in shooting": Policing socially excluded communities
On 31 March 2005, 29 people were killed in the Baixada Fluminense district of Rio de Janeiro. The killings were attributed to a group, believed to consist of military police officers, who drove through the Baixada Fluminense between 8.30 and 11pm, shooting randomly at passers by. Fourteen-year-old schoolboy Douglas Brasil de Paula was playing pinball in a bar when he was killed. Elizabeth Soares de Oliveira was working in her husband’s bar when she was shot. João da Costa Magalhães was sitting at the door of his house when the gunmen fired on him, while Rafael da Silva Couto, a 17-year-old schoolboy, was cycling along the Via Dutra when he was shot dead.

Serbia and Montenegro The Writing on the Wall: Serbian Human Rights Defenders at Risk
Amnesty International is concerned at the apparent increase in the incidence of threats and attacks on individual human rights defenders and human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Serbia. The right of both individuals and NGOs to work for the protection and promotion of human rights is recognized as legitimate in international standards. Such standards also oblige states, as part of their own responsibilities with regard to human rights, to ensure that human rights defenders are protected in their work. Amnesty International believes that the Serbian authorities have failed to exercise these responsibilities, leaving threats and attacks unchallenged and therefore human rights defenders at risk. Indeed, in some cases it appears that the authorities themselves may have been behind such threats and attacks.

Slovenia
Amnesty International’s Briefing to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 35th Session, November 2005
Slovenia, formerly a constituent republic of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), declared its independence in June 1991(1) and became a UN member state in May 1992. On 6 July 1992 Slovenia became a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) by succession from the SFRY. On the occasion of the consideration of Slovenia’s initial report on the implementation of the ICESCR, submitted to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Amnesty International highlights its concerns relating to the implementation of the ICESCR in the state party. This report focuses in particular on the human rights violations linked to the unresolved status of individuals removed from the Slovenian registry of permanent residents in 1992 (the so-called "erased"), including their lack of access to full reparation for the violation of their human rights to which the "erasure" led. The situation of the "erased" raises concerns over Slovenia’s failure to meet its obligations to respect the rights enshrined in the ICESCR of the individuals concerned, including their right to work (Article 6), social security (Article 9), health (Article 12) and education (Article 13).

Morocco / Western Sahara: Sahrawi human rights defenders under attack
Since May 2005, the territory of Western Sahara, particularly the town of Laayoune, has been rocked by a series of demonstrations. In many of them, Sahrawi (Western Saharan) demonstrators have expressed their support for the Polisario Front or called for independence from Morocco.(1) These views are anathema to the Moroccan authorities, which have not only responded in a heavy-handed manner to the protests, thereby exacerbating tensions, but also widened the scope of the repression by arresting and detaining long-standing human rights activists who were monitoring and disseminating information on the crackdown.

Georgia: Torture and ill-treatment Still a concern after the "Rose Revolution"
The fight against torture or other ill-treatment is currently one of the key issues on the new government’s agenda with regard to human rights. It is also an issue that has been a central concern of the international community and the human rights community, including Amnesty International, since Georgia became independent in 1991.

UGANDA: Child "Night Commuters"
"We come to the shelter because I fear being abducted again. I was eight years old then. I do not want my brothers and sisters to be abducted as I was. We walk fast in the night to be here."

Girl aged 14, walks a kilometre, along with her four siblings, to the safety of a shelter in Lacor, five kilometres out of Gulu Town.

In northern Uganda an estimated 30,000 child "night commuters" flee their homes at night and go to urban areas and to the centre of larger camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). The "night commuting" phenomenon started in 2003. A main reason for this movement is to escape attacks and the risk of abduction by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), and a general climate of insecurity. Most of the children commute without the protection of adult family members and "face the threat of physical abuse, sexual exploitation and gender-based violence, including rape." (1) "Night commuting" is symptomatic of the broader issues relating to the protection of civilians in northern Uganda and illustrates how these can impact on family and community life.

Tunisia:Human rights abuses in the run up to the WSIS
In 2001, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), an agency of the United Nations, selected Tunisia as one of two countries to host the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The first part of the Summit was held in Geneva, Switzerland from 10 to 12 December 2003; the second and concluding part is to be held in Tunis from 16 to 18 November 2005.

United States of America / Yemen:
Secret Detention in CIA "Black Sites"
"They came to take our father at night, like thieves…"
Fatima al-Assad, age 12, daughter of Muhammad al-Assad, who "disappeared" after his arrest in 2003

"Brother, what is your name, what village are you from?" It was distinctive Yemeni Arabic that greeted Muhammad al-Assad as he stumbled, still hooded and shackled, from the plane at Sana’a. For the first time in nearly 18 months he knew what country he was in. He heard the question repeated twice more, as Salah Nasser Salim ‘Ali and Muhammad Faraj Ahmed Bashmilah emerged onto the hot tarmac. He still could not see them, and had not known they were on the plane with him, but he could hear one of them shouting over and over again: "I am Bashmilah, I am Bashmilah, I am from Aden".

Nigeria:Claiming rights and resources Injustice, oil and violence in Nigeria
Rights still under attack by the state

"Oil exploration has turned Ogoni into a wasteland: lands, streams and creeks are totally and continually polluted; the atmosphere has been poisoned, charged as it is with hydrocarbon vapours, methane, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and soot emitted by gas which has been flared 24 hours a day for 33 years in very close proximity to human habitation. Acid rain, oil spillages and oil blowouts have devastated Ogoni territory. High-pressure oil pipelines criss-cross the surface of Ogoni farmlands and villages dangerously."

Writer and human rights campaigner
Ken Saro-Wiwa speaking at the
Unrepresented Nations and Peoples
Organization in Geneva, 1992

Nigeria:Ten years on:Injustice and violence haunt the oil Delta
"It is like paradise and hell. They have everything. We have nothing. They throw our petitions in the dustbin. They are the cause of all our problems. If we protest, they send soldiers. They sign agreements with us and then ignore us. We have graduates going hungry, without jobs. And they bring people from Lagos to work here."
– Eghare W.O. Ojhogar, Chief of the Ugborodo community, one of whose members died during a protest at Chevron Nigeria’s Escravos oil terminal where demonstrators were assaulted and injured by the security forces on 4 February 2005.(1)

"At around 10am the soldiers arrived in 15 gunboats. There were about 100 of them. They started pouring petrol on houses. I could not count the number of firebombs used; there were too many. They fired with big guns, but no teargas was used. Two- to three-year-olds and the old ones stayed in their houses, and 12-year-old Lucky was shot dead."
– L.D.I. Orumiegha-Bari, Chairman of the Council of Chiefs, following an armed forces raid on the town of Odioma, 19 February 2005, in which at least 17 people died.(2)

Ten years after the executions of writer and human rights campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Ogoni ethnic community horrified the world, the exploitation of oil in the Niger Delta continues to result in deprivation, injustice and violence. Despite a return to civilian government in 1999 under President Olusegun Obasanjo, those responsible for human rights violations under military governments have not been brought to justice. The security forces continue to kill people and raze communities with impunity. The environmental harm to health and livelihoods that impelled the Ogoni campaign for economic and social rights remains the reality for many inhabitants of the Delta region.

Summit of the Americas:Our Call for Human Rights: A message from Amnesty International members in advance of the Fourth Summit of the Americas
As leaders of nations throughout the Americas prepare to gather in Argentina for the Fourth Summit of the Americas, the hundreds of thousands of women, men and young people from the northern to the southern tip of this hemisphere, who are members of Amnesty International, insist that their leaders ensure that improving human rights protection for all peoples in the Americas is their absolute priority.(1)

Still Waiting After 60 years: Justice for Survivors of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery System
In war zones all over the world crimes of sexual violence have been and are committed against women. Women and girls "are exposed not only to the violence and devastation that accompany any war but also to forms of violence directed specifically at women on account of their gender."(1) For centuries, wartime rape was perceived as an inevitable consequence of war. Even today, in an era where global consciousness around human rights, specifically the rights of women, has risen, survivors of sexual violence are largely denied redress: there is widespread impunity for these crimes where perpetrators go unpunished and victims are denied any form of reparation. Sexual violence, including rape, is used as a weapon of war - it is used deliberately to demoralize and destroy the opposition and is used to provide ‘entertainment’ and ‘fuel’ for soldiers as part of the very machinery of war.(2)

Côte d’Ivoire:
Threats hang heavy over the future
On 9 September 2005 the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, publicly announced that the presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire could not take place as scheduled on 30 October 2005. The indefinite postponement of the presidential election heralds an uncertain future for Côte d’Ivoire. Amnesty International fears that, if a political agreement on a new power structure in Côte d’Ivoire is not reached in the very near future, tensions which already exist will develop into renewed hostilities, leading in turn to a humanitarian crisis and serious human rights abuses which could destabilize Côte d’Ivoire and the entire sub-region.

Brazil:Briefing on Brazil's Second Periodic Report on the Implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
Amnesty International is submitting this briefing to the United Nations Human Rights Committee (HRC), prior to its consideration of Brazil’s second periodic report on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This briefing does not aim to analyse and respond to all of the Brazilian government’s report. It aims at providing supplementary and updated information in some areas in which Amnesty International considers that Brazil has failed to fulfil its obligations under the ICCPR.

Bulgaria and Romania
Amnesty International’s Human Rights Concerns in the EU Accession Countries
The present briefing paper focuses on Amnesty International's concerns in relation to specific
areas of inadequate human rights protection in Bulgaria and Romania.
Amnesty International takes no position per se on the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union. However, recognizing that the accession process has contributed to the improvement of the human rights framework in these countries, the organization urges the European Union to continue to monitor the countries’ adherence to universal human rights standards. In particular, Amnesty International is focusing on issues such as the treatment of persons with mental disabilities, discrimination against Roma communities, and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials."

PROTECTION GAP:
Strenghthening Canada's Compliance With Its International Human Rights Obligations:
Amnesty International Canada’s Submission to the
United Nations Human Rights Committee
on the occasion of the consideration of the Fifth Periodic Report of Canada
Canada prides itself, with considerable justification, on its record of protecting human rights domestically, as well as its commitment to promoting stronger human rights protection worldwide. Amnesty International recognizes that Canada has done much in both regards.

The occasion of the review of Canada’s record of compliance with its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), however, provides an important reminder that there are still a number of areas where significant improvements in Canada’s human rights performance are needed. Some, such as the protection of the basic rights of Indigenous peoples, are longstanding and very serious areas of concern. The need to address these shortcomings is critical; both to ensure the protection of the fundamental rights of those individuals and sectors of Canadian society who are effected, and also to ensure that Canada’s human rights record stands strong as an example to other countries and helps bolster human rights protection the worldover.

UNITED KINGDOM
Amnesty International’s briefing on the draft Terrorism Bill 2005
"Human rights law makes ample provision for strong counter-terrorist action, even in the most exceptional circumstances. But compromising human rights cannot serve the struggle against terrorism. On the contrary, it facilitates achievement of the terrorist’s objective — by ceding to him the moral high ground, and provoking tension, hatred and mistrust of government among precisely those parts of the population where he is most likely to find recruits.
Upholding human rights is not merely compatible with a successful counter-terrorism strategy. It is an essential element in it."
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary-General(1)

States have an obligation to take measures to prevent and protect against attacks on civilians; to investigate such crimes; to bring to justice those responsible in fair proceedings; and to ensure prompt and adequate reparation to victims. An integral part of fair proceedings is to ensure that anyone arrested or detained on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence, regardless of the real or imputed motivation for its commission, or whether the crime is classified as a "terrorist offence" or not, is charged promptly with a recognizably criminal offence – or released.

USA: Thousands of Children Sentenced to Life Without Parole National Study by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch Finds Majority Face Life for First Offense
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
I'm a former cop. I'm a true believer in law and order. But my son was a child when this happened. He wasn't thinking like an adult, and he wasn't an adult . . . how is it that the law can treat him as if he is one?
–Frank C., father of youth offender sentenced to life without parole, October 22, 2004
Children can and do commit terrible crimes. When they do, they should be held accountable, but in a manner that reflects their special capacity for rehabilitation. However, in the United States the punishment is all too often no different from that given to adults.

Greece
OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT
The rights of foreigners and minorities are still a grey area
"Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or other status."
Article 2, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Freedom from discrimination is the basis upon which the protection of human rights rests. The failure to guarantee freedom from discrimination is thus a fundamental failure in such protection practices. Amnesty International has documented various aspects of this failure around the globe. This report outlines the situation in Greece. It documents a consistent pattern of human rights violations across a range of fields that stem from the failure of the state to combat discrimination, in the practices of its representatives as well as of non-state actors. These practices range from the denial of protection to refugees and the ill-treatment of migrants, to the forced eviction of Roma from their settlements and the inadequate protection of minority rights.

Democratic Republic of Congo North-Kivu: Civilians pay the price for political and military rivalry
This report addresses the current tense situation in the province of North-Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). In Amnesty International’s view, the tensions that are building in North-Kivu tend towards a renewal of widespread armed conflict. This in turn threatens to destabilise the fragile peace process in the DRC and to erode further the already poor human rights situation in North-Kivu and the country as a whole.

Stonewalled: police abuse and misconduct against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the U.S.
Introduction

On 28 June 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in the West Village in New York City. What happened next has been described and written about in countless articles and books.4 In the history of the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights movement in the United States, the Stonewall riots, an act of defiance against police abuse and repression, is often cited as its defining moment. Black and Puerto Rican transgender women, “butch” lesbians, and homeless street youth were among those who led the rioting, which lasted several days. The police action that precipitated the historical event was by no means unusual—police raids of gay bars were commonplace at the time. What was remarkable was the sustained and intense organized response by the LGBT community to the police action that galvanized a movement and captured the imagination of generations of LGBT activists.

Uzbekistan: Lifting the siege on the truth about Andizhan
Introduction
"We don't shoot at women and children in Uzbekistan."
(President Karimov, Press Conference, 14 May)

"We could not believe that our own people were shooting at us. We thought they must be robots or zombies."
(Testimony of an eyewitness interviewed by Amnesty International)

On 12-13 May 2005 armed men attacked a number of military barracks and government buildings in the city of Andizhan. They broke into the city prison, where they freed hundreds of remand and convicted prisoners, and later occupied a regional government building on the main city square and took a number of hostages. From the early hours of 13 May, thousands of civilians -- mostly unarmed and among them some who had escaped from the prison -- gathered in the city square, where many spoke out to demand justice and an end to poverty. According to witnesses, there were sporadic incidents of the security forces firing indiscriminately into the crowds, killing and wounding demonstrators. In the early evening, the security forces surrounded the demonstrators and started to shoot indiscriminately at the crowd. The demonstrators attempted to flee. According to witnesses, hundreds of people -- men, women and children -- were killed.

Liberia:
Violence, discrimination and impunity

Sporadic outbreaks of violence continue to threaten the people of Liberia and their prospects of peace. Former rebel fighters who should have been disarmed and demobilized following the formal ending of internal conflict in 2003 have reacted with violence when they have not received their benefits. Voter registration centres were the target of a series of attacks in May 2005 in which aid workers were attacked and beaten.

Afghanistan Human rights challenges facing Afghanistan’s National and Provincial Assemblies – an open letter to candidates

MYANMAR LEAVING HOME
Amnesty International is concerned about a variety of human rights which are systematically denied to civilians by the Myanmar government, particularly those belonging to ethnic minorities. The routine military interference with the exercise of human rights includes forced labour; forcible relocation; extortion of food, money and other personal possessions; house destruction; and the denial of freedom of movement.

CONTRACTING OUT OF HUMAN RIGHTS: The Chad–Cameroon pipeline project
A pipeline transporting oil through Chad and Cameroon brings with it potential threats to human rights in the two Central African countries. Amnesty International is concerned that these threats are more likely to be realised if the investment agreements underpinning the pipeline project prejudice the human rights obligations of the states and the human rights responsibilities of the companies involved.

Colombia: The Paramilitaries in Medellín: Demobilization or Legalization?
On 25 November 2003 television viewers in Colombia watched as over 860 paramilitaries belonging to Medellín’s Cacique Nutibara Bloc (Bloque Cacique Nutibara, BCN), laid down their arms in a highly-staged ceremony in front of Colombian and foreign dignitaries. The apparent neutralization of the BCN appeared to vindicate the government’s decision to officially begin talks with the Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia, AUC), to which most paramilitary groups belong, including the BCN, following the announcement of the AUC’s unilateral ceasefire in December 2002.

Amnesty International Letter to Prime Minister Martin on Pattern of Canadian Citizens Detained Abroad June 7, 2005
Amnesty International has written to the Prime Minister urging that an Independent Expert be appointed to review and report publicly with respect to a growing number of cases of Canadian citizens who have been detained abroad in circumstances suggesting possible involvement on the part of Canadian law enforcement or security agencies. The detentions have been marked by flagrant human rights violations, including torture and detention without charge or trial.

Bangladesh: Human rights defenders under attack
"A lot of death threats are issued. Journalists are forced to keep quiet. There is a lot of pressure on them from local persons with links to higher authorities who want journalists to keep quiet."(1)

Iraq: The New Constitution Must Protect Human Rights
The people of Iraq are now engaged in a process of drafting a new constitution. Article 61 of Law of Administration for the Transitional Period requires the National Assembly to write the draft of the permanent constitution by no later than 15 August 2005. A general referendum on the draft shall be held no later than 15 October 2005.(1)

People’s Republic of China: The Olympics countdown - three years of human rights reform?
"….Olympism seeks to create a way of life based on the joy found in effort, the educational value of good example and respect for universal fundamental ethical principles." Olympic Charter, Fundamental Principles, paragraph 2

USA/JORDAN/YEMEN: Torture and secret detention:
Testimony of the ‘disappeared’ in the ‘war on terror’
On 20 June 2005, Amnesty International delegates visited two Yemeni detainees said to have recently been transferred from the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba. However, their accounts described another US detention regime just as sinister, yet more secretive, than Guantánamo. The men appear to have been victims of the US administration’s policy of secret detentions around the world. For over a year and a half they had effectively "disappeared".

Nepal: Fractured country, shattered lives
"We know the grave can cry out after 50 years"(1)

Haiti: Disarmament delayed, justice denied
Haitians remain mired in a human rights crisis despite the presence of a UN peacekeeping force, the Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). In fact, little tangible progress has been made to protect human rights since the interim government took office in early March 2004 and in the year since MINUSTAH arrived in the country. Violent crime, confrontations between armed groups and gangs, and unlawful use of force by police continue to claim the lives of civilians on a daily basis.

Nepal: Children caught in the conflict
Nepal has been gripped by a brutal internal armed conflict between the security forces and Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) rebels for the last nine years, during which more than 12,000 people have died. Nepal’s civilians are caught between the two sides and are experiencing extreme violence and hardship. While the violence is affecting all sections of society, Nepali children are being impacted particularly harshly and in very specific ways.

Iraq: In cold blood: abuses by armed groups
Thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed and thousands more injured in attacks by armed groups in the past two years. Some died or were wounded in attacks aimed primarily at United States (US) or other troops comprising the US-led military alliance that toppled Saddam Hussain’s regime but others were victims of direct attacks intended to cause the greatest possible civilian loss of life. Many of the killings of civilians were carried out in a perfidious way, with suicide bombers or others disguising themselves as civilians, or were marked by appalling brutality – as in the cases of hostages whose deaths, by being beheaded or other means, were filmed by the perpetrators and then disseminated to a wide public audience.

Democratic Republic of Congo: arming the east
Weapons and munitions have continued to flow into the Great Lakes Region and to those forces known to flagrantly abuse human rights in the eastern DRC despite the peace agreements in 2002 between warring groups of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and between the governments of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda.(1)

Burundi: Refugee Rights at Risk : Human Rights Abuses in Returns to and from Burundi
It is a time of fragile hopefulness in Burundi. The country has emerged from several decades of devastating civil war and massive human rights violations and begun a peace process. The Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi was signed in August 2000. All but one of the armed opposition groups have agreed to those accords. (1) The United Nations has a significant presence in Burundi through the mandate(2) of the United Nations Operations in Burundi (ONUB), which includes a peacekeeping force of close to 5,500 soldiers now widely deployed throughout the country and acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations. A constitutional referendum, held on 28 February 2005, led to the adoption of a new constitution for the post transition period. After several delays, local, legislative and presidential elections are due to be held in various phases by 19 August 2005. All of these developments offer reason for hope.

Guatemala: No protection, no justice: Killings of women in Guatemala
"My 15-year-old daughter María Isabel was a student and worked in a shop in the holidays. On the night of 15 December 2001, she was kidnapped in the capital. Her body was found shortly before Christmas. She had been raped, her hands and feet had been tied with barbed wire, she had been stabbed and strangled and put in a bag. Her face was disfigured from being punched, her body was punctured with small holes, there was a rope around her neck and her nails were bent back. When her body was handed over to me, I threw myself to the ground shouting and crying but they kept on telling me not to get so worked up.

With the help of witnesses, the authorities identified two of the culprits and a luxury car and obtained details of the house where she had been held. The case has been passed to two prosecutor’s offices but those responsible are still at liberty". (1)

Thailand: The Plight of Burmese Migrant Workers
"It’s better here in Thailand. You don’t have to work for other people for free", Shan farmer who had been required to perform forced labour for the Myanmar army and was now earning 70 baht(1) a day picking corn in Thailand

Afghanistan: Women still under attack - a systematic failure to protect (Report)
Throughout the world, women are victims of violence on a daily basis whether in the context of peace or in conflict. Perpetrators may be officials of the state, armed opposition groups or individuals – including family members. Violence against women and girls in Afghanistan is pervasive; few women are exempt from the reality or threat of violence. Afghan women and girls live with the risk of: abduction and rape by armed individuals; forced marriage; being traded for settling disputes and debts; and face daily discrimination from all segments of society as well as by state officials. Strict societal codes, invoked in the name of tradition and religion, are used as justification for denying women the ability to enjoy their fundamental rights, and have led to the imprisonment of some women, and even to killings. Should they protest by running away, the authorities may imprison them.

Nigeria: Unheard voices
It was "Folake" who was jailed after she accused a man of rape. A domestic worker, she said her employer’s husband had forced her into his bedroom and made her watch a violent videotape before forcing her to have sex. A medical examination supported her allegation. Yet she was the one brought to court, charged with slander for making the accusation, and remanded in prison until her family could raise the bail money to have her released. The material evidence of the crime, handed over to the police, was later said to have disappeared. No charges were brought against the man she accused. (1)

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Women deserve dignity and respect
"In our society, a woman who puts up with violence committed against her and does not complain is regarded as a ‘great woman’… We, and organizations such as Amnesty International, must work together with governments to ensure that women are protected from violence and change this reality" Rania al-Baz, activist and a survivor of domestic violence.

Iraq: Iraqi Special Tribunal-Fair trials not guaranteed
For decades impunity for crimes under international law flourished in Iraq. Under the government of Saddam Hussein large scale human rights violations were committed and the victims denied all possibility of justice by a political and justice system designed to quash all dissent and protect human rights abusers.

USA: Guantánamo and beyond: The continuing pursuit of unchecked executive power
In late December 2001, a memorandum was sent from the United States Justice Department to the Department of Defense.(4) It advised the Pentagon that no US District Court could "properly entertain" appeals from "enemy aliens" detained at the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Because Cuba has "ultimate sovereignty" over Guantánamo, the memorandum asserted, US Supreme Court jurisprudence meant that a foreign national in custody in the naval base should not have access to the US courts. The first "war on terror" detainees were transferred to the base two weeks later. The memorandum remained secret until it was leaked to the media in mid-2004 in the wake of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal.

Zimbabwe: Human rights defenders under siege
Amnesty International is deeply concerned by the repression of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe. The government, in an effort to conceal human rights violations and prevent public protest and criticism of its actions, has become increasingly intolerant of the work of human rights defenders and is actively seeking to silence them.

UN Committee Against Torture strongly criticizes Canada's position on torture

Nepal: Human rights abuses escalate under the state of emergency (Report)
More than two months after King Gyanendra’s seizure of power and imposition of a state of emergency, the human rights situation in Nepal continues to deteriorate while the conflict escalates. Tight restrictions on the activities of Nepali civil society have severely limited reporting on human rights abuses taking place in the country and especially in rural areas. Despite this, information is being passed on by those human rights activists and journalists who are finding ways to operate and the picture that is emerging is deeply troubling.

The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2004

Letter to Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs, regarding Zahra Kazemi

Israel and the Occupied Territories: Conflict, occupation and patriarchy. Women carry the burden
The spiraling violence and killings in Israel and the Occupied Territories in the past four and a half years has brought untold suffering to the Palestinian and Israeli civilian populations. More then 3,200 Palestinians, including more than 600 children and more than 150 women have been killed by Israeli forces, and more than 1,000 Israelis, including more than 100 children and some 300 women were killed by Palestinian armed groups. Most of the victims were unarmed civilians who were not taking part in any armed confrontations. Thousands more have been injured, many of them maimed for life. Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned and campaigned against the killings of civilians by both sides.(1)

Brazil: "Foreigners in Our Own Country": Indigenous Peoples in Brazil
Amnesty International has documented and campaigned against human rights violations committed against indigenous peoples in Brazil, their leaders and those who defend them, for many years. In 2005, Indians(1) continue to be victims of attacks, killings and other forms of violence and discrimination, often committed with impunity. Successive governments have failed to deliver on their international and constitutional obligations to fully and finally recognise Indian land rights. Worryingly, there has been a recent growth in calls for a reversal of many of the gains won by Indians since the implementation of Brazil's 1988 constitution. The frustration of Brazilian Indians was recently shown by the occupation of the Amazon headquarters of FUNAI, Fundação Nacional do Indio, the National Indian Foundation,(2) in Manaus in January 2005.

Amnesty International Open Letter to President Bush, President Fox and Prime Minister Martin on the occasion of their trilateral meeting, March 23, 2005

Amnesty International Open Letter to President Bush, President Fox and Prime Minister Martin - Summary of Recommendations

Cuba: Prisoners of conscience: 71 longing for freedom
In March 2003, the Cuban government carried out the most severe crackdown on the dissident movement since the years following the 1959 revolution. Scores of dissidents were detained, seventy five of whom were subjected to summary trials and quickly sentenced to prison terms ranging from 26 months to 28 years. This crackdown came as a surprise to many observers who believed that Cuba might be moving towards a more open and tolerant approach towards opponents of the regime: the number of prisoners of conscience had declined and had been superseded by short term detentions, interrogations, summonses, threats, intimidation, eviction, loss of employment, restrictions on travel, house searches or physical or verbal acts of aggression. In addition, in April 2000 the Cuban Government began implementing a de facto moratorium on executions, which was broken in April 2003 with the execution of three men convicted of hijacking a tugboat to leave the island, in which no one was harmed.

SOMALIA: Urgent need for effective human rights protection under the new transitional government
After 14 years of state collapse, there is now a new chance for war-weary Somalis to reconstitute the state with effective institutions to secure protection of human rights in the future and to end impunity for crimes under international law, thus laying a firm foundation for lasting peace.

Zimbabwe: An assessment of human rights violations in the run-up to the March 2005 parliamentary elections
For the past five years, elections in Zimbabwe have been characterized by an escalation in human rights violations.(1) These violations take place before, during and after elections. The majority of victims are members and supporters of the main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), including opposition Members of Parliament (MPs) and opposition candidates. The perpetrators have largely been supporters of the ruling party, Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), and members of the security forces.

The Impact of Guns on Women's Lives
Countless women and girls have been shot and killed or injured in every region of the world. Millions more live in fear of armed violence against women. Two key factors lie at the heart of these abuses: the proliferation and misuse of small arms and deep-rooted discrimination against women.

Mission Report: Burundi - The Tragedy of Displacement

India: Justice, the victim - Gujarat state fails to protect women from violence
In February 2002, violence erupted in the state of Gujarat in western India. Some 2000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed and many others were injured and forcibly evicted from their homes and businesses over the course of the following weeks. Violence against women and girls was a key feature of the violence. Scores of Muslim women and girls were sexually violated - raped, gang-raped or mutilated. Many saw their family members killed and their homes and businesses destroyed. After these traumatizing events many women victims were left to care for their family’s survival, often in makeshift relief camps with inadequate support, conditions and reparations. Few perpetrators were convicted and victims’ attempts to obtain legal redress have been largely frustrated.

Tracking Lethal Tools. Marking and Tracing Arms and Ammunition: a central piece of the arms control puzzle
A global system for tracking illicit arms and ammunition is central to improving accountability in the international arms trade and preventing arms getting into the wrong hands. The United Nations negotiations to establish international Marking and Tracing controls present states with an historic opportunity to take a tough stance against the worldwide proliferation of illicit arms and the use of arms for violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and to make real progress.

Colombia: "Scarred bodies, hidden crimes": Sexual Violence against women in the armed conflict
All the armed groups – the security forces, paramilitaries and the guerrilla – have sexually abused or exploited women, both civilians or their own combatants, in the course of Colombia’s 40-year-old conflict, and sought to control the most intimate parts of their lives. By sowing terror and exploiting and manipulating women for military gain, bodies have been turned into a battleground. The serious abuses and violations committed by all the parties to the armed conflict remain hidden behind a wall of silence fuelled by discrimination and impunity. This in turn exacerbates the violence that has been the hallmark of Colombia’s internal armed conflict. It is women and girls who are the hidden victims of that conflict.

Nepal: Killing with impunity
On 17 August 2003 19 unarmed CPN (Maoist) cadres were executed by RNA soldiers in Ramechhap district. On 13 February 2004 Reena Rasaili was reportedly raped and shot by security forces personnel in Kavre district. On 11 August 2004 a human rights activist, Dekendra Raj Thapa, was killed by CPN (Maoist) cadres in Dailekh district. Despite attracting widespread international and national concern nobody has been punished for these unlawful killings, or for the hundreds like them that have taken place during the conflict in Nepal.

Indonesia: The Role of Human Rights in the Wake of the Earthquake and Tsunami. A Briefing for Members of the Consultative Group on Indonesia 19–20 January 2005
In response to the earthquake and tsunami which devastated large parts of the province of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam (NAD) and surrounding areas, the international donor community has pledged unprecedented levels of support and commitment to both immediate relief efforts and longer term reconstruction of affected communities. Amnesty International welcomes this recognition of global responsibility to those in need. In addition to urging donors to honour their pledges, Amnesty International also calls on the donor community to ensure that relief and reconstruction efforts are conducted within a framework that protects and promotes human rights. This requires meaningful support for, and insistence upon, mechanisms which ensure the implementation of relevant human rights principles.

USA: Human rights not hollow words. An appeal to President George W. Bush on the occasion of his re-inauguration
On the occasion of his inauguration as President of the United States of America, Amnesty International has appealed to President Bush to make the eradication of torture and ill-treatment by US agents, and the USA’s full compliance with international law and standards for the treatment and trial of detainees, a hallmark of his second term in office.

Sudan: Who will answer for the crimes? (Report)
A Comprehensive Peace Agreement to end the 21 year-old civil war in Sudan between the central government and the main armed group in the South, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), was signed on 9 January 2005. Amnesty International hopes that the peace agreement will usher in a new era for the protection of the rights of the Sudanese people as well as reforms to address injustice, discrimination and gross human rights violations in the country. However, in Darfur, the west of the country, the conflict is continuing today with civilians being targeted and displaced.

Civil Society Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada on the occasion of his upcoming visit to China
We are a coalition of Canadian non-governmental organizations working to promote human rights and democratic principles as central policy platforms for Canada-China relations.

Amnesty International Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada on the occasion of his upcoming visit to China
We are writing with recommendations with respect to your upcoming trip to China. Amnesty International urges that you use the opportunity of this visit to adopt a more resolute approach to Canada’s relationship with China, with human rights firmly and concretely at its centre.

USA: Guantánamo – an icon of lawlessness (1)
Imagine this.

Hundreds of US nationals are picked up around the world by a foreign government fighting a "war for national security". The government in question is reacting to evidence that a recent bombing on its territory which left thousands of civilians dead was instigated by a shadowy network based in the United States. The detainees, according to evidence the detaining power says it has but refuses to reveal, are in some way associated with this network. The detainees, a few of them children, are strapped, shackled and blindfolded, into transport planes. Some are forced to urinate and defecate on themselves during the long flights to an island military base. In this offshore prison camp they are held incommunicado in tiny cells, denied access to lawyers, relatives or the courts, and subjected to repeated interrogations and a punitive regime aimed at encouraging their "cooperation". A presidential order announces plans to try some of the detainees in front of executive bodies with the power to hand down death sentences against which there would be no right of appeal to any court.

Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada on the occasion of his trip to Libya - December 2004
A letter from Amnesty International Canada, to The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada

Rwanda: Protecting their rights: Rwandese refugees in the Great Lakes region
Through several international instruments, including the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees, and national legislation, the international community is aiming to provide relief and support to people at risk of persecution. The key agency working on behalf of the international community in this field is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and his office, UNHCR.

Liberia: No impunity for rape - A Crime against Humanity and a War Crime
"I deplore the fact that sexual and gender-based violence continue to be used as a weapon of war in African conflicts… Every effort must be made to halt this odious practice, and bring the perpetrators to justice."(1) Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary-General, 6 July 2004

Malaysia: Irene Fernandez defends rights of migrant workers despite conviction
"As a mother, I want to believe that … the society [my children] belong to is a just society, that it is a society that treats migrant workers as human beings and with dignity."(1)

Lives blown apart: Crimes against women in times of conflict (Introduction)
"They took K.M., who is 12 years old, in the open air. Her father was killed by the Janjawid in Um Baru, the rest of the family ran away and she was captured by the Janjawid who were on horseback. More than six people used her as a wife; she stayed with the Janjawid and the military more than 10 days. K., another woman who is married, aged 18, ran away but was captured by the Janjawid who slept with her in the open place, all of them slept with her. She is still with them. A., a teacher, told me that they broke her leg after raping her." A 66-year-old farmer from Um Baru in the district of Kutum, Darfur, western Sudan.1

CHINA: Human rights defenders at risk
Amnesty International has published numerous reports on the detention of prisoners of conscience in China, but this is Amnesty International’s first report on China which focuses specifically on human rights defenders.

Myanmar: Facing Political Imprisonment: Prisoners of concern to Amnesty International
This document reports on prisoners of conscience, detained in Myanmar solely on account of their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of association, expression and assembly. It also provides details of prisoners whom Amnesty International believes may be prisoners of conscience, and of political prisoners who are being detained without charge or trial. It names more than 200 individuals imprisoned between 1989 and 2004, who are among more than 1,300 political prisoners who have been imprisoned after unfair trials. Among those imprisoned are the elderly and infirm, individuals with chronic mental and physical health problems made worse by their treatment in detention, and persons who were juveniles at the time of their arrest and have been held in prison with adults.

Sudan: No one to complain to - No respite for the victims, impunity for the perpetrators
More than a million people have been displaced in Darfur; they have been attacked, women raped, people abducted, their relatives killed, villages burnt and looted. The population in rural areas and small urban centres have been forced from their land and now congregate around the main cities in overcrowded, disease-ridden camps. There is despair among the victims of these gross human rights violations carried out by government armed forces and the militia they support.

Canada: Excessive and lethal force? Amnesty International’s concerns about deaths and ill-treatment involving police use of tasers
Within the last few years, at least nine people in Canada – and over 60 in the US – have died after being shocked with a taser: a hand-held stun gun which fires two barbed darts at a distance, causing instant incapacitation to the target by delivering a 50,000 volt electro-shock. The weapons can also be applied close-up as stun guns. All but two of the nine who died were unarmed.

USA: Excessive and lethal force? Amnesty International’s concerns about deaths and ill-treatment involving police use of tasers
"I asked Borden to lift up his foot to remove the shorts, but he was being combative and refused. I dry stunned Borden in the lower abdominal area … We got Borden into the booking area. Borden was still combative and uncooperative. I dried [sic] stunned Borden in the buttocks area…" After the final shock, the officer "noticed that Borden was no longer responsive and his face was discoloured." (extract from officer’s statement on James Borden, a mentally disturbed man being booked into an Indiana jail.)(1)

Clouds of injustice: Bhopal disaster 20 years on (Executive Summary)
Twenty years ago around half a million people were exposed to toxic chemicals during a catastrophic gas leak from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. More than 7,000 people died within days. A further 15,000 died in the following years. Around 100,000 people are suffering chronic and debilitating illnesses for which treatment is largely ineffective.

Mexico: Indigenous Women and Military Injustice
PDF version - http://www.amnesty.ca/amnestynews/upload/amr4103304.pdf

In the afternoon of 22 March 2002, in the community of Barranca Tecuani, municipality of Ayutla de los Libres, Guerrero State, 27-year-old Inés Fernández Ortega accompanied by four of her young children, was in her kitchen preparing water when eleven soldiers appeared nearby. Three of them reportedly came into her home and forcefully interrogated her about some meat that was drying outside on the patio, which the soldiers said had been stolen. While she understood the question, Inés, a Tlapaneca (Me’phaa) Indian speaks little Spanish and did not reply. Her children ran off to a relative’s home. Inés Fernández was then reportedly raped. When Inés finally dared to approach her front door to close it, she saw that the meat meant for the family had been stolen. Later, she told her husband what had happened and together they reported the case to the local authorities in the hope that those responsible would be brought to justice.

Letter to the Prime Minister of Canada on the occasion of his trip to Sudan - November 2004
A letter from Amnesty International Canada, to The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada:

Arwad Al-Boushi and Ammar Khatib: Appeal for intervention by the Canadian Government
A letter from Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, to The Right Honourable Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada:

Democratic Republic of Congo: Mass rape - time for remedies

Arwad Al-Boushi: Time for the Canadian government to adopt a more forceful approach
A letter from Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International Canada, to The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs:

Zimbabwe: Power and hunger – violations of the right to food (report)


Amnesty International visited Zimbabwe in February and June 2004 to undertake research for this report. Although Amnesty International was able to speak with a wide range of sources, many were unwilling to place comments on the record for fear of reprisals. The repression of civil society, and the government’s attempts to block all information which is seen as critical, has characterized the Zimbabwe crisis for four years. It has also been extremely difficult to travel in many rural areas since the inception of the government’s fast-track land reform programme.

Colombia: "Scarred bodies, hidden crimes": Sexual Violence against women in the armed conflict (report)
"A stick was pushed into the private parts of an 18-year-old pregnant girl and it appeared through [the abdomen]. She was torn apart. (…) They [army-backed paramilitaries] stripped the women and made them dance in front of their husbands. Several were raped. You could hear the screams coming from a ranch near El Salado [Department of Bolívar]..."(1)

Honduras: transgender women living in virtual prison
Thousands of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people in Honduras face discrimination and attacks on a daily basis. Most of them are too afraid to talk. Erica (originally Eric) David Yañez was murdered in the streets of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, by two police officers on 15 July 2003.

Canada: Stolen Sisters - A human rights response to discrimination and violence against Indigenous women in Canada
“It is important to honour the missing and murdered women. It is unacceptable to marginalize these women. The Creator did not create garbage. He created beauty.” - elder Dan Smoke, closing a healing ceremony for his sister-in-law, Deborah Anne Sloss who died in Toronto on August 24, 1997 under suspicious circumstances.

Mexico: Memorandum to the Mexican Federal Congress on reforms to the Constitution and criminal justice system
In March and April President Fox’s government presented a series of proposals to the Congress of the Union to reform the Mexican Constitution(1) and the legislative framework of the criminal justice system. According to the government, the objective of these reforms is to improve the legal protection of human rights and strengthen the effectiveness of public security to combat crime. Several members of Congress have also made related proposals.

Zimbabwe Under Siege: A Canadian Civil Society Perspective
In late May and early June 2004, a coalition of Canadian civil society organisations met with numerous organisations and individuals in Johannesburg, Bulawayo and Harare. Members of the delegation were also able to visit Mutare in the Eastern Highlands, high-density suburbs in Harare and some rural areas. While some people were willing to have their names quoted in this report, others wished to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Nepal: Escalating "disappearances" amid a culture of impunity
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about the escalating number of "disappearances" occurring in Nepal. These are taking place in the context of counter-insurgency operations by the security forces, in their response to the "people’s war" being fought by the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist) since 1996.

Peru: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission – a first step towards a country without injustice

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A deepening stain on US justice
"Trials of the type contemplated by the United States government would be a stain on United States justice". Lord Johan Steyn, senior United Kingdom judge, 2003(1)

Sudan: Intimidation and denial. Attacks on freedom of expression in Darfur (Report)
"Freedom of information is an inalienable human right and the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated" [Resolution 59(1), passed by the first session of the UN General Assembly on 14 December 1946].

Sudan - Darfur: Rape as a weapon of war: sexual violence and its consequences (Report)
"I was sleeping when the attack on Disa started. I was taken away by the attackers, they were all in uniforms. They took dozens of other girls and made us walk for three hours. During the day we were beaten and they were telling us: "You, the black women, we will exterminate you, you have no god." At night we were raped several times. The Arabs(1) guarded us with arms and we were not given food for three days." A female refugee from Disa [Masalit village, West Darfur], interviewed by Amnesty International delegates in Goz Amer camp for Sudanese refugees in Chad, May 2004

Israel and the Occupied Territories: Torn Apart: Families split by discriminatory policies
A new law passed by the Israeli parliament on 31 July 2003 bars family unification for Israelis who are married to Palestinians from the Occupied Territories. The Citizenship and Entry into Israel Law(1) explicitly discriminates against Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip. It also implicitly discriminates against Palestinian citizens of Israel, who constitute some 20% of the Israeli population, and against Palestinian residents of Jerusalem(2), for it is they who usually marry Palestinians from the Occupied Territories. As such, the law formally institutionalizes a form of racial discrimination based on ethnicity or nationality.

SUDAN: 1.2 million internally displaced people at risk in Darfur
"I did not feel safe in the camp. I was very scared of the soldiers. They take the children for training and we did not see them back anymore. They kidnap the young girls for the night. I have daughters and I always tried to keep them at home, not let them go out…"

Sudan: At the mercy of killers - destruction of villages in Darfur
In April 2003, as the world still welcomed the Sudan government's engagement in a peace process with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and hoped for a resolution to the longest-running conflict in Africa, the government embarked on a ruthless counter-insurgency campaign against the civilian population in Darfur. Under the pretext of combating two armed political groups - the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), formed in February 2003, and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) - the government armed and supported militias, the Janjawid (armed men on horseback), to attack and burn villages, killing civilians, raping women, and looting property. They operated with impunity and often alongside government forces.

The death penalty worldwide: developments in 2003
By the end of 2003, 77 countries had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. A further 15 countries had abolished it for all but exceptional crimes, such as wartime crimes.

Facts and figures on the death penalty

The following document is regularly updated on the death penalty page of the Amnesty International website www.amnesty.org/death penalty

Death sentences and executions in 2003
As in previous years, the vast majority of executions worldwide were carried out in a tiny handful of countries. In 2003, 84 per cent of all known executions took place in China, Iran, the USA and Viet Nam.

DEATH PENALTY NEWS: June 2004
The death penalty has been abolished in the Pacific island state of Samoa and the Asian kingdom of Bhutan. Eighty countries have now abolished the death penalty for all crimes. For the first time, totally abolitionist states outnumber retentionist countries and territories in AI's list

"Essential actors of our time": Human rights defenders in the Americas
Over the last decade human rights activists in Canada, the USA and Latin America and the Caribbean have emerged as crucial actors in civil society. Lack of public trust in official institutions, fledgling or corrupt political and judicial institutions, weak mechanisms of control and accountability, are some of the factors which have pushed human rights defenders to the fore in the struggle to ensure states respect basic human rights and fundamental freedoms.

COLOMBIA: Amnesty International's briefing to the UN Committee against Torture on the Republic of Colombia
Despite repeated recommendations made by the UN, the OAS, national and international human rights NGOs, Amnesty International is concerned that the government of President Alvaro Uribe is not taking action to dismantle and reform mechanisms which have guaranteed impunity in human rights violations as a first and essential step to improve the human rights crisis.

STOP CHILD EXECUTIONS! Ending the death penalty for child offenders
"Napoleon doesn't deserve to die. I know there's got to be punishment, but death for a 17-year-old? People change. . . To take a child's [life] - you can't hold a 17-year-old by the same standards as you do you or me. . . life is a teacher. And I know even today Napoleon is much better now than he was then." - Rena Beazley, during an interview with Amnesty International in May 2001 - one year before the execution of her son, Napoleon Beazley

People's Republic of China: Controls tighten as Internet activism grows
"...Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print [...] or through any other media of his choice." Article 19 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Signed (but not yet ratified) by China: October 1998

Serbia and Montenegro (Kosovo/Kosova): The March Violence: KFOR and UNMIK's failure to protect the rights of the minority communities
Amnesty International is deeply concerned at the failure of the domestic and international security forces to adequately protect minority communities in the violent clashes which occurred on 17 - 18 March 2004. The organization is also seriously concerned at allegations of complicity by some members of the Kosovo Police Service (KPS - the domestic police force)(1) in the violence which, the authorities estimated, involved some 51,000 people in 33 violent incidents throughout Kosovo - predominantly involving ethnic Albanians attacking Kosovo Serb enclaves and communities. Nineteen people died and over 950 were injured in the violence and there was large-scale destruction of property. Over 4,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

Iran: Five Years of injustice and ill treatment:
Akbar Mohammadi - case sheet
This document is an external campaign document focusing primarily on the case of Akbar Mohammadi, a possible prisoner of conscience.. However, the document also highlights Amnesty International's (AI) concerns in relation to torture, ill treatment of political prisoners, the administration of justice, and freedom of expression in Iran. This case sheet provides AI members with the opportunity to take sustained, long term action, locally, nationally and internationally on AI concerns in Iran

Kosovo/Kosova (Serbia and Montenegro): Failure to protect the rights of minorities

People's Republic of China: Uighurs fleeing persecution as China wages its "war on terror"
The ongoing crackdown on the so-called "three evil forces" of "separatists, terrorists and religious extremists" is continuing to result in serious and widespread human rights violations directed against the Uighur community in the XUAR. The human rights situation in the region has deteriorated further following the events of 11 September 2001 as China uses the international "war on terror" as a pretext to justify its policies of repression in the region.

ARGENTINA: Journalists. Press accreditation - The wrong credentials? Threats, attacks and intimidation against members of the press
Argentina has witnessed tumultuous changes over the last five years with the collapse of its economy and attendant hardship for its people. The country was crippled by four years of economic recession between 1999 and 2002, which saw the economy shrink by 11% in 2002, its worst economic performance in a century. Unemployment in 2002 stood at nearly 20%, with a further 20% of workers underemployed. While the economy grew by 8.7% in 2003, and by the beginning of 2004 unemployment had fallen to just below 15%, Argentina still faces an uncertain future. Over 30% of the working population – more than 4.3 million people – either have no or insufficient work. There are continuous public demonstrations in protest at the lack of jobs and half the country's population still currently live below the poverty line.

Iraq: Human rights protection and promotion vital in the transitional period
On 8 June 2004 the United Nations (UN) Security Council (SC) unanimously adopted Resolution 1546 (2004) on Iraq. The resolution endorses the formation of a sovereign Interim Government of Iraq (IGI) and declares that "by 30 June 2004, the occupation will end and the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist, and that Iraq will reassert its full sovereignty." It authorizes a multinational force (MNF) led by the United States (US) to have the authority to "take all necessary measures to contribute to the maintenance of security and stability in Iraq" in accordance with provisions set out in letters annexed to the resolution from US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyyad al-'Allawi.

Morocco/Western Sahara: Torture in the "anti-terrorism" campaign - the case of Témara detention centre
The sharp rise in reported cases of torture or ill-treatment in the context of "counter-terrorism" measures in Morocco/Western Sahara since 2002 has been well documented. Reports on the subject have been published in recent months by Amnesty International(1) and other international human rights organizations, as well as by Moroccan human rights groups, including the Moroccan Human Rights Association (Association marocaine des droits humains, AMDH), and the Moroccan Human Rights Organization (Organisation marocaine des droits humains, OMDH). Human rights lawyers and victim support groups such as the Forum for Truth and Justice (Forum pour la vérité et la justice, FVJ), have spoken out about the violations, and the Moroccan and international press have highlighted the problem in numerous articles.

Russian Federation: Chechen Republic "Normalization" in whose eyes?
The second armed conflict in the Chechen Republic since the break-up of the Soviet Union has continued for nearly five years. In spite of repeated claims from Russian and pro-Moscow Chechen officials that the situation is 'normalizing', there seems to be no end in sight either to the conflict itself or to the accompanying human rights abuses.

Haiti: Breaking the cycle of violence: A last chance for Haiti
In the aftermath of the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti is confronted with a number of human rights challenges it must meet if the country is to break with the violence and impunity that has characterized it for so many years.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Restoring the rule of law
The right of Guantánamo detainees to judicial review of the lawfulness of their detention

USA: An urgent call for the release of prisoner of conscience, Camilo Meja Castillo
An open letter to President George W. Bush

Sudan - Darfur: Incommunicado detention, torture and special courts
Memorandum to the government of Sudan and the Sudanese Commission of Inquiry

Turkey: Women confronting family violence (Report)
As in countries throughout the world, the human rights of hundreds of thousands of women in Turkey are violated daily. At least a third and up to a half of all women in the country are estimated to be victims of physical violence within their families. They are hit, raped, and in some cases even killed or forced to commit suicide. Young girls are bartered and forced into early marriage.

Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property. Report.
For decades Israel has pursued a policy of forced eviction and demolition of homes of Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and the homes of Israeli Arabs in Israel. In the past three and a half years the scale of the destruction carried out by the Israeli army in the Occupied Territories has reached an unprecedented level.

Israel and the Occupied Territories: Under the rubble: House demolition and destruction of land and property. Executive Summary
The human rights situation in Israel and the Occupied Territories has seriously deteriorated since October 2000. Since then violence and human right abuses have reached unprecedented levels. More than 2,500 Palestinians, including some 450 children have been killed by the Israeli army. More than 900 Israelis, most of them civilians, including some 100 children have been killed by Palestinian armed groups in suicide bombings and other attacks. Tens of thousands of Palestinians and thousands of Israeli civilians have been injured, many seriously.

ERITREA: 'You have no right to ask' – Government resists scrutiny on human rights
"We were beaten and mostly were tied in the 'helicopter' position and tortured in groups of 10 to 15. We were tied up day and night, except for three short food and toilet breaks. I was tied up for two weeks. One of us got very ill with bronchitis and there was no medical treatment… Some got paralysed in the arms and legs." An Eritrean deported from Malta in October 2002, speaking of detention in Adi Abeto prison.

Liberia: The promises of peace for 21,000 child soldiers
"Children continue to be the main victims of conflicts. Their suffering takes many forms. Children are killed, made orphans, maimed, abducted, deprived of education and health care, and left with deep emotional scars and trauma. Forced to flee from their homes, refugees and internally displaced children are especially vulnerable to violence, recruitment, sexual exploitation, disease, malnutrition and death. Children are being recruited and used as child soldiers on a massive scale. Girls face additional risks, particularly sexual violence. These egregious violations of children's rights take place in a pervasive climate of impunity."(1)

Venezuela: Human Rights under Threat (Report)
Amnesty International believes that the Venezuela government had a clear duty to guarantee public order in the face of frequently violent protests - which included the use of firearms by some protestors. However, there is strong evidence that the use of rubber bullets, tear gas and batons was frequently indiscriminate and disproportionate and significantly contributed to a week of spiralling violence rather than preventing it.

Iraq: Killings of civilians in Basra and al-'Amara
On 7 January 2004 the UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces stated that UK forces "are working in partnership with the Iraqi people to establish a safe and secure environment, and are doing so under the rule of law." This is not the picture found by Amnesty International delegates in Iraq.

An open letter to President George W. Bush on the question of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
Amnesty International recalls your statement on 26 June 2003, made on the occasion of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, in which you said that "the United States is committed to the worldwide elimination of torture and we are leading this fight by example". The organization urges you now to ensure that the USA fully meets its international obligations, including as a state party to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, to investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment, publish all findings, prosecute all perpetrators, compensate all victims, and prevent any future torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. We call on the USA to open the doors of its detention facilities in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, and at undisclosed locations elsewhere, to independent bodies, including visits by United Nations Special Rapporteurs.

Socialist Republic of Viet Nam: Renewed concern for the Montagnard minority
Amnesty International is reiterating recommendations to the Vietnamese government that were first made in December 2002 to address the serious human rights situation in the Central Highlands. The organization believes that greater transparency including immediate and unfettered access to the Central Highlands for independent observers are essential first steps to ascertain the truth about recent events and must take place as a matter of utmost urgency.

Romania: Memorandum to the government concerning inpatient psychiatric treatment
Amnesty International is concerned that the placement, living conditions and treatment of patients and residents in many psychiatric wards and hospitals in Romania are in violation of international human rights standards and best professional practice in this field. The situation in the psychiatric hospital in Poiana Mare described in a report published by Amnesty International on 20 February 2004(1), unfortunately, is not an exception in the Romanian mental health care system. The deaths of 18 patients in Poiana Mare in January and February 2004, reportedly mostly as a result of malnutrition and hypothermia, underlined the urgency with which the Romanian government should take steps to protect the lives, dignity and well-being of all patients and residents in psychiatric wards and hospitals in the entire country. The deplorable situation in many psychiatric facilities also requires that the authorities implement with utmost urgency a comprehensive and effective reform of the mental health services which would be in line with international human rights standards and best professional practice.

Kosovo (Serbia and Montenegro): "So does it mean that we have the rights?" Protecting the human rights of women and girls trafficked for forced prostitution in Kosovo
Trafficking of women for forced prostitution is an abuse of human rights, not least the right to physical and mental integrity. It violates the rights of women and girls to liberty and security of person, and may even violate their right to life. It exposes women and girls to a series of human rights abuses at the hands of traffickers, and of those who buy their services. It also renders them vulnerable to violations by governments which fail to protect the human rights of trafficked women.(4)

Bangladesh: The Ahmadiyya Community - their rights must be protected
Members of the "Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat", a religious community which considers itself a sect of Islam, has been the target of a campaign of hate speech organized by a number of Islamist groups in the country in recent months.(1)

Libya: Time to make human rights a reality (Report)
"You are the only people who have come to really listen to my story. I am not a political person. I just wanted to live a normal life with my family," Ahmad 'Abd al-Salam al-'Alam al-Sharif, a fisherman and football supporter, accused of being a political opponent in the so-called "Ahli Benghazi" Football Club case, told an Amnesty International delegate. He is currently serving life imprisonment, along with two others, after a death sentence against the three men was commuted (for case details, see section below, entitled the application of the death penalty).

Colombia: A Laboratory of War - Repression and Violence in Arauca
In November 2002, the townspeople of Saravena, in Arauca Department, were preparing to celebrate their traditional fiesta. To enable them to enjoy the festivities the military agreed to lift some of the restrictions on movement imposed on the inhabitants of Saravena and other municipalities in Arauca by the government of President Uribe in September 2002. However, in the evening of 12 November some 700 soldiers surrounded the town to enable the army, police and members of the Offices of the Attorney General(1) and the Procurator General(2) to raid homes, workplaces and shops. By the end of the night more than 2,000 people had been rounded up at gunpoint and taken to Saravena's stadium where they were photographed, videotaped, questioned, their background checked, and their arms marked with indelible ink.

AI/Oxfam open call on Governments in support of the UN Human Rights Norms for Business

Rwanda: "Marked for Death", rape survivors living with HIV/AIDS in Rwanda
"During the genocide, the militia at the barriers said they would protect me, but instead they kept me and raped me in their homes. One militia member would keep me for two or three days, and then another would choose me. If killers came to their house, the militia member would say I was his sister. I had to stay with these men because I would have been killed otherwise. The conditions were very favourable for HIV transmission. I managed to flee Kigali, and when I returned, I learned that my husband had been killed. My husband was a Hutu, and he had gotten a Hutu identity card for me because he hoped it would protect me. Because I had this card, I was denied assistance from IBUKA [support organization for genocide survivors] for my children or from the government fund for genocide survivors". - Francine, HIV-positive, Kigali

Myanmar: The Administration of Justice - Grave and Abiding Concerns
For the first time in its history, Amnesty International visited Myanmar in February 2003 and again in December of that year. During the visits the organization held talks with a number of government officials; interviewed political prisoners in three different prisons; and met members of Myanmar civil society. The major focus of both trips was political imprisonment, as over 1300 political prisoners continue to be held throughout the country. Serious concerns include arbitrary arrests of prisoners of conscience; torture and ill-treatment; trials falling far short of international fair trial standards; laws criminalizing the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression; and prison conditions. Other ongoing concerns in Myanmar include forced labour of civilians by the military and forcible relocations of members of ethnic minorities during the Myanmar army's counter-insurgency activities. Extrajudicial executions and torture of civilians also occur in the same context. Moreover, since 1991 Amnesty International has documented human rights abuses committed by armed opposition groups fighting the central Myanmar government.

Letter to Bill Graham, expressing support for the "UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with regard to Human Rights"
This letter urges Canada to work to ensure that the 60th Session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, now underway in Geneva, takes a decision to further consider and consult about the Norms.

People's Republic of China: Executed "according to law"? - The death penalty in China
This document describes the process that someone suspected of committing a capital crime goes through under the Chinese criminal justice system, from detention through to execution. This process will be described using examples of cases researched by Amnesty International, and others monitored in the official press in China.

Burundi: Child soldiers - the challenge of demobilisation
Jean-Noel R joined the Burundian armed forces aged 15 in 1998. He had already been helping soldiers for around one year at the military position next to the camp for the internally displaced where he lived. He was proud to help and says it made him feel important. Eventually, the commander of the position approached him and suggested that he could be properly integrated using a false identity card. He was happy to accept and was soon transferred to Mwaro barracks for training. Within two weeks he tried to desert for the first time but was caught and brought back.

Mexico: Ending the brutal cycle of violence against women in Ciudad Juárez and the city of Chihuahua
It is now almost 11 years since the brutal cycle of abductions and murders of young women began in Ciudad Juárez in northern Mexico. Over the last year there has been intense national and international pressure to stop violent crimes against women and to end the impunity with which many such crimes have been committed. In 2003, the Federal Government(1) finally began to implement a programme of measures to prevent and prosecute acts of violence against women in Ciudad Juárez.

Nigeria: The Death Penalty and Women under the Nigeria Penal Systems. Part II
The year 2003 saw a high level of international and national interest in and discussion on the death penalty in Nigeria. The recent extension in parts of Nigeria of the death penalty to areas many consider to be private aspects of life has focused the debate on both the appropriateness of the death penalty in general and on the use of the criminal justice system as a way to regulate sexual behaviour. Amnesty International believes that the death penalty in its application in Nigeria violates women's human rights according to international human rights law and standards and has a discriminatory effect on women in certain cases and for certain crimes. Amnesty International opposes, without reservation, the death penalty, in all countries and in all cases. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. Furthermore, it has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments. The international trend is for countries to abolish it.

North Korea: Starved of Rights: Human Rights and the Food Crisis in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)- PART II
For more than a decade, the people of North Korea - one of the most isolated nations on earth - have suffered from famine and acute food shortages. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and many millions more have suffered from chronic malnutrition. The actions of the North Korean government exacerbated the effects of the famine and the subsequent food crisis, denying the existence of the problem for many years, and imposing ever-tighter controls on the population to hide the true extent of the disaster. North Korea remains dependent on food aid to feed its people, yet government policy still prevents the swift and equitable distribution of this aid, while the population is denied the right to freedom of movement, which would enable people to go and search for food.

North Korea: Starved of Rights: Human Rights and the Food Crisis in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea)- PART I
For more than a decade, the people of North Korea - one of the most isolated nations on earth - have suffered from famine and acute food shortages. Hundreds of thousands of people have died and many millions more have suffered from chronic malnutrition. The actions of the North Korean government exacerbated the effects of the famine and the subsequent food crisis, denying the existence of the problem for many years, and imposing ever-tighter controls on the population to hide the true extent of the disaster. North Korea remains dependent on food aid to feed its people, yet government policy still prevents the swift and equitable distribution of this aid, while the population is denied the right to freedom of movement, which would enable people to go and search for food.

Haiti: Perpetrators of past abuses threaten human rights and the reestablishment of the rule of law
One of the most significant human rights achievements in the years following the Otober 1994 return to democratic order in Haiti was the holding of trials in several high-profile cases of egregious past violations. These trials were crucial, not just as a means of ensuring that the truth about past violations emerged, but as tangible evidence, to a Haitian population which had suffered violent repression on a massive scale, of a newly-functioning rule of law and respect for human rights.

Burundi: Rape-the hidden human rights abuse
Like all human rights abuses in Burundi, rape has become an entrenched feature of the crisis because the perpetrators - whether government soldiers, members of armed political groups, or private individuals - have largely not been brought to justice. Not one of the women whose cases are detailed in this report has been able to successfully pursue a criminal prosecution for rape. Rape has, however, also been exacerbated by widespread discrimination against women and its consequences have been aggravated by poverty, internal displacement and a failing health system.

Policing to protect human rights: A survey of police practice in countries of the Southern African Development Community, 1997-2002
Human rights are under attack every day in countries in southern and eastern Africa. Under pressure to deal harshly with rising levels of crime or through political manipulation, police inflict torture and ill-treat criminal suspects and political activists. Excessive or unjustified lethal force is used to suppress peaceful protest. Government opponents are arbitrarily detained.

Liberia: "The goal is peace, to sleep without hearing gunshots, to send our children to school;
The comprehensive peace agreement signed in Accra, Ghana, on 18 August 2003, the inauguration of the power-sharing National Transitional Government of Liberia (NTGL) and the deployment of what will be the largest current United Nations (UN) peace-keeping operation should augur well for the people of Liberia who have suffered appalling human rights abuses for so many years.

Nigeria: The Death Penalty and Women under the Nigeria Penal Systems. Part I
The year 2003 saw a high level of international and national interest in and discussion on the death penalty in Nigeria. The recent extension in parts of Nigeria of the death penalty to areas many consider to be private aspects of life has focused the debate on both the appropriateness of the death penalty in general and on the use of the criminal justice system as a way to regulate sexual behaviour. Amnesty International believes that the death penalty in its application in Nigeria violates women's human rights according to international human rights law and standards and has a discriminatory effect on women in certain cases and for certain crimes. Amnesty International opposes, without reservation, the death penalty, in all countries and in all cases. The death penalty violates the right to life and is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. It is irrevocable and can be inflicted on the innocent. Furthermore, it has never been shown to deter crime more effectively than other punishments. The international trend is for countries to abolish it.

Israel and the Occupied Territories: The place of the fence/wall in international law
On 8 December 2003, exercising its power under Article 96 of the Charter of the United Nations (UN), the UN General Assembly passed a resolution requesting the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to issue an Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of the construction by Israel of the fence/wall inside the Occupied Territories.(1) The ICJ set the date of 23 February 2004 for the opening hearing.

EL SALVADOR: Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates
On 21 March this year, the people of El Salvador will elect the country's next President of the Republic. Amnesty International is writing to the presidential candidates to state its concerns and to urge them to include the issue of human rights explicitly in their government programs. It is also calling upon the candidates to make a public commitment towards protecting the human rights of the people of El Salvador, as respect for these rights has a bearing on all aspects of public life and they are an essential requirement for achieving human dignity.

Amnesty International 26th International Council Meeting:
Amnesty International's 26th International Council Meeting (ICM) will be held in Mexico, near the city of Morelos, from Saturday 16th August to Saturday 23rd August. The ICM is the supreme governing body of Amnesty International. It decides on Amnesty International strategy, political, financial and organizational issues for the forthcoming years. The Council also elects the International Executive Committee (IEC), to act as the decision-making body of the movement between Council meetings, as well as other committees.

Kimberley Process still in process - Progress made, but key issues remain
Representatives of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) attending the First Plenary Meeting of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) welcomed international commitment to take additional effective steps to break the link between diamonds and human rights violations and conflict in Africa. However, governments failed to take action on an element critical to the credibility of the Scheme - the need for regular, independent monitoring of all participants, to ensure that the process is not subject to abuse. "For too long diamonds have been used to fuel conflict, leading to the deaths and maiming of millions of vulnerable people in Africa. It is time to act," said participating NGOs, representing over 200 organizations around the world.

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