Author: Amnesty International

Amnesty International has called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan Parliament to immediately suspend controversial legislation that will give immunity from prosecution for serious violations of human rights, including war crimes and crimes against humanity committed, in the past 30 years.

The legislation, the "National Stability and Reconciliation" bill, was passed by both houses of the Afghan Parliament in early 2007 and published in the official Gazette in November 2008 but, unusually, it was not publicly divulged until January 2010.   

Amnesty International and other human rights organizations, including the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), believe that this law is an attempt to provide legal cover for ongoing impunity for perpetrators of human rights violations, including the Taleban.

"The backers of this ‘Impunity Bill’ should note that they cannot simply legislate away the history of gross human rights violations and war crimes committed in Afghanistan over the past three decades. Nor can they silence the consistent demands of the Afghan people for justice and accountability," said Sam Zarifi, director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific programme.

"There are real doubts about the legal validity of this ‘Impunity Bill’, as no national legislation can immunize perpetrators of international crimes. Furthermore, President Karzai never signed this bill, and it was only divulged to the public almost two years after Parliament voted on it."

Under this legislation, people who committed serious human rights violations and violations of the laws of war, including massacres, widespread enforced disappearances, and systematic use of torture, rape, public executions and other forms of ill-treatment would be immune to criminal prosecution if they pledge cooperation with the Afghan government.

"The record of the past eight years has been crystal clear: attempts to accommodate human rights abusers have only led to a deterioration of security and an erosion of the government’s legitimacy. Many of the people facing accusations of human rights abuses in the past are now in prominent government posts, facing new charges of engaging in human rights violations," Sam Zarifi said.

Under the provisions of this legislation, Taleban figures who agree to cooperate with the Afghan government would also be immune to prosecution. The Afghan government and its international supporters identified reconciliation with the Taleban as a priority during the London conference in January 2010.

"Short term expediency in the form of reconciliation with the Taleban should not trump the rights of the Afghan people, and in particular Afghan women and girls, who have suffered greatly under the Taleban’s repressive strictures. The Taleban have had a record of terrible human rights abuses, both when they ruled Afghanistan, and now in the areas they control. They should be held to account for their actions, not be granted official impunity," Sam Zarifi said.

"The Afghan people have time and again signalled that they want a government that protects and provides their human rights and that imposes the rule of law. This legislation is simply an effort to pervert the course of justice under the faulty guise of providing security."

Taleban figures who agree to cooperate with the Afghan government would be immune to prosecution

Amnesty International called on the Chinese authorities to release human rights activist Tan Zuoren, who was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday for "inciting subversion of state power."

Tan Zuoren was convicted for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party and the government through his articles and diaries posted on-line and on overseas websites concerning the authorities’ handling of the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 .

"His arrest, unfair trial and now the guilty verdict are further disturbing examples of how the Chinese authorities use vague and over broad laws to silence and punish dissenting voices,” said Roseann Rife, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

"The Chinese authorities cannot continue to claim that they are dealing with human rights defenders according to the law when they violate so many of their own legal procedures in cases like this."

The verdict was announced this morning by the Chengdu City Intermediate People’s Court in China.

Tan Zuoren’s wife, Wang Qinghua, protested the conviction and told Amnesty International that "even one day of imprisonment is too much. He only exercised his freedom of expression and addressed corruption from his own conscience."

Tan Zuoren’s trial on 12 August was grossly unfair and disregarded China’s criminal procedure law. His lawyers reported they were unable to call their witnesses to testify in court or show the video footage they prepared, and they were unable to present their defence.

One of the defense witnesses, internationally acclaimed artist Ai Weiwei, was beaten and illegally detained by individuals in uniform claiming to be police for hours until after the trial ended.

Two Hong Kong journalists were prevented from covering his trial when local police detained them in their hotel room under the guise of searching for drugs. Police barred supporters of Tan Zuoren from the courtroom, allowing only his wife and one of his daughters, from attending the trial. Court officials filled the rest of the seats. Journalists were again harassed today trying to cover the story at the court.

The Court also violated criminal procedure law by delaying the verdict for four months with no explanation to Tan Zuoren’s lawyers.

"By silencing human rights defenders the Chinese authorities are denying society an open and transparent debate and rejecting the concept of accountability. The calls for justice will only become louder as more human rights activists are sentenced," said Roseann Rife.

Tan Zuoren’s trial was grossly unfair and disregarded China's criminal procedure law

The arrest of retired General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka’s former Chief of Army Staff and opposition political candidate in Sri Lanka’s recently held presidential election, escalates post-election repression, Amnesty International said on Monday.

Sarath Fonseka was arrested late Monday evening and will reportedly face a military Court Martial on charges that he revealed military secrets and plotted the assassination of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

"Sarath Fonseka’s arrest continues the Rajapaksa government’s post-election crackdown on political opposition," said Sam Zarifi, director of Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific programme.

"After the military defeat of the LTTE and a major election victory, President Rajapaksa should steer the country toward a better human rights record. Instead, we’re seeing less and less tolerance for criticism."

The timing of the arrest is troubling given reports that Sarath Fonseka had announced earlier in the day that he was prepared to testify before an international court on war crimes charges against the Sri Lanka government.

Since his defeat in the election, several of Sarath Fonseka’s key supporters have been arrested. Journalists with the state media suspected of supporting the opposition candidate have also faced threats and violence.

Allegations and counter allegations of responsibility for violations of human rights and humanitarian law featured prominently in the run-up to the election.

Sarath Fonseka was quoted in the press in December accusing the President’s brother, Sri Lanka’s Secretary of Defence, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa of ordering the executions of surrendering LTTE leaders at the end of the war in May 2009. He later retracted his accusations.

"Allegations of war crimes in Sri Lanka should be subject to an independent international investigation," said Sam Zarifi.

"Sarath Fonseka was commander of the armed forces during a period when Sri Lanka’s army was accused of violating humanitarian law, including firing heavy weaponry into an area packed with civilians. Fonseka faces credible allegations of war crimes and should also be subject to investigation and accountability."

Sarath Fonseka was to testify against the Sri Lanka government at a war crimes court

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Indian authorities have given local communities scant or misleading information about the potential impact of a proposed alumina refinery expansion and mining project to be operated by subsidiaries of UK-based company Vedanta Resources in Orissa, Amnesty International said in a new report published on Tuesday.   
        
The Amnesty International report, Don’t Mine Us out of Existence: Bauxite Mine and Refinery Devastate Lives in India documents how an alumina refinery operated by a subsidiary of UK-based FTSE 100 company Vedanta Resources in Orissa, is causing air and water pollution that threatens the health of local people and their access to water.

“People are living in the shadow of a massive refinery, breathing polluted air and afraid to drink from and bathe in a river that is one of the main sources of water in the region,” said Ramesh Gopalakrishnan, Amnesty International’s researcher on South Asia.  “It is shocking how those who are most affected by the project have been provided with the least information.”

Adivasi (Indigenous), Dalit, women and other marginalised communities in the remote part of Orissa where the refinery is located have described to Amnesty International how authorities told them that the refinery would transform the area into a Mumbai or Dubai.   

The Orissa State Pollution Control Board has documented air and water pollution from Vedanta Aluminium’s refinery in Lanjigarh, Orissa. Amnesty International found that the pollution threatens the health of local people and their access to clean water yet there has been no health monitoring.

“We used to bathe in the river but now I am scared of taking my children there. Both my sons have had rashes and blisters,” a local woman told Amnesty International. The organization recorded many similar accounts from people living around the refinery.

Despite these concerns and the environmentally sensitive location of the refinery near a river and villages, the government is considering a proposal for a six-fold expansion of the refinery. Neither the Indian authorities nor Vedanta have shared information on the extent of pollution and its possible effects with local communities.

The Orissa Mining Corporation and another Vedanta Resources subsidiary also plan to mine bauxite in the nearby Niyamgiri Hills. The proposed mine threatens the very existence of the Dongria Kondh, an 8,000 strong protected indigenous community that has lived on the Niyamgiri hills for centuries. The hills are considered sacred by the Dongria Kondh and are essential for their economic, physical and cultural survival, yet no process to seek the community’s informed consent has been established.

A Dongria Kondh man told Amnesty International, “We have seen what happens to other Adivasis when they are forced to leave their traditional lands, they lose everything.”

“The people of Orissa are among the poorest in India and their health is being threatened by pollution from the refinery.  Their voices are being ignored by Vedanta Resources and its partner companies as well as by Orissa’s government. There has been inadequate consultation with local people about the changes on the ground and yet it’s their lives and futures which hang in the balance,” said Ramesh Gopalakrishnan.

Amnesty International is calling on the Government of India and Vedanta Resources to ensure that there is no expansion of the refinery and mining does not go ahead until existing problems are resolved. Amnesty International is also calling for full consultation with local people and for the Indian authorities to set up a process to seek the free, prior and informed consent of the Dongria Kondh.

READ MORE
This land is ours: Mine puts indigenous community at risk in India (Campaign Digest, 29 July 2009)
This is my home: Refinery disrupts lives in India
India: Don’t take my home away: A healthy environment is a human right
India: Don’t mine us out of existence: A healthy environment is a human right

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There has been no process to seek the community’s informed consent.

Children playing in Kenduguda village, Orissa.

Villagers wash in the river Vamsadhara at Chattarpur.

Authorities told locals the refinery would transform the area.

Men on the wall of Vedanta alumina refinery’s second red mud pond, which is under construction, Lanjigarh.

A villager stands on land he once owned, beneath an unfinished conveyor belt designed to transport bauxite ore.

Kumati Majhi, a local leader opposing the Vedanta mining scheme, talks to the local Kondh villagers, Lanjigarh.

Video: The Dongria Kondh community describe the impact of the Vedanta project

The UN Secretary-General has "missed an opportunity" by failing to make an assessment of the credibility of Israeli and Palestinian investigations into violations during the conflict in Gaza and southern Israel just over a year ago, Amnesty International said on Friday.

"This is deeply disappointing and a missed opportunity to help secure accountability for the conflict’s hundreds of victims," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Ban Ki-moon indicated on Thursday that “no determination can be made” on whether either the Israelis or Palestinians are complying with a UN General Assembly resolution of November 2009 that urged both sides to carry out investigations “that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards”.

It requested the Secretary-General to report within three months on their implementation, “with a view to considering further action”. The resolution was based on the Goldstone Report, which accused both sides of war crimes.

The Secretary-General explained his lack of action by the fact that “processes initiated” by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities were “ongoing”.

However, Amnesty International believes that the information he had received was sufficient to show that steps being taken by both sides were clearly inadequate and that this message should have been conveyed to them in the report.

Amnesty International urges the UN Secretary-General to remedy the situation by immediately preparing an independent assessment of the steps being taken by Israel and the Palestinian side to address accountability and requesting input from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other independent experts in international humanitarian and human rights law. Amnesty International wrote to Ban Ki-moon on 20 November 2009 with a similar recommendation.

Such an assessment should be made available to the General Assembly and the Security Council in the coming months and provide a solid basis for decisions on further action that are necessary to secure accountability for both sides. This may include an eventual referral of the situation in Gaza by the UN Security Council to the International Criminal Court.

Amnesty International’s assessment is that the responses presented to the UN Secretary-General by Israel and Palestinian representatives demonstrate that neither side has taken the necessary steps to conduct investigations “that are independent, credible and in conformity with international standards”.

The organization has described the response of the Israeli authorities as “totally inadequate”, since investigations undertaken by them to date have failed to meet “international standards of independence, impartiality, transparency, promptness and effectiveness”.

The official Palestinian response to Ban Ki-moon was submitted by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN and conveyed a letter from Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

The letter indicates that an investigative commission has recently been established but that investigations have yet to be carried out into specific allegations of violations of international law committed during the conflict.

Documents made public this week by the Ministry of Justice of the Hamas de facto administration in Gaza, by way of a response to the General Assembly’s call for investigations, provide no evidence of investigations which comply with international standards and focus on either denying the allegations of abuses committed by Palestinian armed groups or providing justifications for those violations.

"Today when I walk through Grozny I do not see the rebuilt houses or shops, I still see the dead and the faces of those who killed them."
Elvira Dombaeva, survivor of the Novye Aldy killings

Ten years after the killing of scores of civilians in a suburb of the Chechen capital Grozny, the relatives of those murdered are still denied justice by the Russian authorities.

On the morning of 5 February 2000, at least 56 men and women were killed by Russian security forces in the settlement of Novye Aldy.
 
In February 2000, the armed conflict in Chechnya, which had started in October 1999, had already lessened in intensity. Many residents were beginning to emerge from their cellars and return to the streets when troops entered Novye.

The residents of Novye Aldy didn’t bury their dead immediately, as they waited for the authorities to come and investigate the atrocity.

Throughout a decade, Russia has failed to hold anyone accountable, despite evidence connecting the crime to members of OMON, the Russian special police.

“When we were finally able to collect the bodies after two days, we could not close the eyes of the dead. It was winter and we had to pour warm water over their eyes to be able to close them," Elvira Dombaeva, a survivor of the killings, told Amnesty International.

In the months after the killings, Chechen human rights activists and prosecutors collected reliable information identifying the troops responsible for the crime. In 2006, the Russian government confirmed that a "special operation" was conducted in the village on 5 February 2000 by a unit of OMON and that  more than 50 people had been killed in Novye Aldy on 5 February 2000.

Yet according to the information available to Amnesty International, the authorities have made no serious attempt to identify or punish those who participated in the killing. Meanwhile, prosecutors who have tried to investigate the case have faced obstruction.

“The case of Novye Aldy illustrates the ineffectiveness of the Russian judicial system as well as the lack of political will of the Russian authorities to conduct an investigation and to bring to justice those responsible for crimes against the civilian population in Chechnya,” said David Diaz-Jogeix, Europe and Central Asia Deputy Programme Director.

In July 2007, the European Court of Human Rights found violations of the right to life and the prohibiton of torture and other ill-treatment by Russia responsible for the death of 13 residents of Novye Aldy, whose relatives had filed a complaint with the Court after failing to obtain justice in Russia. Yet still, no one has been brought to justice.

Amnesty International has called on the Russian authorities to provide justice for the victims of the Novye Aldy killings. Only by identifying, arresting and prosecuting those responsible can the authorities demonstrate their respect for the right to life and respect for the law.

Russian troops on tank, near Grozny, 15 December 1999

Activist Ana María Pizarro, tells Amnesty International how
pregnant women are at risk of losing their lives because of Nicaragua’s abortion ban.

"Many young women say ‘I can’t risk getting pregnant in this country’"

There can’t be a law in Nicaragua which criminalizes something which only happens in women’s bodies, because from that moment we are no longer equal before the law.  

Women in Nicaragua are afraid to have a family, to get pregnant. Many young women say ‘I can’t risk getting pregnant in this country because I’m frightened that a (medical) complication could lead to my losing my life’.

I worked in the public health service for 10 years. Before, there used to be an analysis committee for the interruption of pregnancies, in the public hospitals. Now in the public hospitals, out of fear, women are left to die. There are cases of (pregnant) women who have treatable illnesses which aren’t treated.

Women who have money can pay for a [clandestine] abortion and poor women have to carry on using basic, dangerous methods because they aren’t allowed to have an abortion in safe conditions.

We’re creating a problem of social justice because in both of these cases, women can be sent to prison. The difference is that the poor women are going to die, and the women who aren’t poor won’t run any risk because they will be able to find professionals who can carry out an abortion safely.

One of the cases I know happened in Condega, in one of the provinces of Nicaragua.

A young woman of 25 arrived at a health centre one Sunday at 5am, where they diagnosed that she had had an induced abortion. In the space of two hours, the nurse and the doctor from the health centre informed the police and at 7am the police were inside the health centre interrogating the young woman.

The doctor, while a sample was being taken from the young woman’s womb, filmed and took photos of the young woman, who was naked at the time. Then the police took photos of the young woman while the procedure was being carried out – again, while she was naked.

On the Monday the young woman was transferred to hospital and reported to the public prosecutor’s office. The public prosecutor’s office sent the case to the forensic doctor, who carried out a forensic assessment of her and on the Tuesday the young woman was being accused in court. She was interrogated while she was on a drip and under treatment.

The doctor said that the young woman didn’t need a lawyer, they compelled her to testify and to incriminate herself. They obliged her to give information about details like how the abortion had been carried out.

Without a trial they ordered her to six months under house arrest, which is what the law stipulates. Since they had obliged her to give evidence against herself, a trial wasn’t necessary. She’s living out her sentence now.

The whole thing was carried out so quickly. This is not at all the case with rapists, with murderers, with those who abuse women, or when it’s an issue of corruption or violence, both of which affect Nicaragua so hugely.

Ana María Pizarro worked for Nicaragua's public health service for 10 years