Showing posts with label Amnesty International. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amnesty International. Show all posts
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Sunday, October 20, 2013
atrocities are always committed by somebody else
Posted on 10/17/2013 by Juan Cole
A new household survey of Iraqis has projected the civilian death toll from the Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq at roughly 450,000. Passive information-gathering techniques like logging deaths in the Western press have produced estimates closer to 150,000, but such techniques have been proven to miss a lot of people. (To my knowledge no one was counting all the deaths reported in the some 200 Arabic-language Iraqi newspapers in the 2000s, so even the passive information-gathering was limited. And, the Wikileaks US military log of civilian deaths did not overlap very much with e.g. Iraq Body Count, so both of them were missing things the other caught.)
A new household survey of Iraqis has projected the civilian death toll from the Bush administration’s invasion and occupation of Iraq at roughly 450,000. Passive information-gathering techniques like logging deaths in the Western press have produced estimates closer to 150,000, but such techniques have been proven to miss a lot of people. (To my knowledge no one was counting all the deaths reported in the some 200 Arabic-language Iraqi newspapers in the 2000s, so even the passive information-gathering was limited. And, the Wikileaks US military log of civilian deaths did not overlap very much with e.g. Iraq Body Count, so both of them were missing things the other caught.)
Friday, November 30, 2012
Finkelstein on a Gandhian strategy for Gaza
[Finkelstein comments: I originally wrote this article having in mind a Gandhian strategy for dismantling the illegal wall Israel has been constructing in the West Bank. The same Gandhian principles however apply to breaking the illegal Gaza blockade.]
Gandhil lecture
Gandhil lecture
Resolving the Israel-Palestine Conflict: What we can learn from Gandhi
Tans Lecture, Maastricht University (13 November 2008)
This lecture will divide into three parts. First, I will lay out the terms of the international consensus for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict. Second, I will sketch Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolent civil resistance. Third, I will assess the relevance of Gandhi’s doctrine for the Israel-Palestine conflict. I will argue that a moral legal consensus is a prerequisite for Gandhi’s doctrine to succeed. In the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict such a consensus does exist, and consequently those seeking a just and lasting peace might benefit from giving Gandhi’s doctrine a serious hearing.I. What is the international consensus for resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict?
II. What is Gandhi’s doctrine of nonviolence?
III. What can supporters of a just peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict learn from Gandhi?
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Indignez vous! by Stephane Hessel
Indignez vous! by Stephane Hessel – the text | World |Axisoflogic.com
By Stephane Hessel, 93
the text | World |Axisoflogic.com
By Stephane Hessel, 93
the text | World |Axisoflogic.com
Egypt’s 31-year state of emergency
The end of Egypt’s 31-year state of emergency must signal a return to the rule of law, Amnesty International said after the measure timed out on Thursday, two years after it was last renewed by the government of Hosni Mubarak.
“The Egyptian authorities must make a clean break with state of emergency practices by combating the systemic abuses it facilitated and which still continue today under military rule,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“These include serious human rights violations such as brutal crackdowns on peaceful protesters, arbitrary arrests, torture and unfair trials of civilians under military law.”
While Egypt’s parliament has allowed the state of emergency to lapse, it has not been able to end unfair trials for civilians before military courts.
Amendments to the Code of Military Justice, a law which in practice allows for civilians to be tried before military courts, were passed by parliament in May.
However the amendments were not wide-ranging enough to stop the army from continuing to try civilians before military tribunals. Around 100 people detained following a protest in May in Cairo’s Abbaseya neighbourhood are currently facing military prosecution.
Since the “25 January Revolution”, military courts have sentenced thousands of civilians in unfair trials for crimes such as “thuggery” and “breaking the curfew”.
Amnesty International is also calling on the Egyptian authorities and parliament to challenge the climate of impunity fostered by the state of emergency.
“Under Mubarak, security forces enjoyed near total impunity for human rights abuses, including the systemic torture of detainees,” said Ann Harrison.
“It now falls to the Egyptian authorities and parliament to challenge the climate of impunity fostered by the state of emergency.”
Systemic torture and other ill-treatment went largely unchallenged during the state of emergency. Under the army’s rule, such abuses have included the forced "virginity tests" on women protesters in March 2011, and the beating of protesters detained following the sit-in outside the Egyptian government’s cabinet building in December.
Impunity under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has also continued for violations committed during the brutal suppression of demonstrations by the security forces and the army.
The crackdowns include protests at Cairo’s Maspero building in October, in which 27 people were killed; near the Interior Ministry in November in which 50 people were killed; and around the Cabinet building in December, in which 17 people were killed. To date, the SCAF have yet to hold a single member of the security forces to account.
Under Mubarak, the state of emergency gave Egypt’s security forces the power to operate above the law. The now-disbanded State Security Investigations service (SSI), in particular, committed serious human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, for which its members have yet to be held to account.
Amnesty International is calling on the authorities to launch independent and impartial investigations into all human rights violations committed under the state of emergency, and to bring anyone found responsible to justice in fair trials and without recourse to the death penalty.
Under Mubarak, the state of emergency was used to hold tens of thousands of people in administrative detention without charge or trial for months or years – often in defiance of repeated court orders for their release. The Emergency Law also fostered a parallel justice system of emergency courts, which flaunted the basic guarantees of a fair trial, such the right to appeal to a higher tribunal.
Amnesty International is calling for the authorities to release anyone still held under the Emergency Law, or to charge them with a recognizable criminal offence and try them before a civilian court under procedures which fully conform to international fair trial standards.
“The Egyptian authorities must make a clean break with state of emergency practices by combating the systemic abuses it facilitated and which still continue today under military rule,” said Ann Harrison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“These include serious human rights violations such as brutal crackdowns on peaceful protesters, arbitrary arrests, torture and unfair trials of civilians under military law.”
While Egypt’s parliament has allowed the state of emergency to lapse, it has not been able to end unfair trials for civilians before military courts.
Amendments to the Code of Military Justice, a law which in practice allows for civilians to be tried before military courts, were passed by parliament in May.
However the amendments were not wide-ranging enough to stop the army from continuing to try civilians before military tribunals. Around 100 people detained following a protest in May in Cairo’s Abbaseya neighbourhood are currently facing military prosecution.
Since the “25 January Revolution”, military courts have sentenced thousands of civilians in unfair trials for crimes such as “thuggery” and “breaking the curfew”.
Amnesty International is also calling on the Egyptian authorities and parliament to challenge the climate of impunity fostered by the state of emergency.
“Under Mubarak, security forces enjoyed near total impunity for human rights abuses, including the systemic torture of detainees,” said Ann Harrison.
“It now falls to the Egyptian authorities and parliament to challenge the climate of impunity fostered by the state of emergency.”
Systemic torture and other ill-treatment went largely unchallenged during the state of emergency. Under the army’s rule, such abuses have included the forced "virginity tests" on women protesters in March 2011, and the beating of protesters detained following the sit-in outside the Egyptian government’s cabinet building in December.
Impunity under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has also continued for violations committed during the brutal suppression of demonstrations by the security forces and the army.
The crackdowns include protests at Cairo’s Maspero building in October, in which 27 people were killed; near the Interior Ministry in November in which 50 people were killed; and around the Cabinet building in December, in which 17 people were killed. To date, the SCAF have yet to hold a single member of the security forces to account.
Under Mubarak, the state of emergency gave Egypt’s security forces the power to operate above the law. The now-disbanded State Security Investigations service (SSI), in particular, committed serious human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance, for which its members have yet to be held to account.
Amnesty International is calling on the authorities to launch independent and impartial investigations into all human rights violations committed under the state of emergency, and to bring anyone found responsible to justice in fair trials and without recourse to the death penalty.
Under Mubarak, the state of emergency was used to hold tens of thousands of people in administrative detention without charge or trial for months or years – often in defiance of repeated court orders for their release. The Emergency Law also fostered a parallel justice system of emergency courts, which flaunted the basic guarantees of a fair trial, such the right to appeal to a higher tribunal.
Amnesty International is calling for the authorities to release anyone still held under the Emergency Law, or to charge them with a recognizable criminal offence and try them before a civilian court under procedures which fully conform to international fair trial standards.
impunity in Nigeria
Late last year, five students gang-raped and beat a young woman at Abia State University in Nigeria, then passed around an hour-long video of their abuse for friends to watch. For months, Nigerian officials ignored the horrifying case and the governor of Abia state denied the attack even happened there.
But after more than 90,000 people signed Adetomi Aladekomo's petition on Change.org to hold the rapists and government officials accountable, Nigeria’s Attorney General demanded that the Inspector-General of police open a formal investigation.
Now, though, local activists are scared that the investigation is stalling. They’re calling for more international pressure to make sure the investigation actually happens. Click here to sign Adetomi’s petition demanding that the 5 attackers from the Abia State University rape video are brought to justice.
Rapists in Nigeria often act with impunity: Very few rapes are prosecuted or even reported, because the country’s society often blames victims of sexual violence. According to Amnesty International, Nigeria’s “legal and social systems tolerate rape and sexual violence on a wide scale.”
But international outcry forced the Attorney General’s hand, and continued pressure will show the Nigerian police they need to perform a thorough investigation and prosecute the men responsible for the attack. When these five men are held responsible for their vicious crime, it will be a watershed moment in the fight against Nigeria’s sexual violence epidemic.
Thanks for being a change-maker,
- Shelby and the Change.org team
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Tahrir Trauma
The protest mood in Egypt doesn't seem to be subsiding - despite the long-anticipated announcement of the presidential vote results last weekend. Amid the never-ending swarm of political demands, the psychological stress ordinary Egyptians are constantly under is often ignored.
A decision by Egypt's Justice Ministry to extend the military's power to arrest and investigate civilians for a wide range of offences would pave the way for fresh human rights violations and must be urgently revoked, Amnesty International said.
According to the decision, announced on Wednesday by Minister of Justice Adel Abdel Hamid Abdallah, military police and intelligence officers are now granted the same powers as judicial police when dealing with civilians suspected of offences related to national security and public order.
In the unrest since early 2011, peaceful protesters have routinely been punished for such offences, which include resisting public authorities and disobeying their orders, assaulting by insults and other acts, damaging public property, blocking traffic, strikes in key public places and “thuggery”.
“Instead of investigating the serious abuses committed by military officers and soldiers against protesters and others since January 2011, Egypt's authorities are giving them carte blanche to arrest and detain civilians,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Programme Director at Amnesty International.
“We urge the authorities to rescind this decision, which has dangerous and pervasive ramifications for the rule of law in Egypt, but also in the short term with run-off presidential elections just days away.”
“That the Minister of Justice could now give an army responsible for killing, torture, and thousands of arbitrary arrests and unfair trials the power to arrest and detain civilians beggars belief. It is nothing less than legally sanctioning abuse.”
The Head of Egypt's Military Judiciary said that the decision fills a gap left by the end of the Mubarak-era state of emergency – which expired on 31 May after being in effect for three decades – and insists it will not be used against peaceful protesters.
“The end of Egypt's long-standing state of emergency was an opportunity for the authorities to end decades of abuses that have corroded the country's justice system,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
“Yet we fear this latest decision signals that instead of ushering in proper reform, the authorities are intent on holding on tight to the emergency powers they enjoyed for so long.”
Many of the offences that can be investigated by military police and intelligence officers, including national security-related offences and thuggery, were previously dealt with by the emergency law or referred to military courts.
Among them are activities protected under international human rights law, such as freedom of assembly and the right to strike.
Worryingly, the new decision gives military police and intelligence officers the authority to arrest suspects in their homes as well as in the streets.
Amnesty International fears that civilians arrested and investigated under the new decision could face trial in military courts.
Civilians should never be tried in military courts. People held solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of assembly should be immediately and unconditionally released.
“We fear this decision will further entrench impunity for members of the military who violently repress peaceful protests and commit other human rights violations. The end of Egypt's emergency must mean an end to impunity and a return to the rule of law,” said Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)