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Journalists and humanitarian workers at risk in war-ravaged Somalia

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:00:07 +0000

A worker with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) was killed by unidentified gunmen in southern Somalia on Tuesday. 44-year-old Somali national Ibrahim Hussein Duale, was shot while monitoring school feeding school in a village in the Gedo region, the WFP reported.

The killing highlights the dangerous environment in which journalists and humanitarian workers in the war-torn country continue to work.

Two European journalists were released two days ago after being kidnapped for 40 days. UK journalist Colin Freeman, aged 39, and Spanish photographer Jose Cendon, 34, were handed over to local elders by their kidnappers and flown to Kenya on Sunday.

Less fortunate was Hassan Mayow Hassan, a Somali journalist working for Radio Shabelle in the Afgoye District of the lower Shabelle region. He was shot dead on 1 January by armed men while seeking to report on fighting in the area.

He is at least the tenth Somali journalist to have been killed since February 2007. Some were targeted in deliberate killings. Others were killed when caught in armed conflict between the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its Ethiopian allies and armed opposition militias.

Somali journalists not only risk their lives in order to publish much needed information on a highly volatile situation. In the past two years, they have also faced death threats by TFG security forces and armed groups; arbitrary arrests and detentions; beatings; abductions; the closure of radio stations and other media outlets; and other restrictions on their activities and coverage.

In a report in 2008, Amnesty International described these attacks against journalists as deliberate actions taken by all parties to the conflict in Somalia to silence them. Yet Somali journalists' work is vital, as they are the only ones to report on the daily violence affecting the population, in a conflict which has become too dangerous for consistent international monitoring.

Somali journalists continue to bear witness to a vicious war that has, since the start of 2007, killed more than 16,000 civilians and displaced at least 870,000, and created a humanitarian crisis, with 3.25 million Somalis now depending on aid agencies for their survival.

The human rights situation in Somalia, already battered by conflict and the absence of an effective government since 1991, has sharply deteriorated over the past two years. In late 2006, Ethiopian troops entered the country to support the Transitional Federal Government in Somalia, appointed in 2004, and oust the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) from the capital Mogadishu and surrounding regions, where they had maintained effective control since June 2006.

In response, remnants of ICU militias and other armed groups launched an insurgency against Somalia's transitional government and its Ethiopian allies. All parties to the conflict have been responsible for indiscriminate or targeted attacks against civilians.

In a disturbing trend, killings and threats have extended beyond journalists, with human rights and humanitarian workers increasingly targeted. Amnesty International has investigated 46 cases in which humanitarian workers and members of Somali civil society organizations were killed in 2008, the majority of whom were victims of targeted killings. These attacks have served to silence reports of human rights abuses and to severely limit the flow of aid to a desperate population.

Conscious of their important role as witnesses to the plight of the population, Somali journalists demonstrated on 28 December in Mogadishu calling for the warring parties to respect the rights of media workers.

As Somalia enters an increasingly uncertain period of political transition, with the withdrawal of Ethiopian troops and the resignation of the President of the transitional government, Amnesty International has appealed to all parties to the conflict to stop attacks and threats against civilians, including journalists, civil society activists and humanitarian workers.

Cambodian Supreme Court releases scapegoats of trade unionist's murder

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:04:13 +0000

Two men wrongfully convicted in Cambodia of the murder of trade union leader Chea Vichea, have been released on bail after nearly five years in prison. After a seriously flawed legal process, their case was finally heard by the country's Supreme Court on 31 December.

According to reports from court monitors and the press, the Court's president dismissed the conviction and ordered that the Appeal Court retry the case.

"The Supreme Court decision was a welcome step towards justice. It is now crucial that the Appeal Court urgently launches an impartial and effective reinvestigation, so that the true perpetrators of the murder are found and brought to justice," said Brittis Edman, Amnesty International's Cambodia researcher.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after Chea Vichea was shot dead in an assassination-style killing at a news stand in central Phnom Penh on 22 January 2004.

Both men were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment despite having alibis for the time of the shooting. Their detention and trial were plagued with human rights violations, including torture or other ill-treatment.

Police failed to conduct a thorough and impartial investigation and deeply flawed court proceedings relied on unfounded and inadmissible evidence.

The Appeal Court upheld the conviction on 6 April 2007, despite the prosecutor's acknowledgment that there was insufficient evidence.

Amnesty International has long argued that the true perpetrators of the murder remain at large. The Free Trade Union (FTU), of which Chea Vichea was President, has also repeatedly called for the release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun.

"There is a pressing need for a long over-due investigation into the handling of the case, including allegations of police torture, intimidation of witnesses and political interference with the judicial process", said Brittis Edman.

Israel/OPT: Immediate access to humanitarian workers and observers essential

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:14:09 +0000

As the number of casualties continues to mount, civilians in Gaza are in increasingly dire need of food, medical and other emergency assistance, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

International humanitarian and human rights workers, as well as journalists, have not been allowed into Gaza by the Israeli army since the beginning of November, with the exception of a few journalists who were allowed in for a couple of days earlier in December.

"Humanitarian workers, journalists and human rights monitors are urgently needed to assess needs, report violations and publicise the reality of the situation on the ground," said Amnesty International.

Amnesty International believes that risk to civilians is increased by artillery attacks on Gaza launched from Israeli gunboats off the coast. In the past, such artillery fire into densely populated areas has been inaccurate, causing Israel to desist from such firing after attacks caused high numbers of civilian casualties.

As attacks continue, Amnesty International called on the Israeli authorities, the Hamas de-facto administration and all other Palestinian armed groups to stop all unlawful attacks. They must not target civilians and buildings not being used for military purposes, whether through air or artillery strikes or home-made rockets, and must take all precautions necessary to protect civilians from the dangers caused by military operations.

Amnesty International also expressed great anxiety that a ground incursion into Gaza by Israeli forces could greatly increase civilian casualties.

"Israeli forces must bear in mind that there are no ‘safe’ places in Gaza for civilians to seek shelter. They know how densely populated the Jabalia Refugee Camp is and that the homes are mostly light structures with flimsy asbestos roofs and not able to withstand the effect of strikes. Strikes are virtually sure to kill and injure civilians” said Amnesty International. "The Israeli army must not carry out attacks which pose a disproportionate risk to civilians. They must always choose means and methods of attack that are least likely to harm civilians.”

"We urge all parties not to target civilians and not to carry out indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks that put civilian lives in danger.”

Examples:

On 27 December seven students from a school run by the United Nations were killed outside the school, just after lessons finished as they were trying to get home. The Israeli bombardment had first started at about 11.30 am on a Saturday, a day and time when the streets are very busy, particularly as children finish school just after midday, just as the initial bombardment was at its most intense. Seven students from a UNRWA school were killed outside the school just after lessons finished and they were trying to get home.

On 27 December Muhammad al-Awadi finished his exam and left the al Carmel School in the Rimal district of downtown Gaza City, a school located near the al-Abbas police station in a residential district, at about 11.30 am to return to the orphanage where he lived with his brother Ahmed. He was fatally wounded when a bomb was dropped on the Police station, just as he came out of the school. Muhammad was treated in the ICU unit of Gaza City Hospital but died in the evening of 30 December. This happened at the very beginning of the bombing campaign and was totally unexpected.

On 28 December five sisters from the Baalousha family aged four to 17, (Jawhir, 4; Dina, 8; Samar, 12; Ikram, 14; and Tahrir, 17) were killed in their home in Jabalia Refugee Camp, located north of Gaza city in Gaza’s most densely populated area. Four other children siblings were injured when the mosque near their home was bombed, and theirs and several other homes were destroyed and damaged.

In the night of 28-29 December three bothers from the al-Absi family aged three to 14 yrs (Sedqi, 3; Ahmad, 12; and Muhammad, 14) were killed along with their mother while several other siblings were injured when their home was destroyed by a strike in a refugee camp in Rafah, south Gaza.

Since the beginning of the offensive on 27 December, more than 360 Palestinians have been killed, including scores of unarmed civilians, including some 70 women and children. Some 1,700 Palestinians have also been injured.

Four Israeli civilians have also been killed and scores injured as all Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, including the armed wing of the Palestinian Authority’s President Mahmoud Abbas’ al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade, have continued to launch rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.

End unlawful attacks and meet Gaza's emergency needs

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 14:02:31 +0000

Palestinian civilians remain at risk of being killed or injured in the Israeli air strikes and are increasingly lacking adequate medical care, food, medicines, electricity, water and other necessities, Amnesty International said on Monday after three days of the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip in which more than 300 Palestinians have been killed.

"The horrific death toll risks growing due to the unavailability of adequate medical care for the hundreds of injured. The health sector in Gaza lacks equipment, medicine and expertise at the best of times and has been further depleted due to the prolonged Israeli blockade. It is now completely overwhelmed and unable to cope with the large number of casualties," said Amnesty International.

Israel must grant the wounded access to hospitals in Israel and to Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank. The Egyptian authorities should also open Egyptian hospitals to those in need of medical care which is not available in Gaza and must ensure that its border guards do not resort to excessive use of force against those fleeing the bombing . The Hamas de-facto administration must also ensure that its security forces and militias do not, under any circumstances, hinder or prevent the passage of the wounded or others patients trying to leave Gaza.

Despite assurances from the Israeli authorities’ that humanitarian aid is being allowed into Gaza, the reality is that the quantity of humanitarian aid and supplies which has been allowed into Gaza in recent months is only a fraction of what is required.

"It is utterly unacceptable for Israel to continue to purposefully deprive 1.5 million people of food and other basic necessities. Such a policy cannot be justified on any security or other grounds and must end immediately," said Amnesty International. "Israel must allow international humanitarian and human rights workers immediate and safe access to Gaza."

Amnesty International reiterates its call for an end to reckless and unlawful Israeli attacks against densely populated residential areas which have killed more than 300 Palestinians since 27 December, including scores of unarmed civilians and police personnel not taking part in the hostilities, and injured several hundred others.

Amnesty International also calls once again on Hamas and all other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza to stop firing indiscriminate rockets against towns and villages in southern Israel, which have killed two Israeli civilians and injured several others in the past three days.

Following reports that an unconfirmed number of detainees, including political detainee members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, were killed and injured in Israeli air strikes on security installations and detention centres, Amnesty International calls on Israel not to target detention facilities. Hamas should also promptly provide information about the fate of the detainees to their families and allow families to visit them where possible.

Civilian residential homes and other buildings, including a university, have been targeted by Israeli air strikes. Compounding the atmosphere of fear resulting from the Israeli bombardments, Israeli forces have been sending seemingly random telephone messages to many inhabitants of Gaza telling them to leave their homes because of imminent air strikes against their houses. Such messages have been received by residents of multi-storey apartment building, causing panic not only for those who received the calls but for all their neighbours. Such practice was widely used by Israeli forces both in Gaza and in Lebanon in 2006, but has not been reported since. The threatening calls seem to aim to spread fear among the civilian population, as in most cases no air strikes were carried out against the buildings. If this is the purpose, rather than to give effective warning, this practice violates international law and must end immediately.

The international community, especially the members of the Quartet (the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States of America) as well as countries of the League of the Arab States, must go beyond the rhetoric and exert concrete pressure on both parties to the conflict to end the abuses of international law they are committing. The High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions should also consider holding an emergency meeting to address the situation.

Civilians must be protected in Gaza and Israel

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:22:35 +0000

Amnesty International has called on Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups to immediately halt the unlawful attacks carried out as part of the escalation of violence which has caused the death of some 280 Palestinians and one Israeli civilian since December 27.

This is the highest level of Palestinian fatalities and casualties in four decades of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Scores of unarmed civilians, as well as police personnel who were not directly participating in the hostilities, are among the Palestinian victims of the Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip.

"Such disproportionate use of force by Israel is unlawful and risks igniting further violence in the whole region,” said Amnesty International. “The escalation of violence comes at a time when the civilian population already faces a daily struggle for survival due to the Israeli blockade which has prevented even food and medicines from entering Gaza.”

"Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, for their part, share responsibility for the escalation. Their continuous rocket attacks on towns and villages in southern Israel are unlawful and can never be justified,” Amnesty International said.

"The international community must intervene without delay to ensure that civilians caught up in the violence are protected and that the blockade on Gaza is lifted."

This latest Israeli onslaught brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this year to some 650, at least a third of whom are unarmed civilians, including 70 children. In the same period, Palestinian armed groups have killed 25 Israelis, 16 of them civilians, including four children. In the past eight years the Israeli-Palestinian violence has cost the lives of some 5,000 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis. Most of the victims on both sides have been unarmed civilians, including some 900 Palestinian and 120 Israeli children.

In recent weeks UN agencies, on whose food handouts 80 percent of Gaza’s 1.5 million inhabitants depend, have repeatedly complained about the Israeli authorities’ refusal to allow humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

The Israeli blockade meant that the recent five-and-a-half-month ceasefire between Israel, Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, Gaza residents experienced little or no improvement to their lives. The ceasefire effectively ended after six Palestinian militants were killed by Israeli forces in Gaza force on 4 November and a barrage of Palestinians rockets were launched on nearby towns and villages in the south of Israel.

Zimbabwe - a population on the edge of collapse

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:15:56 +0000

Zimbabweans are facing yet another difficult year in 2009, unless a political settlement is found to arrest the fast deteriorating socio-economic conditions in the country.

Thousands of Zimbabweans are facing death following a cholera outbreak that started in August, while nearly half of the population is in desperate need of food aid. International response to the multiple crises facing the country is being complicated by the Zimbabwean authorities’ repeated attempts to politicise humanitarian work and cover up the extent of the problems bedevilling the southern African country for political reasons.

The cholera outbreak that started in August has exposed the extent of decline of the health services. Officially, over 1,200 people have died while nearly 24,000 cases have been recorded. However, the actual death toll is believed to be higher than that being reported, mainly due to a lack of capacity to document all the cases.

Amnesty International was told by asylum seekers who had just arrived in South Africa from Zimbabwe that, in some villages, as many as 10 deaths were being recorded. A number of major hospitals have been closed, while the remaining doctors and nurses at state hospitals have been on prolonged strikes over poor working conditions and shortage of drugs. Church-run hospitals, which had provided relief for many rural communities, are also reported to be on the verge of collapse.

Cholera is both a preventable and curable disease. The current outbreak was triggered by the collapse of water and sanitation management in Zimbabwe’s major cities, including the capital Harare.

Over five million Zimbabweans are facing severe food shortages and are dependent on international humanitarian efforts. Those fleeing hunger in the provinces of Masvingo and Matabeleland, interviewed by Amnesty International in December in the South African border town of Musina, told the organisation that many rural families were now living on wild fruit.

Humanitarian workers also told Amnesty International that the 2008-9 farming season was a failure for many families who were unable to secure seed and fertilisers. The number of those in need of food aid is likely to increase in 2009.

A combination of political instability, the cholera outbreak and severe food insecurity is driving thousands of Zimbabweans to cross the borders into neighbouring countries.

As many as 1,000 unaccompanied children are reported to be in the border town of Musina alone. Those fleeing also include younger people from rural areas who fear further political violence if the political agreement signed by the major political parties in Zimbabwe on 15 September collapses.

Abductees found in police custody in Zimbabwe

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:49:43 +0000

Jestina Mukoko, the director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), who was abducted from her home on 3 December, was left by her abductors at Matapi Police Station in Harare on Tuesday 23 December. Police had previously denied arresting Ms Mukoko and had told the High Court in Harare that they were treating the case as a kidnapping.

The state-controlled Herald newspaper has reported that Ms Mukoko and another ZPP employee, Mr Broderick Takawira, along with eight political activists from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), were to be charged with “recruiting or attempting to recruit people for the purposes of undergoing military training to overthrow the Government.”

The abduction, unlawful arrest and detention of the human rights workers and MDC activists is consistent with a pattern of human rights violations documented by Amnesty International since March 2007, when 32 MDC activists were arrested and charged with bombing police stations. The activists were allegedly tortured and denied access to their lawyers. The charges against the MDC activists were later dropped.

The practice of unlawful arrest and detention is one of the established tactics employed by the Zimbabwean authorities to intimidate and harass critics. The ZPP is one of the leading organisations in Zimbabwe involved in monitoring and documenting human rights violations, including state-sponsored beatings, torture and killings in the run-up to the 27 June elections.

Cambodian Supreme Court will review trade union leader’s murder

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:13:41 +0000

Two men convicted of the murder of trade union activist Chea Vichea in Cambodia after a seriously flawed criminal investigation and a grossly unfair trial will have their case heard by the country's Supreme Court on 31 December.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were sentenced to 20 years for Chea Vichea’s murder. However, their detention and trial were plagued with human rights violations, including torture or other ill-treatment and deeply flawed court proceedings that relied on unfounded and inadmissible evidence.

"The Cambodian Supreme Court must dismiss the case against both men and ensure that they are released." said Amnesty International's Cambodia researcher Brittis Edman.

The organisation has long argued that the true perpetrators of the murder remain at large. The Free Trade Union (FTU), of which Chea Vichea was President, has also repeatedly called for the release of Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun.

Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun had alibis for the time of the shooting on 22 January 2004. Instead of conducting a thorough, impartial investigation, police officers threatened and detained people who would provide these alibis, and intimidated other witnesses.

Born Samnang repeatedly stated that police beat, coerced and bribed him into making a confession. Despite this, the Municipal Court accepted the confession as a central piece of evidence on the basis of which both men were convicted.

On 1 August 2005, the Municipal Court sentenced them both to 20 years’ imprisonment for murder. On 6 April 2007, the Appeal Court upheld the decision, despite the prosecutor’s acknowledgment there was insufficient evidence.

Amnesty International has repeated its calls to the Cambodian authorities to conduct an impartial and effective investigation into the murder of Chea Vichea so that those responsible for it are brought to justice.

The organisation has also urged the authorities to initiate a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the conduct of the case - including allegations of torture or other ill-treatment by police during the initial interrogation of the two men, intimidation of witnesses and political interference with the judicial process.

Chea Vichea was murdered on 22 January 2004 after receiving a series of death threats. He was shot dead in an assassination-style killing at a news stand in central Phnom Penh. Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun were arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of his murder.

Since Chea Vichea’s death another two FTU activists have been killed in Phnom Penh. In May 2004, Ros Sovannareth, FTU President at the Trinunggal Komara factory, was murdered. Thach Saveth was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his murder in a one-hour trial described by observers as grossly unfair.

On 24 February 2007, Hy Vuthy, FTU President at the Suntex factory, was shot dead. No one has been brought to justice for this killing, and by September 2008, a Phnom Penh court official told media that the investigation had been closed for lack of evidence.

Authorities close key human rights centre in Tehran

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:27:01 +0000

The Iranian authorities have forced the closure of the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Tehran. The Centre was co-founded by 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi and other leading Iranian human rights activists.

The forcible closure is an extremely ominous development that threatens the country’s entire human rights movement. Amnesty International has called for the decision to be reversed without delay.

The office was closed by security officials on Sunday afternoon, shortly before the centre was to hold a commemoration marking the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Dozens of police and plain clothed officials tried to enter the premises.

According to Narges Mohammadi, spokesperson for the CHRD, security officials failed to show any official order justifying their action and one told her that, if she were not a woman, he would drag her by the legs and throw her into the street.

The CHRD was co-founded in 2002 by Shirin Ebadi, Iran’s best known human rights defender. She was present at the time of the centre’s forcible closure on Sunday. The centre has sought legal registration since its formation six years ago but this has been continuously denied by the Iranian authorities, leaving Dr Ebadi and her colleagues to operate in a form of legal limbo, and under constant threat. She has previously received death threats.

It is unclear why the Iranian security authorities decided to act against the centre now. They appear to have wished to prevent a celebration of the UDHR, the founding document of modern human rights law. It seems that also want to send a powerful – and chilling – warning to Iran’s growing movement of human rights activists and defenders by targeting the organisation headed by the most internationally renowned leader of the movement.

The CHRD has three stated roles, reporting violations of human rights in Iran; providing pro-bono legal representation to political prisoners; and supporting the families of political prisoners. Its members have pursued high profile cases of impunity, and defended high profile victims of human rights violations. Some – such as lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani – have been detained in the past for no more than carrying out his duty as a lawyer.

Amnesty International has called for the CHRD to be allowed to resume its activities without delay and to be allowed legal registration. The Iranian government should abide by its obligations under international law to promote and protect human rights and should support, not attack and undermine, the work of human rights defenders.

Proposed new Indian anti-terror laws would violate human rights

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:05:46 +0000

New legislation introduced in India after the November attacks in Mumbai city would violate international human rights treaties, according to Amnesty International.

New amendments to anti-terror laws include:

sweeping and overbroad definitions of "acts of terrorism"
no clear and strict definition of what constitutes "membership" of a "terrorist gang or organization"
minimum period of detention of persons suspected to be involved in acts of terrorism extended to 30 days from 15 days and the maximum period of detention of such persons to 180 days from 90 days – already far beyond international standards
denial of bail to foreign nationals who may have entered the country in an unauthorised or illegal manner, except in very exceptional circumstances
the requirement, in certain circumstances, of accused people to prove their innocence
the new legislation on the National Investigating Agency authorises special courts to close hearings to public without defining or limiting the grounds under which they may do so.

A spokesperson for Amnesty International said that India's experience with previous anti-terrorism laws has shown that they can lead to abusive practices.

More than 170 people died in the Mumbai attacks, which lasted from Wednesday 27 November to Sunday 30 November. A group of 10 armed men targeted public places and tourist destinations such as a hospital, a railway station, a Jewish community centre, a restaurant and hotels.

"While we utterly condemn the attacks and recognise that the Indian authorities have a right and duty to take effective measures to ensure the security of the population, security concerns should never be used to jeopardize people’s human rights," said Madhu Malhotra, Asia Pacific Programme Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

The organization has called on India's President to reject the new amendments and for the President, Indian authorities and lawmakers to urgently review them. The amendments include changes to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, (UAPA), 1967, and provisions of the new legislation aiming to set up a National Investigating Agency (NIA), exclusively meant to probe acts of terrorism in the country.

"India's authorities and legislators should show their respect for the rule of law, in the face of terrorist attacks, by reviewing provisions such as allowing a maximum of 180 instead of an earlier provision of 90 days detention of suspects, sweeping definitions of ‘membership’ of organizations and closed trials," said Madhu Malhotra.