Amnesty Internatioal Report 2005

[Jack Rabbit]

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

Amnesty International Report 2005

During 2004, the human rights of ordinary men, women and children were disregarded or grossly abused in every corner of the globe. Economic interests, political hypocrisy and socially orchestrated discrimination continued to fan the flames of conflict around the world. The “war on terror” appeared more effective in eroding international human rights principles than in countering international “terrorism”. The millions of women who suffered gender-based violence in the home, in the community or in war zones were largely ignored. The economic, social and cultural rights of marginalized communities were almost entirely neglected.

Read more.

[Jack Rabbit]

1. Summary from AI Report 2005: the United States of America

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

United States of America
Covering events from January - December 2004

Hundreds of detainees continued to be held without charge or trial at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Thousands of people were detained during US military and security operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and routinely denied access to their families and lawyers.

Military investigations were initiated or conducted into allegations of torture and ill-treatment of detainees by US personnel in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and into reports of deaths in custody and ill-treatment by US forces elsewhere in Iraq, and in Afghanistan and Guantánamo. Evidence came to light that the US administration had sanctioned interrogation techniques that violated the UN Convention against Torture. Pre-trial military commission hearings opened in Guantánamo but were suspended pending a US court ruling.

In the USA, more than 40 people died after being struck by police tasers, raising concern about the safety of such weapons. The death penalty continued to be imposed and carried out.

Read more.

[Jack Rabbit]

2. Summary from AI Report 2005: Iraq

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

Iraq

US-led forces in Iraq committed gross human rights violations, including unlawful killings and arbitrary detention, and evidence emerged of torture and ill-treatment. Thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed during armed clashes between US-led forces and Iraqi security forces on the one side, and Iraqi armed groups on the other.

Armed groups committed gross human rights abuses, including targeting civilians, hostage-taking and killing hostages. Women continued to be harassed and threatened amid the mounting daily violence. The death penalty was reinstated in August by the new interim government.

Read more.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Summary from AI Report 2005: Saudi Arabia

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

Saudi Arabia

Killings by security forces and armed groups escalated, exacerbating the already dire human rights situation in the country. Scores of people, including peaceful critics of the state, were arrested and over two dozen suspected in connection with the “war on terror” were detained following their forcible return by other countries. At least five possible prisoners of conscience were tried following hearings that failed to meet international standards, but the status of others, including the hundreds held from previous years, remained shrouded in secrecy. The debate on discrimination against women, which began in previous years, gained further momentum with a sharp focus on domestic violence and political participation. Allegations of torture were reported and flogging, which constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and may amount to torture, remained a routine practice. At least 33 people were executed. Approximately 600 Iraqi refugees remained as virtual prisoners in Rafha Military Camp. Optimism spread among foreign workers following measures announced by the government to protect their economic and social rights, and the country was deemed to have made progress in the alleviation of poverty. AI continued to be denied access to the country.

Background

The government continued to advocate political reform against a background of escalating violence and a dire human rights situation. In March it established the first ever officially sanctioned National Human Rights Association (NHRA) whose 41 members included 10 women. The NHRA’s stated aims include protection of human rights and cooperation with international organizations.

Preparations for the first national (although partial) municipal elections announced in 2003 were completed. The elections were planned to take place in three stages with municipalities placed into regional groupings. The first stage began with registration of voters in the region of Riyadh where voting was scheduled for February 2005. The other two stages were planned to be completed by April 2005. The voting regulation issued in August stipulated the election of half of the members of each municipality and the appointment of the other half by the government. Women were not allowed to vote or stand for election (see below).

Read more.

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Summary from AI Report 2005: Iran

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

Iran

Scores of political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, continued to serve prison sentences imposed following unfair trials in previous years. Scores more were arrested in 2004, many in connection with press articles or publications both in print and on the Internet which were alleged to “endanger national security” or defame senior officials or religious precepts. Many of the families of those arrested also faced intimidation.

Independent human rights defenders were harassed. At least two individuals died in custody and 159 people were executed, including one minor. At least two of the 36 people who were flogged reportedly died following the implementation of the punishment; no investigations were carried out into these deaths. The true number of those executed or subjected to corporal punishment was believed to be considerably higher.

Read more.

[Jack Rabbit]

5. Summary from AI Report 2005: Syria

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

Syria

Hundreds of people were arrested for political reasons. Most of them were Kurds detained following violent disturbances in north-eastern Syria in March during which over 30 people were killed. Many of those arrested were held incommunicado at unknown locations. Torture and ill-treatment, including of children, were widely reported. At least nine people reportedly died as a result. Freedom of expression and association remained severely restricted and scores of people were arrested for political reasons, including some solely involved in peaceful activities. Human rights defenders were harassed although in general they could work more openly than in previous years. Two people were reportedly executed. Over 200 political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, were released

Background

On 12 March clashes broke out between Arab and Kurdish fans at a football stadium in Qamishli, north-eastern Syria. Security forces responded by firing into the crowd, killing several people. Police attacked Syrian Kurdish mourners the next day, resulting in two days of rioting by Syrian Kurds in several towns in the mainly Kurdish north-east. At least 36 people, mostly Kurds, were reportedly killed and over 100 injured. More than 2,000 people, most of them Kurds, were believed to have been arrested. Most were held incommunicado at unknown locations and there were widespread reports of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including children. About 200 Kurds remained detained at the end of the year. At least six Kurds were killed while carrying out their military service. No investigations were known to have been initiated into the killings. The predominantly Kurdish areas of north and north-east Syria continued to lag behind the rest of the country in terms of social and economic indicators.

Read more.

[Jack Rabbit]

6. Summary from AI Report 2005: North Korea

From Amnesty International
Dated Wednesday May 25

North Korea
Covering events from January - December 2004

The government continued to fail in its duty to uphold and protect the right to food, exacerbating the effects of the long-standing food crisis. Chronic malnutrition among children and urban populations, especially in the northern provinces, was widespread. Fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, association and movement, continued to be denied. Access by independent monitors continued to be severely restricted. There were reports of widespread political imprisonment, torture and ill-treatment, and of executions.

Background

Relations between North and South Korea cooled during the year. In July South Korean navy ships fired at a North Korean ship that had crossed the western sea border. Notwithstanding, in October, South Korea pledged to support a World Food Programme (WFP) emergency operation in North Korea aimed at 6.5 million vulnerable people, most of them children and women. In addition, South Korea promised 1.2 million tons of rice in the form of concessional loans to North Korea.

The third round of six-party talks (involving North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the USA) aimed at persuading North Korea to cease its nuclear weapons programme met in Beijing in June, but little progress was achieved. North Korea refused to attend a fourth round scheduled for September. North Korea warned in October that it would use “war deterrent force” if the USA brought the nuclear dispute before the UN Security Council.

Read more.

[bemildred]

7. Can we conclude that the nation-state as an institution is bad

for human rights? Or would the be over-generalizing?

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Institutionalized power of any kind is dangerous and subject to abuse

The modern large corporation is not exactly a benefactor of mankind.

Power is often a necessary evil, but it is at all times at least a potential evil. The best thing that can be done is to harness it and check it and to make certain that it does not fall into the wrong hands.

We in America have done a poor job of that in the last few years, in spite of having the opportunity. As the AI report confirms without explicitly stating it, in America power has fallen into the wrong hands.

[bemildred]

11. The corporation is the modern version of the medieval fiefdom.

Unaccountable power delegated from above. But the nation-state
itself has issues. If the people are in fact to be sovereign they
must rule, and means must be found for their will to be law, and
the notion of a national government as a delegated quasi-sovereign
contradicts that. If the people are to rule, they must be allowed
to form their own organizations as they choose.

[DrDebug]

9. Summary from AI Report 2005: Russia

I already made this in a post, because I thought it was a good comparison. It is taken from the pdf file which I've downloaded from the BBC. Also the Chechen war is a forgotten war now.

Russia

Serious human rights violations continued to be committed in the context of the conflict in the Chechen Republic (Chechnya), belying claims by the authorities that the situation was “normalizing ”. The security forces enjoyed virtual impunity for abuses. Chechen armed opposition groups were responsible for abuses including bomb attacks and hostage-taking in which hundreds of people were killed. Human rights defenders and people pursuing justice for human rights violations through the European Court of Human Rights were harassed and assaulted; several were killed or “disappeared ”.

Several thousand people displaced from Chechnya remained in Ingushetia,despite pressure from the authorities to return.The human rights situation in Ingushetia deteriorated,especially following an
attack by a Chechen armed opposition group in Ingushetia in June. Torture and ill-treatment in places of detention continued to be reported throughout the Russian Federation. Attacks,some of them fatal,on members of ethnic and national minorities and on foreign nationals were reported in many regions but convictions for racist attacks were rare.
(...)
Abuses by armed groups
(...)
Violence against women in Chechnya
(...)
Conflict spreads beyond Chechnya
(...)
Racially motivated crimes
(...)
Human rights defenders ... some were tortured and killed.
(...)
Media freedom
(...)
Torture and ill-treatment
(...)
Fair trial concerns
(...)
Violence against women

[Jack Rabbit]

10. Link . . .

Russia