Amnesty International finds global capital punishment dropped in 2016

The 2016 review of capital punishment globally by Amnesty International found that worldwide executions had dropped by 37 percent compared to 2015.

China executes the most people by far far over a thousand and perhaps thousands. Amnesty believes that China executes more people than the entire rest of the world. Much of the information regarding the application of the death penalty is regarded as "state secrets". Salil Shetty, secretary-general of Amnesty International said:

"China wants to be a leader on the world stage, but when it comes to the death penalty it is leading in the worst possible way - executing more people annually than any other country in the world. The Chinese government has recognized it is a laggard in terms of openness and judicial transparency, but it persists in actively concealing the true scale of executions. It is high time for China to lift the veil on this deadly secret and finally come clean about its death penalty system."

As a nominally communist state you would think that the Chinese Communist Party would pay some heed to Karl Marx's view on capital punishment. Reacting to a London Times article in support of capital punishment Marx wrote:It is astonishing that the article in question does not even produce a single argument or pretext for indulging in the savage theory therein propounded; and it would be very difficult, if not altogether impossible to establish any principle upon which the justice or expediency of capital punishment could be founded in a society glorifying in its civilization.While there was a revolutionary struggle going on no doubt capital punishment could be construed as part of the class struggle and a defense against enemies of the revolution, but China now has transformed itself into a basically capitalist society with considerable state ownership of the means of production still. The Chinese euphemistically call it "socialism with Chinese characteristics". There is no good reason why Chinese should not enjoy a level of legal rights and justice that at least matches that of advanced capitalist countries but that seems to be regarded as a threat to the monopoly power of the Chinese Communist Party.

After China, Iran had the highest level of executions although it is down considerably from last year. In 2015, 977 were executed but this year the number dropped to 567. Third in 2016 was Saudi Arabia with 154 executions. Irag was fourth with 88. Fifth was Pakistan with just 87 a huge drop from 326 in 2015. Sixth was Egypt with 44. The United States was seventh with just 20. This is the lowest US number since 1991.

There were execution in just 23 countries in 2016 that is two fewer than in 2015. There was in increase in executions in both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The total number of people subject to capital punishment last year was 1,032 down from 1,634 in 2015. The decline in executions in Iran and Pakistan accounts for much of the drop..

Amnesty accuses Iraqi government forces of killing and torturing civilians in Mosul offensive

According to the rights group, Amnesty International, government forces killed and tortured civilians in the Shura and Qayyara districts south of Mosul. Six bodies were found.

Lynn Maalouf, deputy director of research at the Amnesty office in Beirut Lebanon said: "Men in federal police uniform have carried out multiple unlawful killings, apprehending and then deliberately killing in cold blood residents in villages south of Mosul." Maalouf also said: "When the Mosul military operation began, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi made clear that violations by Iraqi armed forces and its allies would not be tolerated. Now is the time for him to prove just that. The Iraqi authorities must immediately investigate these alarming reports of extrajudicial executions and torture." The Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi denied the Amnesty allegation claiming that local residents, not government troops, had killed Islamic State members. He said that the group was spreading fear among Iraqis through its reporting and would bear responsibility for people who might flee the city as a result.

Another rights group, Human Rights Watch, said that at least 37 men who were suspected of being associated with the Islamic State (IS) had been detained by Iraqi and Kurdish forces, from various checkpoints, villages, screening centers around Mosul and districts further south. Relatives complained that they were unable to find out where the men were being held and had been able to contact them in detention. Interior Minister Dindar Zebari said: "Nobody has been kept in unknown facilities. They are kept in identified facilities." He denied that Iraqi forces were involved in any human rights violations. A representative of the Kurdish regional government said that delays in informing families arose through a shortage of resources.

The Mosul offensive involves troops, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga and Shiite militia — about 100,000 in all. U.S.-led airstrikes back the offensive. A BBC report claims those involved in the offensive at only 50,000.

Amnesty reported several incidents around Oct.. 21 when separate groups of men were beaten with cables and rifle butts and then shot to done. One of the men's head had been severed from his body. Amnesty was concerned that without any accountability these types of abuses would happen in other areas as the offensive continued. So far the offensive has entered the eastern outskirts of Mosul but that is over a week ago as the IS fighters put up fierce resistance.

The BBC gives a more extensive report on one Oct. 21 incident in which about 10 men and a 16-year old boy who had escaped being forcibly transferred by the IS handed themselves over to a small group of men wearing police uniforms. They were all taken to a desert area where they were beaten with cables and rifle butts, punched and kicked. They were made to lie on their stomachs and shots fired between their legs. Three men were separated and subject to brutal beatings before being shot dead. A fourth body of a man handcuffed and beaten was found about a week later.

The IS are also killing many whom they think are passing on information to the enemy. Bodies have been hung up on hydro poles to put them on display. Civilians are also often killed by US airstrikes, the number killed often being under-reported.

Amnesty International claims 12 released prisoners in Libya who were murdered had been killed in jail

Amnesty International claims Ali Al-Saadi, the head of the Ruwaimi prison in Tripoli, lied when he reported last week that 12 former Gadaffi-era soldiers had been released to their families' care and had left the prison with them.

Although, the Amnesty statement did not mention Al-Saadi by name, they claimed the prisoners were never handed over to their families. There are competing narratives about what happened, with an earlier article in the Libya Observer reporting that the soldiers were handed over to their families and the bodies were found in various locations the following day. Descriptions of the bodies vary as well with some saying that there were marks of torture but more recent reports denying this. Even the head of the Investigations Bureau of the General Prosecutor's office claimed that those murdered had been released and their bodies found the next day:

The Head of Investigations Bureau at the General Prosecutor’s office, Al-Saddiq Al-Soor, confirmed that 12 inmates were murdered on Friday dawn after being released Thursday from Al-Ruwaimi prison, which is located in Ain Zara in the suburbs of the capital, Tripoli.

.After the announcement of the release of the prisoners, the families were contacted and advised to produce the passport of the detained relatives so as to process their release. This was noted also in earlier reports, however according to Amnesty International one family member alleged that the detaining authorities opposed their release, saying the authorities were not happy with the decision and so made sure the prisoners did not leave the prison alive.

In contrast to earlier accounts, the Amnesty report said that the bodies were riddled with bullets but there was no verifiable signs of torture or that the men's feet and hands had been tied. Earlier reports also indicated that they all had been shot, but some of the family members said that there were sign of torture. It is a bit strange that Amnesty cites only one family member as saying that the prisoners were not released to the families. Amnesty suggests that the prisoners were not restrained at the time they were shot and perhaps were unaware of what was to happen. Amnesty noted that it had documented torture and ill-treatment in several centers under the control of militia and this included the Ruwaimi prison.

Amnesty pointed out that no meaningful prosecutions had been carried out leading to prosecution into any alleged crimes with successive governments in Libya or since the end of the revolution. Amnesty admitted that it still was not possible to know exactly what happened but that Ruwaimi prison authorities and the interior ministry had "gravely failed in their obligation of due diligence to protect the right to life and physical integrity of the detainees". The response to these murders will be a test for the UN-brokered Government of National Accord which appears unable to control the many militias and upon which it depends so far for its own security.

The UN-back government immediately condemned the murders as indicated in this tweet: "UN-backed gov condemns the murder of Gaddafi officials who were released last week from al-Ruwaimi prison." Martin Kobler, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG) immediately called for an investigation into the murders of the 12 men. Kobler said that he was "utterly shocked by the vile crime". Not only does there seem to be little security provided by the new GNA but there are severe power outages in Tripoli. There still is a cash shortage and Tripoli is now experiencing a water shortage as well. The situation is even worse in cities such as Sebha in the south where there are violent demonstrations. Many electrical pylons have been sabotaged so there is no electricity at all..

Egyptian president will have power to appoint members of Higher Press Council

A bill that allows Egyptian President Abdel el-Sisi the power to appoint the leaders of the Higher Press Council the group that controls state-owned media outlets. The bill represents just one more move by el-Sisi to crack down on any opposition. The Egyptian government has long been trying to stamp out any opposition to the government in the media. On May 1 only two days before World Press Freedom Day, Egyptian police raided the Press Syndicate in Cairo. Amnesty International reports on the event as follows: " 1 May up to 40 heavily armed members of the National Security agency stormed the Press Syndicate for the first time since it was established in 1941. They attacked journalists, beating security guards and detained two journalists Amro Badr and Mahmoud Al-Saqqa. They are being held in Tora prison and have been charged with forming an illegal group with the aim of overthrowing the government, inciting protests and publishing false news, and belonging to the April 6 Movement, a leading youth group that was instrumental in organizing protests in 2011."

The Committee to Protect Journalists claims that Egypt is among the world's worst jailers of journalists. Since January 1 this year, four have been sentenced for "publishing false news" with five others referred to trial and two more detained. Photojournalist, Mahmoud Zeid, has been in jail for more than two years subsequent to his arrest for covering a protest. On the 29th of May, Yahia Galash, head of Press Syndicate and senior board members Khaled Elbalshy and Gamal Abd el-Reheem were summoned for questioning by the public prosecution. After being questioned for a full 13 hours the three were charged with harbouring suspects against whom an arrest warrant was issued, and also with publishing false news, which threatened public peace.

The bill was proposed by independent Moustafa Bakri an independent and a journalist himself. The bill passed the Egyptian parliament in less than two hours. Bakri denied that the bill has any political implications claiming it is just an interim measure to last two or three months until a new media law is implemented. He claimed to be astonished that anyone would not welcome the bill. He claims that the president does not have the power to meddle in the press. Another independent MP, Khaled Youssef warned that the bill gives the president "exceptional power." He said that while el-Sisi has constantly said he wants to make Egypt a modern democratic state, the bill went against that. Youssef is a film director. Youssef said of the bills: "Rather than discussing a legislative ‎amendment in record speed, and rather than granting ‎the president an exceptional and undemocratic power, we ‎have to exert pressure on the government and the state ‎council to refer the unified law on the regulation of the ‎media and the press as soon as possible,"

 Osama Sharshar, another independent and a journalist remarked that the speed with which the bill was passed reminded him of the legislative process as it was under Hosni Mubarak. He wanted to wait until the new laws on the press were presented to the parliament. Another report notes that the new bill also gives the Higher Press Council the power to name editors and board chairs of any state-run press organizations.‎ The terms of present editors and board chairmen is running out so in effect incoming editors and chairs of state-owned media outlets will be appointed by a board appointed by el-Sisi.

Saudi with UK residency likely to be released from Guantanamo soon

Shaker Aamer, a Saudi with residency status in Britain, is expected to be released from Guantanamo in June. He has a British wife and four children in London.

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The UK has made repeated requests for Aamer's release. The 48-year-old Aamer is accused of having been a key recruiter and financier for Al Qaeda while in Britain and to have worked for Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan. However, he has been held in Guantanamo for 13 years without charge. A US government officialtold AFP that Aamer would be released along with up to 10 other detainees.

A new commander Rear Admiral Fernandez Ponds will take over the command of the facility in July. There are still 122 men held prisoner. 57 have been classified as "releasable" by a review committee, including Aamer. Obama promised to close the prison even during his first presidential campaign. Congress has continually blocked Obama's attempts to take actions that could lead to closing the base. The base is technically Cuban territory but has been leased from Cuba since 1903 at a cost of just over $4,000 annually but the Cuban revolutionary government has refused to cash the checks. Cuba considers the lease arrangement not binding. Recent normalization of relations with Cuba do not include the return of the base to Cuba. Recently considerable investment and upgrades to the base have been made indicating the prison is not likely to close for some time even if the plan is to transfer the 57 cleared for release out of the facility Lieutenant Colonel Myles Caggins, a Pentagon spokesperson said: "The goal is to transfer all 57. We're going to support the president's mission of closing Guantanamo through transfers of detainees and prosecutions through military commissions,"The transfer of the ten in June would be after a thirty day notice period to the US Congress and then Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter, would sign off on the transfer.

48 of those to be transferred are Yemenis who will not be repatriated in spite of continual protests for them to be returned to Yemen. With the present conflict in Yemen, the US will be even less likely to allow them back to Yemen. The US has had trouble finding host countries but Uruguay accepted a number and Oman, Estonia, Slovakia, and Georgia have also accepted prisoners. The one place you can be sure will not accept them is the United States which jailed them in the first place.

Campaigners in the UK for Aamer's release were heartened by the news but noted that Aamer had been cleared for release eight years ago by the Bush administration and then again under Obama in 2009 but nothing has happened. Karla McLaren, of Amnesty International in the UK, noted: ‘These reports are obviously encouraging but we’ve been here before.There have been so many false dawns over the release of Shaker that we won’t believe it until a plane bringing him back actually touches down here in Britain. Guantanamo has always been a complete travesty of justice and whoever is in government must ensure... Shaker is returned to his family as soon as possible if he’s not going to be charged.’

Supporters of Aamer claim that he was detained in Kabul in 2001 while doing volunteer work for an Islamic charity. They say he was handed over to US military in exchange for money and then tortured at a secret "black site" prison. He denies accusations he helped finance Al Qaeda. Aamer wants to return to the UK but Washington wants to send him to Saudi Arabia. He fears he would be tortured there. Given that he has a wife and four children in the UK it surely makes sense to send him there. Aamer's lawyer say UK and US authorities want to silence Aamer who claims to have witnessed abuse in the presence of UK security official.The Daily Mail in the UK has long campaigned on behalf of Aamer. Aamer's family says that if he comes to the UK he will be quite willing to face a UK to answer any charges he is a dangerous extremist. Apparently, Washington does not want that either.

The Mail discovered documents that showed, David Milliband, when foreign secretary in the Labor government, had plotted to hand Aamer over to Saudi authorities if he were released while leading his UK family to believe he was trying to have him returned to them in Britain. It will be interesting to see where Aamer ends up, in the UK, or Saudi Arabia. Given past experience he may even end up staying in Guantanamo. The appended video deals with another detainee in Guantanamo who wrote and published a diary about his experiences in the facility well over 12 years.

Four brothers beheaded in Saudi Arabia for smuggling marijuana

Two sets of brothers were beheaded using swords in the city of Jajran in southwestern Saudi Arabia on Monday August 18th after being convicted of smuggling marijuana into the country according to the Saudi Interior Ministry.

The government news agency SPA identified the two sets of brothers as Hadi and Awad al-Motleg and Mufarraj and Ali al-Yami. The four were found guilty of having smuggled "a large quantity of hashish" into Saudi Arabia. Amnesty International claimed that there had been a "disturbing surge" in executions in Saudi Arabia of late with a total of 32 already this year and said:"The Saudi Arabian authorities must halt all executions". Amnesty also claimed that the conviction of the four was "reportedly on the basis of forced confessions extracted through torture".

 During the last two weeks there have been 17 beheadings a rate of more than one a day.The families of the executed men had been asking for help from Amnesty as the executions became imminent but were told by the Interior Ministry to stop trying to contact Amnesty. Amnesty representative Said Bouhmedouha called the recent increase in beheadings a deeply disturbing deterioration and said: "The authorities must act immediately to halt this cruel practice". Four days previous to this execution a Pakastani was beheaded also for drug trafficking.

 In Saudi Arabia a number of different crimes can be punished by death including rape, murder, apostasy, armed robbery, and drug trafficking. There were 78 executions in the country last year. In August alone this year 19 people have been beheaded. Among those beheaded, Mohammed Al-Alawi was convicted for practicing sorcery.

Canada allows use and sharing of information obtained by torture

After earlier allowing spy agencies to use and share information obtained by torture, the Canada government has now extended the same powers to the national police force(RCMP) and federal border agents.

The Conservative government has been quietly without any notice to the public been changing the rules with respect to information that may have been tainted by torture. The Canadian Press managed to obtain documents from Sept. 9 2011 through the Access to Information Act. The documents are directives to the RCMP and the Border Services Agency. Up until now the documents have remained classified even though this is an important change in policy and one would think should have been discussed in parliament.

CBC asked the officer of the Public Safety Minister's Office about the story from the Canadian Press. CBC asked if the government would use information obtained by torture. A spokesperson for Vic Toews the minister said:. "The minister's directive is clear, the primary responsibility of Canadian security agencies is to protect Canadian life and property..At all times we abide by Canadian law." This is typical evasion but to protect Canadian life and property information which could have been obtained by torture could be used.

These new directives are almost identical to directives issued in the summer of 2011 to apply to the CSIS(Canadian Security Intelligence Service). At the time those directives were criticized by human rights advocates and also opposition MP's as a violation of Canada's obligation to prevent torture internationally.

The U.S. is well known for its former rendition policy that sent terror suspects to countries such as Syria for interrogation and where they were often tortured. The Maher Arar case is a famous instance although the U.S. claims it was not a rendition but a deportation since Arar was a dual citizen of Syria and Canada. Later when supporters of Arar were trying to have him returned to Canada classified material was leaked to a reporter.

Arar's case reached new heights of controversy after reporter Juliet O'Neill wrote an article in the Ottawa Citizen on November 8, 2003, containing information leaked to her from an unknown security source, possibly within the RCMP. The secret documents provided by her source suggested Arar was a trained member of an al-Qaeda terrorist cell.

Someone obviously knows how to use information obtained by torture. An extensive government inquiry found Arar had no links to terrorism. Arar reached a settlement with the government for over ten million dollars. Arar was deported to Syria partly on the basis of raw intelligence data much of it erroneous which the U.S concluded showed he was probably an Al Qaeda operative. One of the recommendations of the Arar Inquiry was that information never be provided to a foreign country where there is a risk that the person might be tortured. However, the U.S. already shared the same view when it deported Arar to Syria. Alberto Gonzales the U.S. attorney general at the time of the Arar deportation noted that Syria had given assurances that Arar would not be tortured. Assad was in power in Syria at that time.

Some of the information used against Arar had been obtained through torture of another terror suspect again in Syria. Canada used what I call opportunistic rendition. Instead of using the U.S. technique Canada waited until a suspect visited a country such as Syria or Egypt and then the person would be arrested. Three Canadian citizens were subject to this practice and ended up in jails in Syria and Egypt. There was a much less extensive and very restrictive inquiry into these cases by Judge Frank Iacobucci. Much of the inquiry was not open even to the lawyers for the three. The inquiry concluded:

Canadian officials had a hand in the torture of Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muayyed Nureddin in Syria through the sharing of information with foreign intelligence and police agencies.

Canadian officials even helped out by providing questions to Syrian military intelligence. False confessions by El Maati were used to obtain warrants in Canada. This is the way that Canada used information obtained by torture. The three have so far not been able to receive any compensation for their ordeal.

Now the same intelligence agencies and police are given explicit permission to use such information if it is thought necessary for the security of Canadians. The UN Committee on Torture has been critical of the Canadian record. Alex Neve the general secretary of Amnesty International has summed up the main problems as follows:

..

.Canada risks complicity in torture by allowing deportation to torture, denying fair process in security-certificate cases, giving the nod to prisoner transfers in war zones when there is an obvious risk of torture and, under proposed legislation currently before Parliament, restricting appeal rights for refugee claimants who fear torture in their home countries. There is clearly complicity in the ministerial direction to CSIS allowing intelligence information to be shared with other countries even when that might cause torture, and in authorizing the use of intelligence information that was likely obtained through torture in other countries.

Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/331544#ixzz24fI5Zxon

Libya: Video shows caged black Africans seemingly forced to eat Gadaffi flag

This video purports to show black Africans in a zoo type cage. They are taunted and apparently forced to eat the green Gadaffi flag.

Those in the cage have their hands bound and the green flags in their mouths. The voice off camera screams out:"Eat the flag, you dog. Patience you dog, patience. God is Great," It seems as if the captives are also made to stand up with the cloth in their mouths and start jumping.

Many black Africans were in Gadaffi's armed forces or worked as mercenaries. However many others were simply migrant workers caught in the civil war.. As Amnesty International put it many migrants and refugees"became targets of stigma, discrimination and violence," .

Many blacks were able to flee into Mali and Niger but 5,000 have been detained by the new government.

Some of the black migrants managed to flee into neighboring Mali and Niger, but more than 5,000 were detained. They face mass execution, beatings, and revenge killings, according to an Al Jazeera report published back in September..

Libya was host to about a million black workers. There were many doing domestic work, construction, and low wage jobs in general. For more see this article.

State Department and Human Rights in Honduras

This is typical of the evasive doubletalk coming out of the Obama administration on Honduras. It seems clear that the administration wants the whole issue out of the news and will quietly recognise the results of the election and pressure other countries to do likewise. The media conveniently has forgotten all about Honduras.

This is posted on the site hondurascoup.


State Department Discovers Human Rights Concerns
On November 13, State Department spokesperson Ian Kelly was asked for US reaction to the Human Rights conditions in Honduras since the coup. He professed total ignorance of the reports issued by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and even the IACHR. Here's the exchange from the October 13 daily press briefing:

QUESTION: A follow-up on Honduras. What does the U.S. think about the human rights situation there right now? There have been mass arrests, curfews, an emergency decree, and a ban on protests and media closures for three weeks during the presidential campaign. Does that undermine the electoral process, in the view of the U.S.?

MR. KELLY: Regarding the – well, first of all, our real priority here is to see this accord implemented step by step. We’ve only gotten through step one, and we need step two and step three to be implemented.

Regarding the – these reports, I’m actually not aware of these reports of any actions to – you say ban rallies and – no, I’m not just aware of those reports. I think that we would need to have more details about it for us to really comment on it.

Just to remind you, the Minister of Security issued an administrative rule on October 21 that prohibited all public gatherings, be they birthday parties or political rallies, without prior notification and permission of the National Police. Executive decree 124-2009, published on October 5, enjoined the military to monitor radio and television broadcasts and to denounce those of "general abhorrence" to CONATEL so that their broadcast licenses can be revoked.

Today the State Department suddenly expressed Human Rights concerns about the situation in Honduras since the coup, and claimed they've always had these concerns.

It all started with a question about a Human Rights Watch report on conditions in Cuba. Kelly replied that "human rights is at the center of our Cuban policy." He went on to elaborate that "So this is a real priority for the United States, and it will continue to be so." The questioner, seeking clarity asked, "Is that - human rights in the hemisphere?" to which Kelly replied, "Sure." Then the questioner reminded Kelly of his being asked about Human Rights in Honduras last week.

QUESTION: I believe last week, or maybe a little bit before then, you were asked about human rights abuses in Honduras, and reports from the same organization that Dave just mentioned as well as Amnesty International and local human rights groups who have catalogued 4,234 violations since the coup, including 21 murders, or executions as they call them.
There are growing calls from trade union movement here for the U.S. not to recognize the elections unless these things are corrected. Is this something of concern to you guys?

MR. KELLY: It is. It has been and remains a concern. There have been a number of human rights violations since the coup, and we have consistently called on the regime to respect the rights of individual citizens. And we’ve been particularly concerned about some of the moves against the media. And the U.S. Embassy in Tegucigalpa is closely monitoring the situation. It has reported back to us about a number of allegations of arbitrary arrests, disproportionate use of force, and, in particular, restrictions on freedom of expression. So yeah, we are concerned about it.

So somewhere between last week and this week, the State Department discovered to its surprise that Human Rights violations were going on in Honduras, that "it has and remains a concern."

However, in response to the question of what they're doing about it, if it's a concern, the reply was "we're monitoring very very closely." Makes you warm and fuzzy all over.

When asked if the media restrictions and human rights violations have any bearing on recognition of the elections, Kelly at first allowed as how "The lack of freedom of media, of course, is an important – would be an important indicator of this", the "this" being the freedom and transparency of the Honduran elections. He took it all back a few minutes later when he said "we’ll look at restrictions on the media, particularly restrictions of access to candidates in the campaign before the elections themselves."

Sure, one important thing is access by the candidates to media. So its good to hear that the US State Department cares about that.

But the bigger issue is more fundamental: restrictions on what the media can say, with the threat of losing their license hanging over them everyone freedom of speech.

Amnesty International reports more human rights violations in Honduras.

There seems to be very little coverage of these violations in the mainstream press. If this were happening in Iran there would be plenty of coverage. Yesterday there were reports of one to ten people being killed. As this article notes media opposed to the coup have been interrupted so that they could not cover events.


PRESS RELEASESeptember, 23 2009
Two Days After Honduran President Returns to Capital, Amnesty International Reports Rise in Police Beatings, Mass Arbitrary Arrests, Closing of Media Outlets, Harassment of Activists Since Coup
Human Rights Organization Cites "Alarming" Incidents, Including Police Tear Gas Attack Monday on Rights Organization in Capital
(New York) -- Amnesty International reported today that police beatings, mass arrests of demonstrators and intimidation of human rights groups have risen sharply in Honduras since the June coup d'etat, including the firing of tear gas at the building of a prominent rights group on Monday with 100 men, women and children inside.
Two days after President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales returned to Honduras following a June coup, Amnesty International warned that fundamental rights and the rule of law in the Central American nation are in grave jeopardy.
According to reports received by Amnesty International on Monday morning, about 15 police officers fired tear gas canisters at the building of the prominent human rights organization COFADEH. Around 100 people, including women and children, were inside the office at the time. Many had come to denounce police abuses during the break up of a demonstration earlier outside the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, where ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has taken refuge.
“The situation in Honduras can only be described as alarming,” said Susan Lee, Americas director at Amnesty International. “The attacks against human rights defenders, suspension of news outlets, beating of demonstrators by the police and ever increasing reports of mass arrests indicate that human rights and the rule of law in Honduras are at grave risk.”
“The only way forward is for the de facto authorities to stop the policy of repression and violence and instead respect the rights of freedom of expression and association,” said Lee. “We also urge the international community to urgently seek a solution, before Honduras sinks even deeper into a human rights crisis.”
Following the break up by police of a mass demonstration outside the Brazilian Embassy yesterday, numerous demonstrators were reported to have been beaten by police and some several hundred detained across the city. Reports also indicated similar scenes of human rights violations across the country.
Amnesty International received information that dozens of protestors were taken to unauthorized detention sites across the capital last night. Although most of those detained have been released, mass arbitrary arrests may make those detained vulnerable to human rights abuses such as ill-treatment, torture or enforced disappearance.
Amnesty International has documented the limits which have been imposed on freedom of expression since the coup d’état, including the closure of media outlets, the confiscation of equipment and physical abuse of journalists and camerapersons covering events. Radio Globo and TV channel 36 yesterday suffered power stoppages or constant interruptions to their transmissions which prevented them from broadcasting.
Background Information Concerns about human rights in Honduras have intensified since the democratically elected President José Manuel Zelaya Rosales was forced from power on June 28 and expelled from the country by a military-backed group of politicians led by Roberto Micheletti, former leader of the National Congress. There has been widespread unrest in the country since the coup d’etat with frequent clashes between the police, military and civilian protestors. At least two people have died after being shot during protests.

Repression in Honduras

I doubt very much that there will be much more in the way of reporting. On CNN the only news of Honduras was that it had broken off relations with Argentina or that is all I saw and that was just on the streamer at the bottom.
The Amnesty report has photos and testimonials that are from a demonstration several weeks old on July 30. As the article notes there has been more repression since then. All of it goes unreported. Any peep of opposition from Iran and it is front page news but the free mainstream press doesn't need to be censored. News from Honduras is virtually nil at present.
Even Amnesty is not up to date. Amnesty reported two deaths but there have been at least ten verified deaths already. An OAS rights group is also in Honduras. The Honduran govt. has already said that their report will be biased since it comes from the OAS. It is a bit surprising they were even let into the country. There is no movement at all as far as negotiations are concerned although there are supposed to be representatives from the OAS coming later this week. As long as Micheletti refuses to countenance the return of Zelaya the meetings seem pointless. The coup govt. has already weathered two months. In another two months there will be presidential elections. Although many Latin American states claim they will not recognise a president elected under the coup there will probably be pressure from the U.S. to do so.
This is the first post since my blog has been officially declared not to be spam. This is the second time that Blogger scam detector has flagged my blog! At least things get cleared up quickly.


August 19, 2009

Huffington Post.


Robert Naiman
National Coordinator of Just Foreign Policy.
Posted: August 19, 2009 11:12 AM

There has been very little attention in the U.S. press to repression in Honduras under the coup regime. Hopefully, that will now change: Amnesty International issued a report today documenting "serious ill-treatment by police and military of peaceful protesters" in Honduras, warning that "beatings and mass arrests are being used as a way of punishing people for voicing their opposition" to the coup.
An Amnesty International delegation interviewed people who were detained after police and military broke up a peaceful demonstration July 30. Most detainees had injuries as a consequence of police beatings.
Esther Major, Central America researcher at Amnesty International, said:
Detention and ill treatment of protesters are being employed as forms of punishment for those openly opposing the de facto government, and also as a deterrent for those contemplating taking to the streets to peacefully show their discontent with the political turmoil the country is experiencing.
U.S. media often rely heavily on international human rights groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to report on human rights abuses. So it will be interesting to see how much U.S. press coverage the Amnesty report gets.
If the repression under the coup regime were more widely known, it would be much more difficult for representatives of that regime to peddle their story in Washington that their government is "democratic" and "respects the rule of law." How is the coup's hired gun Lanny Davis going to spin Amnesty's report on police repression of peaceful dissent against the coup?
Amnesty urgently calls for the "international community" to seek a resolution to the political crisis. But not all members of the "international community" have equal say. Last week, the president of Brazil called on the United States to use more political influence to help solve the crisis. Brazil's foreign minister said President Zelaya's return would depend largely on the position of the United States.
No one is calling on the U.S. to send the Fourth Fleet to Honduras. The Obama Administration has modest policy levers it has not employed. Rep. Grijalva and 15 other members of the House have written to President Obama, urging him to speak out about the repression in Honduras and to cancel U.S. travel visas and freeze U.S. bank accounts of leaders of the coup regime to pressure them to accept a compromise for President Zelaya's return.
The coup regime "must be disabused" of the notion that it can "run out the clock" until a November presidential election, wrote the New York Times in a recent editorial. The U.S. must be prepared to exert more pressure on the coup regime if it refuses to accept a compromise for President Zelaya's return, the Times said.

Mexico's justice system is flawed: Amnesty International

The CBC would probably not bother to report on this if only Mexicans and particularly the poor suffered from the system but there have been several high profile Canadian cases and hence it rates a story.


Mexico's justice system 'gravely flawed,' Amnesty says
Last Updated: Thursday, February 8, 2007 | 2:57 PM ET
CBC News
Amnesty International says Mexico's justice system is so flawed that some people are committing murder without being charged, while others are jailed on trumped-up charges with no chance to defend themselves.


'The country's law and enforcement agencies and judicial system do not effectively protect people from human rights abuses, and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice.'
—Amnesty InternationalThe human rights organization released a damning report Wednesday, just as Mexican officials were coping with the aftermath of a rash of violence and killings that has shaken its tourism industry and raised concern among countries like Canada.

"In Mexico, the criminal justice system is gravely flawed," the organization writes in the introduction to its report, called Mexico: Laws Without Justice.

"The country's law and enforcement agencies and judicial system do not effectively protect people from human rights abuses, and perpetrators are rarely brought to justice."

Amnesty International cites specific cases of torture and police intimidation in its report, as well as arrests without cause and unfair trials.

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Indigenous Mexicans, the poor, women and children are most victimized by the justice system, Amnesty International says. Political activists and human rights workers are also targeted.

The report says the flaws in the justice system have caused many Mexicans to lose faith in police officers, judges, lawyers and the system as a whole.

Amnesty International met with representatives of Mexico's government Wednesday. Amnesty wants President Felipe Calderon to address the human rights concerns addressed in the report.

Acapulco mayor addresses raging violence
Meanwhile, Acapulco's mayor was busy reassuring business leaders on Wednesday that international tourists won't be scared away by a recent rash of violence.

There have been kidnappings, beheadings and brazen daylight murders in and around the resort city of Acapulco, with most attacks said to be fuelled by a raging drug war.

On Tuesday, five police officers and two secretaries were killed when assassins, dressed as soldiers, barged into two state police stations in Acapulco.

"I hope this does not affect the tourist image," Mayor Felix Salgado told business leaders at a morning meeting. "We realize that these events are unpleasant, but people know that they are separate events."

Federal authorities Wednesday said they are investigating whether some of the slain officers had ties to drug traffickers and whether the killings were meant to settle scores between the rival Gulf and Sinaloa drug cartels.

The two cartels are battling for control of drug trade routes used to transport Columbian cocaine to the United States.

4 Canadians killed in Mexico within year
The question of whether Mexico is safe has been on the minds of many Canadians recently after four Ontario tourists were killed there during the past year in three separate incidents.

In January, 19-year-old Adam DePrisco from Woodbridge, Ont., was killed in Acapulco. A Mexican doctor blamed the teenager's death on a hit-and-run accident, but his family and friends allege he was beaten to death.

Also in January, a man from Chatham, Ont., was struck by a car and killed in Guadalajara.

In February 2006, Domenic and Nancy Ianiero — also of Woodbridge — were found slain in their room at a resort near Cancun. Their deaths remain unsolved.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay is currently in Mexico, discussing tourism safety issues with Mexican officials.

Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs says Canadians should exercise caution and prudence at all times when travelling in Mexico.

Details of the government's warnings are outlined in a travel report last updated on Feb. 5 and found on the Foreign Affairs Department website.