Sondhi, Sameer --- "World Round-Up" [1996] HRightsDef 24; (1996) Human Rights Defender

World Round-Up

By Sameer Sondhi

Chile: UN Investigations Under Threat

The Chilean Congress is considering legislative proposals which would widen the negative effects of the 1978 Amnesty Law and place the future investigation of past human rights violations under threat. The Figuero-Otero Bill is the latest of several proposals which would bar all court proceedings against those respons-ible for human rights violations during the first five years under General Augusto Pinochet.

The Bill under consideration would seek to stifle ongoing investigations by limiting their purpose to locating the remains of those who have disappearedÓ and allowing cases to be closed before the remains are located or the full truth established.

Source: Amnesty International News , vol 26, no 2, Feb 1996.

Iraq: Economic Sanctions Bite Deep

A United Nations survey conducted in August 1995 found that 50% of the population in rural Iraq has no access to safe drinking water. In the Thiquar governorate, located in the south of Iraq, 90% of the population has no access to clean water and 15.8% of the total population obtains water from unsafe sources. Existing water plants, many of which suffered collateral damage during the Gulf War, were constructed in more prosperous days by foreign companies and maintained by qualified engineers and technicians. These are complicated to operate, human resources have become scarce and spare parts are not readily available.

Source: Red Cross, Red Crescent, Issue 1, 1996.

East Timor: Mass Arrests

In two separate incidents, Indonesian authorities arrested and detained 36 people suspected of being supporters of the independence movement in East Timor. According to the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), government intelligence forces arrested nine people in Soibada, Manatuto district last November in a crackdown against East Timorese opposing continued Indonesian occupation of their island-nation. The OMCT reported that those arrested consist mainly of farmers and unemployed persons. The prisoners are reportedly kept in isolation and subjected to poor treatment by Indonesian authorities.

Source: Philippines Human Rights Update, vol 10, no 3, Jan/Feb 1996.

Europe: UNHCR Concern at Use of Detention

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed concern about the increasing use of detention for asylum seekers in Europe. A UNHCR report says asylum seekers are being held for weeks, months and even years in closed camps, prisons or airport transit zones, while dec-isions about their fate are being made. While the UNHCR acknowledges that many would-be migrants abuse the asylum system to better their economic prospects, it has called upon governments to distinguish between refugees and asylum seekers and other aliens, while pr-eserving the principles of intern-ational protection.

Source: Go Between - UNNGLS, no 55, Dec 95/Jan 96.

Thai-Burma Border: Repatriation Unsafe

The repatriation of refugees located along the Thai-Burma border remains unsafe in the absence of UNHCR monitoring. The border refugees, said to number in the vicinity of 18,000, are reported to be subject to forced labour and forced rel-ocation at the hands of SLORC backed Karen bandits. The Australian Council for Overseas Aid has called on the Australian Government to urge Thailand and SLORC to allow UNHCR invol-vement in the repatriation of Mon refugees.

Source: ACFOA News, no 46, Feb 1996.

China: Thousands Sentenced to Death

According to a recent report by Amnesty International on the human rights situation in China, 1,865 death sentences were handed down and 1,313 executions performed during the first six months of 1995. During 1994, AI recorded 2,783 death sentences and 2,050 executions, with a large proportion of executions ordered in relation to non-violent crimes.

AIs report coincides with an article by legal researcher Wang Fengzhi, critical of the high proportion of crimes punishable by death (65 in total). The author expresses concern about the sharp increase in executions over the last few years and criticises the application of capital punishment against young first-time offenders. More than half of the prisoners that are executed are under the age of 25.

Source: China Rights Forum, Spring 1996.

US Court: Gas Chamber Unconstitutional

On 21 February 21 1996, the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a federal district court decision declaring execution by lethal gas to be cruel and unusual punishment and thus in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the Federal Constitution. In anticipation of a possible victory for the plaintiffs, the California legislature recently amended the states capital punishment provision, allowing for execution by lethal injection.

Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that: No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment.Ó In its General Comment on article 7, the UN Human Rights Committee has stated that when the death penalty is applied by a State party...it must be carried out in such a way as to cause the least possible physical and mental suffering.Ó

Source: Human Rights Observer, vol 8, no 10, 1996.

Nigeria: UN Condemns Judicial Process

The UN General Assembly voted to condemn the arbitrary executionsÓ of Ken Saro Wiwa and his eight co-defendants in Nigeria. The Assembly urged the Nigerian Government to ensure the observance of human rights by restoring habeas corpus, releasing all political prisoners, guaranteeing freedom of the press and taking immediate steps to restore democratic rule. The Assembly welcomed the decision of the Commonwealth and other states to take various action against the Nigerian Government, to highlight the importance of observing the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Source: NGLS Round Up, March 1996.

Saudi Arabia: High Number of Death Sentences Report

During 1995, Amnesty International recorded 192 public executions carried out in Saudi Arabia, the highest number ever recorded, in a single year. According to AI's report, all victims had been sentenced to death after trials which fall short of international safeguards for defendants facing the death penalty.

Defendants are denied the most basic rights during pre-trial detention, including access to legal rep-resentation. Courts have repeatedly failed to investigate claims of torture and appear to consider confessions obtained under duress as admissible evidence.

Source: Amnesty International News, vol 26, no 2, Feb 1996.

Bangladesh: Garment Manufacturers Drag Feet

The Bangladesh Combined Garment Workers and Employees League has lodged a complaint against the Bangladesh Garment and Manufacturers Association in response to their inactivity in carrying out a comprehensive survey of child workers. The ManufacturersAssociation, which recently signed an agreement with UNICEF and the ILO to provide free education to under-age workers, has taken its time in implementing the terms of the agreement. Employee union representatives claim that, the workers have no job security, no weekly holidays, no trade union rights and the garment factory owners are violating the basic rights of the workers.Ó Union representatives have urged owners to refrain from retrenching child workers before arranging education and rehabilit-ation programs, as guaranteed by the agreement.

Source: Hotline Newsletter Issue, no 87, Nov 1995.

Sri Lanka: NGOs Prevented from Acting Independently

In a press release, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Mr Laksman Kathirkamar announced that any international agencies or NGOs would be welcome to contribute to help people displaced in Northern Sri Lanka, but on the strict condition that all materials be channelled through the Sri Lankan Government. The Minister stressed that no agencies or NGOs will be permitted to conduct independent operations in the North of Sri Lanka.

Source: TRO News - Special Issue, vol 1, no 4, March 1996.

China: Political Prisoner Dies in Custody

Political prisoner Hu Jian died last October in a Shanxi mental hospital. A former Faculty Member at Taiyuan University, Hu was serving a ten-year sentence for counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitementÓ, for his involvement in pro-democracy demonstrations. Hu had been on a hunger strike for nearly two years and only survived through force-feeding. According to his mother, Hu Jian suffered severe health problems due to harsh prison conditions, repeated beatings by guards and inmates and extended periods in confinement. His mother was refused access to view his body before he was cremated.

Source: China Rights Forum, Spring 1996.

US Condemns China's Record in Tibet

The US State Department handed down its toughest report to date on China's violations of human rights in Tibet. The report deals with areas including rape, the detention of foreigners and restrictions on the spread of monasteries. The report identifies widespread discrimination against Tibetans, especially in the area of employment, which has worsened as more Chinese are encouraged to settle in Tibet. The President of the International Campaign for Tibet, Lodi Gyari said that while the report, "shows an increasing understanding and scrutiny of the human rights situation in Tibet, it fails to acknowledge the causes and impact of the Chinese population influx."

Source: Tibetan Bulletin March/April 1996.

Burma Bars Delegates From Jails.

UN Commission on Human Rights Special Rapporteur to Burma, Yozo Yokota, reports that despite restrictions imposed by authorities in Rangoon, he was able to gather information from former prisoners who claim to have been denied adequate food and health care and housed in unsanitary conditions. Yokota's report found that torture is still widespread, including beatings, rape, mutilation and threats of death. Yokota concludes that conditions in Burmese prisons fall far short of international standards and that evidence of forced labour, torture and arbitrary killings remains widespread.

Source: Bangkok Post 10/3/96, Agence-France Presse, Geneva.

South Africa: Corporal Punishment Constitutionally Invalid.

In a recent case, the Supreme Court of South Africa considered whether sentencing six youths to whipping was unconstitutional, representing a breach of fundamental rights embodied in chapter three of the South African Constitution. The Court held that condoning violence against its young people would be, "diametrically opposed to the values that fuel our progress towards being a more humane and caring society [for the young represent] the future custodians of this fledgling democracy." (The State v Henry Williams CCT/20/94)

Source: Rights Now! vol 4, no 1, February 1996.