June 2002

"As the African Union (AU) replaces the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in early July, it is essential for African leaders to recognise the centrality of human rights and the need to incorporate it in all the work of the organisation," Amnesty International said today at the beginning of preparatory meetings in Pretoria, South Africa, for the launch of the AU. Posted: 29 Jun 2002

Amnesty International called on the Algerian authorities to stop obstructing investigations of grave human rights abuses in the run-up to a libel trial brought against former Algerian army officer Habib Souaidia by the former Algerian defence minister, retired General Khaled Nezzar, that is due to begin in Paris on Monday. Posted: 29 Jun 2002

Amnesty International UK is delighted to announce the winners of the Amnesty International UK Media Awards for 2002. Sponsored by Pci: Live, the eleventh annual media awards recognise excellence in human rights journalism. Posted: 28 Jun 2002

The UN Security Council must not stand by and allow the USA to exempt peace-keepers from the jurisdiction of any international tribunal as well as any national court other than their own, declared Amnesty International. Posted: 28 Jun 2002

At the hearing in the retrial of Saad Eddin Ibrahim, the director of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, and other human rights defenders Amnesty International calls on the Egyptian authorities to stop criminalising human rights activists. Posted: 27 Jun 2002

Amnesty International is extremely dismayed at the decision by the Court of Appeal of Brussels that declared a complaint concerning the "Sharon" case inadmissible. The Court's decision was based on its analysis of Belgian law which concluded that no investigation can be opened in Belgium for war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide unless the suspect is found in the country. Posted: 27 Jun 2002

As Israel reoccupies villages and towns in the West Bank the Palestinian population suffers the effects of widespread security measures such as prolonged curfews, house demolitions or administrative detention that amount to collective punishment, said Amnesty International. Posted: 27 Jun 2002

Amnesty International condemned the sentencing by the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC) of Riad al-Turk and Habib Saleh as a gross violation of Syria's obligations under human rights treaties to which it is a state party. Posted: 27 Jun 2002

Despite major political changes and repeated commitments to human rights by those in power, torture and ill-treatment remain widespread in prisons, police stations and military installations in Peru, Amnesty International said today. Posted: 26 Jun 2002

In a letter sent today to the Amir of Kuwait, Shaikh Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Amnesty International urged the Kuwaiti authorities to suspend the imminent execution of Mohammad Zahar Abdul Sattar, Anwar al-Zamaan and Anwar Khan Mohammad, migrant workers from Bangladesh, who have been sentenced to death in connection with the rape and murder of a Sri Lankan national, after a grossly unfair trial according to one of their lawyers. Posted: 26 Jun 2002

Amnesty International expressed its dismay and disappointment at the Canadian authorities' refusal to grant accreditation to the organisation's observer of the policing at the G8 summit. Posted: 26 Jun 2002

Amnesty International condemned yesterday's conviction of two independent Belarusian journalists for seeking the truth about the spate of 'disappearances' in the country. Posted: 26 Jun 2002

Fifteen years on from the entry into force of the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, torture and ill-treatment continue to be recorded in at least 111 countries throughout the world, and the Convention remains the least ratified of the six existing international human rights treaties, Amnesty International said today. Posted: 26 Jun 2002

One year after the killing of Anton Cooper in Golden Grove Remand Centre, Arouca, Amnesty International is renewing its call for a thorough investigation into the case. The authorities of Trinidad and Tobago have manifestly failed to provide any adequate explanation of the circumstances leading to his death, the human rights organisation said today. Posted: 25 Jun 2002

The Zimbabwean government has systematically ensured that those responsible for torture, abductions and political killings are never brought to justice, Amnesty International said in a new report, 'The Toll of Impunity', released today. Posted: 25 Jun 2002

"The failure of governments from seven of the Group of Eight (G8) largest economies - the USA, the Russian Federation, France, the United Kingdom (UK), Germany, Italy and Canada - to regulate arms transfers is contributing to grave human rights abuses in developing countries and the destruction of millions of lives, particularly in Africa," Amnesty International said. Posted: 25 Jun 2002

The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch) welcomes a declaration on the use of children as soldiers made by the General Assembly of the Organisation of American States at its 32nd session on 2 - 4 June in Barbados. Posted: 25 Jun 2002

"Failure by the Transitional Government of Burundi to condemn increasing killings of civilians by its armed forces amounts to acquiescence, in what has become a well-established pattern," Amnesty International said in a report published today; 'Punishing the population - reprisal killings escalate'. Posted: 24 Jun 2002

Recent diplomatic incidents in embassies and consulates in China are an end result of the Chinese authorities' continuing crackdown on North Korean asylum seekers, Amnesty International said today. Since April, hundreds of North Koreans have been rounded up in northeast China and forcibly repatriated without being given access to a refugee determination procedure. Posted: 21 Jun 2002

Talks on the political crisis in Madagascar being held today in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia, must address the deteriorating human rights situation, Amnesty International said. "The leaders of Madagascar and the international community must condemn the ongoing human rights abuses and take a firm stance on holding those responsible to account," the organisation said. Posted: 21 Jun 2002