September 2002

The long term failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible for systematic human rights abuses has allowed deep rooted corruption to spread through all sectors of the Espírito Santo state authorities. Persistent impunity has undermined the rule of law and democratic values, and is partly responsible for the current crisis in public security, stated Amnesty International. Posted: 30 Sep 2002

Colombian paramilitary leaders should be brought to justice for their role in orchestrating and carrying out appalling human rights violations against civilians in the country's long-running conflict, Amnesty International said, following the request by the United States of the extradition of paramilitary leaders, including Carlos Castaño Gil and Salvatore Mancuso, on drugs charges. President George Bush declared that Castaño should also be tried for 'terrorism'. Posted: 30 Sep 2002

Amnesty International reacted with deep concern to today's compromise decision by European Union foreign ministers on the International Criminal Court. Posted: 30 Sep 2002

Children are increasingly becoming the victims of killings in Israel and the Occupied Territories, Amnesty International said today, as it released a new report showing the death toll during the present intifada. Posted: 30 Sep 2002

Secret executions after unfair trials take place every year in Tajikistan. Many of those sentenced to death allege they were tortured and their relatives receive so little information about their fate, that they often don't know if they are alive or dead, said Amnesty International in a report released today. Posted: 30 Sep 2002

Amnesty International UK welcomed yesterday's Foreign and Commonwealth Office annual report on human rights as a continued reflection of the government's clear commitment to incorporate human rights concerns into foreign policy. Posted: 27 Sep 2002

The Government of Burundi must lift the blanket of impunity and take effective action to end the escalating pattern of killings of civilians by the armed forces, said Irene Khan, Amnesty International's Secretary General, in Bujumbura. Posted: 27 Sep 2002

In a new report released today, Amnesty International warned that companies conducting business in Papua cannot ignore human rights. The organisation urged the Indonesian government and companies with operations in the Indonesian province to take responsibility to protect and uphold human rights. Posted: 26 Sep 2002

The human rights situation in Iraq is being invoked with unusual frequency by some western political leaders to justify military action. This selective attention to human rights is nothing but a cold and calculated manipulation of the work of human rights activists. Posted: 26 Sep 2002

As the world marks the 20th anniversary of the massacres in the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Beirut in September 1982, and on the eve of a hearing on the case before the Belgian Court of Cassation, Amnesty International today reiterates that the Belgian criminal justice system has jurisdiction under international law to conduct a criminal investigation into the killings. Posted: 25 Sep 2002

The USA continues to defy the United Nations and flout international law in its pursuit of the death penalty against children, Amnesty International said today, as it released two new reports on the execution of people who were under 18 at the time of the crime. Posted: 25 Sep 2002

Unlawful shootings, beatings and ill-treatment, in some cases amounting to torture, are some of the human rights violations by Greek law enforcement officials examined in a report launched by Amnesty International and International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights. Posted: 25 Sep 2002

Amnesty International expressed grave concern at the killing of more than 20 people in an attack on a Hindu temple in the Indian state of Gujarat. Posted: 25 Sep 2002

Amnesty International today in Bujumbura, published a new report, 'Poverty, isolation and ill-treatment: Juvenile Justice in Burundi', which highlights the multiple abuses children are suffering at the hands of the law. Posted: 24 Sep 2002

Amnesty International has a number of ongoing concerns regarding the human rights situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) (1). Of particular concern is the continuing impunity of those responsible for human rights abuses and violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, which occurred throughout the 1990s in connection with the armed conflicts following the break-up of former Yugoslavia. Posted: 20 Sep 2002

Amnesty International called upon the government of Jamaica to keep the death penalty out of politics in the upcoming elections. Posted: 19 Sep 2002

Amnesty International has launched a worldwide petition in response to US attacks against the new system of international justice. Posted: 18 Sep 2002

As the European Commission finalises its 2002 progress reports on EU Candidate Countries, Amnesty International released a new report showing that systematic torture in Turkey is continuing despite recent legal reforms. Posted: 18 Sep 2002

Amnesty International today called on the Eritrean authorities to immediately and unconditionally end the unlawful detention of dozens of prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders, as it released a new report: 'Eritrea: Arbitrary detentions of government critics and journalists.' Posted: 18 Sep 2002

Brazil's upcoming presidential elections offer a unique opportunity for candidates to place human rights firmly at the heart of their political programmes and to design and implement much-needed measures to address the country's critical human right situation, Amnesty International said. Posted: 16 Sep 2002