Supporters rally for Yusak and Filep in front of the White House. © AIUSA

Just this week, our Individuals at Risk team received a special message from Yusak Pakage and Filep Karma – two prisoners of conscience in jail for peacefully raising a flag – from their prison cells in Indonesia. Here’s what they wrote:

Since our being sentenced to prison, Amnesty International has opposed our being imprisoned for legitimately exercising our right to freedom of expression. We wish to express our appreciation for Amnesty’s advocacy.  

We will continue fighting for Filep and Yusak until they are freed and their rights restored.

President Obama is taking a trip to Indonesia in less than a week, and we want him to carry a message of freedom and hope to Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage. That’s why this past weekend, scores of Amnesty activists and supporters braved torrential rain to rally in front of the White House with flags, banners, and posters asking President Obama not to forget human rights and these two Prisoners of Conscience when he meets with Indonesian President Yudhoyono. Speakers from East Timorese Action Network (ETAN) joined us in calling for their immediate and unconditional release. It was indeed a powerful show of solidarity and our determination to secure the release of both Filep and Yusak!

President Obama spent four years of his childhood in Indonesia and this trip marks a special opportunity to forge an understanding between the two countries based on human rights. But this can only happen if President Obama commits to speaking up for those who were punished for speaking out.

If you weren’t at the rally, it’s not too late to help Filep and Yusak. Call on President Obama to pressure the Indonesian government to release Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage. 

Or if you have the time, call the White House comment line: 1-202-456-1111 (TTY/TDD 202-456-6213). Or if you have trouble getting through, call the White House switchboard: 1-202-456-1414 and ask to be connected to the comment line.

Update: Juan Cole, a blogger on the Middle East and South Asia has a good analysis of this bombing.

Suicide bombings are human rights violations.

Normally I don’t cover Pakistan (I cover India, Bangladesh and the Maldives for Amnesty USA).  But, I just want to do a quick post here to condemn unequivocally the wanton killing of innocent civilians in Lahore, Pakistan today.  Suicide bombings that kill or injure civilians are human rights violations and must be condemned.

Lahore is the cultural capital of Pakistan and it has been subjected to repeated suicide bombings by folks who apparently think that killing innocent civilians can be a justified response to the war that they are fighting in Waziristan against Pakistani and US soldiers.  It’s not. Here is a description of the scene from the BBC World Service:

“I sensed real danger and started running. There were scenes of destruction in nearby restaurants and shops.

“There were broken chairs and tables and other items lying everywhere on the ground.”

Another eyewitness, Afzal Awan, said he had seen wounded people with limbs missing lying in pools of blood.

“I saw smoke rising everywhere,” he told reporters. “A lot of people were crying.”

Exactly what do these people have to do with the operations going on in the northwestern part of the country?  Nothing.  They are innocent civilians, women, children and men going about their lives.  The world must condemn these mass murders unequivocally.  Nothing can justify it.

A 50-year-old refugee mother sitting beside a pot of rice that she got from begging – all the food her family of four will have for the entire day. Her husband was arrested by Bangladeshi police for stepping outside the makeshift camp at Kutupalong. She had not seen him in 15 days. (c) PHR

For the first time in twenty years, Myanmar (Burma) is preparing for elections.  To prevent another loss to the National League for Democracy like in 1990, the military junta has begun its crackdown on opposition forces and passed new election laws in order to solidify a win this fall.  The new laws have not only annulled the results of the 1990 election, but have also banned political prisoners, civil servants and monks from being affiliated with political parties and thereby standing in the polls.  Much of the recent news coverage and the State Department’s release of the Human Rights country Report on Myanmar today, has focused on the domestic situation leading up to the elections and prospects for future engagement with the West.  All the while, the often catastrophic situation for Burmese refugees in neighboring countries has largely gone unnoticed.  Concerned about a large increase in refugees leading up to the election, the Bangladeshi government has decided to adopt questionable practices that violate human rights to dissuade an influx of Burmese coming across its border. 

Refugees Face Humanitarian Crisis
Physicians for Human Rights’ (PHR) new Stateless and Starving report, calls attention to the campaign of discrimination being waged by the Bangladeshi government against Rohingya refugees and the humanitarian crisis faced by refugees.  Although the number of Burmese refugees in Bangladesh is said to number between 200,000 and 400,000, there are only 28,000 officially registered refugees in jointly administered UNHCR and Government of Bangladesh camps.  Since Rohingya refugees were not granted protective status after 1993, the “illegal” refugees have been subject to arbitrary arrest, illegal expulsion, and forced internment.  In addition to these human rights violations, PHR has documented that the Bangladeshi government has been actively blocking humanitarian aid which has contributed to the squalid living conditions and malnutrition of Burmese refugees.

Physicians for Human Rights is asking everyone to participate in its online action  to end the expulsion of Burmese refugees and ensure the delivery of critically needed food aid. We need to make sure that if Burmese escape the repressive confines of their own country they are not facing the same discrimination and human rights abuses outside or are being forcibly returned to Myanmar where their human rights are jeopardized.

Where’s Prageeth Eknaligoda?  On Jan. 24, the Sri Lankan cartoonist and journalist disappeared shortly after leaving work at the Lanka-e-News office.  Local residents reported seeing a white van without number plates close to his house around this time.  When his wife tried to lodge a complaint with the police the next day, she was detained for several hours at the police station.  In the days leading up to his disappearance, Mr. Eknaligoda had told a close friend that he believed he was being followed.

Prageeth Eknaligoda had previously been abducted last August by a group who also arrived in a white van; that time, he was released the following day.  White vans have been used in many abductions and enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka, particularly since 2006, when the security forces or allied paramilitary groups stepped up attacks on government critics.  Prageeth Eknaligoda had been actively reporting on the Sri Lankan presidential election, which took place on Jan. 26.  Shortly before his disappearance, he had completed a comparative analysis of the two main candidates, coming out in favor of the opposition candidate, Sarath Fonseka (who lost in the election, which saw President Rajapaksa re-elected).

His wife, Sandhya Eknaligoda, believes he was abducted by the government because of his criticism of President Rajapaksa.

Please write the Sri Lankan government and ask that his disappearance be promptly investigated and those responsible held accountable.  Thanks.

This morning, suspected Islamist militants attacked World Vision, a Christian-based relief agency operating in the Manserha district of Pakistan. Six aid workers, all Pakistani, were murdered and seven others were wounded. Witnesses said 10 gunmen walked into the office building wearing military-style clothing with grenades and machine guns and asked employees “why are you doing this job?”. Some witnesses said that the gunmen singled out aid workers from the laborers before they began shooting.

Those who kill humanitarian workers must be reminded that they are not only killing their own country’s residents, but also people seeking to improve the lives of victims of poverty and injustice.
World Vision Statement

Insurgency attacks on civilians or civilian institutions, for example against schools, hospitals or NGOs, are a common human rights violation in northwestern Pakistan. According to our own research based on publicly available sources, 448 insurgency attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure have occurred between 2005 and 2009 (196 in FATA, 252 in NWFP).

However, today’s attack against World Vision happened in the relatively peaceful district of Mansehra. Our research recorded four attacks against civilian targets over five years in this district, which is close to the capital Islamabad. Most of the past insurgent attacks happened in the neighboring SWAT districts (56 attacks), the place of a major military offensive by the Pakistani army in the spring of 2009. It is too early to tell if today’s attack confirms the fear that the militants might have been pushed into Mansehra following last year’s offensive, but it is something worth closely following.

United Nations

I always find today, International Women’s Day, incredibly inspiring but this year my source of motivation was the 54th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which began on March 1st and runs until March 12th. I had the chance to attend this year and find out what it is all about.  

This year, the CSW focused on progress towards achievement of the commitments made in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which was adopted by 189 governments 15 years ago.  Over the 12 days, in addition to the official meetings of member states, there are parrellel events hostedby NGOs covering a diverse range of issues from women and climate change to women’s political participation from female condoms to women and the economic crisis.  CSW is a chance to meet and hear participants from around the world speak about their work and their view of progress made to achieving the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’s objective to achieve women’s empowerment, the full realization of women’s rights and substantive gender equality. 

It was evident that whilst some progress has been made in the 15 years that have passed since Beijing - there is certainly much more to be done.

For instance, the prevention and elimination of violence against women – a Beijing commitment – is far from fulfilled.  Amnesty highlighted the challenges to preventing violence globally during an interesting parallelevent on Obstacles to Justice for Violence Against Women at which the findings of our research on violence against women in Uganda, Cambodia and Nordic countries were presented.  What was evident about these research findings was that regardless of the wealth of the country, the status of women in public life, the religion or the ethnicity of the people, violence against women is a global phenomenonthat rears its ugly head in homes, in schools and on the streets in every country in the world.  The obstacles to justice include stigma associated with reporting crimes and speaking out against what is considered a “private” or “family”  matter.  All of the panelists gave accounts of women who had been laughed out of the police station or shamed into silence.  Too often, police or judicial officials are not aware of the appropriate response to complaints or even the national laws that exist to prevent and protect survivors of violence.  The practice of violence against women is often tolerated  or, worse still, condoned by society which reflects the gender inequality and discrimination against women which is pervasive in many societies.  Gender discrimination in itself creates an obstacle to justice which must be overcome. 

Today, Amnesty launches a Six point Checklist on Justice for Violence Against Women which is a valuable resource for activists and advocates seeking to improve the judicial response to violence against women and identify laws policies and practices which need to be reformed.  Whilst the events at CSW demonstrated that more needs to be done to eliminate violence against women, it is also evident that the world over, there are activists working tirelessly to put an end to the violence and dismantle these obstacles.  A young woman activist from Nigeria in the audience at the Amnesty event said that her community creates obstacles “..they point at me for speaking out…” she said.  In the face of such hostility from her friends and neighbors she continues to demand an end to violence against women and she inspired me to do the same.

Despite the bad publicity (and sternly worded blog posts from me, here and here), the UK-owned corporation Vedanta Resources and the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests show no signs of backing down from this polluting project.  I also haven’t heard whether James Cameron has taken up the tribe’s plea for assistance.  I guess he’s pretty busy at the Oscar’s tonight, but wouldn’t it be great if he said something about this at the awards ceremony?

All in all, this really sucks for the people there because the air and water in Lanjigarh, Orissa are really nasty.  Heck even the Orissa State Pollution Control Board says so.  It’s a pretty grim situation that we’ve documented extensively in this report.

That leaves you– you can take action here.   In case you need to be guilt-tripped into taking the action, see this video below.  In other words, PLEASE take action.

South Korea is, to my knowledge, the only place in the world where a former death row inmate went on to become President of the country (and to win the Nobel Peace Prize too). Kim Dae-jung was one of many political prisoners sentenced to death in South Korea in the 1980s. Amnesty International has issued a powerful short film about that era and the people who survived it. Interviews with the former President, and other former political prisoners, are interspersed with interviews with the man who served as Kim Dae-jung’s jailer.

South Korea has come a long way since the 1980s, and capital punishment, while still on the books, is no longer really used.  There have been no executions in more than 10 years.  Nonetheless, South Korea’s Constitutional Court recently ruled that the death penalty was still constitutional, though just barely.  The vote was 5-4.

Many countries that have moved to abolish the death penalty have done so because of its legacy as a tool of political suppression, and its clear link to other grave human rights violations like torture.  Amidst South Korea’s thriving democracy and powerful economy, the death penalty is nothing but an unused relic of an ugly past.

The take-no-prisoners approach to counterinsurgency adopted by the Sri Lankan government in 2009 was hailed in many corners as evidence that letting the military off the leash was more effective than a nuanced strategy of political engagement.

As disturbing stories emerged of Sri Lankan military and paramilitary units executing prisoners, silencing civil society critics and displaying a cavalier disregard for civilian casualties these were dismissed by government apologists as a price worth paying to secure democratic rule on the island.

In October last year the Obama administration even went so far as to brief the Sri Lankan Attorney General on the Military Commission system operating at Guantanamo. Sri Lanka is considering the Commissions as a possible model for Special Tribunals to try 12,000 potential LTTE suspects.

Then last month the Sri Lankan government arrested General Sarath Fonseka – military architect of the aggressive military strategy that led to the defeat of the LTTE and the death of Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran.

General Fonseka had been the main challenger of President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the January 2010 general election and it seems pretty apparent that the Sri Lankan regime is determined to send a strong message to future challengers that serious political opposition will not be tolerated.

The arrest of General Fonseka, the internment of Tamil civilians in poorly run camps, and the disappearance of human rights activists and journalists from the streets of Colombo are all part of the same pattern and spell disaster for the future of one of the oldest democracies in Asia.

One aspect of torture and human rights abuse often ignored in the counterterrorism debate is the impact that draconian and even illegal tactics have on the fabric of the society using them.

In the 1960s the French journalist Pierre Vidal-Naquet famously described torture as “the cancer of democracy” and chartered how counter terror and the use of water boarding and electric shock treatment on terrorist suspects in Algeria eroded the democratic values of the French military.

As French forces got sucked deeper and deeper into the conflict elite frontline units were called upon to break more and more of the taboos of civilized society. Democratic control began to break down as soldiers began to see themselves as being above the law.

Ultimately, as the civilian government moved towards a withdrawal from Algeria, French generals mounted a coup in Algiers and established their own terrorist movement, the Organisation de l’Armée Secrète (OAS), that declared war on the French government and came close to assassinating French President and national hero Charles de Gaulle.

Illegal tactics like torture and indefinite detention are not consequence free for those who use them. They erode values, discipline and ultimately even relatively stable democracies. The truth is that in the real world you can’t destroy the village to save it. That approach just leaves you with a pile of rubble.

The Gujarat state government website features a smiling Chief Minister Narendra Modi touting how “life itself is a celebration” in his state.  Wow, this sounds to me like a swell time to be had by all in Gujarat!  But I guess someone forgot to tell that to the thousands whose lives were irreparably harmed during the pogroms against Muslims in the state in late February and early March 2002. Exactly 8 years ago.

On February 28, 2002, large scale violence erupted throughout the western Indian state of Gujarat shortly after a fire on the Sabarmati Express killed 58 Hindu activists (known as kar sevaks) at the Godhra railway station.  Following this incident, mobs of Hindus, encouraged by elements of the state government apparatus, reigned terror on Muslim neighborhoods throughout the state.  These mobs set fire to houses and mosques in the state.  In a particularly notorious incident, mobs targeted the Gulbarg Society housing complex in Ahmedabad, where a former Member of Parliament lived.  He repeatedly called the police and government officials asking for assistance.  No help arrived and he and 69 other people living in the neighborhood were killed in the ensuing violence, many hacked to death by mobs of people allied to Bharatiya Janata Party, India’s main opposition party and the political party of Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

The Gujarat government, led by a new Chief Minister, Narendra Modi, called the violence a “spontaneous reaction” to the Godhra incident.  But, according to human rights groups in India, as well as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, there is widespread evidence that the government as well as right-wing Hindu groups such as the VHP and the Bajrang Dal planned this violence.  The mobs were directed by computer printout and businesses were attacked based on the whether they were owned by Muslims or Hindus.  Narendra Modi’s government blocked police protection of Muslim neighborhoods in Ahmedabad (Gujarat’s largest city) and other cities in Gujarat.  It was only when the Central Government deployed the Indian Army to Gujarat did the violence abate.

The government estimates that 1,044 people were killed in the violence (Muslims and Hindus).  An additional 98,000 Muslims were in “relief camps” guarded by some of the very people implicated in the violence that led them to flee their homes.

Justice has been exceedingly slow in the 8 years since the pogroms.  The Indian Supreme Court has repeatedly ordered the state police to reopen investigations into the deaths and has launched investigations in several police officers for their alleged involvement in the riots. A recent Special Investigative Team set up recently and headed by a former director of the Central Bureau of Investigation has come under criticism for its slow work.

The many victims of the pogroms in February and March 2002 will rightly feel that they have been abandoned by law enforcement.  They must mourn their loved ones who lost their lives, suffered grave injury, victimized by rape or otherwise traumatized.  Narendra Modi, however, must feel that “life itself is a celebration”, having won two straight elections and being feted as the longest serving Chief Minister of Gujarat in history. Until the perpetrators and ring leaders are brought to justice, life will indeed be a celebration for him and his cronies.  Never forget what happened.