News Clips – October 25, 2010 – International Justice Resource Center

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights begins holding hearings today in its 140^th Period of Sessions. Issues to be discussed today include the Situation of Environmentalists in Mesoamerica, and Discrimination against the Transsexual, Transgender, and Transvestite Population in Brazil. See the week’s schedule of hearings here. Webcast of some hearings is available here.

The role of humanitarian aid in contributing to or furthering humanitarian crises and human rights abuses has been in the news frequently over the past month. Human Rights Watch last week accused the Ethiopian government of using international aid to suppress dissent. The New Yorker, The Economist and Huffington Post each published reviews of Linda Polman’s new book, The Crisis Caravan, which highlights the negative consequences of the humanitarian aid industry, painting its growth as a self-serving struggle by NGOs and armed groups to win funding and contracts on the one hand and media attention and supplies on the other, while often causing harm to those the aid is ostensibly gathered to benefit and making peace and stability harder to attain.

The IACHR has called on the United States to suspend the execution of Jeffrey Timothy Landrigan, following its grant of precautionary measures in Landrigan’s favor last week. The Commission subsequently held that the U.S. violated the rights of Landrigan, who is scheduled to be executed tomorrow, when he was sentenced to death by a trial judge rather than a jury using a procedure later found to be unconstitutional, but was never granted a new sentencing hearing. The Commission requested the immediate suspension of his execution. [IACHR] Amnesty International USA questioned Landrigan’s defense counsel’s failure to present mitigating evidence of his neuropsychological health and raised concerns that the state of Arizona may have obtained the drug used for lethal injections, sodium thiopental, from a non-FDA-approved source. [AI USA] Landrigan’s application for stay of execution and habeas petition – on the grounds of possible actual innocence – are pending before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The European Court of Human Rights has found Russia in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights for arbitrarily and discriminatorily denying authorization for gay rights marches in Moscow, in its judgment in Alekseyev v. Russia.

Canadian Omar Khadr has pleaded guilty to war crimes charges before a Military Commission in Guantánamo, as part of an agreement which will likely limit his prison sentence and provide for his return to Canada, while avoiding the controversy of trying Khadr for crimes he allegedly committed as a juvenile. [AI] Amnesty International urges the U.S. government to comply with its obligations to investigate Khadr’s allegations of torture and abuse while in custody.

Another mass killing in Ciudad Juárez has claimed the lives of 14 individuals at a teenage boy’s birthday party, following the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers’ visit to Mexico and her call for a reformed, independent judiciary capable of handling the increased incidence of violent crime, ensuring access to both defendants and victims, and prosecuting human rights offenders in the ordinary – rather than military – courts. [NYT]

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights commemorated the entry into force of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Africa Human Rights Day, October 21, by reflecting on efforts toward peace and security on the continent. [ACHPR]

Human Rights Watch calls on Turkey to investigate the arbitrary detention and beating of five transgender activists in Ankara by police officers in May 2010, as well as drop the charges against the activists. [HRW]

The ICC Trial Chamber III has rejected former DRC vice president Jean Pierre Bemba Gombo’s double jeopardy claim, making way for his trial to begin on war crimes and crimes against humanity charges related to the Movement for the Liberation of Congo’s activities in the Central African Republic in 2002 and 2003. [RNW] The situation in the CAR was referred to the ICC prosecutor in 2005 and the warrant for Bemba’s arrest was issued in 2008.

Cholera continues to take lives in Haiti, as fears grow of the disease spreading to camps for earthquake survivors. [Washington Post]

The Associated Press reports that “[a] group of Israeli reservists critical of the military’s treatment of Palestinians has released new photos that appear to show Israeli soldiers abusing Palestinians” [Washington Post] Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has called attention to torture allegations in Palestinian detention in the West Bank. [HRW]

Vietnam has attracted criticism for recent, continued arrests of Vietnamese political bloggers and critics. [HRW]

The United Arab Emirates Federal Supreme Court has ruled that husbands have a right – under the penal code – to “chastise” their wives and children using violence and coercion, provided they leave no physical marks. [HRW]

The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda has reduced by two years the 25-year sentence imposed on former military chaplain Father Emmanuel Rukundo, as a result of finding Rukundo responsible for aiding and abetting genocide and crimes against humanity rather than the direct commission of those crimes, as the trial chamber had done in its February 2009 judgment. [RNW]

Last week, the Burundi government denied that police arbitrarily executed 22 rebels, accusing the president of the Association for Protection of Detainees and Human Rights of making false accusations and insisting that the rebels were killed in combat. [RNW]

Strikes and fuel shortages persist in France as workers protest President Sarkozy’s decision to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 to balance the social security budget. [Washington Post]

A new UN report indicates China provided Sudan with arms and ammunition, in violation of the arms embargo. China is reportedly seeking to block release of the report, which is pending with the Sudan Sanctions Committee, to the Security Council, while also campaigning against U.S.-led efforts to establish an international inquiry into possible war crimes committed in Burma by military leaders. [Washington Post]

Serbia is urged to prosecute two war crimes suspects, Goran Hadzic and Ratko Mladic, as the European Commission considers Serbia’s application to join the EU. [HRW]

Jailed Iranian human rights defender Nasrine Sotoudeh enters her eighth week of detention in solitary confinement, where she is reported to be on a hunger strike. [LA Times Blog]

Cuban journalist and political prisoner, Guillermo Fariñas, has been awarded the Sakharov Prize given by the European Parliament to recognize those who “combat intolerance, fanaticism and oppression”. Fariñas has been leading a hunger strike in prison to advocate for the release of prisoners in poor health who want to stay in Cuba. [RNW]

Following a YouTube video depicting the torture of two Papuan men by Indonesian officials, Amnesty International is calling for an investigation of torture allegations against Indonesian security forces in Papua province over the past two years. [AI]

A Virginia man has pleaded guilty in federal district court to attempted material support of terrorism and communicating threats, in connection with his online threats to South Park creators and advocacy of Somali Al-Qaeda affiliate, Al-Shabaab. [Washington Post]

The Iraqi Supreme Court has ordered Parliament to meet within two weeks, finding the suspension of the current legislative session – due to legislators’ failure to reach consensus on the formation of the next government – unlawful. [Washington Post]

WikiLeaks’ latest release of classified documents, the Iraq War Logs, allegedly provides evidence that private contractors fueled violence and chaos in Iraq, U.S. soldiers continued to abuse Iraqi prisoners for years after the Abu Ghraib scandal broke. [NYT; Huffington Post]

A New York Times article reports on the crumbling state of public housing in the United States, as budget constraints force residents to wait years for necessary repairs. [NYT]

The French Court of Cassation has ruled that terrorism suspects must have immediate access to a lawyer during interrogation, rejecting the practice of questioning such suspects for up to 72 hours without counsel as incompatible with Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rightss. [Washington Post] For more on French court decisions on the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects, see the International Commission of Jurists’ most recent E-Bulletin on Counter-Terrorism & Human Rights.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily stayed enforcement of the District Court’s injunction against the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy regarding sexual orientation in the U.S. armed forces, in order to consider the federal government’s appeal in Log Cabin Republicans v. USA.

Twice this month, Iranian authorities have used amputation as punishment by cutting off the hand of two Iranians convicted of theft, raising concerns that the practice is regaining favor. [Huffington Post]

Thousands protested in Argentina following the death of labor activist Mariano Ferreyra last week during demonstrations for better pay and benefits for railway workers. [Impunity Watch]

The Telegraph reports, “The US is withholding assistance to Pakistani military units accused of human rights abuses, according to American officials, sparking outrage in a country where CIA drones are blamed for killing hundreds of civilians”. [Telegraph]

Following Executive authorization of the use of unmanned drones in targeted killings by the CIA, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions has called for a study on the ethics and legality of the use of drones [Washington Post]

1.3 million votes have been cancelled in Afghanistan’s recent election, following findings of fraud and irregularities. [BBC] Meanwhile, President Hamid Karzai is taking heat for accepting funding from Iran. [BBC]

The African Union has reported that the Central African Republic, along with the DRC, Sudan and Uganda, are working together to defeat the Lord’s Resistance Army, in part by creating a joint brigade and classifying the LRA as a terrorist organization. [RNW]

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants and Working Group on the Use of Mercenaries report being “deeply concerned over reports of the death of a passenger being deported from the United Kingdom on a British Airways flight to Angola, while in custody of the private security company, G4S”.

The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media has criticized recent limitations on access to information and restrictions on the media in Tajikistan. [Impunity Watch]

A New York Times editorial questions U.S. government treatment of material witnesses in terrorism cases, following the Supreme Court’s decision to hearAshcroft v. al-Kidd, a suit by an American citizen held in detention and subjected to strict probation-like restrictions for fifteen months, as a material witness. [SCOTUSblog] Former Attorney General John Ashcroft appealed the Ninth Circuit’s decision holding he was not entitled to absolute immunity against the suit.

Human rights groups have called on Kenya to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, in compliance with the ICC’s outstanding warrants for his arrest on charges of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, if he returns to Kenya for a meeting. [VOA] Article 86 of the Rome Statute, to which Kenya is a State Party, requires States to cooperate with ICC investigations and prosecutions.

The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture warned last week that Greek detention facilities are dangerously overcrowded as they continue to receive irregular migrants seeking to enter Europe from Turkey, and called on the EU to address the migrant detention issue. [OHCHR]

Last week, Tibetan students marched in protest of reported government plans to institute a Chinese-only language policy in classrooms. [Impunity Watch]

In three new reports, Human Rights Watch provides evidence of government control over labor and student unions in Tunisia (The Price of Independence: Silencing Labor and Student Unions in Tunisia), arbitrary detention and ill treatment in Morroco (Stop Looking for Your Son: Illegal Detentions under the Counterterrorism Law), and physical and sexual violence and impunity for such crimes in Western Côte d’Ivoire (Afraid and Forgotten: Lawlessness, Rape and Impunity in Western Côte d’Ivoire). [HRW]

The European Commissioner for Human Rights calls attention to the plight of institutionalized persons with disabilities in his latest comment.

A U.S. federal district court judge in Kansas has ruled that Human Rights Watch and a researcher must disclose their notes and sources in the trial of a Rwandan charged with illegally obtaining U.S. citizenship by lying about his participation in the Rwandan genocide. [AP]

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has launched the Human Rights Resources Centre for ASEAN (HRRCA) to support human rights research and education in the region. [State Dept.]

Mark Lyttle, a mentally disabled U.S. citizen of Puerto Rican descent who was wrongly deported to Mexico is suing the U.S. government after Lyttle, who apparently has a history of mental illness and speaks no Spanish, was deported without court-appointed counsel or an opportunity to present evidence of his citizenship. [Impunity Watch]

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