USA: Seven o'clock shadow - First New Mexico execution since 1960 due; Georgia set to kill mentally ill man

 

Turkey: Amnesty International calls for investigation intoKüçükarmutlu operation

 

Afghanistan: Who will assume the responsiblity?

7 November 2001

"There were people like sheep, they were everywhere," an

Afghan refugee describing the scene as he fled Kabul a week ago.The bombing of Afghanistan is causing thousands of people to flee their homes. Some cross the border to Pakistan, others are internally displaced within Afghanistan. Amnesty International challenges the coalition behind the bombing to assume a larger responsibility for the refugees and internally displaced seeking refuge from the bombs.

"After having interviewed a number of refugees that have
reached Pakistan recently, one thing has become very clear to
me," says Carl Soderbergh, head of Amnesty International's
delegation in Pakistan. "All those we are meeting tell us that
they are fleeing Afghanistan because of the bombing campaign."

After analyzing the testimonies from Afghan refugees, it
is clear that the overwhelming majority are saying they fled
because of the bombing. This picture is strengthened by
discussing the findings with NGOs and others who are also in
close contact with refugees.

"The bombing campaign has exacerbated the problems that already existed," says Soderbergh. "People can't work and aid is hampered. Support structures are being disrupted, forcing women to take to the road on their own and placing them in an extremely vulnerable position. These are only some of the problems."

The vast majority of the over 100,000 refugees who have come to Pakistan since the beginning of the current crisis are depending on family and relatives for survival. A very few of those who have been able to cross the closed border into Pakistan find themselves in makeshift refugee camps lacking in almost everything. All of these people have one thing in common, they have no formal status, which renders them under a continuous threat of deportation.

"I have visited two of the camps where the new arrivals are gathered," Soderbergh continues. "One was only 200 metres from the border, putting the refugees in a high risk situation. The other camp provided very little shelter for the refugees, some of whom are using sticks and thin plastic sheets to build tents. With winter coming, these conditions are very worrying. Moreover, there is an impending humanitarian disaster for those internally displaced who can't make it across the border."

Amnesty International calls on the US, UK and other countries in the coalition to assume a much larger responsibility for the refugee problems caused by the bombing. The organization has also previously raised concerns about the Pakistani authorities closing the border with Afghanistan, and setting up camps for new arrivals in unsafe areas.

"As the bombing of Afghanistan continues it is time for the nations behind the bombing campaign to take a larger responsibility for the refugee flow they are creating. They must press for open borders, refugee status for those arriving, and proper refugee camps at a safe distance from the conflict area. But they must also share the burden the refugees are placing on Afghanistan's neighbours, " Soderbergh ends.top

USA: Seven o'clock shadow - First New Mexico execution since 1960 due; Georgia set to kill mentally ill man

6 November 2001

Once again, the USA's claims to be a progressive force for human rights are ringing hollow, Amnesty International said today. Tonight at 7pm local state time, New Mexico is set to resume executions after more than four decades without them, and Georgia is due to put to death a severely mentally ill man. "What is being planned for this evening in New Mexico and Georgia flies in the face of standards of justice recognized in large parts of the world," the organization added, hours ahead of the executions.

In New Mexico, Terry Clark has given up his appeals after 14 years on death row. A court ruled that his decision had been freely made despite evidence of his brain damage and the harsh conditions of confinement he has endured for over a decade. In Georgia, José Marti'nez High has been under a death sentence for 23 years, well over half his life. He has been diagnosed as suffering from major mental illness, and is assessed as having borderline mental retardation.

"At a time when more and more people in the USA are questioning the fairness and reliability of this arbitrary, discriminatory and error- prone punishment, it is up to politicians to offer principled leadership," Amnesty International said. "Such leadership continues to be woefully lacking."

In a letter sent to people appealing against Terry Clark's execution, New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson admitted that " eliminating the death penalty in the future may prove to be a better public policy". Yet, he has refused to intervene to stop the killing Terry Clark. The Georgia pardons board yesterday rejected clemency for José Marti'nez High despite support for commutation from several of the original jurors. At the trial they were presented with no mitigating evidence, either of High's mental disabilities or the appalling abuse he suffered at the hands of his father. One juror has spoken of racism in the juryroom -- the defendant was black, the victim white -- and has questioned the fairness of José Marti'nez High facing execution while his two co-defendants are serving life imprisonment.

"A clear majority of countries have concluded that justice is not to be found in the execution chamber," Amnesty International said. "While the crimes of which José Marti'nez High and Terry Clark were convicted were undeniably serious, the international community has decided that, even for the worst offences, including war crimes and genocide, the death penalty must be a thing of the past," the organization continued.

New Mexico would become the 32nd US state to carry out an execution since 1976, when the US Supreme Court lifted a judicial
moratorium on the death penalty. The USA has put 739 men and
women to death since then, more than 600 of them since 1990. The
federal government resumed executions of federal death row prisoners this year after a de facto moratorium of 38 years. Meanwhile, in contrast, more than 100 countries have abolished the death penalty in law or practice.

Background

Terry Clark was convicted in 1987 of the murder of nine-year-old
Dena Lynn Gore in 1986. José Marti'nez High was convicted of the
murder of an 11-year-old boy, Bonnie Bulloch, committed in July
1976. He was sentenced to death in 1978. Amnesty International has the deepest sympathy for the relatives and friends of the murder victims, as it does for the family members and other loved ones of the condemned prisoner. top

Turkey: Amnesty International calls for investigation intoKüçükarmutlu operation

6 November 2001

Amnesty International is concerned that the deaths and injuries of yesterday's raid by Turkish police forces on the Istanbul neighbourhood of Küçükarmutlu might have been the result of excessive force used by the security forces.

On 5 November Turkish police forces conducted a raid on küçükarmutlu, which has been the centre of hunger strikes against the new "F-Type" prison system. As a result of the operation four
protesters -- Arzu Güler, Bülent Durgaç, Baris Kas and Sultan
Yildiz -- died and at least 14 others were wounded. The four bodies were removed by police officers from a house which had been burnt down in the course of the raid. The house was one of two where hunger strikes continued; Arzu Güler was participating in the hunger strikes while the other three were supporters. Official sources state that the protesters set themselves on fire and died either from the resulting burns or from carbon monoxide poisoning. During the past few months the death fasters in Küçükarmutlu had repeatedly threatened to set themselves on fire should the security forces intervene.

The police operation reportedly started at 3 pm and lasted for 30 minutes: approximately 1,000 police officers forced their way into the neighbourhood with armoured vehicles, breaking down barricades constructed by the protesters. Ali Haydar Bozkurt, one of the hunger strikers, set himself on fire and was shot and wounded by police officers when he walked towards them from the barricades.

Eyewitnesses, interviewed by a delegation of human rights defenders, reported that the police repeatedly fired their weapons both at specific targets and at random as they moved towards the death fast house. They also reported the use of gas bombs by the police. The eyewitnesses alleged that there was no armed resistance from the protesters and some newspapers have quoted witnesses saying that police fired into the house of the hunger strikers. After the operation ended, a contested number of people were arrested and some wounded protesters were driven away in ambulances. Police have not confirmed the number of arrests, deaths or injuries. Furthermore, lawyers are report dly not allowed to observe the ongoing autopsies.

Amnesty International is calling for a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the deaths and injuries. In particular the organization is seeking information from the Turkish authorities on the justification for an armed operation of this scale at this particular moment and whether the security forces complied with the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials. These Principles recommend that law enforcement officials "shall as far as possible apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms. ... Whenever the lawful use of force and firearms in unavoidable, law enforcement officials shall exercise restrain in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved; minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life; ..."

Amnesty International also calls upon the authorities to inform relatives about any detentions and to ensure that none of the detainees is tortured or ill-treated.

Background

A hunger strike against the new prison system has been continuing inside and outside prisons for more than a year. The shanty town
neighbourhood of Küçükarmutlu in Istanbul was the main place in
which supporters of the political prisoners started a hunger strike and where a number of hunger striking prisoners continued their hunger strike having been released from prison on medical grounds. More than 40 people (prisoners, released prisoners and supporters) have already died during the hunger strike.On 15 September 2001 police had intervened with teargas and water cannons in Küçükarmutlu in order to disperse supporters of the hunger strikes. On 5 November, the day of the second big intervention, the Turkish daily newspaper Sabah published pictures of the barricaded neighbourhood calling it an area "liberated" by the armed opposition group DHKP-C and criticizing the inactivity of the government.

Prisoners have usually been housed in large dormitories that hold 60 and sometimes more prisoners, but the Turkish authorities have started to build new wings to existing prisons and also 11 F-Type prisons in hich dormitories are replaced by smaller cells. From the start of this process, there have been major protests and clashes in prisons. From October 2000, more than 1,000 political prisoners participated in a hunger strike in protest against the F-Type prisons.

On 19 December 2000 the security forces conducted an operation in 20 prisons during which 30 prisoners and two soldiers died. Hundreds of male political prisoners were transferred using excessive force to three F-Type prisons. As of July 2001, six F-Type prisons were already in use, and five more were being constructed. They have single and three- person cells with adjacent yards for three prisoners at the most. top