Human rights abuses linked to HIV/AIDS outreach to women in prostitution

Police Abuse of AIDS Workers Worsens Epidemic in India

(Barcelona, July 10, 2002) Widespread police abuse of front-line AIDS
prevention workers in India is undermining efforts to contain one of the
worst epidemics in the world, Human Rights Watch said today.

In a thirty-three-page report released as the XIV International AIDS
Conference begins in Barcelona, Spain, Human Rights Watch documented
numerous cases of police harassment and violence against HIV/AIDS
outreach workers in India. The HIV/AIDS prevention workers help those at
highest risk of getting AIDS, especially women in prostitution and men
who have sex with men.Summary of the Research Report

“The Indian government is shooting its own AIDS program in the foot,”
said Joanne Csete, director of the HIV/AIDS and Human Rights Program at
Human Rights Watch, and the author of the report. “Undermining
prevention among high-risk people is a sure way to speed along the
spread of AIDS among these persons and in the general population.”

Several organizations in India have succeeded in empowering women in
prostitution to demand condom use of their clients. One such
organization, SANGRAM in Sangli, Maharashtra State, helped AIDS
educators distribute 350,000 condoms per month in twelve districts among
sex workers and others at risk. But in recent months, police abuse of
SANGRAM’s workers as well as of others in Bangalore and Tamil Nadu State
has sabotaged their life-saving work.

In Bangalore, HIV/AIDS peer educators working with women in prostitution
were beaten severely by the police. One AIDS worker had hot chili powder
rubbed into her eyes and vagina. Police perpetrators of these crimes
have gone unpunished.

Men who have sex with men live in deep stigma in India, and AIDS
outreach workers who provide information and condoms to these men also
suffer abuse at the hands of police. HIV/AIDS peer educators who work
with these men in four states reported numerous incidents of harassment
and extortion of money and sex by the police as well as detention based
on trumped-up charges. This abuse has at times shut down AIDS prevention
work among these vulnerable persons.

“The government provides condoms and sometimes money to groups doing
AIDS outreach work with high-risk people and says this is a priority for
AIDS prevention, but the official statements ring hollow in the face of
police violence,” said Csete. “The big winner here is the AIDS epidemic,
which will continue to kill millions unless this abuse is stopped.”

An antiquated sodomy law on the books in India since the colonial period
is frequently used by the police to justify their actions against AIDS
workers reaching out to men who have sex with men. Human Rights Watch
calls on the government of India to repeal the law and to ensure
protection of HIV/AIDS outreach workers.

The government estimates that about 4 million persons are living with
HIV/AIDS in India, though many experts think this figure greatly
understates the reality. In five states of India, including the giant
states of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, the AIDS epidemic has spread into
the general population, according to government figures.

India’s national AIDS program is funded largely by a $191 million World
Bank loan, the terms of which include protecting the rights of persons
in high-risk populations.Abuses against HIV/AIDS Outreach Workers in India.

http://hrw.org/reports/2002/india2/ --Full Report

Human Rights Activisit Ashok Pillai Died

During the writing of this report, Ashok Pillai, president of the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS in Chennai, died on April 19, 2002, at the age of thirty-one, one month after he graciously received a Human Rights Watch team in his office and helped us to understand the challenges faced by persons with AIDS in India. Ashok Pillai was an inspiring defender of the human rights of persons infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. His life was an example of one of his principal messages, that HIV/AIDS does not cause people to "turn into skeletons" and be written off. In the eleven years since his infection, in various forums in India and around the world, Ashok Pillai courageously raised attention to the indignity and human rights abuses suffered by people with HIV/AIDS and those around them. This report is dedicated to his memory.

Pakistan: Police inaction encourages climate of religious intolerance

Amnesty International urged the Pakistani authorities to
bring to justice the local religious leader who ordered the
stoning to death of a mentally ill man in Punjab province last
Thursday and all those who participated in the killing.

Zahid Mahmood Akhtar, 48, was stoned to death by hundreds
of villagers after the cleric used a loud hailer to issue a fatwa
, a religious decree, ordering his execution. The mentally
disturbed man had claimed to be the "last prophet of Islam".

Detained in 1994 on charges of blasphemy, Zahid Mahmood
Akhtar was released three years later on the grounds that he was
mentally ill. He had been living since his release with a
brother in another city of Punjab province. However when he
returned to his village last week, Chak Jumra, a tribal village
council, which included the local cleric, sought to expel him.
When he stayed on, villagers reportedly complained to the cleric
who issued the call to kill him.

Although police have said they will investigate the
incident and have arrested several people, there is a history of
impunity. On 21 April 1994, a Muslim practitioner of indigenous
medicine, Hafiz Farooq Sajjad, was stoned to death by an angry
mob in Gujranwala, Punjab province, after the rumour that he had
blasphemed was spread by a cleric from the mosque. Despite
police promises to investigate, no one has been held to account.
Sectarian killings of members of religious minorities, including
Shia, Ahmadis and Christians often go unpunished.

"The police continually fail to protect the vulnerable.
Their inaction encourages a climate of intolerance which allows
people to incite and carry out human rights abuses such as this
killing and the gang rape case in the same province highlighted
last week," Amnesty International said.

"Pakistan's blasphemy law is frequently misused. The
authorities need to review the law and send a strong message that
it is not for the people to decide who has blasphemed and how
they should be punished."

President Pervez Musharraf said in April 2000 that
procedural changes would be introduced to lessen the possibility
of abuse of the blasphemy law. However the amendment was
withdrawn in May on the grounds that the ulema [Islamic scholars]
and the people had 'unanimously' demanded it.

Background
The blasphemy law contained in section 295C of the Pakistan Penal
Code proscribes the mandatory death penalty for anyone found to
have "by words ... or visible representation ... or by any
imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly,
defiled the name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad". It neither
defines the terms used such as 'defilement' nor looks into the
criminal intent of the alleged offender.

The law has frequently been abused to imprison people on
grounds of religious enmity but also has proved an easy tool to
have people imprisoned when the real motives are business rivalry
or land issues.

Local human rights groups, minority rights organizations
and Amnesty International have called for the introduction of
procedural safeguards to protect against abuse.

Southern African Development Community: Policing to protect human rights

Every day in countries of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), human rights are under attack from the police.
Excessive or unjustified lethal force is used to suppress
peaceful protest and government opponents are arbitrarily
detained.

In a report - - Policing to protect human rights - -
released today, Amnesty International describes how police
inflict torture and ill-treat criminal suspects and political
activists in the majority of the countries surveyed.

"States which tolerate such acts are not helping to
reduce crime or to find fair solutions to political problems,"
the organization said. "Instead, they gravely undermine the
professionalism of the police and fail in their duty to protect
victims of crime and prevent human rights violations."

However, the report also notes, that the Southern African
Regional Police Chiefs Co-operation Organization (SARPCCO), is
taking the lead in promoting professional and effective policing
through training in ethical and human rights standards.

In countries such as Botswana, Malawi and South Africa,
non-governmental and community-based organizations have
cooperated with police to improve services to victims of crime,
particularly women and children, and to develop effective
partnerships with the police to implement crime reduction plans
based on careful intelligence and lawful methods.

"Enhancing the security for all living in the SADC region
must be built upon good governance, the promotion and protection
of human rights for all without distinction and respect for the
rule of law," Amnesty International added.

In order to break the cycle of impunity and to encourage
best practice, there must be effective mechanisms for the
independent investigation of police abuses. "Few countries of the
region have set up effective mechanisms to detect and remedy
abuses and Amnesty International is calling on the majority of
remaining states to do so urgently," the organization emphasized.

In addition, most of the countries still need to:

repeal or amend laws which facilitate human rights abuses,
particularly those which permit excessive use of force or
incommunicado detention;

integrate human rights training with training in operational
skills; and improve the accessibility and accountability of police services
to all communities without distinction.

Achieving these goals however, has been severely
undermined in a number of countries which have flagrantly
violated the internationally recognized requirement of police to
conduct their duties in an impartial manner. Biased policing in
relation to minority and vulnerable communities and the political
opposition has been a problem in Angola, Mozambique, Namibia,
Swaziland, and Tanzania.

In Zimbabwe the undermining of professional and impartial
policing has taken an extreme form in the past two years. Police
have been directly involved in the torture, ill-treatment, and
arbitrary arrest of members of the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC). They have also been complicit in
nationally widespread acts of violence, arson and rape committed
by state- sponsored militia against supporters of the MDC.

Redressing this situation remains a serious challenge to
the authority and integrity of SARPCCO and the institutions of
SADC itself.

Elsewhere in the region growing public concern over
violent crime has pushed governments and police authorities to
respond "by all means necessary" to combat crime, particularly
where police officers themselves have become victims of armed
criminals. In several SADC countries, including Angola,
Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia this has led to suspected
criminals being arbitrarily arrested, tortured or killed. The
violent activities of some anti-crime vigilante groups in
countries such as Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa have
added to a climate of crisis.

In South Africa this pressure to respond ruthlessly
emerged at a time when the transition from the practices of the
apartheid past seemed barely completed. However, in a significant
ruling on the use of force on 21 May 2002, the Constitutional
Court, while affirming police officers' right to self-defence,
made it clear that the state should never allow excessive force
and should uphold human rights for everyone, including suspected
criminals.

"This call could apply to other countries in the region.
All governments in the region need to display greater political
will in seeking solutions to the rise in violent criminality in
a manner consistent with the protection of human rights," the
organization stressed. They should encourage the public to accept
that real solutions lie in improving the ability of the police to
investigate crime lawfully and effectively and in co- operation
with the affected communities.

Amnesty International members and other civil society
organizations in SADC countries are contacting their governments
to call for action to ensure that respect for human rights is the
guiding principle for accountable policing, and that measures to
improve the efficiency of the police are also measures which
promote respect for human rights.

Yemen clears minefields, saving lives and livelihoods

Monday, 10 July 2002: Relying on explosives detecting dogs and rehabilitating and giving vocational training to survivors, Yemen, with support from UNDP and other partners, is overcoming a deadly legacy of landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) left by four civil conflicts between 1962 and 1994.

Efforts, begun in 1999, have cleared mines from almost three million square metres of land, with another six million square metres surveyed and found free of mines and safe for use.

Nevertheless, rural communities continue to suffer from these hidden killers, their toll tallied in lives and limbs lost and access denied to land and other essential resources. UNDP, with the Government, the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) and donors, leads the move to strengthen Yemen's capability to deal with the crisis.

Donors have contributed more than US$12 million to the effort. They include Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Prime Minister Abdul Kader Bajamal urged donors to continue support for the programme's humanitarian and development efforts at a meeting in Sana'a, the capital, last month.

Mine action is "based on saving lives and supporting livelihoods," UNDP Resident Representative James W. Rawley pointed out. The programme met its objectives for 2001, the first year, and is on track this year. "This is a real success story," said Mr. Rawley.

As a first step, UNDP sponsored a national survey to analyze the impact of landmines on individual communities. It revealed that landmines and UXOs affected 592 communities. They have killed or maimed more than 5,000 Yemenis, with over 200 incidents in the past year, according to recent studies.

The survey led to a five-year plan, for 2001 to 2005, giving priority to clearing areas in 14 communities where landmine accidents occurred most frequently and mines blocked access to water sources, farmland, pastures and wood collection.

The Mine Action Programme has doubled in size over two and half years. It has cleared six high priority communities and 44 minefields in all and destroyed more than 57,000 mines and UXOs. The initiative also empowered communities to deal with landmine threats; provided rehabilitation, training and health care for survivors; trained 50 physical therapists; and expanded the ranks of Yemeni deminers from 100 to 800.

A national training centre, began this year under the programme, training four explosives-sniffing dog teams. UNDP emphasizes recruitment and training of Yemenis to manage and carry out the programme.The programme destroyed the country's remaining anti-personnel landmine stockpile in April in compliance with the Ottawa Treaty, which Yemen ratified in 1999, the first country in the region to do so.

The Government, with support from UNDP, is formulating the second phase of the programme to clear the remaining priority communities, enhance quality assurance, and build the ability of Yemenis to carry out information management, logistics, planning, management and maintenance activities. The annual budget is approximately US$6.6 million.