India to be Invited to Join Gas Pipeline Project from Turkmenistan to South Asia

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (24 February 2003) - India is to be invited to join an ADB-backed US$2.5 billion pipeline project to transport gas from Turkmenistan to Afghanistan and South Asia.The Fourth Meeting of the Steering Committee for the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan Natural Gas Pipeline Project, held in Islamabad on Saturday, decided to jointly request that India join the project as a major purchaser of the gas and also possibly as an investor. The planned 1,700 km pipeline would be capable of transporting up to 20 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually from the Dauledtabad fields in southeast Turkmenistan to consumers in energy-deficit economies of South Asia.

ADB, which acts as the lead development partner for the project, as well as the Secretariat for the Committee, recently approved a technical assistance (TA) grant for US$1 million to design the pipeline project. The TA will provide a framework agreement for the participating countries to carry out construction, operations, and gas sales. It will include route surveys, basic design of the pipeline project, cost estimates, schedule, financial analyses, and environment and social impact assessments.

In addition to the TA, ADB is conducting gas market studies.

Preliminary estimates suggest the gas pipeline would cost up to $2.5 billion and take about four years to design and build after the necessary country approvals. Previous attempts to develop a gas transmission pipeline over the last decade floundered due to political uncertainties. "This is a pioneering project that has great potential for promoting stability and improving living standards in South and Central Asia," says Seethapathy Chander, an ADB Principal Project Engineer. "ADB is an active development partner in the project, helping to mobilize necessary technical and financial resources." The Steering Committee, which was set up in May 2002, has decided the project should be constructed and operated by a consortium of international oil companies and national companies. The pipeline consortium will transport the gas, but not own it. Therefore, gas sale and purchase agreements will be developed between Turkmenistan and the buyers of the gas in South Asia. A gas transportation agreement will also be developed. "We believe that consumers will find the gas prices very competitive compared with present prices," Mr. Chander adds.

The fourth Steering Committee meeting was attended by ministers for industry and energy from Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, and Pakistan, as well as senior ADB staff. During the meeting, ADB made presentations on:

* An alternative route for the pipeline for detailed examination by the feasibility consultants
* A preliminary risk analysis and possible mitigation measures to enhance the commercial attractiveness of the project
* The principles for the competitive selection of private sector companies that will lead the consortium for implementing the Project
* The prequalification process for shortlisting such firms.

ADB is due to host the next meeting of the Steering Committee in Manila on 8-9 April.

Sudan: Urgent call for Commission of Inquiry in Darfur as situation deteriorates

After an armed attack on government forces and the attack, apparently by bandits, on the manager of the Jebel Marra Development Project, Amnesty International is urging the Government of Sudan to set up an independent Commission of Inquiry into the situation in Darfur in the West of Sudan. "The situation must not be allowed to deteriorate further into another Sudanese war. We call on the government to respond to the escalating cycle of attacks by immediately settling up an independent Commission of Inquiry which should investigate the situation, report publicly and make recommendations which must be implemented."

Over the past few years hundreds of civilians, mostly from sedentary agricultural groups like the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa, have been killed or wounded, homes have been destroyed and herds looted by nomadic groups. Sometimes dozens of civilians have been killed in a single raid.

For instance, on 28 April 2002 the village of Shoba, near Kabkabia, was attacked at dawn by an armed group, which killed at least 17 people and injured 16 others.

At the beginning of January 2003, another village, Singita, 14 km south of Kas was also attacked by armed horsemen. About 25 people are reported to have been killed, including 10 persons who were shot and allegedly subsequently thrown into the fire by the attackers. In both places, homes and crops were burnt down and cattle and other herds were looted by the attackers.

"Those who commit crimes, must be brought to justice, but international human rights standards of fair trial must be respected", said Amnesty International.

An Amnesty International delegation was allowed by the Government to visit the Sudan in January for the first time in 13 years. They visited El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state where they met the governor, justice and police officials as well as lawyers and victims of human rights violations.

The sedentary groups have complained that the Government forces have failed to protect them and suggest that the attacks are an attempt to drive them from their lands. Government sources point out that dozens of members of the security forces have also been killed and lay the blame for clashes on desertification.

"Government responses to armed clashes have been ineffective and have resulted in human rights abuses," said Andrew Anderson, leader of the recent delegation.

"We met leaders of the Fur who had been arbitrarily thrown into prison without charge or trial and denied communication with the outside world for up to seven months. Leaders of nomad groups have been similarly treated. Special Courts set up in 2001 have sentenced people to death without even the presence of a lawyer. Such abuses of human rights will only cause more bitterness," he added.

Last month 13 Fur were arrested in the Jebel Marra area; they are still held incommunicado in detention centres in Niyertiti and al-Jeneina in West Darfur and have reportedly been tortured.

On 14 February a group of armed Fur and other groups attacked a convoy of security forces near the village of Martajelo in Jebel Marra, killing at least 12. Their leader said that the attack was in response to the lack of equality and underdevelopment of the Fur as well as the government's failure to protect farmers from attack.

In January, Amnesty International expressed concern about the deteriorating situation in Darfur and urged the Sudan Government to intensify efforts to involve different community leaders in a reconciliation process.

"The situation in Darfur must not be allowed to escalate into all-out war," Amnesty International said. "All groups living in Darfur would welcome the setting up of a Commission of Inquiry which could clarify to the people of Darfur and the world the complex factors which have led to the present deteriorating situation. Above all, it could identify mechanisms which are in accordance with human rights standards to protect effectively the population from attacks."

The Commission of Inquiry should respect the following principles:

- members appointed on this Commission should be known for their independence and their impartiality and should include people with a profound understanding of the region and a professional and recognized knowledge in human rights law and practice.
- such a commission should be accorded sufficient time and adequate resources in order to make proper investigations and conclusions;
- witnesses and victims of attacks in Darfur and other human rights abuses should be encouraged to come forward to give evidence without fear and with protection against any reprisals;
- the findings and the recommendations of this Commission of Inquiry should be made public and easy for the Sudanese people to access and should be implemented.

 

Background

Peace talks in Sudan between the Government of Sudan and the Southern People's Liberation Army (SPLA) have been continuing, with intermissions, since June 2002. A Civilian Monitoring Protection Team (CPMT) was set up to investigate cases of killings of civilians in the southern Sudan. However, Darfur, in the western Sudan, is not covered by the current peace negotiations and the recent Darfur killings have not been investigated by any monitoring force. Amnesty International has consistently stressed the need to include concrete mechanisms to strengthen human rights monitoring, which should extend also to conflict areas in West and East Sudan, as part of the peace process.

Morocco/Western Sahara: reports of secret detention and torture on the rise

Amnesty International today expressed its support for calls by Moroccan human rights organizations and activists who protested before the Moroccan parliament yesterday against the government's draft "anti-terrorism-law". "We are particularly concerned about proposed provisions to widen the scope of applicability of the death penalty and to extend the existing legal limit of detention before being formally charged, where detainees are at increased risk of torture and ill-treatment," the organization said.

On 14 February 2002 Amnesty International wrote to the Prime Minister of Morocco, His Excellency Driss Jettou, expressing grave concerns at the proposed legislative changes as well as the increase in reports of torture, ill-treatment, and secret detention in recent months. While the organization welcomes public assurances by the Moroccan authorities that human rights will be upheld if the new draft law is adopted, further guarantees must be put in place to ensure that measures taken in the name of security will not be at the detriment of the protection of human rights.

Over the past nine months, Amnesty International has received numerous reports of scores of detainees being tortured or ill-treated in custody in order to extract confessions or to force them to sign statements which they rejected or denied. Many of the reports related to Islamists allegedly held in secret detention and accused of involvement in or planning violent acts. "Having repeatedly welcomed a reduction in the incidences of secret detention, torture and ill-treatment in recent years, we are now very concerned that this practice is once again on the rise."

Amnesty International fears that the case of ten Saudi Arabian and Moroccan men and women currently on trial in connection with an alleged plan to blow up NATO warships in the Straits of Gibraltar and of plotting attacks on cafés and public buses in Marrakesh is just one example among many of this renewed practice of secret detention and torture.

On 12 and 13 May 2002 three Saudi Arabian nationals, Zouhair Hilal Mohamed al-Tubaiti, Hilal Jaber Awad al-Assiri, and Abdellah M'sefer Ali al-Ghamdi were arrested, allegedly by members of the secret service (la Direction de la Surveillance de Territoire). They were reportedly held in secret detention for one month, during which their families were not notified about their arrest or whereabouts, and the detainees were not granted access to legal counsel, in violation of Moroccan law and international human rights standards..

The three Saudi Arabian nationals allege that they were tortured regularly during interrogations while in secret detention. The torture techniques used reportedly included suspension, beatings and threats that their wives would be raped in order to make them sign "confessions". The three Moroccan women accused in the case, Bahija Haidur, Huriya Haidur and Na'ima Harun, alleged that they were beaten and threatened with rape to make them confess. Amnesty International reminds the Moroccan authorities of its obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) , which absolutely prohibits torture under all circumstances, and the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Background

The Moroccan Criminal Procedure Code sets strict limits for garde à vue (detention before being formally charged). Furthermore, Article 9(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) stipulates: "Anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge shall be brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized by law to exercise judicial power ..."The UN Human Rights Committee has stated in this regard that "...delays should not exceed a few days". Amnesty International is concerned that the rights of at least the three Saudi Arabian nationals, as guaranteed under Article 9(3) of the ICCPR, were violated.

According to the organization's information, the three men were arrested on 12 and 13 May 2002 and were not brought before a judge until 13 June. Amnesty International is concerned to learn, moreover, that official records allegedly indicate their arrest date as 12 June. The organization brought to the Moroccan authorities' attention during the 1990s, and before, numerous allegations that arrest dates had been falsified on official records to mask the practice of secret detention, but has in recent years publicly welcomed positive steps taken by the Moroccan government to address this problem.

Furthermore, Amnesty International is concerned that the draft "anti-terrorism law" will further jeopardise civil and human liberties in Morocco. Under Article 218(5) of the draft law, crimes previously punishable by life imprisonment would, when defined as "acts of terrorism" under Article 218(1), carry the death penalty. Under Article 66 of the draft law, people accused of, among other crimes, undermining the internal security of the state could be held in garde à vue detention for a legal limit of 144 hours. The current legal limit for garde à vue detention for those accused of such crimes is 96 hours, as stipulated in Article 68 of the Criminal Procedure Code.