Amnesty Global Round-Up: Latest Human Rights News

Amnesty International Welcomes Supreme Court Zaoui Decision
Amnesty International has welcomed the Supreme Court's conclusion that further delays in deciding whether Algerian refugee Ahmed Zaoui should be transferred from prison or granted bail would be "oppressive".

"Amnesty International has been calling for Ahmed Zaoui's case to be subjected to a fair process since December 2002, and has been baffled by the Government's reluctance to agree," said the executive director of Amnesty's NZ section, Ced Simpson.

"Mr Zaoui should have been able to have the security risk certificate against him reviewed, with procedures meeting the standards set by the European Court of Human Rights, in the months following the decision recognising him as a genuine refugee in August last year."

"It is not his fault that he has been left languishing in prison for all this time at considerable human and financial cost."

"The courts have clearly questioned the handling of the Zaoui case, and the Supreme Court has now added its voice to those who have called for the whole process to be, and be seen to be, less arbitrary and unfair."

"It has not been acceptable that senior members of the Government have continued to mislead the public by suggesting he has been free to leave at any time, when they know they have a moral as well as international legal obligation to ensure he is not returned to a place of potential danger."

Mr Simpson said that the case continues to raise the important question of
"What sort of 'security risk' does the Government consider outweighs Ahmed Zaoui's right to asylum as a refugee?"

"Does the Government agree with the Court of Appeal conclusion that the continued detention or deportation of Ahmed Zaoui can only be justified 'if there are objectively reasonable grounds based on credible evidence that Zaoui constitutes...a danger of substantial threatened harm to the security of New Zealand' rather than, for example, 'a threat to international reputation with like-minded countries'?"
Read the Supreme Court's decision:
www.courts.govt.nz/judgments/decisions
Take action! http://www.amnesty.org.nz/AhmedZaoui!OpenForm

Sudan: Briefing for the UN Security Council meeting in Nairobi 18-19

Briefing for the UN Security Council meeting in Nairobi http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR541492004

Jamaica: Protecting the right to defend human rights
The Government of Jamaica should publicly reiterate its commitment to protecting and promoting the legitimate work of human rights defenders in Jamaica. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR380192004

United Kingdom: UN Committee calls for effective safeguards against torture
The United Kingdom Government should make a formal undertaking that it will not rely on, or present "evidence" obtained through torture in any proceedings, the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) recommended today. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGEUR450302004

Violence against women fuels spread of HIV/Aids
Significantly more young women than men are now being infected by HIV/Aids as violence against women and girls fuels the spread of the virus. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGACT770872004

Mexico: Violence against indigenous women and military injustice Over the last decade, Amnesty International has learned of at least nine cases of indigenous women who filed legal complaints of rape by members of the Mexican army. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR410422004

Jamaica: End the Silence, Stop the Violence - new campaign to stop domestic violence
On the International Day to Stop Domestic Violence, Amnesty International is launching a series of radio public service announcements in Jamaica. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR380182004

EU-Russia Summit: Amnesty International calls on EU to address growing persecution of human rights defenders in Chechnya
Amnesty International is presenting the European Union with detailed testimonies showing that victims of human rights violations in Chechnya who complain to European institutions have been killed or "disappeared". http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGEUR460602004

Indonesia: Death threat to campaigner's family
The family of the deceased human rights campaigner Munir must be protected, said Amnesty International after his wife received a death threat at their family home. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGASA210502004

Lebanon: Samir Gea'gea' and Jirjis al-Khouri -- Torture and unfair trial
The leader of the banned Lebanese Forces, Samir Gea'gea', and Jirjis al-Khouri, a member of the LF, have been held at the Ministry of Defence Detention Centre in Beirut since 1994. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGMDE180032004

Brazil: Violence again unleashed over land
An attack on an MST (Landless Rural Workers' Movement) campsite in Minas Gerais state, on Saturday left five people dead and many more injured. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAMR190212004

Burundi: Imminent resumption of executions or summary trials and executions
Amnesty International is calling on the National Assembly of Burundi to reject draft legislation which was adopted by the Council of Ministers on 16 November 2004. http://news.amnesty.org/index/ENGAFR160212004

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