h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

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* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty
International *

19 October 2000
ASA 01/002/2000
195/00


Amnesty International's global Campaign Against Torture was launched today, beginning with a press conference in Tokyo, Japan. The organization is calling for worldwide action towards the abolition of torture.

Torture and ill-treatment persists as an undercurrent across the Asia Pacific region -- from India and Pakistan to the Philippines, China and Japan. Human rights violators include democratic, as well as repressive governments, the rich and the less developed.

"Torture is prevalent throughout the Asia Pacific. Governments in the region have it in their power to change this and rid the region of this gross act of inhumanity," Amnesty International said.

Torture in police custody is common throughout the region -- inflicted on both criminal suspects and political dissidents. People have died as a result of torture in several Asia Pacific countries including India, Pakistan, Myanmar and China.

Many of the region's governments have failed to take the most basic steps to prevent torture or investigate complaints. Corruption, official acquiescence and a lack of adequate human rights training for law-enforcement officials, means that in many countries torture has become routine practice.

Torture, including beating, electric shocks, hanging by the arms, shackling in painful positions, and sleep and food deprivation, is used throughout China.

It is used extensively against criminal suspects and political dissidents. The victims include members of ethnic minorities, such as Tibetans and Uighurs, and followers of religious or spiritual movements.

In many Asia-Pacific countries there is a clear link between discrimination and torture - those at most risk are the poorest and most marginalised groups in society. They may be ethnic minority groups who face discrimination in society at large, drug users and petty criminals, street children and women.

Women in South Asia are particularly vulnerable to torture by private individuals. Governments continue to fail to investigate patterns of torture including rape in custody, acid attacks and dowry-related murders.

In areas of conflict, including in Sri Lanka, India and Solomon Islands, whole populations are often at risk of torture from both state agents and armed opposition groups.

A climate of impunity runs across the region and affects almost all countries. From South Asia across to the Pacific, torturers act without fear of prosecution. Impunity is fuelled by official complacence, lack of judicial independence and shortcomings in criminal justice systems.

Police in Cambodia are known to be complicit in "mob justice". In 1999 there were at least 19 cases in which criminal suspects were killed by angry bystanders often with police standing by and watching.

There are persistent reports of ill-treatment in Japanese prisons, detention centres, immigration detention centres and police custody. Criminal suspects and migrant workers risk beatings and intimidation during questioning by police and immigration officials.

Many governments have not signed up to the UN Convention against Torture, and those who have often fail to implement its provisions.

During its year-long campaign, Amnesty International will be mobilising its membership in 15 Asia-Pacific countries, and working together with other organizations to change public and official attitudes towards torture. It will be calling on the region's governments to take real steps to prevent torture, and to address impunity and discrimination.

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The Uighur people of Eastern Turkestan are in a predicament very similar to the people of Tibet and Southern Mongolia. A distinct people with their own culture they have also been swallowed whole by the People's Republic of China, marginalized, and brutally repressed in their own land.

News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International *

23 October 2000
ASA 17/043/2000
203/00

Amnesty International has just received information that Abdulhelil Abdumijit, a Campaign Against Torture appeal case in China, was reportedly tortured to death on 17 October 2000. The organization is calling on the Chinese government to reveal his fate.

"This case highlights the urgent need for international action on torture. Abdulhelil Abdumijit, a 31-year old street trader from Gulja city in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), was accused of leading a demonstration three years ago. From the outset it was reported that he was being brutally tortured in detention yet even now the authorities are silent," Amnesty International said.

The East Turkestan Information Centre, a Uighur exile organization based in Germany, reported yesterday that Abdulhelil Abdumijit was tortured to death by officials in Chapchal prison. The statement claims that his body was taken to a cemetery in Chapchal under heavy police guard and buried in a shallow grave, and that his relatives were denied access to his grave.

Previous unconfirmed reports from Uighur exile sources had claimed that Abdulhelil Abdumijit had been tried at the end of 1999 or early 2000, and sentenced to death together with two other defendants. One report also claimed that at a public sentencing rally held to announce the sentences, Abdulhelil had been severely beaten in front of the assembled crowd.

Abdulhelil Abdumijit's detention was marked by secrecy since his arrest in 1997. Although local officials in Gulja had confirmed his arrest shortly after the 5 February 1997 demonstrations, the authorities subsequently remained silent about what happened to him. His family was reportedly denied access to him or information about his situation.

Amnesty International calls on the Chinese government to disclose publicly the fate of Abdulhelil Abdumijit. The organization is also calling on the Chinese authorities to make a full and impartial investigation into the reports of torture of Abdulhelil Abdumijit and many others held in prisons throughout
the XUAR.

"The case of Abdulhelil Abdumijit is typical. Like most other victims of torture, he was tortured in incommunicado detention and there is little chance that his torturers will ever be investigated or brought to justice. Amnesty International's campaign aims to change this dire situation so that cases like his become unacceptable and atypical," the organization said.

For background information on Abdulhelil Abdumijit please see Torture Campaign Appeal Leaflet AI Index: ACT 40/08/00 and "People's Republic of China: Gross Violations of Human Rights in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region".

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For more infromation about conditions in Eastern Turkestan see [URL removed by moderator]

* News Release Issued by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International *

10 November 2000
ASA 31/030/2000
212/00


Amnesty International's Secretary General, Pierre Sané today launched a campaign against torture in Nepal. He called upon the government, political parties, the police, the National Human Rights Commission and non-governmental organizations to work
together towards the abolition of torture.

"A torture is reported almost daily; however all of us have it in our power to put an end to this gross act of inhumanity," the Secretary General said.

Victims of torture include women and children; criminal suspects; people taken into custody in the context of local disputes over land or other private issues; and political detainees, particularly people arrested on suspicion of being members or sympathizers of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) (Maoist). Although the large majority of torture allegations concern the police, other state agents such as forest guards or prison guards are also sometimes implicated. There is also strong evidence that members of the CPN (Maoist) have committed torture.

Those who want to stop torture in Nepal are not alone. Throughout the world Amnesty International's one million members will be challenging governments everywhere to commit themselves to combat torture and create "Torture Free Zones" in their areas of responsibility.

Here in Nepal the campaign will be highlighted by an east to west motorcycle rally covering more than 1000km. Amnesty International and non-governmental organizations will be visiting many police stations requesting officers-in-charge to declare their police station a "Torture Free Zone". Towards the end of the campaign in December 2001, they will visit those places again to check whether the police have upheld that pledge. Children will be invited to participate in visits to police stations and write to the Home Minister about their impressions.

For the last three years, Amnesty International Nepal has been involved in training police officers in human rights protection to increase awareness that torture is illegal. The organization would like to see human rights integrated into the police force's own training program to help transform the service from a quasi-military force into a force that serves the community.

The recently established National Human Rights Commission has a key role to play in the fight against torture by monitoring the accountability of the police. Amnesty International is urging the government to ensure the Commission is able to function independently, is well resourced and receives full cooperation from the police and other institutions.

On 24 November, Amnesty International Nepal will be organizing a seminar to investigate how to make the Torture Compensation Act (1996) more efffective. In the four years since it was introduced, not a single victim of torture has been granted compensation.

"More than ten years after torture was outlawed in the Constitution, torture is still a major human rights issue. It is time the government put words into action and rid the country of this unacceptable practice."

Amnesty International is calling on the government to ensure that torture is defined as a criminal offence punishable by law; that there is effective investigation and prosecution of alleged perpetrators; and that reparation for victims becomes a reality.

The organization is also calling on the CPN (Maoist) to immediately end the use of torture.


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