Draft UN Resolution Fails to Address Human Rights and Humanitarian Crisis
Report, Amnesty International (Aug 3, 2007)
Amnesty International today expressed deep concern that a draft
resolution before the Security Council to expand the mandate of the UN
Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) fails to acknowledge and address
meaningfully the grave human rights and humanitarian situation in the
country that have rightly been highlighted by the most senior UN
officials. "The draft resolution is completely silent on the gross human rights
abuses taking place on a daily basis in Iraq, and on the deepening
humanitarian crisis in the country," said Irene Khan, Secretary General
of Amnesty International.
Iraq: Televised 'confessions', torture and unfair trials underpin world's fourth highest executioner
Report, Amnesty International (Apr 20, 2007)
Iraqi authorities are increasingly imposing the death penalty including after pretrial televised 'confessions', uninvestigated allegations of torture and unfair trials, according to a new report from Amnesty International. Iraq has now become the country with the fourth highest number of executions.
US and UK Bear Special Duty to Aid Refugees
Statement, Human Rights Watch (Apr 17, 2007)
Iraq's neighbors are closing off escape routes to Iraqi asylum seekers, just as the international community has begun to respond to the 2 million refugees from the war, Human Rights Watch said in a briefing paper released today. As high-level officials, including ministerial-level representatives for Iraq and all countries in the region, meet in Geneva on April 17, 2007 for a conference to coordinate the international response to Iraqi refugees and internally displaced people, Iraq's neighbors are refusing entry, imposing onerous new passport and visa requirements, and building barriers to keep refugees out. In cases, they are also expelling Iraqis back to Iraq, Human Rights Watch said.
Anfal Proceedings Raise Concerns: Open Letter to the President of the Iraqi High Tribunal
Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch (Mar 28, 2007)
"We are writing this public letter to express our concerns arising in the Anfal trial. We hope the shortcomings identified below can be rectified to bring this trial into compliance with internationally recognized fair trial standards. Fair trials are instrumental to providing justice for victims and their families and will play a crucial role in ensuring that the brutal practices of the past regime are not repeated."
New Martial Law Powers Threaten Basic Rights
Statement, Human Rights Watch (Mar 2, 2007)
Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's new security plan for Baghdad grants military commanders sweeping powers to arrest people and restrict their basic freedoms of speech and association, Human Rights Watch said today.
On February 13, al-Maliki issued martial law powers giving military commanders authority to conduct warrantless arrests, monitor private communications, and restrict civil society groups in Baghdad. General Qanbar Hashim, commander of Baghdad operations, announced the decree as part of the Iraqi government's latest plan to curb the escalating civil war in the country. The decree grants General Qanbar far-reaching powers to conduct searches and seizures without warrants; to arrest, detain and interrogate people; to monitor, search and confiscate "all mail parcels, letters, cables, and wire and wireless communication devices"; and to restrict all public gatherings, including "centers, clubs, organizations, unions, companies, institutions, and offices."
US, UK and other states must protect Iraqi refugees
Statement, Amnesty International (Feb 12, 2007)
Amnesty International today called on the international community to provide effective protection and assistance to nearly two million people fleeing Iraq, in what the UN's top refugee official Antonio Guterres recently called a "humanitarian disaster."
War objector's freedom of conscience must be respected
Statement, Amnesty International (Feb 6, 2007)
Pending the trial on Monday 5 February of Ehren Watada over his refusal to participate in the Iraq war, Amnesty International stated that a guilty verdict would be a violation of internationally recognized rights to conscientious objection.
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