Amnesty report says human rights issues have been overshadowed by "war on terror"

Lynn Eaton

The "war on terror" of the United States and the United Kingdom has diverted the world’s attention from human rights issues elsewhere, says Amnesty International’s 2006 annual report.

The report on the state of the world’s human rights documents, over more than 300 pages, human rights violations in 150 countries. These violations range from violence against women and human trafficking through to famine and displacement resulting from war or from countries’ internal political agendas (such as Zimbabwe). The report also looks at the way aid was provided after natural disasters such as the earthquake in Pakistan, the hurricane in the southern US, and the tsunami in South East Asia.

The countries most in crisis—yet largely ignored by the developed world—are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nepal, Sudan, Colombia, and Somalia, said a spokesperson from Amnesty International.

The organisation’s secretary general, Irene Khan, was critical of governments that had, she said, "sacrificed principles in the name of the ‘war on terror’ and turned a blind eye to massive human rights violations."

As a result, she said, "the world has paid a heavy price, in terms of erosion of fundamental principles and in the enormous damage done to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people."

In particular she criticised the measures taken by the US and the UK in their "war on terror," such as the detention of some 500 prisoners without charge or trial in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and the UK’s controversial violation of human rights in detaining suspected international terrorists on the basis of secret intelligence alone.

"Double speak and double standards by powerful governments are dangerous, because they weaken the ability of the international community to address human rights problems such as those in Darfur, Chechnya, Colombia, Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, and North Korea," said Ms Khan. "They allow perpetrators in these and other countries to operate with impunity."

In her foreword to the report Ms Khan says: "The hypocrisy of the G8 was particularly marked in 2005. The G8 governments claimed to put eradication of poverty in Africa high on their agenda, while continuing to be major suppliers of arms to African governments."

The report highlights the implications to health of governments’ failure to tackle human rights issues. It criticises the lack of progress in implementing the United Nations’ millennium development goals and draws attention to the millions of people with HIV or AIDS who are unable to get treatment. During 2005 less than 15% of those needing antiretroviral treatment in the developing world actually got it, says the report.

The report also calls for a review of the use of electric shock taser guns in the US. In 2005 61 people died after being struck by police tasers, bringing the total number of deaths since 2001 to 142. Most of those who died were unarmed men who reportedly did not pose a serious threat when they were given the shock.

The report highlighted the health related issues of abuses of human rights on a country by country basis in various categories.

Famine and food shortages

Although several non-governmental organisations had warned of the risk of famine in Niger since late 2004, international donors, including the UN, did not react quickly enough, says Amnesty International. The UN estimates that the famine put the lives of 3.5 million of Niger’s 12 million inhabitants in danger. The famine was made worse by drought and a plague of locusts in 2004.

In Ethiopia seven million people became dependent on emergency food aid after drought and food shortages in the Somali region. A poor harvest in Malawi led to food shortages, but pledges of food aid fell far short of need. Food shortages affected more than 800 000 people in Mozambique after a drought.

In North Korea 7% of children were severely malnourished and 37% chronically malnourished, a survey by the World Food Programme and the UN Children’s Fund showed.

Millions of people throughout Africa remain deprived of clean water, it adds.

War and civil unrest

War and political upheaval have continued to have a toll, not least in Zimbabwe. Amnesty reports that Robert Mugabe’s government manipulated food distribution by the government controlled Grain Marketing Board in the period leading up to its recent elections. Despite a poor harvest the government decided not to appeal for food aid. Mass forced evictions began in May 2005, requiring the return of people to rural areas, even though those areas had widely acknowledged food shortages and hunger.

In Sudan more than 1.8 million people were displaced, and 220 000 Sudanese refugees remained in Chad after the conflict in Sudan itself. The head of the Dutch section of Médecins Sans Frontières, Paul Foreman, was briefly detained for publishing details of an allegedly false report on rape in Darfur.

In Rwanda human rights organisations were able to work only in difficult conditions and under close scrutiny from the authorities.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo tens of thousands of people died in continuing conflict or from preventable disease and starvation after nearly a decade of war. Although a transitional power sharing government is now in place, it has been under-resourced, and supplies of food, water, and medical equipment to sites where the former armed groups and army are being integrated into a new army have been insufficient.

As many as 200 000 people were displaced by the conflict in Nepal. Many were living in extreme poverty. Meanwhile, in Myanmar members of certain ethnic groups were displaced and cut off from international aid, restricting their access to food and health care.

In Uganda an estimated 1.4 million people were in camps after ongoing conflict in northern Uganda, where poor sanitation left them vulnerable to cholera and other diseases.

In Syria tens of thousands of Kurds remain effectively stateless because they are not recognised by the authorities. They are denied access to many services, including health care.

In Palestine women have reduced access to health services because of the conflict, particularly those in the Occupied Territories, says the report. At least four women are known to have been killed in so called honour crimes.

Help after natural disasters

At the beginning of 2005 an estimated one million people in Sri Lanka were displaced by the tsunami. By September 450 000 still remained in temporary shelters. In the US more than 1000 people were killed and hundreds left homeless and without basic food, drugs, and clean water after Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Amnesty International says that international assistance to Pakistan after the earthquake there in October 2005 was inadequate. Coordination between agencies was poor, and adequate healthcare was lacking.

Violence against women

Forced marriages, domestic violence, rape, crimes of honour, and forced abortions and sterilisation are widely reported. Forced sterilisation is specifically mentioned in Slovakia, where a new law has been introduced banning this practice. Female genital mutilation is widely practised in Tanzania, although the practice is illegal for girls under the age of 18. No prosecutions have been reported.

Trafficking, mainly of women, is an issue in Mongolia, Nepal, Serbia, Montenegro (where new legislation has led to some arrests), and Ukraine (even though it is now criminalised there).

HIV and AIDS

Despite attempts to provide treatment, South Africa reports that still only 20% of those estimated to need antiretroviral treatment in the public healthcare system were receiving it. Only 10% of children needing treatment were getting it. In Swaziland, where the incidence of HIV is 43% among women attending antenatal clinics, only 23% of those needing treatment were getting it. Drug shortages were reported in some hospitals. In Zambia sexual violence against women continues to be a major cause of HIV infection.

In Jamaica, where discrimination against gay men and lesbians continues, the AIDS activist Steven Harvey was murdered, allegedly because of his homosexuality.

Mentally ill patients

Psychiatric hospitals in Bulgaria come in for criticism in the report for their inadequate facilities and treatment. A 24 year old patient was found dead at the state psychiatric hospital in Karlukovo in June. His body was covered in bruises. The local prosecutor initially declined to investigate the death.

Meanwhile concern continues over Romania, where 17 patients died of malnutrition and hypothermia in 2004 at the Poiana Mare psychiatric hospital. An initial investigation, which closed after finding no link between the deaths and involvement of staff, was reportedly reopened in August. It was announced in November that the hospital would close and that patients would be transferred elsewhere.

In the Czech Republic, after a ban on cage beds in psychiatric hospitals, a law has been passed regularising the use of restraint, including cage beds in social care centres where children and adults with mental disabilities and substance abuse problems are cared for. However, the law effectively legalises the use of restraints.

Health care in prisons

Prison conditions in Mauritania were of concern. Some prisoners were reportedly denied access to medical attention. In Argentina most provincial prisons lacked drinking water, adequate light, medical care, and rehabilitation schemes.

Amnesty International Report 2006: The State of the World’s Human Rights is available at www.amnesty.org.uk.