Arnne styINrTERNAT I 0 NAL.

,/u/y 2000 l'o/. No.4

N EWS

ISRAEL/LEBANONKHIAM DETENTION CENTRE'S

n HOR TE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE, IF1 eel I am alive... For the first

time since her detention. I

talked to (:osette. For the first time in

ow life I believed that Suleiman

Ramadan is still alive.., for the first

time in Inv life, the tears falling now

from my eves are tears of jt)y..."

Uhina Nahlawi, a volunteer for the

I,ebanese Font 'RV U p Committee for

the Support of Lebanese DetaMees in

Israeli Prisons, posted these words on

a Khiam internet discussion site on

23 May. Earlier that day the gates of

Khiam Detention Centre had at last

been Nwced open and 144 prisoners.

men and women, iliost of whom had

languished there for years, were finally

released.

Suleiman Ramadan spent nearly 15

years in Khiam from the time of his

arrest at the age of 20. lie is said to

have spent three years in solitary con-

finement and had a leg amputated

while he was in prison. The detention

of Cosette Ibrahim, a journalist, in

September 1999 sparked worldwide

protests and demonstrations.

DOORS FORCED OPEN

Then, in the wake of Israel's with-

Irom south Lebanon, the vil-

lagers of Khiani stormed the detent-

ion centre, freeing the prisoners.

These limments when detainees

walk from darkness into the sun are

what AI is all about. For years, Al

gomps and thotisands of its members

wrote to the detainees of Khiam; not

one of their letters was ever passed on

to am' of the prisoners. For seven

years, until 1995, detainees were even

denied visits from families and from

the International (:ommittee of the

Red Cross (I(RC).

- rhe freedom of the Khiam

detainees was the culmination of

other releases of Lebanese from

Israeli ,jails: 13 Lebanese hostages

were released on 19 April after spend-

ing almost 14 years detained ill Israel.

Some, like the detainees of Khiam.

had never been carged or tried:

others had been held for up to 12

years after the expiry of their sen-

tences. Around 1990, some were told

that thev were being held as "bargain-

ing chips" ni exchange for the return

of Israeli soldiers — including airforce

navigator Ron Arad — missing after

capture by armed groups during the

1,ehanese war. It was only in 1995 that

the hostages began to receive letters

from the Al groups who had been

writing for three years and were cam-

paigning for their release.

AI delegates who visited Lebanon

in May were overjoyed to meet many

of these fOrmer hostages with their

families. "We now feel wc have friends

in many places", said Ahmad Taleb,

one of- those who, during 13 years'

detention ni Israel, was never charged

with or tried for any offence.

At the time of the fall of Khiam,

other IA-bancse continued to be held

in Israel, including Mustafa al-Dirani,

severely tortured after his arrest in

1994 and held without even access to

the ICRC.AI calls for the release of all those

Lebanese nationals still held as

hostages M Israel. The organization

also continues to campaign on behalf

of the missing Israeli nationals.

A prisoner learns of his imminent releasefrom Khiam ejoceph Barrak/AFP

INSIDEImmacul&e 2

Birhaheka

receives htunanrights award

Iran 2

WORLDWIDEAPPEALSHondurasMyanmarGuinea

Mexico

Malaysia 8

IMMACULEE BIRHAHEKARECEIVES MARTIN ENNALSAWARD

IRANCLAMPDOWN ON FREEDOM OF

N A PERIOD OF HIGH POLITICAL TENSIONas the second round of parliamentary

elections took place in Iran, journalists,intellectuals, a student leader nid

human rights advocates were arrested,and at least 13 newspapers — mans: per-ceived to he allied to reformist candid-ates — were closed down.

Among those detained were twowomen — Mehrangit Kar, .1 lawyer. andShahla I aitit. a publisher. They were ini-tially held incommunicado, and thoughtto be at risk ot ill-treatment. ShahlaAhiji has a history of health problems.

Both are campaigners for women's midother human rights. They were arrestedon 20 April, shortly after taking part inan academic and cultural conference inBerlin. Germany, where political andsocial reform in Iran Were publicly debat-ed. At the Mile of writing, their lawyer,Shirin Hradi, also a well-known humanrights advocate, had not been Ahnyed tosee them. Both women were refused hail.

'Hie Berlin conference was inter-rupted by strong protests by Iranianpolitical groups in exile. It receivedenormous publicity within Iran, andsome religious figures reportedlyaccused sonic of (hose who attended ofapostasy, or turning away from Islam.Some members of the Iranian.judiciars:apparently considered attendance at theconference to have been -harmful tonational StTlIFity. Other people arrestedfollowing their participation ;it the con-ference nicluded Hamid Reza.lalaipour,a journalist for ,A.ti-eAzatlegan (Era of the

Immaculee Birhaheka (lift) andMary Robinson

EXPRESSIONFree): Ezzatollah Sahabi, publisher of

Farda (Tomorrt/IV's Iran) andAlireza Alavitabar, editor of Sobh-e Emrouz(This Morning). All three were detained,interrogated and later released on bail.jamileh hadivar, a member of parlia-ment, was also summoned and WaS

I.C1)0F1C(Ily SchedlIksd to appear beforethe Revolutionary Court shortly there-aller.

Ali Afshari, a representative of the sundent organization Dallar-e Tabk0n-c%UMW, and Akbar Ganji, a well-kninvn

journalist, were also arrested after theconference. Akbar Gariji reportedlyfaced 10 charges relating to articles hewrote implicating senior Iranian politi-cal figures in the 1998 killnigs of a num-ber of intellectuals and writers, and tostatements he made at the Berlin confer-ence. lie Was believed to be at risk of ill-treatment OF even torture.

• WHAT YOU CAN DO:Please write, calling for the inimediateand unconditional release of Mehrangizkar, Shahla Lahiji, Ali Afshari and AkbarGanji as prisoners of conscience if theycontinue to be detained. Write to:Leader of the Islamic Republic, his

Excellency Ayatollah Saved 'AliKhamenei. The Presidency, PalestineAvenue, Azerbaijan Intersection, Tehran,Islamic Republic of Iran, and to: Head ofJudiciary, Ilis Excellency AyatollahNiahnumd Hashemi-Shahrudi, MinistryoLlustice, Park-e Shahr, Tehran, IslamicRepublic of Iran.

T HIS YEAR'S MARTIN ENNALS AWARD FORuman Rights Defenders was given tolinmacuIC:e Birhaheka, Director ofPromotion and Support of: Women'sInitiatives (PAIF) in the Democratic:Republic of the (:ongo. ImmaculdeBirhaheka has worked for many years toinform Congolese W0111(11 of their rightsand to empower them to deal with the:authorities and the gender discriminationin the legal system. She has taught themself-help methods, initiated commutnty-funded projects, and helped womenresist illegal taxes and extortion. She wasone of the few with the courage to con-front the authorities on sensitive issuessuch as rape. In 1995 she and her col-leagues began producing a weekly radioprogram M Kiswahili on women's rights.

In recent Years Immaculee Birhahekahas spliken out strongly against humanrights abuses occurring in her country,not hesitating to publicly denounce masskillings and ethnic intolerance. As aresult she has received increasing threatsfrom both rebel groups and theRwandesc military ill Goma. On 16January 2000, she was arrested and heldin a military detention centre where shewas humiliated and beaten. Shc wasreleased the same day, but has receivedfurther threats from rebel soldiers.

The UN High Commissioner forHuman Rights. Mary Robinson, pres-ented the award at a ceremony inGeneva. Swityerland, on 13 April, saying:- I have a real sense of the need for thekind of commitment ImmaculeeBirhaheka has shown, and I know fromour offices in Kinshasa and in Gomahow important that work adding: 'When the Declaration on HtunanRights Defenders was adopted inDecember 1998. we all knew that it wasnot enough. and that a practical meas-ure is now needed to ensure that humanrights defenders have adequate protec-tion and support... I lupe the step willhe taken for a Special Rapporteur onhuman rights defenders.-

The Martin Ennals Award fin- HumanRights Defenders. created in 1993, is aresult of a collaboration of 10 leadinghuman rights organizations, includingAl. It is granted annually to someonewho has demonstrated an exceptionalrecord of combating human rights abusesby courageous and innovative means.The prize is CSS17,000, and is aimed toencourage human rights defenders whoare in need of: protectitm.

(From WOMehrangiz Kar, Shahla Lahiji, Akbar Ganji, Mi Afshari and Jamileh Kadivar © Heinrich Boll Foundation

i, - - v

,.6 0July 2000 Vol. 30 No.4 AMNESTY INTFRN.ATION11. NEWS

G OVERNMENT MINISTERS FROM BRUNEI, CAMBODIA,

Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines.Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam will converge on

Bangkok. Thailand, on 24 July 2000 for the annual meeting of,Association Of South-East Asian Nations — ASEAN. They willalso be,joined Ily a range of dialogue partners inchidingAustralia, Canada, the European Union (EU), Japan, NewZealand and the USA to discuss issues of regional and interna-tional concern. One issue which AI will press to be put highon the agenda will bc that of controlling the arms and securitytrade. This meeting brings together several of the world'sleading arms manufacturing and exporting states, togetherwith a number of Asian states which have imported (or manu-factured their own) military and security equipment whichhave been used to violate human rights. The meeting pro-vides an ideal opportunity to combat the trade in repressionin Asia.

It is almost a Year since the world looked on in horror asarmed militia groups, assisted by the Indonesian securityforces, unleashed a wave of violence and unlawfUl killingsagainst the East Timorese people who were seeking independ-ence. Although the international community condemned theviolence — and the EU, USA and Australia finally imposedarms embargoes in September 1999 — for many it was too lit-tle, too late.

One of those was pro-independence activist BernardinoGuterres. The 25-year-old was seized on the streets of Dili on26 August 1999 by the Indonesian police, kicked and beaten.He knew his life was in danger and tried to flee. But as heran, a police officer shot him in the head.

The picture of his killing, published in Time magazine twoweeks later, showed the police officer with a weapon resem-bling an SSI-V1 assault rifle. These weapons had been man-tifsctured in Indonesia by PT Pindad under licence fr()rn theBelgian company EN Herstal.

Earlier in the year, on 15 July, the (Thief of the IndonesianArmed Forces admitted that a UK-made Hawk jet flew twiceover Dili ill a clear attempt to intimidate the populationbelow. The flyover occurred despite repeated assurances by

it II s .."

the Indonesian authorities that UK-supplied military equip-ment would not be used against civilians in East Tinuir.

Further evidence of foreign arms transfers aiding the

Palden Gyatso with the instruments with repression of East Timor arose when an Al research mission

which he was tortured in Nfav 1999 uncovered the casings of bullets for assault rifles

David Hqffmann left after an attack on civilians in Dili. The bullets had beenJD manufactured by the Finnish company Patria 1:aptia Oy.

During the 1990s, governments including those of the USA,Australia, Belgium, China, France, Germany and the UK

allowed arm(nired persontwl carriers, water cannon, fighterand transport aircraft, helicopters, light weapons, tear gas,enned control and other security equipment to be transferredto Indonesia. Over the last decade. many of these weaponshave been turned on political activists, journalists and humanrights workers in East Timor and elsewhere in Indonesia.

The case of East Timor is sadly not unique. Mass human

Com ba tir ights violations are still being carried out in many armed

n g conflicts around the world by government and armed opposi-

tion forces who are given virtually unrestricted access to small

A arms, light weapons and associated military equipment and sia's trade in training. Even in lands nominally at peace, the same easy availability

of small arms — pistols, assault rifles, sub-machine guns, land-

repression allows many governments to arbitrarily detain, murder, tor-mines, mortars — and of paramilitary equipment and services

lure and ill-treat th()se civilians identified as political oppo-nents. They know the arms supplies will continue.

Al is seeking to highlight the international complicity in

C

governments and companies who have placed electro-shocksuch human rights violations, and to shine a spotlight on those

batons in the hands of the torturer or sub-machine guns in the

security equipment, training and expertise are never sent tocountries where they will be used for human rights violati ons.

hands of the "death squads". Although Al takes no position onthe arms trade, the organization works to ensure that arms and

There are some items of equipment that Al considers tohave one primary use: to commit human rights violations.Equipment such as leg irons, shackles, thumbscrews, and

juIN 2000 Vol.30 No.4

D D • •

/et

landmines — in the mining of villages to

prevent resettlement and of border areas

to prevent refugee flows. Government

forces have also used civilians as a mine

removal tool — human mine-sweepers.

Other Asian states, such as China,

India, Pakistan and South Korea have

produced landmines for their own

national use. In March 1997, Pakistan

stated that it would observe a moratori-

um on the export of anti-personnel land-

mines. However, the state-owned

Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) con-

tinued to advertise landmines in their

December 1998 brochure and 1999 cal-

endar. In December 1999, POF offered

to sell landmines to an investigative jour-

nalist posing as an arms dealer.

Indonesian army

officer examines machine guns

mounted on specially modified

jeeps C Reuters

F

electro-shock belts are used for torture

or ill-treatment and must be banned.

Gallows, the hangman's rope, gas cham-

bers, the guillotine, the electric chair

and other execution equipment must be

banned. Anti-personnel landmines must

be banned, and their manufacture, trans-

fer and use prohibited absolutely.

U undreds of thousands of men,

women and children have already

lost limbs, been deafened, blinded and

otherwise disabled by landmines. Every

year, landmines claim thousands of new

victims.

One of those is Yoeurng Choeurng,

aged 14, who lives with his grandfather

in Bang Ampil, to the west of

Battambang town in Cambodia. He said:

"My parents were killed in a landmine

accident in the 1980s. Since then my sister

and I have been living with my grandfather

here in Bang Ampil. We cannot return home

because there are so many mines in the village

where I lived with my parents. But there are

landmines here as well.

"My grandfather has lost his leg because he

was trying to rescue me. I stood on a mine

when I was herding cows that belong to a

neighbour I don't remember very much of

what happened. I was just walking with the

cows. I was bleeding and crying and my

grandfather saw me and came to help me but

he stood on a mine a,s well."

According to the Mines Advisory

Group, they had trodden on Type 72a

anti-personnel blast mines. They each

had one leg torn apart from below the

knee. A 1998 US State Department

report estimated that there were

between four to six million mines in

Cambodia. They were laid by both gov-

ernment and non-government armed •

forces. Thirty-six different types of land-

mines have been found in Cambodia —

mines which were manufactured in

Cambodia itself but also by China,

Hungary, the former Soviet Union,

Thailand, the USA and Viet Nam,

among many others. From 1971-75

alone, Cambodia imported over 622,000

landmines from the USA. Many of these

mines remain in the ground, waiting to

kill or maim.

Worldwide, there are more than 60

million landrnines in the ground. The

figure is notoriously hard to estimate as

the majority were laid at random. Mines

can be found anywhere — in fields, city

streets, along riverbanks, in wells, outside

schools, in villages and on roads used by

refugees.

To combat this scourge, more than

1,300 non-governmental organizations

(NG05) formed the International

Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL).

After an inspiring campaign, which

showed the power of worldwide public

opinion to influence governments, an

international treaty to ban the use, pro-

duction, stockpiling, sale, transfer or

export of landmines was signed in 1997.

It came into force on 1 March 1999. By

25 May 2000, 137 states had signed the

Mine Ban Treaty, but many have still to

sign — many of them major producers or

stockpilers such as China, India,

Pakistan, Russia and the USA. Eighteen

other Asian states have also yet to sign.

Al, as a supporter of the ICBL, has called

on all the world's governments to sign,

ratify and implement the Treaty and to

specifically ban the use, production,

stockpiling, sale and transfer of anti-

personnel landmines.

In some countries, the use of anti-

personnel mines is actually increasing. In

Myanmar, both the government forces

and military forces of different ethnic

groups reportedly use mines. It was

reported in January 1999 that Myanmar

government troops admitted to laying

7,000 mines since August 1998 along the

Thai border to deter an anticipated

advance by opposition forces. The 1999

ICBL Landmine Monitor reports that

government troops have specifically

targeted the civilian population with

I n December 1993, the Philippines re-

introduced the death penalty and the

government began a search for new exe-

cution equipment. Two years later, Al

contacted two US companies following

reports that they were considering the

sale of an electric chair and a gas cham-

ber to the Philippines. The spokesperson

of one company was reported as saying:

"Does it bother me? No, not really, I'm

not doing the executing."

In March 1996, President Fidel Ramos

of the Philippines signed a law allowing

execution by lethal injection (whereby a

prisoner is strapped to a bed and an

injection machine delivers a lethal cock-

tail of sodium thiopental, pancuronium

bromide and potassium chloride

through a needle in the arm. The pris-

oner dies of suffocation and cardiac

arrest). Although no details are available

of the origin of these injection devices,

such technology has been used in the

USA since lethal injection executions

began in 1977. Similar lethal injection

executions have subsequently taken

place in China and are planned in

Taiwan.

Since 1990 electro-shock torture andill-treatment have reportedly been

carried out in the prisons, detention

centres or police stations of at least 58

countries — including Afghanistan,

Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, the

Philippines, Sri Lanka and Taiwan. In

over 20 countries, hand-held electro-

shock batons specifically designed for

use on humans have been used.

"This is the worst thing — an electric cattle

prod. They use this on your body% If they press

that button, your whole body will be in shock.

If they do it for too long, you lose conscious-

ness but you do not die. If they press this but-

ton, you can die. They used it all the time on

my body. They tortured me because I was

speaking out for independence and I will con-

tinue to speak out."

These are the words of Palden Gyatso,

a Tibetan monk who had spent 33 years

in Chinese prison and labour camps. He

is one of numerous prisoners who have

suffered electro-shock torture at the

July 2000 Vol.30 No.4 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

hands of Chinese security forces. He fled

to India, smuggling with him some of

the electro-shock instruments which

have become a favoured tool of Chinese

torturers.

The fear and pain that flow from the

electro-shock baton have led other pris-

oners to acts of desperation. On 15

August 1996, (Then Longde, a pro-

democracy activist imprisoned at

Luoshan labour camp, was visited by one

of the prison guards. The guard kickedand punched him and then tortured

him with electric shocks from a baton.Two days later the guard with the shock

baton returned and the beatings

resumed. Chen Longde could take nomore. He jumped straight through a

third-storey window, driven to suicide by

his treatment. He survived the fall but

suffered serious injuries.

Electro-shock stun technology was ini-

tially developed in the USA during the

1970s. Al's research shows that during

the last decade over 120 companies,

operating in 22 countries, have manufac-tured, sold, advertised or sought to pro-

cure electro-shock weapons. One of

these countries, Taiwan, subsequentlybecame a leading producer and exporter

of electro-shock weapons, and a

Taiwanese company reportedly set up

manufacturing facilities in mainland

China. In 1995, the UK's role in this

trade was highlighted when the manag-

ing director of a Scottish company, ICLTechnical Plastics, admitted selling

electro-shock batons to China in 1990,

stating that: 'The Chinese wanted to

copy them." Chinese factories now mass

produce electro-shock batons. Reportsindicate that Chinese companies have

exported electro-shock weapons to

Cambodia and Indonesia — both coun-

tries where electro-shock torture hasbeen documented by AI. The uncon-

trolled trade in such weapons must be

halted. AI is campaigning for the imme-

diate global suspension of the manufac-

ture, export and use of electro-shockweapons until independent medical

investigations have been carried out intotheir use and effects.

killed and dozens more wounded.

According to one news report, police

spokesman Ghazali Mohamed Amin said

the operation was targeted at the

Acehnese "because they have been here

for too long."

Between late 1998 and 2000 a series of

predominantly peaceful demonstrations

in support of imprisoned former Deputy

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim were sup-

pressed with force by Malaysian police

using tear gas and water cannon spraying

water laced with chemical irritants.

Peaceful demonstrators were also beaten

by police wielding batons. In September

1999 a number of demonstrators were

reported to have been treated in hospital

for injuries caused by beatings and the

after-effects of the chemicals used in the

water cannon.

Amid mounting intimidation of civil-

ians by Indonesian militia and securityforces in East Timor, some 2,000 men,

women and children sought refuge in

the grounds of the Liquica Parish

Church, west of Dili. On 6 April 1999,

they were surrounded by members of the

security forces, including Brimob, the

Police Mobile Brigade, who fired tear gas

canisters into the church grounds to

flush the terrified and confused civiliansout into the open. Armed members of

the militia group Besi Merah Putih were

lying in wait. There have been reports

indicating that at least 200 people werekilled.

New techniques for crowd control are

evolving all the time. UK company

Cochrane has advertised a mobile carri-

er that, in 15 to 20 seconds, can eject

200 metres of razor wire sharp enough

to slice through human flesh. The

machine provides security forces with

the capacity to encircle an entiredemonstration in a ring of steel. Such a

system has already been marketed by

French, South African and UK compa-

nies and exported to several countrieswhere police have used excessive force

against peaceful protesters. Cochrane

has also advertised "electrocoil" — razor

wire with an electro-shock element of up

to 5,000 to 7,000 volts built in.

•

Telephone tapping, bugging devices,communication interception systems,

closed circuit television cameras and

vehicle recognition systems can also be

used to perpetuate human rights viola-

tions. They allow security forces to moni-

tor, track and better target for action

individuals deemed to be a threat to the

state. Sometimes such targets are human

rights workers, trade unionists, students

and parliamentarians.

In July 1997, Aberson Sihaloho, a

member of Indonesia's national parlia-

ment, was sentenced to nine months in

prison for "insulting" former President

Suharto. He was one of 200 hundred

people arrested for speaking at a Free

Speech Forum following the ousting of

Megawati Sukarnoputri, leader of the

main opposition party. Videotape was

used in evidence at Aberson Sihaloho's

trial which, according to his lawyers,

could easily have been re-edited. A mem-

ber of the Indonesian Armed Forces, tes-

tifying for the prosecution, said he had

been ordered to monitor and tape the

proceedings of the Forum.

There have been unconfirmed reports

that Indonesian security forces have used

state-of-the-art telephone tapping and

call monitoring systems to help pressur-

ize people during interrogations by con-fronting them with details of the people

they have telephoned or who have tele-

phoned them.

Sometimes technology with a legiti-

mate civilian use is abused by securityforces to aid their task of repression. In

the days following the massacre in

Beijing on 4 June 1989, the Chinese

authorities used images from a comput-

erized closed circuit television system —

originally supplied by the USA and theUK with World Bank assistance to be

Malaysian police advancing with tear gas

and water cannon at a peaceful demonstra-

tion on 26 September 1998

11 • '• •"• D•

A lthough security equipment such aswater cannon, tear gas and plastic

bullets may in certain limited circum-

stances have a legitimate use, evidence

shows that such equipment is also being

used to punish peaceful protest and facil-

itate human rights violations. Despite

this evidence, foreign companies and

governments have been busy marketing

and selling crowd control equipment to

countries such as Malaysia and

Indonesia.

On 26 March 1998, Malaysian police

officers, wielding batons and armed with

water cannons and tear gas, entered the

Semenyih detention camp intending to

forcibly repatriate hundreds of asylum-

seekers who had fled the repression inAceh. A riot ensued in which at least

eight refugees and a policeman were

• •

. A•

used for traffic control. Security forces

created instant "wanted" posters from

close-up frozen images of student

activists which were broadcast on state-

run television with a telephone number

asking viewers to report those portrayed.

Arrests of prisoners of conscience and

unfair trials followed. The authorities

also broadcast footage which had been

carefully edited and manipulated to

show "counter-revolufionary" demonstra-

tors as the instigators of the violence in

efforts to justify thc crackdown. In 1993,

a similar "traffic control" system was

installed in Lhasa, capital of Tibet

Autonomous Region. The system had

been installed in the central square — a

pedestrianized area, not known for its

traffic problems but an area where

Tibetan pro-independence demonstra-

tions have taken place.

, , • • •,

A is not just concerned about theexport of arms and security equip-

ment but also the transfer of personnel,

expertise and training. A number of gov-

ernments such as the USA and the UK

train the military, security and police

forces of Asian nations. Unless such

training is stringently controlled there is

a danger of it being used to facilitate

human rights violations. However, much

of this training occurs in secret so that

the public and parliamentari-

ans rarely discover who is

being trained in what and by

whom.

After the 1991 massacre in

Dili, East Timor — where

mourners attending the

funeral of a Timorese inde-

pendence activist were killed

by Indonesian security forces

— US military training for

Indonesia was cut. In 1995,

the US Congress agreed to

re-establish a limited pro-

gram of training in human

rights. However, in March

1998, leaked official docu-

ments revealed that the US

government had secretly

begun to train the

Indonesian army — including its notori-

ous special forces command, Kopassus —

in close quarters combat, sniper tech-

niques, demolitions, psychological and

urban operations. Following the mass

human rights violations in East Timor,

US military assistance was cut again on 9

September 1999. However, on 23 May

2000. the NPW YOrk TinteC reported that

the USA had resumed military coopera-

tion with Indonesia — inviting military

observers to,joint exercises in Thailand.

Private companies have also been

involved in the provision of such train-

ing. The UK company Nitor has devel-

oped a computerized training program

for marksmen with technical advice from

a UK police force — some scenarios

include trainees firing on unarmed civil-

ians. A version has been supplied to the

Indonesian military. Nitor has also pro-

vided training facilities for the Malaysian

special forces, the Hong Kong Police

and the Singapore Police. While such

training may have the potential to bene-

fit communities by providing better

skilled police and security forces, those

giving such training must ensure that it

does not contribute to human rights vio-

lations. Public transparency and account-

ability, together with screening of stu-

dents and stringent end-use monitoring

is essential to ensure that such expertise

transfers, whether by governments or

private companies, do not result in

human rights violations.

In February 1997, Al reported on seri-ous human rights violations in

Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (PNG),

by thc Defence Force and government-

backed Paramilitary Resistance Forces.

At least 44 people had been unlawfnlly

killed or had "disappeared" in 1996

Acme but no onc had been bniught to

account. Instead, in March 1997, UK-

based security consultant Sandline

International was brought in by the PNG

government to provide military training,

expertise, advice and equipment for

operations on Bougainville. When the

move became known it caused a military

revolt within the defence forces and the

44 foreign trainers were forced to leave.

Private military and security compa-

nies operate outside the normal criminal

. justice system and on the fringes of mili-

tary command structures. If human

rights violations result from their deploy-

ment it is much harder to hold them to

account than the regular security forces,

not least because such personnel can

leave the country at any time. Al believes

that such companies must be registered

and that they require government

authorization for any transfer of person-

nel or training.

•

I •

T he effective control of the arms andsecurity' trade is not something that

can be left in the hands of governments

alone. Civil society and the NGO move-

ment in particular must continually keep

the pressure on governments to abide by

their international commitments and the

promises they gave to protect their citi-

zens under the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights and in the Geneva

ConvenMins.

Al members across the world are now

lobbying for strict and effective national

and regional controls on military, securi-

ty and police transfers. Controls which

are transparent. accountable and will

ensure that states are never allowed to

export weapons, training or personnel to

customers who might use them to violate

human rights.

If you wish to become part of an AIactivist network in your country to cam-

paign on issues relating to the arms and

security trade, please contact us now.

Either email us at: MSP4amnesty.org

or write to:

Military. Security and Police Team,

Amnesty International,

International Secretariat,

1 Easton Street. London WC1X ODW,

United Kingdom.

Right, Brochure advertizing electro-

shock batons

July 2000 VoL30 No.4 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

W6DRLDWIDEappeals

A

HONDURAS STILL NO JUSTICE IN

LOCANDER OBANDO REYES, a 17-year-

old orphan, was shot dead on 10

April 1999 in a public park in

Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras.

According to reports, a police officer was

responsible for his death.

Alexander Obando and a friend fell

into an argument with the officer, who

fired "warning shots" into the air. When

the boys tried to escape in a taxi, the

officer fired at the vehicle and then at

Alexander Obando as he tried to get out,

hitting him in the abdomen and chest.

The policeman fled and Alexander

Obando was taken to hospital where he

died the following day.

Six prosecutors from the Public

Ministry's Office of the Special

Prosecutor for Human Rights have been

involved in the case. Reportedly, a wit-

ness has identified the police officer

POLICE SHOOTING OF CHILD

responsible, and a ballistics test showed

that the bullets came from the rifle

assigned to the identified officer. Despite

this, no measures have been taken to

detain him.

AI continues to receive information

about serious human rights violations

against children in Honduras, including

police shootings. The persistence of such

abuses highlights the failure of the

authorities to adequately train law

enforcement officials, to investigate

reported abuses in which state agents are

allegedly involved, and to effectively

prosecute those responsible.

Please write, calling for an independ-

ent and impartial investigation into the

death of Alexander Obando Reyes and

for his killer to be brought to justice.

Express concern, too, at the illegal use of

firearms by police officers in situations

where the vic-

tim is neither

armed nor a

threat to oth-

ers. Send

appeals to: SE

Carlos Roberto

Flores Facussé,

Presidente de

la Republica de

Honduras,

Casa

Presidencial,

Tegucigalpa, Honduras (fax: +504 235

6949/234 1484, e-mail: law_bureau@hot-

mail.com).

For further information, see Honduras:

Human rights violations against children —

update (Al Index: AMR 37/02/00).

MYANMAR TEACHER IMPRISONED FOR HUSBAND'S POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

MA KHIN RHIN LEH, a teacher, andher three-year-old daughter were

arrested in July 1999 along with 17 others,

in Bago, central Myanmar. Her daughter

was subsequently released, but Ma Khin

Khin Leh was sentenced to life imprison-

ment.

Ma Khin Khin Leh's husband, Kyaw

Wunna, is a member of the All Burma

Federation of Student Unions. He and

other pro-democracy activists in Bago

were planning a peaceful march on 19

July, the 52nd anniversary of the assas-

sination of independence hero General

Aung San, the father of Daw Aung San

Sim Kyi, leader of Myanmar's main

opposition party, the National League

for Democracy.

T ADIGBE TRAORE was suspended by herhands and feet by four soldiers, while

a further two inflicted 50 lashes on her

back and buttocks. She told an AI dele-

gation visiting Guinea recently that this

agonizing ordeal lasted more than 10

minutes, and was then repeated a few

hours later. She was unable to lie on her

back for several days afterwards.

Tadigbe Traore, a member of the

opposition Rassemblement do peuple de

Guime (RPG), Guinean People's Rally,

had been arrested on 21 December 1998

while attending a march calling for the

release of Alpha Conde, President of the

Pamphlets were distributed prior to the

planned march, and the local Military

Intelligence began to look for Kyaw

Wunna. On 19 July, when they could not

locate him, they arrested Ma Khin Khin

Leh and their daughter, Thaint Wanna

Khin. Her daughter was released after five

days, but Ma Khin Khin Leh and others

arrested in subsequent days were taken to

Military Intelligence headquarters in

Bago.

Ma Khin Khin Leh was transferred to

Insein Prison in Yangon and on 3

December she was sentenced to life

imprisonment for "disrupting security"

and "contact with illegal organizations".

In January 2000 she was transferred to

an undisclosed prison. She suffers from a

RPG. She was released without charge

after four days.

Alpha Conde had been arrested in

December 1998 and accused, with 47

other detainees, of attempting to desta-

bilize Guinea. Al considers him a prisoner

of conscience. His trial began in April

2000. During the march hundreds of peo-

ple, including women, were arrested and

tortured. Some of the women told an Al

delegation that they had been subjected

to torture, including rape, while held at

the military barracks at Kankan. Most of

them were released within days of their

arrest but others spent more than three

lung problem

and it is not

known if she is

receiving med-

ical care.

7 Please write,

asking for her

immediate and

unconditional

release as a

prisoner of

conscience.

Send appeals

to: Colonel

Hla Min, Office of Strategic Studies,

Department of International Affairs, c/o

Ministry of Defence, Signal Pagoda

Road, Yangon, Union of Myanmar.

months in detention and were sentenced

to prison terms after unfair trials.

Please write, asking for prompt and

impartial investigations into these allega-

tions of torture and calling for those

responsible to be brought to justice. Send

appeals to: Son Excellence le General de

Brigade, Lansana Conte, Président de la

Republique et Chef du gouvernement,

Presidence de la Republique, Conakry,

Guinea (fax: +224 41 16 73), and to: Son

Excellence, Monsieur Maurice Zoglemou

Togba, Ministre de la Justice, Ministere

de la Justice, Conakry, Guinea (fax: +224

41 16 17).

GUINEA WOMEN TORTURED AFTER DEMONSTRATION

Ma Khin Khin Leh with her

husband and daughter

An appeal to theauthorities am helpthe vms ofhuman rightsviolations whosestories are told here.You am help free aprisoner o f am-science or stoptorture. You ambring liberty to avidim

"disappearance".You may prevent anexecution. Everyappeal counts.

Remember:Al nwmbers shouldnot take up casesfrom their owncountries.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONALAPPEALS July 2000 Vol.30 No.4

MEXICOPEASANT ENVIRONMENTALISTS DETAINED AND TORTURED

is published in cpArabic, English,and French tohring you newsof Alis concernsand campaignsworldwide, aswell as in-depthreports.Available fromAmnestyInternational(address below)

Rodolfo Montiel Flores (top) andTeodoro Cabrera Garcia CA/

MALAYSIAOPPOSITION LEADERSCHARGED WITH SEDITION

N A CASE CARRYING SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS

for the independence of lawyers inMalaysia and their ability to carry outtheir duties free of fear of intimidation,Karpal Singh, leading human rightslawyer and Deputy Chairman of theDemocratic Action Party (DAP). is dueto go on trial in July on charges of sedi-tion.

The charge followed a statement hemade in court while acting as the leaddefence counsel in the trial of AnwarIbrahim (former Deputy Prime Minister)in September 1999. He claimed thatsomebody may have poisoned AnwarIbrahim with arsenic, and he feared that"people its high places" might be respon-sible. The charge against Karpal Singhthreatens Anwar Ibrahim's right to a fairtrial, and contravenes internationalhuman rights standards. Karpal Singh isa former prisoner of conscience — he wasimprisoned without trial in 1987 underthe Internal Security Act.

The prosecutions of Marina Yusoffand Mohamad Ezam Noor, respectivelyVice-President and Youth Leader of theopposition Path Keadilan Nasional,

National Justice Party, are other recentexamples of what AI believes to bc thegovernment's selective and politicallymotivated use of restrictive laws. MarinaYusoff has been charged with seditionand Mohamad Ezam Noor has beencharged under the Official Secrets Act.Both pleaded not guilty.

R ODOLFO MONTIEL FLORES AND TEODOROCabrera Garcia have languished inprison srace their arbitrary arrest by theMexican army over a year ago. Theyhave been forced under torture to signselkncriminating statements andcharged with crimes they have notcommitted.

Founders of Ilse Organi:aenen de

Compesinas Ecologistas de la Sierra de

Petalkin Coynca de Catakin, PeasantEnvironmentalist Organization of theMountains of Petatkin and (;ovuca de(:atalan, Rodolfo Montiel and TeodoroCabrera were arbitrarily detained afterleading a campaign against excessive log-ging in Guerrero state, which was threat-ening the environment and the liveli-hood of local peasant communities.Following a number of peaceful demon-strations by the organization, protestersbegan to receive threats. A locallandowner reportedly accused them ofbelonging to an armed oppositiongroup, following which army units sta-tioned in the state reportedly initiated acampaign of harassment against theorganization's MCITIhers.

Rodolfo Monne] cenivened a meetingof peasant farmers in the village ofPizotla on 2 May 1999. It was here that

• ••

Karpal Singh's arrest in January 1999

Opposition newspapers have alsocome trader attack: Zulkifli Sulong andCheah Lim Thye, respectively editor andpublisher of tlw opposition Parti IslamicSeMalaysia newspaper Harakah, went ontrial in May, charged with publishing aseditious article. If convicted and impris-oned, Al would Oillsider all of the ahtweprisoners of conscience.

Under the current broadly definedterms of the Sedition Act, both govern-ment and opposition figures have madestatements in the course of public andelectoral debate which could be inter-preted as potentially seditious.However, only opposition membershave been charged. deepening con-cerns that these prosecutions are a pre-text to curb the peaceful expression ofdissenting opinion.

he and Teodoro (:abrera were arrestedby members of the army, who allegedlyshot dead another of the villagers. Theywere held in incommunicado detentionfor five days, during which time theywere reptrtedly tied and beaten, andwere subjected to mock executions inorder to extract self-incriminating state-ments. They were subsequently chargedwith drugs offences and illegal petsses-Sion of weapons.

Three organizations: AI. Sierra Club —a US environmental non-governmentalorganization — and thc Miguel AgustinPro jutirez Human Rights Centre fromMexico,,joined forces in April 2000 topublish an open letter in the Mexicanmagazine Prows° and newspaper ReJorma,

addressed to President Ernest() Zedillo,calling for the immediate and uncondi-tional release of the two men as prison-ers of conscience.

On 6 April, Rodolfo Montiel wasawarded the Goldman environmentalprize of USS125.000, with which he plansto create a trust for the purchase ofgation equipment in the regi(in wherehe lives. His wife, who collected theaward on Isis behalf, said: 1\7e arc proudof our Rodolfo, but I hope this prizedoesn't end up getting hins killed."

UZBEKISTANGOOD NEWS!

A RSEN ARUTYUNYAN AND DANIS SIRAZHEY( see li'orlflwide .-Appeals„ipril 2000)

have had their death sentences commut-ed. The two men were transferred fromtheir death cell in a pristra in Tashkentto a pristra colony 111 the town ofAndizhan in May.

Arsen Arutvurwan's sister wrote: "Hadit not been for the work of your organ-izatitm, your approaches to the media,your persistent work, we couldn't havehoped for a good outcome. When I firstturned to you, my whole family and Iwere desperate and, to tell the truth,didn't think that anything or anybodycould help. But the miracle came true,a miracle worked not by God, but bypeople."

Thanks to all who sent appeals.

marsly International, 1 Easton Street. I,ndon tILl S MM. 1 "sited kingdom. E-mail: stioletbe-bamneity.org: http://zeuheamnestr.mg

Printed in the k Interlace. :Available on .mh.teriplirm at £7 (n412.0(1) fe, one spar ISSN 0308 h,S87. AI Index: .VIIS 21 /04 /0(1