28th May, 2010

DAVID ADAMS

Governments are blocking advances in international justice by “standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient”, according to Amnesty International.

The organisation, which this week released its annual State of the World’s Human Rights report, says this power politics is widening a “global justice gap”.

"Repression and injustice are flourishing in the global justice gap, condemning millions of people to abuse, oppression and poverty," said Claudio Cordone, interim secretary general of Amnesty International, in a statement.

"Governments must ensure that no one is above the law, and that everyone has access to justice for all human rights violations. Until governments stop subordinating justice to political self-interest, freedom from fear and freedom from want will remain elusive for most of humanity."

The organisation said that while the International Criminal Court’s 2009 arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity was a “landmark event”, showing that even heads of state were not above the law, the African Union’s refusal to cooperate was a “stark example of governmental failure to put justice before politics”.

It said the UN Human Rights Council’s “paralysis” over Sir Lanka – where “serious human rights abuses” were carried out by both government and Tamil forces – was another example of the international community’s failure to act when needed and noted that the recommendations of a Human Rights Council report calling for accountability over the conflict in Gaza are yet to be heeded by Israel or Hamas.

The organisation’s research recorded torture or other ill-treatment in at least 111 countries, unfair trials in at least 55, restrictions on free speech in at least 96 and the jailing of “prisoners of conscience” in at least 48.

It found “patterns of governmental intolerance of criticism” in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia and “mounting repression” in Iran while in China there was increased pressure on those who challenged authority and in North Korea and Myanmar thousands have fled “severe repression and economic hardship”.

In Europe, Amnesty said there were “unfair restrictions” on freedom of expression in Russia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Uzbekistan while in the Americas Brazil, Jamaica, Colombia and Mexico were “plagued by hundreds of unlawful killings by security forces” and “impunity for US violations related to counter-terrorism persisted.

Meanwhile, Amnesty alleged that in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sri Lanka and Yemen armed groups and government forces breached international law while in Gaza and southern Israel both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups unlawfully killed and wounded civilians. Civilians also suffered in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Somalia with females suffering rape and other violence in most conflicts.

The organisation said the need to tackle abuses that affect poverty was urgent.

"Governments should be held accountable for the human rights abuses that drive and deepen poverty. The UN review meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in New York, USA, this September is an opportunity for world leaders to move from promises to legally enforceable commitments," said Mr Cordone.

~ For the full report, see http://thereport.amnesty.org