Annan calls for human rights agency revamp!

United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan has called for radical changes to be made to the UN's human rights work.

Mr Annan has made the comment at the annual session of the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

The commission has been harshly criticised recently by human rights groups claiming it has become less of a body for upholding human rights, and more of a haven for violators.

Mr Annan says the situation is damaging the entire United Nations.

"We have reached a point at which the commission's decline in credibility has cast a shadow on the reputation of the United Nations system as a whole, and where piecemeal reforms will not be enough, or will not do," he said.

Mr Annan says the 53-member body is failing to protect people against human rights abuses and should be replaced by a smaller council with greater authority.

"The new Human Rights Council must be a society of the committed, it must be more accountable and more representative," he said.

Mr Annan says any new body must have a real impact on people's lives.

"The course of human rights has entered a new era," he said.

"For much of the past 60 years, our focus has been on articulating, codifying and enshrining rights.

"Such work needs to continue in some areas.

"But the era of declaration has now given way - as it should - to an era of implementation."

By Just Us 8 April 05

Related:

UN panel proposes criteria for legitimate military action
With countries still bitterly divided over the war in Iraq, a high-level panel appointed by the United Nations has recommended a five-step guideline to determine when to use military action.

USA - FEELING THE HEAT FROM INTERNATIONAL FIRE:
It seems the United States of America (The World Watchdog) is dictating and practising double-standards --- a unique law for America and another set of laws for all other countries.

CALL TO ACTION of the ANTI-WAR ASSEMBLY
Two years after the invasion of Iraq, there is more opposition to the war in the US, in the coalition countries, and all over the world than ever before.

Annan tells world leaders to respect law
United Nations (UN) secretary-general Kofi Annan has made an impassioned plea to bring about the rule of law across the globe today. Mr Annan told world leaders to respect international law at home and abroad.

CO-OFFENDERS DO NOT REBUFF UN ON 'ILLEGAL WAR'
The 'coalition of the killing's' complicities - the US, Britain and Australia - have insisted that their countries' military action in Iraq was legal after they have committed war crimes against humanity.

Iraq war illegal, says Annan
United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan says the United States decision to invade Iraq in March 2003 was "illegal". Australia was a key supporter of the war on Iraq and sent troops to join the United States-led invasion last year.

Bush team 'knew of abuse' at Guantanamo
Evidence of prisoner abuse and possible war crimes at Guantanamo Bay reached the highest levels of the Bush administration as early as autumn 2002, but Donald Rumsfeld, the defence secretary, chose to do nothing about it, according to a new investigation.

Noble Cause Torture?
AUSTRALIA: The Labor Party has decided not to support a Senate inquiry into new allegations made by Mamdouh Habib that the Australian Government cooperated with Egyptian intelligence authorities who he insists tortured him.

Unlock the Box:
The United Front to Abolish the SHU is dedicated to shutting down Security Housing Units (SHUs) in California prisons. The SHU is one type of control unit, which are solitary or small group confinement cells. The inhuman conditions in control units, including total sensory deprivation, amount to torture. The United Front to Abolish the SHU demands that all control units be abolished across the country.

Deaths in isolation as prison segregation increases
The use of segregation of prisoners as punishment has been increasing recently in Australia, the US, and the UK. Segregation can be used for protection or punishment, but in both cases it results in extreme psychological stress. An indication that segregation is being over-used is the appearance of deaths in custody from suicide of those placed in segregation.

Pentagon chiefs cleared over prisoner abuse?
US: The Pentagon has cleared itself of any high-level responsibility for the abuse of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay because it was the guard dogs that initiated the torture all along.

CIA defends terror suspect transfers?
Suspected terrorists [scapegoats for the Coalition of the Killings's resource wars in the Middle East] in US custody have been transferred to third countries for the past 20 years, CIA director Porter Goss told the US Senate armed services committee.

Trade Justice Events Sydney 10 -16 April 2005
NO to the rich and powerful imposing unjust trade agreements, indiscriminate liberalisation and privatisation on the poor. YES to everyone's right to food, a livelihood, water, health and education.

Thousands of Europeans protest against Israeli barrier

Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Berlin, Geneva, Paris and Rome to protest against Israel's construction of a separation barrier and the situation of Palestinians on the occasion of Jerusalem Day.

In the French capital between 2,000 and 6,000 people joined a rally called by leftist and aid groups.

The demonstration was "part of an international campaign against the construction of the wall" annexing Palestinian territory, said Christian Piquet, a leading figure of the Revolutionary Communist League (LCR).

Mr Piquet estimated the number of demonstrators at 6,000, while police said 2,000 attended, among them members of Amnesty International, the Communist Party and the environmental Greens party.

"We are demonstrating so there will not be a wall between people and no people between the walls," said the spokesman for the group coordinating Palestinian committees, Rachid Abel.

A French Jewish group as well as anti-Zionist Orthodox rabbis, who argue that the existence of the state of Israel is illegal, also attended the protest.

In Berlin about 750 people, according to police estimates, most of them members of the Muslim community, also demonstrated against Israeli policies.

Veiled women carried pictures of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died on Thursday in Paris and was buried in the West Bank town of Ramallah Friday.

In Rome, several thousand people paid tribute to Mr Arafat and protested against Israel's security barrier in the West Bank.

Protesters carried banners condemning the "Wall of apartheid".

In Geneva, nearly 300 people took to the streets to protest against what they called Israel's "wall of shame" in the West Bank.

No incidents were reported.

The week, November 9-16, was chosen to coincide with celebrations marking the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989.

Iran's late Ayatollah Khomenei initiated the annual Al-Qods (Arabic for Jerusalem) Day in 1979, to be held on the last Friday of Ramadan, for more Muslims around the world to show their solidarity with the Palestinians, who seek Jerusalem as a capital for an independent Palestine.

By End The Occupation posted 15 November 04

Related:

Conspiracy rumours abound following Arafat's death?
French Health Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy says there is no indication Yasser Arafat was poisoned, although he had no access to medical files on the death of the Palestinian leader.

Israel admits UN ambulance claims propaganda...
The Israeli Army has admitted it was wrong to accuse the United Nations of letting its ambulances be used by Palestinian freedom fighters to transport Qassam rockets in the Gaza Strip.
 
 Three wounded in fresh Jabaliya strikes
Three Palestinians have been wounded in another Israeli air strike on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. The camp is the focus of a massive Israeli operation in Gaza that has killed more than 100 Palestinians in less than two weeks.

Disabled declare Israel ignorant!
Disabled supporters declare that Israel is "ignorant" after the 67-year-old wheelchair-bound cleric Sheikh Ahmed was killed along with seven others when the Apache helicopter fired three missiles into the convoy of cars escorting him home.

U.N. Group Seeks End To Executions

The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

The top United Nations human rights body on Wednesday urged governments worldwide to declare a moratorium on executions.

In a 29-19 vote, the U.N. Human Rights Commission backed a resolution submitted by European countries that called for the global suspension of the death penalty as the first step to eliminating its use.

The United States, Japan, China, India and Muslim nations including Saudi Arabia opposed the resolution. Burkina Faso, Cuba, Guatemala, South Korea and Sri Lanka abstained.

"This position is rooted in our belief in the dignity of all human beings," said Irish Ambassador Mary Whelan, speaking for the 15-nation European Union. The EU drew support from Latin American countries on the 53-nation commission.

"In some countries, the death penalty is often imposed after trials which do not conform to international standards of fairness," the resolution said. It did not identify any nation by name but said minorities often are disproportionately subjected to capital punishment.

Countries should remove the death penalty from their laws if they no longer apply it, and those that still carry out executions should restrict the number of offenses for which the death penalty may be imposed, the resolution said.

Justice officials, [Law officials], should refuse to extradite individuals who may face execution in another country, unless they receive assurances that capital punishment will not be carried out, it said.

The European death penalty resolution is submitted - and passed, annually at the commission's six-week meeting. The U.N. body's decisions are not binding on member governments.

U.S. delegation member Jeffrey Delaurentis reiterated Washington's opposition to the EU resolution.

"Each nation should decide for itself through democratic processes whether its domestic law should permit capital punishment in accordance with international law," he told the commission.

"In the United States, there is public debate on the use of capital punishment, but the American public is of one mind that when the death penalty is used, due process must be rigorously observed by all governmental bodies, at all governmental levels."

On Monday, addressing the commission, former Illinois Governor George Ryan called for a global execution moratorium.

"In the name of human rights, morality and mercy, I ask, 'Why not stop the machinery of death to study its accuracy, its fairness and its faults?"' said Ryan, who is honorary chairman of the anti-death penalty group Hands Off Cain.

A former death penalty advocate, Ryan commuted the sentences of all 167 men on death row in Illinois last year because he was concerned about the number of people sentenced to death and later found to be innocent. Ryan, a Republican, served as Illinois' chief executive from 1999 to 2003.

A study by Hands Off Cain said 129 of 191 U.N. member countries either have abolished the death penalty or have carried out no executions in the past decade. Some 62 nations - most of them undemocratic - still use capital
punishment.

A separate report by the human rights group Amnesty International found that 1,146 people were executed in 28 countries in 2003, with China, Iran and the United States topping the list of nations that use the death penalty.

By Steve Hall GENEVA, posted May 7 04

Steve Hall
512.478.7300 (o)
512.627.3011 (c)
shall@standdown.org
The StandDown Texas Project

Related:

US Execution: Huang Thanh Le
Dear Friends, this is so sad especially for our dear friend, San Nguyen. San who lives in Oklahoma worked very hard with the rest of the Vietnamese community to stop Mr. Le's execution.

US Execution: Please contact the Governor
The Vietnamese-American Community, the ACLU, and many others want the March 30 execution of Huang Thanh Le commuted.

Death penalty: a lawyer sees the light
The observation by [Cherie Blair?] "Americans are from Mars and Europeans are from Venus" is illustrated by the two nations' differing reactions to the use of the death penalty as a legitimate punishment for murder.

Cherie Blair attacks US over death penalty in Catholic paper
Cherie Blair has renewed her attack on America's use of the death penalty. In a book review in the Catholic journal The Tablet, under her maiden name Cherie Booth, she says: "Capital cases are uniquely prone to error and thus call into question whether we can ever be really sure of obtaining the just result.

Insane prisoner granted stay in the USA
The case of a condemned killer with a history of paranoid delusions and violent outbursts raises questions about executing the mentally ill.

OHIO: Judges join dissent on execution delay
Lewis Williams - his attorneys argued that he was mentally retarded, was executed by lethal injection on Jan. 14 2004 in Lucasville, Ohio at age 45.

Mexico Awaits Hague Ruling on Citizens on U.S. Death Row
Sbaldo Torres, a convicted murderer on death row in Oklahoma, should have been dead by now, his appeals exhausted, his time up. But because 15 judges in The Hague, acting at the request of the government of Mexico, have forbidden his execution for now, he is alive in a cell in McAlester, awaiting the next move from the Netherlands.

Jury Passes On Business Of Killing
US: This drives the death penalty crowd in the legislature nuts. Yet another jury - another 12 men and women, tried and true, who had all attested to their belief in the death penalty - has refused to join in the killing business.

Ultimate Punishment: Dealing With the Death Penalty
Scott Turow has long juggled two careers‹that of a novelist and that of a lawyer. He wrote much of his first and best known legal thriller, Presumed Innocent, on the commuter train to and from work during the eight years he spent as an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago, and he has churned out another blockbuster every third year since joining the firm of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal in 1986.

Are you sane enough to be executed?
New York: The US Supreme Court has let stand a ruling by a federal appeals court in February that officials in the state of Arkansas had the right to force a convicted murderer to take drug treatment to make him sane enough to be executed.

Amnesty steps up campaign to abolish death penalty
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International is urging people around the world to pressure countries to abolish the death penalty. Amnesty director Irene Khan has released a statement, which raps governments for carrying out "executions".

Port Lincoln Mayor has lost the plot!
Controversial Port Lincoln Mayor Peter Davis has called for drug addicts to be given a lethal injection to cut rising illicit drug use on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

'LAND OF THE FREE' SET TO EXECUTE TWO PRISONERS BY FIRING SQUAD: Wanted: Willing executioners for two convicted murderers. Must be psychologically sound and familiar with .30-calibre rifles. No victims' relatives need apply.

There has been some debate whether: 'Capital punishment should be re-instated in Australia, since the terrible events that took place in Bali' In all democratic nations, every human being is considered innocent of any alleged crime, until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt by a court of law. For this reason, certain safeguards must be used for capital punishment cases.

TEXAS EXECUTES 300th PRISONER
Keith Clay was executed tonight, becoming the 300th prisoner in Texas to die by lethal injection since the rogue state resumed the death penalty 20 years ago.

AUSTRALIAN COALITION AGAINST DEATH PENALTY
" ... Our nation was built on a promise of life and liberty for all citizens. Guided by a deep respect for human dignity, our Founding Fathers worked to secure these rights for future generations, and today we continue to seek to fulfil their promise in our laws and our society.

Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty
Please note the following article carefully.....it shows clearly the hateful, uncaring and anti-human rights attitude as reflected by the Governor of Texas (and most other elected Texas officials).

Supreme Court Justice Blocks Execution
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens blocked Indiana from putting to death its oldest death row inmate Tuesday to give the 71-year-old prisoner, who is partially deaf and blind, extra time to file federal appeals.

Stephen Romei: Death knell sounds for US capital law
GEORGE RYAN, outgoing governor of the US state of Illinois a republican who leaves office today, has put US capital punishment on the road to oblivion by commuting the sentences of all 167 of the state's death row inmates. Three were re-sentenced to 40 years' jail and the remaining 164 got life without parole.

Amnesty urges Bush to shut death row
Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has urged US President George W. Bush to take a "moral stand" and abolish the death penalty after the Illinois Governor dramatically emptied that state's death row.

Second International Conference on Human Rights & Prison Reform

Seminar on Discrimination in the Criminal Justice Systems Throughout the World**

August 2th-7th, 2003 Centre Le Cenacle 17, Promenade Charles Martin Geneva, Switzerland Tel: +41-22 707 08 30 Fax: +41-22 840 30 40 email info@cenacle.ch Le Cenacle

Saturday, August 2th

6:30 PM -10 PM Self-introductions, preparation for the next day and social.

Sunday, August 3rd

8 AM - 6:30 PM Indepth discussion of draft on prisoner discrimination based on the Universal Declaration On Human Rights and other major human rights documents (this segment and other segments will have breaks for coffee, lunch, etc. where appropriate).

Monday, August 4th

8 AM - 2 PM Break-up into two committees on prisoner discrimination (1) within prison systems (2) within the "free world".

2:30 PM - 5 PM Observing the meeting of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

Tuesday, August 5th

8 AM - 2 PM Reports of the committees on prisoner discrimination.

2:30 - 5 PM Observing the meeting of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

6:30 PM - 10 PM Finalization of our Report on Prisoner Discrimination.

Wednesday, August 6th

9 AM- Noon Observing the meeting of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

Noon - 2 PM Luncheon for members of the Sub-Commission on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. Deliverance and brief presentation of our Report on Prisoner Discrimination.

2 PM - 5 PM Continued Observing Sub-Commission on Promotion & Protection of Human Rights.

6:30 PM - 10 PM Discussion of how the day went and where we go from here.

Thursday, August 7th

Individual goodbyes during breakfast.

* Over 200 people participated in this first gathering that was in October, 2001, in New York City which was three weeks after 9/11. Although 40 countries had indicated interest, many could not receive visas to come.

Most of the 24 countries that were represented prepared and delivered report cards to their UN Ambassador on the status of human rights in the prisons of their country. These report cards as well as the Proceedings of this Conference will be studied at this second conference.

**This second gathering will be much smaller and more in depth in participation. A report on the human rights violation of discrimination in regard to prisoners will be produced. This report will be given to the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights which will be having its annual meeting near our conference and is the"think tank" for the human rights agenda of the United Nations.

NO FEE TO PARTICIPATE BUT ON YOUR OWN FOR ALL EXPENSES AND ARRANGEMENTS

Housing

For the time being, The Cenacle has 7 twin bedded rooms and 6 single rooms available from the 2nd to the 7th of August. the price of the rooms is in Swiss francs : 64.00 per SGL and CHF: 96.00 per DBL, with breakfast and services included. To reserve and pay, contact William Celestrin at info@cenacle.ch

Please Fill Out This Form If You Are Coming and email it to cure@curenational.org or fax to (413) 845-9787.

Name_____________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City_______________________________________________ Country ___________________________________________ Telephone _________________________________________ Email Address ______________________________________

Posted 20 May 03

Related:

Justice Action's complaints about ACM to the NSW Ombudsman fell on deaf ears The Federal Government is reviewing allegations that the company it pays to run Australia's detention centres the same company who runs Junee Jail in NSW has fraudulently reduced staffing levels in at least one centre to increase its profits.

PAROLE BOARD REWARDED? FOR DEADLY MISTAKE
The Justice Minister has released government reforms to the Parole Board following the death of an aboriginal inmate, which was due to a Parole Board error.

Letter from the mother of a prisoner on remand at the High Risk Management Unit Goulburn Correctional Centre I am writing to give you permission to make any inquiries on my behalf as I am invalid pensioner who doesn't drive and been only well enough to travel by train once in 15 months to see my son Scott Simpson. I have enclosed a copy of Scott's letter and also a copy of gaol papers form I have to fill out and wait to see if I'm allowed in to see him. He doesn't get any visits. He is in the Supermax and deprived of any privileges not even legal Aid will fund a solicitor to see him in Goulburn.

Carr's Castle the real story H.R.M.U.The High Risk Management Unit Goulburn Correctional Centre The Australian Institute of Criminology's Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia - 1996 just don't cover the Goulburn HRMU according to Mr Ron Woodham Commissioner of Corrective Services. The High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) is the centrepiece of a major $22M redevelopment of Goulburn Correctional Centre.

Australia: Private Prisons, Junee NSW
When I got to Junee I was given nothing except bed linen. That's it! No clothing. I had to put my name down for clothing, which they said I could get on Saturday. When I went down to get my clothing on Saturday I was told they had nothing but I was told that I could buy what I wanted on their monthly buy-up. In the mean time I got rashes between my legs from the dirty clothes I had on.

ARUNTA PHONE SYSTEM: IDC Lithgow Prison
The prisoners of Lithgow Correctional Centre have requested that the Lithgow Inmate Development Committee write to you on their behalf and ask that the phone systems heavy burden upon the prisoners at this institution and their families be reviewed. I will outline the problems.

Health problems denied in prison
Lithgow Correctional Centre (IDC) Inmate Development Committee "Currently there are 72 inmates on the doctors waiting list with only one doctor coming fortnightly and usually on a weekend".

NSW Prisons Inmate Development Committee speaks out
I am writing on behalf of the IDC Inmate Development Committee in area 3, MSPC at Long Bay. Area 3 is where, the Department is congregating minimum-security offenders within maximum-security walls whilst awaiting mandatory programs at Cubit (Sex Offenders Program).

THE GULAG TREATMENT - The Trauma Of Court Appearances When Incarcerated Prisoner transport vehicle 10th January 2003 It's about 4.40am, very darkoutside and although I'm expecting it, it is still intrusive when my dreams are interrupted by the sound of my name, it is the officer checking that I'm awake ready to face the long day ahead.

Sir David Longland Correctional Centre
If it were possible to characterize the term B Block attitude in a modern dictionary, it would read something like "demeanor of inhabitance" or "state of mind or behaviour of occupants".

SIR DAVID LONGLAND CORRECTIONAL CENTRE QLD - CELLS IN B BLOCK The cells in B Block are like no other in any Queensland prison. After Mr. Cooper was severally embarrassed by the Abbott and Co escape on 4th November 1997, he visited B Block and the surrounding grounds. It was that visit, by Cooper, that set in motion a plan (up the ante) to make sure security in B Block would never embarrass him again. It was like closing the gate after the horse has bolted.

The Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 Qld
The Criminal Law (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act 1986 (Qld), requires that any person who has committed an offence which is less than 10 years old or which resulted in a prison sentence of more than 30 months, must disclose that offence if requested eg. for employment purposes. If a criminal record is disclosed in a job application, it is unlikely that person will be given the job.

Judged Forever- The Orange County Register
US: California's largest job-placement program for parolees will be shut down May 31 after an Orange County Register investigation found that ex-convicts were sent to questionable jobs [?] and that the state was charged for placements that did not occur. [? According to the ruling-class]

My Sarah was smart and talented - Why did she die in jail?
LONDON: Sarah Campbell was just 18 when she killed herself [? committed suicide,] one of seven women to die in jail this year. Our correspondent asks why so many women kill themselves in prison [? commit suicide in prison.]