Turkish Forum

Tag: Amnesty International

  • Security forces ‘running rampant’ in northern Iraq

    Security forces ‘running rampant’ in northern Iraq

    Tuesday, 14 Apr 2009

    Hundreds of people still detained without trial and beatings commonplace in Iraq's Kurdistan, Amnesty International says
    Hundreds of people still detained without trial and beatings commonplace in Iraq's Kurdistan, Amnesty International says

    Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdistan region may have escaped the bloodshed that has blighted the rest of the country in recent years, but observers have warned of the desperate human rights situation.

    Security forces that report directly to the region’s president and not the ministry are operating “beyond the rule of law” as detentions without trial and disappearances remain rife, a report out today claims.

    Amnesty International, which conducted the report, said hundreds remain in long-term detention without trial, while electric shocks, beatings with wooden poles and beatings on the soles of the feet are routinely dished out as punishment for detainees.

    “The Kurdistan region has been spared the bloodletting and violence that continues to wrack the rest of Iraq and the Kurdistan regional government has made some important human rights advances,” said Malcolm Smart, director of the human rights group’s Middle East and North Africa programme

    “Yet real problems – arbitrary detention and torture, attacks on journalists and freedom of expression, and violence against women – remain, and urgently need to be addressed by the government.”

    One case highlighted by the report is Walid Yunis Ahmad, a married father of three in his early 40s who worked at a radio and TV station linked to the Islamic Movement in Kurdistan. Originally detained in February 2000 by plain-clothed men believed to be from the Asayish security organisation, as of February this year he was still being held (reportedly in solitary confinement and in poor health) without charge or trial at the group’s headquarters in Erbil.

    It took Mr Ahmad’s family three years to even discover that he was detained – after the Red Cross informed them of his detention, Amnesty International said.

    Source:  www.inthenews.co.uk, 14 Apr 2009

  • Armenian women ‘victims of abuse’

    Armenian women ‘victims of abuse’

    Greta Baghdasaryan is calling for laws protecting women

    Armenia is failing to tackle “pervasive” violence and domestic abuse against women, according to a report by rights group Amnesty International.

    The group says studies estimate that “over quarter of Armenian women have been hit or beaten by a family member”.

    It also warns that, according to some data, about two thirds of women may have experienced psychological abuse.

    The BBC has contacted the Armenian foreign ministry but has not received a response to the report.

    Amnesty calls on the Armenian authorities to provide support for women leaving violent relationships, and to draft new legislation to combat domestic violence.

    Stigma of rape

    “Women in Armenia suffer disproportionately from violence and abuse at home and at work, but this is seldom understood as a violation of their basic human rights,” says Kate Allen, director of Amnesty International UK.

    “The preservation of the family unit comes at the expense of women’s rights, their safety and even their lives,” says Ms Allen.

    Greta Baghdasaryan, an Armenian woman who suffered domestic violence describes how she felt “afraid of the consequences of complaining”.

    “My neighbours saw my bruises but who will listen to them now? It never occurred to me that I could turn to the police,” Greta said.

    Amnesty says its report, Countering violence in the family in Armenia, looks at case studies and the background to social attitudes among Armenians.

    It is based on testimonies from the databases of Armenian women’s organisations, reports in the Armenian media, and interviews with some women.

    It cites the stigma of rape victims and the reluctance of police to investigate domestic violence cases as hurdles.

    Amnesty calls for “a real sea-change in attitudes” across Armenia, from initial protection for abused women with shelter, to the criminalisation of domestic violence.

    Source: news.bbc.co.uk, 13 November 2008