Web pages about "Armed Groups"

Routine killings of civilians in Somalia

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:44:30 +0100

The dire human rights and humanitarian crisis facing the people of Somalia has been revealed in a groundbreaking new Amnesty International report.

First-hand testimony from scores of traumatized survivors of the conflict is included in the report, which exposes the violations and abuses they have suffered at the hands of a complex mix of perpetrators.

These include Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) troops on the one hand, as well as armed groups on the other. For many civilians, there is nowhere to go to escape the violence.

“The people of Somalia are being killed, raped, tortured; looting is widespread and entire neighbourhoods are being destroyed,” said Michelle Kagari, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.

Witnesses told Amnesty International of an increasing incidence of what it locally termed as “slaughtering” or “killing like goats” by Ethiopian troops, referring to killing by slitting the throat. The victims of these killings are often left lying in pools of blood in the streets until armed fighters, including snipers, move out of the area and relatives can collect their bodies.

“The testimony we received strongly suggests that war crimes and possibly crimes against humanity have been committed by all parties to the conflict in Somalia – and no one is being held accountable,” said Michelle Kagari.

“The human rights and humanitarian situation in Somalia is growing worse by the day. This report represents the voices of ordinary Somalis, and their plea to the international community to take action to end the attacks against them, including those committed by internationally-supported TFG and Ethiopian forces.”

Security in many parts of Mogadishu is non-existent and the entire population of the city bears the scars of having witnessed or experienced egregious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

“There is no safety for civilians, wherever they run. Those fleeing violence in Mogadishu are attacked on the road and those lucky enough to reach a camp or settlement face further violence and dire conditions.”

The Transitional Federal Government, as the recognized government of Somalia, bears the primary responsibility for protecting the human rights of the Somali people. However, the Ethiopian military, which is taking a leading role in backing the TFG, also bears responsibility.

“Attacks on civilians by all parties must stop immediately. Also, the international community must bear its own responsibility for not putting consistent pressure on the TFG or the Ethiopian government to stop their armed forces from committing egregious human rights violations.”

Amnesty International has urged that the capacity of the UN Political Office for Somalia be strengthened, and that AMISOM – and any succeeding UN peacekeeping mission – be mandated to protect civilians and include a strong human rights component with the capacity to investigate human rights violations. The organization has also called for the UN arms embargo on Somalia to be strengthened.

Ethiopia must release mosque attack children

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:11:14 +0100

Ethiopian forces and forces of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) have been accused of targeting civilians in an attack on a Mogadishu mosque on Saturday. Twenty-one people were killed in the attack, which Amnesty International has said may constitute a war crime.

Eleven of the twenty-one dead were killed inside the mosque, including the Iman Sheik Saiid Yahya, Sheik Abdullah Mohamud and a number of Tabliq Islamic scholars. At least ten other individuals were killed in the area around the mosque. Their bodies were later brought to the mosque by local residents.

Seven of the twenty-one were reported to have died after their throats were cut, a form of extra-judicial execution practised by Ethiopian forces in Somalia.

The mosque was raided during extensive conflict in the north eastern area of Mogadishu, in which a number of Ethiopian soldiers were reported to have been killed. According to eye-witnesses, the eleven killed inside the mosque were unarmed civilians taking no active part in hostilities. A spokesperson for the Ethiopian government has denied the involvement of Ethiopian troops in these killings.

Amnesty International is also concerned that approximately 41 children, estimated to range from 9 to 18 years of age, were taken by the Ethiopian military from the Al Hidya mosque where they were attending religious classes. The children are reported to be detained at the Ethiopian military base close to the pasta factory in Mogadishu. Other younger children present were not arrested.

Witnesses have told Amnesty International that Ethiopian forces said these children would be released "once they had been investigated" and "if they were not terrorists".

The Ethiopian military and TFG forces have been fighting against armed groups opposed to them for two days. The Elman Human Rights Organisation has documented 81 deaths and more than one hundred injured in the fighting. It is not known how many of these were civilians.

The attack on the mosque followed increasing attacks by armed groups opposed to the TFG on towns in southern and central Somalia. Local residents of Beledweyne City have reported that members of the Al-Shabab militia killed four teachers in an attack on 13 April. An Al-Shabab leader has claimed that the teachers were shot in crossfire.

The targeting of civilians constitutes a war crime. Amnesty International has called for international action to end impunity for crimes such as these, which are being committed in many areas of Somalia. The organization has said that the Ethiopian Government and TFG must ensure an independent investigation into these killings.

"Any Ethiopian soldiers found to be responsible must be prosecuted in accordance with international fair trial standards without use of the death penalty," said Amnesty International.

The organization is also calling on the United Nations Security Council to take action to end impunity throughout Somalia, through the establishment of an international Commission of Inquiry or similar mechanism to investigate serious human rights abuses and violations being committed in armed conflict in the country.

Hundreds abducted in Central Africa

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:09:43 +0100

Central African leaders and the UN have been urged to secure the release of more than 350 men, women and children thought to have been abducted by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) in recent weeks.

The abductions took place in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Southern Sudan while the LRA was ostensibly preparing to sign a peace agreement with the Ugandan government. The treaty was meant to end more than 20 years of a civil war beset by war crimes, including abductions and widespread unlawful killings and mutilation of non-combatants.

"As in Uganda, these people – including scores of women and children – are likely to be used as child combatants and sex slaves, and yet none of the governments in the region have done anything to try to secure their release," said Amnesty International.

"The governments of Sudan, the CAR and the DRC – with the assistance of the UN – must join forces to secure the safety and release of those kidnapped immediately and bring those responsible to justice."

Women and girls kidnapped by the LRA in the past have been used as sex slaves, while boys and men have been forced into combat and forced to commit atrocities, as well as used as porters to carry looted property. The most recent abductions took place near Obo, a town on the south eastern corner of the CAR, bordering the DRC and Sudan.

The LRA appears to have moved their operations to southern CAR in a bid to avoid the arrest and transfer of their senior commanders to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. They are wanted on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Recent information suggests that the fighters have since crossed into the DRC, taking the abductees with them.

Several LRA leaders were charged by the International Criminal Court in 2005 with large scale abductions and other crimes against humanity and war crimes.

There are currently five security forces operating in the CAR – the CAR Army, EU forces (EUFOR), UN forces (MINURCAT), multinational Central African forces (FOMUC – Force Multinationale en Centrafrique) and French government forces.

Amnesty International has called on the UN and other forces operating in the area – including UNMIS in Southern Sudan, and MONUC in the DRC – to assist the regional governments to secure the release of those kidnapped.

The organization has also called on international peace-keeping and government forces in the region to cooperate to arrest and surrender any person subject to an ICC arrest warrant, including leaders of the LRA.

Call for investigation into killing of cameraman and other civilians

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:01:51 +0100

At least 18 Palestinians, including children and other unarmed civilians, were killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. More than 30 others were injured in attacks by Israeli planes and by ground forces using tanks in the Gaza Strip.

Those killed included Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana, who was struck by fire from an Israeli tank. He had travelled to the scene in a car clearly marked "TV-Press". He was killed as he started to film the tank.

Amnesty International has called on the Israeli government to immediately order a full and independent investigation into the killings of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip.

"Yesterday’s strikes, which the Israeli army launched after the killing of three soldiers in combat, appear to have been carried out with disregard for civilian life,” said Amnesty International. "There seems to be a culture of impunity within the Israeli forces which is contributing to routine use of reckless and disproportionate force."

Fadel Shana’s autopsy report and an investigation on the site of Fadel Shana’s death carried out by the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem showed that Fadel Shana had been killed by a flechette fired from a tank shell.

In 2003, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition calling for a ban on their use in the Gaza Strip. Amnesty International believes that flechette shells, which are filled with up to 5,000 five-centimetre-long steel darts or flechettes, each one potentially lethal, should never be used in populated areas.

"Fadel Shana appears to have been killed deliberately although he was a civilian taking no part in attacks on Israel’s forces," said Amnesty International.

"We condemn all attacks on civilians, including that by Islamic Jihad which killed two Israeli civilians at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal on 9 April. The continuing conflict between Israeli and Palestinian forces is having a disproportionate – and totally unacceptable – impact on civilians, in particular Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."

Amnesty International has repeatedly condemned and called for an end to rocket and other attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinian armed groups, and for those who commit such attacks to be brought to justice.

Since the beginning of this year, 312 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Most of them have been in the Gaza Strip. In the same period, 21 Israelis were killed by Palestinian armed groups.

Fighting intensifies in Basra

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:45:54 +0000

The US military launched air strikes in Basra on Friday for the first time since the Iraqi authorities began their crackdown on the Mahdi Army, followers of the Shi’a cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The intensification of fighting comes as aid agencies warn that the military offensive is stopping food and medical relief efforts and putting civilians at risk.

They said the situation in Basra and in al-Sadr City in Baghdad was "critical." UNICEF spokeswoman Veronique Taveau said that "the situation concerning drinking water is particularly critical. We estimate the population has enough for two days."

The International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC, said they were unable to reach hospitals in Basra with urgent medical supplies.

The Iraqi ground commander in Basra, Major-General Ali Zaidan, told the Reuters news agency that his forces had killed 120 "enemy" fighters and wounded around 450 since the campaign began.

However, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's forces have failed to drive the fighters off the streets of Basra. The authorities initiated a strict curfew in Baghdad, but that has failed to halt rocket attacks and clashes in the capital.

The Iraqi parliament called an emergency meeting to end the impasse, but only 54 members out of 275 managed to get inside the fortified "Green Zone" compound, which was bombarded by rockets as they gathered.

One missile hit the Green Zone office of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, killing a security guard. The US embassy ordered its staff in the zone to stay under cover when possible and wear body armour and helmets when in the open.

Prime Minister al-Maliki, who had given the Basra militants 72 hours to surrender, extended his deadline, giving them until April 8 to turn in their weapons for cash.

The government says it is fighting "outlaws", but followers of al-Sadr are reported to have accused political parties in the Shi'’a-led government of using military force to marginalise their rivals ahead of local elections due by October.

Amnesty International has warned that the continued fighting puts civilians at risk. On Wednesday, the organisation urged all parties to refrain from indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.

"The continued fighting is creating a deepening crisis for civilians,” said Malcolm Smart on Friday. "Communities that formerly lived in relative harmony are being further torn apart by the desperate conflict that continues to grip Iraq."

Iraq fighting puts civilians at risk

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:42:24 +0000

At least 12 people are reported to have been killed in fighting between Iraqi government forces and armed militia in Basra.

Fighting erupted between Iraqi forces and members of the Mahdi Army - followers of Shi'a Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr - on Tuesday. As fighting spread, curfews were imposed by the Iraqi authorities in Basra and other southern cities, including al-Nassirya, Kut, al-Hilla and Samawa. It is not known if civilians are among the dead.

Amnesty International has warned that the violence is creating a grave risk to civilians and urged all parties to refrain from indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.

"Civilians have borne the heaviest brunt during the past five years of conflict in Iraq," said Amnesty International. “This new upsurge of fighting is certain to add to that terrible toll."

The Mahdi Army declared a ceasefire at the end of August 2007 and announced at the end of February 2008 that the truce would be renewed for a further six months. It has been vying with other Shi’a militia groups for political control of Basra and has had frequent armed clashes with the Badr Organization, the armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The latest fighting appears to have broken out in response to an attempt by Iraqi security forces to clamp down on the armed militias.

Amnesty International has called on the Iraqi government to ensure that its security forces comply with Iraq’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law. In particular, the organization has called for the civilian population and civilian objects to be protected at all times.

Amnesty International has also called on armed groups in Basra and other cities to comply with the rules of international law and to respect civilian life.

Iraq: Protection of civilians is paramount

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 17:25:17 +0000

Heavy fighting between Iraqi government forces and armed militia in Basra and other Iraqi cities is creating a grave risk to civilians, Amnesty International said today, as it urged all parties to refrain from indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks and to respect civilian life.

"Civilians have borne the heaviest brunt during the past five years of conflict in Iraq," said Amnesty International. “This new upsurge of fighting is certain to add to that terrible toll."

Fighting erupted on Tuesday 25 March in Basra between Iraqi forces and members of the Mahdi Army, followers of Shi'a Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. According to press reports, at least 12 people were killed in the city. It is not known at this stage if civilians were among them. As fighting spread, curfews were imposed by the Iraqi authorities in Basra and other southern cities, including al-Nassirya, Kut, al-Hilla and Samawa.

The Mahdi Army declared a cease fire at the end of August 2007 and announced at the end of February 2008 that it was being renewed for a further six months. It has been vying with other Shi’a militia groups for political control of Basra and there have been frequent armed clashes between the Mahdi Army and the Badr Organization, armed wing of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The latest fighting appears to have broken out in response to an attempt by Iraqi security forces to clamp down on the armed militias.

Amnesty International is calling on the Iraqi government to ensure that its security forces comply with Iraq’s obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law, and in particular to ensure that the civilian population and civilian objects are protected at all time.

Amnesty International is also calling on armed groups in Basra and other cities to comply with the rules of international law and to respect civilian life.

Carnage and despair in Iraq

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 11:14:10 +0000

Five years after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the country is still in disarray. The human rights situation is disastrous, a climate of impunity has prevailed, the economy is in tatters and the refugee crisis continues to escalate.

A new Amnesty International report, Carnage and Despair: Iraq five years on, says that, despite the heavy presence of US and Iraqi security forces, Iraq is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, with hundreds of Iraqi civilians killed every month.

Armed groups, including those opposed to the Iraqi government and the US-led Multi-National Force (MNF), have been responsible for indiscriminate bombings, suicide attacks, kidnappings and torture.

Since early 2006, violence has intensified and become more sectarian, with Sunni and Shi’a armed groups targeting followers of opposite faiths and driving whole communities out of mixed neighbourhoods. This has contributed to the displacement of over four million people. Two million of these are now refugees in Syria and Jordan.

Civilians are also at risk from MNF and Iraqi security forces, with many killed by excessive force and tens of thousands detained without charge or trial. The death penalty was reintroduced in 2004 and hundreds of people have been sentenced to death. At least 33 people were executed in 2007, many after unfair trials.

With the rise of fundamentalist religious groups, conditions for women have also worsened. Many have been forced to wear Islamic dress or targeted for abduction, rape or killing. A survey conducted by the World Heath Organization (WHO) in 2006/2007 in Iraq found that 21.2 percent of Iraqi women had experienced physical violence.

The situation in Iraq has not been helped by the Iraqi government’s failure to investigate effectively the many incidents of human rights abuse - whether committed by security forces or militia groups – and to bring those responsible to justice.

Economic conditions also remain very poor, with most Iraqis suffering from lack of food, shelter, water, sanitation, education, healthcare and employment.

Oxfam reported in July 2007 that 70 percent of Iraqis lacked access to safe drinking water and 43 percent were living on the equivalent of less than a dollar per day. Eight million Iraqis are in need of emergency assistance, with children the worst hit. Child malnutrition rates have increased from 19 percent during the period from 1991-2003, when international sanctions were imposed on the country under Saddam Hussein, to 28 percent in 2007.

The predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq has been more stable with fewer acts of violence, and has seen growing economic prosperity and foreign investment. However, here too there continue to be serious human rights violations, including arrests for peaceful political dissent, torture, ill-treatment, the death penalty and the killing of women in so-called honour crimes.

The invasion of Iraq started on 19 March 2003, with US military strikes on Baghdad. US President George W Bush declared the war over that May and, on 8 June 2004, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1546, declaring that Iraq’s occupation would end on 30 June 2004.

The Resolution stated that the MNF would stay in Iraq until the end of 2005. Since then, the MNF’s presence has been extended on a yearly basis by the UN Security Council and the Iraqi government.

Executive power was transferred back to an Iraqi government in June 2004 but successive administrations have been unable to stop the violence and bring a durable peace. According to a January 2008 survey by the WHO and the Iraq's Health Ministry, 151,000 people were killed from March 2003 till June 2006. According to the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), some 34,452 people were killed during 2006, with thousands injured.

Iraq: Five years of carnage and despair

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:35:02 +0000

Five years after US-led forces toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq remains one of the most dangerous countries in the world for human rights, Amnesty International said today.

In a new report, Carnage and Despair, the organisation says attacks and sectarian killings by armed groups, torture and ill-treatment by Iraqi government forces and the continuing detention of thousands of suspects by US and Iraqi forces have had a devastating impact, causing more than four million Iraqis to be displaced from their homes. Many of the detainees are held without charge or trial, some for several years.

Millions of dollars have been spent on security but today two out of three Iraqis still have no access to safe drinking water and almost one in three of the population – some eight million people – need emergency aid to survive.

“Saddam Hussein’s administration was a byword for human rights abuse,” said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa, “but its replacement has brought no respite at all for the Iraqi people”.

Thousands of people have been killed or maimed, and communities that formerly lived in relative harmony have been propelled into open conflict. Civilians have born the heaviest brunt. For many women, now at risk from religious militants, conditions have actually deteriorated compared with the time of Saddam Hussein.

According to the report, even in the relatively peaceful Kurdish region of northern Iraq, economic improvement has not been accompanied by greater respect for human rights.

“Arbitrary arrests, detentions and torture continue to be reported even from the Kurdish provinces,” said Malcolm Smart, “and peaceful political dissent is scarcely tolerated. Political opponents have been detained without trial and so-called ‘honour crimes’, in which women are killed by members of their families, remain a deep-seated problem which the authorities criticise but have failed to address adequately”.

No-one knows exactly how many people have been killed in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003. According to the largest survey, carried out jointly by the World Health Organisation and the Iraqi government and published last January, more than 150,000 people had been killed by June 2006. The UN reported that almost 35,000 people were killed in 2006, the latest year for which figures are available.

The continuing problem of insecurity has hampered efforts to restore order, but even when the Iraqi authorities have been in a position to uphold human rights, they have largely failed to do so. Trials are routinely unfair with convictions on evidence allegedly obtained under torture, and hundreds of people have been sentenced to death.

“This is one of the most worrying aspects for the future,” said Malcolm Smart. “Even when faced with overwhelming evidence of torture under their watch, the Iraqi authorities have failed to hold the perpetrators to account – and the US and its allies have failed to demand that they do so.”

Children and civilian bystanders in Gaza death toll

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:06:57 +0000

Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip during the last few days have killed over 100 Palestinians, including dozens of children and other civilian bystanders. Three Israelis – a civilian killed by a rocket fired by a Palestinian armed group on 27 February and two soldiers – were also killed.

Many of the Palestinians killed were militants involved in attacks on Israel, but others were unarmed civilians taking no part in the hostilities, including some 25 children. The precise number of civilians killed is unclear and difficult to establish.

The Israeli chief of staff is reported to have claimed that 90 percent of those killed were militants, but the UN and other sources, including those in Gaza, suggest that as many as half of the dead were civilians. More than 250 other people, including scores of unarmed civilians, have been injured.

Israeli forces also destroyed houses and property across the Gaza Strip, including at least two medical facilities, before withdrawing on 3 March.

Amnesty International said on Sunday that the Israeli military air strikes and artillery attacks on the Gaza Strip were being carried out with reckless disregard for civilian life, and called on Israel to put an immediate end to such disproportionate and reckless attacks.

"Israel has a legal obligation to protect the civilian population of Gaza,” said Malcolm Smart, director of Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Programme. “These attacks are disproportionate and go beyond lawful measures which Israeli forces may take in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian armed groups."

This latest cycle of killings and destruction comes at a time when the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza are confronting a humanitarian crisis as a result of the increasingly stringent blockade imposed by Israel on Gaza.

Hospitals and medical facilities, already facing severe difficulties in coping with shortages of electricity, fuel, equipment and spare parts due to the Israeli blockade, are struggling to cope with the new influx of casualties caused by Israeli attacks in the last few days.

With Gaza's borders sealed, many patients in dire need of medical care that is not available in Gaza cannot be transferred to hospitals abroad and risk losing their lives.

In the past two months, Israeli forces have killed more than 230 Palestinians in Gaza, including scores of unarmed civilians, and wounded and maimed many others. During the same period, Palestinian armed groups have continued to fire qassam and other rockets indiscriminately at Israel from the Gaza Strip, mostly towards the town of Sderot but also, last week, the more distant town of Ashkelon.

One Israeli civilian has been killed and several injured by such rockets fired from Gaza into Sderot and other areas by Palestinian armed groups.

Amnesty International has again called on Hamas and the Palestinian Authority to ensure that Palestinian armed groups cease immediately from carrying out indiscriminate attacks against Israel, and for those responsible to be held to account.

"It is high time that the leaders of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) took effective steps to prevent and punish attacks on civilians in Israel," said Malcolm Smart, "but their failure to do so does not make it legitimate for the Israeli authorities to launch reckless air and artillery strikes which wreak such death and destruction among Palestinian civilians.

"At the same time, the Palestinian armed groups who launch frequent rocket attacks from Gaza into nearby Israeli towns not only show a callous disregard for the lives of Israeli civilians but also expose the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip to the danger of Israeli attacks."

Malcolm Smart said that Amnesty International condemned all attacks on civilians, but that "unlawful attacks by one side cannot justify violations by the other."