Torture

Amnesty International today urged the Haitian authorities to bring former president Jean-Claude Duvalier – also known as 'Baby Doc' -- to justice for human rights abuses committed during his regime in the 1970’s and 80’s. “The widespread and systematic human rights violations committed in Haiti during Duvalier’s rule amount to crimes against humanity. Haiti is under the obligation to prosecute him and anyone else responsible for such crimes," said Javier Zuñiga, Special Advisor at Amnesty International.

Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti on 16 January after nearly 25 years in exile in France. He fled Haiti in 1986 after a popular uprising which was violently repressed by the former Haitian Armed Forces and a local militia known as the “tonton macoutes”.

Throughout his fifteen years in power (1971-1986) systematic torture and other ill-treatment were widespread across Haiti.

Amnesty International has welcomed the release of a former police officer detained without charge in Iraq for over two years because he was suspected of having links to armed groups. Qusay 'Abdel-Razaq Zabib was freed from a police station in Tikrit, in the north of Iraq on 30 December, more than a month after an order for his release had been issued.

Speaking to Amnesty International on Wednesday, Qusay 'Abdel-Razaq Zabib confirmed his release without charge and said that he had not been tortured or otherwise ill-treated while held at the police station in Tikrit in recent weeks.

"While Qusay 'Abdel-Razaq Zabib's release is welcome news, it is long overdue," said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty International’s director for the Middle East and North Africa.

"After more than two years in detention without facing any charge or trial, it was high time that he was freed and reunited with his family."

Amnesty International is calling on the Bangladeshi government to immediately investigate allegations that a MP for the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party has been tortured while in police custody. Bangladeshi security forces have tortured Salauddin Quader Chowdhury during interrogations, Amnesty International has learned. This has included applying electrodes to his genitals, beating him, slitting his stomach with razors and twisting his toenails and fingernails with pliers. There are fears that he may face further torture or other ill-treatment.

“The Bangladeshi government must ensure that Salauddin Quader Chowdhury is protected and treated properly and that these very serious allegations of torture are investigated,” said Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International’s Bangladesh researcher. “In particular, the authorities must ensure that he has access to the necessary specialist medical attention, including by independent doctors.”

Amnesty International renews its call on the Chinese authorities to release an ethnic Uighur prisoner of conscience jailed on separatism charges after his family reported that he is being tortured in a Xinjiang prison. Ablikim Abdiriyim, the son of prominent Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer, told relatives visiting him last week that he has been held in solitary confinement since 3 November after witnessing an incident that prison authorities wanted to keep quiet. His health has since deteriorated sharply.

The news comes exactly a year after 20 Uighur asylum-seekers were forcibly deported to China from Cambodia. China has not made public the whereabouts of the group, which included two children, since they were seized on 19 December 2009.

"The alleged torture of Ablikim Abdiriyim is the latest example of systematic human rights abuses suffered by China's Uighur population at the hands of the Chinese authorities," said Catherine Baber, Asia-Pacific deputy director at Amnesty International.

The Australian government’s newly announced policy of transferring prisoners detained in Afghanistan to Afghan and United States forces could violate international law, Amnesty International warned today. On 14 December 2010, Australian Minister of Defence, Stephen Smith, announced an agreement for managing detainees, with allegedly ‘high risk’ prisoners handed over to the US, ‘low risk’ prisoners handed to Afghan forces, and the remainder of those being held released.

“The handover of detainees to the US and Afghan forces raises real concerns about potential human rights abuses,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific director. “The US continues to hold prisoners without access to fair legal processes. And the Afghan National Directorate of Security, which runs some of the detention facilities, is all too often linked to disturbing accounts of torture and mistreatment.”