Web pages about "Economic, Social and Cultural Rights"

Zimbabwe's health system in chaos

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:11:52 +0000

As political parties in Zimbabwe argue between themselves about the form the new government should take, Zimbabwe's health system is on the verge of total collapse.

An outbreak of cholera is affecting nine out of Zimbabwe's ten provinces and major hospitals are failing to provide medical care to those in need.

The main referral hospitals in the country, including Harare Central, Parirenyatwa and United Bulawayo hospitals, are barely functioning and some wards have even been closed.

Two government maternity hospitals in greater Harare have been closed. Many district hospitals and municipal clinics are either closed or operating at minimum capacity. The University of Zimbabwe Medical School closed indefinitely on 17 November.

The system is paralysed by shortages of drugs and medical supplies, a dilapidated infrastructure, equipment failures and a brain drain. As a result, ordinary Zimbabweans are unable to access basic health care.

Around 3,000 women per month give birth in public hospitals in Harare. Between 250 and 300 of them require lifesaving caesarean sections.

Maternity services at Harare and Parirenyatwa Hospitals have been withdrawn, resulting in many poor women being denied emergency caesarean sections. Most private hospitals now charge for their services in US dollars, making them inaccessible to the majority of the population.

The cholera outbreak in the country remains the cause of hundreds of preventable deaths.

The state-owned Herald newspaper has reported that in Beitbridge, a district in Matabeleland South province, 45 people have died as a result of the cholera outbreak in the last seven days.
Failure to contain and manage the outbreak is the result of inadequate supply of safe drinking water and broken down sanitation systems that often leave residents surrounded by flowing raw sewage.

Heavily armed riot police are reported to have prevented a group of health workers from presenting a petition to the Minister of Health and Child Welfare on 18 November. The health workers were calling for the government to take urgent action to restore accessible and affordable healthcare.

Instead, they were forced to hold their protest within the grounds of Parirenyatwa Hospital. After four hours, police entered the hospital grounds and forcibly dispersed them, assaulting several health workers in the process.

"Amnesty International is concerned that Zimbabwean politicians continue to play political games while the country is collapsing. It is tragic that dozens of Zimbabweans are dying daily from preventable illnesses while politicians concentrate more on their plight than ending the suffering of ordinary people," said Erwin van der Borght, Director of Amnesty International's Africa Programme.

Bolivia's constitution – civil conflict and social progress

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:56:19 +0000

A new constitution will go to the people of Bolivia on 25 January 2009. If passed, the constitution will represent the most significant advancement of economic, social and cultural rights the country has seen in many decades.

In the past few years, Bolivia has seen uprising after uprising amongst the country's poor and excluded – particularly in 2000 when people opposed the privatisation of water and in 2003 against the export of the country's gas. Roadblocks and mass mobilizations, often erupting into violence as the Bolivian army clashed with demonstrators, forced changes in the country’s leadership as well as its government’s plans.

Then, in 2005, Evo Morales was elected president. Bolivia 's indigenous population has only had the vote since 1952 and the election of Morales – of Aymara descent himself - changed the balance of power in the country.

Evo Morales was elected President as the leader of the Movement towards Socialism (Movimiento al Socialismo, MAS), which had been involved in the recent protests. He also became the first indigenous person to become head of the Bolivian state in over four centuries, since the Spanish conquest, despite the indigenous population representing the majority of the population.

Morales' election raised the hopes and aspirations of many of the same poor and excluded people who had blockaded the roads around La Paz over the years.

The draft constitution includes the right to water; food security; health; education; housing; basic services; a just wage; and the right to strike and form a union. It is innovative in several key areas, notably in its recognition of Bolivia 's indigenous population, the 'plurinational' nature of the state, the assertion of collective rights, a stronger role for the state in economic policies and prioritization of collective interest over private interests.

If approved, the proposed constitution would prohibit the privatisation of water or the inclusion of water in trade agreements. It would also ban private, for-profit control of basic services, energy companies and social security.

In September this year, conflict erupted on the streets in response to the government’s plans. Opposition groups’ reactions demonstrated the entrenched racism and discrimination in Bolivian society. Morales' election and his government represent the empowerment of the traditionally marginalised sectors of Bolivian society. This has triggered hostile opposition from powerful landowning families and the business elite, who are fearful of losing long-held privileges.

In September, civilians linked to some regional authorities opposed to President Morales blocked roads, and forcibly seized airports and local branches of state offices. They also attacked media outlets and offices of several NGOs working with indigenous and peasant communities.

On 9 September 2008, in the eastern city of Santa Cruz, university students and members of the oppositionist Union of Santa Cruz Youth (Unión Juvenil Cruceñista) seized and looted local branches of government offices including the local land reform office as well as two media outlets. Over three days , three NGOs promoting the rights of indigenous and peasant communities were also attacked. Their offices were broken into, with equipment and furniture destroyed and documentation burnt.

One of the NGOs, Centre of Legal Studies and Social Investigation (Centro de Estudios Jurídicos e Investigación Social, CEJIS) works to secure the land rights of indigenous and peasant farmers.
CEJIS director, Leonardo Tamburini, said of the attack: "They came in three four-wheel drive vehicles, around 50 people, young thugs, some of them drunk. They rammed the front door with a vehicle. They came in, looted all the documentation they could find and set fire to it. They broke all the glass in the office, destroyed desks, cabinets and stole books - almost a third of our library which consists of thousands of volumes. They took them all out into the street and set fire to them. Piles of documents telling the history of CEJIS, the history of its support to the land entitlement process, its support to the Constituent Assembly. The 30 years of CEJIS history was all looted and burnt.”

These attacks are the latest in the escalation of violence that has been seen in Bolivia over recent years. At least 18 people – mainly indigenous and peasant farmers, as well as three students - were killed on 11 September when a group of indigenous and peasant farmers were ambushed in the northern department of Pando. According to eyewitnesses, attackers arrived in official vehicles belonging to opposition authorities.

The National Ombudsman's office, which carried out an initial investigation into the incident, stated that the deaths were the result of a planned massacre.

The Bolivian government has consistently called for dialogue. However, it was only after the recent escalation of violence and after the outrage it engendered from those inside and outside of Bolivia (including the newly created Union of South American Nations – UNASUR, and the EU) that formal negotiations between the pro-autonomy opposition and the government managed to reach an agreement on the constitutional text.

The main issues under discussion included revenues from the taxation of oil and gas, departmental autonomy, landownership and the designation of authorities in the National Congress. A final decision was reached by Congress on 21 October after over a month of dialogue. It was decided that the new proposed constitution would go to referendum on 25 January 2009.

Security forces in Cambodia forcibly evict 300 families

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:52:48 +0000

Security forces in Kampot Province, southern Cambodia this week forcibly evicted around 300 families and burnt their homes to the ground.

Around 100 soldiers, police, military police and Forestry Administration officials took part in the forced eviction in Anlong Krom village in the Chhuk District.

The largest group present belonged to Brigade 31 of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. It has been reported that they were carrying firearms including AK47s and handguns.

Around 130 houses, mostly thatched huts built with straw and leaves, were burnt down on 17 November, leaving homeless families spending the night in the open. Many slept on the ashes of their homes. The security forces burnt down the remaining 170 houses the following day.

“The immediate priority is for authorities to provide emergency relief, including adequate shelter, food, clean water and medical assistance to the homeless families from Anlong Krom village. Then the government needs to ensure they have access to adequate alternative accommodation and compensation, and conduct a full inquiry into how they lost their homes,” said Brittis Edman, Amnesty International's Cambodia researcher.

Amnesty International has learnt that members of the mixed force beat and kicked many of the villagers. Three people had to be taken to hospital for their injuries.

At no time during the two days were villagers or human rights monitors shown any documentation providing for the legal basis for the eviction.

"There was no prior notice, no eviction order, no court decision. This eviction speaks volumes about the state of rule of law in Cambodia," said Brittis Edman.

According to human rights monitors, the local authorities claim that the village is an illegal settlement; poor farmers have settled on the land there, which they thought was vacant. Some families have told human rights workers they moved onto the land up to six years ago, while others have settled there more recently. Many of the settlers are believed to have been landless and the community in Anlong Krom was living in poverty.

At least 3,100 families, or approximately 15,000 people, have been affected by forced evictions in Cambodia so far this year. Some 150,000 Cambodians are known to be living at risk of forced eviction in the wake of land disputes, land grabbing, agro-industrial and urban redevelopment projects.

The Cambodian government has an obligation under international law to protect the population against forced evictions. Whether they are owners, renters or illegal settlers, everyone should possess a degree of security of tenure which guarantees legal protection against forced eviction, harassment and other threats. The prohibition on forced evictions does not, however, apply to evictions carried out by force in accordance with the law and in conformity with international human rights law.

Amnesty International is urging the Cambodian authorities to end all forced evictions and declare and introduce a moratorium for all mass evictions until legislative and policy measures are in place to ensure that evictions are conducted only in full compliance with international human rights laws and standards.

UN adopts key economic, social and cultural rights instrument

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:43:42 +0000

The international community has taken a step towards strengthening human rights protection, particularly for the world's most marginalised people, with the adoption of a key United Nations instrument.

Amnesty International has welcomed the adoption by consensus of the 'Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights' by the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

The Optional Protocol will enable those who suffer violations to their rights to education, adequate housing and health and other economic, social and cultural rights to access justice at the international level, where it is denied in their countries.

Fifty-two member states from all regions have so far co-sponsored the resolution, adopting the Optional Protocol. Amnesty International has continued to call on states which have not yet co-sponsored the resolution to do so before its final adoption by the General Assembly in plenary session on 10 December

The adoption of the Optional Protocol will be a fitting way to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 15 th anniversary of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights.

The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis. Broad-based global support for the Optional Protocol at the General Assembly will be an unequivocal step to give effect to the agreement of all states in Vienna that all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated.

After the adoption by the General Assembly plenary, the Optional Protocol will then be opened for ratification.

United Nations: Breakthrough in access to justice for all rights

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:16:15 +0000

Amnesty International welcomed today’s adoption of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, by the UN General Assembly's Third Committee in New York.

“Many of those who have suffered violations of their rights, including rights to adequate housing, food, water and sanitation, health, education and decent work, are denied the ability and power to hold those responsible to account," said Amnesty International.

"This path-breaking instrument will give those people who couldn't access justice in their own countries, the chance to have their complaints assessed by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights."

The Optional Protocol introduced by Portugal and adopted today by consensus was co-sponsored by 52 states from all regions of the world. It will next be presented for final adoption by the General Assembly in plenary session on 10 December, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

"That historic moment will help rectify the imbalance between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which has particularly denied marginalized groups and those living in poverty the ability to demand an effective remedy when their rights are violated,” said Amnesty International.

"The Optional Protocol is an important tool for implementing the declaration made 15 years ago at the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights that 'all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated'. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis."

Watch a two minute animation film about the Optional Protocol

For more information, see http://www.amnesty.org/en/economic-social-and-cultural-rights

Israeli army relaxes restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:52:42 +0000

The Israeli army allowed a limited number of trucks carrying humanitarian assistance into Gaza for the first time in two weeks on Monday. However, the long-term nature of the blockade and restrictions on the flow of goods into Gaza has led to a situation where reserves have long been depleted.

"What is necessary, at a minimum, is for Israel to allow regular and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and other basic necessities into Gaza," said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International researcher on Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

"The trickle of humanitarian and medical supplies which Israel allows into Gaza is not even enough to meet basic daily needs and certainly not enough to build reserves; so when the inflow is suspended even for a few days this immediately causes a crisis as there is no back up."

"It will last a matter of days. But then what?" Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said of the new supplies.

The Israeli army has not, however, relaxed the restrictions on the European Union-donated industrial fuel needed to power Gaza's power plant, meaning that a blackout continues in large parts of Gaza City.

Since the Israeli strikes that killed six Palestinian militants on 4 November, 10 others have been killed in Israeli air strikes and other attacks. These have prompting a daily barrage of Palestinian rockets into nearby Israeli towns and villages. Two Israeli civilians were lightly wounded, but, for the most part, these rockets fell in empty areas causing no casualties or damage.

Amnesty International has reiterated its call for an end to the dangerous spate of attacks and counter-attacks must be swiftly halted.

"Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups must immediately cease attacks and actions which put the lives of the civilian populations of Gaza and southern Israel at risk,” said Donatella Rovera. "The five-and-a-half-month ceasefire had brought some respite to civilians; both sides need to understand the consequences of their actions."

Israel/Occupied Palestinian Territories: Israeli blockade causes worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:27:47 +0000

Amnesty International urges the Israeli authorities to allow the immediate passage of humanitarian aid, medical supplies and fuel to the Gaza Strip, where the situation is nothing short of a disaster.

“Israel’s latest tightening of its blockade has made an already dire humanitarian situation markedly worse. This is nothing short of collective punishment on Gaza’s civilian population and it must stop immediately,” said Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

Even the trickle of humanitarian aid previously allowed into Gaza, on which 80 per cent of the population depends, has now been stopped for nine days by the Israeli army. The delivery of medical supplies and the industrial fuel donated by the European Union and needed to power Gaza’s power plant has also been blocked. This has led to a blackout in large parts of Gaza.

Abu Khalil, a resident of Gaza City, told Amnesty International this week: “Today I went to look for bread in several bakeries but couldn’t find any. There is no electricity, it’s pitch dark. A few months ago we bought an electric cooker because cooking gas is difficult to find and very expensive, but now without electricity we can’t even cook. We are sitting at home in the dark; the children don’t know what to do with themselves. We can’t do anything. Until when can we live like this?”

Other residents of Gaza told Amnesty International that they could not even find candles in the market any more and that the few people who have back generators in their homes and who still have fuel do not dare to use them because nobody knows until how long the blackout will last.

On Thursday the United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA), the main UN aid agency, which provides humanitarian assistance to close to one million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, announced that its supplies had run out. It had been warning for several days that this would happen.

At the same time the Israeli authorities have been denying international journalists access to Gaza for a week. On Thursday a convoy of European diplomats were likewise refused entry.

“Gaza is cut off from the outside world. Israel is seemingly not keen for the world to see the suffering that its blockade is causing to the one and a half million Palestinians who are virtually trapped there,” Philip Luther said.

The breakdown last week of a five-and-a-half-month ceasefire between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in Gaza has generated a renewed wave of violence. The killing of six Palestinian militants in Israeli air strikes and ground attacks on 4 November prompted a barrage of Palestinian rockets on nearby Israeli towns and villages. Five other Palestinian militants have been killed by Israeli forces and others injured in recent days. Palestinian rocket attacks have continued. No Israeli casualties had been reported until earlier today, when one Israeli was lightly wounded by shrapnel in an attack on the Israeli city of Sderot.

“This dangerous spate of attacks and counter-attacks must be swiftly halted. Both sides know from past experience that their actions are putting the lives of civilian populations of Gaza and southern Israel at risk,” said Philip Luther.

Prior to the ceasefire of 19 June 2008, some 420 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces, half of them unarmed civilians, including some 80 children, since the beginning of the year. In the same period, Palestinian armed groups killed 24 Israelis, 15 of them civilians, including four children.

The five-and-a-half-month ceasefire brought a welcome respite for the civilian population in Gaza and southern Israel from the daily attacks which had blighted their lives for the past eight years, during which some 4,750 Palestinians and 1,100 Israelis were killed. Most of the victims on both sides have been unarmed civilians, including some 900 Palestinian children and 120 Israeli children.

Amnesty International assesses human rights in Chile

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:52:57 +0000

Concluding a one-week visit to Chile on Friday, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Irene Khan issued an assessment of the human rights situation in the country and a set of recommendations addressed to the Chilean government.

"Despite some positive steps taken by successive democratic governments in the last 18 years, Chile’s record on human rights leaves much room for improvement," said Ms. Khan.

"We call on President Bachelet to use the remaining 17 months of her time in office to create a decisive and lasting legacy of human rights reform."

Irene Khan and her delegation met survivors and relatives of victims of torture, killings and enforced disappearances committed during the Pinochet regime and with Indigenous Peoples in San Tiago, Temuco and Calama, and with local officials, government ministries and members of the Congress.

At a meeting with President Bachelet, Amnesty International presented her with a memorandum containing a series of recommendations to improve human rights in Chile.

The main recommendations presented in the Memorandum to the government are to:

Remove the obstacles to truth, justice and reparations for the victims and survivors of human rights abuses committed during the Pinochet regime
End the marginalization and discrimination of Indigenous Peoples
Ratify key international human rights treaties
Fulfil the obligation to develop a comprehensive national human rights plan and establish a national human rights institution according to international standards

"While President Bachelet assured us of her commitment, Congress remains ambivalent and in some cases has been a major stumbling block in the ratification of international treaties and adoption of legal changes to make human rights a reality for all Chileans," said Irene Khan.

"Major cultural and institutional changes are urgently needed if Chile is to make a clean break from its past and successfully tackle the human rights challenges of today. All political leaders and sectors of society share that responsibility and must show stronger will and commitment."

Justice and impunity
Despite some positive developments, there remains a large legacy of “unfinished business” on ending impunity and rendering truth, justice and reparations for past human crimes. Amnesty International is calling on Chile to nullify the 1978 Amnesty Law, to introduce legislation on human rights crimes without limitations, and to extend reparations to all victims of human rights violations, including those living outside the country.

"If Chile is to put to rest the ghosts of the past, the government must take – and Congress must support - concrete and immediate steps to remove the laws from the military era and change the institutional culture in some sectors of state institutions that are hampering the process of truth, justice and reparations," added Irene Khan.

"Impunity for human rights crimes is unfortunately not only a matter of the past but persists also today." Ms. Khan called on the government to reform the Military Code of Justice and to bring Chile in line with international standards by ensuring that all human rights violations are prosecuted in civilian courts.

Indigenous Peoples
Describing her visit to Temuco and Calama to meet the Mapuche, Atacameno and Diaguita peoples, Irene Khan said: "Indigenous peoples are severely discriminated and marginalized in Chile, and see themselves as the victims of an economic strategy that is destroying their lives and livelihoods."

Amnesty International has welcomed Chile’s ratification of Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization, and is calling on the government to ensure that legislation is adopted by Congress to implement the Convention and address the legal anomalies that are depriving the Indigenous Peoples of their human rights.

Amnesty International is calling on the prosecution authorities not to apply anti-terrorist law to acts related to the Indigenous Peoples’ struggle for land, and for the police to respect international standards in policing the communities.

Creating a lasting legacy for human rights
Amnesty International has welcomed Chile’s constructive engagement in the United Nations and in regional issues, and is calling on the government to ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court and the UN and International Conventions on Enforced Disappearances.

"Chile played a major in the drafting of these treaties and it is therefore hugely disappointing that their ratification is bogged down in Congress."

"If Chile is to retain its credibility as a major player on the international stage, it must close the gap between its constructive contribution internationally to human rights and its slow and inadequate implementation of human rights domestically."

UN discusses crucial step on economic, social and cultural rights

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:41:35 +0000

The UN General Assembly will this month discuss taking a crucial step to secure access to justice for everyone whose economic, social and cultural rights are violated and who is denied a remedy at the national level.

In the coming weeks, UN Member States convening in New York at the General Assembly session will consider the adoption of an international instrument – the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Optional Protocol). Once in force, this instrument will provide access to justice for victims of violations of economic, social and cultural rights who cannot get a remedy at the national level.

Amnesty International has said that, sixty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), in which the international community recognized that everyone, everywhere has civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights, this step is long-overdue.

"This is clear and concrete action to implement the declaration made fifteen years ago at the Vienna World Conference that 'all human rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent and interrelated. The international community must treat human rights globally in a fair and equal manner, on the same footing, and with the same emphasis,'" said Duncan Wilson, Amnesty International’s senior policy expert on economic, social and cultural rights.

"Amnesty International emphasizes the importance of using this historic moment to rectify the imbalance between civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights, which has particularly denied marginalized groups and those living in poverty the ability to demand an effective remedy when their rights are violated.

“Many of those who have suffered violations of their rights, including rights to adequate housing, food, water and sanitation, health, education and decent work, are denied the ability and power to hold those responsible to account," said Duncan Wilson.

Amnesty International has called on all members of the UN to celebrate 60th anniversary of the UDHR with the adoption of the Optional Protocol, in its current form, by the General Assembly on the 10th of December 2008.

The elaboration and adoption of the Optional Protocol is the culmination of five years of negations by an intergovernmental Working Group. The final agreed text is a compromise and has the support of an overwhelming number of UN Member States.

Amnesty International is a member of the International NGO (Non-governmental organization) Coalition for an Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Video: How things could change

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:16:08 +0000

Billions of women, men and children face levels of deprivation that undermine the right to live with dignity.

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How things could change if those who suffered violations of their Economic, Social and Cultural rights could get redress.