Afghanistan’s Supreme Court upholds 20-year prison sentence for blasphemy
Human Rights Watch publicou antonte unha nota de prensa sobre Afganistán, centrada na sentencia de 20 anos de prisión imposta a un xornalista por “blasfemia”. As autoridades de España e doutros países da ISAF (coalición liderada polos Estados Unidos) din que están alí para construír unha democracia… Copio a nota de prensa a continuación:
March 10, 2009
Afghan President Hamid Karzai should issue a pardon for Parwez Kambakhsh, a student and part-time journalist, whose 20-year prison sentence for blasphemy has been upheld by the Supreme Court, Human Rights Watch said today. The Supreme Court decision was the final stage in a highly politicized case that has repeatedly flouted Afghan and international law and highlighted the lack of professionalism among the Afghan judiciary.
The court upheld the sentence on February 11, 2009, without informing Kambakhsh or his lawyer, or allowing the lawyer to submit arguments in Kambakhsh’s defense. On March 7, the lawyer, Azfal Nooristani, discovered that the decision had been made.
“The Supreme Court represented the last hope that Parwez Kambakhsh would receive a fair hearing, but once again justice was denied,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Kambakhsh has committed no crime. Now it is up to President Karzai to act on principle and free him.”
Threats, prejudicial statements, and political interventions have marred the Kambakhsh case from the outset. “This case has been a conspiracy, it is about politics,” Nooristani told Human Rights Watch. “I had a legal right to see the Supreme Court judges, but they would not see me; they did not let me submit my defense statement. They had already made up their minds.”
Kambakhsh was detained in Balkh province on October 27, 2007, accused of writing and distributing an article that criticized the role of women in the Quran. Kambakhsh says he merely downloaded the article from the internet and sent it to friends. While in detention, Kambakhsh says, he was forced to sign a confession under duress.
On January 22, 2008, the Primary Court in Balkh sentenced him to death for blasphemy in a trial that lasted only a few minutes. No evidence was presented, and Kambakhsh was not given access to legal representation. It later emerged that the judges had accepted as evidence against Kambakhsh statements from fellow students and teachers that he asked “difficult questions” in class, a cell phone text message joke he had sent to a friend, and a history book found in his bedroom.
In October 2008, the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction against Kambakhsh and commuted his sentence to 20 years in prison. The proceedings of the appellate court also had grave legal flaws. The prime witness for the prosecution retracted his statement, telling the court that he had been forced to make it because he had been threatened by the security forces. This was the sole piece of evidence that linked Kambakhsh to the article, a fact that was ignored in the court’s written decision.
Human Rights Watch expressed concern for Kambakhsh’s safety. Kambakhsh has been informed that he will be transferred to Pul-i-Charki prison or to a prison in Balkh province, where in either case he believes he will be under threat from fellow prisoners. “The government says they will now move Kambakhsh to another prison, but there are Taliban and other Jihadis there,” said Nooristani, his lawyer. “He thinks he will be killed. He is an innocent man, but he did not receive justice in the courts.”
Human Rights Watch called upon the government of Afghanistan to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of Kambakhsh and to detain him in a prison where he will not be at risk.
Human Rights Watch said that the Kambakhsh case is emblematic of a general diminution of freedom of expression in Afghanistan. In February, the Payman Daily newspaper was forced to close after it was accused of apostasy by the Ulema Council (a council of clerics). The paper had published an article downloaded from the internet about the apocalyptic prophesies of a Bulgarian mystic and self-proclaimed clairvoyant known as Baba Vanga, who raised questions about the afterlife. Staff members received death threats and the news editor, Nazari Paryani, spent 10 days in detention. Charges appear to be pending against him.
Another journalist, Ghows Zalmai, is facing a 20-year jail sentence for blasphemy after publishing a translation of the Quran in Dari, one of the languages of Afghanistan. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing his case.
“The Karzai government is allowing blasphemy cases against the press to go forward to keep the support of religious conservatives,” said Adams. “Afghans were silenced by the Taliban, and do not want to be silenced again. The government must recommit itself defend freedom of expression.”
Concerto na Coruña para apoiar a Intermón Oxfam en Sudán
Copio unha información que recibín hoxe por e-mail:
O mércores 18 de Marzo, ás 20.30 horas, o presentador de “Luar”, Xosé Ramón Gayoso, dará a benvida no Teatro Colón a máis de 150 músicos de diferentes idades que actuarán a favor da poboación do sur de Sudán.
Trátase dos membros do Coro Infantil, a Orquestra e a Banda Sinfónica do Conservatorio Profesional de Música da Coruña, que pon a súa música a beneficio dos mais desfavorecidos. Mozos que se comprometen e achegan o seu gran de area para que, noutra parte do mundo, outras persoas poidan ter acceso a unha vida digna.
As entradas teñen un prezo de 6 € e están á venda en Intermón Oxfam e en www.caixagalicia.es
Contacto para medios de comunicación:
Intermón Oxfam: Marina Poloni
Teléfono: 606 87 88 63
e-mail: mpoloni@intermonoxfam.org
AI report on Afghanistan: civilians killed by international forces and impunity
Amnistía Internacional publicou a semana pasada un breve informe sobre Afganistán, centrado no alto número de civís que morreron recentemente en accións da ISAF, coalición liderada polos Estados Unidos, así como na impunidade dos responsables. Debemos recordar que o Goberno español forma parte da coalición, aportando actualmente máis de setecentos militares (o total aproximado da ISAF ronda os cincuenta e seis mil, e case a metade son estadounidenses).
O informe leva por título “Getting away with murder? The impunity of international forces in Afghanistan”. Copio un extracto da súa introducción:
Millions of Afghans face violence and insecurity worse than at any period since 2001, when the USA and its allies ousted the Taleban from power. The conflict between the Afghan government and its international supporters, on the one hand, and on the other hand a loose coalition of Taleban, anti-government groups like Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e Islami, and criminal militias, has now escalated to cover more than a third of Afghanistan, including areas just outside Kabul. In 2008, more than 2,000 Afghan civilians died as a direct result of the conflict, while tens of thousands have been displaced from their homes, and millions more suffer the indirect impact of insecurity in the form of significantly restricted access to education, health care, and even their farms and markets. It was the activity of anti-government groups that injured most civilians in 2008, as in past years. But some 40 per cent (795) of civilian casualties were due to operations by international and Afghan security forces— a 30 percent increase from the 559 reported in 2007. Most of these civilians killed and injured by international forces suffered as a result of airstrikes and raids of homes by international and Afghan forces.
Many Afghans, including President Hamid Karzai, increasingly complain about the number of civilian casualties caused by international military forces and the lack of public accountability and responsibility for these incidents. On several occasions, President Karzai has condemned “careless operations” by international military forces and as recently as 25 January 2009 criticized international forces for an incident in which, according to the President’s office, 16 civilians were killed. There is now a persistent perception among many Afghans that international forces in Afghanistan do not sufficiently consider the well-being of ordinary Afghans—a perception successfully reinforced by the propaganda effort of the Taleban and other anti-government forces.
While air strikes by international (predominantly US) forces have garnered much recent attention, night-time raids on houses have resulted in significant injuries to Afghans and their property and fomented tremendous fear and resentment among the local population.As explained in a December 2008 report by the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), “While night time house searches resulted in fewer deaths [than air strikes], night raids frequently involved abusive behaviour and violent breaking and entry at night, which stoke almost as much anger toward [pro government forces] as the more lethal airstrikes. In areas where night raids are prevalent, they were a significant cause of fear, intimidation, and resentment toward [pro-government forces].”
The international military forces’ lack of accountability and their ad hoc investigation and compensation programs have aggravated the situation. As the USA and its allies have started dispatching more troops to Afghanistan, a concerted effort is urgently needed to minimize further civilian casualties and develop a system for prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation leading to the prosecution of anyone suspected of having violated international or other applicable law, as well as for systematic reparation process for civilians who are killed or injured as a result of international military operations. [...]
MSF informa do seu traballo sobre a violencia sexual
A sección española de Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) publicou estes días unha nota de prensa para presenta-lo informe “Vidas destrozadas: La atención médica inmediata, vital para las víctimas de violencia sexual” (PDF de 0,98 MB). Copio un extracto deste informe, no que se fala do traballo de MSF en Burundi, Colombia, a República Democrática do Congo, Liberia e Sudáfrica:
[...] Las víctimas de violencia sexual se enfrentan a graves riesgos de salud. Sin embargo, con una atención médica adecuada y a tiempo, es posible reducir las consecuencias físicas y psicológicas.
Incluso tras la exposición al VIH, la infección puede detenerse por medio de la profilaxis post-exposición (post-exposure prophylaxis o PEP), un tratamiento de 28 días con antirretrovirales (ARV). Este tratamiento sólo resulta efectivo si se inicia dentro de las primeras 72 horas de haberse producido la agresión. Dentro de las 120 horas posteriores a una relación sexual forzada es posible evitar embarazos no deseados. Las infecciones de transmisión sexual (ITS) pueden evitarse y tratarse con antibióticos. Las infecciones por hepatitis B y tétanos pueden prevenirse y tratarse con una vacuna después de la violación.
El asesoramiento psicológico puede ayudar a los pacientes a restituir su capacidad de continuar con sus vidas tras sobrevivir a una violación. Recibir asesoramiento en estadios tempranos puede prevenir la ansiedad, el estrés postraumático y otros trastornos psicológicos.
En muchos países, sin embargo, no existen servicios sanitarios para víctimas de violaciones. Allí donde los hay, la falta de sensibilización, la estigmatización y la dificultad de acceso a los centros de salud son algunos de los obstáculos que impiden que las víctimas reciban la atención que necesitan. [...]
Botswana: 112 licencias mineiras concedidas en territorio bosquimano desde as expulsións
Copio unha noticia sobre os indíxenas de Botswana tal e como aparece na páxina española de Survival International:
112 licencias mineras concedidas en territorio bosquimano desde las expulsiones
3 Marzo 2009
Desde que en 2002 los bosquimanos fueron forzados a abandonar su tierra en la Reserva de Caza del Kalahari Central (RCKC), el Gobierno de Botsuana ha concedido 112 licencias a empresas mineras para explorar en la reserva. De ellas, 16 se asignaron para la exploración de uranio y 40 para carbón.
El Gobierno expulsó a más de 600 bosquimanos de la reserva hace poco más de seis años, aunque siempre negó cualquier conexión entre la actividad minera y dichas expulsiones.
Kitso Mokaila, el Ministro de Medio Ambiente, Vida Salvaje y Turismo de Botsuana, expresó su apoyo a la actividad minera en la reserva con estas palabras: “La política del Gobierno de Botsuana siempre ha sido la de abrir minas allí donde hay minerales. Botsuana se ha hecho gracias a la fuerza de la minería. Será algo muy bueno [minar en la reserva]”.
Los bosquimanos ganaron el derecho a regresar a su tierra en la reserva en un juicio histórico en el Tribunal Supremo de Botsuana, en el que los jueces reconocieron que las expulsiones habían sido “ilegales” e “inconstitucionales”. Pese a ello, el Gobierno del país está haciendo todo lo posible para evitar que los bosquimanos regresen a su hogar, prohibiéndoles el uso de un pozo para extraer agua dentro de la reserva e impidiéndoles cazar para conseguir alimentos. Mientras tanto, cualquier mina de la reserva tendrá que perforar múltiples pozos para poder operar, causando importantes trastornos a los bosquimanos y a la fauna y flora.
Survival International siempre ha mantenido que se expulsó a los bosquimanos para abrir la reserva a la actividad minera. Lideramos una exitosa campaña contra la diamantífera De Beers hasta que la empresa vendió por 34 millones de dólares su concesión minera en la RCKC a Gem Diamonds, que ha seguido adelante con los planes mineros en la comunidad bosquimana de Gope.
En la actualidad Survival desarrolla una campaña contra Gem Diamonds y también contra Graff Diamonds, que posee un 9% de las acciones de Gem. La organización ha escrito a Victoria Beckham, Elizabeth Hurley y Naomi Campbell, que aparecen en la página web de Graff, pidiéndoles que dejen de ponerse diamantes de esta firma hasta que los bosquimanos puedan regresar libremente a sus hogares, usar el agua de su tierra y cazar.
Fuentes internas a Survival han declarado: “No es una coincidencia que el Gobierno de Botsuana haya otorgado más de cien licencias para la exploración dentro de la Reserva de Caza del Kalahari Central desde que echó de allí a los bosquimanos, o que ahora esté haciendo todo lo posible para mantenerlos lejos de su tierra. Los bosquimanos tienen derecho a ser consultados con respecto a la actividad minera en la reserva según establece el Derecho Internacional, pero ¿cómo van a participar en debates significativos sobre el uso de su tierra mientras el Gobierno les impide vivir en ella?”
Versión en inglés: “112 mining licences granted on Bushman land since evictions”.
