Last Meeting

Myanmar Campaign
The current Amnesty campaign focuses on Myanmar. This is running in June and July. Formerly Burma, the name of the country was changed in 1989 by the current military junta. Amnesty uses the name Myanmar as this is the name officially recognised by the United Nations but many groups continue to refer to Burma as a political point in opposition to the present regime. A civilian government was democratically elected in 1990 but was not allowed to take office. Human rights abuses such as ethnic cleansing, repression of freedom of expression and imprisonment of opposition figures continues. Amnesty believes as many as 1,850 political prisoners are held in detention centres around the country. Much of the budget of the nation is spent on weapons and comparatively little on health, education and other welfare programs. A positive development was the International committee of the Red Crossbeing allowed to visit prisoners from 1999. But Amnesty is still concerned with the treatment of those prisoners saying that torture and ill-treatment have become institutionalised within the military ruling culture.

ASEAN Meeting
In July 1997 Myanmar become a full member of ASEAN despite protests. The Association of SouthEast Asian Nations is meeting from the 23rd to the 26th of July. Amnesty encourages its members to write to the embassies of ASEAN members in Australia asking that human rights be included in ASEAN discussions and pointing out that human rights abuses will affect other member countries in issues such as increased refugee outflows. Members with embassies in Canberra include Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia, Philippines, Brunei and Singapore. If you wish for a list of addresses I can post/fax the list pronto! Call or email Meg (as above). Members are also encouraged to write to the Prime Minister of Australia and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and our local members to express concerns about the continuing abuses and to raise these issues in their contact with ASEAN nations.
So much of the last meeting was spent writing letters on these issues!

Petitions
There are copies of a petition to the Myanmar Government asking for information on U Kaythara, a Buddhist Monk who was reportedly arrested in 1996 in violation of the basic right of freedom of speech and has not been heard of since. If you wish to get copies for circulation or signing please contact Meg.

Nagaland
In the news late last month was an item about massive protests in the Indian state of Manipur. This is actually related to Nagaland as there are many Nagas living in that state (some parts are disputed territory between Nagas and Manipuris). The Manipuris were protesting the cease fire between the Indian Government and the Nagas which has been extended to include not only Nagaland itself but to apply to Nagas living outside in other states. The Manipurs are worried about losing land to the Nagas and there were violent protests in the capital. So the Naga situation is complicated, not only by tensions within the different independence groups and the Indian government itself but other minorities within India.
For more information about Nagaland check www.angelfire.com/mf/npmhr.

Visitor from Italy
For one meeting only we had an international guest Katy Bevilacova who showed up as she read about us on our Inner South Group website www.vicnet.net.au/~innersou while in Melbourne visiting family. She is a member in Italy and related the problems they have in keeping fresh and motivated and raising money. It is good to know these things happen everywhere! She also said they have difficulties encouraging their government to fulfil international obligations and sign treaties that require commitments to human rights.

Film Night
Dayo reports that the film night made $80. Thankyou to Dayo and Louise for organising it and to all who came and supported the group. Do you have any other ideas for fundraising? We would love to hear from you. If you have any films that you think would be good please let us know and lets see if we can get together again.

Last Meeting

Nagaland
We received news from the south Asian team that they were informed of the incident in Manipur (see February newsletter ) and have written to the authorities. They have heard nothing back from the government.
For more information about Nagaland check www.angelfire.com/mf/npmhr.

Teoh Bill
We discussed urgent action about this bill that was going before the senate for debate lastweek. This bill is a real blow to human rights in Australia, as it would prevent Australians from referring to international human rights standards – which Australia has signed– when complaining about violations of rights in Australian courts.
By ratifying any international treaty the Australian government is obliged to give it full effect in domestic law and practice. Those international human rights standards that have not been incorporated into Australian law could not be used in our courts. Clearly current Australian law does not currently protect all international human rights principles as the adverse findings of UN human rights treaty committees last year has shown.
Thanks to efforts by Amnesty members lobbying senate members of all parties the debate on this bill has been postponed till May but the protest effort must continue to prevent the passage of this bill. The ALP's proposed amendments are seen by Amnesty as not providing for adequate safeguards against the wholesale rejection of international human rights obligations. So only the total rejection of the bill will protect our rights. This bill reflects a worrying trend within government to ignore international human rights standards.
Also Australia unlike Canada, USA, New Zealand and the United Kingdom has no bill of rights. Amnesty recommends we ring, write or fax all senators from our state. A list of senators is available via email or snail- mail if you want a copy. I also have a copy of the amendments to the bill. For copies of any of this info please call Meg on 9543 1926 or 9905 2675 or email Meg.

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
The Australian government in August 2000 said, as part of a government downgrade of relations with UN human rights treaty bodies, Australia would not sign or ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of discrimination against women (CEDAW).
Australia has signed the convention which is an international treaty administered and enforced by the UN and is the only treaty that specifically relates to women's human rights. The optional protocol however is a very necessary and important addition to the treaty.
It enhances the ability of the UN to enforce the treaty.
It sets out a communications and inquiry procedure that will give individual women and groups the right to petition and make complaints to a special UN committee. The optional protocol does not confer any additional rights but is a mechanism for ensuring the rights existing in CEDAW which have been already signed. This is most important where there are gaps or weaknesses in Australia'sdomestic law or practice.
As an example of how the protocol would help a current situation, Fatima is an asylum seeker from Somalia. There she married a man from a different clan and now they are threatening to kill her. She fled the country, seeking asylum in Australia but was unsuccessful.
The refugee convention does not recognise gender as a specific ground for the grant of protection. The decision makers acknowledged that Somali women face severe discrimination in their country but the treatment fell short of persecution. If Australia was a signatory to the optional protocol she could lodge a complaint with the CEDAW committee who would consider whether Australia would be in breach of the convention by deporting her back to Somalia.
The Australian Government was instrumental in initiating the international process for the optional protocol negotiations in 1995. The decision not to sign the protocol makes the actual convention less effective and continues Australia's worrying trend of ignoring international human rights obligations.
There are petitions available to request the government to reconsider their decision. If you wish to get copies ring Meg or they will be distributed at the next meeting.
Please consider getting involved in this issue. It is not too late for the government to sign.

Ratification of the statute to the International Criminal Court
In October 2000 the foreign minister and the Attorney General jointly announced that Australia would introduce legislation to ratify the statute of the International Criminal Court. At the same time the Joint Committee on treaties initiated an inquiry into the IOC statute. This inquiry seems to have slowed down the process of ratification with concern among some politicians that Australia's sovereignty may be at risk.
Amnesty International strongly supports the creation of the court as a means of bringing those guilty of human rights violations to justice. The court is neutral and will have an independent judiciary. It is the successor to the ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
But unlike these they would not be retrospective and would be a standing court with a permanent deterrent effect. The ICC will only come into being once 60 countries ratify its statute. To date 29 countries have ratified the statute.
But is Australia's sovereignty at risk?
The underlying principle of the court, the principle of complementarity requires that national courts have priority. It is only when national courts are unable to handle a matter or are unwilling genuinely to do so, will the court have jurisdiction.
Again we are being asked to ring, write and generally hassle our local members to encourage the ratification of this statute and support the establishment of the International CriminalCourt.

Last Meeting

Nagaland
Sad news from the Indian state of Manipur. This state contains land traditionally seen as part of Naga territory and some Nagaland independence guerrilla groups are assumed active in the area.
We have received a report compiled by Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights, Manipur Baptist Convention Youth Department and other observers detailing the events of December 28th 2000. This is not an Amnesty report but we have sent a copy to the International Office for their attention.The tragic events compiled in this report are said to be typical of army / guerrilla tacticsin the area and Nagaland in general.
Firstly at 7AM on 28th December 2000 a patrol party of 15 Jat Regiment were attacked by suspected members of an armed resistance group. One soldier was killed and four injured. This occurred on the Tamenglong state highway, 200 metres from the Tabanglong Bus Stand.
Following this attack the army stopped all buses on the highway and forced all the passengers from one bus to disembark and beat up all the male passengers and detained them at the attack site. This bus was then used to transport the dead and injured with the women and children passengers on board used as human shields to protect the soldiers from further attack.
There was a village, Tabanglong, 3 kilometres away from the attack site. Two traders who had been waiting at the bus stop ran away to the village when they heard sounds of the attack. Personnel of the 15 Jat Regiment came into thevillage at 11AM. There were only 10 men and the 2 traders in the village at that time, all others away at work in the fields. The army forced the males to gather at the village volleyball court where they were beaten up and shot. Eight men were killed.
The other villagers had been taken to the church and detained by the army for the rest of the day. They did not know what had happened until a police team entered the village at dusk and asked about the identity of the dead bodies! Then six villagers were compelled to accompany the dead bodies of the 2 traders so they could be examined at the hospital. No incriminating documents, arms or ammunition were recovered from Tabanglong village by the army or the police.

It is suggested that this is a typical response when rebel forces that are well armed attack the army. The army does not wish to retaliate directly and suffer more casualties so they attack and make an example of a nearby village.
This pattern of reprisals is a common feature of the struggle for independence between the army and the armed resistance. Violence begets violence and the innocent are caught in the middle. Tragically the only unusual thing about this incident is that it was reported to us in this detail.
If you are interested in more information, a copy of the report is available from Megan.
Ring 9543-1926 or email Meg.
This violence will continue unless we can provide publicity, international attention and condemnation. If you are interested in more details about Nagaland and their struggle Megan has some basic information and there is a website.

Honour Killings
The group watched a video on honour killings in Jordan and the West Bank. Although they happen elsewhere in the Arab world these countries were the focus because of the attempt by courageous individuals to combat the attitudes that give rise to these killings.
The family sees their honour as being invested in the women as property. It is argued these are customs arising not from Islam that advocates respect for women but from Bedouin tradition.If the woman does something that means loss of reputation, even if it is only rumour and with no basis in fact the loss of respect of neighbours can only be purged by killing the woman.

In Jordan, where women are following further education and mixing more freely with the opposite sex and exposed to new ideas, the clash of culture can prove fatal. One incident involved a girl who didn't want to marry her cousin because she had fallen in love with another man at university. They ran away together but her family threatened to kill her.
She was an outcast but with no job or family network to support her the guilt and pain became too much. She begged to be allowed to marry her boyfriend and return to her family.
They promised to respect her wishes. Her own mother told her she would be safe. When she returned to her family they killed her. The murderers are sent to jail but for short periods of time because family honour is a defence in law in Jordan.

Another incident was concerning a brother who strangled the sister he "loved so much" because she had brought disgrace on the family by demanding her freedom to go out and see who she wished.

The clash between freer values and the closed, family-controlled traditional lifestyles is the background to these terrible events. But women are made to suffer for demanding basic rights that we often take for granted. The right to marry, fall in love or simply live alone are choices denied to many.

Last Meeting

Children and human rights
A new Amnesty report "Hidden Scandal, Secret Shame" is available from the Victorian Office at :
14 Risley Street Richmond.
Telephone 9427 7055.
It is also available on the web at the site international AI.
This report details violation of human rights of children and teenagers, sometimes in countries you would not expect. For example in the U.K. youths of 16 and 17 are in the armed forces and would be used in real combat. They could be sent to die for their country by leaders they cannot vote for yet.
In August 1997 a 17-year-old female recruit was raped by a drunken army inspector. This is not to single out the U.K. as Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Syria, Angola and others are also condemned for various abuses.
The Amnesty Report for 2000 is also available at the Victorian office. This gives a survey of the past year and the state of human rights around the globe.

Online Activism
As well as supporting cases mentioned in the Victorian newsletter you can also register online and receive new information, updates and the latest actions regarding new prisoners of conscience from around the world on www.stoptorture.org.

Candle day report
Our congratulations to all who helped with the event. The group raised over $700 (with some late donations!). The state total was approximately $20,000 which will go to help Amnesty's human rights work here and overseas.

Reactivating the Women's sub- group: focus on Pakistan
Currently women are being murdered and abused in the name of family honour. A rumour begins or a female in a household is accused of breaking the strict Muslim law and she must be punished to restore the honour of the family in the community.
Once a woman gets a bad reputation it is seen as infecting the whole group and she must be excluded, often even killed by other members of her own family. This is documented particularly in Pakistan where Islamic groups are demanding the institution of Islamic law as the law of the land.
We are hoping to re-activate the woman's subgroup and focus on these issues. If anyone is interested in becoming more involved or has information or knowledge in this area please contact Megan on 9543 1926 or email her.
Strict and cruel interpretation of Islamic law(sharia) is not restricted to Pakistan. In the news recently the case of 17 year old Bariya Magazu in Nigeria, raped by 3 men and consequently pregnant, who is to be publicly flogged for engaging in pre-marital sex. The sentence of 180 lashes was postponed until 40 days after the birth. The judge said there was insufficient evidence against the men despite 7 witnesses who supported Bariya's claim.
Amnesty has protested the sentence and called on Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo to save her. Other states of Nigeria have also protested the state of Zamfara's infliction of this punishment.
Sharia has been adapted in 8 Nigerian states. It is an overall moral code but includes legal rules and punishments including amputation, flogging and stoning to death.