Fw: USA Amnesty Int'l Report
Flower Child (nternet@c2i2.com)
Sun, 4 Oct 1998 14:59:04 -0700
The homeless are included in the treatment dished out by U.S.A. authorities.
Amnesty International releases new report:
-----Original Message-----
From: Oregonians for Personal Privacy <opp@efn.org>
To: gathering@cygnus.com <gathering@cygnus.com>
Date: Sunday, October 04, 1998 12:43 PM
Subject: USA Amnesty Int'l Report
>This was sent to me. Thought someone might be interested
>
>(london) Electronic Telegraph International News
>
> ISSUE 1227 Sunday 4 October 1998
>
> Amnesty puts US in the dock over human rights record
> By Christina Lamb in London and James Langton in New York
>
>< The death penalty - North America Project -- Amnesty International >
>==========================================
>
> THE United States government is planning a furious rebuttal to a
> stinging denunciation of its human rights record by Amnesty
> International.
>
> For the first time, the London-based human rights agency has made the
> US the target of its worldwide campaign, accusing it of double
> standards and creating a climate "in which human rights violations
> thrive".
>
> The 153-page report, which is released on Tuesday, attacks the US for
> what it calls "a persistent and widespread pattern of human rights
> violations". Although Amnesty has often criticised the US in the
>past,
> and carried out investigations into specific issues, it is the first
> time it has made it the focus of its campaign for the year. Previous
> subjects in recent years have included Rwanda, Haiti, Afghanistan and
> Guatemala.
>
> US federal and state authorities, police, immigration and prison
> officers are all criticised in the wide-ranging report that paints a
> picture of generalised gratuitous violence, sexual abuse and cruelty.
> Shocked at being singled out for such ferocious criticism, the State
> Department is planning to issue a detailed repudiation tomorrow. The
> Clinton administration in particular has always been a supporter of
> Amnesty International, and there was a clear sense of betrayal over
> the report.
>
> The authors of the report said: "While successive US governments have
> used international human rights standards as a yardstick by which to
> judge other countries they have not consistently applied those same
> standards at home. Across the USA people have been beaten, kicked,
> punched, choked and shot by police officers even when they posed no
> threat."
>
> Aside from famous cases such as the beating of Rodney King by Los
> Angeles police, numerous instances of police brutality are cited.
> "Police officers have beaten and shot unresisting suspects; they have
> misused batons, chemical sprays and electro-shock weapons; they have
> injured or killed people by placing them in dangerous restraint
> holds."
>
> It claims that authorities pay out millions of dollars in damages
> rather than actually tackle the problem or institute any form of
> accountability. The report accuses the US of refusing to recognise
>the
> primacy of international law, reserving the right to use death
>penalty
> against juveniles, not paying its dues to the UN, to which it now
>owes
> over a billion dollars, and being one of only two countries (along
> with Somalia) that has failed to ratify the UN Convention on the
> Rights of the Child.
>
> Conditions in American prisons come in for particular criticism. The
> number of people in US jails has tripled since 1980 to more than 1.7
> million, and chains and leg-irons are commonly used as restraints
> despite being prohibited by international law.
>
> The report says: "Women and men are subjected to sexual as well as
> physical abuse. Overcrowded and underfunded prisons control inmates
>by
> isolating them for long periods and by using methods of restraint
>that
> are cruel, degrading and sometimes life-threatening. Victims include
> pregnant women, the mentally ill and even children."
>
> According to the authors of the report, much of this abuse is linked
> to racism. They say: "The US has not succeeded in eradicating the
> discriminatory treatment of blacks, Latinos and other minority
> groups."
>
> They also point out that up to one third of all young black men are
>in
> jail or on parole or probation and that in 39 states, gays and
> lesbians can be legally dismissed from their jobs because of their
> sexual orientation. It contains graphic descriptions of asylum
>seekers
> held in shackles, placed behind bars and detained in "inhuman and
> degrading" conditions. It says: "The USA was built by immigrants and
> claims to stand against oppression. Yet the US authorities violate
>the
> human rights of people who have been forced by persecution to leave
> their countries and seek asylum."
>
> Amnesty has been involved in a long-standing battle with the US over
> its continued use of the death penalty. Executions are on the
> increase, more than 350 people put to death since 1990 and a further
> 3,300 people are on death row.
>
> According to Amnesty, the death penalty is "applied in an arbitrary
> and unfair manner and is prone to bias on grounds of race or economic
> status . . . it has become so highly politicised that virtually no
> politician is willing to speak out against it".
>
> It cites for example the case of Karla Faye Tucker who was executed
>in
> February despite her acknowledged reform while on death row when she
> admitted her guilt, became deeply religious and spoke of her desire
>to
> help others to learn from her experiences.
>
>** NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material
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>in receiving the included information for research and educational
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>