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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
NEWS FOR HEALTH PROFESSIONALS
AI Bulletin Vol. 8, No. 8, 22 April 2005
AI Index: ACT 84/008/2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------------This issue of the AI Bulletin is being distributed a day earlier than scheduled as we will be
moving office tomorrow. (It is an internal office move -- the street address, telephone numbers
and email addresses will not change.)
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available to subscribers.
Summary
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AI reports & statements
HIV/AIDS
Human rights
Prisoners
Right to health
Torture
Courses
Vacancies
Publications
Amnesty International reports & statements
See the following recent AI news releases [dates given in day/month/year format].
21/04/2005 Lebanon: Stop attacks on Syrian workers and bring perpetrators to justice MDE
18/004/2005
20/04/2005 A coalition of non-governmental organizations is calling for a death penalty-free
zone in Europe and Central Asia ACT 50/012/2005
20/04/2005 Colombia: Amnesty International condemns attacks against the population of
Toribío AMR 23/011/2005
20/04/2005 Guatemala: Government must demonstrate political will to improve human rights
AMR 34/018/2005
20/04/2005 Iran: AI calls for an end to the cycle of violence in Khuzestan and an investigation
into the root causes of recent unrest MDE 13/017/2005
20/04/2005 Nepal: Human rights abuses escalate under the state of emergency ASA
31/037/2005
20/04/2005 South Korea: Death penalty abolition -- historic opportunity ASA 25/003/2005
19/04/2005 Israel: AI condemns renewal of restrictions imposed on Mordechai Vanunu, calls
for restrictions to be lifted MDE 15/024/2005
19/04/2005 Kuwait: Time to release the remaining prisoners of the 1991 unfair trials MDE
17/003/2005
18/04/2005 Brazil: Key milestone in indigenous rights battle AMR 19/014/2005
14/04/2005 Algeria: Amnesty law risks legalizing impunity for crimes against humanity Joint
statement MDE 28/005/2005
14/04/2005 Equatorial Guinea: Prisoners starving to death AFR 24/006/2005
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HIV/AIDS
Ghana. The HIV-AIDS infection rate has dropped for the first time in five years, and is now
down countrywide to 3.1 percent from 3.6 percent in 2003, according to a new sentinel survey.
However, officials still remain concerned at big regional differences and increasing signs of
unprotected sex amongst youth. allAfrica com 15 April
http://allafrica.com/stories/200504150731.html
Libya. The Libyan government is to impose a trade and investment embargo on Bulgaria
because of the latter's failure to take responsibility for the infection of hundreds of children
with HIV, which Libya has blamed on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor.
Guardian 13 April
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1458024,00.html
Human rights
Democratic Republic of Congo. Despite a peace deal signed two years ago to end the
long-running civil war, violence is continuring in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo
and in the province of Ituri, the BBC's Africa Correspondent reports on evidence of
cannibalism by some rebels. BBc, 9 April,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/4424909.stm
Fiji. The criminal convictions in Fiji of two men for homosexual conduct violate international
human rights principles and the country’s own constitution, Human Rights Watch said 12
April, http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/12/fiji10466.htm
Japan. The Tokyo High Court has rejected compensation claims against the government
brought by the families of Chinese war victims reports the Times on line 20 April,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1576384,00.html
Prisoners
USA. Florida prisoners, including those under sentence of death, who were convicted before
DNA evidence was routinely tested, have until the state-imposed October 1 deadline to
submit new claims. After that date, evidence may be destroyed, yet the system is seriously
backlogged and under-resourced according to the Death Penalty Information Center, 11 April,
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?did=1407&scid=64
Right to health
China. The Ministry of Health has said that brain surgery as a treatment to cure drug addicts,
which was suspended in November 2004, will not resume in Chinese hospitals until a
comprehensive and scientific evaluation is given to the safety and effectiveness of the
practice and a technical standard is established. China daily 18 April,
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-04/18/content_435031.htm
South Africa. The government has stepped up precautions to prevent the spread of the
Marburg virus into the country from Angola, where it has killed 193 people since the outbreak
began in the north of the country. BBC 11 April,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4434147.stm
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Torture
Egypt. The Egyptian Supreme Council for Human Rights (ESCHR), a state-backed
organisation set up last year, has given credence in its first annual report to widespread
allegations of torture by Egyptian police and security forces reports the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation 11 April.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200504/s1342224.htm
Morocco. Thousands of Moroccans are being allowed to speak openly to the country's Equity
and Reconciliation Commission for the first time about the state-sponsored terror under the
regime of the late King Hassan II reports the BBC 19 April.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4457267.stm
Georgia. According to a new Human Rights Watch Report, the Georgian authorities have
failed to end widespread torture of detainees in the criminal justice system. Human Rights
Watch, 13 April. Press release: http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/13/georgi10475.htm
Briefing paper: http://hrw.org/backgrounder/eca/georgia0405/
USA/Europe Governments in Europe and North America are increasingly sending suspects
to abusive states on the basis of flimsy "diplomatic assurances" that expose the detainees to
serious risk of torture and ill-treatment, Human Rights Watch said in a new report. HRW 15
April
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2005/04/15/eu10479.htm report:
http://hrw.org/reports/2005/eca0405/
US/Iraq. ‘Wish Lists’ Drafted by U.S. Interrogators Urged Torture of Iraqis. New Standard. 20
April
http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=1718
Courses
Health and Human Rights: Train the Trainers, 18th to 22nd July 2005, University of Cape
Town. For further information/registration details, contact Ms Sue MacHutchon. Department
of Public Health, University of Cape Town. Phone +27 21 406 6608, Fax +27 21 447 1569,
email [email protected]
Vacancies
Health and Human Rights Advisor, the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture,
London. As a medical doctor, the incumbent will join a team of 35 doctors who examine
torture survivors and provide forensic medical reports in support of their asylum claims,
advise the Medical Foundation on its human rights advocacy priorities on behalf of torture
survivors, and lobby for those agreed priorities with outside individuals and organisations.
Further details from: The Medical Foundation, 111 Isledon Road N7 7JW, UK. Tel:+44 (0) 20
7697 7777, Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7697 7799.
Refugee Policy Director. (New York or Geneva Office), Human Rights Watch. Applications by
April 30, 2005 (no calls or e-mail inquiries, please) by sending a letter of interest, resume,
references, and a brief writing sample (original and unedited by others) to: Human Rights
Watch, Attn: Search Committee (Refugee Policy Director). 350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor. New
York, NY 10118-3299 USA. Fax: +1 212 736-1300 Email: [email protected]
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Publications
Duggan S et al. Modernising prison mental health care. Prof Nurse. 2005 Apr;20(8):20-2.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list
_uids=15819312
Fazel Mina, Jeremy Wheeler, John Danesh. Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000
refugees resettled in western countries: a systematic review. Lancet.
Vol 365, No 9467, 9 April 2005
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol365/iss9467/full/llan.365.9467.primary_research.32935.1
Leonidas G Koniaris et al. Inadequate anaesthesia in lethal injection for execution. Lancet.
Vol 365, No 9468 16 April 2005.
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol365/iss9468/full/llan.365.9468.primary_research.32992.1
B. Lay, C. Lauber, W. Rössler Are immigrants at a disadvantage in psychiatric in-patient care?
Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol 111 Issue 5, 358 May 2005
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2004.00509.x/abs/
Loewenberg Samuel. Displacement is permanent for the Sahrawi refugees. Lancet. Vol
365, No 9467, 9 April 2005.
http://www.thelancet.com/journal/vol365/iss9467/full/llan.365.9467.analysis_and_interpretatio
n.32961.1
McCrone, P et al. Mental health needs, service use and costs among Somali refugees in the
UK. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Vol 111 Issue 5, 351, May 2005, http://www.blackwellsynergy.com/links/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0447.2004.00494.x/abs/
Tuck JJ. Medical management of Iraqi enemy prisoners of war during Operation Telic. Mil
Med. 2005 Mar;170(3):177-82
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list
_uids=15828689
Elie Wiesel. Without Conscience. NEJM. Vol 352:1511-1513 April 14 2005.
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/352/15/1511
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--------------------Health and Human Rights Team
Amnesty International - International Secretariat
Tel: +44 20 7413 5522
Fax: +44 20 7956 1157
AI web-site: http://www.amnesty.org/
AI Health Professional web-site: http://www.amnesty.org/health
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