Civil Liberties - new material (69)
01 July 2007
What to do about torture? Manfred Nowak interviewed, Kanishk Tharoor, Open Democracy. 15.01.07. UN special rapporteur Manfred Nowak critically assesses the post-9/11 era and western governments' complicity in secret detention and torture. Nowak starts his interview with the observation that "The Bush administration has done quite a lot to undermine the absolute prohibition of torture, for instance by interpreting torture in a very restrictive manner and claiming they are not really torturing," before going on to condemn the rendition system and pointing out the illogical nature of the claim that undermining fundamental human rights would create more security for western democracies: "The prohibition of torture is an "absolute right", which means that there is no proportionality to be applied. A little bit of torture doesn't make us safer, it's the opposite. As soon as you undermine the prohibition of torture, and you start in the "ticking bomb scenario" to apply torture, it very quickly spreads and creates new terrorism. We now have more terrorists since we are fighting terrorism by violating our own standards and the international rule of law." Nowak has also visited or is planning to visit Georgia, China, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Togo, Nigeria, Indonesia Zimbabwe, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, the north Caucasus Republics and Russia, to name but a few. Most countries fail to comply with UN regulations; Nowak recently found Nigeria to engage in systematic torture, and Russia has failed to invite him. However, he has not given up hope: "I am still confident that I will be allowed to visit Guantànamo and other places of detention where US officials hold suspected terrorists."
http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict-terrorism/nowak_4249.jsp
From Avoidance to Acceptance: mental health and the role of human rights in Europe, Jill Stavert. SCOLAG Journal, June 2007, pp. 119-125. This paper considers mental health in light of the EU Green Paper Improving the mental health of the population: towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights.
Civilians Without Protection: the ever worsening crisis in Iraq. International Committee of the Red Cross, 11.4.07, pp. 14. This report documents the "steadily worsening" crisis in Iraq since the US-UK invasion in 2003 to rid the country of its non-existent weapons of mass destruction and install democracy, freedom and prosperity. It says that four years on the invasion is still causing "immense suffering" and calls for greater protection of civilians, noting that the violence is "affecting, directly or indirectly, all Iraqis". The relief agency says i. that medical care in the country is under threat because medical professionals are fleeing following the murder or abduction of colleagues; ii. that much of Iraq's water supply, sewage and electricity is in a critical condition - a water crisis has been caused by contamination due to the discharge of untreated sewage into rivers that are the main source of drinking water, and iii. that families are being torn apart because of "tens of thousands of people are currently being detained by the Iraqi authorities and the multinational forces." The ICRC report is available at:
http://www.icrc.org/web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/htmlall/iraq-report-110407?opendocument
Guidelines for reporting HIV. National Union of Journalists, April 2007, pp 18. "Accurate reporting about HIV is necessary not only to meet journalistic standards but because individual health and public health may benefit too: myths are dispelled, prejudice is undermined and understanding increased." These Guidelines provide a balanced and accurate picture on HIV/Aids and presents this complex medical field in an easy accessible format. Contains a suggestion of descriptions and words to use for objective reporting to uphold journalistic standards. Available from NUJ, Headland House, 308 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8DP