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Obstacles to justice

By Claire Mallinson - posted Friday, 28 May 2010


To be accountable is to be held responsible for an action you have taken or failed to take, one that has a direct consequence on others. It is a broad concept. There is political accountability, tested, for example, in elections. And there is moral accountability, measured perhaps by a society’s values.

International human rights standards are focused primarily on establishing legal accountability. People have rights that must be set out in, and protected by, law; those in power have duties, also established in law, to respect, protect and fulfil individual rights.

In 2009, for the first time ever, a warrant was issued for the arrest of a sitting head of state by the International Criminal Court (ICC). President Al Bashir of Sudan was named in an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court on five counts of crimes against humanity (murder, extermination, forcible transfer of population, torture and rape) and two counts of war crimes (for the targeting of civilians).

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This was a landmark event. It is now harder for perpetrators of the worst crimes to feel confident that they will escape justice.

But too often powerful governments are blocking advances in international justice by standing above the law on human rights, shielding allies from criticism and acting only when politically convenient.

In this instance, the African Union’s refusal to cooperate on the ICC warrant, despite the nightmare of violence that has affected hundreds of thousands of people in Darfur, was a stark example of governmental failure to put justice before politics.

The Amnesty International Report 2010: State of the World’s Human Rights, launched this week, documents abuses across 159 countries in 2009, abuses for which perpetrators were too often not held accountable.

It details a year in which millions of people suffered human rights violations while accountability and justice were a remote ideal for too many.

Amnesty International’s research records torture or other ill-treatment in at least 111 countries, unfair trials in at least 55 countries, restrictions on free speech in at least 96 countries, prisoners of conscience imprisoned in at least 48 countries and 18 countries executed their citizens.

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Around the world, including the Asia Pacific region, a callous disregard for civilians has marked conflicts, space for independent voices shrank, migrants were exploited, women suffered disproportionately and people were pushed into poverty.

One would be hard pressed to imagine a more complete failure to hold to account those who abuse human rights than the international community’s paralysis over Sri Lanka.

Between January and May 2009, some 300,000 Sri Lankans were trapped on a narrow strip of land between the retreating Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the advancing Sri Lankan military.

As reports of abuses by both sides increased, the UN Security Council failed to intervene. At least 7,000 people were killed - some have put the figure as high as 20,000. The Sri Lankan government dismissed all reports of war crimes by its forces and rejected calls for an international inquiry, while failing to hold any credible, independent investigations of its own.

The UN Human Rights Council convened a special session, but power plays led to member states approving a resolution drafted by the Sri Lankan government, complimenting itself on its success against the Tamil Tigers.

And one year on, the situation for civilian communities caught up in the conflict shows little sign of improving.

With people fleeing for their lives from war zones such as Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, countries in the Asia Pacific failed to establish a clear regional response.

When it comes to Australia, the knock on effect is clear.

But rather than upholding its human rights responsibilities to people fleeing torture and discrimination, the government has chosen to freeze the processing of asylum applications from people escaping two of the world’s most violent conflict zones, compounding the trauma experienced by these people. People have a legal right to seek asylum.

Overall, despite some promising steps in 2009, including a commitment to a National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and their Children, the Australian Government has failed in many instances to deliver sustainable, long-term solutions to human rights abuses. Racial discrimination remains legal in the Northern Territory under the Government’s intervention and the overwhelming public support for a Human Rights Act has been ignored.

Australia has an opportunity to show global leadership on human rights and justice but it needs to ensure it has its own house in order first.

Despite the failures of governments and the catalogue of abuses listed in our report, we have seen progress.

One hundred and eleven states have signed up to the International Criminal Court.

Other former leaders have been brought to justice including Alberto Fujimori who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for overseeing torture, enforced disappearances and killings during his time as President of Peru.

And we watched Cambodia open the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal, with the former prison chief known as Duch the first to stand trial.

In Africa, Burundi and Togo abolished the death penalty, while Kenya commuted the death sentences of more than 4,000 prisoners. It was the largest ever commutation of condemned prisoners known to Amnesty International.

As we enter a new decade, we have significant opportunities to improve the human rights situation for millions of people worldwide.

The upcoming international review meeting on the International Criminal Court, beginning in Uganda on Monday, is a chance for governments to show their commitment to the court.

While the UN review meeting on the Millennium Development Goals in New York this September is an opportunity for world leaders to move from promises to legally enforceable commitments.

The need for effective justice is a key lesson from the past year. Justice provides fairness and truth to those who suffer violations, deters human rights abuses, and ultimately delivers a more stable and secure world.

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About the Author

Claire Mallinson is the National Director of Amnesty International Australia.

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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