MEXICO - Geovanni Alcaraz Vielman (m), aged 25; members of his family
- On 22 October, Mexican citizen and former soldier Geovanni Alcaraz Vielman was deported as an illegal immigrant from USA back to Mexico. According to his testimony, he has been beaten and he and his family have been threatened by officers of the Mexican Military Judicial Police (Policia Judicial Federal Militar). Amnesty International believes that the lives of Geovanni Alcaraz Vielman and his family may be in danger.
According to reports, Geovanni Alcaraz deserted the Mexican army and fled to USA in 2004 after allegedly being accused of involvement in the death of a superior officer. On 18 October 2007, the US authorities arrested him in San Martin, California. When he was deported four days later, he was arrested the same day as he arrived in the Mexican city of Tijuana.
According to Geovanni Alcaraz, on 23 October, officers of the Federal Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduria General de la Republica, PGR) transported him to Mexico City where he was placed in the custody the of the Military Judicial Police at their barracks in Mexico City. That night, he was taken to a room and was beaten by five plain-clothed soldiers for about three hours apparently in order to force him to confess to the killing of the army officer. He was not allowed to contact a lawyer or members of his family. When he asked for a lawyer, the officers told him “if you report us, we will kill you and will send someone to rape your mother and your sister” (si abres la boca para denunciar, nosotros mismos nos vamos a encargar de matarte y de mandar a alguien para que viole a tu mama y a tu hermana). They also showed him a picture of his family’s house and said they had photos of his mother and sister.
Following his beating, Geovanni Alcaraz was then taken to the infirmary at the barracks, where he claims that a doctor noticed his injuries, but did not document them. The Military Judicial Police then forced him to read out a confession, which was videotaped. He was finally taken to a military prison, where he was seen by the prison doctor who noted he had marks on his leg and collarbone, and measured and took photographs of them. Geovanni Alcaraz also had pains on his neck and stomach. However, this evidence has not been made available to his lawyer. In an interview with the head of the military prison, Geovanni Alcaraz said that the military judicial police officers who beat him had also threatened to kill him in prison. The prison authorities allowed him to sleep in the infirmary for his own protection for a few days.
On 24 October, members of Geovanni Alcaraz Vielman’s family and lawyer were allowed to see and speak to him. He told
them that he had been beaten and threatened, and that he was fearful for the lives of himself and his family. His lawyer has filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, but so far, no protection has been granted to him or his family.
- Security forces seized 36 people from Otash Camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in South Darfur on the evening of 29 October. They are in danger of being tortured or otherwise ill-treated in detention.
There is a pattern of IDPs being detained incommunicado and beaten by police or national intelligence and security forces in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. A group of IDPs from Kalma Camp were arrested and detained by police on 21 August: most were beaten on arrest or during custody in Nyala Wasat Police Station. This is the police station where the detainees from Otash Camp are believed to be detained.
Following fighting between different ethnic groups in Kalma camp, on 18 October a large number of IDPs fled Kalma Camp, which is near Nyala. Most of those that fled the fighting went to Otash Camp, which is 24km from Kalma Camp. During the afternoon of 29 October police and soldiers went into Otash Camp to remove the recent arrivals and forcibly relocate them to a village named Amakisara, 23km from Nyala. Members of the African Mission in Sudan (AMIS), including military personnel, observers and AMIS police, went to the camp, but were ordered to leave by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) colonel conducting the operation. They saw the camp residents fleeing while tents were destroyed and property was carried away in trucks. According to the UN, IDPs were being threatened by soldiers and police wielding sticks and rubber hoses.
- Asma Jehangir, Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has been placed under house arrest following the state of emergency imposed on 3 November by General Musharraf.
The detention order for 90 days was issued against Asma Jahangir on 3 November by the Home Department of the Government of Punjab. She remains under house arrest at her home in Lahore. Ms Jahangir is a leading human rights activist and lawyer in Pakistan and the UN Special Rappateur on freedom of religion or belief.
A 90-day detention order has also been reportedly issued against Hina Jilani, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on human rights defenders. Her house has been surrounded by police and there is grave concern that she will be detained on her planned return to Pakistan
According to media and other reports, at least 55 civil society activists, including a number of HRCP staff and council members, were arrested on 4 November when they attended a meeting at the Commission’s office in Lahore to discuss the situation in the country following the state of emergency.
Iqbal Hiader, HRCP Secretary General and former attorney general of Pakistan, and HRCP director I A Rehman, were among those detained; they were subsequently placed under house arrest.
Amnesty International is concerned for the health of a number of those detained, including Brigadier (retired) Rao Abid Hameed and Shahtaj Qizilbash - both elderly human rights activists associated with HRCP - and also Imran Qureshi, a lawyer with the Women’s Rights organization, Shirkat Gar, who is suffering from a heart condition and requires daily medication. All three are detained in Lahore.
No comments:
Post a Comment