Newsroom

Update

Take action to urge the Jammu & Kashmir government to amend their Juvenile Justice Act to be in line with international and Indian law.

July 11, 2011

Update

United Nations member states meet to discuss the implementation and enforcement proposals for the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).

July 11, 2011

Update

We have a real chance of stopping irresponsible and illegal arms transfers only if there are common standards for states embedded into the Arms Trade Treaty text.

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Alyaksandr Lukashenka Head of government: Syarhey Sidorski Death penalty: retentionist Population: 9.6 million Life expectancy: 69.6 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 14/9 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 99.7 Three death sentences were handed down and two people were executed. The rights to freedom of expression and assembly were severely restricted and peaceful demonstrators were detained and fined. Allegations of torture and other ill-treatment were not investigated promptly and impartially. Prisoners of conscience were denied access to medical and legal assistance. Background In December, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka was re-elected for the fourth time by 79.7 per cent of the votes…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Nicolas Sarkozy Head of government: François Fillon Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 62.6 million Life expectancy: 81.6 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 5/4 per 1,000 Allegations of police ill-treatment continued, and investigations into such allegations were slow to progress. A draft law on migration and asylum was incompatible with the right to seek asylum. The Constitutional Council found that the rules on pre-charge detention for ordinary criminal offences were unconstitutional. Roma and Travellers were stigmatized and targeted for forced evictions and expulsions. Torture and other ill-treatment In its concluding observations of 14 May 2010, the UN…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Ilham Aliyev Head of government: Artur Rasizade Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 8.9 million Life expectancy: 70.8 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 54/52 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 99.5 per cent Journalists and civil society activists continued to face intimidation. The authorities continued to ban demonstrations in the centre of Baku. NGOs and religious organizations faced restrictions in obtaining registration. Background The parliamentary elections on 7 November were described by the OSCE as "peaceful" but "not sufficient to constitute meaningful progress in the democratic development of the country." Against a backdrop of skirmishes along Azerbaijan and Armenia's…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: rotating presidency - Željko Komšić, Nebojša Radmanović, Bakir Izetbegović (replaced Haris Silajdzic in November) Head of government: Nikola Špirić Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 3.8 million Life expectancy: 75.5 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 17/12 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 97.6 per cent Nationalistic rhetoric was widespread. Prosecution of war crimes cases continued, but progress remained slow. Civilian victims of war continued to be denied access to justice and reparations. Background In the run-up to the October general elections, relations between the main ethnic groups - Bosnian Muslims (Bosniaks), Croats and Serbs - continued to be marked…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Giorgio Napolitano Head of government: Silvio Berlusconi Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 60.1 million Life expectancy: 81.4 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 5/4 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 98.8 per cent Roma rights continued to be violated and forced evictions contributed to driving those affected deeper into poverty and marginalization. Derogatory and discriminatory remarks by politicians against Roma, migrants and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people promoted a climate of rising intolerance. Violent homophobic attacks continued. Asylum-seekers were unable to access effective procedures to seek international protection. Reports of ill-treatment by law enforcement officials continued. Concerns persisted…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Abdullah Gül Head of government: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 75.7 million Life expectancy: 72.2 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 36/27 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 88.7 per cent Constitutional amendments and revisions to the Anti-Terrorism Law represented a step towards upholding human rights, but fell short of the fundamental change required. Criminal prosecutions violating the right to freedom of expression continued. Proposed independent human rights mechanisms were not established. Reports of torture and other ill-treatment continued, and criminal investigations and prosecutions of law enforcement officials remained ineffective. Numerous unfair trials were held using…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Karolos Papoulias Head of government: George Papandreou Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 11.2 million Life expectancy: 79.7 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 5/4 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 97 per cent Reports of excessive use of force and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials continued. Greece continued to lack a functioning asylum system. Substandard detention conditions at border guard stations and immigration detention centres remained a concern. Incidents of racial violence against migrants and asylum-seekers increased. Background The serious financial crisis in Greece led to the country requesting and agreeing a rescue package with the EU, the International…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: Islam Karimov Head of government: Shavkat Mirzioiev Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 27.8 million Life expectancy: 68.2 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 63/53 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 99.3 per cent Reports of torture or other ill-treatment continued unabated. Dozens of members of minority religious and Islamic groups were given long prison terms after unfair trials. Human rights defenders continued to be imprisoned after unfair trials. The authorities forcefully rejected all international calls for an independent, international investigation into the mass killings of protesters. Torture and other ill-treatment Despite assertions by the authorities that the practice of…

July 11, 2011

Report

Head of state: King Carl XVI Gustaf Head of government: Fredrik Reinfeldt Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 9.3 million Life expectancy: 81.3 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 4/4 per 1,000 The Swedish authorities considered a large number of asylum applications to be "manifestly unfounded". The accelerated asylum-determination procedures applied to these cases did not meet international standards for refugee protection. There were forcible returns to Iraq and Eritrea. Concerns remained about the thoroughness of police investigations into rape cases. Refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants Forced returns to Eritrea and Iraq continued despite recommendations to the contrary from UNHCR, the UN…

July 11, 2011