The British government should immediately halt plans to deport foreign terrorism suspects to countries that offer unreliable promises not to torture them.
US and Algerian authorities should immediately reveal the whereabouts of two Algerians transferred from Guantanamo to Algeria on July 2, 2008. The two men, Abderrahmane Houari, 28, and Mustafa Ahmed Hamlily, 49, have been missing since their return.
The United Kingdom came in for robust questioning on its human rights record from other UN member states last week at the Human Rights Council, during the historic first session of the Universal Periodic Review Coming at a time when the UK government is trying to pass yet another piece of counterterrorism legislation, which includes extending pre-charge detention to 42 days, it’s no wonder a significant number of countries asked about UK counterterrorism policies. .
The first session of the new country review mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council was undermined by inconsistencies and the timidity of some governments in reviewing others, Human Rights Watch said today. On April 18, 2008 the council concluded a two-week session in which it examined the records of 16 countries as part of the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process.
The UN Human Rights Council will begin a new review process on April 7, 2008. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is the most innovative and ambitious instrument of the council and was set up to assess the human rights performance of all 192 UN member states over a four-year cycle.
Algerian authorities should drop politically motivated charges against two human rights lawyers when their trial resumes on Wednesday, Human Rights Watch said today.
The December 12 special session of the Human Rights Council on Darfur offers member states a long overdue opportunity to tackle one of the worst human rights crises in the world. Yet some council members, such as Algeria, seem more concerned to protect the government of Sudan than to address its responsibility for war crimes in Darfur.
Despite the welcome release from prison expected today for newspaper director Mohamed Benchicou, critics of Algeria’s government continue to risk reprisal in the form of a barrage of defamation suits and, on occasion, dubious criminal charges, Human Rights Watch said today.
