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	Amnesty Report 2012: No longer business as usual for injustice by Salil Shetty Amnesty International   The courage shown by protesters in the past 12 months has been matched by a failure of leadership that makes the UN Security Council seem tired, out of step and increasingly unfit for purpose, Amnesty International said as it launched its 50th global human rights report with a call for a strong global Arms Trade Treaty later this year.   “Failed leadership has gone global in the last year, with politicians responding to protests with brutality or indifference. Governments must show legitimate leadership and reject injustice by protecting the powerless and restraining the powerful. It is time to put people before corporations and rights before profits,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International Secretary General.   The vocal and enthusiastic support for the protest movements shown by many global and regional powers in the early months of 2011, has not translated into action. As Egyptians go to the polls to vote for a new president, it looks increasingly as if the opportunities for change created by the protesters are being squandered.   “In the last year it has all too often become clear that opportunistic alliances and financial interests have trumped human rights as global powers jockey for influence in the Middle East and North Africa,” said Salil Shetty.   “The language of human rights is adopted when it serves political or corporate agendas, and shelved when inconvenient or standing in the way of profit.”   A failure to intervene in Sri Lanka and inaction over crimes against humanity in Syria – one of Russia’s main customers for arms – left the UN Security Council looking redundant as a guardian of global peace. The emerging powerhouses of India, Brazil and South Africa have too often been complicit through their silence.   “There is a clear and compelling case for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation of crimes against humanity. The determination of some UN Security Council members to shield Syria at any cost leaves accountability for these crimes elusive and is a betrayal of the Syrian people,” said Salil Shetty.   Amnesty International Report 2012 documents specific restrictions on free speech in at least 91 countries as well as cases of people tortured or otherwise ill-treated in at least 101 countries – in many cases for taking part in demonstrations.   “Ousting individual leaders – however tyrannical – is not enough to deliver long-term change. Governments must uphold freedom of expression at home and abroad, take international responsibilities seriously, and invest in systems and structures that ensure justice, freedom and equality before the law.”   The UN meeting to agree an Arms Trade Treaty in July will be an acid test for politicians to place rights over self-interest and profit. Without a strong treaty, the UN Security Council’s guardianship of global peace and security seems doomed to failure; its permanent members wielding an absolute veto on any resolution despite being the world’s largest arms suppliers.   “Protesters have shown that change is possible. They have thrown down a gauntlet demanding that governments stand up for justice, equality and dignity. They have shown that leaders who don’t meet these expectations will no longer be accepted. After an inauspicious start 2012 must become the year of action,” said Salil Shetty. Visit the related web page
	Ten lessons on the countering of terrorism by Dr Alex Conte International Commission of Jurists & agencies   Ten lessons on the countering of terrorism, by Dr Alex Conte. (ICJ)   10 years after the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) concerning measures to combat terrorism, International Commission of Jurist’s Dr Alex Conte issued a statement to the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, identifing ten lessons learnt over the last decade. Focusing on the countering of terrorism and the relationship this has had with national, regional and international human rights law.   * The link below is to a PDF report.   140 Countries Pass Counterterror Laws since 9/11. (Human Rights Watch))   More than 140 countries have passed counterterrorism laws since the attacks of September 11, 2001, often with little regard for due process and other basic rights, Human Rights Watch said in a new report.   The 112-page report, “In the Name of Security: Counterterrorism Laws Worldwide since September 11,” says that while terrorist attacks have caused thousands of deaths and injuries, that is no justification for counterterrorism laws that violate the basic rights of suspects and that are also used for politically motivated purposes.   “Terrorist acts are a repudiation of human rights, but overbroad laws that ignore basic rights only compound the harm,” said Letta Tayler, senior terrorism and counterterrorism researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Together, the counterterror laws enacted around the globe represent a dangerous expansion of powers to detain and prosecute people, including peaceful political opponents.”   While every government has a responsibility to protect its population from attack, many have used the new measures to prosecute journalists, protesters, opposition politicians, and religious or ethnic groups under the guise of counterterrorism, Human Rights Watch said.   Human Rights Watch found that 144 countries enacted or revised one or more counterterrorism laws since September 11, 2001. Human Rights Watch reviewed 130 of those laws and found that all contained one or more provisions that opened the door to abuse.   The elements that raise grave human rights concerns include overly broad and vague definitions of terrorism—such as “disrupting the public order”—as well as sweeping powers for warrantless search and arrest, the use of secret evidence, and immunity for police who abuse the laws, Human Rights Watch said.   For example:   In Turkey, two students were convicted of membership in an armed group and sentenced in 2012 to eight years and five months in prison for acts that included unfurling a banner that read, “We want free education, we will get it.” Turkish courts have convicted hundreds of non-violent protesters under the country’s broad counterterrorism laws.   A court in Bahrain in 2011 convicted 21 opposition leaders—seven in absentia—for crimes including “terrorism” for activities such as criticizing the monarchy’s human rights record and participating in pro-democracy protests. The court sentenced eight defendants to life in prison and the rest to terms of up to 15 years.   Eleven journalists in Ethiopia were convicted on charges such as providing “moral support” for terrorism in late 2011 and 2012, based on evidence such as writing articles criticizing the government. Two Swedish journalists received 11-year sentences for “rendering support to terrorism” because they illegally entered Ethiopia to report on abuses in the embattled Ogaden region.   Many new counterterrorism laws authorize prolonged detention without charge, Human Rights Watch said. In the United States, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 codifies indefinite detention without charge of the 169 detainees currently at Guantanamo Bay as well as of future terrorism suspects. Such detention has not been part of the US legal code since the McCarthy era anti-communist sweeps in the 1950s.   Many of the measures were passed as a result of United Nations Security Council resolutions that ordered states to pass counterterrorism laws after September 11, with little regard to rights protection.   Some countries, such as Norway, have resisted efforts to enact counterterrorism laws that would violate basic rights. Others, such as Canada and the United Kingdom, have amended recent counterterrorism laws to mitigate – if not eliminate – the most problematic provisions.   Human Rights Watch called on governments to revise abusive laws, re-try or release people arbitrarily detained or convicted of terrorism offenses in unfair trials, and provide redress to those whose rights they have violated. The United Nations should help lead the way in reversing abusive laws and practices, Human Rights Watch said.   “The UN has increasingly recognized that counterterrorism laws that trample free speech and peaceful protest are counter-productive,” Tayler said. “Human rights violations don’t uproot terrorism—they help it grow.” http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/06/29/name-security-0 Visit the related web page
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