Activists say Mexican president Pena-Nieto must be held accountable for
activist’s murders and torture during his governorship seven years ago … Read More
Activists Demand Mexican President Be Held Responsible for Deaths of Protesters
Orphans brutal beating clip goes viral, outrages Russia
A video uploaded on the video-sharing service, which was apparently filmed on a mobile phone by one of the offenders, showed several female adolescents strapping and kicking little boys and shouting “Go to bed!” at them.The footage was sent to a local media agency by an unnamed person, who said it was taken at the Mazanovsky children’s home in a rural area of the Amur Region, according to RIA.An investigation has revealed at least ten children aged 7 to 9 were “systematically” beaten by several orphans from the elder group. Three females administered the beatings, one was underage, the investigators said.Four suspects have been identified, and two of them detained. The third offender being just under sixteen could not be prosecuted, and the girl who was filming the beating is yet to be questioned by the investigators.A criminal case against the two oldest suspects, born in 1995 and 1996, has been opened; the orphans could spend up to 7 years in prison if found guilty.The director of the orphanage has also been suspended from her job.There have been calls from the public for not just punishment of the offenders, but also prosecutions of the responsible local authorities. According to the investigation, the young boys had been violently ‘punished’ since February, and it remains unclear if the orphanage staff had done anything at all to prevent the brutality.Russian Ombudsman for Children’s Rights Pavel Astakhov has joined the public anger, demanding the children’s home to be closed and an investigation of the people supervising the orphanage.“This was systematic. There are at least six proven episodes of child torture in the orphanage. It is practically impossible that the supervisors had not known about it. And if they knew, and, even worse, encouraged such ‘relations’ between the elder and the younger orphans – then, there is another criminal case,” Astakhov argued. He said the conditions were “prison-like” and the behaviour “criminal,” Astakhov urged called for the rehabilitation and re-education of the children – but not in the same place.However, Astakhov also blamed the regional authorities, saying they were responsible for failing to ensure the orphans received a proper education and decent care, but instead had their “mental health ruined.”The actions of Amur Region officials working for the Ministry of Education, as well as the law enforcement bodies responsible for child safety will be given “a thorough legal assessment,” the investigative committee has assured.Local media also quoted a woman allegedly working in the orphanage, who said everyone was aware of the repeated beatings. The woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said she had tried to talk with one of the girls caught on the video.“I had been beaten in the orphanage, and I will beat,” was the orphan’s alleged response.The orphanage has so far refused to comment on the matter. … Read More
Human rights activists claim to have found torture evidence in Syria
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Human rights activists have visited what Syrian rebels described as abandoned government prisons in which they alleged detainees were tortured.
Human Rights Watch researchers were shown round offices and cells in the city of Raqqa which was overrun by forces opposing President Assad last February.
Lama Fakih, a Human Rights Watch researcher was among those taken to see the prisons:
“While in the branches we were able to see, for example, documentary evidence of the types of cases that the intelligence forces were following. We were able to see the solitary confinement cells where the detainees were held. We were also able to see interrogation rooms and torture rooms”
Former detainees showed the researchers one device which they said was used to bend victims’ arms and legs. Distressing interviews were also recorded with alleged witnesses, one of whom was called Ahmed:
“I saw people who had their nails ripped out, and flesh had grown in their place, and new nails were sprouting from that flesh. The very sight was just not human. People who had spent eight or eleven years in there, confined between four walls.”
Human Rights Watch say they have been documenting abuses on both sides of Syria’s civil war. While they describe those by the Assad regime as widespread, they claim rebel abuses have also increased.
More about: Armed conflicts, Syria, Syrian army, Torture
Copyright © 2013 euronews
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Bahrain demonstrator jailed for insulting national flag
Prosecutors stated that draping the flag over a vehicle during the 2011 rally was an offense under the new restrictions, Associated Press reported adding that the specific charges remained unclear.Abdulla Sayegh admitted that he attended pro-reform protests, however maintained that many Bahrainis fly flags from vehicles during all kinds of gatherings, be it celebrations, anti-government or pro-government rallies.The demonstrator plans to appeal the jail sentence and the 100 dinar ($265) fine, according to his defense lawyer Hashim Saleh.This comes after six tweeters were jailed on Wednesday for posting comments about King Hamad bin Issa al Khalifa, which the court regarded as ‘abusing freedom of expression.’In April, Bahrain introduced stricter penalties making it illegal to insult the Gulf state’s King Hamad or national symbols, charges that carry up to five-year jail sentences.These measures come against the background of two years of protests led by the kingdom’s majority Shiites against the minority Sunni-led government. The protesters are continuingly calling for a transfer to a democratic system of government. Shiites complain of discrimination in jobs and government while in turn their loyalty is questioned by the Al Khalifa ruling family.Rallies intensified as Bahrain was to host a Formula 1 race on April 21, protestors labeling the event ‘race for blood’ as it overshadows the many alleged human rights abuses in the Gulf kingdom. Human Rights Watch cites multiple reports of physical and psychological torture that emerged during the grand prix.Earlier in the week, the kingdom for the second time canceled the visit of the UN’s special rapporteur on torture, Juan Mendez, who was to probe police abuses of power.More than 80 people have died in uprisings since the pro-democracy protests begun in February 2011, according to Human Rights Watch. The government denies the allegations of discrimination and of arbitrary arrests and abuses by security forces. … Read More
Jesse Ventura : WikiLeaks Expose 9/11 Truth & CIA’s Horrifying Torture
http://www.youtube.com/v/HpDRoYlcfLM?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata Original article: Jesse Ventura : WikiLeaks Expose 9/11 Truth & CIA’s Horrifying Torture
UN: Gitmo force-feeding is inhumane
Guantanamo Bay prison camp has for some time been an abrogation of international legal standards. Now, say senior UN officials, the camp is acting against international medical standards too with the force feeding of hunger strikers. Of the over 100 detainees officially on hunger strike (although attorneys claim the number is even higher) 21 are receiving feeding through nasal tubes.In a statement signed by El Hadji Malick Sow, chair of the UN working group on arbitrary detention; Juan E Méndez, UN special rapporteur on torture; Ben Emmerson, UN special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights, and Anand Grover, UN special rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and supported by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the force-feeding is roundly decried:Continue Reading… … Read More
Swedish-Eritrean funds end Egypt torture ordeal
Four Eritrean men have been released from a torture camp in Egypt after money raised in Sweden was used to buy their freedom. … Read More
