A Voice for the Voiceless

UK To Give Prisoners Right to Vote For First Time Since 1867

By Ricardo Zamora

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

STRASBOURG, France – Despite a 2005 European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decision finding blanket restrictions on prisoners’ right to vote illegal, the United Kingdom has continued denying prisoners in England and Whales the right to vote.

In June, the influential European body, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CMCE), an inter-governmental organization that oversees and enforces ruling made by the ECHR, called on the ECHR for action against the UK policy.

The ECHR responded to the CMEC’s concerns in its October, Frodl, decision, finding that, with few exceptions, any denial to prisoners of the right to vote violates EU law.

Adam Wagner, a human rights barrister at One Crown Office Row chambers, wrote on his blog: “The now-final decision in Frodl…effectively ruled that the disenfranchisement of prisoners could only happen on rare occasions: namely, where a prisoner was detained as a result of the abuse of a public position or a threat to undermine the rule of law or democratic foundations.”

The Daily Telegraph disclosed this week that the British Government, currently faced with a similar challenge in its courts, appears to have changed it’s approach and is instead focusing on how to deny the maximum number of prisoners the right to vote without breaking the law.

The government is now seeking denial of the voting right to individuals serving sentences of more than four years.  But even this approach may be illegal in the wake of Frodl.

David Davis, former Tory shadow home secretary, maintains that the decision was none of the European Court’s business.  Davis maintains that the issue had been decided long ago by parliament.

In a response to the ECHR’s decision, Davis noted that the Court “said in the judgment that one of the reasons they made this decision was because there had been no debate in Parliament.”  “Well, maybe they didn’t got back to 1867.  Maybe they didn’t realize there was a democracy here then, but that’s when it was debated and we made a decision,” he added.

Telegraph.co.uk reports that the British Government is expected to decide how to amend the law before a meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in December.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Senior Conservative Calls For Prison Vote Debate – 11.05.10

Deutsche Welle – Postcard from Europe: UK Prisoners to Get the Vote – 11.05.10

Telegraph – Jailed MPs Could Be Denied Vote After Latest European Ruling – 11.05.10

Iran Human Rights Documentation Center Calls for the Unconditional Release of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani

November 4, 2010
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT – The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) condemns the continued unwarranted detention of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran and calls for her unconditional release.  “The Iranian authorities should immediately release Mohammadi Ashtiani,” said Renee Redman, Executive Director of IHRDC. “The handling of her case file has lacked fundamental guarantees of due process and transparency from the beginning. It is particularly alarming that while the Iranian government plays with Mohammadi Ashtiani’s life, it is making a bid for a position on the board of the newly-created UN Women agency that was created to promote women’s equality.”

Mohammadi Ashtiani, a widow and mother of two, was initially sentenced to execution by stoning for a conviction for adultery. Following international condemnation, her execution was suspended in July, pending review by the Iranian judiciary. While in detention, Mohammadi Ashtiani has reportedly been subjected to torture and mistreatment, and forced to falsely confess.

Mohammadi Ashtiani’s family and close associates have also been harassed and targeted by government authorities. Mohammadi Ashtiani’s lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, a prominent criminal defense attorney and a human rights activist, was threatened with arrest by Iranian authorities in retaliation for comments he made to the international media in support of his client. He was forced to flee the country. On October 10, 2010, Mohammadi Ashtiani’s other lawyer, Houtan Kian, and her son, Sajjad Ghaderzadeh, were reportedly arrested in Kian’s law office in Tabriz, Iran for speaking with two German journalists about Mohammadi Ashtiani’s case. Kian, Ghaderzadeh and the foreign journalists remain in detention.

On November 1, the International Campaign Against Stoning reported that Mohammadi Ashtiani would be executed by hanging yesterday. While her execution appears to have been delayed, reports indicate that the implementation of the sentence is imminent.

Under Article 83 of Iran’s Islamic penal code, individuals found guilty of adultery may be sentenced to death by stoning—this punishment falls disproportionately on women. Currently at least ten people—including both women and men—are awaiting execution by stoning for adultery convictions in Iran.

IHRDC’s recently published report entitled Silencing the Women’s Rights Movement in Iran documents the arrests and detentions of women’s rights activists and lawyers who defend women’s rights, following the disputed presidential election of last year.  The harassment of Mohammadi Ashtiani’s former lawyer, Mohammad Mostafaei, by Iranian authorities is also chronicled in the report.

The report is available in English on IHRDC’s website here.

The Persian translation of the report is available here.

IHRDC is a nonprofit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut that was founded in 2004 by a group of human rights scholars, activists, and historians. Its staff of human rights lawyers and researchers publish comprehensive and detailed reports on the human rights situation in Iran. The reports and database of documents relating to human rights in Iran are available to the public for research and educational purposes on the Center’s website at www.iranhrdc.org.

TENSION RISES BETWEEN BORDER STATES OF NORTHERN MEXICO AND TEXAS

By Erica Laster                                                                                                                       Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

MEXICO CITY, Mexico – Gunfire and death has resulted in increased tension among the northern Mexican states and Texas cities just across the border.   With politicians being gunned down , citizens being recruited to the cartels and cartels constantly patrolling highways, the Mexican states bordering Texas have forced many to retreat.  Colleges and Universities in Texas have also felt the impacts of drug cartel control and gunfire.

Mass grave found in Acapulco not the end of violence in Mexican States this weekend. Photo courtesy of cache.boston.com.
Mass grave found in Acapulco not the end of violence in Mexican States this weekend. Photo courtesy of cache.boston.com.

Many of Mexico’s victims speak on condition of anonymity, noting that “This is out of the government’s hands.  Mexico has been sacrificed and sold to the narcos.  It is the narcos who have the power.”

On Thursday near Acapulco, 18 bodies were removed from a mass gravesite.  Investigators believed their deaths may have been a mistake.  A video posted on YouTube led authorities to the gravesite after anonymous calls to the police.  The video depicts two men being forced to answer questions from an off scene interrogator, confessing to killing the Michoacan men in the graves over drug trafficking disputes.  These videos are a powerful tool, challenging the authority of the state as vigilante justice is brought by criminals.

This past Friday, cartels and military forces clashed after the death of Tony “the Storm,” leader of the Gulf cartel.  Three of his henchmen were also killed in the gunfire in Matamoros, Tamaulipas which could be heard across the border in Texas.  CNN reported that border colleges only a half a mile away,  including the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College were forced to cancel classes and rearrange weekend events “because of gunfire taking place across the Rio Grande.”

On Saturday, eighteen were killed in Ciudad Juarez.  While many used to believe that any murdered victims were involved with narcotics, now, everyone is at risk.  One incident included a family of seven being slaughtered outside their home, including two brothers, believed to be the targets.  Five more bodies were found dead inside of a car and two were found lying in the street.  This marked one of the bloodiest days of the year in Ciudad Juarez.

For More Information Please Visit:

CNN – Official: 18 People Killed In Ciudad Juarez – 7 November 2010

CNN – Gunmen, Forces Clash After Cartel Leader Killed – 6 November 2010

LA Times – Caught Behind Enemy Lines – 6 November 2010

Washington Post – Mistake May Have Led To Mass Grave Deaths In Mexico – 4 November 2010

Historical Election in Myanmar Tarnished by Threats and Unfairness

By Joseph Juhn
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia

YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar’s first election in two decades is causing much controversy. On Sunday, people voted in about 40,000 polling stations opened across the country. However, the vote is widely expected to end in victory for the Union Solidary and Development Party (USDP), which is backed by the country’s military junta.

Some of the larger parties contesting in this election, such as the Democratic Party and National Democratic Force, have accused the government of unfairness, including illegal collection of advance ballots and voters being threatened by the government if they don’t back the ruling junta’s party.

Signs of voter intimidation were also reported by the Chin Human Rights Organization, which said that in a ward in Chin State, western part of country, one of the polling stations was at an army checkpoint.

”How can people feel free to vote for the party of their choice if soldiers are watching them?” said programme director Salai Za Uk Ling.

Another problem was allegedly related with advance voting. Local authorities are believed to have helped the USDP to force people to vote early and for the junta party.

”We have learned that the USDP, together with ward authorities, is trying to get advance votes by cheating, bribing or threatening people,” said a letter from the Democratic Party to the Union Election Commission in the capital Naypyidaw.

International communities were quick to criticize this election procedure, the one notably by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“You look at Burma holding flawed elections today that once again expose the abuses of the military junta,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking because the people of Burma deserve so much better,” she told university students in Melbourne, Australia.

The military junta has banned foreign journalists and international monitors from scrutinizing the vote. Thirty-seven parties were on the ballot, but most of these parties not backed by the military junta suffered from severely restricted campaigns and high fees for candidacy. Most of these parties’ political statements were also censored.

The constitution of Myanmar reserves 25 per cent of the seats in parliament for military appointees, while opposition parties have suffered major barriers. As a result, hundreds of opposition politicians, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, are under house arrest or in prison. Aung San Suu Kyi, now 65, has been held under house arrest for most of the time since the past election in 1990.

According to the military junta, her latest term of detention is to end one week after the election. However, similar promises have been breached in the past and there is no way to know what restrictions might be imposed even if she is set free.

“These elections are going to be neither free, nor fair, or inclusive. There is nothing in these elections that could give us grounds for optimism,” British Ambassador to Burma Andrew Heyn said.

For more information, please see:

Bangkok Post – Junta faces threat claims – 6 November 2010

The New York Times – Myanmar Votes in Election Controlled by Military – 7 November 2010

CBC News – Burma holds 1st vote in 20 years – 6 November 2010

Bloomberg Business Week – Complaints mount on eve of Myanmar election – 6 November 2010