United Kingdom

A recent decision by a UK High Court deemed the exile of families from the Chagos islands in the 1960s and 70s to make way for a US Indian Ocean airbase as “outrageous, unlawful and a breach of accepted moral standards”. The Court ruled in their favour, saying they were illegally removed by the British government and paving the suggestion that a minister can, through the means of an order in council, exile a whole population from a British Overseas Territory and claim that he is doing so for the ‘peace, order and good government’ of the territory is to us repugnant” and that there was no known precedent “for the lawful use of prerogative powers to remove or exclude an entire population of British subjects from their homes and place of birth”1. The islanders must now overcome an appeal by the government, as well as UK and US residence vetoes. Lawyers for the islanders had argued that though they could not live on Diego Garcia, which houses the US airbase and is the largest of the 65 islands, they should be allowed to return to the other islands.

Australia

Proposed legislation in Australia would mean that all asylum seekers who make it to the Australian mainland will be transferred to remote and isolated offshore detention centres for assessment. This would almost certainly lead to a situation where these asylum seekers are denied legal assistance and the right to an independent appeals process. Immigration Minister, Senator Amanda Vanstone, stated that even people found to be refugees will stay offshore until they are resettled in a third country. Unauthorised boat arrivals and their asylum claims will be treated in the same way whether they land on offshore excise islands or on the mainland. The policy has been described as extreme, alarming and disappointing.

Maldives

Journalist Abdulla Saeed (known as Fahala) was recently sentenced to life imprisonment in another much-criticised verdict following the recent controversial conviction of human rights defender Jennifer Latheef. In the past, Fahala has been critical of the government in his articles. The sentence related to an accusation of “possessing, distributing, and trading in narcotic drugs banned in the Maldives,” under Law 17/77 on Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances - which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. Fahala claims that the police planted drugs onhim when he was called to a police station for questioning regarding an undisclosed case in October 2005. During his trial, Fahala was reportedly not permitted to present two witnesses who sought to speak in his defence or to take an oath that he had not brought the drugs to the police station himself. Fahala maintains that he is innocent and that the charges against him are manufactured. This incident adds to several other episodes where independent journalists have faced harassment, abuse, and detention in the country.  

Kenya

Just after 12.30 a.m. on a Thursday morning in early March 2, masked plain clothes police stormed the printing press of the Standard, a major East African daily newspaper in Kenya, disabling equipment, assaulting staff and lighting massive bonfires of the day’s edition in the streets outside. Moments before, another police squad raided the city headquarters of the paper, and a sister television network, KTN-TV, was breached and pulled off air. It is believed that these raids came as a result of a story carried in the previous weekend’s Saturday Standard regarding an alleged secret meeting between the Kenyan President, Mwai Kibaki, and Opposition Leader, Kalonzo Musyoka. Musyoka has previously been a Minister in Kibaki’s Government and the article reported that the meeting was held to discuss Musyoka rejoining the Government. On the following Tuesday, three Standard journalists involved in the article were arrested and detained in relation to the report. The raids were a further reaction to the report, and were carried out by a notorious police unit known as the Kanga Squad. The raids were a particular shock in a country that has enjoyed a relatively free press. The disturbing response of Kenya’s Internal Security Minister, John Michuki, to local and international condemnation of the raids was, “If you rattle a snake, you must be prepared to be bitten by it”. The raids also revealed a concerning level of political influence over the police, and the ease with which the Government was able to use the police as its own private security force.

Malaysia

Following two Royal Commissions into policing over the past two and a half years, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, announced in January 2006 that an independent body to look into complaints against police would be set up “effective as soon as possible”. The body has failed to materialise, despite overwhelming popular support and intense lobbying from the legal and civil society sectors. Malaysia’s first Royal Commission into Policing was put together by the government in December 2003, just ahead of an election. The Commission produced a report setting out 125 recommendations. A key recommendation was an independent police complaints authority, including a draft Bill for immediate tabling in Parliament. The second Royal Commission intoPolicing was set up in December 2005 following startling revelations that police had forced a suspect to squat repeatedly, naked, while in detention. The incident was recorded on a mobile phone by a police officer – without the victim’s knowledge – and made its way to the floor of Parliament, where it was aired by an opposition leader. As a result, the second Commission repeated the call for the establishment of an independent complaints commission.

Public anger and community pressure forced the Prime Minister to take action, and he announced the imminent creation of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC). The news was received with dismay by many vocal members of the senior police hierarchy and to date no action has been taken to make the IPCMC a reality.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

On March 8, the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor released its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2005. The Bureau found that while the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government generally respected the human rights of its citizens, the nation’s police were using excessive force with impunity, leading to widespread human rights violations in the community. An oversight committee monitors police activity and hears public complaints about the police, but is not independent of the government. A high percentage of convictions in St Vincent and the Grenadines are secured on the basis of a confession. The St Vincent and the Grenadines Human Rights Association states that most confessions were the result of illegitimate police pressure, the use of physical force during detention, illegal search and seizure and the failure to inform an arrested person of their rights. The Human Rights Association goes on to say that the government fails to investigate allegations of these kinds of misconduct or punish the officers responsible.

Uganda

Civil society in Uganda are up-in-arms against the Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) Registration Amendment Bill 2001, which they claim places undue restrictions on their functioning. The Bill requires NGOs and evangelical churches to renew their registration permits annually and contains a controversial clause that gives security bodies, the Internal Security Organization and External Security Organisation, representation on the NGO Board. The Bill gives the NGO Board powers to deny registry to NGOs opposed to government policy or whose activities are not in the ‘public interest.’ The Bill, which has recently been approved by Parliament, now awaits the President’s signature before it becomes law.

Amnesty International Report 2006

Every year, Amnesty International releases a report documenting human rights abuses around the globe. Its 2006 report has just been released and includes information related to 33 Commonwealth countries. The report “highlights the need for governments, the international community, armed groups and others in positions of power or influence to take responsibility. It also reflects the vitality of human rights activists globally, whether in local initiatives, international summits or mass demonstrations.” For more information, please visit their website: http://web.amnesty.org/report2006/