RIGHTS: UN Alarmed at Widespread Extrajudicial Executions

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11 2000 (IPS) - A senior UN human rights official says she is appalled at the widespread extrajudicial and summary executions taking place throughout the world.

“The global situation in regard to the respect for the right to life is bleak,” says Asma Jahangir of Pakistan, the UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights.

She says that extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions – carried out outside the laws of the land – have by no means ceased or decreased. “They occur in every region in the world.”

She says she is “appalled” at the situation in certain countries where violations of the right to life appear to have become an everyday occurrence. The governments of such countries are either not prepared or lack the skills and capacity to put an end to these human rights violations, she adds.

She further finds it unacceptable that some governments insist on cynically defending or ignoring extrajudicial killings committed by their security forces, specially when confronted with armed opposition groups.

In a 13-page report released Tuesday, Jahangir points out that more than 1,250 individuals were killed last year by security forces, paramilitary groups or private forces in at least 16 countries: Angola, Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gambia, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Myanmar, Russia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia.

“A clearly discernible trend in recent years is the increasing incidence of large-scale extrajudicial killings carried out by government security forces or armed groups reported to be sponsored, supported or tolerated by governments,” she notes.

Since 1998, more than 300 children and youths have been murdered in Honduras alone. Jahangir says she is alarmed “by continuing and increasing reports of extrajudicial killings of street children and juveniles in Honduras”.

There are concerns that the authorities have not taken prompt and effective action to investigate these killings or prevent further killings.

Jahangir also continues to receive reports of death threats or extrajudicial killings directed against human rights defenders, including journalists, lawyers, community workers, teachers, and other persons engaged in activities aimed at promoting human rights or publicising human rights violations.

She has received a list of 133 documented cases of extrajudicial killings or death threats directed against human rights defenders worldwide in 1999 alone.

She took action on behalf of human rights defenders in 16 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Chile, Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Peru, Sri Lanka and Yugoslavia.

Jahangir has also continued to receive “disturbing reports” of deliberate attacks against refugees and internally displaced persons, particularly in the context of internal conflicts and unrest.

“It appears that in many instances, the direct and deliberate targeting of civilians, including the internally displaced, has become part of the tactics employed by parties involved in armed conflict,” she adds.

She is particularly disturbed by reports from conflict areas such as Kosovo, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.

Jahangir says there is also an increase in “honour killings”, where some husbands have killed their wives either if they have been unfaithful or have been victims of rape.

In some instances, she says, “honour killings” have been approved by states who have supported these killings or extended a form of impunity to the perpetrators by giving tacit or covert support to the practice.

She describes honour killings as a “violation of the right to life, if and when they are condoned or ignored by the authorities”.

According to Jahangir, one of the root causes of the persistent occurrence of grave human rights violations, including extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, is the state’s willingness to accept a flawed legal system, which is unable to bring the perpetrators of human rights violations to justice.

The most systematic and alarming situations of impunity occur in countries where court decisions are flatly overruled and ignored by the executive authorities, or where the courts have become mere pawns in the hands of governments which condone, support or commit human rights abuses as a matter of policy, she notes.

She also appeals to all countries that retain the death penalty to consider imposing a moratorium on executions, with a view to completely abolishing the death penalty.