Amnesty International @en – European Affairs Magazine

New legislation threatens judicial independence in Egypt

28 Aprile 2017 BreakingNews @en di

A new legislation in Egypt could threat judicial independence, according to the NGO Amnesty International. A new law passed by parliament last night, granting the President the power to appoint the most senior members within the justice system, could further undermine the independence of the judiciary in Egypt, Amnesty International said today. If ratified by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the law would grant him powers to select the heads of judicial bodies, including the heads of the Court of Cassation, the State Council, the Administrative Prosecution Authority and the State Lawsuits Authority. Thus Al-Sissi will increase his control over judicial power, which could be a threat for Egyptian democracy. Juridical power asks Al-Sissi to not ratify the text, pass on 26 April at Egyptian Parliament. A manifestation will be organize on 5th May.

Amnesty International condemns US and UK over Yemen arms

24 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

Amnesty International condemned the United States and Britain for transferring arms to Saudi Arabia to use in its war in Yemen, Western media reported. The London-based watchdog described the arms transfers as a “shameful contradiction” of aid efforts by the United States and Britain. ‘These governments have continued to authorize such arms transfers at the same time as providing aid to alleviate the very crisis they have helped to create,’ said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty’s deputy director of research for the Middle East and North Africa. Iran has repeatedly condemned crimes committed against the oppressed people of Yemen by the Saudi-led coalition including demolishing infrastructures in Yemen and killing defenseless civilians in almost two years of devastating war against that country. In March 2015, a so-called Saudi-led coalition began a major aggression on Yemen in a bid to reinstate the country’s fugitive president Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Six former police officers guilty of having tortured a citizen to death

24 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

An Egyptian court Wednesday slapped six former police officers with prison terms after finding them guilty of having tortured a citizen to death in 2012, according to a local judicial source. The six policemen worked in Giza police office. According to a source of the journal, their victims had been arrested without motivation. The process could still pass in Appel Court. Amnesty international has recalled that “hundreds” of Egyptian citizens have been tortured since the beginning of 2015.

Syria: Amnesty International charges use of barrel bombs

5 Maggio 2015 Middle East - Africa di

A report speaks about President al Assad crimes and people forced to escape underground because of carpet bombing.

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“Sheer terror and unbearable suffering has forced many civilians in Aleppo to eke out an existence underground to escape the relentless aerial bombardment of opposition-held areas by government forces”, Amnesty International report on Sirya said.

President Bashar al Assad rejected barrel bombs and every attack on population. But Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, told about another Syrian context: “Widespread atrocities, in particular the vicious and unrelenting aerial bombardment of civilian neighbourhoods by government forces, have made life for civilians in Aleppo increasingly unbearable. These reprehensible and continual strikes on residential areas point to a policy of deliberately and systematically targeting civilians in attacks that constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Beyond these words, there are victims caused by barrel bombs, which “killed more than 3,000 civilians in Aleppo governorate last year, and more than 11,000 in Syria since 2012. Last month local activists recorded at least 85 barrel bomb attacks in Aleppo city that killed at least 110 civilians”, report said again.

Giacomo Pratali

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