[Flug] (no subject)

[Anonymous]

Date: Fri, 10 Aug 2001 00:40:12 +0200
From: "Marco d'Itri" <md@linux.it>
To: cyber-rights@ecn.org
Subject: [cyber~rights] (fwd) lettera di AI

Ecco cosa scrive Amenesty International, <IRONIA>nota organizzazione di
comunisti collusi con black blockers e violenti vari</IRONIA>:

Onorevole Silvio Berlusconi
Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri
Palazzo Chigi
Piazza Colonna 370
00187 ROMA
Italy 31 July 2001




Dear Prime Minister,

Amnesty International [AI] is writing to express its deep concern about the
reports it has received with regard to the conduct of law enforcement and
prison officers in the context of the policing operation surrounding
the G8 summit in Genoa this month.

In a letter dated 10 July 2001, which AI addressed to the Minister of
Interior and copied to the Ministers of Defence, Finance and Justice, the
organization urged the Italian authorities to ensure that state officers
engaged in G8 policing operations were aware of, and acted at all times in
accordance with relevant international human rights standards. AI's letter,
a copy of which is attached, set out the provisions of key international
human rights standards relating to:

the use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials;
the rights of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly;
the right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, and
the rights of people deprived of their liberty, including:
the right not to be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment or punishment;
the right for relatives or a third party to be informed of their
whereabouts;
the right for foreign nationals to contact consular officials;
the right of prompt access to a legal counsel of their choice;
the right of prompt provision of adequate medical care;
the right to be duly informed of their rights and of any charge(s) against
them in a language they can understand;
the right to humane conditions of detention.


However, AI has received, and continues to receive, numerous reports and
allegations of the violation of all the above rights in the context of the
G8 policing operation. The allegations concern Italian nationals and
nationals of a number of other countries (including France, Germany, Greece,
Republic of Ireland, Spain, United Kingdom and USA) who were in or
travelling to or from Genoa in connection with the G8 demonstrations.
We are seeking your cooperation, therefore, in providing the organization
with information on any relevant instructions and training which were given
to state officers in the lead up to G8 with regard to the international
human rights standards detailed in AI's 10 July letter.


As pointed out in the 10 July letter, AI recognizes the difficulties faced
in policing summits, especially as certain factions are set on causing
violence. Similarly, AI recognizes that it is the duty of the authorities to
ensure the safety and security of participants in the summit as well as of
peaceful demonstrators and local inhabitants. The organization does not
condone violence aimed at law enforcement officers or property, nor
does it oppose the lawful use of reasonable force by law enforcement
officials. However, as AI's 10 July letter underlined, at the same time,
policing must be carried out with full respect for international human
rights standards and in such a way as to protect the rights of those people
engaged in peaceful protest.


As you will be aware, AI has already expressed public concern about the
circumstances in which, on 20 July 2001, Carlo Giuliani, a demonstrator in
Genoa was fatally shot by a 20-year-old law enforcement official
performing his military service in the carabinieri force. The shooting took
place in the context of the anti-globalization demonstrations, some of which
degenerated into violence and resulted in significant injuries to
people and extensive damage to property.



AI welcomed the news of the prompt opening by the Genoa Prosecutor's  office
of a criminal investigation into the fatal shooting. AI urges that the
investigation be thorough, and impartial, that its scope, methods and
findings be made public and that it include a determination about whether
the use of lethal force was consistent with the principles established in
international human rights instruments regarding the use of force and
firearms by law enforcement officials.

As indicated in AI's letter of 10 July, the UN Basic Principles on the Use
of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials define the circumstances
under which law enforcement officials may use force and firearms. According
to these principles, which have been accepted internationally, law
enforcement officials shall only use firearms if other means remain
ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result.
Firearms may be used against people only after giving warning, in order
to prevent death or serious injuries, where less extreme means are
insufficient to achieve such objectives. In doing so, law enforcement
officials must respect and preserve human life, and minimize damage and
injury.
Firearms may only be used in the dispersal of violent assemblies when less
dangerous
means are not practicable and only to the minimum extent necessary. The
precise provisions of Principles 4, 5, 9, 10 and 14 are reproduced in an
Appendix to this letter.


AI also urges the institution of a thorough review of the current training
and deployment of law enforcement officers involved in crowd control. It
calls on your government to take all necessary measures to ensure that
the police are adequately equipped and trained to employ legitimate
non-lethal methods of crowd control and moreover, are subject to strict
regulations regarding the use of such methods, and to a strict system of
accountability.


All regulations and training on the use of firearms by law enforcement
officials should be reviewed and, where necessary, amended, so as to ensure
clarity and conformity with international minimum standards and to
protect, to the greatest extent possible, the lives, physical integrity and
safety of the public.


AI is concerned about allegations that - in the days immediately preceding
the G8 summit, some protestors with apparently peaceful intent were not
allowed to enter Italy or were expelled and not allowed to proceed to Genoa,
thus violating their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. There are
also allegations that in
incidents at the Port of Ancona some such protestors were subjected to
ill-treatment
by law enforcement officers.

On Thursday, 19 July some 130 Greek citizens who had travelled to Italy with
the intention of joining in protests surrounding the G8 summit in Genoa,
were forcibly deported by the Italian authorities. On Saturday, 21 July the
Greek Foreign Ministry categorically denied claims by the Italian
authorities that weapons and dangerous objects had been found in the coaches
carrying the protestors, thus justifying their deportation. Many of those
expelled, including the Chair of the Greek Section of AI, reported that
law enforcement officers subjected them to gratuitous violence, kicking them
and hitting them with batons. AI notes that the Italian authorities have
stated that some demonstrators had attacked law enforcement officers,
inflicting injuries;

- law enforcement officers used excessive force on the streets during
demonstrations which took place on Friday 20 and Saturday, 21 July,
inflicting indiscriminate assaults, including beatings with batons, on -
- amongst others -- non-violent protestors and journalists reporting on the
demonstrations;

- during a police raid carried out on buildings being legally occupied by
the Genoa Social Forum (GSF) in the early hours of Sunday, 22 July law
enforcement officers subjected individuals detained in and around the
GSF buildings, many of them asleep when the raid started, to deliberate and
gratuitous beatings, resulting in numerous injuries, some of them requiring
urgent hospitalization and in some cases surgical operations. Up to 20
people were reportedly carried out of the building on stretchers, two of
them apparently in a coma;

- dozens of people were subjected to arbitrary and illegal arrest and
detention, including the majority of those detained during the raid on the
Genoa Social Forum;

- during transfer in police vehicles and inside detention facilities law
enforcement and prison officers subjected individuals to beatings and other
cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. It has been claimed, amongst
other things, that detainees were slapped, kicked punched and spat on,
subjected to verbal abuse, sometimes of an obscene sexual nature, were
deprived of food, water and sleep for lengthy periods, made to line up with
their faces against the wall and remain for hours spreadeagled, with their
hands in the air or against the wall, and beaten, in particular on parts of
their bodies already injured during arrest if they failed to maintain this
position.
Those forced to maintain this position allegedly included those who had
already suffered hand and arm injuries. Some detainees were apparently
threatened with death and, in the case of female detainees, rape;


- many people were denied the internationally-recognized rights of people
deprived of their liberty, in some cases for several days, including denial
of prompt access to lawyers and, in the case of foreigners, consular
officials, and denial of prompt and adequate medical care. In addition, many
were not allowed to have their relatives promptly notified of their
whereabouts and were not informed of their rights.


In view of these allegations, AI welcomed the news of the opening by the
Genoa Prosecutor's Office of criminal investigations into the conduct of law
enforcement and prison officers during the G8 summit in Genoa, in addition
to the criminal investigation into the fatal shooting of Carlo Giuliani on
20 July.


It is AI's understanding that one investigation concerns the conduct of law
enforcement officers during the street demonstrations, that another concerns
their conduct during the raid on the Genoa Social Forum offices on 22 July
and that a third concerns the allegations of cruel inhuman and degrading
treatment and the violations of the other rights of people deprived of their
 liberty in police stations, detention facilities and during
transportation.

AI would welcome the cooperation of your government in providing the
organization with clarification as to the precise number and remit of the
criminal investigations. AI would also be grateful to be informed of the
nature of any official investigations opened into the conduct of the police
during the incidents in the Port of Ancona on 19 July. AI would similarly
welcome information about any investigations which have been initiated into
the role of undercover police officers during the G8 demonstrations in
Genoa.

Although AI welcomes the initiation of these criminal investigations by the
Italian judicial authorities, given the scale and gravity of the allegations
still emerging, the large number of foreign nationals making the
allegations and the consequent very high level of domestic and international
concern, in
the organization's view the criminal investigations are unlikely to provide
an adequate response.


Last week AI publicly and strongly advocated, therefore, the establishment
of an independent commission of inquiry, comprising people of acknowledged
probity and impartiality, to carry out a comprehensive investigation into
the conduct of law enforcement and prison officers acting in the context of
G8, with its scope, methods and findings made public.

AI would also recommend that:


- the commission should be given jurisdiction to take evidence from people
alleging that they have been ill-treated by law enforcement and prison
officers, and that such people be protected against harassment and
intimidation and from prosecution for the substance of any allegations made
about specific instances of ill-treatment;

- the commission should also be empowered to summons and take evidence from
law enforcement and prison officers as well as relevant administrators, and
to subpoena relevant evidence and records;

- the commission should file interim reports to facilitate the prompt
initiation of any appropriate criminal or disciplinary proceedings,
identifying specific instances and individuals whenever possible. These
reports should also facilitate prompt amendments to regulations, laws,
training and procedures relevant to law enforcement and prison officers;

- the commission should be given the authority to recommend that criminal
prosecutions or disciplinary proceedings be brought against any officers
against whom there is substantive evidence that they have engaged in
torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or used excessive force.

In urging the Italian government to establish an independent commission of
inquiry, AI wishes to underline its belief that prompt, independent,
impartial and effective investigations, with the scope, methods and
findings made public, serve to protect the reputations of law enforcement
and prison officers who may be the subject of unfounded accusations of
excessive force, torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well
as to safeguard the interests of genuine victims of torture or
ill-treatment.

Copies of this letter are being sent to the President of the Republic and to
the Ministers of Interior, Defence, Finance and Justice, for their
information.

Yours sincerely,
Kate Gilmore
Interim Secretary General





APPENDIX


United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and
Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials


Principle 4 states:

"Law enforcement officials, in carrying out their duty, shall as far as
possible apply non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and
firearms. They may use force and firearms only if other means remain
ineffective or without any promise of achieving the intended result."


Principle 5 states:

"Whenever the lawful use of force and firearms is unavoidable, law
enforcement officials shall:

a) exercise restraint in such use and act in proportion to the seriousness
of the offence and the legitimate objective to be achieved;

b) minimize damage and injury, and respect and preserve human life;

c) ensure that assistance and medical aid are rendered to any injured or
affected persons at the earliest possible moment;

d) ensure that relatives or close friends of the injured or affected
person are notified at the earliest possible moment."


Principle 9 states:

"Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in
self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or
serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime
involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger
and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only
when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any
event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly
unavoidable in order to protect life."


Principle 10 states:

"In the circumstances provided for under principle 9, law enforcement
officials shall identify themselves as such and give a clear warning of
their intent to use firearms, with sufficient time for the warning to be
observed, unless to do so would unduly place the law enforcement officials
at risk or would create a risk of death or serious harm to other persons, or
would be clearly inappropriate or pointless in the circumstances of the
incident."


Principle 14 states:

"In the dispersal of violent assemblies, law enforcement officials may use
firearms only when less dangerous means are not practicable and only to the
minimum extent necessary. Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms
in such cases, except under the conditions stipulated in principle 9."

--
ciao,
Marco