The European Court of Human Rights on Thursday ruled that Italy violated human rights principles by spurning African migrants and asylum-seekers on the high seas, a judgment hailed as historic by Amnesty International. 

In the case, Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy, the Court considered the plight of 24 people from Somalia and Eritrea who were among more than 200 people intercepted at sea by Italian authorities in 2009 and forced to return to Libya, their point of departure.

The practice violated international obligations to not return individuals to countries where they could be at risk of human rights abuses.

“This historic judgment is a damning verdict on Italy’s willingness to cooperate with Colonel Mu’ammar al-Gaddafi’s government in Libya, which was known to systematically abuse human rights,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, Amnesty International’s Head of Refugee and Migrants’ Rights.

“The ruling strengthens respect for human rights across Europe and upholds international legal safeguards for migrants and asylum-seekers.”

The Court found that Italy violated the European Convention of Human Rights by exposing the migrants to the risk of being subjected to ill-treatment in Libya and being repatriated to Somalia and Eritrea. 

Amnesty International intervened as third party in the case, jointly with the AIRE Centre and the Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l’Homme (FIDH), pointing out that the Italian authorities’ actions began a policy of push-backs that were condemned for breaching fundamental principles of international human rights law.

The Court’s judgment establishes that even when individuals are intercepted in international waters, government authorities are obliged to abide by international human rights law. 

Anybody they intercept must have access to an individualized procedure as well as remedies to challenge the decision to return them to their country of departure. The Court found such removals operated outside national territory constituted collective expulsion. 

“States intercepting individuals outside their territorial waters cannot operate in a legal vacuum,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali.

“Even on the high seas, international human rights norms still apply, including the principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits returning people to a country where they run the risk of human rights abuses.”

The European Court judgment comes at a time when new governments are in place in both Italy and Libya.

However, Amnesty International has documented that Sub-Saharan African migrants in Libya are still at risk of torture or other ill-treatment, and many have been arbitrarily detained on the basis of their legal status in the country. Both governments are currently re-establishing cooperation ties on a number of issues, including migration control.

“It is regrettable that one of the first decisions of the National Transitional Council and the new Italian government, rather than rejecting such cooperation, has actually been to recommit to cooperation in the field
of migration control,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali.

“The principles upheld by this judgment must inform any cooperation on migration control between the Italian government and the new Libyan authorities.”

Amnesty International

Ed Cairns explains Oxfam's report "Crises in a new world order"

The international humanitarian response system will fail to cope with the expected rise in the number of people exposed to crises unless there are more resources closer to where disasters happen and there is more investment in preventing and reducing the risk of disasters.

In the report, Crises in a New World Order, Oxfam notes that while governments’ and agencies’ response to emergencies has greatly improved it still remains ‘too little, too late’ and is often determined by the vagaries of media and political interest rather than level of human need...[more]

Kate Raworth, Senior Researcher at Oxfam Great Britain introduces her discussion paper "A Safe and Just Space for Humanity: can we live within the doughnut?"

In the run-up to Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, this discussion paper is an exploration of what such a model of prosperity might look like.

It presents a visual framework -- shaped like a doughnut -- which brings the concept of planetary boundaries together with the complementary concept of social boundaries, creating a safe and just space between the two, in which humanity can thrive.

 Download the paper A Safe and Just Space for Humanity: can we live within the doughnut?

Download Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan's 2012 South African Budget Speech and supporting guides

from Old Mutual

No Place for Children Child Recruitment, Forced Marriage, and Attacks on Schools in Somalia
This Human Rights Watch report details unlawful recruitment and other laws-of-war violations against children by all parties to the conflict in Somalia since 2010. The report is based on over 164 interviews with Somali children, including 21 who had escaped from al-Shabaab forces, as well as parents and teachers who had fled to Kenya.

Download the full report (PDF, 925.25 KB)

Contents

Read the Press Release

“The Causes of Stability and Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa: An Analytic Survey” and is available on the CSIS web site at: http://csis.org/files/publication/120213_MENA_Stability.pdf By Anthony H. Cordesman, Nicholas S. Yarosh, a Center for Strategic and International Studies, USA, report

The report focuses on underlying forces and causes at a time when political crisis -- and serious security issues -- dominate the region.  These political dynamics and unrest are, however, only part of the story.

The trends in demographics, economics, internal security and justice systems, governance, and social change show how much other factors affect both the region and individual nations, and will remain sources of violence and instability until they are dealt with. They show how basic data on the size of given economies, per capita incomes, populations, and population growth rates also contribute to instability. Finally, they illustrate the critical role of governance, social change, and justice systems in shaping and dealing with each nation’s problems...[more]

An updated and greatly expanded analysis of the metrics that can cause political instability and unrest in the Gulf and Middle East.

Armed militias operating across Libya commit widespread human rights abuses with impunity, fuelling insecurity and hindering the rebuilding of state institutions, warned Amnesty International in a new report released today, a year on from the start of the February 2011 uprising.

The report Militias threaten hopes for new Libya, documents widespread and serious abuses, including war crimes, by a multitude of militias against suspected al-Gaddafi loyalists, with cases of people being unlawfully detained and tortured – sometimes to death.

African migrants and refugees have also been targeted, and revenge attacks have been carried out, forcibly displacing entire communities – while the authorities have done nothing to investigate the abuses and hold those responsible to account.

“Militias in Libya are largely out of control and the blanket impunity they enjoy only encourages further abuses and perpetuates instability and insecurity,” said Donatella Rovera, Senior Crisis Response Adviser at Amnesty International.

“A year ago Libyans risked their lives to demand justice. Today their hopes are being jeopardized by lawless armed militias who trample human rights with impunity. The only way to break with the entrenched practices of decades of abuse under Colonel al-Gaddafi’s authoritarian rule is to ensure that nobody is above the law and that investigations are carried out into such abuses”.

In January and early February 2012, Amnesty International delegates visited 11 detention facilities in central and western Libya used by various militias and at 10 of these locations, detainees said they had been tortured or ill-treated en situ, and showed Amnesty International injuries resulting from recent abuse. Several detainees said they had confessed to rape, killings and other crimes they had not committed just to end the torture.

At least 12 detainees held by militias have died after being tortured since September.  Their bodies were covered in bruises, wounds and cuts and some had had nails pulled off. 

Individuals held in and around Tripoli, Gharyan, Misratah, Sirte and Zawiya told Amnesty International they had been suspended in contorted positions; beaten for hours with whips, cables, plastic hoses, metal chains and bars, and wooden sticks; and given electric shocks with live wires and taser-like electro-shock weapons.

At a detention centre in Misratah an Amnesty International delegate saw armed militia members beating and threatening some detainees whose release had been ordered. An older detainee from Tawargha was cowering, squatting against the wall, and crying as he was being kicked and threatened by a militia member who told Amnesty International that “those from Tawargha will not be released or we’ll kill them”.

In an interrogation centre in Misratah and Tripoli Amnesty International found detainees who interrogators had tried to conceal and who had been severely tortured – one so badly that he could hardly move or speak. 

Not a single effective investigation is known to have been carried out into cases of torture, even in cases where detainees died after having been tortured at militia headquarters or in interrogation centres which are formally or informally recognized or linked to the central authorities.

“Militias with a record of abuse of detainees should simply not be allowed to hold anyone and all detainees should be immediately transferred to authorized detention facilities under the control of the National Transitional Council.”

No investigations have been carried out either into other grave abuses, such as the extrajudicial execution of detainees and other war crimes, including the killing of some 65 people whose bodies were found on 23 October in a hotel in Sirte which served as a base for opposition fighters from Misratah.

Militia members are seen on video footage obtained by Amnesty International hitting and threatening to kill a group of 29 men in their custody. One is heard saying “take them all and kill them”. Their bodies were among those found three days later at the hotel, many with their hands tied behind their back and shot in the head.

The Libyan authorities have so far taken no action against the militias who have forcibly displaced entire communities – a crime under international law.  Militias from Misratah drove out the entire population of Tawargha, some 30,000 people, and looted and burned down their homes in revenge for crimes some Tawargha are accused of having committed during the conflict.  Thousands of members of the Mashashya tribe were similarly forced out of their village by militias from Zintan, in the Nafusa Mountains. These and other communities remains displaced in makeshift camps around the country while no action has been taken to hold the perpetrators accountable or to allow the displaced communities to return home.

“The blanket impunity afforded to militias is sending the message that such abuses are tolerated and is contributing to making such practices accepted practice. Individuals responsible for abuses must be held to account for their actions and removed from positions that would allow them to repeat such abuses.” said Donatella Rovera.

 “It is imperative that the Libyan authorities firmly demonstrate their commitment to turning the page on decades of systematic violations by reining in the militias, investigating all past and present abuses and prosecuting those responsible - on all sides - in accordance with international law.”

Amnesty International

The JRC has published a study mapping the potential of renewable energy sources in Africa. The report analyses the continent's current energy consumption and assesses potential of renewable energy sources - solar, wind, biomass and hydropower - and their cost efficiency and environmental sustainability.

The map of Africa's solar electricity potential, for example, based on the JRC's Photovoltaic Geographical Information System (PVGIS), shows that in many parts of Africa the same photovoltaic panel could produce twice as much electricity as it would produce in Central Europe. However, in order to assess the suitability of solar energy to provide electricity in rural areas, this option has to be assessed against costs for grid extensions and with the traditional diesel generators.

The report carries out an analysis of the costs and benefits of each technology, with varying results depending on the area of the continent.

The publication of the report coincides with the official European Launch of UN Year on "Sustainable Energy for All" held in Brussels on 8 February.

European Commission. Joint Research Centre News  08/02/12

Youth Employment: Youth Perspectives on the Pursuit of Decent Work in Changing Times

The World Youth Report 2011  explores the transition of young people from schools and training institutions into the labour market, a phase marking a critical period in the life cycle.The current employment scenario for young people, worsened by the global economic crisis, poses an urgent challenge with long-term implications for both young people and society as a whole. Young people themselves are crucial stakeholders in the pursuit of decent and productive work for all.

To view the full report, please visit: http://unworldyouthreport.org/

From UN Pulse

Slow and Steady Recovery Continues, With Encouraging Signs in Developing Countries in Eastern Europe

• Overall, the employment picture in middle-income countries continued a gradual recovery.
• Signs of a strong resurgence were seen in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
• Latin America's rebound appeared to be moderating, while trends in East Asia were positive.

JobTrends is a regular series monitoring labor markets in developing countries. It is a collaborative effort between the Human Development Network (HDN) and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management (PREM) Network of the .