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Recommendations to governments:

Following are recommendations made by AI to governments to uphold human rights globally.

Recommendations to governments:


Prisoners of conscience

AI calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience. Prisoners of conscience are people detained anywhere for their political, religious or other conscientiously held beliefs or because of their ethnic origin, sex, colour, language, national or social origin, economic status, birth or other status - who have not used or advocated violence.


Political prisoners

AI calls for all prisoners, whose cases have a political aspect to be given a prompt and fair trial on recognizably criminal charges, or released.

AI calls for trials to meet minimum international standards of fairness. These include, for example, the right to a fair hearing before a competent, independent and impartial tribunal, the right to have adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence, and the right to appeal to a higher tribunal.

Prison conditions

AI calls on governments to ensure that prison conditions do not amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, in line with international human rights standards for the treatment of prisoners.


Death penalty

AI calls on governments to abolish the death penalty in law and practice. Pending abolition, AI calls on governments to commute death sentences, to introduce a moratorium on executions, to respect international standards restricting the scope of the death penalty and to ensure the most rigorous standards for fair trial in capital cases.

Torture and ill-treatment

AI calls on governments to take steps to prevent torture and ill-treatment. Such steps include initiating impartial, prompt and effective investigations into all allegations of torture and bringing to justice those responsible for torture.

Further safeguards against torture and ill-treatment which AI promotes include:

  • clear policies that torture and ill-treatment will not be tolerated;
  • an end to incommunicado detention, including giving detainees access to independent medical examination and legal counsel;
  • outlawing the use of confessions extracted under torture as evidence in courts of law;
  • independent inspection of places of detention;
  • informing detainees of their rights;
  • human rights training for law enforcement personnel;
  • compensation for the victims of torture;
  • medical treatment and rehabilitation for the victims of torture.

 

Political killings and 'disappearances'

AI calls on governments to end extrajudicial executions and "disappearances". It calls for prompt, independent and effective investigations into such violations and for those responsible to be brought to justice.


AI calls on governments to:

  • demonstrate their total opposition to extrajudicial executions and "disappearances" and make clear to security forces that these abuses will not be tolerated in any circumstances;
  • end secret or incommunicado detention and introduce measures to locate and protect prisoners;
  • provide effective protection to anyone in danger of extrajudicial execution or "disappearance", including those who have received threats;
  • ensure that law enforcement officials use force only when strictly required and to the minimum extent necessary - lethal force should be used only when unavoidable to protect life;
  • ensure strict chain-of-command control of all security forces;
  • ban "death squads", private armies and paramilitary forces acting outside the official chain of command.


Unlawful killings in armed conflict

AI calls on governments engaged in armed conflict to adhere to provisions of international humanitarian law, including the prohibition of direct attacks on civilians and of indiscriminate attacks.

Asylum-seekers

AI calls on governments to ensure that no asylum-seekers are returned to a country where they might suffer violations of their fundamental human rights.

AI calls on governments to ensure that all asylum-seekers have access to a fair and impartial individual asylum determination, and to ensure that they are not arbitrarily detained or otherwise put under undue pressure.

Promote and respect human rights

AI calls on states to ratify international and regional human rights instruments without reservations, and calls on all governments to respect and promote the provisions of these instruments.

Recommendations to armed political groups

AI calls on armed political groups to respect fundamental standards of human rights and international humanitarian law, and to halt abuses such as the detention of prisoners of conscience, hostage-taking, torture and unlawful killings.

 

 

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