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	Abuses of patients under medical supervision by Juan E. Méndez Special Rapporteur on torture   A senior independent United Nations human rights expert has presented a new report in which he calls for an international debate on abuses of patients under medical supervision ranging from compulsory detention of drug users in rehabilitation centres to refusal of treatment for HIV-positive patients.   “Medical care that causes severe suffering for no justifiable reason can be considered cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and if there is State involvement and specific intent, it is torture,” said Juan E. Méndez, the Special Rapporteur on torture. Mr. Méndez made the comments while presenting his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council, which is currently meeting in Geneva.   The report analyses all forms of abuse labelled as ‘health-care treatment’ which try to be premised or justified by health-care policies, according to a news release.   “There are unique challenges to stopping ill-treatment in health-care settings due, among other things, to a perception that, while never justified, certain practices in health-care may be defended by the authorities on grounds of administrative efficiency, behaviour modification or medical necessity,” he noted.   In his report, Mr. Méndez notes that, under the premise of drug rehabilitation centres, street children, persons with psychosocial disabilities, sex workers, homeless individuals and tuberculosis patients are sometimes reportedly detained in so-called rehabilitation centres which are commonly run by military or paramilitary, police or security forces, or private companies.   He also identifies the scope of State’s obligations to regulate, control and supervise health-care practices.   Referring to instances where governments have denied pain treatment, Mr. Méndez urges authorities to “guarantee essential medicines – which include, among others, opioid analgesics” as part of their minimum core obligations under the right to health, and to protect people under their jurisdiction from inhuman and degrading treatment.   He notes that denying opiate substitute treatment, which is often used to help heroine addicts, is sometimes used by authorities to elicit criminal confessions.   The report also cites violations of reproductive rights, abuse of persons with psychosocial disabilities and marginalized groups, including women and gay persons. Visit the related web page
	20 ritual killings since the start of the year in Gabon by Reuters, UN News & agencies Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights   March 25, 2013   20 ritual killings since the start of the year in Gabon (Reuters)   A rising number of mutilated bodies washing up on Gabon"s beaches this year has sown fear in the normally sleepy capital Libreville of a resurgence in ritual killings.   The body parts of humans and animals are prized by some in central Africa for their supposed supernatural powers, including among some politicians bent on gaining influence.   "We have seen 20 killings since the start of the year," said Jean-Elvis Ebang Ondo, the president of Gabon"s Association for the Prevention of Ritual Crimes, in Libreville.   He said most of the victims were young girls whose lips, tongues, genitals and other organs had been removed.   The killings have stirred rising anger against the government for doing too little to halt the murders.   "We want to shout out our anger and tell the authorities that this needs to stop," said Jessy Biyambou, a member of the Cry of Women advocacy group, which is organising an April 6 rally in support of victms families.   Roland Akoumba, whose 8-year-old daughter was found dead in mid-March, told Reuters he was losing hope for justice.   "When the police removed the body from the water, they saw that the tongue, the lips, and the genitals were cut off," he said. "I filed a complaint but I know it will go nowhere."   Officials from the notoriously closed-door government of the former French colony have declined to comment publicly on the killings.   "The phenomenon of ritual crimes is real. But no one here is willing to turn anyone else in for fear they too will be in danger," said a member of parliament, who asked that his name not be used for fear of reprisals.   In the most high-profile ritual murder court case in Gabon to date, a convicted killer accused a Gabonese senator of ordering the 2009 murder of a 12-year-old girl for her organs.   The senator"s immunity was lifted after the accusation was made late last year, but he has not been indicted. The senator has denied any involvement.   Gabon is not the only African country with a black market trade in human organs.   Tomb raiders dug up more than 100 graves in Benin"s capital in November. Cameroonian authorities in September arrested five people for trafficking after they were stopped at a checkpoint with a severed human head.   10 Apr 2013   Woman beheaded, others tortured in PNG witch hunt-Amnesty, by Alisa Tang. (trustlaw)   The latest witch hunt in Papua New Guinea’s South Bougainville district was triggered by the death of a former teacher, a man. As often happens in this southwest Pacific nation, villagers looking for the cause of a respected man’s death last week grabbed their firearms, knives and axes and tracked down the ‘witches’ they held responsible -- all women.   One woman - a retired school teacher and prominent women’s advocate - was beheaded, said Kate Schuetze, Brisbane-based Pacific researcher for Amnesty International.   Another woman - who suffered a severe laceration to her neck and is coughing up blood - and her two daughters remain captive in the village, Schuetze said. Three others have been taken to a medical centre in Bana district, where Lopele is located.   “We’ve today issued an urgent call on the Papua New Guinea government and regional police to allocate all necessary resources to ensure the safety of those six women,” she said on Wednesday in a telephone interview from Brisbane.   The Lopele witch hunt is not an isolated incident: When misfortune or death befall the tribal communities of Papua New Guinea, accusations of witchcraft, sorcery and black magic are commonly made, often ending with a witch hunt, torture and killing. The accused are usually women - sometimes the oldest or weakest, maybe a widow, and at other times, the strongest who has fought for women’s rights.   To help the captives in Lopele, the government sent one policeman.   “The response of the police to this and other appalling similar incidents in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea has so far been seriously inadequate,” Schuetze said.   DEEP-ROOTED BELIEF   Papua New Guinea’s 6.5 million people are among the world’s most heterogeneous populations, many of them subsistence farmers living in small communities that speak one of the country’s 800-plus languages.   Disputes over land, women and even pigs have sparked tribal conflict and even civil war in parts of the country, while domestic violence and violence against women are widespread.   Sorcery, black magic and witchcraft are ingrained in the culture, as are the punishments meted out.   “It’s a very big problem. It’s a very sensitive issue… (Christian) churches are trying to address the problem, but it’s very deeply rooted in the belief system of the people,” said Jack Urame, director of the Melanesian Institute in Papua New Guinea’s Eastern Highlands province.   The institute has extensively researched sorcery, and Urame says he reads about a murder in the newspapers at least once a month. While there are male victims, the majority are women.   “Normally when people die of sickness or disease, people blame sorcery or witchcraft. Even medical reasons, people don’t believe,” Urame told TrustLaw by telephone.   “The traditional belief is very, very strong… This is the way people see the world. It’s the way they explain sickness and death in their own cultural belief system.”   It is so strong that it is enshrined in law in the 1971 Sorcery Act, which punishes those practising sorcery with up to two years in prison and allows murderers to appeal against their sentences by alleging black magic was involved.   “The government is trying to repeal the old Sorcery Act and come up with something completely new to criminalise sorcery killings,” Urame said.   “It will take a long time. It’s a matter of awareness and education… The entire community is behind these sorts of things, and the police feel powerless. According to the people, to remove a sorcerer or witch is protecting the community. That is their belief.”   February 2013   UN urges Papua New Guinea to take action after woman burned alive for witchcraft, by Cécile Pouilly.   UN urges Papua New Guinea to take action after woman burned alive for witchcraft.   The United Nations human rights office has urged the Government of Papua New Guinea to take concrete action following reports that a 20-year-old woman accused of sorcery was burnt alive in front of a crowd, noting that this is the latest in a “growing pattern” of such attacks.   “We urge the Government to put an end to these crimes and to bring perpetrators of attacks and killings to justice through thorough, prompt and impartial investigations in accordance with international law,” Cécile Pouilly, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), told a news conference in Geneva.   OHCHR was “deeply disturbed” by reports of the killing of Kepari Leniata, which took place in Mount Hagen, Papua New Guinea, on 6 February, said Ms. Pouilly.   According to reports, Ms. Leniata was burnt alive in front of a crowd by relatives of a six-year-old boy whom she was accused of using sorcery to kill, while attempts by law enforcement officials to intervene failed.   “We note with great concern that this case adds to the growing pattern of vigilante attacks and killings of persons accused of sorcery in Papua New Guinea,” Ms. Pouilly said.   She called on the authorities to demonstrate their political will in concretely addressing the issue through a multi-pronged approach.   “We urge the Government to take urgent action to prevent further cases through education, to provide protection to persons accused of sorcery and witnesses of sorcery-related killings, and to provide medical and psychosocial treatment for victims.”   Ms. Pouilly noted that the country’s Constitutional Law Reform Commission, whose report has yet to be presented to Parliament, has held consultations to review the Sorcery Act – which contains the crime of sorcery – and has stated that it should be repealed.   “In the light of the heinous crime which has been committed, we encourage the authorities to hasten the process to strengthen the legal response to such killings,” she stated.   http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/what-to-do-about-witchcraft/563/
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