In a letter sent on May 31, 2007, to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, PHR responds to the recently declassified Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report, "Review of DoD-Directed Investigations of Detainee Abuse." In the report, the OIG details how interrogation techniques used in recent years by the military were developed using techniques from the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) program, a module designed to train military personnel in how to resist torture when captured by a ruthless enemy. The PHR letter calls on Secretary Gates to specifically ban techniques developed from the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape program, to establish ethical guidelines for all health professionals involved in interrogations, and to declassify and release all additional materials pertaining to these matters.

Read the letter

This document presents brief descriptions of innovative and successful HIV prevention programs targeting injection drug users in Brazil, Russia, India, and a cross-border area of southern China and northern Vietnam.

Re: Candidacy of Belarus for the UN Human Rights Council

Your Excellency,

On May 17, your government will cast a vote in the UN General Assembly (GA) for members of the UN Human Rights Council. No country can be elected unless an absolute majority of the UN General Assembly—97 members—affirmatively writes in the name of that candidate on the ballot.

Belarus, which fails to cooperate with United Nations human rights mechanisms and has one of the worst human rights records in Europe, is running for election to the Human Rights Council from the Eastern European Group. We write to urge your government to commit itself to opposing Belarus' election to the Council, and to encourage other governments to also oppose Belarus. Your opposition would mean that you would not write in the name of Belarus on its secret ballot in the May 17 election, but instead leave the line blank or vote for another candidate.

Under General Assembly resolution 60/251 establishing the Council which your government supported last year, "member States shall take into account the contribution of candidates to the promotion and protection of human rights and their voluntary pledges and commitments made thereto" when electing new members. That resolution also requires that Council members (1) "fully cooperate with the Council," and (2) "uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights." Election of Belarus to the Council would render these standards meaningless, and severely damage the new Council's credibility.

Failure to Cooperate with the Human Rights Council

Rather than "fully cooperate" with the Human Rights Council as is required by the General Assembly resolution, Belarus has frequently refused to cooperate with special procedure mandate-holders. The Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Belarus noted the "absolute refusal to cooperate on the part of the Government of Belarus," including its refusal of all visit requests, of all efforts for constructive dialogue, and of any response to conclusions and recommendations. Two requests by other special procedures mandate-holders are also outstanding.

Only four months ago, the UN General Assembly itself expressed its deep concern with Belarus' failure to cooperate with the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council. In Resolution 61/175 the Assembly insisted that the Government of Belarus now cooperate with "all the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, in particular with the Special Rapporteur." Belarus has also barred the EU's former special representative on human rights, Michael Matthiessen, from visiting the country. 

Failure to Uphold the Highest Standards of Human Rights 

Rather than "uphold the highest standards" of human rights, Belarus has an extremely poor human rights records, and as noted above was singled out for criticism in a resolution just adopted by the General Assembly in December 2006. A copy of GA resolution 61/175 is attached for your reference.

Belarusian authorities severely persecuted opposition parties and leaders both before and after the March 19, 2006 election in which President Alexander Lukashenka was elected for a third term with more than 80 percent of the vote.  The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) concluded that the election failed to meet the organization's standards for democratic elections, citing harassment of opposition candidates and campaign workers, heavily biased media coverage, lack of transparency in ballot counting, and other problems.

Belarusian authorities have stifled the media by criminalizing adverse news coverage, terminating publishing and distribution contracts, and refusing to investigate or prosecute the murder of journalists. The authorities have curbed the right to peaceful assembly by new criminal code provisions; violently dispersing, arresting and fining peaceful protesters, and sentencing political party leaders to jail for participating in protests. The government severely restricts the activities of human rights groups, targeting in particular the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, the only remaining registered human rights organization, which is facing politically motivated charges of tax evasion on tax-exempt grants from the European Union.

Gross and systematic human rights abuses in Belarus have been repeatedly condemned in the three annual reports of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus. At least six holders of UN special procedure thematic mandates—including those on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, on torture, on human rights defenders, on enforced or involuntary disappearances, on the independence of judges and lawyers, and on arbitrary detention—have similarly expressed grave concerns over the human rights situation in Belarus.

In February 2004, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe accused high-ranking Belarusian officials of involvement in the disappearances of the former Interior Minister, Prime Minister, electoral commission chairman, and an independent journalist, and criticized the detention of two human rights activists for distribution of the Assembly's disappearances report. The Council of Europe has refused to admit Belarus for membership in the institution due to the government's deeply repressive policies.

In November 2006, the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution expressing deep concern with the failure of Belarus to hold free and fair elections, arbitrary use of State power against opposition candidates, routine harassment and arrest of political and civil society activists, harassment and detention of journalists, implication of government officials in the enforced disappearance or summary execution of opposition politicians and journalists, forced closure of the University of Belarus, and harassment and closure of civil society organizations and harassment and prosecution of human rights defenders. This resolution was affirmed and adopted as GA resolution 61/175 in plenary session on December 19, 2006 by a vote of 72 to 32, with 69 abstentions.

Unfortunately, the situation in Belarus has not improved since GA resolution 61/175 was adopted last December. Given the standards set for Council membership by GA resolution 60/251, your government should decline to support Belarus' candidacy at this time.

Many thanks for giving consideration to this important election which is so critical to the human rights work of the United Nations. The election of Belarus would send a deeply disturbing signal about the commitment of the General Assembly to upholding the provisions of Resolution 60/251, and would damage the credibility not only of the Human Rights Council but of the General Assembly. We urge you to oppose Belarus' candidacy for membership in the Human Rights Council, and to decline to write in the name of Belarus on its secret ballot for the May 17 election.

Representatives of the coalition would be very grateful for the opportunity to meet with you or your staff to discuss our concerns regarding the position your government will take on the candidacy of Belarus. To arrange a meeting, your staff may contact Rania Suidan at +1-212-216-1808.

With assurances of our highest respect,

Helen Darbishire, Executive Director
Access Info Europe (Spain)

Guelord Bahati Mbaenda, Directeur
Action des jeunes pour le Développement Communautaire et la Paix (ADECOP) (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Therese Niyondiko, Ag. Executive Director
African Women's Development and Communications Network (FEMNET)

Albert Musliu, Executive Director
Association for Democratic Initiatives – ADI Macedonia

Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, President
Bahrain Centre for Human Rights

Bahey el-Din Hassan, Director
Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

G. Jasper Cummeh, III, Director
The Center for Transparency & Accountability in Liberia

Gastón Chillier, Director Ejecutivo
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS) (Argentina)

Charles J. Brown, President and CEO
Citizens for Global Solutions

Jan Mortier, Executive Director
Civitatis International

Richard C. Rowson, President
Council for a Community of Democracies

Ted Piccone, Executive Director
Democracy Coalition Project

Wasef Tubishat, Director General
Democracy Watch (Jordan)
The Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement (EACPE)

Ilona Mihaies, Executive President
Euroregional Center for Democracy

Anselmo Lee, Executive Director
FORUM-ASIA

Omar Lopez Montenegro, Executive Director
Foundation for Human Rights in Cuba

Jennifer Windsor, Executive Director
Freedom House

Joseph Mawuli Mensah, Executive Secretary
Hopelink International

Maureen Byrnes, Executive Director
Human Rights First

Ken Roth, Executive Director
Human Rights Watch

Dieudonné Zognong, President
Humanus International (Cameroon)

Poengky Indarti, Director of External Relations
IMPARSIAL – The Indonesian Human Rights Monitor
Independent Social Ecological Movement/Nezavislé sociáln?? ekologické hnutí – NESEHNUTÍ (Czech Republic)

Gus Miclat, Executive Director
Initiatives for International Dialogue

Bart Woord, Secretary General
International Federation of Liberal Youth (IFLRY)
International Helsinki Federation

Robert Arsenault, President
International League for Human Rights

Nozima Kamalova, Chairperson
The Legal Aid Society of Uzbekistan

Humberto Guerrero, Dirección de Incidencia
Mexican Commission for the Defense and Promotion of Human Rights/Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos, A.C.

Matteo Mecacci, UN Representative
Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty

Morton H. Halperin, Director of U.S. Advocacy
Open Society Institute

Igor Blazevic, Director of Human Rights and Democracy Center
People in Need (Czech Republic)

Leonard Rubenstein, Executive Director
Physicians for Human Rights

Lenka Surotchak, Director
Pontis Foundation (Slovakia)

Vo Van Ai, President
Que Me: Action for Democracy in Vietnam

Ibrahim H. Musa, Executive Director
Samotalis Coalition of Human Rights (Somaliland)

SouthPanAfrican International (SPI):
– Fatima Lakas, Human Rights Director (Algeria)
– Sylla Aminata Savane, Advocacy Director for Children (Guinea)
– Chtati Hassan, Director of Sustainable Development (Morocco)
– Atamo Kane, Fatiha Azzabi Awid (Germany)
– Onyemaechi Lawrence (Austria)
– Issa Sangare (France)
– Tangara Soumana (Mali)
– Nehemiah Mukubwa (Kenya)
– Bomboso Lobanga John (Rwanda)
– Christophe Salumu Malaba Lulu (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Gesa Mike Munabi, President
Students for Global Democracy (Uganda)

Tamuna Karosanidze, Executive Director
Transparency International Georgia

Roberts Putnis, Executive Chairperson
Transparency International Latvia

Hillel C. Neuer, Executive Director
UN Watch

William H. Luers, President
United Nations Association of the USA

Kim Gleeson, Executive Director
Universal Rights Network 
WFUNA Geneva

Marie-Liesse Mandula, Secretary General
World Movement of Mothers

We must take time for hope. We cannot give up. Gathering like this for three years.

Still no protection; violence continues. It's depressing. It's numbing. It's even paralyzing. This is a long hard struggle and we have to keep going.

Today many of us wore white – the color of peace that we pray for and work for. It is also a color of death and of mourning in many cultures. So now that we are all standing up, I'm going to throw on the colors of the women's "topes" in Darfur. Our friends there – hundreds of thousands – are strong, and resilient, and hopeful. And they are wearing brilliant colors…..even in the camps. They are the colors of hope…..

For us standing here…many of you tired of coming out for three years now, we must look at what we have done so we can imagine what we can yet do!

The US Government for first time ever named a genocide while it was happening.

This was good, But it is not enough.

This and other governments must ACT based on their responsibility.

Saying the right things is not good enough.

Our government must DO the right thing.

In response to worldwide appeals and the images and witnesses from Darfur and Chad, millions of displaced people and refugees are being kept alive with food, clothing, shelter, and medicine. Humanitarian workers have stood up to threats and overcome obstacles. The largest humanitarian response in the world right now.

This is good. BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH.

Now we need these people to be protected and safely returned to their homes.

We need less talk and more action.

Pressure on the UN Security Council and by American activists on the US enabled these horrific crimes to be referred to the ICC so that perpetrators can be prosecuted. A few criminals have been named.

THIS IS GOOD. BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH.

We need higher level officials to be named and indicted and brought to the Hague and we need the United States Government to cooperate with the court and send over the evidence it has.

An amazing movement has mobilized to show powerful actors in corporations and finance that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. If you are involved in moving money that enables atrocities in Sudan, you are responsible! That message is out there. But this is not enough.

We now have the job to make people who pay for genocide pay a price for the collusion in the crime.

THE US HAS PUT SANCTIONS IN PLACE…AGAIN IN RESPONSE TO OUR PRESSURE. THIS IS WELL AND GOOD. BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH.

Bush must stiffen the sanctions, get European governments to enact and enforce similar and tougher sanctions, and for heaven's sake – the US must enforce its own sanctions!!! Today we tell President Bush:

Talking tough is not enough!

[Come to think of it – these sanctions are part of Plan "B'. This is good – but what happened to Plan "A"? In health care – where people's lives are at stake – you have do "A" work. B is not good enough when you're responsible for life and death. So Plan B better be as effective as "A" .]

Last year the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for 20,000 international troops with the power to protect civilians in Darfur. This was GREAT. BUT IT IS NOT ENOUGH!

We are still waiting. The people of Darfur are still waiting. The nations of the world must act on this resolution…and get the protection force on the ground. Every day we delay, more people die.

Did you hear the president's speech at the Holocaust Museum two weeks ago? Right after he saw the incredible Google Earth exhibit on the destruction of Darfur – he gave a speech where he said – the time has run out for Bashir. But then—practically in the same breath, he said, "I'm giving the UN more time to discuss and negotiate"

There is no more time.

There was no more time three years ago.

I work with doctors. Can you imagine a dying patient coming to the hospital with a heart attack or a gunshot wound and the staff saying, we need more time before we do anything?

Today we tell President Bush and other world leaders:

More delays mean more deaths.

SO JOIN WITH ME – SAY THESE WORDS LOUD ENOUGH SO THAT THEY REACH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND COLLEAGUES IN DARFUR WHO ARE COUNTING ON US:

To the world

We now shout

Darfur’s time is running out. 

On the Global Day for Darfur, PHR participated in a panel on the crisis there.

Physicians for Human Rights represents the voices of health professionals across the United States, but also those Sudanese doctors, nurses, and social workers on the front lines of the crisis in Darfur itself.

We have heard a lot today about the tremendous suffering of the people of Darfur, but we have not heard about these Sudanese health professionals and human rights advocates who are on the ground working to deal with the effects of the crisis.

Every day, our colleagues in Darfur risk their positions, their safety and even their lives to care for the sick, the injured, the tortured and those raped every day in Darfur as the genocide continues into its 4th year. These brave men and women are routinely threatened, harassed and intimidated by the Sudanese officials who fear that they will bear witness to the horrible crimes perpetrated by their security apparatus and the rebels they have armed.

We should remember them today along with the victims of the genocide and take some hope from their steadfastness and courage.

We take hope from knowing that Darfur is not just a land of victims, but of strong advocates working for their own people.

I want to speak briefly about an issue that has not been raised here today:

Compensation for the survivors.

Genocide is not just shooting people. There is another way to commit genocide: Destroying people's livelihoods and their way of life.

What the Sudanese government and the Janjaweed have done is to drive people out of their villages in the desert. They know they will not be able to survive there, many will die. Refugees told us the attackers said things like: "let's drive them into the desert to starve" and "don't waste the bullet, they've got nothing to eat and they'll die from hunger."

When villagers are forced into the desert they:

• risk exposure to searing heat and driving winds
• have no source of water- wells have been poisoned
• have no shelter –
• have no animals for food, milk and transport
• find few roads and little vegetation

Those that have survived the attacks and the destruction of their villages desperately want to return home. They want to be safe, they want to cultivate their land and rebuild their houses, schools, markets and mosques.

President Bashir, you and your cronies have gotten rich from Sudan's oil perversely, you have used the money from that oil to fund a genocide against your own people.

You must compensate the people of Darfur for their losses that you have inflicted upon them – losses of their loved ones, of their land, their homes, their livestock.

You must help them resettle in their ancestral homes, and provide the necessary services to help them to rebuild their shattered lives and traumatized psyches and repair the torn fabric of their once-vibrant societies. International law demands no less.

Compensation for these losses is a key demand of the parties who did not sign the Darfur Peace Agreement. We need to address this issue now, as a vital part of the peace process, not put it off until some indefinite future when the crisis is over.

People will not return to villages without security, but neither will they return without compensation for their losses and other assurances. Darfurians have said to our staff, "For us to return, we need to be assured our village will not be attacked again, but we also need something to return to."

None of this can happen without a dramatic improvement in security. This is the number one priority.

The people of Darfur are looking to us, concerned citizens across the globe, to speak for their rights — their right to life, to security, to health, their right not to be tortured and raped, their right to their culture and language, their right to property and livelihoods, their right to simply survive!

Today we stand with our brave colleagues in Sudan. We join with them in their call for a robust force to protect them from continued atrocities.

Physicians for Human Rights also stands in solidarity with the groups represented here today and endorse their calls for the US and the international community to act now to implement and enforce tough sanctions that compel the Government of Sudan to allow the deployment of international peacekeepers.

And we call on President Bush to take the lead in pushing forward diplomatically with a peace process that is the only way to finally bring an end to the horrors of Darfur.

Thank you.

PHR today sent a letter to the California State Legislature in support of the Ridley-Thomas Resolution, which mandates that state licensing agencies for health professionals inform their membership that participation in US national security interrogations violates their ethical obligations and could result in the loss of their state license to practice in California.

The resolution also directs health professional associations to warn health professionals that those involved in torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees could be liable to prosecution. Additionally, the Ridley-Thomas Resolution calls on the Department of Defense and the intelligence services to remove all health professionals from any role in support of interrogations of suspected terrorists.

The New York State Legislature is also considering a similar resolution, which PHR strongly supports.

>> Read the letter

Read the report (pdf)

PHR Executive Director Leonard Rubenstein gave this speech at PHR's 20th anniversary celebration, held October 21, 2006, at Boston Public Library.

Read the speech