By Lisa Young
LONDON — The first public meeting of the International Committee Against Disappearances (ICAD) British section was held here on May 21.
The use of "disappearances" as a means of intimidation and oppression against indigenous people is becoming more and more popular in many countries around the world, as the speakers at the meeting here demonstrated.
David, a representative of the Colombian Committee for Human Rights, spoke about his homeland, where 2500 people have "disappeared" since 1982, and the terrible conditions of his imprisonment. One comrade was cut open by officers, who then put a rat inside the wound.
Abbey Sowunmi from the Campaign for Independent Trade Unions — Nigeria, spoke of his arrest under the Wanderer Act.
The Wanderer Act is used to pick up indigenous people, especially if they're classed as "troublemakers". Sowunmi was arrested outside his father's house. Sowunmi said that once you were imprisoned, the arrest sheets were often "lost", making disappearances easier.
Semra from ICAD (Turkey) spoke about the rising disappearances and brutality in Turkey, Kurdistan and the illegally occupied northern Cyprus.
On May 15, Turkish troops moved into southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in an attempt to crush the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurds' national liberation struggle. More than 1000 Kurds have been killed, but as Lois Austin from the Socialist Party pointed out, there has been almost no media coverage of the brutal military attack.
A speaker from the Tamil Centre for Human Rights described the everyday situation for Tamil people. Children on their way to and from school have to go through checkpoints, where the army is given free rein to stop, harass and molest them.
People frequently "disappear" from these checkpoints. In November 1996 alone, 543 young people were reported missing.
In Colombia, British Petroleum controls oilfields in the Casnare region that are estimated at £23 billion. This is a huge investment for BP, which is now funding the Colombian military, including a special army unit, the XVI Brigade, to ensure that its investments are protected.
This raises questions about the new Labour government's pledge to put human rights at the centre of its foreign policy. The government has appointed Sir David Simon, who until recently was chairman of BP, as minister for competition in Europe.