LONDON, CMC:

A NEW report by the London-based international human rights group, AmnestyInter-national, says human rights defenders across the Americas, including the Caribbean, are facing “escalating levels of intimidation, harassment and attacks” at the hands of state security forces, paramilitary groups and organized crime.

Amnesty International said 2012 has been a “good and a bad year for human rights”.

ACCUSED OF TORTURE

In an overview of human rights trends and events around the world, during the past 12 months, it noted that, on January 30, Haiti dropped the case against former leader, Jean-Claude Duvalier, who was accused of torture, disappearances and extrajudicial executions between 1971 and 1986.

On March 8, Amnesty International said 21 people were killed in Jamaica in what it described as “a wave of police
shootings over six days, bringing the total to 45 since the beginning of the year”.

The human rights group also noted that on March 27, the Cuban government’s “crackdown against dissidents” increased during the Pope’s visit.

From December 7-16, the human rights group said hundreds of thousands of people will be writing letters, sending messages and taking action online as part of an “Amnesty International Day of Action” to mark International Human Rights Day.

In a report titled “Transforming Pain into Hope: Human Rights Defenders in the Americas”, Amnesty International said it is based on around 300 cases of intimidation, harassment, attacks and killings of human rights defenders in more than a dozen countries primarily between January 2010 and September 2012.