Guinea’s Massacre Premeditated | India’s Morphine Fails to Reach Its Patients

Rapes, murders used to intimidate political opposition
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/10/27/guinea-september-28-massacre-was-premeditated?tr=y&auid=5531339

Tens of thousands were peacefully protesting inside the a sports stadium when troops swarmed the scene and attacked the crowd, a 32-year-old witness said. “As soon as they entered, they began to fire [their guns] directly at the crowd. I heard a soldier yell, ‘We’ve come to clean!’ I decided to run to the gate at the far end. As I looked back, I could see many bodies on the grass.”
Evidence collected by a four-member team of Human Rights Watch investigators shows the September 28 massacre was premeditated. This stands in direct opposition to the government’s claim that the deaths were the result of an unexplained incident.
After firing tear-gas as they entered the stadium, the Presidential Guard or “red berets” sealed the exits and shot at opposition supporters until they ran out of bullets, and then continued to kill with bayonets and knives. At least 150 were murdered and 1,000 were injured. Many were crushed to death as the panicked crowd rushed to the blocked exits. Dozens of women were gang-raped in full view of military leaders; other women were abducted and subjected to repeated sexual assaults for days.
The red berets serve Guinea’s self-proclaimed president, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who seized power in a bloodless coup last December, after the death of Guinea’s dictator. The demonstrators were protesting Camara’s presumed candidacy in upcoming elections.
“We couldn’t get out there, so we ran back to the broken wall near Donka road. A group of red berets was there waiting for us, two trucks of them. They were armed with bayonets. I saw one red beret kill three people right in front of us [with a bayonet], so I wanted to run back. But my friend said, ‘There are lots of us, let’s try and push through,’ and that is how we escaped.” Read more eye witness testimony >>

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India: Provide Access to Pain Treatment >>
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/86266?tr=y&auid=5531342

Muzaffar Iqbal, a 65-year-old rickshaw driver from a village in Andhra Pradesh, noticed a growth near his right armpit. It was lung cancer. As he underwent treatment, he developed an excruciating chest pain. Though he repeatedly informed his doctors, they failed to help. Ultimately, his pain got so bad that he wished that “God would take me away...”
Experts estimate that more than 1 million people with advanced cancer in India suffer from pain every year. Due to limited resources and weak public healthcare services, India has enormous problems with the availability of health services. But suffering can be easily and cheaply prevented. Morphine, the key medication for treating pain, is inexpensive, effective, and generally not complicated to administer.
Watch the video: "Right to Relief >>

Doctors in India say it’s time for the Indian government to integrate palliative care into routine health care. Photography and video by Brent Foster for Human Rights Watch.



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