Reacting to the reported deaths of at least 22 people and injuries to more than 100 others, including children, in the ongoing Gen Z movement protests in Madagascar, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Tigere Chagutah said:
“Every death on the streets of Madagascar is a painful reminder that the right to peaceful protest is under violent attack. The authorities must promptly launch thorough and effective investigations into these killings and hold perpetrators to account. All those arrested solely for exercising their right to protest must be immediately and unconditionally released.
“Amnesty International condemns the unlawful and excessive force used by state security officials and urges the exercise of restraint in the policing of these protests. Rather than use force, the authorities must listen to and address the protesters’ demands.
Every death on the streets of Madagascar is a painful reminder that the right to peaceful protest is under violent attack. The authorities must promptly launch thorough and effective investigations into these killings and hold perpetrators to account.
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa
“Protest is not a crime – it is a right. Instead of respecting, facilitating and protecting the protesters, the authorities have resorted to an outdated 75-year-old repressive law to justify the use of unlawful force in response to protests. This law gives security forces sweeping powers to crack down on protests and criminalize participation, in blatant violation of Madagascar’s human rights obligations under international law.
“Amnesty International calls on the government to repeal this law and enact a new one in line with its international obligations, including the African Union’s Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa.”
Background
Since 25 September 2025, hundreds of young people – mainly university and high school students mobilized under the Gen Z movement – have been taking to the streets of the capital Antananarivo and other major cities to peacefully protest water and power shortages, seen as emblematic of corruption and bad governance. Civil society actors have also joined in the protests.
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