The Israeli authorities must end their campaign of repression against Palestinian civil society and let organizations carry out their work free from harassment, Amnesty International said after Israeli forces today closed the offices of seven Palestinian civil society organizations in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).

Before dawn, Israeli armed forces raided the Ramallah offices of Addameer, al-Haq, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), the Union of Agricultural Work Committees, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Health Work Committees, and the Union of Palestinian Women Committees, and confiscated files and equipment. They also issued military orders to close them down and welded shut their office doors.

“These organizations have contributed enormously to human rights in the OPT and across the globe, yet Israeli army boots trample all over their work. Amnesty International stands proudly in solidarity with our Palestinian partners and calls on all governments to condemn the Israeli army’s attack on Palestinian civil society,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The international community needs to work together not only to reopen the offices of these seven organizations, but also to honour their calls to support the International Criminal Court’s investigation into the Palestine situation and for international condemnation of Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians.”

Amnesty International spoke to partners at three of the seven organizations, who conveyed their shock at the raids and closures.

These organizations have contributed enormously to human rights in the OPT and across the globe, yet Israeli army boots trample all over their work.

Amna Guellali, Amnesty International

“The occupying army has failed to silence our voice in defence of human rights. The army uses military law against human rights law. The raids show that Israel rejects the position of the EU and the international community, and rather invests in continuing the occupation and the human rights violations that it causes,” Khaled Quzmar, director of DCIP, told Amnesty International. 

Amnesty’s researchers examined the military orders posted on the office doors of three of the organizations. In all cases, the order to close the offices was based on the 1945 Defence (Emergency) Regulations, which were issued by the British to quash resistance to their rule, and never repealed. Since 1967, the Israeli military authorities have used these regulations extensively to demolish hundreds of Palestinian homes, deport residents and hold tens of thousands of Palestinians from the OPT in administrative detention. Israeli authorities had also used the regulations against Palestinian citizens of Israel until 1966, but not against Jewish citizens.

These practices, which amount to grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and violate numerous articles of human rights conventions to which Israel is a party, form part of the system of apartheid that oppresses the Palestinians.

“Amnesty International calls on all states to recognize that Israel is committing internationally recognized crimes, including the crime of apartheid, against Palestinians in Israel and the OPT. Governments must ensure that human rights considerations are integrated into all agreements with the Israeli authorities, and exercise due diligence to refrain from contributing to the system of apartheid,” said Amna Guellali.

Background 

On 19 October 2021, Israel’s Defense Ministry issued a military order declaring six Palestinian civil society organizations as “terrorist” entities (all excepting the Health Work Committees, who have been targeted separately). The designation effectively outlawed them from operating and allowed the Israeli authorities to close their offices, seize their assets and arrest or jail their staff members. It also prohibited publicly expressing support for their activities or funding the organizations. This designation has been widely condemned, including by international NGOs, European and other third-party governmental offices and representatives, and UN experts. 

Prior to the designation, in October 2021, the human rights NGO Front Line Defenders (FLD) collected data that confirmed, following a peer review by Citizen Lab and Amnesty International’s Security Lab, that six devices belonging to six Palestinian human rights defenders in these organizations were hacked with Pegasus, a form of spyware developed by Israeli cyber-surveillance company NSO Group.  

On 18 October 2021, the Israeli minister of interior notified French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hammouri, who works with Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer, that his Jerusalem residency was being revoked and he would be deported for allegedly “breaching allegiance with the State of Israel”. He has been held in administrative detention, without charge or trial, since 7 March 2022. Amnesty International has called for his release. 

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The Saudi Arabian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds University PhD student who has been sentenced to 34 years in prison solely for her writing and peaceful Twitter activity, Amnesty International said today.

Salma al-Shehab was initially sentenced to six years behind bars in mid-2022. Following an appeal at the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) on 9 August 2022, a judge raised her sentence to 34 years in prison after a grossly unfair trial, to be followed by a 34-year travel ban from the date of her release. 

“It is outrageous that Salma al-Shehab, a PhD student and mother of two from Saudi Arabia’s Shi’a minority, has been handed down such a cruel and unlawful punishment simply for using Twitter and retweeting activists who support women’s rights,” said Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Salma al-Shehab should never have been convicted in the first place, but to have her sentence increased from six to 34 years following an unfair trial shows that the authorities intend to use her to set an example amid their unrelenting crackdown on free speech.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty International

“Salma al-Shehab should never have been convicted in the first place, but to have her sentence increased from six to 34 years following an unfair trial shows that the authorities intend to use her to set an example amid their unrelenting crackdown on free speech. She must be immediately and unconditionally released. The Saudi authorities must allow her to reunite to her family and to continue her studies in the UK.”

Salma al-Shehab has been targeted for using Twitter to follow, write about and support women’s rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul, who was jailed after a grossly unfair trial at the SCC for “spying with foreign parties” and “conspiring against the kingdom.” Loujain was conditionally released in 2021, yet remains arbitrarily banned from travelling.  

Prolonged solitary confinement

According to activists with knowledge of the case, Salma al-Shehab was arrested in January 2021 at the General Directorate of Investigations after she was called in for interrogation a few days before she was due to fly back to the UK to continue her studies. She was held in prolonged solitary confinement for 285 days before she was brought to trial, which violated international standards and Saudi Arabia’s Law of Criminal Procedures. She was also denied access to legal representation throughout her pre-trial detention, including during interrogations.

At her appeal trial, the prosecution demanded a harsher punishment. The court sentenced her to 34 years based on the discretion of the judge for “supporting those who seek to disrupt public order, destabilize security and the stability of the state” and publishing tweets that “disturb public order, destabilize the security of society and the stability of the state” citing Articles 34, 38, 43, and 44 of the counter-terrorism law and Article 6 of the anti-Cyber Crime Law. The sentence against Salma al-Shehab marks an alarming escalation in the use of Saudi Arabia’s counter-terrorism law to criminalize and unduly restrict the right to freedom of expression. 

Other women’s rights activists also detained over Twitter activity

Amnesty International has learned from activists with knowledge of Salma’s case that several other women’s rights activists have been detained over their comments on Twitter since Salma’s detention. A prevailing fear of reprisals in Saudi Arabia, however, deters people from speaking out about these cases on social media or with the media.  

“Saudi Arabi must end its relentless crackdown on women’s rights activists and any others who dare to speak their mind freely. Women like Salma must be recognized and protected, not targeted for expressing their opinions. The authorities must also stop equating free speech with “terrorism”.  They should repeal or substantially amend Saudi’s counter-terrorism and anti-cybercrime laws, which criminalize dissent, and enact new laws that are fully compatible with international human rights law and standards,” said Diana Semaan.

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The internationally recognized government (IRG) of Yemen must end its harassment and prosecution of journalists in areas under its control, including in Taiz and Hadramout governorates, Amnesty International said today.

Judicial authorities have over the past seven months prosecuted at least three journalists for publishing content that was critical of officials and public institutions. A fourth journalist was summoned by the criminal investigation directorate for questioning over a Facebook post in which he was critical of oil sale prices and arbitrarily detained him for around 9 hours.

Journalists should not be treated like criminals simply for being critical of government institutions and employees.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty International

“Journalists should not be treated like criminals simply for being critical of government institutions and employees. These journalists were just doing their job and their speech is protected under international human rights law. The internationally recognized government of Yemen has a responsibility to respect freedom of expression and should drop all charges against them,” said Diana Semaan, Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Targeting journalists and activists for exercising their right to freedom of expression has a chilling effect on society. Its real aim is to silence dissent and deter critical voices.”

In the first half of 2022, the Yemeni Journalists’ Syndicate recorded 11 cases of attacks, including threats and incitement of violence, against journalists and media outlets, nine cases of detention, and six cases of prosecution and summoning by parties to the conflict. The Syndicate report found that the IRG was responsible for committing 23 of these violations, while the Huthi de facto authorities were responsible for 16.

The charges they faced include “insulting” a public employee, which carries up to two years imprisonment under the Penal Code, mocking army officials, offending a symbol of the state, and disturbing public order.

Under international law, “insult” is not a recognizable offense and does not justify a limitation on freedom of expression. In addition, the UN Human Rights Committee has stated that “the mere fact that forms of expression are considered to be insulting to a public figure is not sufficient to justify the imposition of penalties”.

Amnesty International opposes laws prohibiting insult or disrespect of heads of state or public figures, the military or other public institutions, flags or symbols – unless it constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

Criticism taken as “insult” criminalized by law

Amnesty International interviewed two lawyers and 10 journalists and activists, six of whom were summoned for questioning, by the criminal investigation directorate or the military intelligence for publishing content critical of the authorities.

Judicial authorities prosecuted two of the journalists under the Penal Code and a court gave them suspended prison sentences in 2022. In one of the cases, Taiz Public Prosecution had charged one journalist in 2019 with “insulting” public and military officials after he published several Facebook posts in which he criticised the military authorities in Taiz for their “thug-like” behaviour and their intimidation of journalists and activists. On 17 May 2022, Sabir Court of First Instance found him guilty and sentenced him to a one-year suspended prison term and a fine under Article 292 of the Penal Code. He said: “This prosecution is for settling political scores. The side that is prosecuting me is the one in control of the army, the security apparatus, and the judiciary.”

Another journalist was sentenced on 21 June 2022 by the Public Funds Courts in Hadramout to a three-month suspended prison term for “insulting a public employee” and “threatening to publish private secrets” citing Articles 172 and 257 of the Penal Code, respectively, after he published an article that was critical of the academic standing of the public university in Hadramout.

He questioned how that could be framed as an offence to a government employee: “what has the Public Prosecution gained from dragging me through court for nearly a year, just because I told the truth which most people agree with?” he told Amnesty International.

Self-censorship as press freedom threatened

One journalist is still facing trial based on trumped-up charges and could face up to at least three years imprisonment if sentenced. He is being tried before the Specialized Criminal Court of First Instance in Hadramout based on trumped up national security-related charges for publishing articles calling on the local authorities in Hadramout to stop using intelligence agents to persecute journalists and calling for the governor to be changed. He told Amnesty International that security agents were regularly stationed outside his house and office in response to him speaking out against the governor in 2019.

Neither the journalist nor his lawyer have been able to access the case file containing the evidence brought against him, in violation of the right to a fair trial.

Two other journalists told Amnesty International they had stopped publishing critical views of the authorities out of fear of persecution. One of them said: “I have resorted to silence and stopped journalism temporarily, but it is a frustrating, bitter and humiliating fate.”

The use of national security laws or defamation laws with the purpose or effect of inhibiting legitimate criticism of government or public officials violates the right to freedom of expression. National security and public order should be precisely defined in law to guard against over-broad or abusive interpretation and application.

“The internationally recognized government of Yemen must immediately end its harassment and prosecution of journalists and respect their right to freedom of expression. It can start by dropping the practice of summoning activists and journalists to security and military agencies and ending the abuse of laws on criminal defamation and national security to suppress dissent. The IRG must also bring national legislation curtailing the right to freedom of expression into line with the international standards,” said Diana Semaan.

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The Equatorial Guinean authorities must immediately stop arbitrarily and indiscriminately arresting young men in their fight against gang crime, said Amnesty International today after documenting numerous testimonies related to these arrests.

In response to an alleged increase in crime by youth gangs, especially a group known as the “8 Machetes”, Equatorial Guinea’s Vice President, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, launched a national plan to combat these gangs at the beginning of May, which was labelled by the authorities as a “Cleaning Operation”.

On 9 May 2022, Vice President Nguema Obiang Mangue said in a video broadcast on national TV that he had decided to launch the operation ‘to clean’ the streets of Equatorial Guinea of criminals and bandits, and to highlight the “right way” to young criminals.

The ‘Cleaning Operation’ in Equatorial Guinea is deeply concerning as it leads to egregious violation of human rights. Under the pretext of fighting criminality, young people are being arbitrarily arrested and detained, with many facing torture or other ill-treatment, losing their lives, or being forcibly disappeared.” 

Marta Colomer, Amnesty International’s Senior Campaigner for West and Central Africa.

“The Equatorial Guinea authorities must immediately end this campaign, which amounts to little more than a targeted assault on human rights. It is entirely possible to deal with criminal cases while also respecting human rights.”

Mass arrests and curfews

The government’s plan includes a curfew for young people, as well as sending suspected criminals to high security prisons. In a single week in May, more than 400 young people were arrested, while three months later, thousands of young men were reportedly arrested across the country. Due to a lack of evidence in some cases, some judges decided to grant parole to those arrested. At least two of those arrested, however, died in prison.

Amnesty International spoke with relatives of arrested and detained individuals. In many cases, they said their relatives were mistreated by the security forces during their arrest and detention.

Rubén, a 21-year-old from Campo-Yaunde, was arrested alongside a group of other young people on 20 May while gathering in the Campo-Yaunde area of Malabo, the capital. The group had been described by the authorities as criminals. On 6 June, he died in prison. The family received his body and a medical report, which indicated that Rubén had suffered from breathing difficulties and anorexia, among other health issues. The family maintains that Rubén had no health problems at the time of his arrest.

An older brother of two arrested boys told Amnesty: “The government is reacting to the actions of a criminal gang that was stealing from people, but they are taking people at random. Some are criminals, but others are just innocent men. They don’t investigate. We are not the only ones affected. Many families are also affected all over the country.”

‘He is a gangster, and we are going to put him in jail’

For many other young people arbitrarily arrested by security forces, their whereabouts remains unknown, while their families are often left with little or no news.

Lucas, a 24-year-old, was arrested by the Rapid Intervention Force on 8 May while spending time with his girlfriend and other friends. They were taken to the Central Police Station in Malabo. When Lucas’ girlfriend, Anita, tried to visit him, the police said her boyfriend “is a gangster, and we are going to put him in jail”. 

The family heard from informal sources that Lucas is reportedly being held in Black Beach, a high security prison in Malabo, yet nobody could confirm this information. The lack of official information on his fate or whereabouts may turn his deprivation of liberty into an enforced disappearance – a crime under international law.

Anita told Amnesty International: “The only thing they are saying is that none of those arrested are innocent. If at some point it is proven that they are innocent, then they will be released. What happened to Lucas is happening all over the country. It’s not just here in Malabo.”

Santiago, a 22-year-old student arrested in the municipality of Bata three months ago, is still being arbitrarily detained by the police. Although the police told his family there was no proof of Santiago’s criminality, they demanded a payment of 100.000 CFA (around US$150) for his release. As the family were unable to pay, Santiago remains in detention in an unknown location.

“It’s not just my story. All the police stations are overcrowded with young boys who have been arrested. The other day, when I went there, there were at least more than 400 boys,” said Santiago’s father.

According to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which Equatorial Guinea is a party, arrested and detained persons have the right to contact and access a family member or other person of their choice. A few days before the launch of the “Cleaning Operation”, the President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo told the people of Equatorial Guinea that the plan does not undermine human rights, and that international human rights organizations who criticize it are trying to destabilize the country.

The Equatorial Guinean authorities must urgently offer transparent information on deaths in detention and torture and other ill-treatment. They must also ensure those suspected of criminality face justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and release all those who have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.”

Marta Colomer

*Name changed to protect identities

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Let’s raise our voices #UntilWeAreHeard

The State of Mexico is one of the most dangerous states for women in Mexico! It ranks first in the number of feminicides committed every month and the majority of the killings go unpunished.

Amnesty International Mexico documented four cases of feminicide following disappearances in the eastern region of the State of Mexico, specifically analyzing the failings in the criminal investigations into the cases. The findings in these cases are consistent with a pattern of failings in criminal investigations that has been previously identified by other research and has been highlighted by civil society organizations and rights holders themselves.

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