Kategorie: Humans

A UN Security Council session due to take place today must urgently prioritize civilian protection and accountability for the litany of war crimes committed by Russian forces and call for an end to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Amnesty International said.

Russia requested the Security Council session, to focus on growing concerns over the militarization of a nuclear plant in Zaporizhzhia in southern Ukraine. The UN Secretary-General has warned that any damage to that or other nuclear plants could result in “catastrophic” consequences in the immediate vicinity and far beyond.

“The allegations we are receiving directly from Enerhodar, the town adjacent to the nuclear plant, speak volumes about the terrible impact Russia’s militarization of the plant and surrounding areas is having on civilians. Amnesty International is currently investigating these worrying reports and urges the Security Council to do the same,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

The UN Security Council’s unequivocal priority – with regard not just to Zaporizhzhia but across the entire conflict – must be to ensure civilians are protected.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“The Council must also include accountability for the wide range of egregious Russian violations in the conflict to date.

“The imminent danger posed by the militarization of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant is and should be the key issue for the Security Council. It would appear that this militarization is part of a broader strategy by Russian forces to threaten civilians and put millions of people at great risk. We should also keep our attention on Russia’s abominable conduct, and the fact that during its six months of aggression against Ukraine its forces have endangered and killed many civilians. We should not allow the Russian authorities to avoid accountability.”

Since the invasion, Amnesty International has documented and reported on numerous violations by Russian forces, including indiscriminate attacks, use of banned cluster munitions, and extrajudicial executions. Many amount to war crimes, which the Security Council must condemn and pave the way for those responsible to be brought to justice.

“The UN Security Council’s unequivocal priority – with regard not just to Zaporizhzhia but across the entire conflict – must be to ensure civilians are protected,” said Agnès Callamard.

Months of documenting violations

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, Amnesty International has spent months on the ground documenting Russian violations and war crimes. The organization has published more than a dozen press releases, briefings and reports condemning these acts and calling for accountability. The organization has also urged Ukrainian forces to take additional steps to protect civilians. As in all armed conflicts, Amnesty International calls on all parties to prioritize civilian protection and adhere to international humanitarian law.

Below is more of Amnesty International’s work on the conflict to date:

1. Russian military commits indiscriminate attacks during the invasion of Ukraine: press release: Friday 25 February.

2. Ukraine: Cluster munitions kill child and two other civilians taking shelter at a preschool: press release: Sunday 27 February.

3. Russia/Ukraine: Prisoners of war must be protected from public curiosity under Geneva Convention: press release: Monday 7 March.

4. Ukraine: Russian ‘dumb bomb’ air strike killed civilians in Chernihiv – new investigation and testimony: press release: Wednesday 9 March.

5. Ukraine: Humanitarian corridors for civilians fleeing Russian attacks must provide safety – new testimonies: press release: Thursday 10 March.

6. Ukraine: Beleaguered town of Izium at breaking point after constant attack from Russian forces – new testimony: press release: Wednesday 16 March.

7. A guide to how Amnesty verifies military attacks in Ukraine: Friday 18 March.

8. ‘Everything is on fire’: One month since the Russian invasion of Ukraine: open letter: Thursday 24 March.

9: Ukraine: Russia’s cruel siege warfare tactics unlawfully killing civilians – new testimony and investigation: press release:Friday 1 April.

10. Ukraine: Apparent war crimes by Russian forces in Bucha must be investigated: quote: Monday 4 April.

11. Ukraine: Russian forces extrajudicially executing civilians in apparent war crimes – new testimony: press release: Thursday 7 April.

12. Ukraine: Russian forces must face justice for war crimes in Kyiv Oblast: briefing and press release: Friday 6 May.

13. Ukraine: Hundreds killed in relentless Russian shelling of Kharkiv: report and press release: Monday 13 June.

14. Ukraine: Deadly Mariupol theatre strike ‘a clear war crime’ by Russian forces: report and press release: Thursday 30 June.

15. Ukraine: Civilians killed by ‘reckless’ Russian attacks on Serhiivka apartment block and beach resort: press release: Thursday 7 July.

16. Ukraine: Ukrainian fighting tactics endanger civilians: press release: Thursday 4 August.

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The Pakistani authorities must end their outrageous crackdown on peaceful protests by families seeking justice for the enforced disappearance of their loved ones, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing detailing the state’s violation of the right to peaceful protest.

The briefing, ‘Braving the Storm: Enforced Disappearances and the Right to Protest’, documents the state’s use of harassment, intimidation, and even violence, to stifle peaceful protests by families of the disappeared. Many families turn to public demonstrations to pressure authorities to release their loved ones or for information about their whereabouts, having exhausted all means of redress through the justice system.

“Families of the disappeared are constantly let down by authorities through their lack of access to justice, the ineptitude of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances* and the failure of state institutions to hold perpetrators to account or even provide any answers,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

“(The) injustice is only compounded by the cruel and callous treatment meted out to these families when they protest. The crackdown on the right to peaceful protest must end immediately.” Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

Enforced disappearance is a serious violation of international human rights law and a crime under international law. However, Pakistan’s intelligence services have routinely used enforced disappearance to target human rights defenders, political activists, students, and journalists, with the fate of hundreds of victims still unknown.

(The) injustice is only compounded by the cruel and callous treatment meted out to these families when they protest. The crackdown on the right to peaceful protest must end immediately.

Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy Regional Director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

INTIMIDATION, UNLAWFUL ARRESTS AND DETENTION

Gul Naaz, who has been campaigning for her brother’s return since his disappearance in 2009 from the city of Mingora, told Amnesty International that the police have shown up at her home, questioned her family members and even pressured them to forbid her from protesting.

Another person Amnesty International spoke with described how 40-50 police officers showed up at a peaceful protest in Peshawar in 2021 and warned protesters that if they did not immediately disperse, the police would “do something to them that they would always remember.”

In some cases, the authorities have also resorted to arbitrary arrests and detention to discourage peaceful protests and stop people from gathering to exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

Amina Masood Janjua, who has been campaigning against enforced disappearances after her husband disappeared in 2005, told Amnesty International that she had received threatening phone calls from unidentified numbers.

“I got calls saying, ‘your funeral is ready, you are going to be killed’. When I asked, ‘why am I going to be killed?’ they said, ‘because of your campaigning’.” Amina Masood Janjua, a protestor.

Gul Naaz said the police have stopped vehicles carrying protesters on their way to a rally. “If we still insisted on going, they would call the lady police [female police officers] and forcefully take us out [of the vehicles] and not let us go,” she told Amnesty International.

Amnesty International has also documented unlawful charges beingbrought against protesters for “blocking the road” or “disobeying the law” for participating in a peaceful protest in an attempt to discourage them from campaigning.

Illustration by Ema Anis, copyright Amnesty International

They said if you don’t stop, we will do the same [to you] as we did to your father. They said if you are abducted, it would affect your honor so you should stay at home and not participate in protests.

Sammi Baloch

Illustration by Ema Anis, copyright Amnesty International

VIOLENCE

On June 13, police in Sindh province used unnecessary and unlawful force to break up a peaceful protest in Karachi by relatives and civil society, protesting against the disappearance of two Baloch students, Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch.

Fawad Hasan, a journalist who was covering the sit-in, told Amnesty International that he witnessed police slapping female protesters, beating male protesters with batons and sticks, and kicking a pregnant woman in the stomach.

The incidents described to Amnesty International indicate that police and intelligence agents have used unnecessary force to disperse peaceful protests – in breach of international human rights laws and standards.

“The horrifying images of the violent crackdown on the protest in the city of Karachi are emblematic of the fierce pushback from the state that families of the disappeared have to contend with every day. Enforced disappearances should be a crime, not peaceful protest,” said Dinushika Dissanayake.

Any decision to disperse an assembly should be taken only as a last resort and carefully in line with the principles of necessity and proportionality. 

“All law enforcement officials must respect and facilitate peaceful assemblies, and all allegations of intimidation by state actors must be effectively, impartially and expeditiously investigated,” said Dinushika Dissanayake. “Amnesty International also reiterates its long-standing call to the Government of Pakistan to stop the practice of enforced disappearances and outlaw it entirely. Pakistan must also accede to International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED).”

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*  The Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIED) is a domestic body tasked with the “registration, inquiry, hearing and investigation” of cases of disappearances.

Illustration by Ema Anis, copyright Amnesty International

The police started warning us and threatening to beat and kill us and said we will take you and your families won’t be able to ever find you. People got scared and left.

Anonymous

Illustration by Ema Anis, copyright Amnesty International

Enforced disappearances should be a crime,
not peaceful protest.

Dinushika Dissanayake

Read the latest briefing:
Braving the Storm: Enforced Disappearances and the Right to Protest

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On Monday 8 August,  the  Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security made a series of false allegations about how Amnesty International had obtained evidence used in our 4 August press release on Ukraine.  

 Amnesty International categorically refutes these allegations, which have no basis and are entirely false.  None of the people we interviewed for further evidence, in addition to what researchers witnessed directly, were in Russian prisons or ‘filtration camps’,  or Russian-controlled territories  - to which Amnesty International has no access. Our researchers interviewed all of the witnesses whose testimonies we used themselves, in Ukraine-controlled territories. All testimonies were given to us voluntarily and in safe conditions.  

The investigation published on 4 August was carried out by the same Amnesty International experts who, since the start of Russia’s invasion, have been systematically documenting Russia’s violations of international humanitarian law. 

Amnesty International has documented and reported on numerous violations by Russian forces, including indiscriminate attacks, use of banned cluster munitions, and extrajudicial executions. Many of the violations we have documented amount to war crimes, and we continue to call for those responsible to be brought to justice. Amnesty International unequivocally condemns Russia’s invasion as an act of aggression and a crime under international law.  

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As a reaction to the dissolution of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC) and the summoning of a journalist to a military camp, Habibatou Gologo, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa office, has said:

” On Monday 8 August the Guinean transitional authorities decided to dissolve the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), which they describe as a “de facto movement” and accuse it of having “always been known for violence against people, the degradation and destruction of public and private property, and acts of incitement to hatred […]”. Amnesty International is surprised by these accusations as it has always monitored and documented recent FNDC demonstrations, which were peaceful in nature. However, it does note the excessive use of force and repression during these demonstrations.

This dissolution of the FNDC is a serious infringement of the freedoms of association and peaceful assembly recognised by the Guinean Constitution. The FNDC has played a key role in promoting and advancing human rights in Guinea. Amnesty International calls on the authorities to reinstate the FNDC and to guarantee freedom of expression and association, which are rights enshrined in international human rights treaties and conventions that Guinea has ratified, as well as in the Transitional Charter.

Habibatou Gologo, Deputy Director of Amnesty International's West and Central Africa office

“This decision comes at a time when Mohamed Bangoura, editor of the news website “Mosaïque”, was summoned to the premises of the military intelligence directorate of the army headquarters last weekend following the publication of an article incriminating the army in the disappearance of a truck containing painkillers in a camp. At the same time, another journalist, Mamoudou Boulère Diallo of Espace TV, was physically attacked by a military team. These actions constitute a step backwards for press freedom and freedom of expression.

“Amnesty International calls on the Guinean authorities to immediately end disproportionate restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association and to respect the right of the Guinean people and civil society to freely express their views, including through the media”.

Further information

The FNDC Movement (National Front for the Defence of the Constitution) is a coalition of civil society organisations and political parties that initiated a series of demonstrations in October 2019 in Guinea to protest against the amendment or adoption of a new Constitution. Since then, the FNDC has been at the heart of most of the demonstrations to denounce several human rights violations, the latest of which dates back to the end of July, despite being banned by the authorities. Challenging this dissolution, the FNDC is again planning demonstrations for 17 August 2022. There is a high risk that this will be banned, as the authorities had decided in May 2022 to ban all demonstrations in the streets and public places.   

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Responding to the series of attacks leading to about 120 deaths and injuries in areas dominated by Hazara Shiite communities in west Kabul over the last few days, Zaman Sultani, Amnesty International’s South Asia regional researcher, said:

“The systematic attacks on the minority Hazara Shiite community in Afghanistan may amount to crimes against humanity and should be unequivocally condemned.”

“In the last year there have been multiple attacks on the minority community with little to no action. It is essential that as de-facto authorities the Taliban carry out an immediate, impartial and thorough investigation into the attacks, conducted in line with international law and standards. Those suspected of criminal responsibility for these crimes under international law and human rights violations should face justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and without recourse to death penalty.”

The Taliban are responsible to take all necessary measures for the protection of civilians in Afghanistan and they must immediately step-up measures to ensure protection to all civilians in the country.

Zaman Sultani, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Researcher

“The Taliban are responsible to take all necessary measures for the protection of civilians in Afghanistan and they must immediately step-up measures to ensure protection to all civilians in the country.”

Background

On Friday, 5^th August, at least eight people were killed and 18 injured in a blast in Kabul. The next day, on Saturday, 6^th August a bomb exploded in a busy shopping street in Kabul killed eight people and injured at least 22 as reported in media.

On Sunday, 7^th August the UN reported at least 120 people were killed and wounded resulting from the attacks to which responsibility was claimed by the Islamic State of Khurasan Province claimed.

After the Taliban takeover, such minority communities have no effective representation within the Taliban’s security or governance structure.

Amnesty International has previously documented the targeted killing of ethnic Hazara community following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.

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