In response to today’s decision by the Popular Municipal Court of Central Havana sentencing artists Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel Castillo Pérez to five and nine years in prison, respectively, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:  

“Both Luis Manuel and Maykel are artists who have used art as a means of expressing their views on the social, political and economic conditions in Cuba. They are two emblematic examples of how Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government uses the judicial system to criminalize critical voices, including through charges of alleged crimes that are incompatible with international law. The international community must continue to publicly condemn these practices, which openly undermine the full exercise of human rights in the country.”  

“Despite demands from various actors within the international community, the trials of Luis Manuel and Maykel, which should never have taken place, were conducted behind closed doors and under heavy police control, according to reports from activists. Amnesty International also received information from activists and journalists, denouncing the presence of security agents in the vicinity of their homes, to prevent them from going outside the court where the trials were held”.  

They are two emblematic examples of how Miguel Díaz-Canel’s government uses the judicial system to criminalize critical voices, including through charges of alleged crimes that are incompatible with international law

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

“The trials of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Castillo are a shameful example of the human rights crisis caused by the Cuban government’s decades-long policy of repression.  Amnesty International condemns the criminalization of these prisoners of conscience, who are being held solely for exercising their rights.”  

“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Luis Manuel Otero, Maykel ‘Osorbo’ Castillo and all those imprisoned for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and defending rights in Cuba.” 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Duncan Tucker at duncan.tucker@amnesty.org

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Tomorrow marks 1,000 days of unjust detention for prominent blogger and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, an Egyptian-British national, and his lawyer Mohamed Baker, who are both imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights. Amnesty International is urging the Egyptian authorities to release them immediately and unconditionally, and also calls on the UK authorities to use all means at their disposal to visit Alaa Abdel Fattah in prison and secure his release. 

Alaa Abdel Fattah (pictured) and his lawyer Mohamed Baker were arrested in September 2019. They were sentenced in December 2021 by Egypt’s Emergency State Security Court to five and four years in prison respectively for “spreading false news”. Since 2 April 2022, Alaa Abdel Fattah has been on hunger strike in protest at his unjust detention, inhumane prison conditions, and the prison authorities’ refusal to grant him consular access.

Egyptian authorities know Alaa Abdel Fattah is a symbol of resistance and freedom in Egypt, and his continued imprisonment sends a chilling message to other activists.

Amna Guellali, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa

“Alaa Abdel Fattah has now endured 1,000 days in detention, where prison and security officials have subjected him to a catalogue of human rights violations including torture and other ill-treatment, in reprisal for his prominent role in the 2011 revolution. The Egyptian authorities know that Alaa is a symbol of resistance and freedom in Egypt and the wider region, and his continued unjust imprisonment sends a chilling message to other activists, and casts a shadow over preparations for the global UN climate conference taking place in Egypt later this year” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.  

“After more than 80 days of hunger strike, Alaa Abdel Fattah’s situation is now entering a critical phase, both psychologically and physically. The Egyptian authorities are responsible for Alaa Abdel Fattah’s life and they must immediately release him.” 

Hunger strike

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), the national human rights institution in Egypt, did not see Alaa Abdel Fattah during their visit to Wadi el-Natroun prison, where he has been held since 18 May. They quoted prison officials’ claims that he was not on hunger strike, that he is receiving daily meals and that his ‘vital signs are normal’ based on medical reports from the prison authorities. 

Alaa’s sister Mona Seif has joined his hunger strike, telling Amnesty International:

“When I visited him [Alaa] on the 12th June and saw how much weight he lost and how fragile he looked, I decided that if the Egyptian authorities are working hard on hiding the fact that he is on hunger strike, I am going to join him and use my body as a portal to convey and mirror his hunger strike.”  

On 9 June, Alaa Abdel Fattah’s lawyer Khaled Ali posted on Facebook that he had been denied access to his client, despite having official permission to visit him.

While Egyptian authorities remain set on silencing dissent and locking up activists, the UK government must ramp up the pressure.  

Amna Guellali

Following increased international scrutiny of their human rights record, Egyptian authorities have in recent months released tens of unjustly jailed men and women, and in April 2022 they reactivated the Presidential Pardons Committee to review prisoner cases. Yet the Committee’s work has been controlled by security forces, and marked by a lack of transparency and exclusion of certain prisoners of conscience and others held for political reasons  

According to an article by independent news site Mada Masr, which is blocked in Egypt, an anonymous source close to the committee said that security agencies will not allow the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah.

On 21 June, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, publicly vowed to intervene to help free him, stating that British authorities are “working very hard to secure his release”, and said she would raise his case during the upcoming visit of Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry.    

“While Egyptian authorities remain set on silencing dissent and locking up activists, the UK government must ramp up the pressure and should publicly and privately call for his release, and in the meantime secure a consular visit,” said Amna Guellali. 

Mona Seif added:

“I am carrying my brother’s hunger strike with my body, hoping that the British officials I meet recognize the urgency of his situation and intervene on his behalf with the needed urgency and strength.”    

Background

Alaa Abdel Fattah recently obtained British citizenship in 2021 through his British-born mother.  His family later announced it in April 2022. He requested a consular visit from UK officials in December 2021, but the Egyptian authorities have failed to respond. He has filed several complaints of torture and other ill-treatment, including being beaten while handcuffed for requesting outdoor exercise. 

Mohamed Baker is a human rights lawyer and director of the Egyptian human rights organization Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms, which he founded in 2014. He was convicted by an Emergency Court on 20 December 2021 on bogus “charges of spreading false news” relating to his social media posts.    

Alaa Abdel Fattah has been on hunger strike – consuming only water and salt – since 2 April 2022. His family are concerned for his life as his health deteriorates. His sister, Mona Seif, who is also an activist, began a hunger strike more than two weeks ago. 

In recent months, scores of unjustly detained individuals have been released after the reactivation of the Presidential Pardons Committee, but thousands more continue to languish behind bars and arbitrary arrests continue unabated. 

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In response to today’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Tarah Demant, interim national director for programs, advocacy and government affairs at Amnesty International USA, said:

“Today marks a grim milestone in the history of the United States as the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped Americans of the right to an abortion. Millions of people who can become pregnant in the United States now face a future where they will not be able to make deeply personal choices that affect their bodies, their future, and the well-being of their families. This ruling affects each and every person in the United States, regardless of their ability to become pregnant. You know someone who has had an abortion. We all do, as approximately one in four women in the United States will seek an abortion in their lifetime. 

Millions of people who can become pregnant in the United States now face a future where they will not be able to make deeply personal choices that affect their bodies

Tarah Demant

“People will be forced to give birth. They’ll be forced to seek unsafe abortions. This is the outcome of a decades-long campaign to control the bodies of women, girls, and people who can become pregnant. And it paves the way for unprecedented state legislation to criminalize abortion, as well as other bills that will aim to strip human rights from people in the United States, including the potential for bills that will affect access to birth control, gender, and marriage equality as well as other anti-discrimination laws. 

For our supporters and those around the world watching this moment with the same sense of horror and pain that we feel we say: whatever you’re feeling – anger, fear, betrayal, sadness – you’re not alone

Tarah Demant

“For our supporters and those around the world watching this moment with the same sense of horror and pain that we feel we say: whatever you’re feeling – anger, fear, betrayal, sadness – you’re not alone. You’re one of the vast majority of Americans who disagree with today’s decision. You’re one of 10 million people around the world who make up this grassroots movement for human rights. This is where our power and our hope springs from: We are the majority. 

For more information on how you can join Amnesty in the fight for a world where all of us can make decisions that are best for our lives, please visit amnestyusa.org/abortion.

CONTACT: Gabby Arias, media@aiusa.org

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Justice remains elusive one year on from the death of Nizar Banat, a Palestinian activist who died shortly after he was arrested and brutally assaulted by Palestinian security forces in June 2021, Amnesty International said today. The organization is calling on Palestinian authorities to ensure those responsible for Nizar Banat’s death are held to account by the civilian justice system since proceedings in military courts are fundamentally compromised. 

Nizar Banat was a prominent activist and outspoken critic of corruption within the Palestinian authorities in the West Bank. On 24 June 2021, a joint unit comprising Palestinian Preventive Security and General Intelligence forces stormed the house where he was staying, beat him with batons, and took him away in a military vehicle. He died around an hour later while being taken to hospital. Palestinian authorities charged 14 officers over his death but failed to question or investigate any senior officers. The investigation and trial took place before the military justice system, in violation of human rights standards. 

“The flawed military trial of 14 low-ranking security officers will not bring about justice. There needs to be a civilian trial following international standards, not just a smokescreen to protect those higher up. It is essential that the individuals who gave orders to arrest Nizar Banat for no lawful reason, and who oversaw the assault, are also held to account,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. 

“Under international human rights law, cases involving human rights violations should be prosecuted in civilian courts, even if they involve members of the military. The Palestinian Authority must immediately transfer this case to the civilian justice system, to ensure that proceedings are independent of those involved in the crime.” 

The trial opened in September 2021 before the Ramallah military court. On 1 November 2021, Nizar Banat’s family and the lawyer representing them, Ghandi Al-Rabi, pulled out from one hearing after the defense lawyer for the 14 suspects accused Hussein Banat, a relative of Nizar Banat, of being a false witness. The family lawyer urged the court to register this smear and added this objection as further evidence that the military court was not acting impartially towards the security forces.  

Ghandi Al-Rabi told Amnesty International that legal proceedings have been repeatedly obstructed in the case, highlighting constant postponements, smearing of witnesses, and, most recently, the temporary release of those being tried for killing Nizar Banat. 

The 14 officers have not been suspended from active duty in the Palestinian Preventive Security Forces. They were detained in July 2021 in the military prison in Jericho, however on 21 June 2022, the Military Attorney General authorized their release from 21 June to 2 July 2022. Their temporary release was requested as a “holiday” and guaranteed by their colleagues in the Palestinian Preventive Security Forces.

“The judicial process resembles a farce, when the very organization that employs the suspects is also offering to guarantee the suspects’ cooperation with their trial. This is precisely why a military court can never bring the truth to light,” said Heba Morayef. 

On 18 May 2022, Ghandi Al-Rabi and Nizar Banat’s family fully withdrew from court sessions, saying they had lost trust in the proceedings. They are preparing the case for civilian courts.  

Ghandi Al-Rabi told Amnesty International: “We were fighting to bring to justice not only those who committed the horrific act of torturing and murdering Nizar, but also those who gave the order, facilitated, and greenlighted it. Now, we’re set back 10 steps as the accused are on ‘holiday’!”

Under international human rights law, cases involving human rights violations should be prosecuted in civilian courts, even if they involve members of the military.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

Nizar Banat’s cousin Ammar Banat was one of those who witnessed the arrest last June. He told Amnesty International that a group of security officers detonated the door of the house and broke in. They did not present any warrant, and proceeded immediately to the room where Nizar Banat was sleeping. According to Ammar Banat, members of the security forces began beating Nizar with batons, including on his head, and sprayed his face with pepper spray. They then stripped him to his underwear and dragged him into a waiting vehicle, without informing the family where he was being taken.

Background

The security forces’ investigation into the death of Nizar Banat, which was completed on 6 September, absolved regional commanders of all responsibility for the orders to arrest without a warrant and for the culture of excessive violence

Palestinian authorities continue to repress freedom of expression and assembly in an escalating campaign to crush dissent. Security forces responded to protests sparked by Nizar Banat’s death with excessive force. On 3 July 2021, hundreds of Palestinians gathered in Ramallah, a city in the central West Bank in Palestine, for a peaceful demonstration against President Mahmoud Abbas. Security officers arrested dozens of demonstrators, including Ghassan al-Saadi, a vocal critic of the Palestinian authorities, while on his way home following the protest. During his arrest they punched, kicked and beat him with batons.

Torture and other ill-treatment continue to be rife in prisons administered by Palestinian authorities. Between 1 January 2022 until 31 May 2022, the Palestinian human rights ombudsman, the Independent Commission for Human Rights, received 55 complaints of torture and other ill-treatment by authorities in the West Bank, and 60 complaints against authorities in Gaza.

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Responding to the trial of Lebanese comedian and activist Shaden Fakih, who will appear on Friday before the Military Court on charges of insulting and harming the reputation of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“The case of Shaden Fakih is the latest example of the Lebanese authorities’ abuse of defamation laws to curtail freedom of expression by trying journalists and activists in the Military Court.

“Over the past three years, Lebanese security and military agencies have been increasingly harassing and interrogating activists in relation to social media posts that criticize the authorities, often referring their cases to the military justice system for investigation. This prosecution is a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression, which Lebanon has most recently committed to upholding during its 2021Universal Periodic Review before the United Nation Human Rights Council. These shameless attempts to stifle activism and criticism must stop.

“Lebanese authorities must immediately drop the case against Shaden Fakih, stop subjecting civilians in general and activists in particular to the Military Court and end the abuse of laws on defamation to suppress criticism of officials and institutions. It’s essential that the Lebanese government brings national laws on the right to freedom of expression fully in line with international human rights law and standards.”

The case of Shaden Fakih is the latest example of the Lebanese authorities’ abuse of defamation laws to curtail freedom of expression by trying journalists and activists in the Military Court.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty International

Background

The Office of Cybercrime first interrogated Shaden Fakih in May 2021 following a complaint by the ISF about a comedic call she made to its hotline during the Covid-19 lockdown, in which she asked them to deliver sanitary pads to her house. She later posted a video recording on her social media accounts and, in November 2021, the Military Court summoned her for trial scheduled for 24 June 2022.

The Human Rights Committee, the expert body entrusted with interpreting states’ obligations under the ICCPR, has explained in its General Comment 34 (on the right to freedom of expression) that “states parties should not prohibit criticism of institutions, such as the army or the administration.”

Under international human rights law, the jurisdiction of military courts over criminal cases is limited to trials of military personnel for breaches of military discipline. Access to military court sessions is restricted and the right to appeal is limited.

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