The international community must use all diplomatic means available to stop the Iranian authorities from amputating the fingers of eight men, at least three of whom were convicted based on torture-tainted “confessions” following grossly unfair trials, said Amnesty International today.

According to information obtained by the organization, the authorities have informed the men that they will be transferred to a prison with a guillotine machine in the coming days to implement their sentences.

“Amputating prisoners’ fingers is a form of torture, and is yet another shocking reminder of the shameless inhumanity of the criminal justice system in Iran, which legalizes torture, a crime under international law. Carrying out such heinous punishments is not justice – it is an abhorrent assault on human dignity. The Iranian authorities must immediately quash the convictions and amputation sentences of these eight men and grant them fair retrials without resorting to corporal punishments,” said Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“We call on the international community to urgently intervene to stop these sentences from being carried out. They must also call on Iranian authorities to abolish all forms of corporal punishment. It is unacceptable that the authorities in Iran continue to commit such criminal acts of cruelty with impunity.”

All eight men are currently being held at the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary. Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian and Mehdi Shahivand – were transferred from Urumieh prison, West Azerbaijan province, on 15 May 2022, in preparation for the implementation of their sentences. Of the remaining five prisoners, the name of one, Yaghoub Fazeli, has been identified, but the organization has not been able to obtain the names of the other men. All eight were convicted of robbery and sentenced to amputation of their fingers. Amnesty International understands that the sentences of all the men have been upheld by the Supreme Court and sent to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences. This means their sentences could be carried out at any time.

Prosecution authorities told the men on 8 June 2022 that they would be transferred to Tehran’s Evin prison or Raja’i Shahr prison in Karaj, Alborz province, to have their sentences carried out, but the transfer was postponed at the last minute for unknown reasons. This comes amid reports from human rights activists in Iran that a guillotine machine was brought to the medical clinic of Evin prison last month and that, on 31 May 2022, the prison authorities amputated four fingers of a prisoner who was moved there from Dizel Abad prison, Kermanshah province, for the implementation of his sentence.

Amputating prisoners’ fingers is a form of torture, and is yet another shocking reminder of the shameless inhumanity of the criminal justice system in Iran, which legalizes torture, a crime under international law.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International

Inhumane punishments such as amputation are torture, which is a crime under international law and prohibited under Article 7 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Iran is a state party. Iran is legally obliged to prohibit and punish torture in all circumstances and without exception.

Despite this, Iran’s Islamic Penal Code also provides for other corporal judicial punishments amounting to torture, including flogging, blinding, crucifixion and stoning.

“To prevent such state-sanctioned torture and provide victims with redress, we call on all states to exercise universal jurisdiction where possible to investigate Iranian officials, including medical professionals, responsible for ordering, committing, aiding and/or abetting acts of torture such as amputations, and if enough admissible evidence exists, issue arrest warrants and seek to prosecute them.”

Background

Hadi Rostami and Mehdi Shahivand went on hunger strike on 29 May 2022 to protest their sentences. They ended their hunger strike on 2 June 2022 after officials assured them they would be pardoned.

Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian and Mehdi Shahivand were all denied access to lawyers during the investigation phase of their cases, and courts relied on forced “confessions” obtained under torture and other ill-treatment to secure their convictions, despite the defendants retracting them during their trials. The judicial authorities failed to order any investigations into their torture allegations. According to their court verdicts, reviewed by Amnesty International, they are sentenced to “have four fingers on their right hands completely cut off so only the palm of their hands and thumbs are left”, as per the punishment stipulated for certain types of robbery under Iran’s Islamic Penal Code.

Previous plans by the Iranian authorities to carry out the sentences against Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian and Mehdi Shahivand were halted in September 2020 after international pressure.

In February 2021, Hadi Rostami was flogged 60 times in prison after being convicted of “disrupting prison order” in reprisal for his peaceful protest, including through hunger strikes, against his inhumane prison conditions and repeated threats that his amputation sentence would be implemented imminently. He has attempted suicide twice in prison, resulting in serious health complications.

The post Iran: International community must act urgently to stop horrific plan to amputate fingers of eight prisoners appeared first on Amnesty International.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL INDIA

PRESS RELEASE

Indian authorities must ensure a prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the recent unlawful killings of civilians by armed groups in Kashmir, Amnesty International India said today. The killings of three people belonging to the Hindu minority community last week adds to the long-standing violence against civilians that has been escalating since the unilateral revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special autonomy on 5 August 2019 by the Government of India.

“The Indian authorities must take urgent steps for the protection of the people of Kashmir. For decades, people of Jammu & Kashmir have suffered from gross human rights violations and abuses committed by both state and non-state actors. The sheer impunity with which the human rights of the people of Jammu & Kashmir have been systematically disregarded by Indian authorities must end if we are to fulfil the rights of victims and help ensure that such abuses against civilians are not repeated,” said Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India Board.

The Indian authorities must take urgent steps for the protection of the people of Kashmir

Aakar Patel, chair of Amnesty International India Board

Media reports suggest that at least 19 civilians have been killed in 2022 so far, of which seven belonged to the Hindu minority community including a schoolteacher, shopkeeper, government employees and a casual daily worker. According to the Government of India, between August 2019 and November 2021, 87 civilians were killed by armed groups in Jammu & Kashmir. An increasing number of Hindu minorities are now reportedly fleeing their homes due to the fear of the rising threat to their lives as armed groups target them for being alleged government ‘collaborators’.

“Since 2019, the Indian authorities have imposed collective punishment measures against the Kashmiri population under the garb of ‘counter-terrorism’ measures. But the recent spate in targeting of civilians raises further questions on the government’s actions which include a heavy-handed crackdown on peaceful protests in the valley including those recently held by Kashmiri pandits who were subjected to baton charges and tear gas shells. The relentless crackdown on politicians, journalists, human rights activists and even the closure of the state human rights commission has further stifled independent voices and left the people of Kashmir without an appropriate remedy,” said Aakar Patel.

Since the revocation of Jammu & Kashmir’s special status in 2019, the Indian authorities, have arrested many human rights defenders including journalists and activists under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India’s primary counter-terrorism law. At least 36 journalists have faced interrogation, raids, threats or physical assault for their reporting until now. According to Access Now, people in Jammu & Kashmir faced at least 85 internet shutdowns in 2021 – one of the highest in the world. The shutdowns were imposed for long periods of time and in violation of India’s Supreme Court that held that internet shutdowns must satisfy the tests of necessity and proportionality. According to the digital rights organization, these shutdowns were imposed as part of “counterterrorism” measures.

Even though, the Indian authorities have claimed a significant improvement in the security situation in Jammu & Kashmir, the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act remains on the law books. The legislation officially tasks the security forces with protecting civilians, upholding national security and combatting violence by armed groups. However, in the name of security operations, security force personnel have historically committed many grave human rights violations – including torture, rape and extrajudicial executions – which have gone unpunished. The failure to address these abuses have violated the rights of the victims to justice and remedy, which is enshrined in the Constitution of India and the international human rights law.

“It is not too late for the Government of India to take meaningful steps towards creating an inclusive and safe society instead of peddling a false notion of normalcy in the region and encouraging the perpetration of more abuses. Until then, the Indian government’s historical failure to protect the people of Kashmir will keep feeding into this never-ending cycle of abuses and impunity,” said Aakar Patel.

Indian government’s historical failure to protect the people of Kashmir will keep feeding into this never-ending cycle of abuses and impunity

Aakar Patel

The post India: Increase in unlawful killings in Jammu & Kashmir highlights Government’s failure to protect its minorities appeared first on Amnesty International.

Responding to the news that a separatist “court” in Russia-occupied Donetsk ordered the death of two captured two British nationals and a captured Moroccan national, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law on so many counts.

“The three were members of the Ukrainian regular forces and under the Geneva Conventions, as prisoners of war, they are protected from prosecution for taking part in hostilities. The only exception is prosecution for alleged war crimes, in which case there must be sufficient admissible evidence, and fair trial standards must be ensured. Not only this is not the case in this scenario – they were not tried by an independent, impartial regularly constituted court but by Russian proxies. The so-called ‘charges’ against them would not constitute war crimes. And most outrageously of all, the taking of their lives as result of the grossly unfair proceedings would constitute arbitrary deprivation of life.

“In fact, wilfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the right to a fair and regular trial constitutes a war crime. Russia, as the occupying power, bears responsibility for the treatment of all prisoners of war and others deprived of their liberty. They must ensure this so-called ‘sentence’ is immediately quashed, and that these men are treated in full compliance with international humanitarian law.”

Background

The “death sentence” against British nationals Sean Pinner and Aiden Aslin and Moroccan national Saadun Brahim, was pronounced on 9 June by the de-facto Supreme Court of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, a self-proclaimed separatist entity under Russian occupation of eastern Ukraine.

They were “convicted” of being foreign mercenaries and “actions aimed at violent seizure of power and overthrow of the constitutional order of the DNR”. The three were taking part in the fighting with Russia as members of the regular Ukrainian forces, and were taken captive in May by Russian forces in Mariupol in south-eastern Ukraine.

The post Ukraine/Russia: “Death sentences” against three foreign members of Ukrainian forces by separatists’ “courts” a blatant violation of international law appeared first on Amnesty International.

Bahraini authorities’ inadequate response to people with tuberculosis in Jaw prison is inconsistent with their human rights obligations and especially the right to health, Amnesty International said today.

Since the end of May, prison authorities disregarded at least two prisoners with symptoms of tuberculosis for over a week without testing them. A third prisoner who was granted hospital care, was returned to the prison two days after a doctor told his family he has tuberculosis.  Prisoners’ families have been sounding the alarm and raising complaints given that no measures have been put in place to protect other prisoners from this contagious airborne disease. In one egregious case, prison authorities failed to move a fourth prisoner with tuberculosis to a hospital until he had been sick for almost a year and was semi-paralysed.

“Bahrain’s inadequate response to address cases of tuberculosis in prison shows a disturbing lack of concern for prisoners’ health, and puts their right to health at grave risk. The prison authorities have stood by for too long in the face of the risk of further infections,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The Bahraini authorities must immediately provide people in prison who are sick with all necessary medical care. They should put in place measures to prevent the spread of the illness, including access to voluntary testing for tuberculosis for people with symptoms. Authorities should further investigate any allegations of delayed access to health care and hold those responsible to account.”

Inadequate precautions taken to prevent the spread of tuberculosis

One prisoner, Ahmed Jaber, was confirmed to have tuberculosis by medical examinations at Salmaniya hospital after being left sick for 11 months in prison. In a video posted on social media by an exiled activist on 4 June, Ahmed described how he fell sick in April 2021 and was unable to walk or dress by December 2021.

Despite thi, prison authorities did not transfer Ahmed Jaber to hospital until he was semi-paralysed and bedridden in March 2022. He is currently in a halo vest – a medical device that holds the head and neck in place to prevent further damage to the spine – after severe deterioration of his neck vertebrae due in part to advanced tuberculosis.

Another prisoner, Hasan Abdulla Bati, who also suffers from sickle cell anaemia, was diagnosed with tuberculosis last month. He had been ill with swollen lymph nodes since 2019, and doctors had recommended he undergo an operation, but the prison administration refused to schedule it. On 30 May 2022, after transfer to Salmaniya hospital due to a severe episode caused by his sickle-cell anaemia, doctors informed his family that he had tuberculosis; yet two days later, Bahraini authorities returned him to the prison, placing him back in the same cell with eight other people. He continues to be transported by bus with other prisoners for family visitations inside the prison. Hasan Bati has described his illness and the prison administration’s delay in providing treatment in a voice recording given to Bahraini human rights defender Sayed Ahmed al-Wadaei that he posted on social media.

Sayed Nizar al-Wadaei, who was held in the same cell with Ahmed Jaber, has been sick with tuberculosis-like symptoms since the end of May 2022. When he complained to prison guards about his illness, they put him in solitary confinement as punishment, without time outside of the cell or contact with other prisoners. He received testing on 6 June 2022 only after his family had submitted multiple complaints to Bahraini authorities. As of this writing, authorities have not told Sayed Nizar or his family the results of the test or given him any further treatment.

Amnesty International has determined that prison officials moved Ahmed Jaber between cells holding tens of other prisoners in at least seven different buildings at Jaw prison while he was ill there. With the addition of Hasan Bati, who is held in a different building, this means that at least eight buildings at Jaw have had exposure to a person with tuberculosis.

Under international human rights law, the state has a responsibility to ensure that prisoners have access to the same standard of healthcare as is available in the community, free of charge, which includes transferring prisoners to specialized or civil hospitals for treatment that is unavailable in prison.

Background

Amnesty International has documented a recurring problem of medical neglect at the overcrowded and unhygienic Jaw prison in Bahrain. In 2021, there was a major Covid-19 outbreak. One prisoner died after prison authorities waited until he was suffering from severe breathing difficulties before transferring him to hospital.

The post Bahrain: Prison officials’ inadequate response to tuberculosis cases in Jaw prison puts prisoners’ health at serious risk appeared first on Amnesty International.

In response to the Brazilian authorities’ failure to locate British journalist Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on Indigenous Peoples, almost four days since they disappeared in a remote area of the Amazon jungle, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:

“The Brazilian authorities must not waste another second in the search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira. We urge President Bolsonaro to deploy every available resource into finding them alive. Every second could prove crucial to bringing them back safely to their loved ones.”

“We also call on the Peruvian and Colombian authorities to urgently deploy search and rescue teams to their respective regions that border the area of Brazil where Dom and Bruno went missing. International cooperation is more vital than ever in crisis situations like this.”

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Duncan Tucker (Amnesty International Americas): duncan.tucker@amnesty.org

Matheus Vieira (Amnesty International Brazil): imprensa@anistia.org.br

The post Brazil: Authorities must not waste another second in search for Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira appeared first on Amnesty International.