Kategorie: Humans

The UN has taken a significant step towards ending the shameful trade in tools of torture, Amnesty International said today, following the release of an expert report which could pave the way for a legally binding treaty.  

There are currently no human rights controls at the global level on the trade in goods used to torture, ill-treat or execute people. In 2021, the UN General Assembly tasked a group of governmental experts (GGE) with exploring new options for regulating the trade, and their proposals are published in today’s report.  

This is a major step towards curbing the despicable torture trade, which allows companies to profit from unimaginable pain and suffering 

Agnès Callamard

Amnesty International, along with its partners at the Omega Research Foundation and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (IHRC), have particularly welcomed a proposal for the UN General Assembly to begin negotiations on a legally binding instrument. 

“Torture and other ill-treatment were prohibited under international law decades ago, yet there is still no global regulation of the trade in goods used to inflict these abuses. This report is a milestone in the UN’s work to fix this fundamental flaw,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. 

“The report is a major step towards curbing this despicable trade, which undermines the global ban on torture and other ill-treatment and allows companies to profit from unimaginable pain and suffering.” 

Proposed ban on inherently abusive equipment

Amnesty International, the Omega Research Foundation and the IHRC are calling for an outright ban on goods whose only practical purpose is torture or other ill-treatment, such as spiked batons, weighted leg chains and electric shock belts. The organizations welcome the report’s recommendation today that any future international standard includes a prohibition on the production and trade in inherently abusive law enforcement equipment. The GGE state that such a ban would be “a proactive measure to prevent human rights violations”. 

A legally binding treaty is the only means of ensuring that inherently abusive equipment like electric shock belts and spiked batons can no longer be sold in a global market place.

Dr Michael Crowley of the Omega Research Foundation

Another positive development is the recommendation to develop trade controls on law enforcement goods “where there are reasonable grounds for believing” they will be used for torture or other ill-treatment. This could mean placing controls on standard policing goods like handcuffs, tear gas, rubber bullets, and batons, which can have a legitimate purpose but are routinely misused. Amnesty International, the Omega Research Foundation and the IHRC are calling for strict human rights-based trade controls on these types of goods. 

There was a diversity of opinions among the GGE on the feasibility of trade controls on death penalty goods. 

Dr Michael Crowley of the Omega Research Foundation said:  

“Amnesty and Omega’s previous investigations have uncovered the international nature of this trade. A legally binding international Torture-Free Trade Treaty is the only means of ensuring that companies promoting spiked batons, electric shock belts, and other inherently abusive equipment will no longer be able to sell their products in a global market place.

“Such a treaty would also ensure that companies selling law enforcement equipment, wherever they operate, will be subject to common regulations that prevent them from supplying abusive police and security forces across the globe.” 

States now have the opportunity to start working towards a treaty to establish global standards to end this trade.

Anna Crowe, International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School

Anna Crowe of the IHRC said:   

“The GGE’s report shows why international regulation of the torture trade is so important and urgent. States now have the opportunity to start working towards a treaty to establish global standards to end this trade.” 

Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation have worked closely with the EU and the Council of Europe on developing regional regulations on the trade in tools of torture, and also submitted recommendations to the current UN deliberations. Along with the IHRC, they are now calling on states to be bold in their ambition to negotiate a legally binding treaty to tackle the torture trade globally. 

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Responding to the end of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet’s six-day visit to China, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said: 

“The time has come for the OHCHR to publicly acknowledge the scale and gravity of human rights violations being committed by the Chinese government. The High Commissioner should release the long-awaited report on Xinjiang and present the findings at the next meeting of the UN Human Rights Council in June. 

“Failure to release a report that sufficiently addresses crimes against humanity in the region would amount to a betrayal of the victims and their families. This continued lack of urgency puts the credibility of the High Commissioner’s Office at stake. 

“The High Commissioner’s visit has been characterized by photo opportunities with senior government officials and manipulation of her statements by Chinese state media, leaving an impression that she has walked straight into a highly predictable propaganda exercise for the Chinese government. 

The High Commissioner’s visit has been characterized by photo opportunities with senior government officials and manipulation of her statements by Chinese state media, leaving an impression that she has walked straight into a highly predictable propaganda exercise for the Chinese government. 

Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

“The High Commissioner instead should condemn the ongoing gross human rights violations and seek accountability, truth and justice. 

“Bachelet acknowledged that she received appeals from Uyghurs abroad regarding their missing family members believed to be detained and said she raised them with the Chinese authorities. Her office must follow up on these cases and insist that authorities guarantee detainees rights and means to maintain regular contact with family members, including those living overseas.   

“Given the various restraints imposed, including COVID-19 restrictions, Bachelet has rightly acknowledged that this visit was not an ‘investigation’.  But she should push for it to be a springboard to more meaningful actions and investigations by independent human rights experts in the near future. 

“While Bachelet said a working group on human rights, including on business and human rights, counter-terrorism and human rights, and rights of minorities will be established between the UN and Chinese authorities, no clear goals and timeline have been shared. These cannot be a substitute for urgently establishing an independent international mechanism to investigate crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations in Xinjiang, with a view to ensuring accountability, including through the identification of suspected perpetrators.  

“The High Commissioner must call on the Chinese government to immediately dismantle all remaining internment camps, release the people arbitrarily detained in them and in prisons, and end the systematic attacks against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.  

Background 

A team led by High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet spent six days in China including two days in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where Amnesty International has documented systematic arbitrary detention, torture and persecution of Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities. 

On Saturday, 28 May, the High Commissioner held a virtual press conference in Guangzhou where she spoke about her mission to China. She met with government officials, the business community and members of civil society. In regard to Xinjiang, she spoke about how counter-terrorism measures should not result in human rights violations and need to be subjected to independent oversight. She also mentioned linguistics, religious, cultural and education rights in Tibet and other human rights issues.  

During Bachelet’s visit to China, national state media quoted her as saying she “admired China’s efforts in… protecting human rights”. The OHCHR later issued a clarification of Bachelet’s words, which did not praise China’s human rights record.  

Since September 2018, when the High Commissioner first sought access to Xinjiang “in light of deeply disturbing allegations of large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and other Muslim communities”, numerous organizations have published further detailed and well-corroborated information on the situation. In June 2021, Amnesty International launched a comprehensive report documenting how China’s crackdown against predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang amounted to serious human rights violations, including crimes against humanity. 

Based on dozens of testimonies, the report described a “dystopian hellscape” encompassing grave violations against detainees, systematic state surveillance of millions of people, and efforts to root out the religious traditions, cultural practices and local languages of the region’s Muslim ethnic groups. 

Amnesty International launched an international campaign, initially focusing on more than 70 individuals, calling for the release of all people arbitrarily detained in camps and prisons, and for the closure of the internment camps. Just this month Amnesty has collected details of a further 40 missing or detained individuals as news of Bachelet’s visit prompted more families to come forward seeking justice for relatives in Xinjiang who have disappeared and are believed to be detained. 

The OHCHR has already compiled its own report on human rights violations in Xinjiang, which Bachelet said was being “finalised” last year. It has not yet been made public, despite repeated requests from almost 200 NGOs, including Amnesty International. 

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Reacting to the news that a Russian court has sentenced activist Mikhail Iosilevich to one year and eight months in a penal colony on fabricated charges of collaborating with so called ‘undesirable’ organization, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The Russian authorities have added yet another name to the tally of activists they have persecuted for collaborating with so-called ‘undesirable organizations.’ The repressive legislation underpinning Mikhail Iosilevich’ssentence has only ever been used to stifle dissenting voices. The law is a blatant pretext for repression and an assault on freedom of expression.

“A renowned activist and publisher, Mikhail Iosilevich has enriched public discourse through the peaceful expression of his views and support for civic initiatives. His activism should be welcomed in the arena of public debate, not criminalized. He has committed no internationally recognized crime and is prisoner of conscience. He must be immediately and unconditionally released.”

A renowned activist and publisher, Mikhail Iosilevich has enriched public discourse through the peaceful expression of his views and support for civic initiatives. His activism should be welcomed in the arena of public debate, not criminalized

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Background

On 27 May, the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, Central Russia, sentenced Iosilevich to one year and eight months in a penal colony. He was found guilty of collaborating with an “undesirable organization” — the now defunct Otkrytaya Rossiya (Open Russia) movement founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He was also found guilty of threatening a witness. Mikhail Iosilevich pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Iosilevich, a civil society activist and regional leader of the Pastafarians (followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster), was previously fined in July 2019 and June 2020 for “carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization” after he provided an office for opposition activists, which allegedly included individuals working with Otkrytaya Rossiya.

A criminal case was initiated against him on 29 September 2020 after he provided a space for the training of election monitors. Iosilevich’s home and those of several other Nizhny Novgorod activists and journalists were searched shortly afterwards.

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The Moroccan authorities must urgently investigate allegations that police and security forces brutally assaulted five Sahrawi women activists, Amnesty International said today. The organization has investigated the circumstances around the attacks, which took place during five separate incidents on 15 and 16 April, in the city of Boujdour in Western Sahara.

Zeinab Babi, Embarka Al Hafidhi, Fatima al-Hafidhi, Oum Al Moumin Al Kharashi and Nasrathum (Hajatna) Babi were targeted after their participation in peaceful protests for Sahrawi self-determination, and after they expressed public support for Sultana Khaya, a prominent Sahrawi activist.  Moroccan police officers and plainclothes security agents beat the women with sticks and punched and kicked them. One woman lost consciousness and required reconstructive surgery on her hand. Two of the women reported that they had been sexually assaulted. 

“Five weeks on from these appalling attacks, the Moroccan authorities have yet to lift a finger to investigate. These women have peacefully exercised their right to freedom of expression and assembly and yet they were brutally assaulted, leaving them with cuts, bruises and, in at least one case, broken bones,” said Amna Guellai, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“So far, the perpetrators have enjoyed complete impunity. Instead of seeking justice for these women, Moroccan authorities have stationed security agents outside their houses, leaving them afraid to go outside. We are urging Moroccan authorities to end the harassment and violence against Sahrawi activists, and to launch immediate, impartial investigations into all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by Moroccan police and security agents.” 

Peaceful solidarity

Sultana Khaya and her family have been under house arrest since November 2020, during which time Moroccan authorities have subjected them to multiple grave human rights violations, including Khaya’s rape. 

The five women activists had been on the streets of Boujdour, most of them heading towards Sultana Khaya’s house to join in peaceful protests on her rooftop when they were attacked separately by groups of Moroccan security agents. 

One of the most serious incidents took place on 16 April, when Moroccan police arrested Zeinab Babi, without telling her why, while she was in a taxi on her way to a supermarket. Two police officers hit and kicked Zeinab in the car on the way to the police station. At the police station, four officers interrogated Zeinab about her activism, while insulting her and intermittently hitting and punching her. 

Zeinab was finally released after three hours, but her ordeal was not over. When she was walking home from the police station, more police officers and security agents assaulted her. In the first attack, which happened near the police station, a group of police officers and security agents beat her with sticks. Zeinab was about to reach her house when a group of security agents surrounded her, kicked and punched her, and beat her with wooden sticks until she lost consciousness.

Zeinab’s family took her to hospital where she was treated for her injuries. She had to have reconstructive surgery on her left hand, which was broken in several places. 

On the same day, five plainclothes agents stopped Embarka Al-Hafidhi while she was walking with her son to Sultana Khaya’s house to join a peaceful gathering. The agents beat Embarka, and some tore at her clothes and touched her on her groin area.  

All five women told Amnesty International that there have been agents stationed outside their houses since the incidents, and that they have been afraid to leave their houses for fear of being attacked again. 

Amnesty International calls on the Moroccan authorities to uphold their obligations under international human rights law and respect the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment.

Background

The Moroccan authorities have long imposed arbitrary restrictions on the rights of Sahrawis to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, particularly where the exercise of those rights relates to the status of Western Sahara. Moroccan security forces have used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations, and Sahrawi activists have faced harassment, intimidation and prosecution. 

Sultana Khaya is the president of an organization called the ‘League for the Defence of Human Rights and against Plunder of Natural Resources’ and is known for her vocal activism in defence of the right of self-determination for the Sahrawi people. The Moroccan authorities have held Sultana and her family under arbitrary house arrest since November 2020, during which time they have subjected them to multiple episodes of torture or other ill-treatment, included sexual assault and rape. 

The Moroccan authorities continue to restrict access to Morocco and Western Sahara for journalists, peaceful activists and human rights defenders, and to prevent impartial and independent human rights monitoring and reporting by the UN.

On 16 March 2022, four American activists managed to enter Khaya’s house to show solidarity with Sultana and her family. At first the presence of the volunteers seemed to abate the close watch of the security forces but, since 15 April, the police presence has intensified outside Khaya’s house as well as at the houses of other activists.

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South Sudan: Renewal of UN arms embargo positive step to help curb conflict-related sexual violence

Following the United Nations Security Council’s decision to renew the arms embargo on South Sudan for another year, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena said:

The renewal of the arms embargo is a step in the right direction and it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit or facilitate war crimes, human rights violations and abuses including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“The renewal of the arms embargo is a step in the right direction and it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit or facilitate war crimes, human rights violations and abuses including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). South Sudan and all other UN members states, particularly neighbouring states, should diligently enforce it.

“We also welcome the preservation of the integrity of the benchmarks adopted by resolution 2577 in May 2021, and particularly the maintaining of the implementation of the Action Plan for the armed forces on addressing CRSV in South Sudan as a benchmark against which any future amendment of the arms embargo will be reviewed. We call on the Government of South Sudan to expedite implementation of the action plan.

“The renewal of the arms embargo is a step in the right direction and it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit or facilitate war crimes, human rights violations and abuses including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). South Sudan and all other UN members states, particularly neighbouring states, should diligently enforce the embargo.

Deprose Muchena

“Given the high prevalence of CRSV in the country and endemic impunity with which it is met, we particularly welcome that the Council reiterated its call on the government to establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. Special emphasis should be put on protection of victims, witnesses and judicial actors and criminal accountability, including transitioning from using military courts to civilian courts to prosecute crimes committed against civilians.”

Background

On 18 May, Amnesty International published a report “If you don’t cooperate, we’ll gun you down”: conflict-related sexual violence and impunity in South Sudan revealing how CRSV is ongoing in the country, and how guns can be used to facilitate sexual violence. It also exposes how two sections of an action plan that was drafted to address CRSV in the country, adopted by the government in January 2021, are yet to be fully implemented. 

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