Kategorie: Humans

Amnesty International calls on the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) armed group to cease targeting civilians following the unlawful killing of dozens of civilians in towns in the east of the country in recent days in indiscriminate attacks and, in some cases, summary killings.

Those killed during attacks in and around the communities of Bambo and Kishishe, among others, between November 28 and December 1 included elderly men and children.

Flavia Mwangovya, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes region said: “The M23 rebel group must immediately end deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. We urge all forces in the area, including the Congolese army and the East African Community Regional Force, to take all necessary measures to protect the civilian population while respecting international humanitarian law.

The M23 rebel group must immediately end deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians

Flavia Mwangovya, Deputy Director, East Africa, the Horn and Great Lakes Region

“Even if M23 had assumed that some of the civilians it captured were fighters of another armed group, M23 should have treated them humanely as prisoners. They should not have been killed. The deliberate killing of captives – whether civilians or fighters — is a war crime. Indiscriminate attacks that kill or injure civilians are also war crimes. These killings and other human rights abuses must be investigated, and perpetrators must be made accountable. Parties to this conflict must adhere to international humanitarian law and send a clear message to those under their command that war crimes and other abuses will not be violated.”

“All forces have an obligation to protect civilians in this conflict. They should take every feasible precaution to ensure their own actions do not cause further harm to civilians, including avoiding, to the maximum extent feasible, the deployment of military forces or equipment within densely populated civilian areas.”

All forces have an obligation to protect civilians in this conflict.

Flavia Mwangovya

BACKGROUND

The M23 rebel group sprung from elements within the Congolese army in 2012, claiming to defend the rights of the Congolese Tutsi ethnic group.

The group was defeated by the Congolese army and the UN Force Intervention Brigade in November 2013, and its members fled to Rwanda and Uganda. In November 2021, the group began operating again in North-Kivu province with support from the Rwandan army, according to a leaked report in June 2022 from the UN Group of Experts. After a truce, fighting resumed in October between the M23 and the Congolese army, with M23 managing to capture much of the Rutshuru area of North-Kivu.

Although fighting with the Congolese army and M23 has abated in the last two weeks,  clashes have been regularly reported between the M23 and other armed groups, including the FDLR.

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The killing of a three-year-old girl shows the urgent need to better protect people with albinism following a series of attacks over recent weeks.

The horrific nature of the death of Tadala Chirwa is deeply shocking, and a cause of great concern

Vongai Chikwanda, Senior Campaigner for Amnesty International in Southern Africa

Amnesty International calls on the authorities to improve the protection of persons with albinism across the country after the killing of this week of Tadala Chirwa. Before midnight on 30 November, an unidentified man broke into her grandmother’s house where she was sleeping and killed her, before chopping off her left arm and taking it away.

“The horrific nature of the death of Tadala Chirwa is deeply shocking, and a cause of great concern,” said Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Campaigner for Southern Africa.

“This killing and the removal of a limb is consistent with past patterns on attacks on persons with albinism, which are driven by the false belief that their body parts bring wealth and good luck.”

“Authorities must promptly and thoroughly investigate the killing of Tadala Chirwa and ensure that those suspected of responsibility are brought to justice in fair trials.”

The authorities must also take urgent steps to guarantee the safety and security of persons with albinism in Malawi

Vongai Chikwanda

“The authorities must also take urgent steps to guarantee the safety and security of persons with albinism in Malawi, including by investigating all past attacks and delivering justice for victims and their families.”

Background

The attack took place in Mawawa village, near the town of Kasungu, in central Malawi before midnight on 30 November. Tadala Chirwa was reportedly sleeping in the same bed with her grandmother when an unidentified man broke into the house, stabbed the child in the neck, chopped off her arm, and fled. The attack follows the attempted abduction of a two-year old boy with albinism in Phalombe district, in the south of the country, on 19 November.

The toddler was asleep with his mother and a sibling when three masked assailants tried to force their way into their home. The mother managed to get her family to safety. In October the body of a person with albinism who had died was illegally exhumed from a grave and their legs and arms were removed.

Albinism is a rare inherited condition. People with albinism have a reduced amount of melanin, or no melanin, affecting their skin colouring and eyesight.

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On Sunday 4 December, the Israeli authorities plan to deport French-Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hammouri, who has also had his Jerusalem residency status revoked. 

Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Heba Morayef, said: 

“Salah Hammouri has already spent nine months in administrative detention without charge or trial this year, in retaliation for his tireless campaigning for an end to Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. These latest plans are not only a shameless attempt to hinder Salah’s human rights work, they are also an expression of the Israeli authorities’ chilling long-term policy aim of reducing the number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.  

“Unlawful deportation from the Occupied Palestinian Territories constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime. Deportation carried to maintain a system of apartheid constitutes a crime against humanity. These crimes are all in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, whose Prosecutor has opened an investigation into the situation in Palestine. We reiterate our call for the crime of apartheid to be included in that investigation; Israeli authorities must be held accountable.   

This is an expression of Israeli authorities’ chilling long-term policy aim of reducing the number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem.  

Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa

“Over the past two decades, Salah Hammouri has faced many of the inhumane acts which Israeli authorities use to enforce and maintain their system of apartheid. He has been subjected to prolonged administrative detention on various occasions, as well as harassment, family separation, surveillance, and constant threats of residency revocation. This persecution must end now. Israeli authorities must release Salah Hammouri, restore his residency status in Jerusalem, and allow him to continue his human rights work without fear of reprisals.” 

Background

Salah Hammouri was notified on 30 November that he will be deported to France on Sunday 4 December 2022 – the date his current administrative detention order expires. Salah has been detained without charge or trial since 7 March, under a three-month administrative detention order that has been repeatedly renewed. 

The deportation of Salah Hammouri would set a dangerous precedent. It is based on an amendment to a law which authorizes the Israeli Ministry of the Interior to deport permanent residents (the legal status held by most Palestinian-Jerusalemites) if they are found to have “breached” allegiance to the state of Israel. This is at odds with international law: allegiance to the occupying power is not required from an occupied population. 

Under Israeli law, Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are not Israeli citizens and are not residents of the West Bank. Instead, they are granted fragile “permanent residency status” which allows them to reside and work in the city, and which may be revoked on a number of discriminatory grounds. 

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Hussein Abo al-Kheir, a Jordanian man and father of eight who has been on death row since 2015 on a drug-smuggling conviction is at risk of imminent execution, Amnesty International said today, as Saudi Arabia resumes executions for drug-related offences after a two-year moratorium.

Since 10 November 2022, Saudi Arabia has executed 20 people convicted on drug-related charges, 60% of whom were foreign nationals. Dozens more prisoners are feared to be facing the same fate.

Hussein Abo al-Kheir could now be put to death at any moment. He has already seen other detainees from his facility taken away to be executed. These callous executions must end now.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

“The resumption of executions for drug-related offences in Saudi Arabia mean that Hussein Abo al-Kheir could now be put to death at any moment. He has already seen other detainees from his facility taken away to be executed. These callous executions must end now. Nobody should have to suffer this ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The Saudi authorities should immediately commute his sentence and the sentences of all those on death row. They must urgently declare a moratorium on all executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty altogether.”

Hussein Abo al-Kheir was arrested on 18 May 2014 by customs officials while crossing from Jordan into Saudi Arabia for allegedly smuggling amphetamine pills. He was detained incommunicado at an unknown location for 12 days and was only able to contact his family two weeks after his arrest. He says that the authorities obtained a ‘confession’ from him by suspending him upside down by his feet and beating him so badly he could no longer hold a pen. In the end, he said he could only ‘sign’ the document using his fingerprint. He later retracted this ‘confession’ before the Tabuk Criminal Court and requested a medical report, but says his claims of torture have not been investigated. He had no access to legal representation or consular assistance throughout his pre-trial detention and court proceedings.

In June 2021, Hussein shared positive news with his family after the authorities told him his death sentence had been suspended and was being reviewed in light of a directive issued by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, which stated that some detainees held on drug offences would be pardoned. Although it was unclear whether this order would apply to those on death row, some detainees held within his facility were released.

Since then, however, the authorities have not said anything to Hussein about the status of his case, and as Saudi Arabia has once again ramped up its use of executions for drug-related offences, Hussein’s family are living in agony knowing that he could be executed at any moment.

Hussein’s sister, Zainab Abo al-Kheir, told Amnesty International: “Hussein called us yesterday and told us that the prison authorities took a Saudi man from his ward to be executed yesterday, and that two weeks ago two Jordanians were taken to be executed. We felt like he was preparing us for his imminent death, as if he was telling us ‘goodbye’. We don’t know what will happen to Hussein, but how is it possible that the authorities might execute him at any moment without telling us? Our anger and desperation are unexplainable.”

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found that Hussein is being arbitrarily detained and that his deprivation of liberty “lacks a legal basis”, before recommending that Saudi Arabia “quash his death sentence” and “immediately and unconditionally release him.”

Today, on 1 December, UN experts raised concerns that Hussein Abo al-Kheir “may soon be executed” and called on the Saudi government to establish an official moratorium on all executions with a view to fully abolishing the death penalty.

Background

In January 2021, the Saudi Human Rights Commission said the country had introduced a moratorium on executions for drug-related crimes, and that “the Kingdom and its justice system are focusing more on rehabilitation and prevention”.

Between February 2020 and October 2022, Saudi Arabia did not carry out any executions for drug-related offences, but the moratorium on executions was never enshrined in law, which provides that drug smuggling or related crimes are punishable by death under ta’zir (the judge’s discretion). Between 2016 and 2020, the Saudi authorities executed at least 987 people, including 232 Saudi and foreign nationals convicted on drug-related offences.

Saudi Arabia has already carried out 148 executions this year. In March, the authorities executed 81 people in a single day – the largest mass execution in years –  including 41 people who were from the country’s Shi’a minority. The authorities have also continued to hand down death sentences to men from the Shi’a minority, including those who were under the age of 18 at the time of their alleged crimes.

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Women and LGBTIQ+ protesters, journalists and human rights defenders suffered sexual violence and other forms of gender-based violence at the hands of Colombia’s National Police and its Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) during the repression of the National Strike in 2021, Amnesty International said today in a new report.

The police do not protect me: Sexual violence and other gender-based violence during the 2021 National Strike documents28 cases of gender-based violence that took place in seven cities against women and LGBTIQ+ people in the context of the protests. The report details an array of violent behavior by state agents, particularly National Police officers, ranging from the use of sexist, misogynist and abusive language to sexual violence, which can constitute a form of torture.

“Gender-based violence, and particularly sexual violence, have a painful history in the context of the Colombian armed conflict – a history that authorities have yet to overcome. We received hundreds of reports of gender-based violence during the National Strike in 2021 detailing psychological violence, discrimination, threats, touching, sexual harassment, forced nudity, torture and sexual violence. Having documented 28 of these incidents in depth, it’s clear that gender-based violence was a tool of repression that the National Police used to punish those who dared to speak out and protest,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International.

The cases documented took place in the cities of Cali and Palmira (Valle de Cauca), Popayán (Cauca), Soledad (Atlántico), Tunja (Boyacá), Manizales (Caldas) and Bogotá. Women protesters were broadly targeted, with Afro-descendant and Indigenous women, human rights defenders, journalists, healthcare workers, and mothers among the survivors.

Gender-based violence, and particularly sexual violence, have a painful history in the context of the Colombian armed conflict – a history that authorities have yet to overcome

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International

The report reveals how the violence against women and LGBTQI people was inextricably linked with other factors of discrimination, such as race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. Testimonies from Indigenous, Afro-descendant and Trans women reveal how their identities became additional motives for repression, exacerbating the risks of violence. Further, women and LGBTIQ+ journalists and human rights defenders experienced attacks marked by machismo, homophobia and other forms of hatred, and stigmatization.

The human rights violations mainly took place in two instances: during the action the National Police took to disperse the protests and during detentions following the initial intervention. In both situations, acting in official capacity, members of the National Police committed acts ranging from sexist insults and threats to sexual violence. The common factors in all these cases were the intent with which the violence was carried out: the perpetrators were seeking to punish the protesters for challenging social gender norms and taking to the streets to exercise their right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

Amnesty International also received information regarding how the justice system – and particularly the Attorney General’s Office – either failed to respond or responded inadequately to the complaints that survivors of gender-based violence filed. Several survivors also said they decided not to file complaints before the Attorney General’s Office out of fear and mistrust.

“As the ultimate head of the National Police, President Gustavo Petro must issue an order condemning all forms of sexual and gender-based violence and demand it to stop. Each complaint from the National Strike in 2021 must be investigated and those responsible must be held to account. The Colombian authorities must also address the root causes of this violence and work with women and LGBTIQ+ people to develop and adopt effective measures to guarantee a life free from institutional discrimination and gender-based violence. This is the bare minimum to begin paving a road to justice and accountability,” said Agnès Callamard.

Prior to this new report, Amnesty International published several statements and reports documenting other serious human rights violations in the context of the National Strike, including disproportionate restrictions on peaceful demonstrations, urban paramilitarism, arbitrary detentions and torture and ill-treatment of peaceful demonstrators in the city of Cali, and eye injuries caused by ESMAD agents as a result of the unlawful use of less lethal weapons.

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