Kategorie: Humans

Despite urgent calls to ensure the equal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, pharmaceutical companies tragically failed to rise to the challenge of a once-in-a-century global health and human rights crisis. Instead, they monopolized technology, blocked and lobbied against the sharing of intellectual property, charged high prices for vaccines and prioritized supplies to wealthy countries, said Amnesty International today in a new assessment of the leading Covid-19 vaccine developers.

Ten billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines were produced last year, more than enough to reach the 40% target of global vaccination set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the end of 2021. Yet MMoney calls the shots: Pharma’s response to the Covid-19 vaccines crisis  – an update on Amnesty International’s September 2021 report  A double dose of inequality: Pharma companies and the Covid-19 vaccines crisis – reveals that just over 4% of those living in low-income countries had been fully vaccinated by the end of last year.

“More than 1.2 billion people in low and lower-middle income countries could have been vaccinated by the end of 2021 if high-income countries and vaccine makers took their human rights obligations and responsibilities to heart,” said Rajat Khosla, Amnesty International’s Senior Director of Research, Advocacy and Policy.

While high income countries hoarded vaccines, callously choking supply to poorer parts of the world, pharma companies played a pivotal role in this unfolding human rights catastrophe – leaving those most in need to cope on their own

Rajat Khosla, senior director of research, advocacy and policy

“While high income countries hoarded vaccines, callously choking supply to poorer parts of the world, pharma companies played a pivotal role in this unfolding human rights catastrophe – leaving those most in need to cope on their own. These companies could have been the heroes of 2021. Instead, they turned their back on those who needed vaccines the most and just continued with business as usual, putting profits before people. If we want 2022 to be the last year of this pandemic, we need to shift course now to reach the 70% WHO-target by July of this year.”

In 2021, Pfizer, BioNTech and Moderna projected revenues of up to US$54 billion, yet supplied less than 2% of their vaccines to low-income countries. Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm delivered just 0.4% and 1.5% respectively of their vaccines to low-income countries.

Johnson & Johnson’s and AstraZeneca’s records on distribution were better – with 50% of their stock reaching low and lower-middle-income countries (with many of these doses provided as “donations” from upper-income countries, not as part of sales agreements). However, both companies still refuse to share their technology and intellectual property through World Health Organization-coordinated initiatives and are now abandoning their not-for-profit pricing model.

“Despite billions in public funding, these companies are continuing to put their own greed before their human rights responsibilities. It’s deeply concerning that profits are being prioritised over people – even in the face of more than 5.6 million people dead from Covid-19 to date. How many more variants do we have to live through before high-income countries and pharmaceutical companies realize that those in low-income countries must have access to vaccines – not just those living in rich ones?” said Rajat Khosla.

Further findings provided by Airfinity, a science and analytics company, up to 31 December 2021, include:

• AstraZeneca produced just under 2.4 billion vaccine doses in 2021 and supplied 1.7% of these to low-income countries and 70% to lower-middle income countries, an increase on the previous assessment.

• Johnson & Johnson produced just over 300 million doses in 2021 and delivered 20% of these to low-income countries and 31% to lower-middle income countries, a significant increase on the previous assessment.

• Moderna produced 673 million doses in 2021 and delivered 2% of these to low-income countries and 23.5% to lower-middle income countries, a significant increase on the previous assessment, but still short of what is required.

• Pfizer/BioNTech produced 2.4 billion doses in 2021 and delivered 1% of these to low-income countries and 14% to lower-middle income countries, a slight increase on the previous assessment, but well below Amnesty International’s 50% target.

• Sinopharm produced just over 2.2 billion doses in 2021, most of which were supplied domestically within China. The company delivered 1.5% of its doses to low-income countries and 24% to lower-middle income countries, short of what is required for a fair distribution of its vaccines.

• Sinovac produced over 2.4 billion doses in 2021, most of which were supplied domestically within China. It delivered 0.4% of its doses to low-income countries and 20.5% to lower-middle income countries.

Amnesty’s report also shows how these companies don’t share their intellectual property, knowledge and technology, putting in place obstacles to fair vaccine access, as well as actively lobbying against the relaxation of intellectual property rights.

“The fight for equitable vaccines is far from over,” said Rajat Khosla. “We will continue to call on pharmaceutical companies to prioritise delivery to low-income countries in order to meet the WHO’s target of 70% global vaccination before mid-2022. Everyone deserves a fair shot at a vaccine and as we enter our third year of the pandemic, it’s time that indeed everyone, living anywhere in this world, has immediate access.”

Amnesty International is also calling on companies to share intellectual property by issuing open and non-exclusive licences or participating in the Covid-19 Technology Access Pool (C-TAP), established to support the sharing of open and non-exclusive licences, publicly disclose all terms and conditions, and price vaccine doses so profit does not stand in the way of access to Covid-19 vaccines.

“Investors have also played a huge role in this global crisis. Their lack of meaningful action shows that while Covid-19 unleashed unimaginable suffering on millions around the world, they thrived, but did nothing to ensure their investments did not result in human rights harm on account of the profit-driven approach taken by pharmaceutical companies,” said Rajat Khosla. “We’re calling on investors to face up to their actions immediately and use their considerable leverage to pressure pharmaceutical companies to lift obstacles to fair access to vaccines, as well as promote accountability and transparency.”

Notes to editors:

To coincide with last year’s report, A double dose of inequality: Pharma companies and the Covid-19 vaccines crisis, Amnesty International launched the “100 Day Countdown: 2 Billion Vaccines now!” urging vaccine developers to deliver at least 50% of vaccines produced by the end of the year to low- and lower-middle income countries. The campaign also called for states hoarding vaccines to redistribute surplus doses to countries that needed them the most.

The post Covid-19: Pharmaceutical companies’ failure on equal vaccine access contributed human rights catastrophe in 2021 appeared first on Amnesty International.

The lifting of ban on four newspapers that had been barred from publishing since 2016 and 2017 for exposing alleged corruption and human rights violations is a positive step, but the Tanzanian authorities must do more to guarantee media freedom going forward, Amnesty International said today.

The four newspapers, Daima, Mawio, Mwanahalisi and Mseto, were banned from publishing for various offences under the restrictive Media Services Act, which came into force in November 2016, and the now repealed Newspaper Act.

Over the past six years, numerous newspapers have been targeted and shut down for exposing cases of corruption and human rights violations in Tanzania

Sarah Jackson, Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes

“Over the past six years, being a journalist or running a media organization in Tanzania has come with a price. Numerous newspapers have been targeted and shut down for exposing cases of corruption and human rights violations,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“Now that the ban on these newspapers has been lifted, the Tanzanian authorities must immediately repeal the Media Services Act to ensure that independent media outlets can operate freely, and carry out their work without fear of reprisals. This is essential for the enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression and access to information.”

The Tanzanian authorities have used the Media Services Act and the Newspaper Act to shut down, fine or suspend independent and critical media outlets for publishing or broadcasting allegations of corruption and human rights violations or reporting on general issues of governance.

On 10 August 2016, the state banned Mseto from publishing a week after it published an article implicating an assistant state minister in a corruption scandal. In 2017, Harrison Mwakyembe, the then Minister of Information, Culture and Sports banned four newspapers — Mawio, Mwanahalisi, Raia Mwema, and Tanzania Daima — for publishing stories on allegations of corruption.

While the government has reinstated Tanzania Daima’s licence at various times since it was first banned, Mseto, Mwanahalisi and Mawio have all been prohibited from publishing since their initial ban in 2016 and 2017.

On 23 June 2020, the Director of Information Services indefinitely banned the printing and distribution of Tanzania Daima both inside and outside the country. The order accused the newspaper of breaching the law and failing to uphold professional ethics, but did not cite specific laws or content. The newspaper was previously banned for 90 days in 2017 on allegations of publishing false information.

On 11 August 2021, the authorities suspended another newspaper, Uhuru, for fourteen days. They said it had published a false report claiming the president has no intention of running for office in the 2025 election.

Now that the ban on these newspapers has been lifted, the Tanzanian authorities must immediately repeal the Media Services Act to ensure that independent media outlets can operate freely, and carry out their work without fear of reprisals

Sarah Jackson

On 5 September 2021, the Information Services Department suspended Raia Mwema for 30 days on allegations it repeatedly violated professional journalistic standards and broke the law by publishing “misleading” reports that amounted to “incitement of violence.”

Background

Nape Nnauye, Tanzania’s Minister for Information, Communications and Information Technology, announced the lifting of the ban on the four newspapers on 10 February 2022 at a meeting with newspaper editors in Dar es Salaam.

On 6 April 2021, President Samia Suluhu Hassan instructed the authorities to allow media outlets banned under her predecessor ’s administration, John Magufuli, to resume operations.

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Amnesty International and Fat Rat Films have today released a new documentary that highlights the ongoing struggles faced by Yezidi former child soldiers who survived abduction by the Islamic State (IS) armed group.

The 12-minute film, Captives on the Frontline: Yezidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS, explores the friendship between Vian and Barzan, two young men who were abducted as boys by IS in 2014, indoctrinated into the armed group, and forced to fight. Both escaped and are now living in northern Iraq, where the documentary was filmed last year.

“This film captures the challenges still faced by Yezidi former child soldiers, and also the friendships that have flourished in the most difficult of circumstances,” said Nicolette Waldman, Researcher on Children and Armed Conflict on Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team.

This film captures the challenges still faced by Yezidi former child soldiers, and also the friendships that have flourished in the most difficult of circumstances.

Nicolette Waldman, Researcher on Children and Armed Conflict on Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team

“Former child soldiers are routinely stigmatized, which means their harrowing experiences are frequently kept in the shadows. By bravely sharing their own stories so openly, Vian and Barzan have helped shine a light on the struggles that remain for Yezidi former child soldiers today. Many of these young men, having endured unimaginable trauma, continue to have serious physical and mental health conditions.

“To date, many Yezidi survivors have still not received adequate support for their physical health, mental health or education. Indeed, many have not received support of any kind since they returned to their communities.

“The Iraqi authorities, their international partners, and the United Nations must ensure that Yezidi former child soldiers have full access to the reparations and assistance to which they are entitled under Iraq’s Yazidi Survivors Law (2021).

“They must also work together to establish a National Action Plan mandating that all current and former child soldiers in Iraq, including Yezidi boys and young men, are reintegrated into society and provided with coordinated, specialized and long-term support.”

The documentary was made in collaboration with award-winning documentary production company Fat Rat Films, and will be available here ahead of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers on Saturday 12 February.

IS legacy of terror

Between 2014 and 2017, IS committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and what the UN describes as genocide against the Yezidi community in Iraq.

In July 2020, Amnesty International published a report that documented how Yezidi children who had returned to their families after being held captive by IS were facing a physical and mental health crisis. The report, Legacy of Terror: The Plight of Yezidi Child Survivors of ISIS, also addresses the urgent need to end the enforced separation of Yezidi women and their children born of sexual violence by IS members.

In November 2021, Amnesty International welcomed new regulations passed by Iraq’s parliament to implement the Yazidi Survivors Law, but warned that more work was still required in order to fully assist survivors of atrocities committed by IS.

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• Foro Penal’s arbitrary detentions database counted 1,270 arbitrary detentions in Venezuela from January 2019 to June 2021. CDJ’s stigmatization acts database counted around 350 acts in the same period.

• Within this period, the most common sources of stigmatization were “Con el Mazo Dando”, “Misión Verdad” and “Lechuguinos”.

• Many sources of stigmatization are state-financed media outlets, some are reproduced on official public websites, and others share the same columnists as the aforementioned outlets.

• The Bolivarian National Guard had a prominent role in carrying out arbitrary detentions in 2019 and 2020.

• The Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) was one of the two security forces that carried out the most arbitrary detentions in 2019, 2020 and the first half of 2021.

• The Bolivarian National Police’s Special Action Forces (FAES) became the security force that carried the most arbitrary detentions in 2021, up from the fifth most in 2019 and the third most in 2020.

• In 2019 the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by the intelligence services DGCIM and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) reached 74%.

• In 2020 the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by security forces under the Bolivarian National Police (including FAES) reached 92%.

• Between January and June 2021, the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by decentralized security forces – the Bolivarian National Police, FAES, PNB, municipal police forces and Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps – reached 92%.

• At least during 2019, courts with jurisdiction over terrorism were used more frequently to prosecute those arbitrarily detained for political reasons, and there was a correlation of 68% between these cases and the stigmatization carried out by “Misión Verdad”.

• There was a correlation of 65% between the actions of the military courts and the stigmatization driven by “Con El Mazo Dando”, during the entire period analyzed and especially when military security forces carried out the arbitrary detentions. This correlation reached 94% in 2020.

• Repression peaked in specific periods when human rights violations were reported to international organizations, as well as announcements by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Independent International Mission for Venezuela and the International Criminal Court, with correlations ranging between 70% and 88%.

The post Facts and figures: Calculated repression in Venezuela appeared first on Amnesty International.

The policy of repression in Venezuela has been based on the coordination of attacks and stigmatizing messages broadcast by media with links to Nicolás Maduro’s government and politically motivated arbitrary arrests by the security forces under his command, with a marked pattern of political discrimination, concludes new research published today by Amnesty International in conjunction with the Foro Penal and the Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia (CDJ).

“The world has known for years about the policy of repression that Nicolás Maduro’s government has put in place. Our research shows that there are instances where there is an extremely high correlation between public stigmatization and politically motivated arbitrary arrests. This correlation is a new indicator of a systematic policy of repression and points to the crime against humanity of persecution, which must be investigated by the international justice system,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

The research for the report, Calculated Repression: Correlation between stigmatization and arbitrary detentions in Venezuela, was conducted for over a year, in collaboration with Foro Penal and the CDJ, two human rights organizations based in Caracas. Different statistical models were applied to the records of both organizations covering the period between January 2019 and June 2021, including Pearson’s correlation and other descriptive analytics such as evolutionary analysis and percentage frequency distribution. The statistical models were validated by a peer review process.

The world has known for years about the policy of repression that Nicolás Maduro’s government has put in place. Our research shows that there are instances where there is an extremely high correlation between public stigmatization and politically motivated arbitrary arrests

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Marianna Romero, Director General of the CDJ, stated that they “documented how the stigmatization campaigns have been the basis of the policy of repression and criminalization in Venezuela. From the highest levels of the state, the system has been designed to discredit, accuse, threaten and target those who defend, promote and demand respect for human rights, through public statements, the media and social, personal and institutional networks. This research clearly shows how this stigmatization is based on the rationale that there is an enemy within and results in manifestations of acts of violence and persecution by the state”.

The study revealed a correlation between politically motivated arbitrary arrests, carried out by state security officials, and stigmatization, carried out by various media outlets. This analysis showed that, while in 2019 the general correlation between both variables was 29%, in 2020 it increased to 42% and in the first half of 2021 it reached 77%.

The annual correlations between arbitrary arrests and stigmatization also vary in relation to the different security forces involved in the arrests. In 2019, there is a greater correlation (74%) with arrests by intelligence agencies (Military Counter-Intelligence General Directorate, DGCIM, and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, SEBIN). In 2020 the correlation is greater (92%) with arrests by the units under the command of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), including the Special Action Forces (FAES). And in 2021 the correlation is highest with civil and decentralized bodies, such as the FAES, municipal police forces and the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC), where the correlation between arrest and stigmatization is 92%.

Another significant finding was the high correlation (94%) observed from January 2019 to June 2021, between the stigmatization by the television programme “Con El Mazo Dando” and politically motivated arbitrary arrests carried out by a military security body and prosecuted in the military courts.

There is no doubt that there is a close relationship between agents of the Venezuelan state, public and private media outlets, and attacks against human rights defenders, which should not go unpunished

Gonzalo Himiob, director of Foro Penal

The qualitative dimension of the research includes analysis of the phenomena of stigmatization, politically motivated arbitrary arrests, the nature and functioning of media outlets linked to the government — many of which receive public funding — and the socio-political context in the country during the period covered by the study. All this was compared against international human rights standards and international criminal law, leading to the conclusion that the patterns of stigmatization suggest the existence of political persecution.

“According to the results obtained, there is no doubt that there is a close relationship between agents of the Venezuelan state, public and private media outlets, and attacks against human rights defenders, which should not go unpunished”, said Gonzalo Himiob, Director of Foro Penal.

The organizations involved call on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to consider including in its investigation into crimes against humanity in Venezuela the facts set out in this research, with a view to determining key actors, specific cases and possible participants in the crimes against humanity of arbitrary deprivation of liberty and persecution. They also call on the international community to continue supporting the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission in its mandate to contribute to accountability for human rights violations in Venezuela since 2014.

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

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