Kategorie: Humans

Over the course of the last 12 months, the Russian authorities have unleashed an unprecedented campaign of repression and reprisals against wrongfully imprisoned opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and his supporters, destroying all remnants of the rights to freedom of expression and association, Amnesty International said today on the first anniversary of the politician’s arrest.

“In the year since Aleksei Navalny’s detention at a Moscow airport, the politician, his supporters and Russian civil society organizations have suffered a relentless onslaught of repression. Dozens of Navalny’s associates and supporters are facing prosecutions on bogus charges, while a growing number of them are already in prison. Meanwhile, the authorities have labelled his organizations as ‘extremist’ and blocked their websites,” said Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director.

In the year since Aleksei Navalny’s detention at a Moscow airport, the politician, his supporters and Russian civil society organizations have suffered a relentless onslaught of repression

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

“Some of Aleksei Navalny’s associates were able to flee the country, yet they now fear their relatives in Russia will suffer a similar fate of unfounded prosecution and imprisonment. On the anniversary of his detention, Navalny and the political activists associated with him are in a living hell.”

On 2 February 2021, a court in Moscow replaced Navalny’s non-custodial sentence with a jail term of two years and eight months, later shortened by two months. Soon thereafter, the Russian authorities began dismantling the Anti-Corruption Foundation and the Citizens’ Rights Protection Foundation, which Navalny founded, and closed his offices. On 9 June 2021, the two organizations were officially labelled as “extremist” and arbitrarily banned.

The activities of the two organizations have since been criminalized. On 28 September 2021, the authorities opened a criminal case against Navalny and his associates under the trumped-up charge of creating an “extremist association”. On 9 November, Lilia Chanysheva, the former coordinator of Navalny’s offices in Ufa, was placed in pre-trial detention.

Dozens of Navalny’s team and regional coordinators from his wider political movement have now left Russia fearing political persecution. Yuri Zhdanov, the father of Ivan Zhdanov, the director of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, was arrested on spurious charges of “forgery” and “large-scale fraud” in March 2021.

Aleksei Navalny faces further bogus charges and up to 15 additional years in prison on top of his current sentence. He stands accused of “contempt of court”, “fraud on an especially large scale” and “money laundering” in relation to alleged misappropriation of donations to his NGOs. He has also been charged with creating an organization that “infringes on the personality and rights of citizens.”

“The callous actions of the Kremlin, who remain hellbent on silencing and vilifying Aleksei Navalny and his supporters, must end now. More than 360,000 people around the world have signed a petition set up by Amnesty International that calls for the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Aleksei Navalny,” said Marie Struthers.

More than 360,000 people around the world have signed a petition set up by Amnesty International that calls for the Russian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Aleksei Navalny

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

“We call on world leaders, international organizations and people across the world to add their voices not only to the call for Aleksei Navalny’s immediate release, but also for the end of brutal reprisals against his supporters. The people of Russia should not have to suffer from the relentless suppression of their human rights. They deserve to have their voices heard without fear of reprisals.”

Background

Aleksei Navalny, an outspoken Kremlin critic, author of groundbreaking investigations into high-level corruption in Russia and founder of several civil society organizations, was arbitrarily detained on 17 January 2021 in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport upon his arrival from Berlin, where he had been recovering after being poisoned in Siberia in August 2020.

He was placed in pre-trial detention for allegedly failing to report regularly to his probation officer in person while recovering from his near-fatal poisoning.

The European Court of Human Rights found Aleksei Navalny’s conviction in 2014 and subsequent prison sentence to be “arbitrary and manifestly unreasonable.”

On 14 January 2022, Leonid Volkov and Ivan Zhdanov, two associates of Navalny, were added to a list of “extremists” by the Russian finance regulator. Their assets in Russia are now blocked.

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• YouGov poll reveals small business leaders are uncomfortable with Facebook and Google’s tracking-based advertising 

Small business leaders in France and Germany want alternatives to Facebook and Google’s dominant tracking-based advertising, new research commissioned by Amnesty International and Global Witness has shown.

Ahead of a key EU vote this week aimed at imposing stricter rules on tracking-based digital advertising, a poll of leaders of small and medium-sized businesses in the two countries revealed 75% believed tracking-based advertising undermines peoples’ privacy and other human rights.

A total of 69% of business owners surveyed said that while they were uncomfortable with Facebook and Google’s influence, they felt they had no option but to advertise with them due to their dominance of the industry.

The constant and invasive monitoring of our lives to target people with ads is unacceptable

Claudia Prettner, Legal and Policy Adviser at Amnesty Tech

The survey results, from a poll of more than 600 people conducted by YouGov, come ahead of this week’s plenary vote by the European Parliament on the Digital Services Act, with MEPs considering stricter rules for tracking-based advertising. 

“The constant and invasive monitoring of our lives to target people with ads is unacceptable, annihilates our right to privacy, and fuels discrimination,” said Claudia Prettner, Legal and Policy Adviser at Amnesty Tech.

“These results show that business owners are extremely uncomfortable with the approach to tracking-based advertising that their customers currently experience.

“This week’s plenary vote on the Digital Services Act represents a vital opportunity for MEPs to stand up for human rights, and to take action to address advertising practices that rely on intrusive surveillance.” 

Alternative solutions now needed

Ahead of this week’s vote, Facebook and other industry leaders have emphasized their belief that targeted advertising is necessary for the survival of European small and mid-sized enterprises.

But the survey showed that 79% of respondents felt that large online platforms – such as Facebook and Google – should face increased regulation of how they use personal data to target users while advertising online.

The survey also showed that business owners believed their customers were not comfortable being targeted with online ads based on their race or ethnicity (62%), their sexual orientation (66%), information about their health (67%), their religious views (65%), their political views (65%), or personal events in their life (62%).

“It’s been part of Facebook and Google’s lobbying playbook to use small business’ reliance on their services as a fig leaf to justify their invasive profiling and targeting of users for advertising,” said Nienke Palstra, Senior Campaigner on Digital Threats to Democracy at Global Witness.

“In fact, our polling shows small business leaders in France and Germany are deeply wary of their ad tech practices – but don’t see an alternative. Given the overwhelming support from small business to regulate ad tech giants, there is every reason for MEPs to go further in the Digital Services Act and protect individuals from surveillance advertising.”

The latest findings support previous Global Witness polling conducted in February 2021 that investigated French and German social media users’ attitudes to targeted advertising. Those results showed overwhelmingly that people were deeply uncomfortable about the ways they are targeted by advertisers every day, from being categorized by income and religious views to life events such as pregnancy, bereavement, or illness.

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New Covid-19 restrictions in Tunisia banning all public gatherings effectively impose a blanket ban on public demonstrations, and thus impede people’s rights to free expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said today. The restrictions came into force on 13 January, amid signs of growing intolerance for dissent and one day before planned demonstrations against President Kais Saied on the 11-year anniversary of the ouster of former president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.

“Every January, Tunisians have commemorated Tunisia’s revolution by taking to the streets to voice their grievances. It is imperative that the Covid-19 health crisis not be used as a pretext to suppress rights in general or the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in particular,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Under the new restrictions, there is a risk that authorities’ response to demonstrations could lead to unnecessary use of force or arbitrary arrests, a shameful feature of security forces’ policing of many public demonstrations in recent years. We call on Tunisian authorities to amend the new rules to bring them in line with Tunisia’s international obligations.”

Tunisia’s government says the new restrictions, announced on the head of government’s Facebook page, are intended to combat the spread of Covid-19. They will remain in force for two weeks and may be renewed on the advice of the Health Ministry. Daily Covid-19 cases and the positive test rate have both risen sharply in recent days, according to the Health Ministry. However, the ban on public gatherings goes too far. While states may restrict the right to peaceful assembly to protect public health, restrictions must be necessary, proportional, and not imposed in a blanket fashion. Authorities should instead assess each assembly case by case.

Moves since 25 July 2021 by Saied to concentrate power in his own hands – including suspending parliament and most of Tunisia’s constitution, and granting himself supreme executive authority and the right to legislate by decree – have polarised Tunisian society and triggered vigorous public debate over the country’s future.

It is imperative that the Covid-19 health crisis not be used as a pretext to suppress rights in general or the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in particular.

Amna Guellali, Amnesty International

Supporters and opponents of Saied have staged public demonstrations since 25 July, which authorities have allowed to proceed largely unhindered. However, judicial authorities including military courts have increasingly investigated and prosecuted people for publicly criticising the president.

In January 2021, security services used unlawful force in response to wide-spread protests over socio-economic grievances, including beating protestors and firing tear-gas indiscriminately in residential areas.

Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Tunisia has ratified, guarantees the right to peaceful assembly.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials provide that law enforcement officials may only use force when strictly necessary, provided for by law, and where the harm caused by the use of force remains proportionate to the objective they are seeking. This is echoed by The United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials.

“Over the past five months we’ve been seeing worrying indications of authorities’ increasing intolerance for dissent. President Kais Saied must rescind all restrictions that may implicitly violate human rights and publicly commit to respecting international law and standards,” said Amna Guellali.

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• Games take place amid worsening human rights situation
• International community must not be complicit in sportswashing exercise
• IOC should better protect athletes’ rights following Peng Shuai case

The world must use the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics as an opportunity to push for human rights improvements in China, Amnesty International said ahead of next month’s Games.

China’s capital will welcome athletes, officials and diplomats from around the world for the Games, which begin on 4 February. But the event will take place against a backdrop of myriad ongoing human rights violations in the country.   

“The Beijing Olympic Games promise to be a memorable sporting spectacle, but the watching world cannot wilfully ignore what is happening elsewhere in China: the lawyers and activists imprisoned for their peaceful work; the sexual assault survivors punished for speaking up; the thousands estimated to be executed each year; the Muslim ethnic groups facing systematic mass internment, torture and persecution,” said Alkan Akad, Amnesty International’s China Researcher.

“The Games should not be used as a distraction from China’s appalling human rights record. On the contrary, they should be an opportunity to press China to address these issues.”

IOC should ensure promises are kept

The Chinese government made a series of assurances related to human rights ahead of hosting the Winter Olympics, including on respecting media freedom, labour rights, “displacement” and ensuring genuine opportunities for peaceful demonstrations during the Games.

Amnesty International is calling on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to fully implement and publicly disclose its human rights due diligence policies and practices in the lead-up to, and during, the Games.

“The right to freedom of expression is systematically violated in China. That’s why it’s vital that the IOC and the various National Olympic Committees at the Games adequately respect athletes’ and sports officials’ wishes to speak out about human rights, including on issues deemed ‘sensitive’ by the authorities,” Alkan Akad said.

“The IOC must also insist that the Chinese government keeps its promise to guarantee media freedom, including unrestricted internet access for Chinese and international journalists, and ensure that people who want to peacefully protest during the Games are able to do so.”

Amnesty International urges government representatives, including those who plan to attend the Olympic Games, to place human rights at the top of the agenda in their discussions with Chinese authorities.

“The world must heed the lessons of Beijing 2008 Games, when Chinese government promises of human rights improvements never materialized,” Alkan Akad said.

“The Beijing Winter Olympics must not be allowed to pass as a mere sportswashing opportunity for the Chinese authorities, and the international community must not become complicit in a propaganda exercise.”

The peaceful activists detained in China

Ahead of the Games, Amnesty International has launched its ‘Free the Five’ campaign highlighting the plight of five Chinese activists among the many detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression. They are: citizen journalist Zhang Zhan, Uyghur professor Ilham Tohti, labour rights activist Li Qiaochu, human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng and Tibetan blogger Rinchen Tsultrim.

“The unjust imprisonment of these five peaceful activists is emblematic of the Chinese government’s intolerance of all opposing views, and its eagerness to punish dissent in the harshest possible terms,” Alkan Akad said.

“If the Chinese government wants to use the Olympics as a showcase for the country, it should start by releasing all those who have been prosecuted or detained solely for peacefully exercising their human rights.”

Athletes must be allowed to speak freely

The IOC has pledged – through its Safe Sport initiative – to support the rights of athletes and protect them from harassment and abuse “on and off the field”. However, the strict Covid-19 “bubble” imposed at Beijing 2022 will severely limit athletes’ freedom of movement in a way that could make it even more difficult for them to freely exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Late last year, tennis player and three-time Olympian, Peng Shuai, made sexual assault allegations against a former Chinese Vice Premier in a social media post that was quickly censored in China. When reference to her was scrubbed from the internet and she disappeared from public view, fellow players and the Women’s Tennis Association expressed fears about Peng’s fate. Nearly three weeks after her post was censored, the IOC responded by arranging a video call with Peng in an attempt to ease concerns about her well-being and whereabouts.

“The IOC accepted assurances about Peng Shuai’s well-being without corroborating whether she experienced any limitations to her freedom of expression, freedom of movement and right to privacy, therefore running the risk of whitewashing possible violations of Peng Shuai’s human rights,” Alkan Akad said.

After heavy criticism, in December the IOC acknowledged “we can’t give assurances and don’t know the full facts”. They insisted that “all aspects of the case are being discussed with the Chinese side” and this would continue beyond the Games.

“Amid the severe restrictions in place at Beijing 2022, the IOC must do better at keeping its promise to protect athletes’ right to voice their opinions – and above all to ensure it is not complicit in any violations of athletes’ rights,” Alkan Akad said.

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Responding to a decision of the Higher Regional Court in Koblenz, Germany, which has convicted former Syrian intelligence officer Anwar Raslan to life in prison for crimes against humanity, including torture, murder and rape of detainees in Branch 251, an infamous military intelligence facility in Damascus city, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Lynn Maalouf, said:

“Today’s verdict is a historic victory that amplifies the voices of tens of thousands of survivors of unlawful detention, torture and sexual violence, as well as the voices of the families of victims who died in Syria’s prisons and detention centres as a result of the treatment of Syrian security forces for over a decade. Notably, it also recognizes the systematic nature of sexual violence as a crime against humanity. This result would not have come about without those who dared to share their stories, Syria’s civil society actors, and human rights and litigation organizations who have doggedly pursued justice, truth and reparation over the years.

“Anwar Raslan’s sentence serves as a reminder to the Syrian government, and all those who have committed crimes against humanity with impunity, that justice can be served.

“States across the globe must follow Germany’s lead and initiate similar proceedings against individuals suspected of committing crimes under international law. With domestic criminal prosecutions in Syria inconceivable and no pathway for referring cases to the international criminal court, universal jurisdiction is the only way to achieve justice.” 

Background: 

In February 2020, German and French police arrested former Syrian intelligence officers Anwar Raslan and Eyad al-Gharib. In a trial that began in April 2020, they were charged with crimes against humanity over the torture of detainees held in Branch 251. On 24 February 2021, Eyad al-Gharib was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for his role in the torture of detained protesters.

Amnesty International has published several reports documenting the inhuman conditions across Syria’s prisons – where enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment lead to death in detention, and extrajudicial executions following sham trials are rife. These crimes amount to crimes against humanity; all states are permitted, and sometimes obliged, to exercise universal jurisdiction.

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