Kategorie: Humans

As the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) today submits its final report to President Adama Barrow, Amnesty International’s West Africa Researcher Michèle Eken said:

“The Commission’s report must give way to an unequivocal commitment from the Gambian authorities that justice and reparations will finally be delivered to the victims of decades of human rights violations under President Yahya Jammeh’s regime.

“For more than 20 years, Gambians who fell foul of Jammeh’s regime were tortured, extrajudicially executed, and arbitrarily held for extended periods. Human rights violations including enforced disappearances, sexual and gender based-violence and attacks on the freedoms of expression and peaceful assembly were rampant.

Now that the TRRC has submitted its recommendations, the government can bring to light the truth about this dark period in the country’s history and ensure that the victims can receive reparations for what they suffered.

Michèle Eken, Amnesty International West Africa researcher.

“Perpetrators, some of whom are still in the security apparatus should be brought to court and authorities must ensure that these state-sponsored human rights violations are never repeated.” 

Background

Today, the TRRC commissioners of the Gambian Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC) submitted their final report to President Adama Barrow.

Established in December 2017, the main objective of the TRRC was to create an impartial historical record of violations and abuses of human rights from July 1994 to January 2017 in order to “promote healing and reconciliation, respond to the needs of the victims, address impunity, and prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses suffered by making recommendations for the establishment of appropriate preventive mechanisms, including institutional and legal reforms.”

It was also meant to establish and make known the fate or whereabouts of disappeared victims and grant reparations to victims in appropriate cases. On 15 October 2018, President Adama Barrow appointed and swore in the 11 Commissioners of the TRRC which began its hearings on 7 January 2019. It submitted its Interim Report to the Government on 29 April 2020.

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The Egyptian authorities are complicit in an ongoing crackdown against dozens of factory workers who went on a peaceful strike this summer to demand fair pay, an investigation by Amnesty International has found.  

Between 26 July and 1 August, around 2,000 employees of LORD International, an Egyptian manufacturer of razor blades with several factories in Alexandria, went on strike to demand higher wages and job security. In response, LORD’s management launched a campaign of punitive measures which saw 64 workers unfairly dismissed and 83 suspended and subjected to wage cuts, coercive interrogations and threats. 

Ministry of Manpower failed to take any action to provide redress to workers who faced reprisals for their involvement in the strike, instead dismissing their official complaints and pressuring them to end their “illegal strike”. 

“Egyptian authorities have failed to protect striking LORD workers from unfair dismissals and other punitive measures simply for daring to express legitimate demands. They are consequently protecting the company’s interests at the expense of the workers’ rights both to organize freely and to strike, in line with Egypt’s constitution and international human rights law,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director. 

The plight of LORD workers serves as a grim reminder of the authorities’ failure to respect and protect workers’ rights since 2013, and their actions to restrict the activities of independent trade unions and undermine the collective bargaining power of low-wage workers.

Philip Luther, Amnesty International.

Amnesty International spoke to five current and former workers and a labour lawyer who detailed unfair dismissals, forced resignations, and pay cuts following the strike. The organization also reviewed the reports of a local labour rights organization, as well as nine company statements announcing mass dismissals, suspensions and internal investigations. Amnesty International shared its findings with LORD International on 26 October 2021 but received no response.

Under Egyptian labour law, only authorized unions can hold strikes. This condition could not be met by LORD’s workers as its independent trade union established following the 2011 uprising, was dissolved after the adoption of the 2017 draconian trade union law. Despite reforms to the law in 2019, the Egyptian government continues to refuse to formally recognize new independent trade unions and therefore bans all strikes that are not approved by the state-controlled federation of unions. 

In June, Egypt introduced a new national minimum wage, requiring private-sector employers to pay a minimum of 2,400 EGP (153 USD) per month by January 2022. LORD International workers, some of whom receive monthly salaries of 2,000 EGP (127 USD), had been trying to collectively negotiate their salaries in line with this requirement since then, but the company refused to engage. 

Workers told Amnesty they had decided to go on strike after LORD deducted a holiday bonus for Eid el-Adha on 26 July; the strike lasted one week.

Threats, harassment, and unfair dismissals

Amnesty International reviewed LORD company’s statements showing 45 workers were unfairly dismissed on 1 and 2 August for “inciting an illegal strike” and causing severe “damages to the company” and 39 others were suspended and referred to internal investigations between 1 and 5 August. 

According to a local labour rights’ organization, between 1 August and 12 September, LORD unfairly dismissed 64 workers and referred 83 others to internal investigation, due to their involvement in collective industrial action. 

The organization also found that between 22 August and 16 September, the company forced 10 particularly vocal long-term employees to resign after the internal investigation. It also refused to renew the contracts of at least five others for their alleged involvement in the strike. 

The remaining 73 workers who were referred to internal investigations were subjected to other punitive measures for joining the strike, including pay cuts equivalent to wages for three to five working days. Between 30 August and 2 September, the company forced them to sign warnings issued by the company that they would be dismissed if they undertook similar action in future. 

Workers described to Amnesty International how management questioned them aggressively about the identities of alleged strike instigators, ordered them to reveal the names of the journalists who covered the strike, and threatened them if they did not cooperate. Some told the organization that company managers threatened to fire them without compensation, to file suits against them for the “damage” they caused and to prevent them from finding another job.

Amnesty International has learnt that at least two workers were told if they did not sign their resignation papers instantly, they would be referred to the National Security Agency, a special police force that is notorious for human rights violations and involved in policing what the authorities consider to be “national security threats” including independent labour movements.

According to three workers who signed resignation letters, their redundancy payments fell short of Egypt’s labour law that stipulates workers must receive at least two months of gross salary for every year of employment. 

Government failure to protect striking workers

On 26 July 2021, at least 100 workers filed a complaint at the Manpower Ministry calling for the implementation of the new private-sector minimum monthly wage. The next day, two government labour inspectors visited the factories and brokered a meeting between the workers’ representatives and the company’s managers. 

According to four workers who were present, the labour inspectors ultimately sided with company management and found that management’s actions in pressuring workers to immediately end their strike had been lawful. 

The company management suspended six workers who attended meetings and referred them to an internal investigation, and later forced five of them to resign. 

Complainers to the Ministry of Manpower reported that officials failed to respond or effectively support them. One of the workers who submitted a complaint to the Ministry of Manpower in September regarding his unfair dismissal without compensation said that ministry officials told him they could not interfere and advised to find an amicable solution with his company. 

The organisation received similar reports of government inaction in addressing abuses of workers’ rights by other private-sector companies. 

“Instead of sanctioning such abuses, the Egyptian authorities must protect workers and ensure that all those dismissed have access to full compensation. They must also ensure the implementation of the new minimum wage in all private-sector companies,” said Philip Luther.

Background

Since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power, Egyptian authorities have subjected dozens of workers and trade unionists to unfair trials – some in military courts – arbitrary arrest, dismissal from work, and other disciplinary measures solely for exercising their right to strike and form independent trade unions. In September, the authorities arbitrary detained three Universal Company workers for two days pending investigations on terrorism-related charges solely for exercising their right to strike and peaceful protest.  

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Gender-based violence has a heightened impact on Venezuelan women and girls who seek international protection, after fleeing massive human rights violations in their home country, warned Amnesty International today on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

“While countries across the Americas have an obligation to protect all Venezuelans who seek safety in their territories, it is women and girls who are at disproportionate risk from violence and discrimination. States have a pressing duty to ensure a gender-sensitive response to those seeking protection,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“The entire international community needs to take ownership of the second largest human mobility crisis in the world, as per the international principle of shared responsibility. Civil society organizations, human rights defenders and international organizations provide much needed relief to Venezuelans in the most precarious situations, but states must guarantee their human rights are protected, particularly of those who are most vulnerable to violence and discrimination, such as women and girls.”

Amnesty International recently partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in a two-year project to support the protection of women, girls and people of diverse sexual orientation and gender identity in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, responding to the urgent needs of Venezuelans seeking protection.

States have a pressing duty to ensure a gender-sensitive response to those seeking protection

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

In Peru, one of the main host countries of Venezuelans, Amnesty International’s research shows how migrant and refugee women face gender-based violence and discrimination on a daily basis, which is often reinforced by having an irregular migratory status in the country, including pending asylum claims that seem endlessly stalled. Having interviewed survivors of gender-based violence, human rights defenders and public authorities, the organization confirmed how Venezuelan women suffer harassment at the workplace, on the streets and in educational centers; sexual blackmail to sustain jobs or homes; physical and psychological abuse; and a constant fear of being returned to Venezuela.

While gender-based violence affects women of all nationalities, whether Venezuelan, Peruvian, or Colombian, and the official reporting channels are the same for all, migrant and refugee women predominantly from Venezuela face additional challenges to access justice, protection and support. These include discrimination based on their nationality; stereotyped comments that hypersexualize them by state agents who are supposed to protect them; a lack of information; and a fear of reprisals, such as deportation, that often discourage them from reporting violence against them.

Amnesty International urges the Peruvian authorities to strengthen efforts to build capacity of public officers on the prohibition of discrimination based on gender, migration and other status, and to ensure that they are aware of existing legal mechanisms to attend survivors of gender-based violence without a regular migratory status in the country. In addition, it is essential that authorities widely disseminate information on the rights of migrant and refugee women to access justice, protection and support services regardless of their immigration status.

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

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Sudanese security forces have intensified their use of lethal force over the past two weeks to quell protests against a military takeover of power last month, carrying out dozens of unlawful killings and leaving at least 50 people with gunshot wounds, Amnesty International said today.

The escalation in the use of lethal force by the security authorities in Sudan in the past two weeks was calculated to intimidate and quell protests from the streets against a military takeover of power last month

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

According to the Sudanese Doctors’ Committee, a group monitoring the situation, at least 40 people were killed mostly by live ammunitions during demonstrations in the capital Khartoum since 25 October, when army leader Lt. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan declared a nationwide state of emergency, dissolved the cabinet and arrested dozens of civilian politicians.

“The escalation in the use of lethal force by the security authorities in Sudan in the past two weeks was calculated to intimidate and quell protests from the streets against a military takeover of power last month.” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa.     

“The killing of dozens of unarmed protesters calls for a prompt, independent and impartial investigation to ensure accountability for the killings and other serious human rights violations allegedly committed by security forces. Authorities must investigate the fatal shootings of unarmed protesters, allow for this investigation to be internationally monitored, and hold those responsible to account.”

Killings  by security forces

Security forces intensified the use of lethal force to counter organized protests in the capital Khartoum on 13 and 17 November, killing at least 23 people, according to the Sudanese Doctors’ Committee.

Research and interviews by Amnesty International confirmed that at least nine of the protesters killed on 13 and 17 November had died of wounds sustained from gunshots, including one by sniper fire. The organization also confirmed that at least fifty people sustained gunshot wounds during the protests.

The killing of dozens of unarmed protesters calls for a prompt, independent and impartial investigation to ensure accountability for the killings and other serious human rights violations allegedly committed by security forces

Deprose Muchena

Since the military took power in Sudan last month, security forces have increasingly used live ammunition and teargas to disperse widespread protests. An agreement signed on 21 November resulted in reinstating civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok who said following his re-appointment that the authorities would conduct “an independent and transparent investigation into all the violations” that happened since 25 October. 

“Given the past poor track record of Sudanese authorities in investigating similar violations in the past, any investigation into these violations must be monitored and assisted by international observers, to ensure that it produces credible results,” said Deprose Muchena.

“The fact that a political agreement is signed should not allow the perpetrators of these violations to go unpunished” 

Escalation of lethal force against protesters

Research by Amnesty International confirmed that nine of the slain protesters had all died of gunshots that targeted their heads, necks and chests on 13 and 17 November, including one from sniper bullets, as well as at least 50 cases of injuries from gunshot wounds. At least one was shot by a sniper. The use of lethal force was unwarranted since they were all unarmed. The organization has also established that security agents raided hospitals. 

On 13 November, four protesters were killed, of which three of whom died of gunshot wounds and one from teargas suffocation, according to the Sudanese Doctors’ Committee. Amnesty International confirmed that at least one of these protesters was killed by sniper fire.

18-year-old secondary school student Elshaikh Youssef was marching with his friends on 40th Street in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city, when he told his friends that he had spotted a sniper on one of the rooftops. As Elshaikh pointed upwards he was shot with a bullet that came from the same direction, a family member and his friends told Amnesty International.

By the time his friends brought him to the hospital, Elshaikh was already dead. An autopsy confirmed he had died from a gunshot wound to his shoulder which pierced his chest and heart.

One of Elshaikh’s close relatives told Amnesty International that “I’m devastated. I’m close to losing my faith in God. How could something like this happen?!”

This confirms multiple reports by Sudanese activists of snipers shooting at protesters from rooftops, aiming their bullets at their heads and chests.  

“These killings demonstrate that there is a deliberate and targeted plan by the authorities to suppress the protests at all costs,”

“An independent and impartial investigation is needed to ensure that perpetrators are brought to account through courts in fair trials.”

Security forces went further with their violence on 17 November, killing at least 15 protesters as per the count of the Sudanese Doctors Committee.  Between 1:45 – 5:15 pm on 17 November, the International Hospital in Khartoum North received eight cases of people shot; three with gunshots to the chest, three with gunshots to the head, and two shot in the neck. All of them later died, an on-duty hospital staff told Amnesty International.

Other protesters bled to death before reaching hospital. A female protester, 25-year-old Sit al-Nafar Bakar, was killed when she was shot in the face while running away from police in Khartoum North at around 4h00 pm.  A close family member told Amnesty that the victim was a nursing student, a dedicated activist, and “a very humble and courageous girl who was always at the forefront of protests. Those who knew her told Amnesty International that she used to say that she was protesting for a civilian state and that if she died, “get justice for me.”

Another protester killed by live ammunition on the same day was Muzamil al-Jinaid, a 32-year businessman. He was shot dead at around 4:30 pm in Khartoum North. “No one witnessed what happened. We just received a call telling us to come to the hospital to identify a body. When we arrived, we found his dead body with gunshots wounds in it,” a close family member told Amnesty International. 

The increase in killings last week confirms Sudan’s security leaders are disregarding the right to life, peaceful protest, and shows contempt for legal norms governing the use of force

Deprose Muchena

The violence follows a long-standing pattern of security forces using excessive and deadly force including by shooting live ammunition at protesters to break up demonstrations in Sudan. However, this pattern greatly escalated to counter protests by unarmed civilians since the military takeover. 

“The increase in killings last week confirms Sudan’s security leaders are disregarding the right to life, peaceful protest, and shows contempt for legal norms governing the use of force,” said Deprose Muchena.

Arbitrary arrests and detentions

Meanwhile, military authorities continued to arrest civilian politicians and activists, adding to dozens who have already been arbitrarily detained across the country since 25 October. However, a handful of detainees have been released since the political agreement was signed on 21 November.

Nour Al-Din Salah, a senior member of the Sudanese Congress Party, was arrested at midnight on 16 November when a group of armed security agents forced their way into his house in Khartoum. His family members told Amnesty International that they blindfolded him and took him away. The arrest took place just hours after Salah appeared in an interview aired by Al-Jazeera Arabic, in which he criticized the military’s takeover of power. His sister told Amnesty International that they are demanding information about his whereabouts and the charges against him.            

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch confirmed in a joint statement on 9 November that at least eight detainees were being held in undisclosed locations, without access to family or legal counsel in circumstances that may amount to enforced disappearances. One of them, however, has been reportedly released.

Authorities have also been disrupting internet and telecommunications since 25 October to limit people’s ability to plan and document protests. The internet was cut for more than three weeks, while phone lines were cut for hours on 17 November. The services were restored on 18 November.

“Sudanese security actors are clearly operating with a sense of total impunity,” said Deprose Muchena.

“If they continue on their current course, we are clearly going to lose more lives. Authorities must be held accountable, including individuals who bear the greatest responsibility for these serious abuses.”

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The international community must urgently ease existing financial restrictions on Afghanistan that are blocking the provision of healthcare, food and other essential services, and expedite delivery of scaled-up humanitarian assistance to avert a mounting crisis that threatens the lives of tens of millions of people, said Amnesty International.  

A combination of a suspension of foreign aid, the freezing of Afghan government assets, and international sanctions on the Taliban, have plunged a country already suffering from high poverty levels into a full-blown economic crisis. According to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 22.8 million people (of a population of approximately 39-40 million) are facing acute food insecurity and hunger, while the World Food Programme estimates that at least a million children are already suffering from acute malnutrition. According to the UN, more than $200 million of humanitarian aid a month is needed to avert disaster. 

“Current levels of humanitarian assistance are insufficient to deal with the crisis, with millions of Afghans plunging into poverty and facing the risk of starvation. We have seen countries making pledges and promises to provide aid to Afghanistan over recent months, but this support is yet to reach those who need it the most,” said Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director.  

  

Without an urgent programme of targeted international support and without permitting the use of Afghanistan government reserves to support the country’s population, the scene is set for a human catastrophe over the coming months

Yamini Mishra, Amnesty International’s South Asia Regional Director

“In just a few months, the situation is already critical. People in the public and private sectors have not been paid their salaries, can’t access money, and can’t afford even essential items. Food insecurity is an issue throughout the country. Afghanistan is at the precipice – without an urgent programme of targeted international support and without permitting the use of Afghanistan government reserves to support the country’s population, the scene is set for a human catastrophe over the coming months.” 

With the Taliban remaining on lists of internationally sanctioned groups, Afghanistan’s foreign donors have moved to withhold and withdraw funding from the country following the group’s capture of Kabul on 15 August. According to the World Bank, prior to the Taliban’s takeover, aid grants constituted 43% of Afghanistan’s GDP and about 75% of its public spending.  

The situation has left the country’s banking system on the brink of collapse. Long queues have formed outside banks and ATMs, which are not dispensing cash. The price of goods has soared while the country’s currency has plummeted in value. 

In August, the Biden administration froze $9.5 billion assets of Da Afghanistan Bank, the country’s central bank. The EU followed suit on 17 August, withdrawing $1.4 billion in development and emergency aid (pledged between 2021 and 2025) to Afghanistan’s healthcare, agriculture and law enforcement sectors. The withdrawal of the EU funding precipitated the immediate closure of at least 2,000 health facilities serving around 30 million Afghans. 

The IMF have frozen the Taliban’s access to $460 million of funds. Other international institutions including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank have also suspended payments to their projects in Afghanistan. 

Public sector workers have not been paid for months, while about 1.2 million private sector workers’ wages remain pending according to local media, with the government and employers unable to access funds to make payments. According to the UN Development Programme, the country’s poverty rate, currently at 72%, is set to reach to 97% by mid-2022.  

Food insecurity was threatening the country even before the Taliban takeover, with Afghanistan hit by four years of extreme drought, economic recession and mass internal displacement. There are more than four million internally displaced people across Afghanistan – more than 570,000 of whom have been displaced since January – living in desperate conditions.  

Although a flurry of humanitarian aid pledges has been made by the international community, the equipment and cash amounts promised will not be sufficient to cope with the scale of the crisis facing Afghanistan. Moreover, with access to many areas of the country near impossible during winter, it’s also essential that all assistance is carefully planned and delivered on time.  

The international community’s top priority must be to prevent the deaths and suffering of people in Afghanistan and protect their human rights

Yamini Mishra

“Humanitarian aid and the use of public funds for essential services must not be politicized. Donor countries must urgently develop a comprehensive action plan for the dissemination of financial and humanitarian aid support in consultation with NGOs and other humanitarian agencies on the ground. This should include independent monitoring and enhanced periodic public reporting that ensures support reaches those who need it the most. At the same time, the Taliban must cooperate in giving unrestricted access to UN agencies and humanitarian groups to do their work,” said Yamini Mishra.

“The international community’s top priority must be to prevent the deaths and suffering of people in Afghanistan and protect their human rights. All governments and international organizations must review existing policies, including freezes of aid, assets and financial transactions, in favour of a solution that allows the use of central bank funds to cover essential requirements, including payment of workers, to prevent a humanitarian and human rights catastrophe. This may involve lifting sanctions on the Taliban authorities subject to conditions regarding the use of the funds.” 

Background 

At the UN Geneva Conference in September, the international community pledged $1.2 billion in humanitarian and development aid. At the G-20 Summit in October, the EU promised $1.15 billion to avert humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.  

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