Kategorie: Humans

Responding to the questioning of the Executive Director of Transparency International Initiative Madagascar (TI-MG) Ketakandriana Rafitoson by the police this afternoon, Muleya Mwananyanda, Regional Director for Amnesty International East and Southern Africa Regional Office said,

“The Madagascar authorities must refrain from the misuse of the justice system to harass and intimidate human rights defenders. Ketakandriana has done nothing more than carry out her work exposing serious allegations of potential corruption, fraud and money laundering.

 Ketakandriana has done nothing more than carry out her work exposing serious allegations of potential corruption, fraud and money laundering

Muleya Mwananyanda, Director for East and Southern Africa

“The summons and questioning of Ketakandriana on accusations including “abusive and slanderous denunciations” is clearly intended to send a chilling message and intimidate human rights defenders in Madagascar.”

The police referred the case to the public prosecutor and Ketakandriana and TI_MG’s Chairperson, Dominique Rakotomalala, will appear before the public prosecutor for questioning on the accusations on Thursday, 24 November.

The summons and questioning of Ketakandriana is intended to send a chilling message and intimidate human rights defenders in Madagascar

Muleya Mwananyanda

Background information

Ketakandriana was summoned by the head of the central services for the fight against forgery, fraud and falsification to give a statement at the premises of the economic police in Antananarivo, capital of Madagascar on the afternoon of 23 November. The accusation filed by the Groupement des Exportateurs des Litchis (GEL) against Ketakandriana Rafitoson follows the denounces of potential infractions of corruption, fraud and money laundering in the lychee sector filed by TI-MG on 10 November at Antananarivo’s Anticorruption Court.

In recent years, the Malagasy authorities have increased the repression of human rights defenders, whistleblowers and dissenting voices. This includes the judicial prosecution of Jeannot Randriamanana, Ravo Ramasomanana, Raleva, and Clovis Razafimalala, because they uncovered serious allegations of corruption and human rights violations. Many potential whistle-blowers in Madagascar risk unjust treatment for exercising their human rights. The protection of human rights defenders, including whistle-blowers is integral for any country aspiring to transparency, accountability, and respect for human rights.

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Responding to the decision by Tanzania’s Director of Public Prosecution to drop charges of murder and conspiracy to murder against 24 members of the Maasai, including 10 leaders, Muleya Mwananyanda, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:

“Dropping these charges against members of the Maasai people is unequivocally the right decision. They should never have been arrested in the first place. Their only ‘crime’ was exercising their right to protest while security forces tried to seize land from them in the name of ‘conservation’.

 Their only ‘crime’ was exercising their right to protest while security forces tried to seize land from them in the name of ‘conservation’

Muleya Mwananyanda, Director for East and Southern Africa

“The Tanzanian authorities must immediately stop their ongoing security operations in Loliondo and ensure that any traditional pastoral lands they have seized are returned to the Indigenous Maasai.

Tanzania should immediately stop suppressing the right to freedom of assembly. The government should instead take steps to protect the right to protest.”

“The Tanzanian authorities must ensure that any traditional pastoral lands they have seized are returned to the Indigenous Maasai

Muleya Mwananyanda

Background

On 7 June 2022, Tanzanian security forces and authorities from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area arrived in Loliondo and began forcefully evicting members of the Maasai people without providing adequate notice, compensation or a chance for genuine consultation to obtain their free, prior and informed consent. In the name of conservation, they seized 1,500 square kilometres of ancestral land claimed by over 70,000 Maasai people.

On 9 June 2022, members of the Maasai from Ololosokwan, Oloirien, Kirtalo and Arash — four villages in Loliondo that border the Serengeti National Park — gathered to protest against the demarcation exercise by removing markers placed by security forces to outline the boundaries of the land claimed by the Maasai.

On 9 June, police arrested 10 Maasai leaders from Loliondo — a day before the policeman they were accused of murdering was actually killed — and 14 other members of the Maasai, and three others. They were held for around 11 days and denied access to their lawyers and families before arraignment in court.

On 10 June, security forces used firearms and tear gas against protesters in an incident that saw a policeman, Garlus Mwita, killed by an arrow, while 84-year-old Maasai community member Orias Oleng’iyo was disappeared. At least 32 members of the Maasai also suffered gunshot wounds.

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The Algerian authorities must ensure that the investigation into the enforced disappearance for 20 days of activist Abdelhamid Bouziza, is independent, effective and impartial, Amnesty International said today.

Judicial authorities in Tlemcen ordered the opening of an investigation in November, however in at least three cases documented by Amnesty International, investigations into human rights violations in Algeria such as the suspicious deaths in custody or torture of activists at the hands of the police have not resulted in justice and reparations for the victims.

“Bouziza’s family and lawyer looked desperately for him for weeks while the authorities withheld information about his exact whereabouts. This precedent is extremely worrying. Algerian authorities should shed the light on what happened to Bouziza and bring those responsible for his enforced disappearance to justice,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“This incident is part of a wider pattern of human rights violations in Algeria, where hundreds of activists and protesters have been arbitrarily detained, and dozens were subjected to torture and other ill treatment at the hands of the security forces. Yet security forces responsible for these violations continue to enjoy impunity.”

On 19 October, Bouziza was detained by security forces at his home in Tlemcen, a city in the West of Algeria. Bouziza’s family and lawyers made multiple attempts to locate him, in Tlemcen, Algiers, and Blida, but police in Tlemcen denied that he was detained. Judicial authorities in three cities denied that he had been charged or was scheduled to appear before their courts. His family and lawyers could not identify his whereabouts or call or visit him.

On 6 November, his lawyer filed a complaint before the Court of Tlemcen asking them to investigate his client’s enforced disappearance. It was only after that, on 8 November that lawyers who went to the Court of Boufarik confirmed to Bouziza’s lawyer in Tlemcen that he appeared before the court of Boufarik on 24 October and that he was detained in Hay El Darwich Prison in Blida, a place more than 470 kilometres away from where the activist and his family live. On 8 November, the Prosecutor General of the Tlemcen Court heard Bouziza’s family members’ testimony about the complaint filed by the defence team. On 10 November, Bouziza received his first prison visit by his brother and mother.

Bouziza’s lawyers suspect he is held on terrorism-related charges for posts he made on social media about the arrests and trials of other activists in the country.

Since April 2021, Algerian authorities have extensively resorted to the use of the counterterrorism provisions in the Penal Code to prosecute activists and human rights defenders who voice dissenting opinions online or participate in peaceful protests.

Background

In the past years, Algeria has not effectively investigated human rights violations in police custody, including cases of death and ill-treatment and torture. In March 2021, a judge in El Bayadh Court refused to open an investigation into torture claims of activist Ayoub Chahetou, who said he was raped by police officers. Until today, authorities did not make public the results of the investigations opened into the deaths in custody of peaceful protester Ramzi Yettou and human rights defender Kameleddine Fekhar, in April and May 2019 respectively.

Bouziza, 25, has been an activist in the Hirak movement and regularly posts on his social media accounts about the arrests and trials of activists in Algeria. In April 2022, Bouziza, along with 12 others, was convicted in absentia and handed a one-year prison sentence and a fine for “inciting an unarmed gathering” after the 13 individuals took part in a demonstration in the streets of Tlemcen on 19 March 2021.

In November 2021, he was given a three-year sentence for “insulting the President”, “offending a public body”, “publishing fake news that might harm public security” and “inciting an unarmed gathering” after he published five online posts, some criticizing Algeria’s President and secret services and one calling for protests to resume in the streets. His sentence was reduced on appeal and he was released in February.

Under Algerian law, those arrested on terrorism charges can be held in police custody for a maximum of 12 days, and must be allowed to communicate with, and be visited by, their family.

Algeria is yet to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Nonetheless, the prohibition of enforced disappearance is provided for in a number of international instruments binding on Algeria, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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UN Human Rights Council member states must urgently establish an investigative and accountability mechanism on Iran to address the alarming spike in unlawful killings and other human rights violations, Amnesty International said today, following a week in which the Iranian security forces shot dead at least 60 protesters, mourners and bystanders, including children.

Security forces are ruthlessly persisting in their widespread use of unlawful lethal force, exposing a clear intent to kill or maim protesters in their quest to quell the popular uprising at any cost. Since 15 November, they have also intensified their exclusive use of live ammunition to disperse protests in provinces populated by Kurds and other oppressed ethnic minorities.

Member states of the UN Human Rights Council have an opportunity to amplify calls by people in Iran, who continue to risk their lives to protest for human rights, freedom and accountability for protester killings.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International

“At the 24 November Special Session on Iran, member states of the UN Human Rights Council have an opportunity to amplify calls by people in Iran, who continue to risk their lives to protest for human rights, freedom and accountability for protester killings. It is horrifying that so many men, women and children have paid the ultimate price over their cries for a hopeful, rights respecting future,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“The situation in Iran calls for a robust resolution establishing an independent investigative and accountability mechanism on Iran to collect and preserve evidence of crimes, tackle impunity and send a clear message to the Iranian authorities that their crimes under international law will no longer go unchecked.”

Since protests erupted in mid-September, Amnesty has recorded the names and details of 305 people, including at least 41 children, killed by security forces. In the past week alone, Amnesty International has identified 53 men, 2 women and 5 children killed in 10 provinces across Iran, the majority (42) in Kurdish populated areas. Members of Iran’s oppressed ethnic minorities, including Baluchis and Kurds, have borne the brunt of the vicious crackdown by security forces. Investigations into the identities of those killed continue, with the true death toll believed to be far higher.

Over two months into the popular uprising, systematic impunity has emboldened the Iranian authorities not only to continue unlawfully deploying lethal force, but also to resort to the death penalty as a tool of intimidation and political repression. Since late October 2022, the authorities have sought the death penalty in grossly unfair trials by Revolutionary Courts against at least 21 individuals who were all charged in connection with the protests amid disturbing calls by officials to rush proceedings and execute them in public.

In an attempt to weaken international support for the Special Session and the establishment of an investigative mechanism at the UN Human Rights Council, the Iranian authorities have falsely claimed that they are de-escalating their crackdown, and conducting investigations.

Unlawful killings continue unabated

Since 15 November 2022, Iran’s security forces have persisted in their widespread use of unlawful force — including lethal force — against protesters, killing at least 60 people in the provinces of Bushehr, East Azerbaijan, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan. Protesters, bystanders and mourners attending funerals of protesters are all among the dead. 

On 20 November, security forces killed at least two children, both aged 16: Baha’aldin Veisi in Javanroud, Kermanshah province, and Karwan Ghader Shokri in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. Days before, on 16 November, security forces unlawfully killed at least three children. Security forced shot dead Kian Pirfalak, 10, and Artin Rahmani, 14, in Izeh, Khuzestan province, while 17-year-old Danial Pabandi was killed by security forces during a protest in Saqqez, Kurdistan province.

Last week marked three years since security forces killed hundreds of men, women and children during nationwide protests in November 2019. Demonstrations held to mark this anniversary were met with unlawful force by security forces and further killings, all of which occurred amid internet and mobile network disruptions.

“This week, as UN Human Rights Council member states prepare for Thursday’s Special Session, the country’s security forces are continuing to unleash a barrage of bullets against men, women and children while enforcing mobile and internet blackouts to conceal their crimes from the world. These patterns of killing hundreds of protesters under cover of darkness are reminiscent of the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on the November 2019 protests, demonstrating how the failure of the international community to respond adequately then enabled the ongoing bloodshed. It is now high time for UN Human Rights Council member states to do their part to help break this cycle of violence,” said Agnès Callamard.

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The decision by Türkiye’s highest appeals court to overturn baseless convictions of Amnesty International Türkiye’s Honorary Chair and three other human rights defenders is a huge relief, yet also highlights once more the politically motivated nature of the prosecutions, Amnesty International said today.

The ruling by the Court of Cassation on the convictions of Taner Kılıç, İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun – four of 11 human rights defenders in the Büyükada case, who were convicted in July 2020 – comes more than five years after their initial arrests in the summer of 2017. Taner Kılıç’s case was quashed on the grounds of ‘incomplete investigation’ and referred back to the first instance court.

“Today’s ruling brings to an end a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. While we are hugely relieved that the convictions have finally been quashed, the fact that the court has ruled that Taner’s case requires further investigation is disappointing,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“For more than five years, we have watched the wheels of injustice grind as the baseless claims levelled against these four brave human rights defenders have been accepted as fact by successive courts. Today’s ruling reveals the true purpose of such politically motivated prosecutions: using the courts as a weapon to silence critical voices.”

Taner Kılıç, a refugee rights lawyer and Honorary Chair of Amnesty’s Türkiye section, was arrested in June 2017 and detained in prison for more than 14 months. Despite a complete lack of evidence, in July 2020, he was convicted of “membership of a terrorist organisation” and sentenced to six years and three months in prison. İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun were all convicted for 25 months for “assisting a terrorist organisation” and spent more than three months in behind bars in 2017.

Over the course of 12 court hearings, every allegation levelled against the four human rights activists was repeatedly and comprehensively proven baseless, including in the state’s own police report.

In May, the European Court reaffirmed that the authorities in Türkiye did not have “any reasonable suspicion that Taner Kılıç had committed an offence”. It also found that his pre-trial detention under terrorism-related charges was “directly linked to his activity as a human rights defender”. This binding decision became final in October.

“Whilst we celebrate this decision today, we do not forget that across Türkiye many human rights defenders are languishing in jail, living in fear of arrest or facing similar unfounded prosecutions,” said Agnès Callamard.

“We will take strength from today’s victory. We will continue to stand with Taner until the end and to fight against the relentless curtailing of human rights in Türkiye, and on behalf of those who refuse to be silenced by the government’s threats.”

Background

Taner Kılıç and Özlem Dalkıran are both founding members of Amnesty International Türkiye. Over the last 20 years, they have played a crucial role in defending human rights as part of the organisation, and also the wider human rights community in Türkiye.

At the time of her arrest in July 2017, Idil Eser was the Director of Amnesty International Türkiye. Günal Kurşun, a lawyer, international criminal law expert and a member of Amnesty International Türkiye since its early days, is a prominent human rights defender in the country.

Taner Kılıç was alleged to have downloaded and used the ByLock messaging app, which the prosecution claimed was used for communication by the Gülen movement, a group blamed for organizing an attempted coup in 2016.

Two forensic analyses of Kılıç’s phone commissioned by Amnesty, however, found no trace of ByLock having ever being installed. In June 2018, any legitimacy of the prosecutor’s case was stripped away in the police report submitted to the court, which also concluded that no evidence of ByLock on Kılıç’s phone had been found. Nevertheless, merely downloading or using an app would not be sufficient evidence of alleged offences, as concluded in a recent ECtHR judgment concerning another applicant, unrelated to the Büyükada defendants.
İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun were among 10 people, dubbed the Istanbul 10, who were detained by police as they attended a workshop on well-being and digital security on 5 July 2017 on Istanbul’s Büyükada island.

On 4 October 2017, an Istanbul prosecutor filed an indictment against the Istanbul 10, and also Taner Kılıç, who was allegedly aware of preparations for the workshop and in contact with two defendants.
At his first trial hearing on 26 October, the judge accepted the prosecutor’s application to merge Kılıç’s prosecution that had been opened in Izmir, with that of the other ten human rights defenders, even though the accusations levelled against him had nothing to do with the workshop and the two cases were in no way connected.

Amnesty has previously published an analysis of the case against Taner Kılıç and detailed further information about the case in general.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Stefan Simanowitz on press@amnesty.org

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