Kategorie: Humans

Health and care workers in Italy who raised concerns about poor and unsafe working conditions in care homes during the Covid-19 pandemic were subjected to unfair disciplinary proceedings and feared retribution from their employers, new research from Amnesty International has found.

Instead of addressing their health and safety concerns over issues such as the use of personal protective equipment and the true number of Covid cases in care homes, employers silenced these workers, often through unfair dismissal, and targeted them with anti-union measures.

“Health and care workers were on the frontline of the fight against COVID-19. They were feted by the Italian government for their hard work in horrendous circumstances. Yet those same workers were silenced by their employers when they tried to raise concerns about their patients’, and their own, safety,”

Marco Perolini, Western Europe Researcher at Amnesty International

Amnesty International researchers spoke to 34 health and care professionals between February and August 2021 who worked in care homes during the pandemic, as well as trade unionists, lawyers and legal experts. The interviews paint a picture of a highly-feminized sector under strain from understaffing, low wages and precarious working conditions compounded by the worst pandemic in a century.

The pandemic has taken a huge toll on staff in Italy’s care homes, 85% of whom are women. According to official statistics, 65.6% of the overall number of workers who contracted Covid-19 in the workplace in Italy were health and care workers. Nearly a quarter of the workers who died after contracting the virus in the workplace were health workers and care home staff.

Disciplinary and anti-union measures

A third of the workers whom Amnesty International spoke to raised concerns about a climate of fear and retaliation in their workplace. Lawyers reported more than a dozen cases of disciplinary proceedings and dismissals targeting workers, including union representatives who raised concerns regarding the lack of adequate health and safety measures in different care homes.

In December 2020, the Milan Employment Tribunal found that Piero, a trade unionist and a nurse, had been unfairly dismissed by a large care home in Milan that employed him because of his union-related activities. Piero had raised concerns regarding the high mortality rate among the older people who lived in the care home. After receiving seven disciplinary warnings for having spoken out, in November 2020, he was suspended from work for a month. “Cooperatives and public care homes have put a muzzle on people who have reported or talked to the press,” said ‘Marco’, an outsourced nurse who works in a private care home in Lombardy.

Italy’s 2017 whistleblower law protects people who reveal wrongdoing in the workplace. However, it does not guarantee adequate protection of workers, for example in terms of confidentiality and independence, in the private sector, which covers 73% of the care homes in Italy. Italian authorities must protect the rights of all care workers from abuse by the private sector.

Care sector shaken by deaths

More than 130,200 people had died of Covid-19 in Italy before 29 September 2021, more than 95% of them older than 60 years of age. Some estimates suggest that 8.5% of all the older people living in care homes in Italy died in the first months of the pandemic.

In December 2020, Amnesty International highlighted the failure of the Italian authorities to put in place adequate policies to protect older people living in care homes, including their rights to life, to health and to be free from discrimination.

While the vaccination campaign, which prioritized care home residents as well as health and care workers, resulted in a decrease in morbidity and mortality among both older people and workers in care homes, long-standing concerns in the sector, including low wages, the over-representation of women in a sector with poor working conditions, remain unaddressed.

Independent inquiry urgently needed

The Italian authorities must ensure that these workers’ voices are heard.

Amnesty International is calling on the Italian parliament to set up an independent committee of inquiry to investigate the authorities’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic with a specific focus on care homes. While some proposals are in initial stages, no inquiry has yet been approved.

Any such committee must also consider the serious concerns raised by workers and unions regarding health, safety and poor working conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic and preceding it.

“It is vital that the Italian parliament approves an independent inquiry so that lessons can be learned, similar mistakes can be prevented and justice can be provided to those people who died unnecessarily and those who were wrongly dismissed,” said Debora Del Pistoia, researcher at Amnesty International Italy.

A global trend of repression

The silencing of care and health workers in Italy is part of an alarming global trend as we have seen authorities violating freedom of expression worldwide during the pandemic. Health and care workers have been targeted for speaking out in countries such as Poland, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:    

Alison Abrahams on alison.abrahams@amnesty.org or +32 483 680 812    

Out of hours contact details    

+44 20 7413 5566    

email: press@amnesty.org     

twitter: @amnestypress  

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Nearly two months since airlift operations in Afghanistan ended, those left behind face formidable obstacles to seeking safety outside the country, Amnesty International said today. In an advocacy briefing, the organization highlights how neighbouring countries have closed their borders to Afghans without travel documents, leaving many with no choice but to make irregular crossings. Instead of granting protection to people who arrive on their territory in this way – as required by international law – countries across Europe and Central Asia have subjected Afghans to illegal pushbacks, detention and deportation.  

Trying to get out of Afghanistan right now is like an obstacle course

Amnesty International is calling on all countries to live up to their obligation to protect people at risk of serious human rights violations, by immediately ending all returns or deportations to Afghanistan and ensuring access to fair asylum procedures. They should also urgently take steps to secure safe passage for Afghans who are in danger of being targeted by the Taliban, including by minimizing requirements for travel documentation and offering humanitarian visas to those most at risk. 

“Trying to get out of Afghanistan right now is like an obstacle course. Since the Taliban takeover it has been near-impossible to obtain travel documents, forcing many Afghans to make irregular journeys which result in punitive treatment by other governments. Instead of finding safety and protection, Afghans who fled the Taliban end up trapped in makeshift camps at border zones, or detained while they await deportation to an uncertain fate,” said Francesca Pizzutelli, Head of Amnesty International’s Refugees and Migrants’ Rights Team. 

“We urge all countries to open their borders to Afghans seeking refuge, and to establish targeted resettlement schemes to bring the most at-risk to safety. Governments must offer international protection to new arrivals and to Afghans who are already on their territories, mindful of the international prohibition on non-refoulement.”

Borders closed

Amnesty’s briefing highlights how Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan have all closed their borders to Afghans travelling without documents, despite the risk that returning people will put them at risk of serious human rights violations by the Taliban. IOM figures show that Iranian authorities deported 58,279 undocumented Afghans between 27 August and 9 September 2021, while Uzbekistan said on August 20 that it had returned 150 people to Afghanistan, based on an agreement with the Taliban.  

The international imperative to keep borders open for those seeking refuge, and the obligation on non-refoulement, does not just apply to countries which share a land border with Afghanistan. It also applies to countries that Afghans can reach via air or sea, or after journeys through other countries. In other words, it disregards any distinction between regular and irregular arrivals.  

Despite this, countries including Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece have continued to carry out pushbacks against Afghans, while Poland has introduced new restrictions which will make it impossible for people crossing the border irregularly to claim asylum in Poland. 

The lives of thousands of women and men who had worked to promote and defend human rights, gender equality, rule of law and democratic freedoms in their country are now hanging by a thread

One group of 32 Afghans has been stranded on the Poland-Belarus border since 19 August, after they were moved from Poland to Belarus in a suspected pushback, without any individual assessment of their protection needs. Polish and Belarusian border guards have kept the group trapped in a small strip on the border, without adequate shelter, clean water, food or access to health care. 

Meanwhile, in July 2021, as arrivals from Afghanistan increased, Turkish authorities announced the extension of a wall with its border with Iran, and Turkey continues to round up undocumented Afghans in preparation for deportation.  

Amnesty also highlighted the impact of security clearance processes on Afghans seeking refuge. For example, Germany requires Afghans to present themselves to German authorities for security checks before they can be considered for evacuation – but there is currently no diplomatic representation in Afghanistan. In the US, the Biden administration has stated the intention to resettle 95,000 Afghan evacuees by the end of September 2022. However, questions remain about the treatment of Afghan evacuees in US military bases, and the detention and transfer to third countries of Afghan evacuees who have not cleared stringent US security checks. 

While Afghanistan’s human rights situation continues to deteriorate, all countries must take immediate measures to enable exit from Afghanistan, in particular for women activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and people from marginalized ethnic or religious minorities. They must offer international protection both to new arrivals and to those Afghans who are already on their territories, and support countries in the region to guarantee the rights of Afghans who travel there. 

“The lives of thousands of women and men who had worked to promote and defend human rights, gender equality, rule of law and democratic freedoms in their country are now hanging by a thread,” said Francesca Pizzutelli. 

“The world must not abandon Afghanistan at this critical moment – we need a concerted international effort to bring Afghans to safety.” 

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Poland: 17 Afghans at the border violently pushed back to Belarus

Amnesty International is deeply concerned about reports that 17 out of the 32 Afghans stuck on the Poland-Belarus border since August 2021 have been forcibly pushed back to Belarus after attempting to cross the barbed wire fence towards Poland. Polish authorities admit that “direct coercion measures” have been used against people from the group who tried to cross the fence.

Amnesty International has verified a video shared by the Belarusian authorities, which shows people crossing the border in the Usnarz Górny area. According to the Polish organization Fundacja Ocalenie, a group of 17 people, including at least one minor, were violently apprehended after crossing the fence towards Poland today. They were then detained in a border guard station in Poland and subsequently pushed back to Belarus by the Polish authorities. An Amnesty International digital investigation had already shown that the same group had been subjected to a suspected forced return in August.

This group of Afghan people has been held in abysmal conditions at the Polish-Belarus border for two months now. Today’s violence and new pushback to Belarus is a slap in the face of international law and the human right to seek asylum. The move blatantly disregards a European Court of Human Rights ruling instructing Polish authorities to assist the group and banning the authorities from returning the group to Belarus, so long as they are in Poland.

Nils Muižnieks, Director of Amnesty International’s Europe Regional Office

On 25 August, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Poland to provide this group of 32 Afghans with “food, water, clothing, adequate medical care and, if possible, temporary shelter”. On 27 September, the Court extended the order “until further notice” and also ordered that as long as the group were on Polish territory, they should not be returned to Belarus.

Despite that, the group was returned to Belarus under a Polish ministerial decree of August 2020 which establishes that, except for people falling under certain categories, those intercepted in the border area must leave Poland and be “returned to the state border line”. The Polish border has been under a state of emergency since 2 September, and therefore out of bounds for journalists, MPs and activists.

“The Polish government has shown immense cruelty in attempting to legitimize illegal pushbacks of people seeking asylum at their border. EU and international law is crystal clear on this, it is unlawful to summarily return people who cross a border irregularly without an assessment of their circumstances.,” said Nils Muižnieks.

Amnesty International calls on Poland’s government to end pushbacks, repeal the amendment about the border closure, and to ensure those seeking protection can safely access its territory.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:      

Alison Abrahams on alison.abrahams@amnesty.org +32 483 680 812 Or press@amnesty.org +44 20 7413 5566   

BACKGROUND

Urgent Action: Protect Afghans stranded at Polish border, 2 September 2021,

Poland: Digital investigation proves Poland violated refugees’ rights, 30 September 2021,

On 14 October, the Polish Parliament adopted an amendment on the law of foreigners and the law on international protection. Under the amendments, a person who enters or attempts to enter the country “in breach of the law”, must leave Polish territory and is banned from entering the country for 6 months to 3 years. Applicants appealing the decision cannot stay in Poland pending a ruling.

Under the amendment, asylum applications submitted by a person detained for irregular entry, can be suspended/not examined. The only exception is a foreigner who entered directly from a country where their life would be at risk.  This does not apply to the group of Afghans who travelled via Belarus.

The amendments also criminalize any damage of the border protection infrastructure, an act now punishable with a prison sentence between 6 months and 5 years. Both UNHCR and OSCE raised early concerns about the legislative proposal.

On 14 October, the Parliament also adopted a law that provides for enhanced border protection and envisages a construction of a fence (at a reported cost of US$400 million). The border protection will be built by the Border Guards and the protection of the border will be ensured by multiple state authorities, including the Minister of Defence, Chief of the office of the General Prosecutor, chiefs of regional authorities (Wojewoda Podlaski, Wojewoda Lubelski), as well as the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (CBA) and others.

At least five people have died at the border since September, with the most recent death, that of a 24-year old Syrian man, being reported by the Polish authorities on 14 October.

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Over a thousand days into President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration, Brazil is considerably worse off than when he took office. Gross mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the aggravation of a public security crisis, and vast environmental devastation are just three outcomes of a tenure that has been nothing less than disastrous for human rights.

In the report “1,000 days without rights: The violations of the Bolsonaro government,” Amnesty International has highlighted 32 government actions that have clearly led to serious human rights violations from the president’s inauguration to 26 September 2021. Millions of people across the country have felt the impact of these harmful policies in their pockets, on their dinner tables, and in their bodies.

The country Bolsonaro portrayed in his recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly does not exist. Far from the president’s claims of overseeing a nation free from corruption, with robust environmental protection and restored credibility in the eyes of the world, in reality Brazil is mired in a grave and multidimensional human rights crisis.

Fourteen million people are unemployed, part of the 56% of the population that faces food insecurity and has little or no access to social assistance. Nineteen million people go hungry every day, affecting disproportionately Black and Indigenous people, and often women take on the lonely challenge of ensuring their families’ care and subsistence, without any support from the federal government. The emergency financial aid that began to be provided in 2020 was interrupted for three months and then resumed at reduced capacity. Civil society organizations have mobilized to mitigate the effects of starvation in Brazil, distributing food for favela residents and providing legal assistance to help Indigenous people and Quilombolas (Afro-Brazilian residents of settlements first created by formerly enslaved people who escaped) to defend their rights. But the state must also do more.

President Jair Bolsonaro has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with a mixture of denial, negligence, opportunism and contempt for human rights. Bolsonaro’s constant statements and actions to downplay the effects of the disease, including his countless antivaccine speeches, the delay in acquiring vaccines, his defence of ineffective drugs, and his encouragement of large gatherings, are some of the reasons why Brazil is close to reaching the heartbreaking number of 600,000 lives lost. These vast figures not only reflect the number who have died, but also the amount of families and communities that have lost their loved ones. These are stories that have been cut short by neglect, by omission, while President Bolsonaro continues to treat COVID-19 as though it does not exist.

Brazil has one of the few public universal health systems in the region, but it has been affected by the government’s austerity measures in the middle of the pandemic. Indigenous People, Quilombolasand even inhabitants of favelas in Rio de Janeiro have had to resort to the Supreme Federal Court to demand their rights to assistance – and even then, the court’s decisions have not been carried out as they should be.

In June civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, presented a study revealing that the Brazilian government could have been avoided 120,000 deaths in the first year of the pandemic alone if it had adopted the appropriate public health measures to fight COVID-19. Organizations have called on Attorney General Augusto Aras to open investigations into the Bolsonaro government’s responsibility. A Parliamentary Inquiry Commission has been underway in the Federal Senate for the last five months and has already brought to light some situations that require the urgent attention of the attorney general, with no clear action on his behalf. This paralysis is not limited to the judiciary. Brazil’s Parliament has also continued to collude with the Bolsonaro administration’s countless failures in managing the pandemic. Over 120 requests for impeachment of the president sit on the desk of Arthur Lira, the president of the Chamber of Deputies.

It is not just the mishandling of the pandemic, but also other government actions that are perpetuating Brazil’s multiple human rights crises.

Bolsonaro and other high-ranking authorities are constantly attacking the press, discrediting the work of thousands of journalists and media workers, and very often threatening the rule of law. Meanwhile, by encouraging deforestation and the extraction of natural resources in the Amazon, the president has exacerbated the impact of the climate crisis on Indigenous peoples’ lands and territories, leaving a legacy of environmental destruction.

Bolsonaro’s government has further relaxed protections and preservation mechanisms, exposing entire communities to disasters, violence and abandonment. In the area of public security, the government has expanded access to firearms by 65%, despite Brazil already being one of the countries with the highest number of deaths by firearm in the world.

The international community cannot turn a blind eye as Bolsonaro’s government destroys countless lives and does untold damage to the planet. The world must demand accountability and stand with the Brazilian people in their calls for the government to respect and defend their human rights.

Jurema Werneck is the executive director of Amnesty International Brazil. Erika Guevara-Rosas is Americas director at Amnesty International

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• Despite promises of reform police impunity goes on 
• Investigation panels dashing victims’ hope of getting justice 
• Pro-government mobs used to instigate violence 

One year after peaceful #EndSARS protests ended in a brutal crackdown by Nigerian security forces in Abuja, Lagos and other parts of the country, no one has been brought to justice for the torture, violence, and killings of peaceful protesters, while reports of human rights violations by the police continue, Amnesty International said today. 

An investigation by the organization found that Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 people on 20 October 2020 at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos. Amnesty International was able to establish that pro-government supporters instigated violence at many of the demonstrations, providing cover for the police to use lethal force against peaceful protesters. The organization also found that detained protesters were tortured and refused or denied immediate access to lawyers.  

A year on, despite the gravity of these human rights violations, not a single member of the security forces has been prosecuted while judicial panels of inquiry set up to investigate abuses by officers have made little progress. 

President Muhammadu Buhari must fulfill his promise of reforming the police to end the reign of impunity Nigerians have been protesting against for many years. Failure to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the torture and killings of #EndSARS protesters on 20 October 2020 is yet another indication that Nigerian authorities lack the political will to ensure accountability for these atrocities, and end police brutality.  

Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria

“Under the pretext of restoring order, horrific injuries were inflicted on hundreds of people and at least 56 people were killed, among them dozens of young people lost their lives as Nigerian security forces used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse peaceful protesters across the country. It is unacceptable that despite overwhelming evidence, the government continues to deny the use of live ammunition on protesters at Lekki toll gate exactly a year ago.”  

Amnesty International had documented incidents at Lekki Toll Gate Lagos and other parts of Nigeria, showing the violent response of the Nigerian security forces to peaceful protests. The clear aim of the crackdown was to instill fear, discourage peaceful protests and punish those demanding an end to widespread human rights violations by the police.  

Use of pro-government supporters to whip up violence 

While most of the #EndSARS protesters were peaceful, there was violence, mostly instigated by pro-government supporters. 

After reviewing videos and photos of the protest sites, Amnesty international found that in nearly 21 incidents where violence occurred between peaceful protesters and pro-government supporters, security forces not only failed to take preventive measures to avoid peaceful assemblies from being disrupted, but they also failed to protect protesters from violent attacks.   

“In many instances, the police and other security agents watched as apparently government-backed armed thugs attacked peaceful protesters. In some cases, these thugs were brought to the protest sites in government vehicles. On at least two occasions, these attacks resulted in the death of protesters,” said Osai Ojigho. 

Excessive use of force 

Almost every person arrested during the protests described being beaten with the butt of a gun, whips and fists during their arrests. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 12 journalists were attacked during the #EndSARS protests by security forces and unidentified perpetrators. 

Many of those detained interviewed by Amnesty International said that they were tortured while in detention. In many cases, police abuse continued in detention, in police stations and other holding facilities, and on the way to detention, in police vehicles. Several such cases amount to torture and other ill-treatment.  

Delayed or no access to legal counsel 

Amnesty International also documented numerous cases in which police denied or delayed access to lawyers and medical care to detainees. This was despite repeated requests from detainees to see or call a lawyer – and repeated requests from lawyers at places of detention to have access to the detainees. Several lawyers and human right defenders said they spent days moving from one police station to another trying to find out where those who had been arrested were being held.  

One person arrested during a protest on 18 October 2020 and held at Lagos state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Panti, said he repeatedly asked to call a lawyer. He was told by a police officer to shut up. While in detention, he was denied access to a lawyer who had come to see him and was unable to meet with a lawyer until a week after being arrested. 

Providing timely access to lawyers is an important safeguard for many human rights, such as the right to a fair trial and ensuring the detainee’s rights are respected in custody, including the right to access medical care when needed, as well as protection from coerced confessions and torture and other ill-treatment. 

Investigative panels set up to look into police brutality have so far been marred by prolonged adjournments, intimidation of witnesses by police lawyers and the failure of police officers to appear as witnesses, according to observer reports verified by Amnesty International. Panels have failed to sit in some states, and in others have gone on an indefinite break. 

“What we observed at these panels is discouraging and clearly shows there is no real commitment to ensuring justice for victims of police violence across Nigeria. These panels raised hopes of getting justice but in some states, this is quickly vanishing,” said Osai Ojigho 

Amnesty International is calling on Nigerian authorities to put words into action and decisively end police impunity. Use of pro-government thugs to violently disperse and undermine peaceful #EndSARS protests must be thoroughly, independently, impartially, and transparently investigated and suspected perpetrators brought to justice in fair trials.  

Nigerians must not be denied the constitutionally and internationally guaranteed right to peaceful protest. All those detained or missing since the #EndSARS protests must be immediately released or reunited with their families. Nigerian authorities must ensure access of victims and their families to effective remedies, including adequate compensation, restitution, and guarantee of non-repetition.  

The #EndSARS movement was met with the same use of excessive force by the police it was set to fight against. It is time for the authorities to ensure accountability and end impunity for police violence in Nigeria. 

Osai Ojigho

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