Kategorie: Humans

Attacks on freedom of expression by governments, combined with a flood of misinformation across the world during the Covid-19 pandemic, have had a devastating impact on peoples’ ability to access accurate and timely information to help them cope with the burgeoning global health crisis, said Amnesty International today in a new report.

Silenced and Misinformed: Freedom of Expression in Danger During Covid-19 reveals how governments’ and authorities’ reliance on censorship and punishment throughout the crisis has reduced the quality of information reaching people. The pandemic has provided a dangerous situation where governments are using new legislation to shut down independent reporting, as well as attack people who have been directly critical or even attempted to look into their government’s response to Covid-19.

“Throughout the pandemic, governments have launched an unprecedented attack on freedom of expression, severely curtailing peoples’ rights. Communication channels have been targeted, social media has been censored, and media outlets have been closed down – having a dire impact of the public’s ability to access vital information about how to deal with Covid-19,” said Amnesty International’s senior director for research advocacy and policy, Rajat Khosla.

“In the midst of a pandemic, journalists and health professionals have been silenced and imprisoned. As a result, people have been unable to access information about Covid-19, including how to protect themselves and their communities. Approximately five million people have lost their lives to Covid-19 and lack of information will have likely been a contributory factor.” 

The government of China has a long history of controlling freedom of expression. During the early days of the pandemic, health workers and professional and citizen journalists attempted to raise the alarm as early as December 2019. However, they were targeted by the government for reporting on the outbreak of what was then an unknown disease. By February 2020, 5,511 criminal investigations had been opened against individuals who published information about the outbreak for “fabricating and deliberately disseminating false and harmful information”.

In one harrowing case, citizen journalist Zhang Zhan travelled to Wuhan in February 2020 to report on the Covid-19 outbreak. She went missing in May 2020 in Wuhan. It was later revealed that she was detained by police, charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment.

Numerous other countries have put in place oppressive laws, restricting the right to freedom of expression and silencing critics under the guise or in the context of the pandemic, including Tanzania, Russia and Nicaragua. 

Over the past few years, the Tanzanian government has introduced a raft of laws and used them to silence journalists, human rights defenders and members of the political opposition. Under former President Magufuli’s administration, the Tanzanian government took a denialist stance on Covid-19. From March to May 2020, authorities used laws prohibiting and criminalizing “false news” and other measures to restrict media coverage of the government’s handling of Covid-19.

While initially trying to downplay the impact of the pandemic and intimidate those raising concerns, the Nicaraguan authorities used Covid-19 to introduce the “Special Law on Cybercrimes” in October 2020. In practice, it enables authorities to punish those who criticize government policies and gives them ample discretion to repress freedom of expression.

In April 2020, Russia expanded its existing anti-“fake news” legislation and introduced criminal penalties for “public dissemination of knowingly false information” in the context of emergencies. Although the amendments have been described as part of the authorities’ response to Covid-19, these measures will remain in force beyond the pandemic.

“It’s clear Covid-19 related restrictions on freedom of expression are not just time-bound, extraordinary measures to deal with a temporary crisis. They are part of an onslaught on human rights that has been taking place globally in the last few years – and governments have found another excuse to ramp up their attack on civil society,” said Rajat Khosla.

Restricting freedom of expression is dangerous and must not become the new normal.”

Rajat Khosla

“Restricting freedom of expression is dangerous and must not become the new normal. Governments must urgently lift such restrictions and guarantee the free flow of information to protect the public’s right to health.”

Amnesty’s report highlights the role of social media companies in facilitating the rapid spread of misinformation around Covid-19.  This is because platforms are designed to amplify attention-grabbing content to engage users and have not done enough due diligence to prevent the spread of false and misleading information.

The onslaught of misinformation – whether that be through social media companies or people in a position of power seeking to spread division and confusion for their own gain – is posing a serious threat to the rights to freedom of expression and to health. It is making it increasingly difficult for individuals to have a fully informed opinion and make educated choices about their health based on the best available scientific facts. A variety of sources is key, as is the ability to challenge and debate available information.

“As we are urging governments and pharmaceutical companies to ensure vaccines are distributed and made available to everyone around the world, states and social media companies must also ensure the public has unfettered access to accurate, evidence-based and timely information. This is a crucial step to minimize vaccine hesitancy driven by misinformation,” said Rajat Khosla.

“So far, 6.6 billion* doses have been administered globally, yet only 2.5% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.  With less than 75 days left until the end of the year, we’re calling on states and pharmaceutical companies to drastically change course and to do everything needed to deliver two billion vaccines to low and lower-middle income countries starting now – but they need safe, reliable information to help inform their decisions.”

Amnesty International is calling on states to stop using the pandemic as an excuse to silence independent reporting, lift all undue restrictions on the right to freedom of expression and provide credible, reliable, accessible information so the public can be fully informed about the pandemic. Censorship does not help in dealing with misinformation: free and independent media and strong civil society do.

States must overhaul the destructive business model of Big Tech – one of the root causes of the spread of mis/disinformation online. Social media companies must also stop hiding their heads in the sand and take measures to address the viral spread of misinformation, including by ensuring their business models do not endanger human rights.

Notes to editors

Amnesty International launched a new campaign, 100 Day Countdown: 2 billion Covid-19 vaccines now! on 22 September 2021. The organization is calling on states and pharmaceutical companies to deliver 2 billion vaccines to those who need it now, to ensure that the World Health Organization’s target of vaccinating 40% of the population of low and lower-middle income countries by the end of the year is met.

*Figure correct as of 14 October 2021:  Coronavirus (COVID-19) Vaccinations – Statistics and Research – Our World in Data

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Responding to the violent attacks on Hindu minority households and temples in Bangladesh during and after the Durga Puja, the country’s biggest Hindu festival, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, Saad Hammadi, said: 

“Reports of a spate of attacks by angry mobs against members of the Hindu community, their homes, temples and puja pandals during the country’s biggest Hindu festival are symptomatic of the growing anti-minority sentiment in the country. Such repeated attacks against individuals, communal violence, and destruction of the homes and places of worship of minorities in Bangladesh over the years show that the state has failed in its duty to protect minorities.  

“Targeting religious sensitivities to stoke communal tension is a serious human rights violation and requires immediate and decisive action from the government to address the situation of minorities in the country.  

“We urge the authorities to take urgent steps to protect the members of the minority community against such attacks and ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims. The authorities must promptly, thoroughly, impartially and transparently investigate the incidents and bring those suspected to be responsible for the violence and vandalism to account through fair trials.” 

Background 

Violence erupted in Bangladesh following allegations on social media that a copy of the Quran, the holy book of Islam, was desecrated at a puja pandal (temporary structures made for the religious ceremony) in Cumilla on 13 October 2021. At least seven people have been killed, and hundreds have been injured in clashes that broke out across Bangladesh since 13 October. 

According to local reports, at least 25 houses and shops belonging to members of the Hindu community were torched in Rangpur, a northern district of Bangladesh on 17 October. The country’s information minister Hasan Mahmud warned about further attacks. 

Teachers and staff from Dhaka University have today blocked a major intersection in the city in protest against the ongoing violence. 

The police have filed at least 46 cases against 10,000 unidentified people for the violence and vandalism across the country.  

Authorities had filed eight cases accusing thousands of people when hundreds of homes, businesses and temples belonging to Hindu families were set on fire in Nasirnagar in 2016 based on social media posts that alleged insult to Islam. In 2012, at least six Buddhist temples and several homes were torched apparently over a Facebook post allegedly defaming the Quran. 

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Sri Lanka’s Muslim community has suffered consistent discrimination, harassment and violence since 2013, culminating in the adoption of government policies explicitly targeting the minority group, said Amnesty International, in a new report published today.

From Burning Houses to Burning Bodies: Anti-Muslim Harassment, Discrimination and Violence in Sri Lanka, traces the development of anti-Muslim sentiment in Sri Lanka since 2013 amid surging Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism. This discrimination has evolved from a rising series of mob attacks committed with impunity, into government policies explicitly discriminating against Muslims, including the forced cremation of Muslim Covid-19 victims and current proposals to ban both the niqab (face veil) and madrasas (religious schools).

“While anti-Muslim sentiment in Sri Lanka is nothing new, the situation has regressed sharply in recent years. Incidents of violence against Muslims, committed with the tacit approval of the authorities, have occurred with alarming frequency. This has been accompanied by the adoption by the current government of rhetoric and policies that have been openly hostile to Muslims,” said Kyle Ward, Amnesty International’s Deputy Secretary General.

“The Sri Lankan authorities must break this alarming trend and uphold their duty to protect Muslims from further attacks, hold perpetrators accountable and end the use of government policies to target, harass and discriminate against the Muslim community.” 

Rising hostility towards Muslims

Incidents of violence towards Muslims have risen in frequency and intensity since 2013, with a series of flashpoints in which attackers and those responsible for hate speech have enjoyed impunity for their actions.

This escalating hostility began with the anti-halal campaign of that year, when Sinhala Buddhist nationalist groups successfully lobbied to end the halal certification of food, which demarks food permissible for consumption by Muslims, in accordance with Islamic scripture and customs. The campaign gave rise to a number of attacks on mosques and Muslim businesses, with the lack of accountability for those responsible acting as a signal to others that acts of violence against Muslims could be committed with impunity.

The following year, anti-Muslim riots in the southern coastal town of Aluthgama began after a Sinhala Buddhist nationalist group held a rally in the town. Here too, perpetrators of violence enjoyed impunity and authorities failed to deliver justice to victims.

Despite a new government in 2015, which promised justice and accountability for ethnic and religious minorities, attacks against Muslims continued to occur. Shortly after the election, anti-Muslim mob violence flared in the southern coastal town of Ginthota in 2017, while similar violence was seen in 2018 in Digana and Ampara, towns in the central and eastern provinces respectively. Not only did perpetrators escape accountability, victims and witnesses alleged the police and armed forces did not offer sufficient protection or act to prevent the violence.

Escalation since 2019 Easter Sunday attacks

Hostility towards Muslims increased markedly after more than 250 people were killed in coordinated suicide attacks committed by a local Islamist group and claimed by the Islamic State on Easter Sunday 2019.

Following these attacks, on 13 May 2019, Muslims in several towns in the North-Western Province of Sri Lanka came under attack during Ramadan, one of the holiest months in the Muslim calendar. Mosques across the country were also attacked and a spate of ‘hate speech’ posts and anti-Muslim vitriol was seen on social media. Emergency regulations rushed through by the authorities were also used to arbitrarily arrest hundreds of Muslims in the wake of the attacks.

Since taking office, the current government has continued to target and scapegoat the Muslim population to distract from political and economic issues.

This was evident in the mandatory cremation policy on the disposal of the bodies of Covid-19 victims, which was implemented despite cremation being expressly forbidden in Islam, and a lack of scientific evidence to substantiate the claims that burying victims would further the spread of the disease.  

Government policies targeting Muslims

While the forced cremation policy has been reversed after the government succumbed to international pressure ahead of a vote on Sri Lanka at the UN Human Rights Council, the authorities are still seeking to implement discriminatory legislation, including a niqab ban and a ban on madrasas. If adopted, these restrictions would violate the freedom from discrimination based on religion guaranteed and safeguarded by Sri Lanka’s Constitution, and international human rights law which Sri Lanka is bound by.

The authorities have used existing legislation to target Muslims, including the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), which permits suspects to be detained without charge for up to 90 days, and without being produced before a court. This is in addition to the misuse of the ICCPR Act, a law intended to prohibit the propagation of racial or religious hatred, amounting to incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.

The report documents several cases in which these laws have been abused to target individuals, including Hejaaz Hizbullah, a lawyer and activist who has been detained for more than 15 months, and Ahnaf Jazeem, a poet and teacher, who was arrested on 16 May 2020 following unsubstantiated claims about his Tamil language poetry.

“From anti-terrorism laws and forced cremations to niqabs and madrasas, the Sri Lankan government has pursued a blatantly discriminatory policy agenda against Muslims. We urge the authorities to reconsider the proposals currently under consideration, and for the international community to monitor and take measures to ensure the freedom and protection of minority communities in Sri Lanka,” said Kyle Ward.

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National Campaign Urges Provinces to Cancel Contracts Enabling Abuses

(Ottawa, October 14, 2021) – Provincial governments should sever their contracts to hold immigration detainees in provincial jails, where many experience abusive conditions, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today in opening a joint national campaign, #WelcomeToCanada. While Canadian authorities have released significant numbers of people from immigration detention since the onset of Covid-19 in March 2020, the proportion of those in provincial jails rather than immigration holding centers more than doubled in the six months following the onset of the pandemic.

Provincial jails in Canada are designed to hold people awaiting criminal court proceedings or serving criminal sentences of up to two years. Immigration detainees held in these jails – many of which are maximum-security facilities – are not only confined in more restrictive settings than those held in immigration holding centers, but they are also more likely to be detained for longer periods of time. 

“By allowing the federal government to transfer immigration detainees to provincial jails, where they may remain with no end in sight, provincial authorities are implicated in Ottawa’s human rights abuses,” said Samer Muscati, associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The provincial governments have a real opportunity to show leadership by walking away from these contracts that allow serious violations to happen in their own backyards.”

According to government statistics, in the three-year period between April 2017 and March 2020, about a fifth of immigration detainees were held in 78 provincial jails across Canada. In the six months following the onset of the pandemic, between April and September 2020, 50 percent of immigration detainees were held in provincial jails. The average length of detention more than doubled, to 29 days compared with the same period the previous year, and at least 85 people were held for 100 days or longer.

“I was arrested without charge and my belongings were taken, including the batteries for my hearing aid,” Abdelrahman Elmady, an Egyptian man with a hearing disability said in one of the campaign videos released on October 14, 2021. He described his detention in three provincial jails in British Columbia after fleeing to Canada to seek asylum. “My whole life I have relied on hearing aids, but suddenly I was in prison, confused, scared, and unable to hear anything. Nobody told me how long I would be detained.”

By allowing the federal government to transfer immigration detainees to provincial jails, provincial authorities are implicated in Ottawa’s human rights abuses

Samer Muscati, associate disability rights director at Human Rights Watch

In their recent report, “‘I Didn’t Feel Like a Human in There’: Immigration Detention in Canada and Its Impact on Mental Health,” Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented the serious human rights violations that people face in immigration detention in Canada. Immigration detainees include people who are fleeing persecution, seeking a better life, and some who have lived in Canada since childhood.

Immigration detainees are not held on criminal charges or convictions, but many experience some of the country’s most restrictive confinement conditions, including maximum-security provincial jails and solitary confinement. Immigration detainees are handcuffed, shackled, and held with little to no contact with the outside world. In provincial jails, many are confined in dangerous environments where they may be subjected to violence.

Immigration detainees from communities of color, particularly detainees who are Black, appear to be detained for longer periods and often in provincial jails rather than immigration holding centers. People with psychosocial disabilities (or mental health conditions) experience discrimination throughout the detention process. Immigration detention has especially harmful effects on communities of color, refugee claimants, children, and families.

Through access to information requests, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International obtained copies of the contracts between the federal government and six provinces (British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan), which allow authorities to hold immigration detainees in provincial jails, including maximum security facilities. The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed to researchers that an additional contract is in place with the province of Alberta, but it has not been released.

According to the contracts reviewed by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, each province can terminate the agreement without penalty or explanation with one year’s notice. In the three remaining provinces (Manitoba, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island), CBSA representatives said the agency has “informal arrangements” to hold immigration detainees in provincial jails.

My whole life I have relied on hearing aids, but suddenly I was in prison, confused, scared, and unable to hear anything.

Abdelrahman Elmady, an Egyptian man detained in British Columbia

In its 2020-21 Departmental Plan, the CBSA indicated that it has “limited control over detention conditions” in provincial jails across the country, which “poses challenges in ensuring a common standard of care.”

Canada’s practice of incarcerating immigration detainees in provincial jails is a violation of international human rights law. Incarceration in these facilities is inherently punitive in nature and not suited nor permitted under international standards for use in immigration detention.

Canadian authorities at the federal and provincial levels should take concrete measures toward abolishing immigration detention, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. The groups have written to all provinces urging premiers and corrections ministries to stop using provincial jails and other incarceration facilities for immigration detention, and to cancel all contracts and informal arrangements between the federal and provincial governments that allow authorities to transfer immigration detainees to these facilities.

Through their #WelcomeToCanada campaign, which will go coast to coast starting with British Columbia, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are asking the general public to support their advocacy efforts by writing, calling, or tweeting their premiers urging them to cancel the contracts that allow immigration detainees to languish in provincial jails.

“By shining a spotlight on the devastating harm caused by immigration detention in provincial jails, we hope that people across Canada will join us in urging provincial leaders to end this shameful practice,” said Justin Mohammed, programs manager at Amnesty International Canada. “Canada should become the refugee-welcoming and multicultural country it holds itself out to be, and treat people seeking safety or a better life with the dignity and respect they deserve.”

For more information, please contact:

For Human Rights Watch, in Toronto, Samer Muscati (English): muscats@hrw.org. Twitter: @SamerMuscati.

For Human Rights Watch, in Toronto, Hanna Gros (English): grosh@hrw.org. Twitter: @Hanna_Gros.

For Human Rights Watch, in Toronto, Farida Deif (English, French, Arabic): deiff@hrw.org. Twitter: @FaridaDeif.

For Amnesty International Canada, in Ottawa, Lucy Scholey (English): LScholey@amnesty.ca. Twitter: @LucyScholey.

For Amnistie internationale Canada francophone, in Montreal, Camille Ducroquet (French): cducroquet@amnistie.ca. Twitter: @AmnistieCA

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Responding to Matt Hancock MP’s appointment as UN special representative on financial innovation and climate change for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, with a focus on helping Africa’s economy recover from Covid-19, Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director, said:

This appointment must result in Matt Hancock demonstrating meaningful commitment to the human rights principles that are so crucial for effective recovery from Covid-19 in Africa, including on climate change, access to Covid-19 vaccines, response to big pharma and the TRIPS waiver proposal

Netsanet Belay, Research and Advocacy Director

“This appointment must result in Matt Hancock demonstrating meaningful commitment to the human rights principles that are so crucial for effective recovery from Covid-19 in Africa, including on climate change, access to Covid-19 vaccines, response to big pharma and the TRIPS waiver proposal.

“It’s disappointing that in his former role as UK health minister, Matt Hancock opposed calls to lift intellectual property rights that would allow Covid-19 vaccines to be produced worldwide and ensure access to life-saving vaccines for billions of people.

“In the twelve months since the TRIPS waiver was first proposed, and which the UK has consistently blocked, 3.8 million people have died from Covid-19. Timely access to vaccines, tests and treatments is essential for Africa’s recovery from the pandemic, but scandalously only 7.4% of people in Africa have received at least one vaccine dose to date.

In this role the former Minister will not be able to ignore the impact a lack of access to vaccines is having for people across Africa and we must now see him advocating strongly for UK support for a TRIPS waiver

Netsanet Belay

“In this role the former Minister will not be able to ignore the impact a lack of access to vaccines is having for people across Africa and we must now see him advocating strongly for UK support for a TRIPS waiver.”

“We also urgently need to see human rights compliant messaging from the new Envoy on climate change. Just last week, the UN Human Rights Council recognized the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment and ahead of the UK hosted COP26 next month, we need  decisive action from all governments.

“The new Envoy must make it clear he supports the bold and decisive actions being called for by the UN in order to ensure a clear, health and sustainable environment for all.”

Background

Matt Hancock’s UNECA appointment comes in the same week as the publication of a parliamentary committee report on lessons learned from the UK’s response to Covid-19. While praising the success of the UK’s vaccine programme, the report ranks the early response to the pandemic including decisions on lockdowns and social distancing as “one of the most important public health failures the United Kingdom has ever experienced.”

For more information, please see:

COVID-19: States must take immediate action and deliver surplus vaccines now, not next year, 22 September 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/09/covid-19-states-must-take-immediate-action-and-deliver-surplus-vaccines-now-not-next-year/

UN: Recognition of the right to a healthy environment is a milestone in the battle against the climate crisis, 8 October 2021, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/10/un-recognition-of-the-right-to-a-healthy-environment-is-a-milestone-in-the-battle-against-the-climate-crisis/

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