Kategorie: Humans

Responding to the news that an Egyptian judge has dropped an investigation into at least six human rights defenders and NGO workers, lifted travel bans against them and stopped asset freezes targeting a number of them in Case 173/2011, including Azza Soliman, Esraa Abdelfattah and Negad el Bor’ei, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Lynn Maalouf said:

“The decision to lift the travel bans and drop the investigations against these six human rights defenders is the first good news since this investigation against human rights and civil society organizations first started in 2014. It has long been a form of reprisal for defenders of brave human rights work, and they should not have been targeted with these punitive measures in the first place.    

“The Egyptian authorities must drop Case 173 once and for all and lift all travel bans and asset freezes against at least 20 other human rights defenders still subject to these measures. This infamous decade-long case has been nothing but a desperate attempt to dismantle Egypt’s human rights movement and silence dissent through intimidation, harassment and politically motivated legal action.

“Separately to this case, at least 13 human rights defenders and NGO workers remain behind bars on unfounded terrorism charges, while dozens more face unlawful travel bans and abusive trials over charges of spreading false news. If the Egyptian authorities are serious about ending the crackdown against human rights defenders, then they must immediately release those arbitrarily detained, remove travel bans, quash verdicts and end unjust prosecutions of human rights defenders.”

Background

On 30 August, a press release by the investigative judge in Case 173/2011 sent to the Egyptian media announced that he had closed the investigation and removed the travel bans and asset freezes against four human rights organizations and their staff members, including Azza Soliman, Esraa Abdelfattah, Negad El Bor’ei, Hossam Ali and Magdy Abdelhamid. It is unclear whether the Ministry of Interior has now officially removed their names from the travel bans list. 

However, Case 173 investigations continue into other prominent human rights defenders, including: Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information; Hossam Bahgat, founder and director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights; Mozn Hassan, head of Nazra for Feminist Studies. Others named in the case include Mohamed Zaree, the Egypt Programme director at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies; and Aida Seif al-Dawla, Magda Adly and Suzan Fayad, the founders and directors of El-Nadeem Centre for Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture.

Since 2014, investigative judges have conducted a criminal investigation into the work and sources of foreign funding of Egyptian NGOs and have issued asset freezes against seven organizations and 10 human rights defenders. Egyptian authorities banned at least 31 human rights defenders and NGO staff from travel abroad for six years. Different courts have rejected several appeals by human rights defenders against the punitive restrictive measures against them.

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In a judgment issued today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) ruled that Russian authorities have failed to properly investigate the murder of Natalia Estemirova, a prominent human rights defender who was abducted and killed in Chechnya in 2009.

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Acting Director, said:

“This judgment exposes the impunity surrounding the murder of Natalia Estemirova and the cynical inaction of the Russian authorities. In the twelve years since Natalia was killed, not only have they failed to identify and bring the perpetrators to account, but they have also remained silent and complacent as other human rights defenders in Chechnya were exposed to the same perils, attacked, threatened, and prosecuted.”

“Since 2009 the assault on human rights in Chechnya has intensified and civil society has been methodically extinguished by the Chechen authorities. To this day, Natalia’s colleagues at the NGO Memorial face death threats, arbitrary arrests and jail, and many journalists and activists have been forced into exile. Scores of people have been forcibly disappeared. The inaction of Russian authorities has effectively given the Chechen leadership a carte-blanche to continue to commit abuses, and to silence anyone who dares to speak out.

The inaction of Russian authorities has effectively given the Chechen leadership a carte-blanche to continue to commit abuses, and to silence anyone who dares to speak out

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Acting Director

“Natalia Estemirova lost her life because she worked relentlessly to document and expose egregious human rights violations committed in Chechnya. This heinous, cowardly murder must be fully, effectively, and impartially investigated and all those behind it found and brought to justice. Until this happens, the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, the European Union and Russia’s bilateral partners should take every opportunity to compel Russia to fully implement this binding judgment. Until then, this binding judgment will be a step short of the justice and truth that Natalia Estemirova and her family are entitled to.”

Background

Natalia Estemirova was a prominent human rights defender who worked for the Russian NGO Memorial in Chechnya. She was known for investigating gross human rights violations, including enforced disappearances, extrajudicial executions, and torture committed by the Russian State agents during the second 1999-2009 Chechen conflict. She repeatedly drew criticism and threats from the Chechen authorities, including the Kremlin-appointed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. On 15 July 2009, Natalia Estemirova was abducted by unidentified armed men in the Chechen capital Grozny and was found dead on the same day in the neighboring Ingushetia. No one has been brought to justice for her killing.

Since Natalia’s murder, journalists, human rights defenders and civil society activists in Chechnya continue to be harassed, intimidated, attacked, jailed under trumped up charges and even killed like human rights defender Zarema Sadulaeva along with her husband Alik Dzhabrailov. Numerous abductions and killings have been reported in Chechnya since. Many public critics of the Chechen authorities have faced torture, enforced disappearance or extrajudicial execution. The perpetrators of these and other crimes, including the so-called ‘gay purge’ and of mass extrajudicial executions committed in 2017, have enjoyed complete impunity.

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Pakistan’s authorities must deliver long-promised reform to end state-sanctioned enforced disappearances and finally bring the country in line with international human rights law and standards, said Amnesty International, on the UN’s International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearance. 

A proposed amendment bill to the Pakistan Criminal Penal Code to outlaw the practice – in which the state denies holding an individual or refuses to provide information on their fate or whereabouts, has remained pending for more than two and a half years. Enforced disappearances have been routinely used as a tool by Pakistan’s intelligence services since the inception of the so-called “War on Terror” in 2001, to target human rights defenders, political activists, students, and journalists, with the fate of hundreds of victims still unknown, according to victim groups and families.  

Enforced disappearances have long been a stain on Pakistan’s human rights record, causing untold anguish to hundreds of families.  

Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy Director for South Asia

The most recent amendment bill, which is currently under parliamentary review, contains fundamental flaws and falls short of meeting the minimum requirements of international law, which strictly prohibits enforced disappearances. 

“Enforced disappearances have long been a stain on Pakistan’s human rights record, causing untold anguish to hundreds of families. Despite this fact being acknowledged repeatedly by the current government, the continuation of the practice sends mixed signals to the groups desperate to learn the fate and whereabouts of their loved ones. That no one has been held accountable despite all these moves, is also cause for concern,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for South Asia. 

“When it was announced in January 2019, the proposed reform offered hope that the political will to finally outlaw enforced disappearances might exist. Two and a half years on, we have a watered-down proposal that falls short of what was promised.” 

The current amendment bill falls short of standards set by international law in a number of areas, particularly with regard to the scope of the law identifying who the perpetrator can be. It only prohibits enforced disappearances committed against a Pakistani national or in Pakistan, disregarding instances of Pakistanis who could be responsible for an enforced disappearance abroad, potential foreign victims, and those cases when the alleged offender is present in any territory under the jurisdiction of Pakistan, as provided by international law. The bill also only applies to cases when ‘an unlawful or illegal deprivation of liberty’ has taken place, failing to recognize that enforced disappearances may be committed even after a lawful detention or arrest. Similarly, the bill also does not recognize that state knowledge, acquiescence, or support of a disappearance is not necessarily required for the act to be criminal.  

Likewise, the amendment bill does not clearly define its mandate and does not specify under which legal structure victim families will be able to file a complaint, how compensation will be determined, and what retrospective effect the amendment will have, if any. 

The amendment bill was presented before parliament by the Ministry of Human Rights on 7 June. It currently sits with the Standing Committee on Interior in the National Assembly, which has yet to provide any feedback almost three months on. Just weeks after the reform was presented, on 26 June, political activist Seengar Noonari was abducted by the authorities. 

Amnesty International is also calling on the Pakistani authorities to promptly adhere to the International Convention for the Protection of All of Persons from Enforced Disappearance, without making any reservation to its text, and immediately disclose the whereabouts and fate of those still missing. 

“Enforced disappearances have left an indelible and painful legacy in Pakistan. To move forward from this past, the authorities need to not only expedite these reforms, but also be completely transparent about the fate of all those abducted by state agents and other groups, and start holding perpetrators accountable,” said Dinushika Dissanayake. 

Background 

Pakistan has made some limited progress towards proscribing enforced disappearances. Recent verdicts by the Islamabad High Court have set precedents for compensation for families of victims of enforced disappearances and fines for law enforcement agencies. However, it is not clear if these have been implemented. 

Seengar Noonari was returned to his family five weeks after being subject to enforced disappearance. 

For more information about enforced disappearances in Pakistan, see here. 

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The Syrian government must immediately lift a two-month siege of opposition stronghold Daraa al-Balad and allow unfettered humanitarian access to the area where around 20,000 people are living in dire conditions with scarce supplies of food and barely any medical care, Amnesty International said today.

Thousands have fled Daraa al-Balad, a southern city of Daraa, since the siege began on 24 June. Humanitarian agencies have been unable to access the besieged area, bringing an end to the delivery of already limited humanitarian and medical aid. Those trapped in Daraa al-Balad are struggling on a daily basis to find food, water and medication, especially after the only medical point was forced to shut down after being hit by the government’s shelling. Scant supplies are trickling through smuggling routes to be sold for exorbitant prices that only a few can afford.

“Civilians are paying the price for battles they have never chosen. The Syrian government must immediately lift the siege to facilitate unfettered access for humanitarian organizations and allow the medical evacuation of the sick and injured,” said Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Syria researcher.

“All parties to the conflict must end unlawful attacks, grant safe passage to civilians wanting to flee the area and comply with international humanitarian law at all times.”

Between 18 till 24 August, Amnesty International spoke with four individuals in Daraa al-Balad, namely a doctor, an activist, two residents, as well as two humanitarian workers.

One humanitarian worker told the organisation that there is only enough food in Daraa al-Balad to last two weeks to a month. There is no electricity or medication available. The worker added that no humanitarian aid organization has been allowed into the besieged area– the Syrian government is only allowing aid distribution to internally displaced persons (IDPs) outside the besieged area.

Humanitarian emergency

Government forces have tightened the noose around Daraa al-Balad in a bid to root out remaining armed groups and return the whole province to government control. Sijneh road, Saraya crossing, Al-Sad road and the Palestinian and Golan camp area have all been closed, isolating the neighbourhoods from the eastern and western Daraa countryside and city centre.

Residents told Amnesty International that only women and children under 15 have been allowed out of the besieged area on foot after being subjected to security checks and told to leave their identity cards behind.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), around 38,600 people, mostly women and children, have fled Daraa al-Balad to other parts of Daraa city and the surrounding areas. The exodus happened after the government briefly opened the Saraya checkpoint for people to leave but then closed it. Most IDPs are being hosted by relatives and friends while others are living in six collective shelters such as schools and mosques.

Clashes between the Syrian government and armed groups in the area have left hundreds dead or injured since late July. Artillery shelling by government forces on 26 July hit the only medical facility in the neighbourhood. Two doctors told Amnesty International said since then, medical workers have been forced to see patients in their homes, providing them with the little care they can offer.

Civilians are paying the price for battles they have never chosen.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Syria researcher

Patients with serious health conditions used to be referred to hospitals in government-controlled areas, like the Daraa National Hospital in Daraa al Mhatta. However, medical evacuations are now rarely approved by the Syrian government. Many sick and injured choose to remain in Daraa al-Balad out of fear of being detained or facing reprisals by government forces.

A woman residing in Daraa al-Balad told Amnesty International on 20 August about the living conditions:

“The shops are almost empty of all food. I am using what I have at home already. Pasta, rice, lentils, etc. There is a woman in the neighbourhood who has a cow, and she distributes milk to some of us, which we use to make yoghurt. There is no electricity for lengthy periods of time, even before the siege,” she said.

She described the desperate need for humanitarian and medical aid since all crossings had been blocked, and how rare and tortuous urgent medical evacuations are:

“My cousin, from my father’s side, had health complications and he needed urgent medical care, but we were not able to get him out, the government refused. He died… My neighbour also died from a stroke. He suffered from health problems, but he was too afraid to go to a hospital outside Daraa al-Balad. Even though he was old, he was afraid of being arrested.”

A media activist told Amnesty International researchers that the siege on the neighbourhood was because of its political stance against the May presidential elections.

“Once again the Syrian government is resorting to its ‘surrender or starve’ tactic which involves a combination of unlawful siege and indiscriminate bombardment of areas packed with civilians, in a bid to force armed opposition forces to surrender and evacuate. People are being starved and deprived of basic necessities in punishment for expressing views that differ to the government’s,” said Diana Semaan.

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The Taliban and the international community must urgently reach an agreement to extend the 31 August deadline for completing evacuations out of Afghanistan, Amnesty International said today, to help protect thousands of Afghans who are increasingly at risk of violent reprisal attacks.

President Joe Biden has said the U.S. is on track to pull its troops out of Afghanistan in five days, despite calls to delay the withdrawal following reports of escalating Taliban threats to human rights defenders, women and girls, ethnic and religious minorities, lawmakers and journalists.

In a recent on-the-ground investigation, Amnesty International researchers revealed that nine Hazara men were tortured and killed last month by the Taliban in Ghazni province.

Amnesty International is all too aware of how terrifying the experience is for all those desperately trying to flee to safety, by air and across land borders

Agnès Callamard

“Every effort must now be made to safely evacuate Afghans who fear revenge attacks by the Taliban and have to leave the country. To fail them would be an unforgivable betrayal.

“The international community must extend the deadline for evacuations and ensure those wishing to leave Afghanistan can do so safely. This means ensuring people are able to board flights and suspending visa requirements for the most at-risk individuals. This is all the more urgent as information about abuses, targeted abductions and killings by the Taliban continues to emerge.”

Thousands of Afghans are still arriving at Hamid Karzai International Airport, desperately trying to board evacuation flights. Many must run the gauntlet of Taliban check points to reach the gates. As many as 20 people have been killed trying to enter the airport, either due to gunshot injuries as US military and Taliban shoot in the air to control the crowd, or crushed as the crowd surges to enter the airport.

The Taliban this week stated that it will not agree to an extension and does not want Afghans to leave the country, increasing fears that they will not live up to their promises to uphold and guarantee international human rights law.

Mounting persecution, killings and abuses

Mounting reports of human rights abuses have raised fears about what Taliban rule may bring.

As of 25 August, reports have emerged of the Taliban conducting door-to-door searches in Kabul for human rights defenders and journalists. One report suggests the Taliban shot dead a family member and injured another when they could not locate the journalist they were searching for.

In the first week of their takeover of the capital Kabul, the Taliban publicly assured women and the international community that women’s rights would be protected according to Sharia law, but within days they told women journalists not to report to work.

In July, the Taliban abducted, abused and killed Nazar Mohammed, a popular comedian known as Khasha Zwan, initially denying the killing but later claiming responsibility for the cold-blooded murder. 

Hundreds of arrests and abductions in Spin Boldak, Kandahar, by the Taliban have also been documented.

In another incident, Afghans who waved the national flag on Afghanistan Day were violently dispersed by Taliban fighters. In Jalalabad, at least three people died and others were injured – raising fears about freedom of expression under Taliban rule.

“Our own investigations into the massacre in Ghazni province is proof that the Taliban’s capacity for murder and torture has not lessened,” Agnès Callamard said.

“Afghans are fleeing at immense personal cost and risk to themselves and their families. Countries must not engage in ‘push back’ tactics, and must find a way to support all those who wish to leave Afghanistan.”

According to media reports, thousands of Afghans fleeing over land across Iran to the Turkish border face being pushed back by Turkish border guards and military police. Meanwhile, Greece has installed a 40km fence on its border with Turkey amid concern over a rise in migrants from Afghanistan.

Amnesty International recommendations

Amnesty International is calling for a robust, independent UN mechanism to be established with a mandate to document, collect and preserve evidence of ongoing crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations and abuses across Afghanistan.

UN member states must also urgently pass a resolution at the UN Security Council, calling on the Taliban to uphold international human rights law and guarantee protection from reprisals to those most at risk, including human rights defenders, journalists, and women leaders in Afghanistan.

Amnesty International is also calling for forced returns and deportations of Afghans to be halted immediately.

Background

On 19 August, Amnesty International published an investigation that revealed the murder of nine ethnic Hazara men in Ghazni province between 4 and 6 July. Six men were shot while three others were tortured and killed, including one man who was strangled with his own scarf and had his arm muscles sliced off.

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