A proposal to commit states to declare 30% of the Earth’s land and sea mass protected for conservation and biodiversity by 2030, the so-called 30 x 30 proposal, will be a major focus of discussions at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD), in Montreal from 7-19 December.
Amnesty International stresses the urgent need to address the loss of biodiversity as an essential step towards climate justice and of the realization of the right to live in a safe, clean and sustainable environment for all, as recently recognized by the United Nations General Assembly. Failure to address biodiversity loss will have severe repercussions for future generations that will inherit its irreversible results.
However, Amnesty International insists that any biodiversity commitment, including the so-called 30 x 30 proposal, places the rights of Indigenous peoples at its heart, including by protecting the livelihoods and rights of subsistence land users.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, who will be in Montreal during COP15, said: “The loss and degradation of biodiversity threatens human and non-human life and is a major source of human rights violations, including the right to life. The so-called 30 x 30 proposal could provide the needed action to slow down and stop biodiversity loss, but in its current form it presents a grave risk to the rights of Indigenous peoples.
“Current practice in protected areas often follows a model known as ‘fortress conservation’ which requires the complete removal of human presence from the area, usually by force, so that territory can be thrown open to tourists, conservation researchers and, in some cases, big game hunters.
Current practice in protected areas often follows a model known as ‘fortress conservation’ which requires the complete removal of human presence from the area, usually by force, so that territory can be thrown open to tourists, conservation researchers and, in some cases, big game hunters.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
“There is an overwhelming weight of research showing that Indigenous peoples are the best conservators of biodiversity, which is reflected in the fact that 80% of the world’s biodiversity is to be found on Indigenous-managed lands.
“Without respect and protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples at the heart of the agreement, coupled with thorough and transparent assessment of the social impacts, the 30 x 30 target is not only bad for human rights, it is bad for conservation too.”
Amnesty International urges parties to ensure that any decision on biodiversity protection places Indigenous peoples’ right to their lands at its heart, requiring states to consult with them to obtain their free, prior and informed consent, as currently enshrined in international human rights law.
The agreement must also guarantee that subsistence land-users have access to land, are protected from forced evictions, enjoy an adequate standard of living, and are consulted on all decisions that impact their rights. Provisions in the proposal which call into question states’ commitments to legally recognized human rights, by making them subject to national legislation, must be removed.
Indigenous peoples are currently unable to effectively take part in the drafting of the 30 x 30 plans. Their representatives at the convention negotiations have only the right to speak and make suggestions. But despite several drafting sessions, states have not yet committed to guaranteeing the human rights safeguards that Indigenous peoples are demanding.
Background
The UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) is the latest meeting to discuss the implementation of the Convention on Biological Diversity, an agreement adopted in 1992 and ratified by 196 countries that sets out how to safeguard animal and plant species and ensure resources are used sustainably.
The aim of COP15 is to adopt a globally agreed framework (the ‘Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework’) for halting and reversing biodiversity loss and ‘living in harmony with nature’, setting specific goals for 2030 and targets to 2050. Despite previously agreed targets for 2020, biodiversity is declining worldwide and is projected to worsen without remedial action.
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity was adopted following the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, together with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. COP15 is the biodiversity equivalent of the COP27 climate negotiations, which concluded last month in Egypt.
The Iranian authorities’ vague and conflicting statements on the supposed disbanding of Iran’s so-called “morality police” must not deceive the international community about the continuing violence against women and girls embedded in compulsory veiling laws and fuelled by ongoing impunity for those violently enforcing them, said Amnesty International today.
During a press conference on 3 December 2022, Iran’s Prosecutor General, Mohammad Jafar Montazeri, said: “The ‘morality police’ (gasht-e ershad) has nothing to do with the judiciary and it was closed by whichever [body] that established it in the past.” He then qualified his statement, adding: “The judiciary will continue to regulate people’s behaviour in society,” indicating that the policing of women’s bodies under compulsory veiling laws will continue. State media outlets reported the next day that “No official authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran has confirmed the closure of the morality police”.
Until the day all these laws and regulations are scrapped, the same violence that resulted in the arrest and death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini will continue against millions of other women and girls.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International
“The Prosecutor General’s statement was deliberately vague and failed to mention the legal and policy infrastructure that keeps the practice of compulsory veiling against women and girls firmly in place. To say that the ‘morality police’ has nothing to do with the judiciary distorts the reality that, for decades, the criminalization of women and girls under abusive and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws has been rubber-stamped by judiciary. In the face of outrage in Iran and globally over this extreme form of gender-based discrimination and violence, the Iranian authorities are simply passing the buck to each other to evade responsibility,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
“The international community and global media must not allow the Iranian authorities to pull the wool over their eyes. Compulsory veiling is entrenched in Iran’s Penal Code and other laws and regulations that enable security and administrative bodies to subject women to arbitrary arrest and detention and deny them access to public institutions including hospitals, schools, government offices and airports if they do not cover their hair. Until the day all these laws and regulations are scrapped, the same violence that resulted in the arrest and death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini will continue against millions of other women and girls.”
Iran’s “morality police” is a sub-branch of the country’s police force, which falls under the mandate of the Ministry of Interior. Despite the Prosecutor General’s statement attempting to distance the judiciary from the “morality police”, under Iran’s Code of Criminal Procedure, police officials are considered “judicial officials” (zabetan-e qazai) who may carry out arrests and interrogations under the supervision and instruction of the Prosecutor.
Forced veiling laws violate a whole host of rights, including the rights to equality, privacy and freedom of expression and belief. They also degrade women and girls, stripping them of their dignity, bodily autonomy, and self-worth.
Under Article 638 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, any act that is deemed “offensive” to public decencies is punished with an imprisonment term of 10 days to two months, or 74 lashes. An explanatory note to the article states that women who are seen in public without veiling are to be punished with an imprisonment term of 10 days to two months or a cash fine. The law applies to girls as young as nine, which is the minimum age of criminal responsibility for girls in Iran. In practice, the authorities have imposed compulsory veiling on girls from the age of seven when they start elementary school.
“It is important to remember that protesters in Iran are not calling just for the dismantling of the ‘morality police’ but for the transition of Iran to a new political and legal system that would respect their basic human rights and freedoms. The popular uprising taking place across Iran reflects nationwide rage over decades of oppression against the people of Iran, many of whom continue to be unlawfully killed on a daily basis simply for wanting freedom, democracy and human rights,” said Heba Morayef.
Older people killed and injured at higher rates than other groups
Older people living in damaged houses and dangerous conditions
Russia’s invasion has led to thousands of displaced older people living in overstretched state institutions
Older people in Ukraine have been disproportionately impacted by death and injury during Russia’s invasion and are unable to access housing on an equal basis with others after being displaced, Amnesty International said in a new report today.
The report, ‘I used to have a home’: Older people’s experience of war, displacement, and access to housing in Ukraine, documents how older people often remain in or are unable to flee conflict-affected areas, exposing them to harm and dangerous living conditions in severely damaged housing. Those who do flee often cannot afford to cover rental costs, while thousands have had to stay in overstretched state institutions, which do not have enough staff to provide the necessary level of care.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has had a devastating impact on civilians of all ages, threatens the physical security of older people and has forced millions from their homes. Ultimately, the most expedient way to protect the rights of older civilians in Ukraine is for Russia to end its unlawful war.
Russia’s devastating invasion is having a disproportionate impact on older people in Ukraine
Laura Mills, Thematics Researcher at Amnesty International
“Russia’s devastating invasion is having a disproportionate impact on older people in Ukraine, with many staying behind in areas where they regularly come in harm’s way from relentless ground and air attacks,” said Laura Mills, researcher on older people and people with disabilities at Amnesty International.
“Older people are often either staying in unsafe homes or, when they are able to flee, end up in shelters that do not have adequate resources to meet their needs, particularly if they have disabilities. From there, they risk being placed in state institutions. As the harsh grip of winter takes hold, the international community must urgently take action to bolster support for this group.”
An older woman with a disability being evacuated in Kharkiv region, Ukraine; October 2022.
The Ukrainian government has made significant efforts to evacuate people from conflict-affected areas, including by announcing the mandatory evacuation of around 200,000 people from Donetsk region in July.
The cost and logistics of ensuring housing for older people displaced by the war, however, should not be Ukraine’s alone. Amnesty International is calling on other countries to facilitate the evacuation of older people — with special attention paid to older people with disabilities — to accessible accommodation abroad where possible. International organizations should do more to financially support older people so that they can afford to rent homes and, working together with the Ukrainian authorities, include them among those prioritized for placement in any newly-built accommodation.
Disproportionate risks
In Ukraine, people over 60 years old comprise nearly one-fourth of the population. Older people are disproportionately vulnerable to attacks: according to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which collects data on civilian casualties in Ukraine, people over 60 made up 34% of civilians killed from February to September 2022 for cases in which an age was recorded.
Older people, who more frequently have health conditions, are also at a greater risk in occupied areas, where Russian forces have severely restricted the access of humanitarian aid, in flagrant violation of international law.
Olha Kot in front of her home which was heavily damaged during attacks in Chernihiv, Ukraine; October 2022.
Svitlana*, 64, who was in a Russian-occupied village near Kharkiv, said that her 61-year-old brother collapsed from a stroke in April 2022. He was hospitalized, but the hospital did not have electricity or running water. He was discharged the next day.
“They couldn’t do anything, they couldn’t do an electrocardiogram, they couldn’t do an encephalogram, they had no medications,” Svitlana said. Less than a week later, her brother died from a second stroke, according to a death certificate seen by Amnesty International.
Displacement and rising institutionalization
Many displaced older people have struggled to find suitable accommodation. Pushed out of the private market by increased rental prices and pensions that are well below subsistence levels, many older people are at heightened risk of losing access to housing altogether.
Nina Silakova, 73, who was displaced from Luhansk region, was evicted twice from rental apartments: once in August after she had a heart attack and her landlady feared having to care for her, and again in October. Nina was worried she wouldn’t be able to find a third apartment: “There are no places for that price in the city because there are so many [displaced people]… I don’t know where to turn… Should I go out into the street, stand there and ask people? People will just pass by and think I am an ill old grandmother.”
An older man without electricity or gas boils water on a canister in Kharkiv region, Ukraine; October 2022.
Amnesty International found that shelters were often physically inaccessible to older people with disabilities and did not have enough staff to support them. As a result, older people with disabilities often had no choice but to live in a state institution. Between February and July 2022 alone, at least 4,000 older people were placed in state institutions after losing their homes during the conflict, according to statements released by Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.
They can’t afford to rent housing, to pay for utilities, to eat. And so we have to send them to nursing homes
Olha Volkova, who runs a shelter for displaced older people with disabilities in Dnipro
Olha Volkova, who runs a shelter for displaced older people with disabilities in Dnipro, said: “About 60% of the people [get sent to institutions]. They can’t afford to rent housing, to pay for utilities, to eat. And so we have to send them to nursing homes.”
Amnesty International visited seven institutions for older people and people with disabilities in Ukraine, and found these facilities were unable to provide the requisite level of care – particularly for older people with limited mobility – in part because they do not have enough staff to care for them. Independent Ukrainian monitors reported that such conditions were common before the invasion, which has only exacerbated staffing shortages.
We’re abandoned here
Liudmyla, 76, lives in an institution in Kharkiv region
“They turn me over only once when they change my diaper in the morning, once when they change my diaper in the evening… We’re abandoned here,” said Liudmyla, 76, who lives in an institution in Kharkiv region.
“In a nursing home there is basically no rehabilitation,” said Olha Volkova. “A person will lie down there until they die.”
As Russia’s war on Ukraine continues, civilian infrastructure and services have come under intense pressure. However, the Ukrainian government must do all it can to ensure monitors are able to access state institutions, and ensure that older people living in them are among those prioritized for alternative housing as soon as it becomes available.
Dangerous housing
Some older people have chosen to stay behind in their homes. Others told Amnesty International that they were unable to flee because information about evacuations was less accessible to them.
An older man in his home that was damaged by attacks in Kharkiv region, Ukraine; October 2022.
Liudmyla Zhernosek, 61, lives in Chernihiv with her 66-year-old husband, who uses a wheelchair. She said: “I saw every day younger people walking alongside my building with backpacks on. Only later I found out from others in the stairwell that they were going to the centre of the city, there were still evacuations from there. But that would have been 40 minutes on foot, I couldn’t get there with my husband. Nobody told us about evacuations, I always found out only afterwards.”
Nobody told us about evacuations, I always found out only afterwards
Liudmyla Zhernosek, 61, who lives in Chernihiv
Amnesty International also documented older people living in housing without electricity, gas or running water. Windows or roofs damaged during the conflict no longer provided protection from rain, snow or cold temperatures.
When Amnesty International interviewed Hanna Selivon, 76, in Chernihiv, only the bathroom, where volunteers had put a mattress in the bathtub to allow her to sleep, had covering overhead.
Amnesty International
Hanna Selivon in her destroyed home in Chernihiv, Ukraine; October 2022.
Hanna said: “Everyone on our street left. The only people left were me and two other older women… One had a disability. We just had nowhere to go. I would hide in a hole in my cellar… On 29 March, there was a lot of shelling, and when I came out [from the cellar] I just saw that flames were flying… that [my house] was burning. My legs wouldn’t move.”
Amnesty International is calling on governments and international organizations to step up support for older people in Ukraine by facilitating the voluntary evacuation of older people abroad, ensuring that older people are among those prioritized in cash assistance, and by supporting the creation of physically accessible housing for older people with disabilities.
Older people must be evacuated to accessible shelters, and the repair of their homes must be prioritized
Laura Mills
“As the freezing winter months have arrived, older people must be evacuated to accessible shelters, and the repair of their homes must be prioritized,” said Laura Mills.
Methodology
Amnesty International interviewed 226 people for this report, including during in-person visits to seven state institutions. The research was carried out between March and October 2022, and included a four-week trip to Ukraine in June and July 2022.
Accountability for war crimes
Amnesty International has been documenting war crimes and other violations of international humanitarian law committed during Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. All of Amnesty International’s outputs are available here.
Amnesty International has repeatedly called for members of Russian forces and officials responsible for the aggression against Ukraine and for violations of international law to be held to account, and has welcomed the ongoing International Criminal Court investigation in Ukraine. Comprehensive accountability in Ukraine will require the concerted efforts of the UN and its organs, as well as initiatives at the national level pursuant to the principle of universal jurisdiction.
Responding to the news that Judge Najat Abou Chakra has indicted five State Security members on charges of torture in the case of Syrian refugee Bashar Abdel Saud, who died in custody, Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:
“The fact that Lebanon is finally taking a step towards implementing its anti-torture law is an encouraging development that offers a ray of hope to Bashar Abdel Saud’s family and other victims. For years, systematic practices of torture and other forms of ill-treatment and violations in detention centres have gone unpunished.
The judiciary must continue on its path towards justice and act on these cases promptly to prevent similar abuses from occurring in the future.
Aya Majzoub, Amnesty International.
“The Lebanese authorities must now transfer this case from the inherently unfair military courts to the ordinary criminal courts. Both Lebanese law and international legal standards affirm that trials for human rights violations should be conducted in regular courts to ensure that justice is delivered.
“Meanwhile, dozens of complaints citing the anti-torture law remain uninvestigated, including the case of Lebanese actor Ziad Itani, who was subjected to torture by members of State Security in 2017. The judiciary must continue on its path towards justice and act on these cases promptly to prevent similar abuses from occurring in the future.”
Background
Members of State Security, one of Lebanon’s intelligence agencies, allegedly tortured Bashar Abdel Saud, 30, after his arrest on 30 August 2022. He died from his injuries a day later.
On 2 September, the Military Prosecutor arrested a State Security officer and four other members on torture charges before referring them to Najat Abu Chakra, a Military Investigative Judge. On 29 November, Abu Chakra indicted five State Security members on torture charges under the 2017 anti-torture law. The decision was only publicly reported on 4 December.
Amnesty International regularly documents the use of torture and other ill-treatment in Lebanese detention centres. In March 2021, Amnesty International released a report documenting an array of violations, including torture, against 26 Syrian refugees, including four children, held on terrorism-related charges between 2014 and 2021.
Former prosecutor Virginia Laparra, who was head of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI) in Quetzaltenango, is a prisoner of conscience who has been unjustly imprisoned for more than nine months because of her work investigating corruption cases in Guatemala, said Amnesty International today.
The trial of former prosecutor Laparra is due to begin today, 28 November, before the Eighth Criminal, Drug and Environmental Court in Guatemala City. She is charged with ongoing abuse of authority, a crime for which she could face up to nine years in prison.
“Following a thorough review of the criminal case, we have found serious shortcomings as regards the charges against former prosecutor Virginia Laparra, as well as multiple irregularities in the handling of the case. Not only is there no solid evidence that she has committed any crime, but it is clear that the reasons given by the court for rejecting her requests to be released while proceedings continue are arbitrary,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Following a thorough review of the criminal case, we have found serious shortcomings as regards the charges against former prosecutor Virginia Laparra, as well as multiple irregularities in the handling of the case. Not only is there no solid evidence that she has committed any crime, but it is clear that the reasons given by the court for rejecting her requests to be released while proceedings continue are arbitrary
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International
As part of FECI, former prosecutor Laparra led large-scale investigations into corruption and crime. The criminal proceedings against her began in 2018, after she reported a judge to the Disciplinary Board of the Judiciary for possible inappropriate behaviour as a sitting judge, namely leaking confidential information about a case he was dealing with. In retaliation, this same judge filed two criminal complaints against her on the same grounds: the first in July 2018 in Quetzaltenango and the second in August 2019 in Guatemala City.
Virginia Laparra was arrested on 23 February 2022 as she left work in Quezaltenango and she has been unjustly held in pre-trial detention ever since.
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about shortcomings and irregularities in the proceedings against Virginia Laparra, which include the lack of substantiation of the alleged offence, the pursuit of criminal prosecutions against the former prosecutor on the same grounds before two different judges and the instrumentalization of the criminal process to deprive her of her liberty without grounds, among others. The organization concludes that the rights of former prosecutor Laparra to due process and a fair trial have been violated, which also constitutes arbitrary detention for her work investigating corruption cases. These factors, together with the virulent smear campaigns on social media, are characteristic of patterns of criminalization in the country that Amnesty International has documented for years.
“Virginia Laparra is being persecuted solely for independently exercising her function as a prosecutor and therefore, Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience and calls for her immediate and unconditional release. It is inexcusable that the highest Guatemalan authorities have allowed this case to be instrumentalized by those opposed to the fight against impunity and corruption. The baseless criminal prosecution of those responsible for the administration of justice who have played a prominent role in this struggle must end immediately,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Virginia Laparra is being persecuted solely for independently exercising her function as a prosecutor and therefore, Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience and calls for her immediate and unconditional release
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International
Amnesty International will be following the trial of former prosecutor Virginia Laparra in the coming days. The organization calls on the Public Prosecutor’s Office to drop the charges against her and to request her immediate and unconditional release.
For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Carlos Mendoza:press@amensty.org
