Kategorie: Humans

Ugandan security forces have unlawfully targeted opposition rallies with unnecessary and excessive force and arbitrary arrests, and subjected some attendees to torture or other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said today.

The organization has documented incidents in which security officers launched tear gas at peaceful crowds in Kawempe and Iganga, and pepper-sprayed and beat people. These actions were accompanied by undue movement restrictions aimed at disrupting the opposition party National Unity Platform’s (NUP) campaign rallies.

Amnesty International also received reports and verified digital evidence of such disruptions in other parts of the country.

“The authorities have launched a brutal campaign of repression against the opposition and its supporters, making it extremely difficult for them to exercise their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“The Ugandan authorities must uphold their human rights obligations and allow the opposition to hold its campaign rallies without undue restrictions and without subjecting their leaders and supporters to arrests, torture or other ill-treatment.”

An eyewitness told Amnesty International that during the Kawempe rally on 24 November, following the arrival of NUP presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, popularly known as Bobi Wine, “police launched tear gas and pepper spray, to stop the rally”. The ensuing panic led to a stampede which caused dozens of people to fall into a deep ditch nearby.  The police also used dogs to intimidate the crowd, pushed people into a truck with the butts of their rifles and beat them with batons and wires.

The authorities have launched a brutal campaign of repression against the opposition and its supporters, making it extremely difficult for them to exercise their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

According to one attendee of the NUP rally at Iganga’s Railway grounds on 28 November, the military used a truck to block one of the exits before opening fire on the crowd as they were attempting to leave the venue from the only remaining exit.  One attendee of the rally, Miseach Okello, 35, died in circumstances that could be indicative of the unlawful use of force; an unknown number of others were injured.

The deceased’s family told Amnesty International that armed security officers prevented them from witnessing the postmortem process, apparently to prevent them from gathering evidence that could suggest that he was killed unlawfully. The family was never given a death certificate, nor were they told the cause of death.

“Nobody should die simply for exercising their rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly. Authorities must immediately open impartial and thorough investigations into all alleged instances of unlawful use of force by security forces. Those responsible should be brought to justice in fair trials without recourse to the death penalty,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Following the Kawempe and Iganga incidents, the Ugandan police justified their actions by stating that opposition supporters had stoned police and vandalized their vehicles. However, eyewitnesses at both rallies told Amnesty International that the crowds were peaceful and only carried the Ugandan national flag.

International law and standards require police to always apply non-violent means first before resorting to force, and to limit the force used no more than is necessary and proportionate. The use of firearms to disperse assemblies will never meet these conditions and so is always unlawful.

Undue restrictions on freedom of movement

Amnesty International verified a video recorded in Nwoya on 6 November showing security forces using military vehicles to block an opposition candidate and his supporters from campaigning.

Interviewees said that alongside these tactics, security forces also closed roads and diverted opposition processions onto longer routes without providing any legal justification. They believed these movement restrictions were designed either to delay opposition leaders and their supporters from reaching designated campaign venues or to prevent the events from going ahead altogether.

Interviewees also told Amnesty International that NUP presidential candidate was prevented from reaching campaign venues in several other districts.

Such restrictions are not permissible in the context of peaceful assemblies. Any restrictions must have a basis in domestic law, pursue a legitimate aim, and be necessary and proportionate.

Arbitrary arrests and torture and other ill-treatment

According to multiple sources including the NUP and an independent civil society organization, over 400 people have been arrested for attending rallies in different parts of the country, or for being perceived to be supporters of the NUP.  

According to court charge sheets seen by Amnesty International, the majority of those arrested were charged with causing malicious damage to property, obstruction, incitement to violence, and assaulting police officers. While Amnesty International has not been able to investigate all incidents, evidence suggests that, in at least some cases, people were detained solely for their perceived support for the NUP.

Four interviewees who either attended or were in the vicinity of the Kawempe rally said that they were subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by the police. They reported being beaten with batons pepper-sprayed in the mouth and tasered. They said they witnessed many others being subjected to similar treatment.

Peter*, who was arrested on his way home from work on 24 November, said he was held alongside others who were arrested during an opposition rally. They were held at Mulago police station for three days without access to their loved ones. Because of the torture he was subjected to, Peter lost a tooth, and his arm was broken. Amnesty International reviewed his medical reports that confirmed the broken arm.

Ugandan authorities must commit to respecting, protecting, promoting and ensuring full respect for human rights before, during and after the elections.

Tigere Chagutah

Harrison, * who was also arrested in relation to the Kawempe rally, said the police accused them of “destabilizing the country.”

He described the torture or other ill treatment he endured: “They started pepper spraying us and pulled me out of the vehicle into a police truck… I found 20 comrades who had been beaten seriously. We were taken to Kawempe police station.”

Maria* said: “When they came to our vehicle, they tased us. They separated us and took me to another vehicle where they started beating me. They used a baton to beat me. One officer’s baton broke, and he asked his colleague to give him another baton. Then they asked me ‘Do you still support Bobi Wine?’ I said yes. Then they continued to beat me.”

“Ugandan authorities must commit to respecting, protecting, promoting and ensuring full respect for human rights before, during and after the elections,” said Tigere Chagutah. “They must immediately and unconditionally release anyone detained solely for attending opposition rallies or for their actual or perceived support for the NUP.”

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Today’s military action by the US Trump Administration in Venezuela, which resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, raises grave concerns for the human rights of the Venezuelan population. It most likely constitutes a violation of international law, including the UN Charter, as does the stated US intention to run Venezuela and control its oil resources.

Amnesty International is particularly concerned about the risks of further escalation of human rights violations in the country, stemming either from additional US operations or from the Venezuelan government’s responses to the US attacks.

The organization urges the US government to abide by international humanitarian and human rights law, prioritize the protection of civilians, and uphold the human rights of all persons deprived of liberty, including due process and humane treatment.

It also calls on the Venezuelan authorities to refrain from further repression, reminding them they are bound by international law to respect and protect the human rights of all Venezuelans.

Those most immediately at risk include human rights defenders and political activists who have courageously opposed Maduro government’s human rights violations and crimes under international law for years. Amnesty International stands in solidarity with the Venezuelan people: the thousands of victims and survivors, and the millions who have fled after years of enduring grave violations and crimes against humanity.

Amnesty International reiterates its long-standing call for Maduro’s government to be investigated and, where evidence permits, individuals to be prosecuted before an independent and impartial court to ensure justice, reparation, and guarantees of non-repetition for the survivors and victims of violations in Venezuela.

Amnesty International is alarmed that the attack against Venezuela and capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores by one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council further deepen the breakdown of international law and the rules-based order. These actions signal an international system run by military force, threats, and intimidation, and they increase the risks of copycat actions by others.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact press@amnesty.org

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This month marks 60 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), one of the first foundational international human rights treaties. 

The way the story is often told is that Western countries gifted human rights to the world and are the sole guardians of it. It may come as a surprise for some, then, that the international legal framework for prohibiting racial discrimination largely owes its existence to the efforts of states from the Global South.

In 1963, in the midst of the decolonisation wave, a group of nine newly independent African states presented a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) calling for the drafting of an international treaty on the elimination of racial discrimination. As the representative from Senegal observed: “Racial discrimination was still the rule in African colonial territories and in South Africa, and was not unknown in other parts of the world … The time had come to bring all States into that struggle.”

The groundbreaking ICERD was unanimously adopted by the UNGA two years later. The convention rejected any doctrine of superiority based on racial differentiation as “scientifically false, morally condemnable and socially unjust”.

So, what has happened since then?  

Today, as we mark 60 years since its adoption, millions of people around the world continue to face racial discrimination – whether in policing, migration policies or exploitative labour conditions.

In Brazil, Amnesty International documented how a deadly police operation in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas this October resulted in the massacre by security forces of more than 100 people, most of them Afro-Brazilians and living in poverty.

In Tunisia, we have seen how authorities have for the past three years used migration policies to carry out racially targeted arrests and detentions and mass expulsions of Black refugees and asylum seekers.

Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, Kenyan female domestic workers face racism and exploitation from their employers, enduring gruelling and abusive working conditions.

In the United States, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives aimed at tackling systemic racism have been eliminated across federal agencies. Raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) targeting migrants and refugees are a horrifying feature of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation and detention agenda, rooted in white supremacist narratives.

Migrants held in detention centres have been subjected to torture and a pattern of deliberate neglect designed to dehumanise and punish.

Elsewhere, Amnesty International has documented how new digital technologies are automating and entrenching racism, while social media offers inadequately moderated forums for racist and xenophobic content. For example, our investigation into the United Kingdom’s Southport racist riots found that X’s design and policy choices created fertile ground for the inflammatory, racist narratives that resulted in the violent targeting of Muslims and migrants.

Even human rights defenders from the Global South face racial discrimination when they have to apply for visas to Global North countries in order to attend meetings where key decisions are made on human rights.

Haunting legacy of European colonialism 

All these instances of systemic racism have their roots in the legacies of European colonial domination and the racist ideologies on which they were built. This era, which spanned nearly four centuries and extended across six continents, saw atrocities that had historical consequences – from the erasure of Indigenous populations to the transatlantic slave trade.

The revival of anti-right movements globally has led to a resurgence of racist and xenophobic rhetoric, a scapegoating of migrants and refugees, and a retrenchment in anti-discrimination measures and protections.

All these instances of systemic racism have their roots in the legacies of European colonial domination and the racist ideologies on which they were built.

Melissa Hendrickse and Rym Khadhraoui.

At the same time, Western states have been all too willing to dismantle international law and institutions to legitimise Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and shield Israeli authorities from justice and accountability.

Justice and reparations 

Just as the creation of the ICERD was driven by African states 60 years ago, Global South countries continue to be at the forefront of the fight against racial oppression, injustice and inequality. South Africa notably brought the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice and cofounded The Hague Group – a coalition of eight Global South states organising to hold Israel accountable for genocide.

On the reparations front, it is Caribbean and African states, alongside Indigenous peoples, Africans and people of African descent, that are leading the pursuit of justice. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has been intensifying pressure on European governments to reckon with their colonial past, including during a recent visit to the United Kingdom by the CARICOM Reparations Commission.

As the African Union announced 2026-36 the Decade of Reparations last month, African leaders gathered in Algiers for the International Conference on the Crimes of Colonialism, at which they consolidated demands for the codification of colonialism as a crime under international law.

States still need to confront racism as a structural and systemic issue, and stop pretending slavery and colonialism are a thing of the past with no impact on our present.

Melissa Hendrickse and Rym Khadhraoui.

But this is not enough. States still need to confront racism as a structural and systemic issue, and stop pretending slavery and colonialism are a thing of the past with no impact on our present.

Across the world, people are resisting. In Brazil, last month, hundreds of thousands of Afro-Brazilian women led the March of Black Women for Reparations and Wellbeing against racist and gendered historic violence. In the US, people fought back against the wave of federal immigration raids this year, with thousands taking to the streets in Los Angeles to protest and residents of Chicago mobilising to protect migrant communities and businesses against ICE raids.

Governments need to listen to their people and fulfil their obligations under ICERD and national law to protect the marginalised and oppressed against discrimination.

We will not stop fighting for our voices to be heard and until racism really is a thing of the past,

This story was originally published in Al-Jazeera here.

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Preparations for this weekend’s first round of junta-imposed elections in Myanmar have resulted in unlawful attacks that may amount to war crimes as well as a drastic increase in arbitrary detentions and further crackdowns on freedom of expression, Amnesty International said today.

The military’s passage in July of the Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic General Elections criminalizes speaking out or inciting violence against the election or election workers. Jail sentences under the law range from three years to a maximum of life imprisonment or even the death penalty.

“This junta-organized election contrasts starkly with Myanmar’s nationwide democratic elections in 2015 and 2020. Whereas 2015 was a period of hope, promising peace and respect for human rights, the current era is one of hopelessness, where war crimes, arrests and surveillance are a feature of daily life,” said Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher.

“Many in Myanmar are opposed to this election because they fear it will leave the same people who have been unlawfully killing Myanmar civilians for five years in a position of entrenched power, outside the bounds of accountability and justice that they must face.”

Election law weaponized by military rulers

The junta has claimed its election law is designed to protect workers, equipment and the election process itself. But in the weeks leading up to the first round of voting on 28 December, the junta has weaponized it to intensify repressive tactics, homing in on criticism of any kind, even social media reactions, messages and posts.

In the months since the law was passed, at least 229 people have been charged under the law for “attempting to sabotage election processes,” according to military-controlled media.  Those detained include artists and people putting up anti-election stickers.

In September, a man in Myanmar’s Shan State was sentenced to seven years with hard labour for criticizing the election. In early December, a man was arrested near Yangon for a Facebook message condemning the vote, while another was arrested for damaging an election billboard. There are also reports of people in camps for Internally Displaced Persons being pressured to vote under threat of losing aid.

Out of a total of 330 townships nationwide, there are an estimated 56 under martial law throughout the country where no voting will take place, according to the UN human rights office. The winner of the previous elections in 2015 and in 2020, the National League for Democracy, has been dissolved and its leaders Aung San Suu Kyi, Win Myint and others remain detained.

In 2025, air strikes in Myanmar are on track to reach record levels compared to any year since the 2021 coup. In areas of armed conflict, where the junta is trying to gain control of places so as to hold voting there, attacks have also risen since the election date announcement. The UN said this month that these attacks “seem intentioned to regain key contested areas where elections have been announced to take place”.

In one such attack, Amnesty International documented a deadly manned paraglider bombing at a festival in central Myanmar, where people had also gathered to publicly demonstrate against the election. Civilians including children were killed after the motorized paragliders dropped mortars in the middle of a crowd. On 10 December, the military bombed a hospital held by the ethnic resistance organization, the Arakan Army, in Rakhine State’s Mrauk-U township. This continued a pattern of attacking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure throughout the country since the coup.

Amnesty International calls on the international community to focus on the human rights abuses that are a feature of this election process and to prioritize accountability in Myanmar. It should refocus its attention on suspending jet fuel shipments to the country and on bringing suspected perpetrators to justice. Amnesty International also urges the International Criminal Court (ICC) to proceed with arrest warrants for Min Aung Hlaing, the senior general who is positioning himself to emerge as civilian leader after this election, as well as other Myanmar junta officials under the ICC’s investigation.

Background

After seizing power in a coup almost five years ago, the Myanmar junta – presently known as the State Security and Peace Commission – is now attempting to entrench its rule through the ballot box, with a first round of voting on 28 December, followed by additional rounds starting in January.

The staggered voting process is a result of the coup itself, as the military’s attempt to take full power on 1 February 2021 was met with nationwide resistance, leaving large parts of the country under the control of armed groups and pro-democracy forces. The military has killed at least 7,000 civilians since the coup. The true figure is likely much higher.

Increased hostilities between the Myanmar military and armed resistance groups have meant that many Rohingya and other marginalized groups have been caught in the crossfire, further eroding their rights.

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Ellinor Guttorm Utsi, 60, is a Sami reindeer herder from Norway. The Sami people are an Indigenous People with distinct culture, languages, and traditions who inhabit the northernmost regions of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia.

Now, this land and way of life are under threat. The Norwegian Government is planning to build several hundred wind turbines, which would disrupt the reindeer’s herding patterns. Ellinor is calling for a stop to these wind turbines, in a bid to protect her land and her culture. Her case is part of Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign for 2025.

My family and I have always been reindeer herders. It’s an integral part of the Sami culture. We see the value of nature and we make an income from it. We’re proud of who we are and what we do. 

I grew up in a in a small place called Tana, where there were just 12 people in my school class. Of the five of us who were Sami, two came from families who were reindeer herders. I thought the rest were Norwegian. While I was at school, the Norwegian government wanted all Sami people to be known as Norwegian and they demanded we speak the national language, rather than our own.

We’ve struggled to achieve the rights we deserve

We weren’t allowed to speak Sami at school or sing Sami songs. At one point, the Norwegian church decided that we weren’t allowed to use the drum to connect with nature’s spirits. And these stories are true in other countries where Sami people live, such as the USA and New Zealand.

Later, I found out that everyone in my class was actually Sami, but their parents had thought they had to be something different. They didn’t have the opportunity to learn the language. Thankfully, I’ve always been proud of my heritage, and I am thankful my parents allowed me to speak the speak the forbidden language.

The government is taking our land

I decided early on that I wanted to be a reindeer herder. It felt like a natural path for me, and I remember feeling so inspired by the life we were living. My husband and I married when we were young, and we wanted to follow in our ancestors’ footsteps. We lived a peaceful existence, and I saw myself doing the same as my ancestors.

However, life hasn’t been very peaceful. Lately, it has been hard work for numerous reasons, and I haven’t been able to live the life I want.

Now the Norwegian government is taking our land from us, which will affect our income hugely and affect the herding patterns of the reindeer. From winter to spring, our reindeers graze in one area, before they migrate for summer. They migrate by themselves and give birth in the same place every year. It’s our job to follow them. 

Our ancient reindeer herding traditions are at great risk. In 2023, several hundred wind turbines were suddenly proposed directly on our summer grazing lands in Čorgaą, threatening to damage grazing land, break migration routes and destroy our culture. Despite fierce opposition, the authorities are rushing approvals.

For us, we know the effect of the wind turbines and what impact it will have on the reindeer – they won’t be able to use the land anymore. And while the land belongs to the Norwegians, we were granted the right to use it hundreds of years ago. Now we’re at risk of losing our land to this industry, and our children will be left with nothing.

We’re at risk of losing everything

The reindeer provide many resources for our community, such as meat and materials for handicrafts. My family and I have a company, where we offer knowledge about Sami culture. Every year, around 4,000 people from all the world come and visit us, and we tell them about our lifestyle and sell our products. If these wind turbines go ahead, we’re at risk of losing everything.

It’s frustrating as they just want more and more electricity – and for what?  They have enough electricity. Why don’t they value nature in the same way? We’re the ones who are experiencing climate change and its impacts. When I was growing up, the winter periods would be as low as minus 40 degrees. Today it’s not like that anymore. Sometimes it rains in winter, and when that happens, the reindeer can find it difficult to find food – the snow turns into ice and the reindeer can’t break through the ice to graze. We need this land for the future.

We are alone in this fight

For over a year, I have been defending my land and community. I arrange meetings with these companies to explain the effect wind turbines will have on our livelihoods and how it will harm the animals. We are trying to explain our case to the government, by attending as many meetings as we can, but it’s not easy.

I am so happy to have the support of people who do this work every day. This is our life – I don’t know another way of living.

Ellinor Guttorm Utsi

Today I feel there is no one listening. We are alone in this fight. They’ve decided to implement seven wind farm projects, consisting of several hundred wind turbines now, and I’ve tried to explain the devastating impact it will have, but no one cares. I am losing my life, trying to fight these processes so I can protect our land.

I have another life I want to live. I have three children and eight grandchildren, and I am sad about the impact it will have on them. I’m worried for the young people who have to grow up facing all these fights.

I’m doing this for all the community

It is tough and now I’m still processing how to make things good in my head, and how I can survive the impact on my mental health. My community supports me the best they can, they tell me I am strong, which makes me feel stronger. They tell me I am doing good work and hug me. It means a lot as I am not just doing this for my children, I’m doing for all the community.

I am determined to carry on though. I take part in protests outside the Norwegian government buildings with my friends and there’s always a group of us that go together. I cannot just sit down and watch them take this land from us. While I still have power to fight, I will.

I’ve always been an activist. I remember when I was six, how I fought to speak Sami at my school. I wanted it to be the first language, not the second – and I wasn’t afraid to share my opinion with my mum and teachers. I am so pleased Amnesty International, an organization focused on activism, is supporting my campaign today. I am so happy to have the support of people who do this work every day. This is our life – I don’t know another way of living. We need to fight for our land, to protect future generations.

This story was originally published by Al Jazeera.

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