Schlagwort: Amnesty International

By Richard Mugobo & Khanyo Farisè

For 10 years, Sheffra Dzamara has endured untold suffering, endlessly reliving the memories of her husband, Itai Dzamara. Itai was abducted on 9 March 2015 from a barber shop in Harare’s Glen View suburb. Five unidentified men handcuffed him and drove off in a vehicle with concealed number plates. That was the last time he was seen. 

The ordeal that his family has undergone demonstrates the cruelty of enforced disappearances. Regrettably, as many African countries regress to authoritarian practices, enforced disappearances have increasingly been used as a tactic to weaponise fear by leaders intent on staying in power by avoiding scrutiny and criticism. 

Enforced disappearance in Africa can be traced back to colonial times when governments disappeared freedom fighters to silence them. Today, African states use enforced disappearance in a range of contexts, against different groups, including human rights defenders, ethnic minorities, migrants and opposition leaders.

In recent years, the practice has been used by authorities in countries including Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Guinea, Kenya, Mali, Equatorial Guinea, Niger, Zimbabwe and Tanzania as a tool to silence political opponents, journalists and civil society activists.  

Today, African states use enforced disappearance in a range of contexts, against different groups, including human rights defenders, ethnic minorities, migrants and opposition leaders.

Richard Mugobo and Khanyo Farise

Some recent examples include the ordeal of Kenyan Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan Agatha Atuhaire in Tanzania. Eighty-nine people were forcibly disappeared in Kenya for participation in the anti-Finance Bill protests while, in August 2023, Nelson Mukwenha and Womberaishe and Sanele Mukhulani were abducted and tortured after Zimbabwe’s elections.  

The crime of enforced disappearance is a reality on the African continent but the available data does not provide an accurate picture regarding the scale of it. In its 2021 report, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances noted that of the 46 490 cases of enforced disappearance in the world, 4 765 cases, or around 10%, concerned African states.

In countries like Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger, enforced disappearance has been used by military authorities as a means of repression, silencing any criticism of the authorities’ power. To suppress dissenting voices, the defence and security forces regularly resort to enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. 

Conflicts in the region are a major contributor to enforced disappearance. For example, that in Sudan is reported to be the primary reason for the increase in missing persons in Africa recorded by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Over 82 000 people across Africa are registered as missing, with the organisation.

East Africa also recently witnessed an unprecedented surge in reported cases of enforced disappearances. In Kenya, a peak of enforced disappearances was witnessed at the height of protest action in 2024. The Law Society of Kenya reported that at least 89 people were forcibly disappeared in connection with the country’s anti-Finance Bill protests, with authorities using unlawful force that killed 65 people, and injured hundreds more, and arbitrarily detaining and arresting peaceful demonstrators. 

In Guinea, Omar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, leaders of the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution and journalist Habib Marouane Camara were forcibly disappeared in 2024. There has been no sign that authorities have made any attempt to find them. 

In May 2025, Atuhaire, from Uganda, and Kenyan Mwangi were arrested in Tanzania while on a trip to observe the trial of opposition politician Tundu Lissu. The two were driven to an unknown location, where they were held incommunicado, stripped naked, beaten and tortured by state security officers. 

What all these cases have in common is that the disappeared dared to challenge those in power. Another common thread is that, to date, no one has been held accountable. 

Richard Mugobo and Khanyo Farise

Women have particular vulnerabilities during enforced disappearances as they are often subjected to sexual violence. That was the case for Zimbabwean activists Joanah Mamombe, Netsai Marova and Cecillia Chimbiri, who were reportedly tortured by authorities after being abducted. Instead of getting justice, they ended up in jail and appearing in court for their peaceful activism. To date, no one has been held accountable for their abduction and torture. 

What all these cases have in common is that the disappeared dared to challenge those in power. Another common thread is that, to date, no one has been held accountable. 

When states fail to act despite overwhelming evidence implicating the perpetrators it undermines the rule of law and erodes public trust in institutions. 

The lack of accountability for these acts, coupled with the absence of effective investigations, not only leads to suffering for victims and their families but also emboldens those who carry out these heinous crimes.

Enforced disappearance is prohibited under the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CPED), as well as under customary international law and states are obliged to bring all those suspected of criminal responsibility to justice in fair trials before ordinary civilian courts and without recourse to the death penalty. States are further required to take steps to prevent the crime.

Some states have aligned themselves to the global legal framework on enforced disappearance. Only 21 out of 55 African states have ratified the CPED and only one has recognised the competence of the Committee on Enforced Disappearances to receive and consider communications from, or on behalf of, victims or other parties. 

The convention is a critical tool for victims or their relatives to access justice, truth and reparations, with many countries lacking specific laws to prevent and address enforced disappearances, making it harder to prosecute those suspected of criminal responsibility and provide justice for victims. 

As the world marked International Day for Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30 August, the statistics of those who remain missing should serve as a stark reminder of the unfinished business for states that have not ratified CPED. It is time for all countries to ratify the convention without reservations and implement all obligations under the Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Guidelines on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances in Africa. 

They must also adopt long-term, comprehensive measures to prevent and eliminate enforced disappearance, which involves establishing effective training programmes for law enforcement and other personnel. 

Importantly, states must shed light on the fate of those who remain disappeared. They must set up independent and impartial inquiries into the cases of disappearance; they must make public the findings of the inquiries.

We must collectively say, “Never again will states use fear to forcefully disappear those with dissenting opinions or who are perceived as such.”

Khanyo Farisè is the regional researcher for civic space at Amnesty International’s East and Southern Africa regional office and Richard Mugobo is the relief communications officer at Amnesty International, Zimbabwe.

This opinion piece first ran in South Africa’s Mail and Guardian

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Pakistan’s unlawful mass surveillance and censorship expansion is powered by a nexus of companies based in Germany, France, United Arab Emirates (UAE), China, Canada, and the United States, Amnesty International said today in a new report “Shadows of Control”. The year-long investigation was carried out in collaboration with Paper Trail Media, DER STANDARD, Follow the Money, The Globe and Mail, Justice For Myanmar, InterSecLab and the Tor Project.

The investigation exposes how Pakistani authorities have obtained technology from foreign companies, through a covert global supply chain of sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools, particularly the new firewall (the Web Monitoring System [WMS 2.0]) and a Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS). The report documents how the WMS firewall has evolved over time, initially using technology supplied by Canadian company Sandvine (now AppLogic Networks). Following Sandvine’s divestment in 2023, new technology from China-based Geedge Networks, utilising hardware and software components supplied by Niagara Networks from the U.S. and Thales from France, were used to create a new version of the firewall. The Lawful Intercept Management System (LIMS) uses technology from the German company, Utimaco, through an Emirati company called Datafusion.

“Pakistan’s Web Monitoring System and Lawful Intercept Management System operate like watchtowers, constantly snooping on the lives of ordinary citizens. In Pakistan, your texts, emails, calls and internet access are all under scrutiny. But people have no idea of this constant surveillance, and it’s incredible reach. This dystopian reality is extremely dangerous because it operates in the shadow, severely restricting freedom of expression and access to information,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International.

“Pakistan’s mass surveillance and censorship have been made possible through the collusion of a large number of corporate actors operating in as diverse jurisdictions as France, Germany, Canada, China and the UAE. This is nothing short of a vast and profitable economy of oppression, enabled by companies and States failing to uphold their obligations under international law.

Pakistan’s Web Monitoring System and Lawful Intercept Management System operate like watchtowers, constantly snooping on the lives of ordinary citizens.

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International.

“There are human rights limitations to the search for profit in markets, but these have all been ignored. Pakistani people are paying the highest price.”  

WMS 2.0 can block both internet access and specific content, with virtually no transparency.

LIMS is mandated by the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to be installed across telecommunications networks, by private companies, allowing the Armed Forces and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) to tap into and access consumer data, such as phone calls, text messages, and even which websites people visit.

“LIMS and WMS 2.0 are funded by public money, enabled by foreign tech, and used to silence dissent, causing severe human rights harms against the Pakistani people,” said Jurre van Bergen, Technologist at Amnesty International.

While both technologies enable mass surveillance by harvesting vast amounts of personal data or allowing the authorities to zoom in on someone’s browser habits, the WMS 2.0 also allows authorities to block VPNs or any website deemed to be “unlawful” content by the authorities.

A murky system of surveillance operating in shadows

Concerns around unlawful surveillance and online censorship in Pakistan are longstanding. Under an oppressive political landscape, the country’s legal system offers no real protection against mass surveillance. Domestic laws lack safeguards and those that exist, such as warrant requirements under the Fair Trial Act, are often ignored, while authorities acquire ever more sophisticated surveillance and censorship tools from foreign companies. The purchase of these sophisticated technologies has amplified the country’s capacity to silence dissent, including by targeting journalists, civil society and the public.

A journalist interviewed for the report told Amnesty International he believed he was under constant surveillance, which has forced him towards self-censorship.

“Obviously, everything is monitored, be it email or calls.” He outlined that after publishing a story on corruption, he came under severe surveillance that affected him and those around them. “After the story, anyone I would speak to, even on WhatsApp, would come under scrutiny. [The authorities] would go to people and ask them, why did he call you? [The authorities] can go to these extreme lengths… now I go months without speaking to my family [for fear they will be targeted],” the journalist said.

“The mix of inadequate laws and these new technologies are accelerating the State’s capabilities to restrict the rights to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly, all of which contribute to a chilling effect and a shrinking of civic space in the country,” said Agnès Callamard.  

Suppliers of the Lawful Intercept Management System

Through commercial trade databases on subscription-based platforms, Amnesty International found that a German company, Utimaco, and an Emirati company, Datafusion, supplied most of the technology that enables LIMS to operate in Pakistan. Utimaco’s LIMS allows the authorities to sift through the telecommunications companies’ subscriber data, which is then made accessible through Datafusion’ Monitoring Center Next Generation (McNG).

Anyone residing in Pakistan and accessing the internet can be subjected to targeted mass-surveillance enabled by LIMS which allows the interception of phone location, phone calls and text messages once a phone number is inserted into the system at the request of state agents, which includes the officers of the spy agency, the ISI.

Additionally, the state agents operating LIMS can see website content if it’s accessed over HTTP by any Pakistani resident (the non-encrypted way to access a website). If accessed through HTTPS, the operator will only see which website was accessed through metadata but not encrypted content.

“Due to the lack of technical and legal safeguards in the deployment and use of mass surveillance technologies in Pakistan, LIMS is in practice a tool of unlawful and indiscriminate surveillance that allows the government to spy on more than four million people at any given time,” said Jurre van Bergen.

National Firewall from China also known as the Web Monitoring System (WMS) 2.0

Based on existing research and commercial trade databases, Amnesty International found that the first iteration of the WMS was installed in Pakistan in 2018 using technology provided by a Canadian company, Sandvine, now AppLogic Networks. Amnesty International dubs this WMS 1.0.

Amnesty International found Sandvine in trade-data as early as 2017 and as having shipped equipment to at least three Pakistani companies who all have a history of working for the Pakistani government, such as Inbox Technologies. Two other companies Amnesty International found during the course of the investigation are SN Skies Pvt Ltd and A Hamson Inc.

Through a leak shared with the collaborators, and which is referred to by Amnesty International as the Geedge dataset, it was discovered WMS 1.0 was replaced using advanced technology from China’s Geedge Networks in 2023. This version is WMS 2.0.

Installation and operationalization of WMS 2.0 in Pakistan is enabled by software or hardware provided by two other companies: Niagara Networks from the United States and Thales from France.

Amnesty International believes that the technology provided by Geedge Networks is a commercialized version of China’s “Great Firewall”, a comprehensive state censorship tool developed and deployed in China and now exported to other countries as well. 

Lack of regulation, control and transparency

Of the 20 companies contacted by Amnesty International, only US-based Niagara Networks and Canada-based AppLogic Networks (formerly Sandvine) responded to our questions. Their responses are included in the report. Datafusion Systems and Utimaco responded to research questions sent by Amnesty International in October 2024, and their responses are reflected in the report, though the companies did not provide responses to subsequent letters detailing the findings of the report.

Amnesty International also contacted nine government entities. The German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) and the Canadian Trade Controls Bureau acknowledged receipt of our letter but did not answer our questions. The Pakistani government did not respond to any of our letters.

There has been a continued failure by companies and multiple countries such as China and the UAE, as well as countries in the EU and in North America to regulate, control, and provide transparency on exports of surveillance technologies that have detrimental human rights consequences, such as in Pakistan.

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Reacting to emerging reports of at least nineteen dead and over 100 injured during a crackdown on the youth-led protests against corruption and social media ban in Nepal, Nirajan Thapaliya, Director of Amnesty International Nepal, said:

“Amnesty International strongly condemns the unlawful use of lethal and less-lethal force by law enforcement in Nepal, resulting in deaths and serious injuries of several protesters. We urge the authorities to exercise maximum restraint. The law enforcement agencies must only use force where absolutely necessary and it must be strictly proportionate to the legitimate aim sought to be achieved. The authorities must also take every possible precaution to avoid the use of force and minimize harm if it becomes unavoidable.

“Amnesty International calls for the immediate de-escalation of the situation and urges the government to adopt a rights-respecting approach in the policing of protests. The Government of Nepal must also immediately conduct a thorough, independent and impartial investigation into the deaths and hold all those found responsible fully accountable, including through criminal prosecution. Victims of unlawful use of force by the law enforcement agencies and security forces must receive full and effective reparations from the state.

“The protestors have a right to peacefully protest and express their frustration and outrage against corruption and the government’s restriction on the right to freedom of expression including the social media ban in Nepal. It is the obligation of Nepali authorities to respect this right in line with its commitments under international law as well as its own Constitution and protect all protesters from further harm. The government must genuinely listen to the legitimate demands of the youth to end corruption, deliver accountability and ensure civil liberties instead of meting out such reckless violence against them.”

Amnesty International calls for the immediate de-escalation of the situation and urges the government to adopt a rights-respecting approach in the policing of protests.

Nirajan Thapaliya, Director of Amnesty International Nepal

Background:

On 4 September, the Government of Nepal imposed a ban on major social media platforms that did not comply with the registration process mandated under the Directives for Managing the Use of Social Networks, 2023.

On 8 September, mostly Gen Z protestors took to the streets demanding an end to corruption and the lifting of the government’s ban on social media platforms. The situation escalated after some of the protesters breached the “restricted zone” and entered the Parliament premises. Police responded with water cannons, tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition, leaving at least nineteen dead and hundreds injured.

The use of lethal force against protesters not posing an imminent threat of death or serious is a grave violation of international law. Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees the right to life, liberty, and security of person, while Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights enshrines the inherent right to life. The UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials clearly state that firearms may only be used in defence against an imminent threat of death or serious injury.

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Criminal and civil proceedings against the executive board of the Istanbul Bar Association are incompatible with Türkiye’s international human rights obligations and represent a direct assault on the independence of the legal profession, warned 12 legal and human rights organizations in a joint intervention to the court.

The joint amicus brief by leading human rights groups and professional legal bodies including Amnesty International has been submitted to the Istanbul 26th Heavy Penal Court on Friday, September 5, as the second hearing, scheduled to last two days, begins tomorrow.

The legal action targets the Istanbul Bar Association’s President, Prof. İbrahim Kaboğlu, and ten executive board members, and stems from a public statement issued by the Bar on 21 December 2024, following the killing of two Kurdish journalists, Nazım Daştan and Cihan Bilgin, allegedly in a drone strike in northern Syria.

In its statement, the Bar Association had recalled international legal protections that must be afforded for journalists in conflict zones, called for an effective investigation into the deaths, and demanded the release of protestors and lawyers detained at a demonstration held in Istanbul that same day. In response, prosecutors in Türkiye launched criminal proceedings against the Bar’s leadership for “propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “disseminating misleading information,” and simultaneously filed a civil lawsuit seeking to dismiss the board on the grounds that it had acted beyond its legal duties. On 21 March 2025, the Istanbul 2nd Civil Court of First Instance ordered the termination of the entire board’s mandate, a decision that is currently under appeal.

The 12 organizations argue in their joint submission that these proceedings violate Türkiye’s obligations under international human rights law. The Istanbul Bar Association’s statement, they note, falls squarely within its professional mandate and legal duty to defend human rights and the rule of law.

“The criminal and civil proceedings against the Istanbul Bar Association’s executive board amount to retaliation for engaging in lawful, rights-based advocacy,” said Ayşe Bingöl Demir, Director of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project. “They are part of a broader effort to intimidate the legal profession and silence institutions that challenge state power.”

The organizations emphasize that bar associations must be free to speak out on legal and human rights concerns without fear of intimidation or punishment. As Thierry Wickers,  President of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) stated, “These actions are not just an attack on the Istanbul Bar Association, they are an attack on the very idea of an independent legal profession, one of the main pillars of a democratic society and a fundamental guarantee for ensuring the rule of law and preventing abuse of state power.”

According to the amicus brief, the charges brought against the Bar’s leadership are both vague and legally baseless, relying on overly broad anti-terrorism and “disinformation” laws that fail to meet international standards of legality, necessity and proportionality. No part of the Bar’s statement can reasonably be interpreted as “inciting violence” or “promoting terrorism”. Instead, it reflects the Bar’s role as an institutional safeguard, defending its members and speaking out against unlawful detentions and alleged violations of international law.

“The Istanbul Bar’s statement was well within its statutory duties and its internationally protected role,” said Baroness Helena Kennedy, Director of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute “To criminalize such a statement is both legally indefensible and politically alarming.”

The organizations stress that this case is not isolated but emblematic of a wider pattern in Türkiye, where bar associations have faced mounting interference, lawyers are increasingly prosecuted for their work, and dissenting institutions are subjected to coordinated pressure.

Dinushika Dissanayake Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe warned: “What is happening in this case is emblematic of a systemic pattern but also sets a dangerous precedent: criminal law is being misused to target lawyers, their professional body and human rights defenders for simply carrying out their work.

“Türkiye’s overly broad anti-terrorism laws are open to abuse. Prosecutions such as these send a chilling message that demanding the authorities abide by their human rights obligations comes at a heavy cost and that lawyers’, their representatives’ and everyone’s right to freedom of expression can be arbitrarily curtailed. In the face of this, the only fair outcome is the acquittal of all the leaders of Istanbul Bar Association at tomorrow’s hearing.”

In light of these concerns, the international organizations have requested the Istanbul court to assess the lawfulness and propriety of the ongoing criminal and civil proceedings in line with Türkiye’s binding obligations under international human rights law, including the standards on the independence of lawyers and bar associations and the rights to freedom of expression and association. As the amicus brief highlights, the charges and actions against the Istanbul Bar Association’s executive board contravene these standards, appear to pursue an ulterior political purpose, and risk setting a dangerous precedent for legal professionals and institutions engaged in rights-based advocacy.

The organizations that submitted the amicus curiae brief are: Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project, Amnesty International, Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe, European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, German Federal Bar, Human Rights Watch, International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute, International Commission of Jurists, International Observatory for Lawyers in Danger, Law Society of England and Wales, Lawyers for Lawyers, and PEN Norway.

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As the people of Norway head to the polls on 8 September 2025, where divesting the Government Pension Fund from companies unlawfully operating in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has become a defining election issue, Astri Menne Sjoner, Political Adviser at Amnesty International Norway said:

“Human rights are at the heart of this election. Norway’s Government Pension Fund has rightly once again come under intense scrutiny for investments in companies contributing or directly linked to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and other serious violations of international law.

“While the Fund has taken some welcome steps to address its risk of complicity in violations of international law — including divesting from a limited number of Israeli companies and cutting ties with external asset managers in Israel — many glaring inconsistencies remain. Current investments still fall far short of upholding Norway’s human rights obligations. The criteria for excluding companies must be grounded in international law, not swayed by the politics of the day.”

States must ensure that their sovereign wealth funds are not contributing or have their operations directly linked to Israel’s unlawful occupation, its system of apartheid, or the genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip via their business relationships with investment portfolio companies.

Under international law, as reflected in the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, states are under an obligation to take steps to prevent trade or investment relations that aid or assist in maintaining Israel’s unlawful occupation, including illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

“Certain companies have long operated in the shadows, reinforcing, normalizing, sustaining and profiting from one of the world’s longest and deadliest military occupations. States and public institutions must immediately act to comply with international law and stop all direct and indirect support for Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, its unlawful occupation in the Palestinian territory, and its cruel system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights it controls.

Every hesitation and every delay costs Palestinian lives,” 

Astri Menne Sjoner, Political Adviser at Amnesty International Norway.

“Every hesitation and every delay costs Palestinian lives,” Astri Menne Sjoner said.

“Amnesty International Norway is calling on all political parties to make a pledge that, if elected, they will ensure the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund becomes a global leader for human rights-compliant investments starting with taking comprehensive and sustained steps to ensure the disengagement from business activities contributing or linked to Israel’s grave and protracted violations of Palestinians’ rights.”

Background

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global has become a defining issue of the upcoming general election. The Fund is currently invested in several companies listed in the UN database of businesses involved in the unlawful occupation of the Palestinian territory.

The Oil Fund is the largest of its kind globally, with stakes in approximately 8,500 companies. Its investment decisions have global consequences.

Amnesty Norway is calling for a comprehensive overhaul of the entire ethical framework of the fund, including the ethical guidelines, on which exclusion decisions are based without being in accordance with international law or human right standards, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The campaign #mittoljefond and several revelations on companies in the fund’s portfolio have mobilized public pressure, making the fund’s investments a central election issue.

Recently, the Council on Ethics’ decision to exclude Caterpillar due to concerns about its connection to human rights violations, leading to the Fund’s divestment, came under intense political criticism and attack. This pressure underscores the value and importance of ensuring the integrity of the process and compliance with international law.

For more information or media requests please contact press@amnesty.org

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