Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Amnesty International is pleased to announce the launch of a new fellowship program that seeks to improve access to the international justice field for early to mid-career professionals from the African region. The International Justice in Africa Fellowship has been established against the backdrop of Amnesty International and T.M.C Asser’s May 2021 report titled ‘The Rome Statute at 40’ which highlighted the critical gap for access to spaces of engagement for national stakeholders from the global south and the need to enhance diversity of representation in the field of international justice.

This fellowship will contribute towards enhancing diversity of representation in the field of international justice

Japhet Biegon, Amnesty International's Africa Regional Advocacy Coordinator

The inaugural fellows are Chuka Charles Arinze-Onyia (Nigeria) and Sarah Mutseo Ngachi (Kenya). They were selected from a pool of 368 applicants from across Africa.

During the nine-month fellowship, the two fellows are set to benefit from skills-transfer and the opportunity to deepen their technical expertise by engaging in research, legal analysis and policy discourse in international criminal law and justice.

This first of its kind fellowship is launching in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and at a time when new armed conflicts have emerged while old ones remain unresolved. From Ethiopia to Ukraine, Israel/Palestine to Myanmar, Mali to Central Africa Republic and from Yemen to South Sudan, crimes under international law have been committed on a mass scale. Yet, the needed international response has rarely been provided. The need to bring perpetrators to justice through independent, impartial and fair trials for all crimes under international law remains urgent.

Since becoming a lawyer in 2017, Chuka has worked within the Nigerian criminal justice system. He initially worked as a prosecutor for the Anambra State Department of Public Prosecutions before joining a private law practice, where he provided representation to pretrial detainees. He has a keen interest in international justice and has engaged in research and international advocacy for victims of human rights violations in Central African Republic, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

“This fellowship presents an opportunity for me to develop and amplify my voice on the many issues of international justice plaguing the continent and beyond,” said Chuka, who is based in the organization’s West Africa Regional Office in Dakar, Senegal.

Sarah Mutseo Ngachi joins the fellowship with three years’ professional experience in the field of human rights and international justice. Her interests lie at the nexus between corporate accountability, environmental justice and international criminal law. Called to the Bar in Kenya, Sarah’s research has focused mainly on prosecution of transnational crimes in Africa. She has also been involved in public interest litigation on environmental law and human rights at Kenyan courts and the East Africa Court of Justice.

“I am excited to join the fellowship at a time when crucial developments and debates are taking place in the international justice field, including on the possibility of including ecocide as a crime under the Rome Statute, which may have a number of crucial human rights implications. I look forward to actively engaging with these developments and debates through the fellowship,” said Sarah who is based at the organizations’ East Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya.

“As the Rome Statute turns 20, it is evident that exclusion of stakeholders and professionals from certain regions, particularly the Global South, has served to reinforce structural inequalities and unequal power relations in the field of international justice. This fellowship will in the long term contribute, in a small way, towards enhancing diversity of representation in the field of international justice,” said Japhet Biegon, Amnesty International’s Africa Regional Advocacy Coordinator.

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Responding to today’s landmark decision of Stockholm’s District Court sentencing a former Iranian official, Hamid Nouri, to life in prison over crimes related to Iran’s 1988 prison massacres, following a trial carried out under the principle of universal jurisdiction, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“Hamid Nouri’s conviction and sentence today in Sweden for crimes related to Iran’s 1988 prison massacres is an unprecedented step towards justice for crimes committed in Iran and sends an unequivocal, and long overdue, message to the Iranian authorities that those responsible for crimes against humanity in Iran will not escape justice.

“For more than three decades, survivors and relatives of thousands of political dissidents extrajudicially killed and forcibly disappeared in Iran’s 1988 prison massacres, have struggled for truth and justice. With this first ever ruling against an Iranian official, albeit in a European court, they have finally witnessed an Iranian official held to account for these crimes. This must be followed by all states exercising universal jurisdiction to criminally investigate all other former and current officials in Iran against whom there is evidence of involvement in past and ongoing crimes against humanity, including Ebrahim Raisi, the country’s President.

“This critical ruling must serve as a wake-up call to the international community to tackle the crisis of impunity that prevails in Iran. To address this, members of the UN Human Rights Council must urgently establish an international investigative and accountability mechanism into the most serious crimes committed in the country, including the thousands of cases of enforced disappearances which remain unresolved more than 30 years after the 1988 prison massacres.”

Background

Consistent with their long-standing pattern of denial and distortion, the Iranian authorities have reacted to the trial of Hamid Nouri by describing it as a “plot” concocted by “terrorists” that relied on “fake documentation and witnesses”.

In a 2018 report Iran: Blood-soaked secrets: Why Iran’s 1988 prison massacres are ongoing crimes against humanity, Amnesty International concluded that, in addition to committing the crime against humanity of murder in 1988 by extrajudicially executing thousands of political dissidents in secret, the Iranian authorities are committing the ongoing crimes against humanity of enforced disappearance, persecution, torture and other inhumane acts, including by systematically concealing the fate of the victims and the whereabouts of their remains.

In 2021, the UN Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances called for an international investigation into enforced disappearances arising from the 1988 prison massacres.

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Reacting to news that a court in Belarus sentenced Belsat TV journalist Katsyaryna Andreeva to eight years in prison on bogus “state treason” charges, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s repressive apparatus continues to try to grind brave journalists and activists to dust. Every day brings a new terrible and unjust criminal verdict.”

“Today, Katsyaryna Andreeva, who is already serving an unfair two-year prison sentence, has been given an additional eight years in prison in a politically motivated sham ‘trial.’ She is being subjected to absurd and baseless treason charges solely for her fearless work as a journalist.

Katsyaryna Andreeva, who is already serving an unfair two-year prison sentence, has been given an additional eight years in prison in a politically motivated sham ‘trial’

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“Katsyaryna Andreeva and all other critics of the Belarusian authorities detained solely for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression must be immediately and unconditionally released and all charges against them must be dropped.”

Background

On 13 July 2022, the Homel Regional court in Belarus, after a week-long deliberation, sentenced Belsat TV journalist Katsyaryna Andreeva to eight years in prison. She was accused of “state treason” with no further details disclosed or evidence presented to substantiate the allegation. The Belarusian authorities routinely restrict all information about criminal proceedings against their critics under threat of criminal prosecution for any disclosure.

On 18 February 2021, a court in Minsk found Andreeva and her colleague Daria Chultsava guilty in a separate case on charges of “organization and preparation of actions grossly violating public order, or active participation in them” (Article 342(1) of the Belarusian Criminal Code). The accusations against them stemmed from livestreaming a peaceful protest on 15 November 2020. Both journalists were sentenced then to two years in prison, their sentences expiring in September 2022. Andreeva would be required to serve the new prison sentence from then on.

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President Joe Biden must fulfil his promise to put human rights at the centre of his first visit to the Middle East and North Africa since taking office and do everything in his power to press for immediate and substantive change, Amnesty International said today.

Between 13 and 16 July, President Biden will visit Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to meet several leaders, including Saudi Arabian King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

“The Biden administration must stop its brazen support of shocking crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations committed by its allies, knowingly facilitating rampant abuses with impunity,” said Paul O’Brien, Amnesty International USA Executive Director.

If the US continues on its current course, it will only embolden abusive governments to further silence dissenting voices, oppress minorities and ruthlessly crush the rights of millions of people in the region.

Paul O’Brien, Amnesty International USA Executive Director

“President Biden must seize this opportunity to prioritize the advancement of human rights over short-term interests, and make clear that there can be no double standards when it comes to promoting human rights. If the US continues on its current course, it will only embolden abusive governments to further silence dissenting voices, oppress minorities and ruthlessly crush the rights of millions of people in the region.”

Israel, the OPT, and the Palestinian authorities: US-backed apartheid

The killing of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh while covering an Israeli military raid in the West Bank on 11 May provided a stark reminder of the crimes committed by the Israeli authorities to maintain their system of oppression and domination over Palestinians and of the US’s role in shielding Israel from accountability. Unlawful killings, arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment, collective punishment and forced displacement occur in the context of a system of apartheid against Palestinians across Israel and the OPT.

The Israeli government has forcibly displaced entire Palestinian communities and demolished hundreds of thousands of Palestinian homes. In Masafer Yatta, in the southern West Bank, and in Ras Jrabah, in the Naqab/Negev area of Israel, residents are at imminent risk of forced displacement. During the latest armed conflict in the Gaza Strip in May 2021, Israeli forces committed apparent war crimes, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured. Hospitals, homes and other essential infrastructure cannot be rebuilt because of Israel’s blockade on Gaza since 2007.

“The lack of accountability for the government of Israel’s serious violations, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, is perpetuated by US policy. Instead of providing cover for impunity, the US must support independent, thorough, and credible investigations into these crimes, such as that opened by the International Criminal Court,” said Paul O’Brien.

The Biden administration and US Congress must stop the supply of arms to the Israeli military until it is guaranteed that such equipment would not be used for serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Palestinian authorities continue to repress freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Security forces responded to protests against the torture and killing of Nizar Banat, a political critic, on 24 June 2021, with the use of unlawful force, arrests and torture and other ill-treatment.

Saudi Arabia: Vicious abuses behind shiny façade

Saudi Arabian authorities continue their crackdown on the rights to freedom of expression, association, and movement. By mid-2021, most human rights defenders, including women’s rights activists, independent journalists, writers and activists in the country had been arbitrarily detained for their human rights work or social media activity.  

Amnesty International documented 30 cases of Saudi Arabian activists and human rights defenders who were sentenced following grossly unfair trials – most often by the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) –  to imprisonment to be followed by travel bans. Relatives of activists have also been subjected to unofficial travel bans without any judicial orders or notification.

More than three years after the state-sanctioned murder of Jamal Khashoggi, his family have no information about the whereabouts of his remains while all those involved in his killing have not been held accountable.

Amnesty International urges President Biden to pressure Saudi Arabian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all activists and human rights defenders held for peacefully exercising their human rights, lift all arbitrary travel bans imposed on them and their family members for the purpose of punishing, intimidating and silencing those who dissent and disclose the whereabouts of Khashoggi’s remains.

The United States must stop supplying arms to the Saudi-led coalition until there is no longer a substantial risk that such equipment would be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Yemen. Amnesty International has investigated dozens of air strikes that have unlawfully killed and injured civilians and repeatedly found and identified remnants of US-manufactured munitions.

Egypt: Deep-rooted human rights crisis

In Egypt, authorities have intensified a campaign to cover up their appalling human rights record ahead of the country’s hosting of COP27 later this year.

Egypt’s human rights crisis is characterized by entrenched impunity for unlawful killings, torture and enforced disappearances; mass arbitrary detentions; repression of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; discrimination against women and girls, LGBTQ+ people and members of religious minorities; and a crackdown on human rights NGOs through travel bans, asset freezes and other draconian tactics to shut down civic work. Despite this, Egypt remains one of the largest long-term recipients of US military aid.

In recent months, authorities released dozens of prisoners held for political reasons but thousands continue to be arbitrarily detained while arrests of peaceful critics continue unabated.

Amnesty International urges President Biden to press Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in public as well as privately, for meaningful and long-lasting human rights reforms, starting by immediately and unconditionally releasing all those arbitrarily detained solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights or for reasons of discrimination. 

President Biden must also urge the Egyptian authorities to close once and for all criminal investigations into the work of human rights NGOs, known as Case 173/2011, lift all arbitrary travel bans and asset freezes against human rights defenders, and guarantee a safe environment for human rights organizations.

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Charges against an activist facing up to three years in prison for helping a pregnant woman access abortion pills in Poland must be dropped said Amnesty International today ahead of the resumption of her trial in Warsaw tomorrow.

In November 2021 human rights defender, Justyna Wydrzyńska, was charged with “helping with an abortion” and “possession of medicines without authorisation for the purpose of introducing them into the market”. The case marks the first in Europe in which an activist is being prosecuted for aiding an abortion by providing abortion pills.

“The trial of Justyna Wydrzyńska comes at a time when the threat to abortion rights has been brought into sharp focus by the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. It is a reminder that our rights to life, to health, to bodily integrity and autonomy cannot be taken for granted. We must and we are be prepared to fight for our rights for as long as it takes, when and where required.” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Anything less than all charges against Justyna Wydrzyńska being immediately dropped would set a dangerous precedent in Poland. It will also send a chilling message to other governments seeking to curtail the activities of abortion rights activists, who are campaigning for bodily autonomy and the right to access safe abortions.

“No one should be criminalized, let alone prosecuted, for helping someone to get a safe abortion. Around the world, prohibition of safe abortion kills thousands of women and girls every year.”

Abortion is only legal in Poland when the health or the life of the woman is at risk or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Performing your own abortion or the possession of abortion pills for a self-managed abortion is not a crime under Polish law, but any person or doctor who helps with an abortion outside the two permitted grounds may face up to three-years in prison.

“A woman contacted me in a desperate situation. She told me that her violent husband was trying to stop her from having an abortion. Her story touched my heart as I had had a similar experience. I felt I had to help her,” said Justyna Wydrzyńska.

“People who need an abortion in Poland must get reliable and unbiased information about safe abortions and they should access help and support. No one should be prosecuted for showing compassion and acting in solidarity. Not me. Not anyone.”

Background

Justyna Wydrzyńska is a doula who supports others through pregnancy and one of the founders of Abortion Dream Team, an activist collective that campaigns against abortion stigma in Poland and offers unbiased abortion advice following World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines.

Abortion Dream Team forms part of Abortion Without Borders , a cross European network that provides information, counselling, funding and practical support to people in Poland and other countries who need an abortion abroad or access to reliable online sources of abortion medicines.

Between January 2021 and January 2022, Abortion Without Borders was contacted by more than 32,000 people in Poland, which is a fivefold increase from the previous year. It supported more than 1,500 individuals to travel abroad for an abortion. In recent months, calls for help have increased as thousands of refugees fleeing Ukraine arrive in Poland in need of sexual and reproductive healthcare.

More than 110,000 people in 18 countries have taken action to call on the Polish Prosecutor General to drop all charges against Justyna Wydrzyńska, decriminalise abortion and ensure access to safe and legal abortion without discrimination.

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