Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Responding to reports of an aerial attack by the Myanmar military that is said to have killed upwards of 20 civilians, including children, when multiple bombs were dropped from motorized paragliders, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman said:

“The sickening reports emerging from the ground in central Myanmar following a nighttime attack late on Monday should serve as a gruesome wake-up call that civilians in Myanmar need urgent protection.

“The international community may have forgotten about the conflict in Myanmar, but the Myanmar military is taking advantage of reduced scrutiny to carry out war crimes with impunity.

“It continues to kill civilians on a daily basis, using methods such as motorized paragliders, a disturbing trend that Amnesty International has documented in the same area that this attack occurred.

“This would be the latest in a long line of attacks that stretch back almost five years to the start of the 2021 military coup. As the military attempts to solidify power with a stage-managed election later this year, it is intensifying an already brutal campaign against pockets of resistance.

“As it prepares to convene later this month, the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) must increase pressure on the junta and revise an approach that has failed the Myanmar people for almost five years, since the coup deposed the country’s democratically elected government. The UN Security Council should also refer the situation in Myanmar as a whole to the International Criminal Court.”

Background

According to reports and information received by Amnesty International, people from communities in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U Township gathered in a village on the evening of 6 October as part of a peaceful candlelight vigil to call for the release of arbitrarily detained prisoners, to oppose military conscription and to condemn a junta-organized election set for December. The vigil took place on the Full Moon night of Myanmar’s Thadingyut Festival, in an area where armed resistance groups are active.

According to people present at the scene, the first attack at around 8pm initially killed at least 17 people including at least one child under five years old. Dozens of people are said to be in critical condition in local hospitals. A follow-up attack reportedly occurred at around 11pm but did not cause as much damage. Both were said to be carried out with motorized paragliders, which make a distinctive chainsaw-like sound as they approach, with media reporting that more than 20 people were killed in total.

The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said in September that these paramotor attacks typically involve 120mm mortar rounds dropped from the sky, an indiscriminate form of attack. Amnesty International interviewed witnesses to paramotor attacks in the same township in March in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake that struck central Myanmar.

It is not known if the military’s use of paramotors is related to the lack of resources such as jet fuel which the military needs for fighter jets. In 2022, Amnesty International released a report, Deadly Cargo, about the supply chain of jet fuel to the Myanmar military, and has tracked its changing tactics to import the resource since then.

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Reacting to the decision of the Trial Chamber X of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to convict Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman also known as “Ali Kushayb” for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed between August 2003 and at least April 2004 during brutal attacks in Darfur, Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, said:

“This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two-decades ago. The conviction should serve as a warning to those committing abuses in the context of the ongoing Sudan conflict that they will one day be held individually accountable.

“To ensure that the ICC can pursue comprehensive justice for all victims, the United Nations Security Council should extend the Court’s mandate from Darfur to the entirety of Sudan.

This long overdue verdict goes some way in providing justice for the victims of Ali Kushayb and should serve as a significant milestone in the pursuit of justice for crimes committed in Darfur more than two-decades ago.

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

“This verdict should spur ICC member states to urgently enforce all outstanding arrest warrants in the Darfur situation, including against former Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and to enhance their political and financial support for the Court to enable the investigation of ongoing violations in Darfur and elsewhere in Sudan.

“Despite US sanctions on the ICC, the Court has shown a clear resolve to continue its pursuit of justice for all victims, including in Darfur. In the face of ongoing US and other states’ attacks on the Court, ICC-member states must demonstrate their commitment and support for victims in Darfur and all situations under investigations through concrete action to defend the court.”

Background

The trial of Ali Muhammed Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, charged by the ICC as a principal leader of the Janjaweed militia, began at the ICC in April 2022.

He was convicted of 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, Sudan, between August 2003 and March 2004.

In 2005, the UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur to the International Criminal Court (ICC). In 2009 and 2010, the ICC issued arrest warrants for President al-Bashir for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The ICC has also issued arrest warrants for three other government officials, and three members of armed opposition groups.

Today’s verdict comes amid conflict in Sudan between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in which thousands have been killed and over 10 million people have been displaced.

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Reacting to the UN Human Rights Council’s decision to establish an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of past and ongoing crimes under international law and human rights violations and abuses, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said: 

“In the face of continued impunity in Afghanistan, the establishment of a UN-mandated evidence gathering mechanism is a vital step towards advancing accountability for past and ongoing crimes under international law and paves the way for victims and survivors to access justice, reparation, and truth.      

“Amnesty International, together with Afghan civil society and others, has been calling for this mechanism since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Since then, the Taliban has plunged Afghanistan into a system of control and repression. Women and girls have been systematically erased from public life, denied education, work and voice; journalists, activists and minorities silenced through arbitrary detention, torture and enforced disappearance; and brutal corporal public punishments and executions used as tools of fear. This assault on human rights has long demanded more than words from the international community and the mechanism is a major step in a long journey towards accountability for the people of Afghanistan.  

The establishment of a UN-mandated evidence gathering mechanism is a vital step towards advancing accountability for past and ongoing crimes under international law and paves the way for victims and survivors to access justice, reparation, and truth

Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard

“Today’s resolution has the potential to be an important milestone in the fight against impunity for millions of victims and survivors in Afghanistan, spanning more than four decades of conflict. However, this potential hinges on the mechanism adopting a truly comprehensive approach – one that considers crimes committed both before and after August 2021. This should include systematic targeted attacks by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP) and other insurgent groups, as well as allegations of crimes under international law committed by security forces under the former government, international military and security forces and other agents.       

“Establishing a mechanism is only the beginning. States owe it to the victims to ensure that the mechanism is properly resourced and empowered to promote justice.”  

Background

Amnesty International, together with Afghan civil society and others, has been continually advocating for the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent and impartial investigative mechanism on the situation in Afghanistan since August 2021. Calls for this type of mechanism emerged as early as 2003, and were renewed in May 2021, after the deliberate and targeted attack at the Sayed Shudaha Girl High School in the west of Kabul which killed and wounded over 250 people, mostly girl students. In response, with the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC)’s lead, Afghan civil society organizations and international human rights organizations advocated for the establishment of such a mechanism. 

Afghanistan has grappled with continuous conflict for over four decades, resulting in crimes under international law and human rights violations and abuses by warring parties including the Taliban, ISKP, security forces under the former Government and international military and security forces and other agents. Victims and survivors have had almost no access to justice, reparation, and truth. This has now worsened with the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Amnesty International has documented many incidents of war crimes and the crime against humanity of gender persecution, as well as other crimes and human rights violations and abuses by the Taliban and others across the country.  

With no access to justice, truth, and reparation, between 1978 and 2001, at least two million people were estimated to have either been killed or wounded due to the conflict.  

Following longstanding calls from Afghan and international civil society organizations, the UN Human Rights Council today adopted a resolution without a vote to establish an “independent investigative mechanism to collect, consolidate, preserve and analyse evidence of international crimes and the most serious violations of international law, including those that may also amount to violations and abuses of international human rights law, committed in Afghanistan.”  While it does not have prosecutorial powers, the mechanism can collect and preserve evidence of international crimes and serious human rights violations. This evidence can support future prosecutions in international and national courts, including those exercising universal or other forms of extraterritorial jurisdiction, and for credible efforts in the future to build a framework for accountability and justice in Afghanistan. 

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There must be an immediate and independent investigation into the Moroccan security forces’ violent crackdown on youth protests, following credible reports that at least three protesters have been killed, dozens of others injured, and more than 400 people arrested across Morocco since late September 2025, Amnesty International said today.

The protests, described as Gen Z-led, began peacefully but the authorities responded with unlawful force and mass arbitrary arrests. For example, on the evening of 30 September, video footage reviewed by Amnesty International shows security forces deliberately driving their vehicles at protesters or violently arresting them. Eyewitnesses also described to Amnesty International how security forces forcefully arrested protesters. Over the following two nights, some violence was reported on the part of protesters, in some cases, police property was destroyed, while protests in other places remained peaceful. 

“We are deeply alarmed by emerging evidence of Moroccan security forces’ use of excessive force and mass arrests of protesters and bystanders. The authorities should ensure a transparent investigation into the deaths that occurred and must respond to any incidents of violence by exercising restraint in line with international guidelines. Morocco’s authorities must ensure the right to peaceful protest is protected. No one should be punished for exercising their human rights, demanding their economic or social rights or an end to corruption,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Under international law, the use of lethal force by law enforcement officials is prohibited unless it is strictly unavoidable to protect life. Authorities must adopt all available measures to avoid resorting to the use of force, and where force is unavoidable, it should be strictly necessary and proportionate, and they must ensure it is used with precaution to minimize harm.”

Amnesty International has reviewed tens of videos circulated on social media showing security forces, sometimes in civilian clothes, forcibly arresting peaceful protesters on 28 and 29 September and taking them to police vans. 

We are deeply alarmed by emerging evidence of Moroccan security forces’ use of excessive force and mass arrests of protesters and bystanders.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

One protester described to Amnesty International how security forces in plain clothes surrounded individual protesters: “I saw a girl who was sitting on the floor, doing nothing, not even chanting or shouting slogans get carried forcibly by security forces, she was asking them ‘what did I do?’ and saying ‘it’s my right to be here’ but they did not answer her and shoved her violently into the van.”

Another protester from Casablanca said the police were “specifically targeting anyone who spoke to the media, I saw them rush towards a person who was giving an interview to two journalists, he was speaking into the microphones when the police came from behind him and forcibly carried him away.” Some protesters were arrested as they were giving statements to the media, as captured on videos posted online. 

These practices raise serious concerns about arbitrary detention, lack of due process, and the chilling effect on the exercise of the right to freedom of assembly.

Video footage reviewed by Amnesty International shows security forces vehicles drive straight into a group of protesters on the night between 30 September and 1 October in Oujda, resulting in at least one serious injury. 

Such actions constitute a dangerous and unlawful use of force, placing lives at risk and escalating violence. 

Intentionally using vehicles to strike demonstrators who pose no imminent threat to life is a flagrant violation of international human rights standards, including the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms, which require authorities to minimize harm and protect life at all times.

Official figures indicate that 409 people have been arrested since 28 September, with at least 193 facing trial, many on bail. Lawyers Amnesty International have spoken to have said that the number still detained remains difficult to confirm because it is constantly changing. 

The protesters facing trial, including minors, are currently facing charges under Article 591 of the Moroccan Penal Code, which criminalizes participation in gatherings deemed violent, despite the fact that these protesters were arrested on 28 and 29 September, before any acts of violence were reported.

“The Moroccan authorities must immediately drop charges against anyone detained solely for exercising their right of peaceful assembly. The Moroccan authorities, under international human rights obligations, must respect and safeguard the right to protest. Rather than resorting to suppression, the government should address the legitimate demands of youth for better education, equitable healthcare, decent employment opportunities, transparency, and anti-corruption measures,” said Heba Morayef. 

Background

Protests erupted in late September 2025 across multiple Moroccan cities including Casablanca, Agadir, Marrakech, Tangier, Salé, Oujda, and Rabat. The mobilization was driven by widespread frustration over failing public services, high unemployment, corruption, and vast spending on the 2030 World Cup.

The youth-led movement, identifying itself as “Gen Z 212”, has been largely decentralized and organized through social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Discord.

For several days, protests remained peaceful. Violence was only reported starting on the nights of 30 September and 1 October, when clashes escalated, vehicles were set on fire, and security forces used tear gas, rubber bullets, and lethal ammunition. According to the Moroccan Interior Ministry, at least 263 security force personnel and 23 civilians have been injured during the unrest.

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