Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Reacting to the news that a Russian court has sentenced activist Mikhail Iosilevich to one year and eight months in a penal colony on fabricated charges of collaborating with so called ‘undesirable’ organization, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The Russian authorities have added yet another name to the tally of activists they have persecuted for collaborating with so-called ‘undesirable organizations.’ The repressive legislation underpinning Mikhail Iosilevich’ssentence has only ever been used to stifle dissenting voices. The law is a blatant pretext for repression and an assault on freedom of expression.

“A renowned activist and publisher, Mikhail Iosilevich has enriched public discourse through the peaceful expression of his views and support for civic initiatives. His activism should be welcomed in the arena of public debate, not criminalized. He has committed no internationally recognized crime and is prisoner of conscience. He must be immediately and unconditionally released.”

A renowned activist and publisher, Mikhail Iosilevich has enriched public discourse through the peaceful expression of his views and support for civic initiatives. His activism should be welcomed in the arena of public debate, not criminalized

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

Background

On 27 May, the Sovetsky District Court of Nizhny Novgorod, Central Russia, sentenced Iosilevich to one year and eight months in a penal colony. He was found guilty of collaborating with an “undesirable organization” — the now defunct Otkrytaya Rossiya (Open Russia) movement founded by Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky. He was also found guilty of threatening a witness. Mikhail Iosilevich pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Iosilevich, a civil society activist and regional leader of the Pastafarians (followers of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster), was previously fined in July 2019 and June 2020 for “carrying out the activities of an undesirable organization” after he provided an office for opposition activists, which allegedly included individuals working with Otkrytaya Rossiya.

A criminal case was initiated against him on 29 September 2020 after he provided a space for the training of election monitors. Iosilevich’s home and those of several other Nizhny Novgorod activists and journalists were searched shortly afterwards.

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The Moroccan authorities must urgently investigate allegations that police and security forces brutally assaulted five Sahrawi women activists, Amnesty International said today. The organization has investigated the circumstances around the attacks, which took place during five separate incidents on 15 and 16 April, in the city of Boujdour in Western Sahara.

Zeinab Babi, Embarka Al Hafidhi, Fatima al-Hafidhi, Oum Al Moumin Al Kharashi and Nasrathum (Hajatna) Babi were targeted after their participation in peaceful protests for Sahrawi self-determination, and after they expressed public support for Sultana Khaya, a prominent Sahrawi activist.  Moroccan police officers and plainclothes security agents beat the women with sticks and punched and kicked them. One woman lost consciousness and required reconstructive surgery on her hand. Two of the women reported that they had been sexually assaulted. 

“Five weeks on from these appalling attacks, the Moroccan authorities have yet to lift a finger to investigate. These women have peacefully exercised their right to freedom of expression and assembly and yet they were brutally assaulted, leaving them with cuts, bruises and, in at least one case, broken bones,” said Amna Guellai, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“So far, the perpetrators have enjoyed complete impunity. Instead of seeking justice for these women, Moroccan authorities have stationed security agents outside their houses, leaving them afraid to go outside. We are urging Moroccan authorities to end the harassment and violence against Sahrawi activists, and to launch immediate, impartial investigations into all allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by Moroccan police and security agents.” 

Peaceful solidarity

Sultana Khaya and her family have been under house arrest since November 2020, during which time Moroccan authorities have subjected them to multiple grave human rights violations, including Khaya’s rape. 

The five women activists had been on the streets of Boujdour, most of them heading towards Sultana Khaya’s house to join in peaceful protests on her rooftop when they were attacked separately by groups of Moroccan security agents. 

One of the most serious incidents took place on 16 April, when Moroccan police arrested Zeinab Babi, without telling her why, while she was in a taxi on her way to a supermarket. Two police officers hit and kicked Zeinab in the car on the way to the police station. At the police station, four officers interrogated Zeinab about her activism, while insulting her and intermittently hitting and punching her. 

Zeinab was finally released after three hours, but her ordeal was not over. When she was walking home from the police station, more police officers and security agents assaulted her. In the first attack, which happened near the police station, a group of police officers and security agents beat her with sticks. Zeinab was about to reach her house when a group of security agents surrounded her, kicked and punched her, and beat her with wooden sticks until she lost consciousness.

Zeinab’s family took her to hospital where she was treated for her injuries. She had to have reconstructive surgery on her left hand, which was broken in several places. 

On the same day, five plainclothes agents stopped Embarka Al-Hafidhi while she was walking with her son to Sultana Khaya’s house to join a peaceful gathering. The agents beat Embarka, and some tore at her clothes and touched her on her groin area.  

All five women told Amnesty International that there have been agents stationed outside their houses since the incidents, and that they have been afraid to leave their houses for fear of being attacked again. 

Amnesty International calls on the Moroccan authorities to uphold their obligations under international human rights law and respect the rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and freedom from torture and other ill-treatment.

Background

The Moroccan authorities have long imposed arbitrary restrictions on the rights of Sahrawis to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, particularly where the exercise of those rights relates to the status of Western Sahara. Moroccan security forces have used unnecessary and excessive force to disperse peaceful demonstrations, and Sahrawi activists have faced harassment, intimidation and prosecution. 

Sultana Khaya is the president of an organization called the ‘League for the Defence of Human Rights and against Plunder of Natural Resources’ and is known for her vocal activism in defence of the right of self-determination for the Sahrawi people. The Moroccan authorities have held Sultana and her family under arbitrary house arrest since November 2020, during which time they have subjected them to multiple episodes of torture or other ill-treatment, included sexual assault and rape. 

The Moroccan authorities continue to restrict access to Morocco and Western Sahara for journalists, peaceful activists and human rights defenders, and to prevent impartial and independent human rights monitoring and reporting by the UN.

On 16 March 2022, four American activists managed to enter Khaya’s house to show solidarity with Sultana and her family. At first the presence of the volunteers seemed to abate the close watch of the security forces but, since 15 April, the police presence has intensified outside Khaya’s house as well as at the houses of other activists.

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South Sudan: Renewal of UN arms embargo positive step to help curb conflict-related sexual violence

Following the United Nations Security Council’s decision to renew the arms embargo on South Sudan for another year, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena said:

The renewal of the arms embargo is a step in the right direction and it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit or facilitate war crimes, human rights violations and abuses including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV)

Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa

“The renewal of the arms embargo is a step in the right direction and it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit or facilitate war crimes, human rights violations and abuses including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). South Sudan and all other UN members states, particularly neighbouring states, should diligently enforce it.

“We also welcome the preservation of the integrity of the benchmarks adopted by resolution 2577 in May 2021, and particularly the maintaining of the implementation of the Action Plan for the armed forces on addressing CRSV in South Sudan as a benchmark against which any future amendment of the arms embargo will be reviewed. We call on the Government of South Sudan to expedite implementation of the action plan.

“The renewal of the arms embargo is a step in the right direction and it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit or facilitate war crimes, human rights violations and abuses including conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV). South Sudan and all other UN members states, particularly neighbouring states, should diligently enforce the embargo.

Deprose Muchena

“Given the high prevalence of CRSV in the country and endemic impunity with which it is met, we particularly welcome that the Council reiterated its call on the government to establish the Hybrid Court for South Sudan. Special emphasis should be put on protection of victims, witnesses and judicial actors and criminal accountability, including transitioning from using military courts to civilian courts to prosecute crimes committed against civilians.”

Background

On 18 May, Amnesty International published a report “If you don’t cooperate, we’ll gun you down”: conflict-related sexual violence and impunity in South Sudan revealing how CRSV is ongoing in the country, and how guns can be used to facilitate sexual violence. It also exposes how two sections of an action plan that was drafted to address CRSV in the country, adopted by the government in January 2021, are yet to be fully implemented. 

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Charges Violate Freedom of Expression, Association

The Cuban government should immediately and unconditionally release Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, artists who are set to stand trial starting on May 30, 2022, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today. Concerned governments, especially from Latin America and Europe, should monitor the trial and call for the artists’ release.

Otero Alcántara, a visual artist, and Castillo Pérez, a rap singer who is also known by his artistic name “Osorbo,” have been in pre-trial detention for nearly a year. A prosecutor has requested that they be sentenced to seven and ten years in prison, respectively, on a range of charges related to their participation in a peaceful demonstration and an artistic performance, and their criticism of President Miguel Díaz-Canel.

“Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara are being prosecuted for exercising their human right to criticize their own government,” said Tamara Taraciuk Broner, acting Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Latin American governments should not stay silent when artists are threatened with prison for speaking out, the extreme intolerance typical of brutal dictatorships in the region’s past.”

“Governments in the Americas and Europe should closely monitor the trial against these prisoners of conscience in Cuba, who should never have spent a day in prison,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “In a country where more than 700 people, including some children under 18, are imprisoned for simply expressing themselves, it is of utmost importance that these trials be subject to international scrutiny.”

Otero Alcántara, a member of the San Isidro Movement, formed to critique government censorship, was detained on July 11, 2021, after posting a video saying he would join island-wide peaceful protests that day. More than 700 people arrested during the demonstration remain in detention, according to the Cuban rights group Cubalex. Castillo Pérez, one of the authors of “Motherland and Life” (“Patria y Vida”), a song critical of the Cuban government that was adopted as a popular protest anthem, was detained by state security officials on May 18, 2021.

Maykel Castillo Pérez and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara are being prosecuted for exercising their human right to criticize their own government

Tamara Taraciuk Broner, acting Americas director at Human Rights Watch

Castillo Pérez, who has experienced multiple short-term arbitrary detentions, was arrested at his home. His family did not know where he was until May 31, when Cuban authorities informed them that he was being held in the Pinar del Río prison, where he remains in detention. The family was only notified a few days after the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances had urged the Cuban government to reveal Castillo Pérez’s place of detention.

In January 2022, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Castillo Pérez had been arbitrarily detained and said that the Cuban government should release him immediately. The UN experts found that Castillo Pérez had been detained for exercising his fundamental rights and had suffered due process violations, including abusive limitations to his right to defend himself. The experts found credible evidence that, prior to his latest detention, Castillo Pérez had been arrested more than 120 times for participating in protests and criticizing the Cuban government.

In February, a prosecutor in Havana requested that Castillo Pérez be sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crimes of “public disorder,” “defamation of national institutions, organizations, heroes and martyrs of the nation,” “contempt,” and “assault.” A court document Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International reviewed indicates that some charges are connected to memes Castillo Pérez published on Facebook criticizing President Díaz-Canel and other Cuban authorities. Other charges are connected to an April 4, 2021 peaceful protest in Havana, during which a police officer tried to arrest Castillo Pérez and a group of local residents defended him, preventing the detention.

Otero Alcántara, whom Amnesty International has named prisoner of conscience several times during multiple arbitrary arrests, is being held at the Guanajay maximum security prison in Artemisa province.

The same court document indicates that the prosecutor is seeking a combined sentence of seven years for Otero Alcántara. He is being charged with “insulting national symbols” for his use of the Cuban flag in the performance piece Drapeau, in which he either wore the Cuban flag or carried it around with him 24 hours a day for a month

The prosecutor also charged him with “public disorder” and “contempt” for gathering with Castillo Pérez and other people during the April 4 protest, playing “Motherland and Life” in public and saying “offensive words” against former president Raúl Castro.

Governments in the Americas and Europe should closely monitor the trial against these prisoners of conscience in Cuba, who should never have spent a day in prison

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty Internationa

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have learned that Cuban authorities have repeatedly offered to release Castillo Pérez and Otero Alcántara in exchange for them leaving the country indefinitely— a historic practice by the Cuban government that has been applied to other critics in recent months, in violation of the right to enter one’s own country. Otero Alcántara has publicly rejected the offer. Cuban authorities have seemingly backtracked from their offer to Castillo Pérez.

Nobody should be forced to choose between leaving their own country or facing abusive criminal charges for which they should not be prosecuted or imprisoned in the first place, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said.

The prosecution against Otero Alcántara and Castillo Pérez is part of a much broader pattern of systematic abuses against Cuban artists and other government critics and protesters. In recent years, Cuban authorities have jailed, prosecuted, and forced into exile dozens of Cuban artists, including from the “San Isidro Movement” and “27N,” which gather artists, intellectuals, and journalists who are critical of the government.

Cuban authorities have also engaged in arbitrary detention and ill-treatment of detainees, and held unfair mass trials, mostly behind closed doors, in response to overwhelmingly peaceful anti-government protests in July 2021. Dozens of protesters have been sentenced to up to 30 years in prison, in trials in which prosecutors have frequently charged them with vaguely defined crimes, such as “public disorder” and “sedition.”

Cuban authorities should drop charges designed to silence dissent against all protesters and critics, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said. To the extent that the trials proceed, authorities should allow journalists, human rights observers, and staff of foreign embassies in Cuba to be present at the trials, including at the one against Otero Alcántara and Castill, the organizations said.

For more Human Rights Watch reporting in Cuba, please visit: https://www.hrw.org/americas/cuba

For more Amnesty International reporting in Cuba, please visit: https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/americas/central-america-and-the-caribbean/cuba/

For more information, please contact:

For Human Rights Watch, in Montevideo, Tamara Taraciuk Broner (English, Spanish, Portuguese): taracit@hrw.org. Twitter: @TamaraTaraciuk

For Human Rights Watch, in Berlin, Juan Pappier (English, Spanish): pappiej@hrw.org.

For Amnesty International, in Mexico City, Duncan Tucker (English, Spanish): duncan.tucker@amnesty.org

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As Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, spoke in Congress today about the use of Pegasus spyware by Spain’s intelligence services (the CNI), to spy on political figures, Amnesty International have called on authorities to urgently review the regulations to limit covert surveillance of communications.

They have also published ten recommendations aimed at finding out the details of what happened, establish remedy and accountability measures for the victims of human rights violations and prevent future arbitrary and mass surveillance.

“The intelligence services have to respect human rights standards,” said Esteban Beltrán, Director of Amnesty International Spain.

“While there is greater control in criminal cases, in this type of investigation carried out by the secret services, regulations to prevent abuses are very weak. There is risk that they can act with total impunity.”

The ten measures published today include:

• the need for a thorough, independent and effective investigation into the situation the Pegasus Project revealed and active collaboration with current or future judicial processes in this case;
• the need for the government to stick to its commitment to suspend the use of these surveillance instruments until they can establish an adequate regulatory framework that respects human rights;
• urgent legal changes that increase judicial control of CNI investigations and the defense of those under investigation, as well as the modification of the Official Secrets Law so that possible abuses and violations of human rights cannot be protected under the secrecy considerations.

Amnesty International is calling for an exhaustive, independent and effective investigation into the cases of surveillance of Catalan and Basque figures, including the opening of a commission whose findings are made available to the ad hoc Commission of the European Parliament on infringements of European Union law and fundamental rights associated with the use of Pegasus.

“The impunity of this surveillance also highlights once again the need to increase control and legal and operational safeguards in surveillance operations,” said Esteban Beltrán.

“Governments around the world have not done enough to investigate or stop human rights violations caused by invasive spyware like Pegasus. The use, sale and transfer of this surveillance technology must be temporarily stopped to prevent further human rights abuses.”

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