Schlagwort: Amnesty International

On Wednesday, 18 May, the National Criminal Sentencing Court in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, is scheduled to announce the sentence imposed on David Castillo, former manager of the company Desarrollos Energéticos and in charge of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project, who was convicted nine months ago as a co-author of the killing of human rights defender Berta Cáceres in 2016. 

“Knowing the punishment handed down on those who participated in the heinous crime against Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres is a key moment in the search for truth, justice and reparation for her family, who have endured a wait of more than six years for this. The Honduran authorities must show themselves equal to the task and ensure that the sentence, including its implementation, is in line with the highest human rights standards, ensuring that Berta’s killing does not go unpunished,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. 

“Unfortunately, this process does not end here. Around the world, the wait continues to know the full truth about the killing of Berta Cáceres so that all those responsible can be held accountable. Berta Cáceres’ case must set a precedent for access to justice for human rights defenders in Honduras who continue to lose their lives in order to save our planet.”

Knowing the punishment handed down on those who participated in the heinous crime against Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres is a key moment in the search for truth, justice and reparation for her family, who have endured a wait of more than six years for this

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Further information

On 2 March 2016, Berta Cáceres, a courageous defender of the environment and Indigenous rights, was shot dead by armed men in her home in Intibucá, Honduras. She was the coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) and campaigned against the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam project and the impact it would have on the territory of the Lenca Indigenous people. 

Human rights defenders in Honduras continue be attacked with impunity. Killings are the biggest danger faced by environmental defenders in the country, which, according to Global Witness has the world’s second-highest homicide rate per capita. The start of 2022 has been particularly deadly for environmental defenders in Honduras, with two activists found dead in January.

Amnesty International has also documented threats, including disappearances, targeting environmentalists. Today, the whereabouts of four members of the Garifuna Indigenous community belonging to the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH), who have been missing since July 2020, remain unknown.

Despite the seriousness of the attacks on these defenders, Honduras has not yet signed the Escazú Agreement, the first environmental human rights treaty in Latin America and the Caribbean, which obliges signatory states to protect environmental defenders and entered into force on 22 April 2021.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Duncan Tucker: duncan.tucker@amnesty.org

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Responding to the news that a Qatar court sentenced three activists, including the lawyers Hazza and Rashed Ali Hazza Salem Abu Shurayda, to life in prison on 10 May for protesting against a discriminatory election law, and sentenced one other to 15 years in prison, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“The sentencing of Hazza and Rashed Ali Hazza Salem Abu Shurayda — and Mohammed Rashed Hassan Nasser al-Ajami in absentia — to life in prison is extremely concerning and it sends a chilling message to the activist community that dissenting views will not be tolerated.

“In a closed-door trial, the court sentenced these four activists to appalling prison terms on bogus charges of inciting violence, when they had simply exercised their right to peaceful protest. Their convictions and sentences must be quashed.

“It is baffling that the Qatari authorities would punish these men while attempting to improve their human rights reputation before the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Instead of locking away state critics, the authorities must respect the basic and inalienable rights of all of their residents. They should also heed the protesters’ call to amend the country’s discriminatory electoral laws.”

Background

After the Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani ratified Law No. 6, which covers elections to the Shura Council, on 29 July 2021, protests erupted near Doha on 7 August 2021. The demonstrators expressed frustration at the law, which discriminates against members of the Al Murra tribe by excluding thousands of them from voting or running in the election. The Al Murra tribe have long suffered discrimination across a range of basic rights, including access to education, employment and health care.

On May 10, the Qatari Criminal Court of First Instance convicted the four men, two of them in absentia, on charges related to contesting laws ratified by the Emir, “threatening” the Emir on social media, compromising the independence of the state, organizing unauthorized public meetings, and “violating” social values online.

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Responding to North Korean state media declaring a “maximum national emergency” after the country’s first officially reported Covid-19 outbreak, Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher Boram Jang said:

“There is no evidence to show that North Korea has access to enough vaccines to protect its population from Covid-19. Yet, it has rejected millions of doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines offered by the WHO-led COVAX program, a global Covid-19 vaccine distribution mechanism which requires transparent distribution and monitoring.

“With the first official news of a Covid-19 outbreak in the country, continuing on this path could cost many lives and would be an unconscionable dereliction of upholding the right to health.

“It is vital that the government acts now to protect the right to health of one of the world’s populations with lowest access to vaccines and one of its most fragile health systems. That means providing access to vaccines without discrimination and guaranteeing a transparent vaccine distribution plan which is subject to public scrutiny.

“The North Korean government should immediately establish plans to secure Covid-19 vaccines for its population by cooperating with the international community.

“It must also ensure that all emergency measures taken to combat Covid-19, such as lockdowns, are reasonable and proportionate – meaning as limited as possible. They should not be abused, and should be lifted as soon as they are no longer necessary for protecting public health.”

Background

The Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Thursday 12 May that people in Pyongyang had tested positive for the BA.2 subvariant of the Omicron variant of the virus. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un declared a “maximum national emergency” and ordered nationwide lockdowns to block transmission of the virus.

North Korea rejected millions of doses of AstraZeneca and Sinovac vaccines offered in 2021 by the WHO-led COVAX program. Russia also offered North Korea Covid vaccines twice, but North Korea turned them down.

Leader Kim Jong-un previously claimed the country had not recorded a single case of Covid-19 since it closed its borders at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

In a 2019 study of the ability of national healthcare systems to deal with an epidemic, which was conducted by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security, North Korea ranked 193 of 195 countries in its capability to cope with a healthcare crisis.

Twenty-five million people in North Korea are potentially at grave risk from the virus as the vast majority of its population remains without access to Covid-19 vaccines.

All people have a right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, which includes equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.

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The Israeli authorities must immediately release Amal Nakhleh, who was arrested aged 17 and has since been held without charge or trial for 16 months, and end their use of administrative detention against Palestinians, Amnesty International said today ahead of an upcoming hearing on his case.

Amal Nakhleh has been detained since 21 January 2021 on the basis of secret evidence reviewed in military courts. His detention forms part of the Israeli authorities’ widespread and systematic use of arbitrary arrest, administrative detention and torture against Palestinians, including children.

These acts of repression, which are part of Israel’s policy of domination and control over the Palestinian population, are flagrant violations of the country’s obligations under international human rights law, and constitute the crime against humanity of apartheid.

“The experience of Amal Nakhleh and his family is emblematic of how Palestinians experience life under Israel’s apartheid. Israel uses administrative detention against Palestinians to maintain this cruel system, which privileges Jewish Israelis and denies Palestinians their basic rights,” said Saleh Higazi, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“Amal Nakhleh must be immediately released. The authorities must end their repression of Palestinians, and the international community must ensure that Israel is held accountable for the crime against humanity of apartheid.”

On 25 January 2021, an Israeli military court judge approved a six-month administrative detention order against Amal Nakhleh on the basis of information that was not shared with his lawyer or family. After his lawyer appealed, the sentence was reduced to four months. Since then, Israeli military court judges have approved three additional four-month administrative detention orders. The latest detention order, issued on 13 January 2022, is due to expire on 13 May 2022, but could be renewed for a fifth time, as there is no limit to how many times administrative detentions can be extended. Israel’s military courts consistently fail to meet international fair trial standards.

Amal Nakhleh’s father told Amnesty International: “We are on edge. There could be a detention renewal order at any minute, up until the last moment, like it happened last time. It feels like a game of nerves. They gave us a visiting date to see Amal in prison on 18 May. But that’s not where we want to see him. We want to see him at home.”

Amal Nakhleh is currently being held in Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank. If his detention order is not renewed, he could return home by 17 May 2022.

Amnesty International is calling on the Israeli authorities to release Nakhleh and other Palestinians held in administrative detention as a first step towards ending the crime against humanity of apartheid.

Amal Nakhleh suffers from myasthenia gravis, a chronic autoimmune neuromuscular disorder that causes muscle weakness, affecting breathing and swallowing. His condition requires continuous medical treatment, and his symptoms are aggravated by tiredness and stress.

His father added: “Amal is not well. He can barely swallow or speak. When I last saw him in February, he asked me: ‘Dad, do you think they’ll let me out?’ What could I tell him? What is our analysis of a system that is arbitrary, cruel and punishing?”

“The Israeli government must immediately release Amal Nakhleh so that he can return to his education and receive the medical care he needs. Keeping him detained in these appalling conditions amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” said Saleh Higazi.

Background

On 15 December 2021, the UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion on Amal Nakhleh’s case, which determined that his detention was arbitrary on several grounds. The Israeli government did not cooperate with the UN group, despite repeated calls to do so.

Israel is currently holding at least 550 Palestinians in administrative detention, according to Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer. The detainees have protested against Israel’s use of military courts.   

On 7 March 2022, Salah Hammouri, a human rights defender and lawyer for Addameer, which has been labelled a “terrorist” organization by the Israeli minister of defence as part of an attack on the Palestinian civil society, was placed under administrative detention for three months.

In March 2022, the UN Human Rights Committee called on Israel to “immediately put an end to the widespread practice of arbitrary arrests and detention, including administrative detention, of Palestinians, in particular children.” It also stressed that Palestinian detainees, including those held in administrative detention, should be provided with all legal and procedural safeguards, including the right to be informed of the reason for their arrest and detention, granted access to legal counsel and brought promptly before a judge.

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As leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet in the United States for a two-day summit, Amnesty International urges them to spotlight the violence and human rights violations in Myanmar.  

“The Five-Point Consensus is a failure and did not stop the Myanmar military from perpetrating more human rights violations against the Myanmar people following the 2021 military coup,” Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, said. 

“The ASEAN must concede that the human rights violations in Myanmar have now become a regional concern. The Myanmar military’s violence against its own people has not only made people feel unsafe but it has also led to the deterioration of the country’s economy. Right now, thousands of people are fleeing or attempting to flee to neighboring countries like Thailand and Malaysia not only to seek safety, but also to find work and feed their families. 

“ASEAN Member States should formulate a more detailed blueprint to hold Myanmar’s military accountable for human rights violations and address urgent needs, including committing to non-refoulement of refugees fleeing violence, facilitating desperately needed humanitarian assistance, and adding their voices to calls for a global arms embargo. ASEAN Member States should also act bilaterally to achieve these goals if consensus within the bloc cannot be reached. 

“As host of the summit, the Biden administration should center discussions on the ongoing human rights violations in Myanmar and in the region more broadly. The regional trends we’ve seen in recent years – escalating repression, constraints on civil society, and intolerance for political dissent – are antithetical to the free and open Indo-Pacific to which the US government is purportedly committed to supporting and will never be realized if human rights are ignored.” 

Background: 

Almost all leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are expected to attend the 12-13 May summit in Washington, which will mark 45 years of US-ASEAN relations. 

Myanmar’s Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in the 1 February, 2021 coup, was not invited as part of efforts to distance the bloc from the senior general, who has not implemented the Five-Point Consensus he agreed to in April 2021.  

The Consensus was mainly aimed at stopping the violence against protesters, supplying humanitarian aid, and increasing dialogue. Since it was adopted, the situation in Myanmar has further spiraled out of control. Since the start of this coup, Myanmar’s military has killed more than 1,800 people, according to one monitoring group, and detained more than 10,000.  

Armed resistance groups have also sprung up in response to the bloody crackdown, while peaceful protests, though much smaller than at the beginning of the coup, have continued despite grave risks. 

Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was ousted in the pre-dawn hours of the coup, has been hit with an array of bogus charges and convictions, as have many of her allies. 

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