Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Amnesty International and Fat Rat Films have today released a new documentary that highlights the ongoing struggles faced by Yezidi former child soldiers who survived abduction by the Islamic State (IS) armed group.

The 12-minute film, Captives on the Frontline: Yezidi former child soldiers who survived ISIS, explores the friendship between Vian and Barzan, two young men who were abducted as boys by IS in 2014, indoctrinated into the armed group, and forced to fight. Both escaped and are now living in northern Iraq, where the documentary was filmed last year.

“This film captures the challenges still faced by Yezidi former child soldiers, and also the friendships that have flourished in the most difficult of circumstances,” said Nicolette Waldman, Researcher on Children and Armed Conflict on Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team.

This film captures the challenges still faced by Yezidi former child soldiers, and also the friendships that have flourished in the most difficult of circumstances.

Nicolette Waldman, Researcher on Children and Armed Conflict on Amnesty International’s Crisis Response team

“Former child soldiers are routinely stigmatized, which means their harrowing experiences are frequently kept in the shadows. By bravely sharing their own stories so openly, Vian and Barzan have helped shine a light on the struggles that remain for Yezidi former child soldiers today. Many of these young men, having endured unimaginable trauma, continue to have serious physical and mental health conditions.

“To date, many Yezidi survivors have still not received adequate support for their physical health, mental health or education. Indeed, many have not received support of any kind since they returned to their communities.

“The Iraqi authorities, their international partners, and the United Nations must ensure that Yezidi former child soldiers have full access to the reparations and assistance to which they are entitled under Iraq’s Yazidi Survivors Law (2021).

“They must also work together to establish a National Action Plan mandating that all current and former child soldiers in Iraq, including Yezidi boys and young men, are reintegrated into society and provided with coordinated, specialized and long-term support.”

The documentary was made in collaboration with award-winning documentary production company Fat Rat Films, and will be available here ahead of the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers on Saturday 12 February.

IS legacy of terror

Between 2014 and 2017, IS committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, and what the UN describes as genocide against the Yezidi community in Iraq.

In July 2020, Amnesty International published a report that documented how Yezidi children who had returned to their families after being held captive by IS were facing a physical and mental health crisis. The report, Legacy of Terror: The Plight of Yezidi Child Survivors of ISIS, also addresses the urgent need to end the enforced separation of Yezidi women and their children born of sexual violence by IS members.

In November 2021, Amnesty International welcomed new regulations passed by Iraq’s parliament to implement the Yazidi Survivors Law, but warned that more work was still required in order to fully assist survivors of atrocities committed by IS.

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• Foro Penal’s arbitrary detentions database counted 1,270 arbitrary detentions in Venezuela from January 2019 to June 2021. CDJ’s stigmatization acts database counted around 350 acts in the same period.

• Within this period, the most common sources of stigmatization were “Con el Mazo Dando”, “Misión Verdad” and “Lechuguinos”.

• Many sources of stigmatization are state-financed media outlets, some are reproduced on official public websites, and others share the same columnists as the aforementioned outlets.

• The Bolivarian National Guard had a prominent role in carrying out arbitrary detentions in 2019 and 2020.

• The Directorate General of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) was one of the two security forces that carried out the most arbitrary detentions in 2019, 2020 and the first half of 2021.

• The Bolivarian National Police’s Special Action Forces (FAES) became the security force that carried the most arbitrary detentions in 2021, up from the fifth most in 2019 and the third most in 2020.

• In 2019 the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by the intelligence services DGCIM and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) reached 74%.

• In 2020 the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by security forces under the Bolivarian National Police (including FAES) reached 92%.

• Between January and June 2021, the correlation observed between stigmatization and the arbitrary detentions carried out by decentralized security forces – the Bolivarian National Police, FAES, PNB, municipal police forces and Scientific, Criminal and Criminal Investigations Corps – reached 92%.

• At least during 2019, courts with jurisdiction over terrorism were used more frequently to prosecute those arbitrarily detained for political reasons, and there was a correlation of 68% between these cases and the stigmatization carried out by “Misión Verdad”.

• There was a correlation of 65% between the actions of the military courts and the stigmatization driven by “Con El Mazo Dando”, during the entire period analyzed and especially when military security forces carried out the arbitrary detentions. This correlation reached 94% in 2020.

• Repression peaked in specific periods when human rights violations were reported to international organizations, as well as announcements by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Independent International Mission for Venezuela and the International Criminal Court, with correlations ranging between 70% and 88%.

The post Facts and figures: Calculated repression in Venezuela appeared first on Amnesty International.

The policy of repression in Venezuela has been based on the coordination of attacks and stigmatizing messages broadcast by media with links to Nicolás Maduro’s government and politically motivated arbitrary arrests by the security forces under his command, with a marked pattern of political discrimination, concludes new research published today by Amnesty International in conjunction with the Foro Penal and the Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia (CDJ).

“The world has known for years about the policy of repression that Nicolás Maduro’s government has put in place. Our research shows that there are instances where there is an extremely high correlation between public stigmatization and politically motivated arbitrary arrests. This correlation is a new indicator of a systematic policy of repression and points to the crime against humanity of persecution, which must be investigated by the international justice system,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

The research for the report, Calculated Repression: Correlation between stigmatization and arbitrary detentions in Venezuela, was conducted for over a year, in collaboration with Foro Penal and the CDJ, two human rights organizations based in Caracas. Different statistical models were applied to the records of both organizations covering the period between January 2019 and June 2021, including Pearson’s correlation and other descriptive analytics such as evolutionary analysis and percentage frequency distribution. The statistical models were validated by a peer review process.

The world has known for years about the policy of repression that Nicolás Maduro’s government has put in place. Our research shows that there are instances where there is an extremely high correlation between public stigmatization and politically motivated arbitrary arrests

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

Marianna Romero, Director General of the CDJ, stated that they “documented how the stigmatization campaigns have been the basis of the policy of repression and criminalization in Venezuela. From the highest levels of the state, the system has been designed to discredit, accuse, threaten and target those who defend, promote and demand respect for human rights, through public statements, the media and social, personal and institutional networks. This research clearly shows how this stigmatization is based on the rationale that there is an enemy within and results in manifestations of acts of violence and persecution by the state”.

The study revealed a correlation between politically motivated arbitrary arrests, carried out by state security officials, and stigmatization, carried out by various media outlets. This analysis showed that, while in 2019 the general correlation between both variables was 29%, in 2020 it increased to 42% and in the first half of 2021 it reached 77%.

The annual correlations between arbitrary arrests and stigmatization also vary in relation to the different security forces involved in the arrests. In 2019, there is a greater correlation (74%) with arrests by intelligence agencies (Military Counter-Intelligence General Directorate, DGCIM, and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, SEBIN). In 2020 the correlation is greater (92%) with arrests by the units under the command of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB), including the Special Action Forces (FAES). And in 2021 the correlation is highest with civil and decentralized bodies, such as the FAES, municipal police forces and the Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations Corps (CICPC), where the correlation between arrest and stigmatization is 92%.

Another significant finding was the high correlation (94%) observed from January 2019 to June 2021, between the stigmatization by the television programme “Con El Mazo Dando” and politically motivated arbitrary arrests carried out by a military security body and prosecuted in the military courts.

There is no doubt that there is a close relationship between agents of the Venezuelan state, public and private media outlets, and attacks against human rights defenders, which should not go unpunished

Gonzalo Himiob, director of Foro Penal

The qualitative dimension of the research includes analysis of the phenomena of stigmatization, politically motivated arbitrary arrests, the nature and functioning of media outlets linked to the government — many of which receive public funding — and the socio-political context in the country during the period covered by the study. All this was compared against international human rights standards and international criminal law, leading to the conclusion that the patterns of stigmatization suggest the existence of political persecution.

“According to the results obtained, there is no doubt that there is a close relationship between agents of the Venezuelan state, public and private media outlets, and attacks against human rights defenders, which should not go unpunished”, said Gonzalo Himiob, Director of Foro Penal.

The organizations involved call on the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to consider including in its investigation into crimes against humanity in Venezuela the facts set out in this research, with a view to determining key actors, specific cases and possible participants in the crimes against humanity of arbitrary deprivation of liberty and persecution. They also call on the international community to continue supporting the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission in its mandate to contribute to accountability for human rights violations in Venezuela since 2014.

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

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Today the sentencing court in Trujillo, in the department of Colón, northern Honduras, found six of the eight prisoners of conscience known as the “Guapinol eight”, José Daniel Márquez, Kelvin Alejandro Romero, José Abelino Cedillo, Porfirio Sorto Cedillo, Ewer Alexander Cedillo, Orbin Nahún Hernández, guilty of the crimes of illegal deprivation of liberty and aggravated damages against the contractor of the company Inversiones Los Pinares (ILP), and simple and aggravated damages against ILP. The sentences will be determined on 21 February. The other defendants Arnol Javier Alemán and Jeremías Martínez Díaz were acquitted and should be released immediately. 

“This verdict is outrageous and goes against Honduras’ obligations to guarantee the right to defend human rights. It must be overturned immediately. We will not stop demanding this of the authorities until all of the Guapinol defenders are immediately and unconditionally released,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.  

The Honduran authorities must stop using the justice system to criminalize, intimidate and harass human rights defenders

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

“It’s extremely serious that, despite the lack of diligence in the investigations by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, six of the Guapinol prisoners of conscience are facing prison sentences. The defenders are victims of arbitrary detention and unfounded criminal prosecution, stemming solely from their legitimate work defending the right to water and a healthy environment in Honduras.” 

“The Honduran authorities must stop using the justice system to criminalize, intimidate and harass human rights defenders.” 

Further information 

Amnesty International recognized the eight defenders as prisoners of conscience after reviewing the available evidence, including the criminal proceedings against the Guapinol eight and videos related to the case, and having spoken to witnesses as well as the Honduran human rights community.   

The organization sent a letter to the Honduran Attorney General after the trial began on 1 December 2021, expressing concern about serious irregularities in the investigation and prosecution of the Guapinol eight. Amnesty International believes that the eight prisoners of conscience were detained solely for their work defending the right to clean water and a healthy environment, and that the criminal charges against them, as well as their prolonged pre-trial detention, are unjustified and constitute a misuse of the justice system.  

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

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