Responding to the Human Rights Council’s adoption of a resolution recognizing the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, Amnesty International’s Law and Policy Director Ashfaq Khalfan said:

“This resolution brings hope in the context of widespread and increasing climate disasters, and is a milestone moment in the battle against environmental degradation. With the adoption of this resolution, the HRC has finally acknowledged that the enjoyment of human rights depends on the environment we live in. When the planet suffers, so do we, and all over the world environmental degradation is robbing people of their rights.

“Government failures to protect the planet, and the ongoing support for environmentally destructive industries, amount to an assault on human rights on a massive scale. We welcome the long-overdue adoption of this resolution, and now call on states to ensure it translates into real change by recognizing this right in law at a national level, and by strengthening their environmental laws and policies.

“We also welcome the adoption today of the resolution establishing the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Climate Change. Both resolutions are the result of continued efforts of a broad range of state and non-state actors, including human rights defenders from all over the world. They will both make it easier for the UN to support states in improving their performance on environmental issues.”

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Amnesty International’s “Write for Rights” campaign takes place annually around 10 December, which is Human Rights Day (commemorating the day when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in 1948). Write for Rights aims to bring about change to the lives of people or communities that have suffered or are at risk of human rights violations. Among the many actions that take place as part of Write for Rights, Amnesty raises cases of individuals, groups and communities with decisionmakers who can change the situation, gives visibility to those cases by organizing public actions, and brings international attention through media and internet exposure.

This human rights education activity can take place in a variety of settings, such as a school classroom, a community group, a family group, an activist group, online or offline. As a facilitator, you can adapt the activity to best suit the needs and context of the group you are working with. For example, you may want to consider what knowledge the group already has about the issues discussed, the size of your group and how to best organize the activity to allow for active participation, the physical setting of your activity and any limitations. When participants take action on a case, discuss with them whether it is safe for them to do so – why or why not?

The activities are all based on participatory learning methods in which learners are not merely presented with information, they explore, discuss, analyze and question issues relating to the cases. This methodology is very important for the wider learning objectives because participants will:

develop key competencies and skills

have the opportunity to form their own opinions, raise questions, and gain a deeper understanding of the issues presented.

take control of their learning, and shapes discussions according to their interests, abilities and concerns.

have the space required for them to engage emotionally and develop their own attitudes

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Women on death row have, in many cases, been denied justice for the prolonged physical and sexual violence and abuse they have suffered, which preceded and triggered the offences for which they were convicted for, Amnesty International said ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty (10 October).

“Many women have been convicted and sentenced to death in shoddy, unfair trials that have often failed to follow due process or consider mitigating factors, such as long-term abuse, violence and sexual assault,” said Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy and policy, Rajat Khosla.

“By sentencing these women to death, justice systems around the world are not only perpetuating an abhorrent and cruel punishment, they are also making women pay the price for the authorities’ failures to address discrimination. In addition, a lack of transparency around the use of the death penalty means the cases we know of are just the tip of the iceberg.”

In many cases, the failure of authorities to act on specific complaints and end discriminatory practices have created a culture of abuse that women on death row have had to endure, meaning that these women continue to be further marginalised as they move through the criminal justice system.

Noura Hussein Hamad Daoud, from Sudan, was sentenced to death in April 2017 for the murder of the man she was forced to marry at the age of 16. After she was forced to wed and move into his home three years later, the man with help of two of his brothers and a male cousin violently beat her and held her down while he raped her. Amnesty International, along with other organizations, campaigned on behalf of Noura and eventually her death sentence was commuted. Others, however, have not been as fortunate.

In 2018, Amnesty International documented the execution of a Kurdish woman Zeinab Sekaanvand in Iran. She was a child when she married, and endured years of sexual violence at the hands of her husband and brother-in-law, before being arrested at 17 on charges of murdering her husband and convicted in a grossly unfair trial.

In some countries including Ghana, the mandatory death penalty for certain crimes, such as murder, has prevented some women from raising their experience of gender-based violence and discrimination as mitigating factors at sentencing. In Malaysia, an overwhelming majority of women on death row, in particular women who are foreign nationals, are there for drug trafficking, for which the death penalty is mandatory.

Until every country has abolished the death penalty, we will not stop campaigning for its end. Together we can help to consign this cruel punishment to the history books forever”

Rajat Khosla

“By the end of last year, 108 countries had fully abolished the death penalty. Thankfully the world is moving away from the idea that states have the power to deny the right to life. But until every country has abolished the death penalty, we will not stop campaigning for its end. Together we can help to consign this cruel punishment to the history books forever,” said Rajat Khosla.

On World Day Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International is calling for people to take action and support a legislative proposal to abolish the death penalty in Ghana for most crimes. The organization is asking people to show their support by writing to Ghana’s Speaker of Parliament or Minister of Justice; spreading the word online using #Ghanavoteforabolition; and reaching out to their own member of parliament.

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Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal has today ruled that Polish law takes primacy over EU law, and breaches of EU law in Poland can no longer be referred to the EU Court of Justice, by Polish courts. Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office said:

“This is another dark day for justice in Poland. With this ruling the court has effectively ruled that Polish law supersedes EU law, and challenged the EU’s ability to protect human rights and the rule of law within member states. The ruling is part of a wider struggle over independence of the judiciary in Poland.”

Eve Geddie Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office

The EU Court has played an important role in safeguarding Polish judges against a mounting attack on judicial independence.

“With the move to brazenly sidestep the EU Court and the protection it offers, Poland has steered itself on a collision course with the European Union. The EU and member states must take urgent legal, political and financial action and make clear that these fundamental principles are not open to negotiation or gamesmanship,” said Eve Geddie.

For more information contact

Alison Abrahams on alison.abrahams@amnesty.org or +32 483 680 812

Out of hours contact details

+44 20 7413 5566 email: press@amnesty.org  twitter: @amnestypress 

BACKGROUND

The ruling was issued in response to the query of the Prime Minister of Poland, who asked the Constitutional Tribunal to examine the compliance of provisions of the Treaty on EU, in particular the principle of primacy of EU law, with the Polish Constitution.

However, the independence of the Constitutional Tribunal itself has been questioned by the European institutions as well as the European Court of Human Rights. Today’s ruling was delivered by a full bench of the Constitutional Tribunal, including irregularly appointed judges. As such, it did not meet the requirements of an independent court.

On 15 July, the EU Court held that the disciplinary regime for judges in Poland is not compatible with EU law and asked Poland to take the measures necessary to rectify the situation.

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• Togolese activist targeted with spyware by the Donot Team hacker group.
• Amnesty International exposes links between the Donot Team attacks and Innefu Labs, a cybersecurity company based in India.
• First time Donot Team publicly linked to cyberattacks targeting activists outside of South Asia.
• Spyware-loaded emails and fake Android applications could access device’s camera and microphone, steal photos and files, and read WhatsApp messages.

Activists in Togo risk being targeted by shadowy cyber-mercenaries who use covert digital attacks to try and steal victims’ private information to sell to private clients, a new Amnesty International investigation has uncovered.

In a new report released today, Amnesty International reveals how fake Android applications and spyware-loaded emails tied to the notorious Donot Team hacker group were used to target a prominent Togolese human rights defender in an attempt to put them under unlawful surveillance. The discovery is the first time Donot Team spyware was found in attacks outside of South Asia. The investigation also discovered links between the spyware and infrastructure used in these attacks, and Innefu Labs, a cybersecurity company based in India.

Across the world, cyber-mercenaries are unscrupulously cashing in on the unlawful surveillance of human rights defenders

Danna Ingleton, Deputy Director of Amnesty Tech

The Togolese activist, who wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons, has a history of working with civil society organizations and is an essential voice for human rights in the country. Their devices were targeted between December 2019 and January 2020, during a tense political climate ahead of the 2020 Togolese presidential election.

“Across the world, cyber-mercenaries are unscrupulously cashing in on the unlawful surveillance of human rights defenders,” said Danna Ingleton, Deputy Director of Amnesty Tech.

“Anyone can be a target – attackers living hundreds of miles away can hack your phone or computer, watch where you go and who you talk to, and sell your private information to repressive governments and criminals.”

The persistent attacks over WhatsApp and email tried to trick the victim into installing a malicious application that masqueraded as a secure chat application. The application was in fact a piece of custom Android spyware designed to extract some of the most sensitive and personal information stored on the activist’s phone.

The spyware would have enabled attackers to access the camera and microphone, collect photos and files stored on the device, and even read encrypted WhatsApp messages as they are being sent and received. The covert nature of such attacks makes it extremely difficult for activists to detect whether their devices have been compromised.

“Having realized that this was an attempt at digital espionage, I felt in danger. I can’t believe that my work could be so disturbing to some people that they would try to spy on me. I am not the only one working for human rights in Togo. Why me?”, the Togo-based human rights defender told Amnesty International.

Amnesty International’s investigation uncovered a trail of technical evidence left by the attackers which identified links between the attack infrastructure and an Indian-based, Innefu Labs. The company which advertises digital security, data analytics, and predictive policing services to law enforcement and armed forces and claims to work with the Indian government.  Innefu Labs does not have a human rights policy and does not appear to carry out human rights due diligence – despite the enormous risks their products pose to civil society.  Amnesty International has observed additional evidence of Donot Team attacks against organizations and individuals across Asia, mostly concentrated in the north of India, Pakistan and Kashmir.

Activists under attack

The space for human rights work in Togo has been shrinking – in 2019, the year preceding the presidential election, Amnesty International documented the adoption of laws curtailing the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and cases of human rights violations committed by authorities, particularly against pro-democracy activists.    

Several religious and opposition political figures in Togo have reportedly been targeted with digital surveillance tools. In August 2020, The Guardian and Citizen Lab revealed that two Catholic clergy members, Bishop Benoît Alowonou and Father Pierre Chanel Affognon had been targeted using a NSO Group-linked WhatsApp vulnerability.

The Pegasus Project, coordinated by Forbidden Stories with the technical support of Amnesty International’s Security Lab, earlier this year revealed that hundreds of Togolese numbers were listed as potential targets of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. Those on the list included independent journalists and members of political opposition groups.

The threat of targeted surveillance, whether real or not, can inflict a huge psychological toll on activists and cause a devastating chilling effect on their human rights work. Little is known about the wild-west cyber surveillance industry, despite Amnesty International’s and other civil society’s repeated requests for more transparency, and even less is known about the flourishing hacker-for-hire industry.

“The surveillance industry is out of control with companies and cyber-mercenaries alike operating entirely in the shadows.”

“Surveillance companies must stop putting profit over people and ensure repressive regimes are not using their technology to put a stranglehold on civil society,” said Danna Ingleton.

Amnesty International is calling on:

• Innefu Labs to publish in full the findings of an external audit the company commissioned into links between its spyware tools and infrastructure used in the attack against the Togo activist. The company must also implement a human rights policy.
• The Indian government to investigate cyberattacks linked to Innefu Labs and take urgent action to ensure India-based surveillance companies are not involved in the targeting of activists – which is unambiguously illegal under international human rights law.
• The Togolese government to ensure that everyone, including activists, is protected from human rights abuses, and to investigate and redress any harm caused by cyberattacks carried out by private sector actors.

In a written response to Amnesty International, Innefu Labs denied “the existence of any link whatsoever between Innefu Labs and the spyware tools associated with the ‘Donot Team’” and the attack against the human rights activist in Togo. Innefu Labs also stated that they are not aware of any use of their IP address for the alleged activities.

There is no evidence to suggest Innefu Labs had a direct involvement or knowledge of the targeting of the human rights defender in Togo using the Donot Team spyware tools. The activity linked to the Donot Team may involve multiple distinct actors or organisations with access to the same custom spyware toolset and shared infrastructure.

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