Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Following yesterday’s military coup in Guinea, in which soldiers from the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (CNRD) seized power and detained President Alpha Condé, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Director Samira Daoud said:

“We call on CNRD leaders to protect and guarantee the human rights of Guinea’s entire population, which has suffered years of violations and repression.

“Many political opponents and protesters were arrested before and after last October’s presidential election. All those arbitrarily detained must be released.

“Coup leaders must also clarify on which legal basis they are detaining President Alpha Condé. He must either be charged with a recognizable criminal offence or be immediately released.”

Background

Heavy gunfire broke out around the presidential palace in Conakry on the morning of 5 September 2021. CNRD soldiers, led by Lt Col. Mamady Doumbouya, arrested President Alpha Condé and appeared on national television to announce the coup.

Doumbouya later stated that President Condé “is in a safe place and has seen a doctor”. Coup leaders also dissolved Guinea’s constitution, suspended all institutions including the government, ordered a curfew, and closed all borders.

President Alpha Condé has been in power since December 2010. During his rule, a raft of human rights violations has been committed, including bans on peaceful assemblies, Internet shutdown, use of excessive force resulting in protesters being killed and injured, and scores of arbitrary arrests of opposition and civil society activists.

In a 2020 report, Amnesty International documented the killing of at least 50 people during demonstrations against the constitutional reform initiated and implemented by the authorities in 2019 and 2020. Nearly 200 other people were injured, and opponents have been arbitrarily arrested and detained, simply for having exercised their right to freedom of expression or peaceful assembly.

In another 2019 report, Amnesty International documented the killing during protests of 70 protesters and bystanders and at least three members of the security forces, between January 2015 and October 2019.

We call on CNRD leaders to protect and guarantee the human rights of Guinea’s entire population, which has suffered years of violations and repression.

Samira Daoud, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Director

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The Lebanese authorities’ failure to resolve a catastrophic fuel crisis has crippled people’s daily lives and left hospitals hanging by a thread, said Amnesty International today. The organization is calling on the authorities to uphold economic and social rights in their response and prioritize the redistribution of fuel to hospitals and other healthcare facilities, which have been on the brink of collapse.

Hundreds of patients, including new-born babies on ventilators and other lifesaving medical devices risk dying if hospitals run out of fuel. With a thriving black market, smuggling and fuel-hoarding diverting supplies away from life-critical services, it is equally imperative for the authorities to take immediate steps to hold perpetrators to account.

“The Lebanese authorities cannot continue to stand by and watch people’s lives being devastated by the fuel crisis leaving it to private initiatives or NGOs to address crucial humanitarian needs. People’s health and lives have been put on the line as hospitals have drastically cut back operations,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“The authorities must urgently prioritize health facilities and other life-critical services by redistributing seized fuel stocks to them and implementing court orders ordering them to do so. They must also tackle the thriving black market by blocking smuggling channels, seizing illegal hoarded fuel and holding perpetrators to account.”

The authorities must urgently prioritize health facilities and other life-critical services by redistributing seized fuel stocks to them and implementing court orders ordering them to do so

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

On 11 August, Lebanon’s Central Bank (BDL) announced it could not continue to subsidize fuel imports, causing gasoline and diesel prices to skyrocket and prompting immediate critical shortages of both on the market. On 22 August, the government announced a 66% increase in gasoline prices – a partial reduction of fuel subsidies – in an attempt to ease the crippling shortages that have brought the country to a standstill.

The shortage of fuel availability on the market has been exacerbated by smuggling of fuel across the border to Syria and hoarding to sell at black market rates. This was confirmed by a BDL communique on 14 August, which stated that BDL had spent more than $828 million on fuel imports in July- enough to cover Lebanon’s power supply for three months. $708 million was allocated for the import of gasoline and diesel and $120 million for the fuel consumption of the state-owned Electricité Du Liban (EDL).  In the same statement, the bank acknowledged fuel had been hoarded and smuggled and was not reaching “households, hospitals and food industries”.

Hospitals grapple with fuel shortage

Throughout August, military and security forces announced they had confiscated millions of litres of gasoline and diesel that had been hoarded or stored in preparation for smuggling. Yet hospital directors at three of Lebanon’s largest hospitals confirmed to Amnesty International the health sector was surviving day to day – unable to secure enough fuel to sustain operations for even for one month.

In August, the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), Rafic Hariri University Hospital (RHUH), and Al Makassed Hospital, issued public distress calls appealing to the government and international agencies for fuel. They said that the fuel crisis had severely damaged their operations and placed their patients’ lives at risk. Despite this, the authorities have failed to ensure they have access to sufficient supplies.

Dr Firas Abiad, the Director-General of RHUH, Lebanon’s largest public hospital, explained to Amnesty International that, the hospital used to receive 20 hours of power from the state per day and relied on seven generators during the remaining four hours. Over the past month this has dropped as low as just four hours per day – and at one stage stopped completely leaving the hospital continuously reliant on generators that are not designed to run non-stop. Although they have received some sporadic deliveries of fuel from the army it is not enough to sustain their operations leaving them reliant on donations from UN organizations.

Dr Joseph Otayek, the Director of AUBMC, told Amnesty International that although a judge had ordered 5,000 liters of confiscated fuel to be delivered to the hospital, they have not received any fuel supply from the army or Internal Security. He said the hospital requires 50,000 litres for its daily operations.

On 17 August, Judge Abir Safa had ordered Al Nahr Police Station to deliver 10 thousand liters of fuel confiscated by the authorities to RHUH and AUBMC, 5,000 liters each, at the subsidized price.

“The Lebanese authorities’ failure to comply with a court ruling ordering confiscated fuel to be delivered to all hospitals is shocking. The authorities must do everything within their power to ensure that supplies of fuel seized by security forces are distributed to ahospitals and other critical services to allow them to operate in a sustainable manner,” said Heba Morayef. 

Two senior doctors at RHUH told Amnesty International on 23 August that 10 patients in the intensive care unit and at least 21 newborns living on ventilators and incubators were at risk of dying if hospital operations are interrupted due to fuel shortages.

Dr Firas Abiad said staff were “working in almost war conditions” and many were unable to make it to work due to the gas shortage. “Soon I’ll find myself facing a tough decision: should I close our emergency rooms?” he said.

AUBMC warned in statement on 14 August that in case of a forced shutdown caused by the fuel shortage 40 adult patients and 15 children living on respirators would die immediately, 180 requiring dialysis would die after a few days and hundreds of others in subsequent weeks. The hospital’s director said they “survive on the hope of receiving day-by-day supplies from private donors and companies”.

Dr Mohammed Badr, Director of al-Makassed Hospital in Beirut, told Amnesty International that the hospital had stopped elective surgery three months ago and has been forced to shut two out of three floors, including COVID-19 and paediatric care units and to end free treatment for poorer patients. He said a quarter of hospital staff have been unable to reach the hospital due to the petrol shortage. “We are hitting rock bottom and have been left alone to face this inhumane condition,” he said.

Tackling fuel smuggling and hoarding

The Lebanese authorities’ failure to hold anyone account for the smuggling and flourishing black-market trade which involves hoarding of large quantities of fuel in unsafe conditions has had tragic consequences.

To date, dozens people have been killed or injured due to explosions from dangerously stockpiled fuel in residential areas  

On 15 August, a fuel tank explosion in Tleil village, in the northern district of Akkar, killed at least 31 people and injured dozens with the unofficial death toll still rising.

The explosion occurred after the Lebanese army had begun to distribute fuel they had seized to local residents. The army arrested the owners of the tank and the land and announced a military investigation. On 26 August, the military prosecutor charged three people for hoarding dangerous material and endangering lives.

Amnesty International is calling on the Lebanese authorities to refer the investigation to the civil judicial system to ensure an independent and impartial investigation into the incident. “It should not take a deadly tragedy like the Akkar explosion for the Lebanese authorities to take action on fuel hoarding. The authorities must investigate the full market chain and hold accountable all those involved in smuggling or hoarding, regardless of rank or status to send a clear message that fuel hoarding will not be tolerated,” said Heba Morayef.

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The Pakistani authorities must ensure a thorough, independent, and impartial inquiry into allegations that excessive force was used by the Punjab Police against doctors and medical students protesting a new qualification exam last month, said Amnesty International, after reviewing video footage of the protests.

Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that dozens of police officers baton-charged, used water cannons, and an irritant spray to clear peaceful demonstrators at separate demonstrations in Lahore on 27 and 30 August. At least 20 protestors were reported to have been hospitalized following the incidents. Video footage reviewed by Amnesty International appears to show heavy-handed use of batons by police which may amount to excessive and illegal use of force.

“Attacking peaceful protestors who present no threat of violence with excessive force is grotesque, punitive, and a violation of the right to peaceful assembly,” said Rimmel Mohydin, South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International.

Health workers have been on the frontlines of the pandemic, and at a time when they must be provided with support and resources, they are being attacked and sent to the hospital as patients

Rimmel Mohydin, Amnesty International's South Asia Campaigner

“Health workers have been on the frontlines of the pandemic, and at a time when they must be provided with support and resources, they are being attacked and sent to the hospital as patients. The authorities must launch an immediate investigation into these serious allegations.”

“It felt like someone had set us on fire”

According to four protestors interviewed by Amnesty International, at least 20 doctors landed in the Intensive Care Units of two hospitals in Lahore. At least two of them are reported to have sustained bone fractures, while many are said to have suffered burns from an irritant that was sprayed at them by the police. Some reported facing respiratory issues from inhaling the spray. Although Amnesty International has been able to verify that a spray was deployed by police, the organization has not been able to confirm what the spray contained.

Dr Mudassar Malik, 24, one of the protestors who sustained grievous injuries on Friday, 27 August, said that after being sprayed directly on his face, he couldn’t breathe and began vomiting. He was rushed to the hospital by emergency services. “I could not open my eyes, it felt like someone had stuck needles in them,” he said.

Dr Akbar Ranjha, 25, another doctor present on Sunday, 29 August, when the clashes erupted, was also sprayed in the face and has a hairline arm fracture. A fellow protestor tried to douse him with water, which made the burns worse. While the police have been quoted in media reports as saying that they used pepper spray, Dr Malik said, “We are doctors. We know that water can relieve the burns from pepper spray. This was not pepper spray. It felt like someone had set us on fire.”

Dr Mahnoor Lodhi, 23, said that the campaign against the exam had been ongoing for the last four months and had been proceeding peacefully. Present at the protest on Friday, 27 August, she was hit on the arm with a baton, before being hit by a water-cannon. “It was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Even if my physical injuries heal, I don’t know how to fix the mental trauma this has caused,” she said.

It is worrying that despite so many people sustaining injuries during the protests, no formal enquiry has been launched by the authorities into the incident even after 11 days

Rimmel Mohydin

“It is worrying that despite so many people sustaining injuries during the protests, no formal enquiry has been launched by the authorities into the incident even after 11 days. Authorities must seriously scrutinize the policing of protests. From the accounts of the victims, it is unclear if the police attempted to de-escalate tensions and use alternatives to force, to manage the situation,” said Rimmel Mohydin.

Amnesty International calls for the use of excessive force by the police to be thoroughly, immediately, and impartially investigated. If excessive force is found to have been used, the perpetrators must be held to account for violating the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, guaranteed by Pakistan’s constitution and international human rights law.

Background

The students and doctors were protesting a new compulsory exam to register with the Pakistan Medical Council, previously reserved for students who received their MBBS degrees from foreign universities.

On 6 April 2020, 53 doctors and other health workers protesting the lack of resources, personal protective equipment (PPE), and security from the government in Quetta were baton-charged, arrested, and then detained in police stations. While the doctors were released within 24 hours, it is unclear if this incident was ever investigated.

Law enforcement authorities have a duty to facilitate peaceful protests, and should not disperse a demonstrations or arrest protestors merely to regulate traffic. Under the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, police may only resort to force for a legitimate law enforcement purpose and may not use more force than what is needed to achieve this objective. If resorting to the use of force, they must minimize harm and injury, and should never cause more harm than they want to prevent. This means that they should never use weapons likely to cause injury against people who are only peacefully resisting.

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South Sudanese authorities have arrested civil society activists and a politician and closed down a radio station and an academic think-tank, signalling a new wave of repression in response to calls for peaceful protests, said Amnesty International.

The uptick in arbitrary arrests and other measures come after the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), a recently-formed umbrella group of government critics, called for peaceful country-wide protests on 30 August to force the government to step down, citing “failed leadership”.

“We are witnessing a new wave of repression emerging in South Sudan targeting the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“Peaceful protests must be facilitated rather than cracked down upon or prevented with arrests, harassment, heavy security deployment or any other punitive measures.”

“We are witnessing a new wave of repression emerging in South Sudan targeting the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

Speaking to media yesterday, the Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services said that the government “prevented it [the protest] … to have a peaceful South Sudan”,, arguing that any demonstration calling for change in leadership is not peaceful.

Arrests

In the lead-up to the planned protests, the country’s National Security Service (NSS) arrested Kuel Aguer Kuel, the former caretaker governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State and one of the PCCA’s co-founders in the capital, Juba, on 2 August. The authorities continue to hold him at Juba Central Prison  with very limited access to his family. He has been charged with five offenses against the state including subverting constitutional government; insurgency, banditry, sabotage, or terrorism; causing disaffection among police force or defence forces; publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to Southern Sudan; and undermining authority of or insulting the president. Two other co-founders, Ibrahim Awolich and Rajab Mohandis, went into hiding in fear of arrest. The authorities also closed down the Sudd Institute, a think-tank Awolich works for.

Amnesty International has documented an increase in arbitrary arrests across the country in the days leading up to the planned protests. Between 25 and 28 August, four more men were arrested in the southern town of Yei, including a bishop, on suspicion of supporting the PCCA and mobilizing people to take part in the planned protests. They are held in a Military Intelligence detention facility and were charged with treason, a crime punishable by death under South Sudanese law, and with participating in a gathering with intent to promote public violence, breaches of the peace or bigotry.

On 27 August, the NSS briefly arrested three media workers in Bor, a town north of the capital Juba. That same day in the morning, in Wau, western South Sudan, the NSS arrested three civil society members who were distributing T-shirts for a peaceful walk to raise awareness on gender-based violence before releasing them later that day. At least two other men were arrested in relation to the peaceful walk and the NSS prevented the walk from happening.

Internet shutdown

On the eve of the planned protests, Amnesty International started receiving reports about internet disruptions which lasted until late afternoon of Monday, 30 August. Graphs published by network measurement experts, alongside media reports provide strong evidence of network disruptions. The internet cut, which the Minister of Information, Communication Technology and Postal Services attributed to technical problems, ended coincidentally as soon as it was clear that the protests planned for 30 August had failed to take place. Amnesty International suspects that the internet shutdown may have been a deliberate attempt by the authorities to derail the protests.

“Internet shutdowns and disruptions adversely affect people’s ability to exercise their rights to freedom of information, expression, association and peaceful assembly. The South Sudanese authorities and internet service providers must clarify their role in the disruption,” said Deprose Muchena.

Businesses have the responsibility to respect human rights wherever they operate. If the shutdown of internet services was formally or informally ordered by South Sudan, internet providers should oppose such measures and carry out ongoing human rights due diligence to identify, prevent and mitigate the adverse human rights impacts of such a shutdown or those arising from their business relationships.

Internet shutdowns and disruptions adversely affect people’s ability to exercise their rights to freedom of information, expression, association and peaceful assembly. The South Sudanese authorities and internet service providers must clarify their role in the disruption,” said Deprose Muchena.

In the week since the aborted protests, Amnesty International has received more reports of harassment of civil society actors across the country including in Juba, Yei, Bor and Wau, with some suspecting they were being surveilled by security forces. On 1 September, a leading civil society activist reported that two of his staff members had been taken by National Security Service members following days of government surveillance of the organization’s office. The two men were released after hours of questioning.

Background

The PCCA was formed on 30 July by a group of South Sudanese politicians, civil society members, leaders of think-tanks. In its declaration, it condemns what it says are fundamental problems in South Sudan, including a lack of basic services, corruption, unemployment, lack of accountability and respect for human rights. Citing failed leadership as the cause of these problems, it is calling on the current leadership, including President Salva Kiir and Vice-President Riek Machar, to step down.

On 2 February 2021, Amnesty International published an in-depth report into unlawful and unchecked communication surveillance in South Sudan and how it is used to harass and intimidate journalists, activists, and critics, creating a climate of fear and self-censorship.

South Sudanese authorities have prevented protests in the recent past. In July 2019, arrests, threats, and heavy deployment of the military derailed protests called by the Red Card Movement in Juba, deterring protesters from taking to the streets of the capital.

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