Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Reacting to the reported deaths of at least 22 people and injuries to more than 100 others, including children, in the ongoing Gen Z movement protests in Madagascar, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Tigere Chagutah said:

“Every death on the streets of Madagascar is a painful reminder that the right to peaceful protest is under violent attack. The authorities must promptly launch thorough and effective investigations into these killings and hold perpetrators to account. All those arrested solely for exercising their right to protest must be immediately and unconditionally released.

“Amnesty International condemns the unlawful and excessive force used by state security officials and urges the exercise of restraint in the policing of these protests. Rather than use force, the authorities must listen to and address the protesters’ demands.

Every death on the streets of Madagascar is a painful reminder that the right to peaceful protest is under violent attack. The authorities must promptly launch thorough and effective investigations into these killings and hold perpetrators to account.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

“Protest is not a crime – it is a right. Instead of respecting, facilitating and protecting the protesters, the authorities have resorted to an outdated 75-year-old repressive law to justify the use of unlawful force in response to protests. This law gives security forces sweeping powers to crack down on protests and criminalize participation, in blatant violation of Madagascar’s human rights obligations under international law.

“Amnesty International calls on the government to repeal this law and enact a new one in line with its international obligations, including the African Union’s Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa.”

Background
Since 25 September 2025, hundreds of young people – mainly university and high school students mobilized under the Gen Z movement – have been taking to the streets of the capital Antananarivo and other major cities to peacefully protest water and power shortages, seen as emblematic of corruption and bad governance. Civil society actors have also joined in the protests.

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Germany must fully acknowledge its legal responsibility for the genocide and other colonial crimes it committed in Namibia and provide reparations to the descendants of victims, Amnesty International said today on the anniversary of one of the “extermination orders” in Germany’s colonial genocide against the Indigenous Ovaherero and Nama peoples. More than a century since the German extermination proclamations, the effects of the genocide continue to be experienced by their descendants. 

Amnesty International further calls on the German and Namibian governments to guarantee the full, effective and meaningful participation of Ovaherero and Nama peoples in any reparation process or mechanism to address past human rights violations and the enduring legacy of the brutal German colonial era. 

The German government continues to deny that it has a legal duty to provide reparations to the Ovaherero and Nama peoples. Under international law, however, states that have engaged in colonial crimes and other violations have a duty to provide full, prompt and effective reparations, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. 

“It is shameful that over a hundred years since German colonial forces waged a genocide against the Nama and Ovaherero peoples, Germany has failed to engage in meaningful consultations with these communities or provide reparations,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa. “There cannot be true justice if those affected are excluded from the talks. Victims and affected communities should be at the centre of any processes to redress colonial legacies.”  

In a 2021 joint declaration between the Namibian and German governments, German authorities agreed to pay the Namibian government approximately €1.1bn over a period of 30 years to support “programmes for reconstruction and development.” Development aid, however, is not a substitute for full and effective reparations. Where the former colonial power sets the terms and conditions for the provision of assistance to a former colony, development aid may reinforce and perpetuate colonial legacies and hierarchies of power rather than disrupt them. 

It is shameful that over a hundred years since German colonial forces waged a genocide against the Nama and Ovaherero peoples, Germany has failed to engage in meaningful consultations with these communities or provide reparations.

Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s regional director for East and Southern Africa.

The negotiations between the two governments leading to the declaration were also flawed as they did not include meaningful participation by representatives of the Ovaherero and Nama peoples.  

Namibia has also failed the Ovaherero and Nama by failing to guarantee the meaningful and effective participation of their representatives in talks with Germany. 

UN treaty bodies and special mandate holders have criticized the lack of participation by the affected communities in the declaration’s development, affirming that the “Ovaherero and Nama themselves must be permitted to shape the process of repair.” 

The first genocide of the 20th century  

In what is now recognised by experts as the first genocide of the 20th century, German colonial troops systematically executed and starved thousands of Ovaherero and Nama men, women and children between 1904 and 1908.  

It is estimated that 80% of the Ovaherero and 50% of the Nama populations were killed during this period. 

Those who survived the massacres were captured by German troops and detained in “konzentrationslager” (‘concentration camps’ in German) established by the colonial authorities across Namibia. Thousands of prisoners died as a result of malnutrition, disease and exhaustion caused by the inhumane conditions, torture, and brutal forced labour they were subjected to. Women and girls were also systematically raped and subjected to other forms of sexual violence. The skulls of prisoners who died in the camps were shipped to German universities and museums for racist pseudo-scientific research, many of which remain in Germany to this day.   

Enduring Legacies of the Genocide 

The dispossession of ancestral lands and loss of cultural heritage because of the genocide has caused irreparable damage and transgenerational harm for Nama and Ovaherero descendants.  

“Today, the Ovaherero and Nama remain a minority in Namibia. Our small numbers are the living consequence of the genocide, and this reality continues to haunt us. It has left us politically vulnerable, with little chance to shape the direction of the country through the ballot box. Hence, the Namibian government’s indifference to our demands to participate in the negotiations about us.” said Jephta Nguherimo, a Namibian activist and founder of the OvaHerero People’s Memorial & Reconstruction Foundation. 

Over a hundred years after the dispossession of their land, the Ovaherero and Nama are still prevented from accessing some of their ancestral land and cultural heritage sites.  

Today, the Ovaherero and Nama remain a minority in Namibia. Our small numbers are the living consequence of the genocide, and this reality continues to haunt us. It has left us politically vulnerable, with little chance to shape the direction of the country through the ballot box

Jephta Nguherimo, Namibian Activist

“It is unconscionable that the descendants of the victims require permission to access their ancestral lands to commemorate and pay respect to their ancestors,” said Tigere Chagutah. “As if that colonial dispossession was not enough, Indigenous Peoples in Namibia today are also facing new forms of dispossession driven by the extraction of natural resources and the transition to renewable energies.” 

The Ovaherero and Nama peoples are demanding the return of the bodies of their ancestors killed during the genocide and the stolen artefacts still being held in German museums and universities.  

They are also calling for the preservation of the burial grounds of their ancestors who died in the concentration and forced labour camps.  

“We the Nama Gaogu will continue fighting for restorative justice, as our former Chairperson of the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), Gaob PSM Kooper eloquently put: Let us Die Fighting,” said the NTLA. 

Background 

On 2 October 1904, General Lothar von Trotha, the commander of German imperial forces, issued a proclamation calling for the extermination of the Ovaherero people. A few months later, on 22 April 1905, General von Trotha issued a proclamation calling for the extermination of the Nama people.  

It is estimated that over 75,000 Ovaherero and Nama people were killed between 1904 and 1908, alongside thousands of other Indigenous Peoples, including among the San and the Damara. 

In 2023, representatives of the Ovaherero Traditional Authority, the NTLA, and the Landless Peoples Movement filed a case in the High Court of Namibia to have the joint declaration between Namibian and German governments declared unlawful, arguing that the agreement violates Namibia’s constitution and international law. 

The planned construction of a major renewable energy project by a British-German joint venture on Nama ancestral land in the Tsau ||Khaeb National Park has been challenged by the NTLA for perpetuating colonial patterns of land dispossession. In a submission to the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the NTLA and civil society partners have argued that the Nama people have not been meaningfully consulted on the development of the project, violating their rights as Indigenous People to self-determination and free, prior and informed consent. 

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New polling by Ipsos reveals that a large majority of people (75%) across 10 European countries think it is important that the European Union (EU) uphold its own environmental laws.

The new survey of 10,861 people – commissioned jointly by Amnesty International and Global Witness – also found that around three-quarters of respondents said large companies should be held accountable for human rights (75%) and environmental harm (77%) across their global value chains. The findings come at a time when the EU is considering drastically weakening environmental and human rights protections, with the European Parliament expected to vote on a range of laws that are part of the bloc’s rollback on the ‘Green Deal’ on 13 October.

Europeans are sending Brussels a powerful message of support for urgent climate action and the protection of human rights

Parliamentarians will decide whether to severely limit the scope and vital provisions of the landmark Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), passed just last year. The poll shows that 58% of people surveyed support the CSDDD, compared to just 9% opposing these protections.

Global Witness EU Senior Campaigner Beate Beller said:

“Europeans are sending Brussels a powerful message of support for urgent climate action and the protection of human rights. The European Union must honour its commitments and resist lobbyists trying to force a race to the bottom. Companies have a critical responsibility to drastically reduce their emissions, and they must be obliged to take action to address the climate crisis now.”

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

“People in Europe want protections for human rights and the climate – not weaker rules. Rolling back these safeguards would only serve the narrow interests of billionaires and big business. It’s not too late to change course. The European Parliament must now show courage, resist corporate bullies, and defend these laws in the name of the people it represents and the planet we all rely on.”

Polling was undertaken by Ipsos in 10 European countries: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain and Sweden.

The European Parliament must now show leadership by rolling back these damaging proposals and put people and the planet over corporate interests

Importantly, the findings could indicatethat the majority of people understand that taking climate action needn’t come at an economic cost to households. 87% of people surveyed said that the cost of living had increased in their country in the last 12 months. However, just 13% of those who said this then went on to select “European Union policies to tackle climate change” as one of their answers when shown a list of possible reasons and asked to choose which were most responsible for the increase.

More than half (53%) also said that it was now more important for the EU to uphold its own environmental laws, since the US administration scaled back on its own environmental protections. Just 10% said it was less important.

EU must put people and planet before corporate profits

In 2024, the EU passed the landmark CSDDD – legally requiring large companies operating in the EU to identify, prevent, and mitigate any negative impact of their activities on human rights and the environment across the world.

Hailed as a landmark law, these regulations were designed to fulfill the EU’s ambition of becoming the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. However, not long after the law was finally agreed, on 26 February 2025 the European Commission presented the so-called ‘Omnibus proposal’ – a series of rules intent on rolling back recently enacted environmental and human risks protections in the EU. In response, over 360 civil society organizations across some 50 countries signed a joint statement raising alarm and opposing these plans.

The proposals cover key corporate sustainability laws such as the CSDDD. The Omnibus risks weakening several central CSDDD provisions including: removing a harmonised civil liability regime that was intended to provide a clear avenue for justice for the victims of abuses i.e. exploited workers and people displaced by companies; reducing the scope of due diligence obligations only to immediate business partners instead of throughout the value chain; and undermining climate transitions obligations.

A drastic trend towards reducing the scope of companies that would be covered within the scope of CSDDD has also emerged, as seen in the Council’s proposal from June this year. 

“The European Parliament must now show leadership by rolling back these damaging proposals and put people and the planet over corporate interests,” Beller added.

“There is no time to lose. We all want and deserve to live, work in and enjoy a clean and healthy environment,” added Agnès Callamard.

Background

On 3 April 2025, the European Parliament adopted the ‘Stop-the-Clock’ proposal, postponing the application of the CSDDD by one year to July 2027.

On 13 October, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee is expected to vote on its position on the Omnibus proposal, paving the way for the Parliament’s position, as well as negotiations between Parliament and the Council.

Overall technical note:

On behalf of Amnesty International and Global Witness, Ipsos interviewed representative quota samples of adults in 10 markets using its online i:omnibus and ad hoc services: 1,086 aged 16-75 in the Denmark, 1,098 aged 16-75 in France,  1,092 aged 16-75 in Germany, 1,098 aged 16-75 in Italy, 1,063 aged 18-65 in Lithuania, 1,085 aged 16-75 in the Netherlands, 1,092 aged 16-75 in Poland, 1,084 aged 16-75 in Romania, 1,078 aged 16-75 in Spain, and 1,085 aged 16-75 in Sweden.

Fieldwork took place between the 5^th and 17^th of September 2025.  The samples obtained are representative of the national populations with quotas on age, gender, region and working status. The data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions in each market for age, working status, government office region and education, to reflect the adult populations of each market in which the research was conducted. In addition, a set of results combining the 10 European nations was provided which were then weighted to reflect the proportional size to one another.”

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Six years on from the nationwide protests in October 2019, referred to as Tishreen, Iraqi authorities continue to persecute activists and protestors while failing to deliver meaningful justice and accountability for the killings of hundreds and the maiming of thousands of protesters by security forces and militias or to reveal the fate and whereabouts of those disappeared, Amnesty International said today.  

Young people involved in the Tishreen protests were killed, injured and forcibly disappeared by security forces or militias simply for speaking out. Consecutive governments have announced numerous investigative committees to look into these crimes during Tishreen and its aftermath but to date no results have been made public. While at least 2700 criminal cases have been filed, few individuals have been brought to trial, and next to no justice has been delivered, with many sentences overturned.   

Six years on it is high time for the Iraqi authorities to break the vicious cycle of impunity.

Razaw Salihy, Amnesty International

Today, entrenched impunity for abuses during the protests has been compounded by an escalating crackdown on civic space, as freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are further curtailed. Since 2019, young people involved in the protests have endured exile, disability, job losses, and relentless repression. 

Militias and security forces have launched what many describe as a “revenge campaign” against activists, forcing scores into hiding, exile, or prison. Authorities continue to raid activists’ homes without warrants, frequently using violence and harassing family members. At the same time, attacks on freedom of expression are worsening with dozens of arrests made this year as part of the Ministry of Interior’s “indecent content” crackdown. 

“It is abominable that six years after the Tishreen protests, Iraqi authorities remain busy hounding and intimidating activists and their families, while those behind the horrific killings, assassinations, and enforced disappearances remain at large. This obliterates prospects for justice, truth, and reparations for crimes under international law committed by security forces and affiliated militias during and after the protests,” said Razaw Salihy, Iraq Researcher at Amnesty International.

“Freedom of expression is under attack from all sides. Activists and protesters risk their lives and their families by speaking out. The authorities must meet the demands they have long promised: justice and an end to the hounding and killing of Iraqis demanding their basic rights.” 

‘It was like they were here to arrest a terrorist’

Several Activists in hiding as a result of arrest warrants issued in their home cities told Amnesty International that security forces had repeatedly raided their family homes and harassed their relatives to pressure them out of hiding. 

Amnesty International is aware of at least one case where an activist who was in hiding returned to his hometown in the hopes that it would alleviate or stop the frequent raids by the security forces on his family home. He was then sentenced to six months on trumped-up charges accusing him of violence during protests, only to be acquitted later after securing a deal through tribal connections, which in effect required paying a bribe.

A number of activists from Baghdad, Nasiriya, and other governorates who took part in protests and have been driven into hiding outside their home cities said that they feared being sent to other parts of Iraq where charges have been brought against them/or others who participated in protests. 

In one case, 25-year-old activist Yassin Majed Shehab was arrested on 25 September 2025 after briefly coming out of hiding to visit his ill parents in Baghdad. He had been a protester during Tishreen and had since taken part in many protests calling for justice for those killed and forcibly disappeared, as well as criticizing authorities on social media. 

His family told Amnesty International:

“He arrived at about 8pm on Wednesday [24 Sept]. At about 3am [25 Sept] a huge force arrived—local police, intelligence, and security forces. It was like they came to arrest a terrorist. Armed men kicked the door in before the women could cover up. Yassin’s pregnant sister was struck in the head when she tried to shield him. They beat Yassin, dragged him out, and threatened to detain more family members if we asked questions. They were waving their weapons and showed no arrest warrant. They said they were taking him to the intelligence directorate. We went to ask next day but they told us he was not there.”

Arrests in Nasiriya: ‘It is revenge for Tishreen’

In Nasiriya, in Thi Qar governorate, south Iraq, activists and their families face relentless reprisals, including home raids, harassment, and arrests under “dormant” warrants, some carrying charges punishable by death. The campaign intensified after the appointment of a new police chief in October 2024.

A local NGO director described what happened in Nasiriya as “a campaign of revenge”, adding that the new police chief immediately announced plans to enforce 400 “dormant” or outstanding arrest warrants that activists believed had been dropped in 2020.

Amnesty International spoke to several activists from Nasiriya who have been in hiding due to outstanding arrest warrants issued against them in 2020 for participation in protests in Nasiriya. 

One activist in hiding told Amnesty International that security forces attacked his family home in December 2020: “They brought Saraya al-Salam members [a faction of the Popular Mobilization Units] with them and had no arrest warrant or even gave a reason for the arrest. Those are the same arrest warrants they are hunting us with now [that had not been shown at the time]. It is revenge for Tishreen. We wanted change, not political power. We wanted a better Iraq and the rule of law… They [militias] kill, terrorize and disappear people, but it is us who are accused of destabilizing Iraq.” 

In one case, on 8 March 2025, security forces arrested an activist in Nasiriya. On 13 April, he was sentenced to 15 years under the Penal Code for the alleged killing of a protester in 2020. According to his family and activists who spoke to Amnesty International, the charges were fabricated, with witness statements coerced under torture. They said he was arrested because of his role in organizing protests, including the Tishreen protests, since 2019. 

Another activist said: “They tortured him until he confessed. When he retracted, he was freed. But then his accusers appealed, and now he is serving 15 years.”

Amnesty International has not accessed and assessed the relevant court documents relating to this case.

In the same month, security forces raided the family’s home once more with live ammunition and smoke grenades, attempting to arrest the activist’s younger brother but detaining his father instead. He was released days later, reporting severe beatings during interrogation about his son’s whereabouts. Amnesty International reviewed photos showing bruises on his abdomen and head. 

Amnesty International reviewed an arrest warrant for the younger brother dated 1 January 2025, issued by the Thi Qar Court of Appeal’s Judicial Authority, charging the activist with “willfully contributing” to damaging significant public or state-owned property with the intent to overthrow the constitutional regime under article 197(4) of the Penal Code – an offense that can carry the death penalty.

The activist, who is still in hiding, said: “My entire family in Nasiriya is in danger. My sister has to be escorted from and to university because we keep receiving threats. We are worried she will be kidnapped, hurt or even raped. My father has been harassed and intimidated at his work. I am still in hiding, and they [militias] are watching us. All of this is because my family and I refuse to be bought. Because I spoke up and took part in protests.”

“Six years on it is high time for the Iraqi authorities to break the vicious cycle of impunity. They must end their clampdown on free expression and peaceful assembly, and make public the results of the investigation they say they have carried out into violations committed in the context of Tishreen and its aftermath,” said Razaw Salihy.

Background

In recent years, Iraqi authorities have further restricted civic space. The Ministry of Interior has carried out dozens of arrests of social media content creators in the name of “indecent content”, and courts have sentenced tens of content creators to pay fines or serve prison terms under varying articles of the Penal Code, although it remains unclear what type of “content” is considered indecent. Parliament has also attempted to pass restrictive laws on freedom of expression, peaceful protest, and NGO activity.

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