More than 760,000 people across 218 countries and territories have added their voices to petitions calling for the establishment of an independent UN mechanism to conduct investigations as a step towards pursuing accountability for the most serious crimes under international law committed in Iran, Amnesty International said today.

On 2 November, Nazanin Boniadi, a British-Iranian actor and Amnesty International UK Ambassador, conveyed people’s demands for immediate action by the UN Human Rights Council to United Nations officials in New York. Amnesty International national entities across the world also delivered petitions to their ministries of foreign affairs.

“The people of Iran continue to courageously protest and call for the end of widespread repression and the establishment of a political system that respects equality and upholds human rights. Will member states of the UN Human Rights Council respond to the cries of people in Iran and activists across the globe to urgently establish an international mechanism on crimes committed by the Iranian authorities?” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The international community’s failure to act has emboldened the Iranian authorities to intensify their unlawful use of force, including lethal force, against protesters, killing over 200 people, including 30 children, since protests began on 16 September. The UN Human Rights Council must immediately convene a special session on Iran to prevent further crimes under international law and human rights violations, including unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment against all those arbitrarily detained since the authorities’ crackdown on protests began.”

Last week, 10 UN experts, including the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, called on the Human Rights Council to urgently take action, including by establishing an international investigative mechanism on Iran during a special session. This call is also supported by Amnesty International and 42 other human rights organizations. The German minister of foreign affairs has announced that Germany would advocate for convening a special session to establish a UN mechanism on Iran.

Vicious cycles of protest bloodshed

The Iranian authorities’ violent repression of ongoing protests in Iran, which erupted after the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini on 16 September 2022, is the latest in the cycle of attacks waged by the Iranian authorities against people expressing their legitimate grievances in Iran since December 2017-January 2018. Emboldened by rampant impunity, the Iranian authorities have consistently dealt with waves of mass protests since then, including those in November 2019, January 2020, July 2021, August 2021, November 2021 and May 2022, with a militarized response.

Will member states of the UN Human Rights Council respond to the cries of people in Iran and activists across the globe…?

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

Amnesty International has previously documented crimes under international law and serious human rights violations by the Iranian authorities, including unlawful killings following unwarranted lethal use of force, mass arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and other ill-treatment, and the sentencing of individuals to lengthy prison terms or death following grossly unfair trials.

The Iranian authorities have ignored repeated calls by the international community to open criminal investigations into unlawful killings committed in the context of protests since December 2017. Instead, they have sought to destroy evidence of their crimes while persecuting survivors and victims’ relatives who called out for truth, justice, and reparation.

To break this deadly cycle, the UN mechanism must be urgently established with a mandate to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding the crimes under international law and serious violations of human rights committed by the Iranian authorities to crush successive nationwide protests since the December 2017- January 2018 protests with the view of pursuing accountability.

Background

People from around the world have taken action to call on UN states to urgently establish an independent UN investigative mechanism, including from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, Egypt, France, Italy, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey and beyond.

Amnesty International has previously revealed how Iran’s highest military body instructed the armed forces in all provinces to “severely confront” protesters who took to the streets following the death in custody of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini after she was arrested by Iran’s “morality” police who routinely arbitrarily detain women who do not comply with the country’s abusive and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws. The organization has also repeatedly documented the widespread, unwarranted use of lethal force and firearms by Iran’s security forces who either intended to kill protesters or should have known with a reasonable degree of certainty that their use of firearms would result in deaths.

Last week, Iran’s security forces intensified their use of unlawful force by using live ammunition, metal pellets and teargas against protesters and mourners who had gathered in at least four provinces, including Kurdistan, West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah and Lorestan provinces.

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Supply Chain of JET A-1 Fuel

ATTACKS ON CIVILIANS

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Around 1am on 17 January 2022, Myanmar military fighter jets dropped two bombs on Ree Khee Bu camp for displaced persons in Kayah State. The attack killed Nu Nu, a man in his 50s, as well as Maria and Caroline, sisters who were around 15 and 12 years old. 

The camp was a refuge for people fleeing violence, but even there, civilians could not escape the Myanmar military and its deadly air campaign.

For the first time since the military coup of February 2021, Amnesty International, in collaboration with Justice For Myanmar, presents a detailed account of one of the most secretive business operations in Myanmar – the supply of aviation fuel to the military.

After the military coup in 2021 and the brutal crackdown on protestors, fighting between the Myanmar military and armed groups across the country escalated significantly.  

Increasingly the Myanmar military relies on its air force, which regularly carries out air strikes with fighter jets and attack helicopters.  

The impact on civilians is often devastating.

Every time I hear the planes flying over our village, I feel unsafe and afraid…

Witness

The Myanmar military relies on aviation fuel that is supplied, imported, handled, stored and distributed by a number of companies, both foreign and domestic. 

Amnesty International’s newest report provides a detailed account of this supply chain – from the port where the fuel originally departs to air strikes conducted by the Myanmar air force that amount to war crimes.

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The corporate supply chain bringing Jet-A1 to Myanmar

Since 2015, the main foreign business actor involved in the supply chain of aviation fuel has been Puma Energy – a global energy company incorporated in Singapore that is based in large part out of Geneva, Switzerland, and beneficially owned by global commodity giant Trafigura.  

This report shows how Puma Energy’s two Myanmar affiliates – fully owned Puma Energy Asia Sun (PEAS) and joint venture National Energy Puma Aviation Services (NEPAS) – played a role in supplying aviation fuel to the Myanmar military. PEAS is responsible for handling and storing aviation fuel delivered to Thilawa port terminal, Yangon, and NEPAS for procuring, selling, distributing aviation fuel as well as providing refueling services at 11 Myanmar airports.

Puma Energy announced on 5 October 2022 that it was selling its assets in Myanmar and exiting the country. It also communicated to Amnesty International that since the February 2021 military coup, it “has not supplied, sold or distributed any fuel or products to the Myanmar Air Force.” However, Puma Energy also explained that it decided to leave Myanmar in part because it had received reports “of incidents where the MAF [Myanmar Air Force] had been able to breach controls that were put in place to maintain the segregation of civilian supply.” Puma Energy has not provided a date of its planned departure and as of 3 November 2022, the company explained that it continues to own PEAS and have a minority stake in NEPAS. 

Corporate supply chain

Amnesty International / Colin Foo

Suppliers transport Jet A-1 by sea

Amnesty International found the Myanmar military uses Jet A-1, a type of aviation fuel that is also used by the majority of commercial aircraft.

Amnesty International / Colin Foo

PEAS terminal at Thilawa port receives and stores Jet A-1

The majority of Jet A-1 fuel enters Myanmar through a terminal operated by PEAS at Thilawa port.  

Between February 2021 and 17 September 2022, at least seven oil tankers offloaded eight shipments of Jet A-1 at the PEAS terminal in Thilawa port for a combined import volume of 66,626 metric tons (MT) in 2021 and 31,577 MT in 2022. 

Amnesty International confirmed the supplier of four of the eight shipments: PetroChina’s wholly-owned Singapore Petroleum Company (December 2021), Rosneft (December 2021), Chevron (February 2022) and Thai Oil (June 2022). In addition, vessel tracking data links ExxonMobil to a shipment of aviation fuel that departed from its refinery in Singapore and arrived in Myanmar in June 2022.

Chevron, Rosneft and Thai Oil explained to Amnesty International that their shipments were meant to be used for civilian purposes only. However, Amnesty International obtained leaked documents showing how the shipments supplied by Singapore Petroleum Company and Thai Oil were delivered directly to the Myanmar military on arrival at the port.  

After Amnesty International shared these findings with Thai Oil, the company responded stating that in order “to avoid any doubt about the compliance of good corporate governance policy, our business unit has decided to hold a selling of Jet A-1 to Myanmar until no such concerned issue.” Singapore Petroleum Company did not respond to Amnesty International’s multiple letters. 

Trucks distribute Jet A-1 across Myanmar

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On arrival, the aviation fuel is stored at fuel tanks in the PEAS terminal. From there, Jet A-1 is loaded onto tanker trucks, which transport it across the country.

According to Amnesty International’s research, the main distributor of NEPAS’ Jet A-1 is a transport contractor known as Cargo Link Petroleum Logistics. The Asia Sun Group, a medium-sized Myanmar business conglomerate that owns various companies, including Cargo Link Petroleum – did not respond to Amnesty International’s letters.

Truck deliveries

Amnesty International / Colin Foo

Amnesty International obtained records that detail how trucks of Cargo Link Petroleum transport aviation fuel to NEPAS storage facilities at commercial airports and separately to air bases on behalf of the Myanmar military.  

Significantly, there is a direct link between certain NEPAS storage facilities to which fuel was delivered and military air bases, a few of which Amnesty International has linked to war crimes. Click on the map below to see these connections.

At military bases, Jet A-1 is loaded onto aircraft

The military uses different air bases depending on the particular state or region that it is surveilling or attacking. In order to power the aircraft involved in such operations, it relies on aviation fuel delivered to its air bases.

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© 2022 Maxar Technologies

© 2022 Maxar Technologies

© 2022 Maxar Technologies

Amnesty International has identified at least five air bases from where military aircraft involved in attacks departed between March 2021 and August 2022:  

Jet A-1 fuels a deadly air campaign

On 5 February 2022, ground spotters reported two YAK-130 jets taking off from Hwambi Air Base at 12:46am heading to Hpapun District.

Shortly after 1am, two aircraft attacked houses in Ta Dwee Koh village, in Hpapun District. A 38 year-old farmer awoke to the sound of aircraft.

Shortly after, the shockwave from the blast threw one of his two daughters away from him and caused a serious injury to his 23-year-old wife’s lower spine. Two of his extended family members were killed in the house next door.  

The man told Amnesty International that military aircraft had been flying over the area for some time, adding, “We thought that they won’t launch an air strike as they have no enemy in our village… I don’t know [why they struck us]… I don’t understand why they cause trouble to civilians.” 

Credit @KPSN19

Amnesty International documented 16 unlawful air attacks that took place between March 2021 and August 2022 in Kayah, Kayin and Chin States as well as Sagaing Region. The attacks collectively killed at least 15 civilians and injured at least 36 other civilians. They also destroyed homes, religious buildings, schools, medical facilities and a camp for displaced persons.

Deadly cluster munitions used against civilians

In the course of this research, Amnesty International has documented multiple occasions where the Myanmar air force has employed cluster munitions.

In Chin State’s Chat village, in Mindat Township, community leaders, residents, and members of a local People’s Defence Force (PDF) held a meeting on 2 July 2022 in the village’s only school to discuss several issues, including education and development projects as well as security. Dozens of civilians packed a hall in the school’s compound; on a day off from school, many children were in attendance with family members or were playing in the vicinity. Close to 11am, people inside and outside the hall heard the sound of a fighter jet. 

According to witness testimonies, there were multiple bombing runs that likely involved more than one fighter jet. The school hall where the meeting was held and the teachers’ dormitory next to it were destroyed, and classrooms sustained significant damage; at least four houses were also destroyed, two of them completely. Around 13 civilians were injured in the attack; roughly half of the village’s few hundred residents have abandoned their homes. Three PDF members who were inside the hall were killed. 

Among the weapons used in Mindat Township were cluster munitions, which are widely banned because they are inherently indiscriminate. This attack constitutes a war crime.

Civilians attacked in schools and places of worship

Myanmar military air strikes have also destroyed civilian objects that have specific protections under international humanitarian law, including religious buildings and schools. 

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Amnesty International

© Chin Human Rights Organization

© Chin Human Rights Organization

© Chin Human Rights Organization

Attacks on medical facilities

Amnesty International documented three air attacks on medical facilities. International humanitarian law affords special protection to specific persons and objects, including medical personnel and medical units. Facilities and personnel used solely for the purpose of providing medical care should be protected from attacks in all circumstances.  

On 9 August 2022, around 10am, a fighter jet fired on a health centre in Daw Par Pa village, Kayah State. Twelve people were inside, including medical professionals.  

Jets passed over the medical facility multiple times, firing machine guns and at least one 80mm S-8KOM rocket.

I was standing beside the doctor as he was examining an asthma patient… As we were caring for the patient, one man said, 'I hear the sound of shooting.' The man stepped outside and then I heard the bombing…  

Witness

The health centre, the only medical facility with a doctor in the area, had been operational for one month before the attack. There was no fighting in the area and no armed group base in the vicinity. This attack on the Daw Par Pa clinic amounts to a war crime. 

Conclusion

In the vast majority of cases documented by Amnesty International, only civilians appear to have been present at the location of the strike at the time of the attack. In a few instances where armed group fighters were at the scene or nearby, the military’s indiscriminate use of large unguided bombs and inherently inaccurate rockets in populated civilian areas still constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and, when civilians were killed or injured as a result, a war crime.  

Such strikes have caused massive disruptions to people’s lives, including affecting their ability to farm their lands and to move around; they have also sparked widespread fear and resulted in mass displacement, at times of entire villages. 

The unlawful air strikes have occurred together with the relentless shelling of villages with artillery and mortars, at times deliberately and at times indiscriminately; the use of internationally banned anti-personnel landmines that have killed and injured civilians; extrajudicial executions; torture and other ill-treatment; arbitrary detention; the burning of villages; and pillage, among other crimes.  

Without the provision of aviation fuel, the Myanmar military would have no means to power the aircraft responsible for such air attacks. And yet companies continue to be part of this deadly supply chain, one that links international and domestic companies to the Myanmar military, which has been implicated by Amnesty International, the United Nations, and others in war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations. 

Amnesty International

Sign now – Ask companies and governments across the globe to help end the bloody oppression by the military in Myanmar

Since Myanmar military's coup on 1 February 2021, over 2,400 people have been killed there, including by unlawful air strikes.

Without aviation fuel, the Myanmar military would not be able to conduct its air attacks. We have uncovered disturbing evidence that several companies have been part of the supply chain that allows fuel to enter the country, despite the risks of that fuel being used to carry out deadly air strikes.

These businesses have a responsibility to assess the adverse human rights impact of their operations and partnerships. This means ending all involvement in the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military, which is responsible for air strikes that amount to war crimes.

States also have a duty to protect against human rights abuses everywhere. That's why we're also calling on governments to act now and suspend the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar.   

Companies and governments across the globe must take a pledge and be part of the solution to ending the bloody oppression by the military in Myanmar.

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The post Deadly cargo: The supply chain that fuels war crimes in Myanmar  appeared first on Amnesty International.

• Amnesty calls for states and companies to suspend exports of aviation fuel to Myanmar 
• Through the supply chain Puma Energy is linked to war crimes carried out by Myanmar’s military  
• Oil and gas companies ExxonMobil, Thai Oil, PetroChina and Rosneft identified 
• Investigation based on leaked company documents, industry sources, interviews with Myanmar air force defectors offer most complete picture of supply chain to date
• Testimonies tell of devastating consequences of air strikes 

The international community must urgently prevent shipments of aviation fuel from reaching the Myanmar military, Amnesty International said today, as it published an investigation into the companies involved in the supply chain, as well as shocking new accounts of deadly air strikes on civilians. 

Deadly Cargo: Exposing the Supply Chain that Fuels War Crimes in Myanmar provides the most detailed look into aviation fuel since the military seized power in the 2021 coup, from the distant port where the fuel originally departed to the unlawful air strikes that killed civilians – and every step in between. 

“These air strikes have devastated families, terrorized civilians, killed and maimed victims. But if the planes can’t fuel up, they can’t fly out and wreak havoc. Today we are calling on suppliers, shipping agents, vessel owners and maritime insurers to withdraw from a supply chain that is benefiting the Myanmar Air Force,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard. 

“There can be no justification for participating in the supply of aviation fuel to a military that has a flagrant contempt for human rights and has been repeatedly accused of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and other grave human rights violations.” 

These air strikes have devastated families, terrorized civilians, killed and maimed victims. But if the planes can’t fuel up, they can’t fly out and wreak havoc.

Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard

Amnesty International’s research was carried out in collaboration with Justice For Myanmar and with the support of other civil society organizations such as Burma Campaign UK.  

The report draws on a wide range of sources, including leaked company documents, corporate filings, vessel-tracking data, satellite imagery, public records, and exclusive interviews with defectors from the Myanmar Air Force and sources close to Puma Energy. 

It also features testimony from survivors of air strikes, who shared their harrowing experiences to shed light on the human toll of these unlawful attacks. Victims of air strikes are among the more than 2,300 civilians killed by the military since the coup. 

Ka Naw, a 73-year-old man who witnessed an air strike on a populated village in Kayah (Karenni) State, eastern Myanmar, that killed two civilians in February 2022, describes what it was like. 

“The sound was so loud. I saw [the] jets going down, bombing, and then going up again,” he said. “They flew very low… The first [pass], they bombed and then they turned around and shot with machine gun.” 

Supply Chain Exposed 

Businesses have a responsibility to respect human rights wherever they operate. But Amnesty International’s evidence published today demonstrates that the actions of some companies involved in the supply of aviation fuel to Myanmar link them to the Myanmar military’s commission of war crimes. 

Since 2015, the main foreign business involved in the handling, storage and distribution of aviation fuel in Myanmar has been Puma Energy, which is largely owned by global commodity trading giant, Trafigura. It has operated in Myanmar though its subsidiary Puma Energy Asia Sun (PEAS) and joint venture National Energy Puma Aviation Services (NEPAS). According to Puma Energy, since February 2021 and until 5 October 2022, it limited its operations to the provision of aviation fuel for civilian purposes. However, this report shows otherwise. 

Our findings indicate that aviation fuel (Jet A-1) enters Myanmar primarily through a terminal in Thilawa port managed by PEAS. Amnesty International identified eight separate shipments of aviation fuel that were offloaded at the terminal between February 2021 and mid-September 2022.  

The fuel was then stored at the PEAS terminal until transported by tanker truck to NEPAS storage facilities and military air bases across the country. Based on data obtained from December 2021 to August 2022, some NEPAS storage facilities are linked to military air bases, showing that civilian and military use of aviation fuel is inextricably linked. By facilitating the Myanmar military’s access to aviation fuel, Puma Energy contributed to human rights harm caused by the Myanmar military. 

Puma Energy itself acknowledged to Amnesty International that it had “become aware of reports of the military forcibly demanding fuel at selected NEPAS airport facilities. These reported incidents undermined our confidence in NEPAS’s ability to maintain the controls that were put in place” by Puma Energy.  

On 26 September, Amnesty International presented Puma Energy with evidence from this report. Ten days later, the company announced it was leaving the country and selling its business in Myanmar. 

“We acknowledge Puma Energy’s decision to exit from Myanmar, but the announcement of sales to an undisclosed ‘locally-owned private company’ raises entirely new concerns about the need to disengage responsibly, transparently, and to avoid leaving aviation fuel infrastructure in the hands of the Myanmar military,” said Montse Ferrer, Business and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International. 

“Puma Energy must responsibly withdraw and contribute to the remediation of any harm. This should begin with consultations with representatives of the Myanmar communities that have been affected by unlawful air strikes to find appropriate measures of reparation,” Ferrer said. 

Shipments Revealed 

But Puma is not alone. Other companies play significant roles in the supply chain of aviation fuel in Myanmar, linking them to the same human rights violations. 

Between February 2021 and 17 September 2022, at least seven oil tankers offloaded eight shipments of aviation fuel at the port terminal managed by Puma Energy’s subsidiary PEAS at Thilawa in the commercial capital Yangon. 

Amnesty International confirmed the supplier and date of four of the shipments: PetroChina’s wholly-owned Singapore Petroleum Company (SPC) (December 2021), Russia’s Rosneft (December 2021), Chevron Singapore (February 2022)  and Thai Oil (June 2022). Also, ExxonMobil is linked to a shipment in June 2022. 

Documents obtained by Amnesty International show the shipments from Thai Oil and PetroChina’s SPC were intended for use by the Myanmar Air Force. 

Representatives of Rosneft, Chevron and Thai Oil told Amnesty International they had received assurances that the shipments would be for civilian purposes only. PetroChina’s SPC did not respond to requests for comment. In response to Amnesty International’s letters, Thai Oil stated it will pause sales of Jet A-1 aviation fuel to Myanmar “until no such concerned issue” exists. 

“Any company conducting human rights due diligence should realize that selling aviation fuel to a customer located in a country ruled by a military with an atrocious human rights record at the very least poses high risks,” said Ferrer. 

Any company conducting human rights due diligence should realize that selling aviation fuel to a customer located in a country ruled by a military with an atrocious human rights record at the very least poses high risks.

Montse Ferrer, Senior Business and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International

Korean vessel owner Pan Ocean and Norwegian shipping company Wilhelmsen were also found to be involved in a number of aviation fuel shipments. Pan Ocean did not respond to Amnesty. Wilhelmsen said they believed the shipments were for civilian purposes, but also said they will “immediately cease to provide agency services of any kind for vessel or cargo owners discharging Jet A-1 aviation fuel at ports in Myanmar”. 

Air strike documentation 

In the course of this research, Amnesty International documented 16 unlawful air attacks that took place between March 2021 and August 2022 in Kayah, Kayin and Chin States as well as in Sagaing Region. 

In a concerning new development, in two such strikes Amnesty International documented the Myanmar military’s use of cluster munitions, which are internationally banned as they are inherently indiscriminate. 

Amnesty International has been able to directly link four air bases – Hmawbi, Magway, Tada-U and Taungoo – to attacks that amount to war crimes. 

The documented air attacks collectively killed at least 15 civilians, injured at least 36 other civilians, and destroyed homes, religious buildings, schools, medical facilities and a camp for displaced persons.  

The death toll from air strikes is based on what Amnesty International was able to verify through direct evidence, including consistent witness testimony and the names of victims, often corroborated by photographic and video material of attacks. 

Based on media reports and separate human rights documentation, there has been a much wider pattern of unlawful air strikes that have killed and injured civilians across Myanmar, meaning the actual death toll is much higher. 

In the vast majority of these documented cases, only civilians appear to have been present at the location of the strike at the time of the attack.  

Teenage sisters Maria and Caroline, who were around 15 and 12 years old, were killed in a late-night air strike on 17 January 2022 at the Ree Khee Bu IDP in Kayah State, which borders Thailand. Nu Nu, a man in his 50s, was also killed. Kaw Reh, the 50-year-old father of the girls who had been staying in another village that night, arrived the next morning to find their bodies covered in cloth. 

“They placed the bodies of my daughters and the man in the church. I just wanted to see the bodies and sit there,” he said, adding that the family’s belongings at the bombing site were either destroyed by shrapnel or burned by other residents because there were “organs and blood everywhere”. His surviving daughter, once outgoing and active, no longer plays with other children. 

In July 2022, two Amnesty International researchers visited the site of the attack and surveyed the craters from the bombs and any remaining damage. Given the lack of fighters or other military objectives in the vicinity at the time of the strike, this appears to be a direct attack on civilians and would constitute a war crime. 

“The aviation fuel supplied, imported, stored and distributed by a number of companies has been essential to the Myanmar military in carrying out these types of horrifying air strikes. It’s time to break the back of the supply chain of aviation fuel to Myanmar’s Air Force once and for all,” said Ferrer. 

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Responding to the news that Qatar’s Minister of Labour has called Amnesty International’s campaign to compensate migrant workers for the abuses they suffered “a publicity stunt”, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice, said:  

“It is hugely disappointing to hear calls for greater compensation be dismissed. The vast majority of migrant workers who have now returned home to countries like Nepal or Bangladesh are unable to access Qatar’s current scheme. There will be no compensation for them to reclaim stolen wages or illegal recruitment fees, let alone provide much needed financial support for those families who have lost a loved one.  

“While the money paid out this year is undoubtedly important, Qatar’s Minister saying that their door is open to workers who have suffered abuses is insufficient and a much more proactive approach is needed to ensure that justice is within reach for everyone. Qatar must expand its existing compensation funds or establish a new one – no one is saying it is easy, but if the will is there, a solution could be found that would transform the lives of so many workers.”  

Background 

On 2 November, in an interview with AFP, Qatar’s Ministry of Labour Ali bin Samikh al-Marri called Amnesty International’s campaign to compensate migrant workers for the abuses they suffered “a publicity stunt”. He added that the Ministry’s “door is open”, saying that “if there is a person entitled to compensation who has not received it, they should come forward and we will help them”. 

In May 2022 – Amnesty and a coalition of organisations launched a campaign calling on Qatar and FIFA to establish a comprehensive remediation programme to compensate migrant workers who suffered abuses in the preparation and delivery of Qatar 2022. Since then, the call has garnered the support of many FAs and World Cup sponsors and FIFA’s senior leadership have acknowledged the importance of compensation, though the footballing body is yet to publicly commit to doing so. 

Since 2018, Qatari authorities have put in place measures to protect workers from wage theft and enhance access to justice, but these do not cover all workers or address abuses in the years before the systems were established. Crucially, significant implementation and enforcement gaps remain. For example, workers who have already left Qatar cannot access the labour committees or a fund established to pay them when their employers fail to do so.  

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The authorities in Palestine must ensure that six men arrested in the West Bank in June, including three who have been on hunger strike for almost two months whilst in detention, receive a fair trial, Amnesty International said today ahead of the first hearing of their court case. They must also ensure prompt, impartial investigations into the men’s allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.

The men were arrested without a warrant by security forces and charged with criminal offences related to an explosion at a carpentry shop. All six were tortured during interrogation at Jericho detention centre, and afterwards in Beitounia prison, both run by the Palestinian Authority, according to their lawyer and family members who visited them in detention. One of the detainees also stated before the court that he was subjected to torture, according to court documents reviewed by Amnesty International.

Torture is never justified, and the authorities should immediately launch a thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation into these detainees’ allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

“Torture is never justified, and the authorities should immediately launch a thorough, effective, impartial and independent investigation into these detainees’ allegations of torture and other ill-treatment. Those suspected of harming them should be suspended from their positions, pending completion of an investigation, so that they cannot commit further violations. They must also receive a fair trial in line with international standards,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

Since their indictment in early September, court sessions have been repeatedly postponed due to the failure of witnesses from the Palestinian security forces to attend and testify. The next hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, 3 November 2022.

Ahmad Hreish, 28, Munther Rheib, 54, Jihad Wahdan, 44, and Ahmad Khasib, 27 were detained on 6 June 2022. Khaled Nawabit, 44, was detained on 23 June and Qassam Hamayel, 23, was detained on 26 June. Ahmad Khasib and Khaled Nawabit – who requires heart surgery – were both released on bail in October. According to their lawyer and family members who were able to visit them in detention, the men were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while locked up.

Since 25 September, Ahmad Hreish, Jihad Wahdan, and Qassam Hamayel have been on hunger strike in protest at their treatment and are kept shackled to their hospital beds in the Palestine Medical Complex hospital, where they were transferred to due to their deteriorating health. Despite their poor health, their families and their lawyer say they have not received adequate medical care.

The men have also been held in solitary confinement, denied family visits and phone calls and held under constant surveillance in punishment for their decision to go on hunger strike.

The family and lawyer of Ahmad Hreish, whose wife gave birth to their firstborn just as he began his hunger strike, told Amnesty International how security forces whipped him on his feet and repeatedly beat him with clubs and batons. They described how his arms were hoisted behind his back for long hours – a common torture method used in Palestinian detention centres.

Ahmad Hreish detailed his torture before a judge at a hearing on 13 June at Jericho’s Magistrate Court. Amnesty International has reviewed court documents of his account, in which he told the court: “I’ve been here for a week in these dungeons in Jericho where my wrists were tied with a rope and my face was covered and I could not see anything. I was suspended from a window and I would get beaten with sticks and whips. I was beaten on the soles of my feet, and after all of that they would tell me to ‘get up and dance…’ and they tied my hands behind my back.”

Amnesty International is not aware of any criminal investigation into Ahmad Hreish’s torture allegations. According to court documents, a judge referred him for medical examination, and although he was informed of these allegations, he sent him back to the place where he said he had been tortured. According to Ahmad Hreish’s sister, he was subjected to more torture for speaking up in court. In later court appearances, he did not mention it again.

All the accused have spent time in both Israeli and Palestinian prisons. According to their lawyer, they were interrogated by Palestinian security forces about their political opinions, affiliations and periods of detention in Israeli prisons.

Despite ratifying the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Ill-treatment and its Optional Protocol, the State of Palestine has routinely used torture in in detention centres.

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