Schlagwort: human rights

Responding to the UN Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) decision to establish an independent monitoring mechanism on the human rights situation in Russia, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

“Amnesty International welcomes the decision by the Human Rights Council to finally bring Russia’s human rights record under scrutiny. Under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, the country has seen its political opposition crushed, grassroots NGOs and activists outlawed, independent media shuttered, and civil society as a whole scorched to the ground. Russia’s unlawful aggression in Ukraine could not be a clearer demonstration of Vladimir Putin’s longstanding disregard for life and human rights.”

Under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, the country has seen its political opposition crushed, grassroots NGOs and activists outlawed, independent media shuttered, and civil society as a whole scorched to the ground

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

“The establishment of this important mechanism will be a long overdue lifeline to civil society in Russia, independent media and many others standing up to repression. We call on all states to support the swift establishment of this monitoring and reporting mandate, and to fully support victims of human rights and humanitarian law violations committed by the national authorities. We call on the Russian authorities to heed the clear message that the Human Rights Council sends with the establishment of this mechanism, and to fundamentally change course to cease its violations at home and abroad.

“The successful vote today does not draw the sting from yesterday’s failure of the Human Rights Council to schedule a debate on the situation in Xinjiang China, but it does show that the Council has the capability to address grave situations based on their merits. We will continue to hold the Human Rights Council and its member states to this standard.”

The post Russia: UNHRC’s monitoring mechanism on Russia a ‘long overdue breakthrough’ appeared first on Amnesty International.

The leaks obtained by the Guacamaya collective from various servers belonging to the armed forces in different countries in the region have revealed monitoring of the activities of civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, by the military in Mexico and Peru so far, showing the deterioration of respect for human rights, Amnesty International said today.

“The undue monitoring of civil society organizations identified in the Guacamaya collective leaks is an example of the hostile context in which we work as organizations defending human rights in the Americas. If the military in countries like Mexico and Peru have been unduly monitoring our work, undermining the defence of victims of human rights violations, we are even more concerned about the attacks that our partner organizations and human rights defenders through the region could face,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“Instead of monitoring the activities of civil society organizations, the military and other authorities in the region should be ensuring a favourable environment for the defence of rights and acknowledging the important role played by human rights defenders. The monitoring revealed is unacceptable. Amnesty International strongly condemns this and demands full clarification of these actions.”

The undue monitoring of civil society organizations identified in the Guacamaya collective leaks is an example of the hostile context in which we work as organizations defending human rights in the Americas.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International

In Mexico, the media outlet Proceso published a Ministry of Defense document containing multiple references to Amnesty International’s observations on the enforced disappearance of the 43 Ayotzinapa students in 2014. Among the recommendations in the document, it is proposed to “avoid the participation of Amnesty International” in a visit by the parents of the students to the barracks of the 27th Infantry Battalion in Iguala, Guerrero. In addition, references are made to statements made by Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, in relation to the failures in the investigation into the possible responsibility of the armed forces for the enforced disappearance of the students, indicating the monitoring was carried out in order to cover up the already dismantled “historical truth”.

According to Peruvian media outlet La Encerrona, Amnesty International, together with partner organizations in Peru such as IDL, Derechos Humanos sin Fronteras and CooperAcción, were also mentioned in Peruvian military documents leaked, in which their activities to defend human rights are linked to the social conflict in Cusco and Apurímac. Amnesty International has not had access to the full documents but believes that the state must protect and guarantee the defence of human rights. Amnesty International has repeatedly documented how organizations defending human rights in Peru are working in hostile contexts, facing constant stigmatization and criminalization.

The post Americas: Military monitoring of civil society organizations shows deteriorating respect for human rights appeared first on Amnesty International.

Responding to the prison sentence of two years and eight months handed to Hong Kong online radio DJ and political commentator Edmund Wan, better known as “Giggs”, after his conviction for sedition and money laundering, Amnesty International’s China Campaigner Gwen Lee said: 

“With this reprehensible jailing of a DJ who dared to speak his mind and finance young protestors’ education, the Hong Kong authorities appear to be expanding the range of tools they use to target people whose views and actions they object to.  

“In addition to becoming the latest government critic imprisoned on a colonial-era ‘sedition’ charge, Edmund Wan has also been convicted of money laundering despite the prosecution providing scant evidence against him. 

“Activists in Hong Kong no longer only fear the draconian National Security Law; increasingly, they are also being targeted with a range of other charges that can be abused to punish them. 

“Deprived of a jury and facing a curtailed legal aid system – within a judicial system increasingly tilting against the accused in ‘national security’ cases – Edmund Wan’s ability to defend himself has been severely compromised – just as it is for Hong Kong’s many other activists.  

“Wan was an outspoken critic of the government on his radio shows and helped set up an education fund for youths who had fled Hong Kong for Taiwan. Today he has been sentenced in connection with both these things.  

“Given the Hong Kong government’s zero-tolerance approach to dissent since 2019, it is difficult to believe that his imprisonment is anything other than politically motivated. The authorities must release Edmund Wan and drop all charges against him unless they demonstrate sufficient credible and admissible evidence that he has committed a criminal offence.”  

Background 

Edmund Wan, or “Giggs”, was today sentenced to two years and eight months on charges of seditious intention and money laundering. 

Prior to his arrest, Wan was the host of four shows on an independent online radio station in Hong Kong. He was often critical of the Hong Kong and Chinese central authorities. 

In February 2020, he started a fundraiser for sponsoring the education of a group of Hong Kong youths who had fled for Taiwan as the Hong Kong government arrested tens of thousands of young people who took part in the city’s 2019 mass protests.  

On 21 November 2020, Wan was arrested under the Hong Kong National Security Law. On 8 February 2021, Wan was instead officially charged with four counts of “acts with a seditious intention” under colonial era sedition laws. He was then charged on 10 May 2021 with an additional five counts of money-laundering and one count of “conspiring to commit an act with a seditious intention”. The “seditious intention” charges concerned his criticism of the Hong Kong Chief Executive and the Chinese Communist Party on his online radio shows and posts. He has been detained for over 18 months. 

In May 2022, the prosecution reached a plea deal with Wan, under which six of the 10 charges he was facing would not be prosecuted now, but kept on file if he pleaded guilty to the remaining charges and agreed to the prosecution’s application to confiscate the proceeds of his crowdfunding project.  

Since 2020, the Hong Kong government has been using colonial-era sedition charges to stamp out dissent. People charged with sedition have faced some of the same draconian measures as those targeted under the National Security Law, which came into force on 30 June 2020.  

In July this year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee expressed concern about the Hong Kong government’s use of colonial-era sedition charges to target people for exercising their right to freedom of expression. It called for the repeal of sedition offences and to end their use to suppress criticism or dissent. 

The post Hong Kong: Giggs sentencing highlights authorities’ expanding armoury in crackdown on critics  appeared first on Amnesty International.

Responding to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s rejection – by 19 votes to 17 with 11 abstentions – of a draft decision to hold a debate on China’s Xinjiang region, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said:

“Today’s vote protects the perpetrators of human rights violations rather than the victims – a dismaying result that puts the UN’s main human rights body in the farcical position of ignoring the findings of the UN’s own human rights office.

“The recent report on Xinjiang by the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights was an important step forward in addressing crimes against humanity and other serious human rights violations committed by the Chinese government in Xinjiang, yet today the UN has taken two steps back.

“For Council member states to vote against even discussing a situation where the UN itself says crimes against humanity may have occurred makes a mockery of everything the Human Rights Council is supposed to stand for.

“Member states’ silence – or worse, blocking of debate – in the face of the atrocities committed by the Chinese government further sullies the reputation of the Human Rights Council. Political and economic interests should not trump serious human rights concerns, and no state should be shielded from scrutiny at the Human Right Council.

“The UN Human Rights Council has today failed the test to uphold its core mission, which is to protect the victims of human rights violations everywhere, including in places such as Xinjiang.

“Despite the deeply disappointing result of this vote, the fight for justice and truth for those victims and their families continues. The decision was rejected by a slim margin and it is critical for UN Human Rights Council member states to revisit this vote and continue efforts to highlight the human rights situation in Xinjiang at the earliest.

“Amnesty International will continue to demand accountability even when multiple governments fail to, and we look forward to continued scrutiny of the situation by UN experts as well as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.”  

Background

Despite the findings of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in August that crimes against humanity may have occurred in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) member states today voted against adopting a decision to discuss the human rights situation in Xinjiang (17 votes for, 19 votes against, 11 abstentions). The debate would have taken place at the UNHRC’s next regular session in March 2023.

The OHCHR report documented patterns of torture or other ill-treatment as well as incidents of sexual and gender-based violence, among a catalogue of human rights violations, finding that the “extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups … may constitute … crimes against humanity.”

Since 2017, there has been extensive documentation of China’s crackdown against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in Xinjiang, carried out under the guise of fighting terrorism. In 2021, a comprehensive  report by Amnesty International demonstrated that the systematic state-organized mass imprisonment, torture and persecution perpetrated by Chinese authorities amounted to crimes against humanity. 

Amnesty International’s Free Xinjiang Detainees campaign has, to date, profiled 126 individuals who are among the perhaps one million or more people in arbitrary detention in internment camps and prisons in Xinjiang.  

The post China: Xinjiang vote failure betrays core mission of UN Human Rights Council appeared first on Amnesty International.

Responding to Puma Energy’s decision to withdraw from Myanmar nearly two years after a military coup in early 2021, Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights Researcher Montse Ferrer said:

“Amnesty International acknowledges Puma Energy’s decision to leave the country, which comes after a long campaign by civil society groups including Burma Campaign UK and Justice For Myanmar, who among others have placed vital scrutiny on aviation fuel supplies that may end up in the hands of Myanmar’s military.

“The announcement also comes one month after researchers from Amnesty International met with Puma company representatives to present findings from a forthcoming report on the supply of aviation fuel to the Myanmar military, with research supported by Justice For Myanmar.

“Puma Energy must ensure a safe and responsible disengagement now that it is leaving the country, including by providing a transparent and clear roadmap of its plans and preventing the military from accessing its aviation fuel infrastructure. Any valuable assets Puma Energy leaves behind should not fall into the hands of the military or its crony businesses. 

“Puma Energy must also explore ways to remedy any harm it may have contributed to while operating in Myanmar.”

Background

Puma Energy said in a statement on 5 October that it was exiting the country and selling its stake in Puma Energy Asia Sun (PEAS) and minority share in National Energy Puma Aviation Services (NEPAS) to a “locally owned private company”.

Through PEAS and NEPAS, Puma Energy has been the main supplier of aviation fuel to the country since it commenced operations in 2015.

Several civil society organizations as well as Myanmar’s National Unity Government have called for aviation fuel supplies to the military to be restricted or outright banned.

Shortly after the 1 February 2021 coup, Puma Energy said it was suspending its operations in Myanmar. It subsequently resumed operations but, according to the company, only for civilian purposes.

The post <strong>Myanmar: Puma Energy to leave amid scrutiny of aviation fuel supplies</strong> appeared first on Amnesty International.