Schlagwort: human rights

Victims of sexual violence in Guinea face social stigmatization, a lack of accessible medical care and serious barriers to justice, said Amnesty International and the International Planned Parenthood Federation Africa Region (IPPFAR) today in a new report ‘Shame must change sides, ensuring rights and justice for victims of sexual violence in Guinea’.  

Based on interviews with survivors of rape, administrative, judicial, traditional, and religious authorities, health care professionals, diplomats, civil society representatives, the report analyses the numerous obstacles to effective care for victims of rape, forensic examination, psychological support, and access to justice in Guinea. For many survivors, justice remains unattainable.   

Victims and their families have repeatedly told us that the horrendous sexual violence they experienced is compounded by societal judgement, but silence is starting to break on rape cases and civil society is moving to denounce sexual violence.” 

Samira Daoud, Amnesty International's Regional Director for West and Central Africa. 

“Despite recent efforts by the authorities to tackle the issue of sexual violence, many remains to be done in terms of information, prevention, access to care and justice to respect Guinea’s obligations under international and regional human rights laws.” 

In 2021, the Office for the Protection of Gender, Children and Morals (Oprogem) and the Special Brigade for the Protection of Vulnerable Persons (BSPPV) – specialized units within the police and the gendarmerie- dealt with more than 400 cases of rape, and most of the victims were minors, some of whom are under 13.  This report shows that the real figures of rape cases are undoubtedly higher, considering notably the practice of extrajudicial settlement and the higher number of cases treated in medical centres.  

Social stigmatization 

Victims of sexual violence and their families often face intense judgement in their communities amid widespread social stigmatization.  

The mother of a girl who said she was raped told Amnesty International about the stigma her child experienced:  

“[…] When we went to the hospital, one of the doctors said: ‘This is the little girl who was raped’. It hurts. Everywhere she goes, people point at her. She is always locked up in the house. She doesn’t go out; she hardly communicates with people. She wants to go back to school but it’s not possible.” 

More efforts should be done by the authorities to develop awareness and education campaigns to address the underlying social and cultural attitudes that discriminate against women and facilitate and perpetuate violence against them. These campaigns should promote zero tolerance for violence against women, debunk harmful gender stereotypes and myths associated with rape, eliminate the stigma associated with women victims of violence, and encourage victims to seek redress.  

Urgent need to improve access to care, sexual and reproductive rights and psychological support 

Guinea lacks an effective toll-free number enabling victims to report sexual violence and to receive medical and legal advice. And despite some initiatives like the creation of one-stop centres offering care and legal support, the availability, quality, and accessibility of the health system must be strengthened for victims, often of modest economic status. Many survivors are unable to access effective medical and psychological care or realise their right to sexual and reproductive health. Most medical specialist practice in the capital city Conakry and the cost of care can sometimes prevent victims from seeking treatment.  

A doctor said to Amnesty International: “We can provide free consultations and reports. But if people have complications that require surgery, or infectious complications that require medication, we can’t do that for free.” 

“The social stigma associated with rape in Guinea, which often leads to not reporting the crime and not filing complaints, leaves survivors of these atrocities without access to medical care and psychosocial support as well as legal aid to access justice and redress”, said Marie-Evelyne Petrus-Barry, IPPFAR Regional Director.  

“Gender based violence in all its forms is recognised as a human rights violation by the international human rights framework and jurisprudence. Gender inequality, power imbalance and lack of respect for human rights are often the root causes of such heinous acts and prevents survivors from accessing and enjoying their full sexual and reproductive health and rights. As human rights defenders, we must all take a stand and put a stop to these inexcusable acts”, added Petrus-Barry. 

Accessing justice is an obstacle course for victims 

Despite achieving real progress by adjusting legal frameworks in recent years and developing specialized police and gendarmerie units to respond to sexual violence cases, gaining access to justice in Guinea remains a challenging obstacle course for victims of sexual violence, while perpetrators often enjoy impunity. Customary authorities have been able to push for out of court settlements leading to prosecutions being dropped, which is against the law and against the rights of the survivors. 

Although there is lack of forensic specialists and the presentation of a medico-legal certificate is not a legal condition for filing a complaint, in practice it is often required. And even when this document is not required by the police or the gendarmerie, its absence becomes a major obstacle to a possible conviction in court.  

Judicial investigations are often hampered by a lack of resources and training in addressing and investigating sexual violence, which negatively impacts victims’ quest for justice. In the absence of effective free legal assistance for those unable to afford a lawyer, only NGOs are able to provide legal support.  

Similarly, Guinea’s justice system also lacks resources. The majority of judges, most of whom are men, work in poor conditions. The report of rapes survivors highlights that some of them perpetuate patriarchal stereotypes while handling sexual violence cases. 

Furthermore, the fact that the survivors of the 28 September 2009 massacre had to wait 13 years to finally hope for justice and reparation was a powerful symbol of impunity; while the defence and security forces killed more than 150 demonstrators and committed sexual crimes against more than 100 women in a stadium in Conakry that day.   

To strengthen their response to sexual violence, the Guinean authorities must urgently pass a comprehensive law on gender-based violence, among other recommendations highlighted in the report to strengthen the capacity of the judiciary, police and other law enforcement authorities, and social and health workers, to ensure full implementation of legal provisions aimed at addressing violence against women.   

Guinean authorities promised that they would fight gender-based violence and rape.  We urge them to take concrete steps to strengthen state efforts to prevent sexual violence, and guarantee care and justice for survivors,”

Samira Daoud

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As Amnesty International closes its ‘#LetThemFly’ petition, which saw nearly 100,000 people around the world call on the Saudi Arabian authorities to lift all travel bans imposed on human rights defenders and activists for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression, Diana Semaan, Amnesty International’s Acting Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“The Saudi Arabian authorities have been handing down arbitrary travel bans as part of prison sentences on those who dare to express any form of peaceful dissent, criticism of the government or support for human rights. These unlawful travel bans seriously undermine activists’ access to healthcare and professional or educational opportunities abroad and wreak havoc on their mental health, with many forcibly separated from their families for years.

“Yet now, a chorus of criticism featuring around 100,000 voices from across the globe is calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities to ‘Let Them Fly’. It is beyond time that the severe repression unleashed against critics is replaced by genuine respect for human rights. Saudi Arabia must live up to its public relations campaigns depicting a rights respecting society, rather than darkening the lives of activists at home and abroad.

…a chorus of criticism featuring around 100,000 voices from across the globe is calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities to ‘Let Them Fly’.

Diana Semaan, Amnesty International

“The Saudi Arabian authorities must end their ruthless crackdown on human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association and movement. Until then, we will continue to advocate fiercely for the rights of all residents and people, and to call out every infringement in the Kingdom.”

Background

Amnesty International launched its ‘#Let Them Fly’ petition in May 2022. Since then, Amnesty International mobilized activists around the world to take action. Nearly, 100,000 voices from around the world called on the Saudi Arabian authorities to end travel bans against activists and human rights defenders.

Travel bans are official orders that prevent a particular citizen or group of citizens from entering or leaving the country. They should only be used when necessary, and they should be consistent with all other human rights. The unofficial bans also fail the requirement that they be provided by law.

Amnesty International has documented the cases of 40 human rights defenders and peaceful activists who have been sentenced following grossly unfair trials to travel bans ranging from five to 35 years, as well as 39 unofficial travel bans which have affected relatives of activists. These activists include Loujain al-Hathloul and Raif Badawi.

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The bravery of protesters facing a spiralling deadly response by the Iranian security forces over the past days after the death of Mahsa Amini reveals the extent of outrage in Iran over abusive compulsory veiling laws, unlawful killings, and widespread repression, Amnesty International said today.

Evidence gathered by the organization from the past two nights of fresh violence in 20 cities and 10 provinces across Iran points to a harrowing pattern of Iranian security forces deliberately and unlawfully firing live ammunition at protesters. With the death toll reaching at least 30 people, four of them children, the organization reiterated its calls for urgent global action, warning of the risk of further bloodshed amid a deliberately imposed Internet black out.

On the night of 21 September alone, shootings by security forces left at least 19 people dead, including at least three children. Amnesty International has reviewed photos and videos showing deceased victims with horrifying wounds in their heads, chests and stomachs.

“The rising death toll is an alarming indication of just how ruthless the authorities’ assault on human life has been under the darkness of the internet shutdown. There is no such thing as “an impartial investigation” within Iran. UN member states must go beyond toothless statements, hear the cries for justice from victims and human rights defenders in Iran and urgently set up an independent UN investigative mechanism,” said Heba Morayef, Middle East and North Africa Director at Amnesty International

The anger expressed on the streets has also shown how Iranians feel about the omnipresent so-called ‘morality police’ and compulsory veiling laws. It is high time for these discriminatory laws and the security forces enforcing them to be completely removed from Iranian society, for once and for all.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty International

“The anger expressed on the streets has also shown how Iranians feel about the omnipresent so-called ‘morality police’ and compulsory veiling laws. It is high time for these discriminatory laws and the security forces enforcing them to be completely removed from Iranian society, for once and for all.”

Amnesty International has recorded the names of 19 people including three children shot dead by security forces on 21 September. The deaths of a further two people, including a 16-year-old bystander, have also been confirmed on 22 September. Further deaths are being investigated.

Echoing growing frustration at the international community’s failure to take meaningful action to address successive waves of protest killings in Iran, the father of Milan Haghigi, a 21-year-old man killed by security forces on 21 September, told Amnesty International: “People expect the UN to defend us and the protesters. I, too, can condemn [the Iranian authorities], the whole world can condemn them but to what end this condemnation?”

According to eyewitness accounts, security forces involved in the deadly shootings include Revolutionary Guards agents, paramilitary Basij forces and plainclothes security officials. These security forces have fired live ammunition at protesters with the intention of dispersing, intimidating and punishing them or preventing them from entering state buildings. This is prohibited under international law which restricts the use of firearms to instances where their use is necessary in response to an imminent threat of death or serious injury, and only when less extreme means are insufficient.

In addition to the 19 people killed on 21 September, Amnesty International has recorded the names of two other people killed by security forces in Dehdasht, Kohgilouyeh and Bouyer Ahmad province on 22 September, including a 16-year-old bystander.

Since nation-wide protests were triggered by the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini after being violently arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in connection with discriminatory and degrading compulsory veiling laws, Amnesty International has recorded the names of 30 people killed by security forces: 22 men, four women and four children. The organization believes the real death toll is higher and investigating further.

Deaths were recorded in Alborz, Esfahan, Ilam, Kohgilouyeh and Bouyer Ahmad; Kermanshah; Kurdistan, Manzandan; Semnan; Tehran, West Azerbaijan provinces.

West Azerbaijan province

This province had one of the highest tolls on the night of 21 September with the death of at least three men and two children. They include Sadrodin Litani, Milan Haghighi and 16-year-old Amin Marefat in Oshnavieh; and Danesh Rahnama and 17-year-old Abdollah Mahmoudpour in the village of Balou.

A human rights defender shared with Amnesty International the written account of a protester from Ohshnavieh who described how on 21 September, Revolutionary Guards agents randomly fired live ammunition at protesters while they were attempting to enter the Office of the Governor. The protester said: “Revolutionary Guards agents attacked people and as a result of shooting directly [towards protesters] with firearms, three people lost their lives… They included Sadroddin Litani, who was shot in his stomach and neck from a distance of several metres and Amin Marefat who was shot in his heart … the bullet exited through his back.”

Amnesty International reviewed a corroborating video showing a bullet hole in the back of Amin Marefat’s dead body.

The father of the third victim from Oshnavieh, Milan Haghighi, told Amnesty International that he died from fatal gunshot wounds including in his leg and torso.

According to information shared with Amnesty International by human rights defenders with contacts on the ground, the deadly shootings in the village of Balou took place in front of the Basij headquarters there. The organization obtained a voice message from an eyewitness saying: “They [security forces] are directly killing us.”

Kohgilouyeh and Bouyer province

Two eyewitnesses from Dehdasht told Amnesty International that 16-year-old bystander, Pedram Azarnoush, was shot dead on 22 September after Revolutionary Guard agents began repeatedly randomly firing live ammunition to disperse protesters. The same night, locals said security forces had killed a second man identified as Mehrdad Behnam Vasl.

One of the two eyewitnesses told Amnesty International: “The young boy was leaning on a wall and he was only looking at people. The protesters were fleeing, and he did not realize that bullets could come in his direction as well … The security forces were repeatedly firing their weapons in all directions, and everyone was at risk of being shot or not, it was sheer luck whether they [escaped] being hit by a bullet or not.”

The eyewitnesses said the Revolutionary Guards forces had hidden among trees in a square in Deshdasht and faced no threat when they began shooting at chanting protesters.

Witnesses said several people also sustained serious gunshot wounds from security forces firing live ammunition, including a 13-year-old boy, Amirali Douhandeh, who was shot in the leg. They reported that security and intelligence officials have established a strong presence at Emam Khomeini hospital in Dehdasht, heavily guarding a section where injured protesters are being treated.

Semnan province

Information gathered about Garmsar, Semnan province points to a similar pattern of reckless shooting by security forces resulting in the death of at least one young protester, Mehdi Asgari, on 21 September in front of a police station.

In video footage purportedly of the incident, which was circulated online, protesters are seen coming under fire while throwing stones at the police station and kicking its entrance door. Amid the sound of gunfire, two protesters are seen falling to the ground. A second video from the same incident reviewed by Amnesty International shows one protester lying lifeless and bleeding on the ground.

Mazandaran province

At least six men and one woman are recorded as having been killed in this province. Their names are Mohsen Mohammadi killed in Ghaemshahr; Hannaneh Kia, Hossein Ali Kia and Mehrzad Avazpour killed in Noshahr; Mohammad Hosseinikhah killed in Sari; Milad Zare killed in Babol; and Amir Norouzi killed in Bandar-e Anzali.

A journalist reported that according to two friends of Hannaneh Kia, she was fatally shot on her way from a doctor’s visit.

Methodology

To investigate the ongoing protest crackdown, Amnesty International has so far spoken to and received audio-visual evidence from 30 individuals including 10 eyewitnesses, six protesters and one victim’s relative as well as four human rights defenders and nine journalists outside in Iran who were in turn in contact with primary sources on the ground.

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Reacting to news that “voting” has begun in the Russian-occupied areas of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine on whether to join the Russian Federation, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“These so-called ‘referenda’ are a ruse for Russia to illegally annex occupied Ukrainian territory, which would be another escalation of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and further evidence of the Kremlin’s profound disregard for international law and the rights of people in the territories under its occupation. The Fourth Geneva Convention expressly prohibits annexation of occupied territory and other acts by the occupying power to deprive the occupied population of the protection of the Convention.”

“These so-called ‘referenda’ and any annexation by Russia that follows have no validity under international law, and, whatever Russia claims as a result, such actions will not change the legal status under international law of the territories Russia occupies.

These so-called ‘referenda’ and any annexation by Russia that follows have no validity under international law, and, whatever Russia claims as a result, such actions will not change the legal status under international law of the territories Russia occupies

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“Russia must respect its obligations as the occupying power under international humanitarian law and cease immediately all unlawful actions. It must also immediately end its aggression against Ukraine. All those responsible for crimes under international law, including war crimes, must face justice.”

Background

Earlier this week, Russian authorities and their proxies in the Russian-occupied parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions in Ukraine, announced their intention to hold “referenda” on accession to the Russian Federation.

On 23 September, representatives of the occupying authorities started making home visits to collect “ballots” from residents. The “referenda” are expected to take five days. Occupying Russian authorities have said that on the fifth and final day of the “referenda” on 27 September so-called polling stations would be open, but not before for security reasons.

Any attempt by Russia to change the legal status of the territories it controls in Ukraine through occupation, including in the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions as well as Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, are a flagrant violation of the UN Charter, and a violation of the right of their population under international humanitarian law.

Article 47 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states: “Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.”

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Viet Nam’s government must immediately investigate allegations that prison authorities beat and shackled an activist serving an eight-year prison sentence, Amnesty International said today.

“Being beaten, placed in solitary confinement and shackled for days on end amounts to torture or other ill-treatment. Authorities in Viet Nam must urgently investigate these allegations and any perpetrators must be held accountable,” said Ming Yu Hah, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns. 

Being beaten, placed in solitary confinement and shackled for days on end amounts to torture or other ill-treatment.

Ming Yu Hah, Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns

Activist Trinh Ba Tu was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021 for spreading propaganda against the state, a part of the criminal code routinely used to suppress dissent. His mother and brother, also activists, received similar sentences under the same charge and are also in prison. The family had used social media to raise awareness about land rights among other issues.  

According to information gathered by Amnesty International, Tu said he had been punished for filing a report about conditions in the prison, called No. 6, in Nghe An province. 

On 6 September 2022, he was allegedly placed in a room for four to six hours, beaten by prison staff, and held in solitary confinement for 10 days with his feet shackled. He went on a hunger strike to protest his mistreatment. 

“No person should ever be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The reports about the state of Trinh Ba Tu’s health are also extremely concerning. Amnesty International calls on authorities in Viet Nam to immediately drop charges against Tu and release him and his family members. 

“Vietnamese authorities have a long history of targeting Tu and his family for their peaceful activism and work to expose injustice. They should drop charges against anyone imprisoned for exercising their right to freedom of expression.” 

Background: 

In May 2021, Trinh Ba Tu and his mother, Can Thi Theu, were both sentenced to eight years’ imprisonment followed by three years’ probation after being convicted by the People’s Court of Hoa Binh province under Article 117 for “making, storing, or spreading information, materials or items for the purpose of opposing the State of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.” 

In December 2021, his brother, Trinh Ba Phuong, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment followed by five years’ probation under the same charge. 

Tu’s mother Can Thi Theu is a well-known land rights activist and human rights defender in Viet Nam. She became an activist after her family’s land was confiscated by the authorities in 2010 and became a leading figure of the land rights movement. His father has also spent time in prison for his activism. 

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