Schlagwort: human rights

The Algerian authorities must ensure that the investigation into the enforced disappearance for 20 days of activist Abdelhamid Bouziza, is independent, effective and impartial, Amnesty International said today.

Judicial authorities in Tlemcen ordered the opening of an investigation in November, however in at least three cases documented by Amnesty International, investigations into human rights violations in Algeria such as the suspicious deaths in custody or torture of activists at the hands of the police have not resulted in justice and reparations for the victims.

“Bouziza’s family and lawyer looked desperately for him for weeks while the authorities withheld information about his exact whereabouts. This precedent is extremely worrying. Algerian authorities should shed the light on what happened to Bouziza and bring those responsible for his enforced disappearance to justice,” said Amna Guellali, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“This incident is part of a wider pattern of human rights violations in Algeria, where hundreds of activists and protesters have been arbitrarily detained, and dozens were subjected to torture and other ill treatment at the hands of the security forces. Yet security forces responsible for these violations continue to enjoy impunity.”

On 19 October, Bouziza was detained by security forces at his home in Tlemcen, a city in the West of Algeria. Bouziza’s family and lawyers made multiple attempts to locate him, in Tlemcen, Algiers, and Blida, but police in Tlemcen denied that he was detained. Judicial authorities in three cities denied that he had been charged or was scheduled to appear before their courts. His family and lawyers could not identify his whereabouts or call or visit him.

On 6 November, his lawyer filed a complaint before the Court of Tlemcen asking them to investigate his client’s enforced disappearance. It was only after that, on 8 November that lawyers who went to the Court of Boufarik confirmed to Bouziza’s lawyer in Tlemcen that he appeared before the court of Boufarik on 24 October and that he was detained in Hay El Darwich Prison in Blida, a place more than 470 kilometres away from where the activist and his family live. On 8 November, the Prosecutor General of the Tlemcen Court heard Bouziza’s family members’ testimony about the complaint filed by the defence team. On 10 November, Bouziza received his first prison visit by his brother and mother.

Bouziza’s lawyers suspect he is held on terrorism-related charges for posts he made on social media about the arrests and trials of other activists in the country.

Since April 2021, Algerian authorities have extensively resorted to the use of the counterterrorism provisions in the Penal Code to prosecute activists and human rights defenders who voice dissenting opinions online or participate in peaceful protests.

Background

In the past years, Algeria has not effectively investigated human rights violations in police custody, including cases of death and ill-treatment and torture. In March 2021, a judge in El Bayadh Court refused to open an investigation into torture claims of activist Ayoub Chahetou, who said he was raped by police officers. Until today, authorities did not make public the results of the investigations opened into the deaths in custody of peaceful protester Ramzi Yettou and human rights defender Kameleddine Fekhar, in April and May 2019 respectively.

Bouziza, 25, has been an activist in the Hirak movement and regularly posts on his social media accounts about the arrests and trials of activists in Algeria. In April 2022, Bouziza, along with 12 others, was convicted in absentia and handed a one-year prison sentence and a fine for “inciting an unarmed gathering” after the 13 individuals took part in a demonstration in the streets of Tlemcen on 19 March 2021.

In November 2021, he was given a three-year sentence for “insulting the President”, “offending a public body”, “publishing fake news that might harm public security” and “inciting an unarmed gathering” after he published five online posts, some criticizing Algeria’s President and secret services and one calling for protests to resume in the streets. His sentence was reduced on appeal and he was released in February.

Under Algerian law, those arrested on terrorism charges can be held in police custody for a maximum of 12 days, and must be allowed to communicate with, and be visited by, their family.

Algeria is yet to ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. Nonetheless, the prohibition of enforced disappearance is provided for in a number of international instruments binding on Algeria, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

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UN Human Rights Council member states must urgently establish an investigative and accountability mechanism on Iran to address the alarming spike in unlawful killings and other human rights violations, Amnesty International said today, following a week in which the Iranian security forces shot dead at least 60 protesters, mourners and bystanders, including children.

Security forces are ruthlessly persisting in their widespread use of unlawful lethal force, exposing a clear intent to kill or maim protesters in their quest to quell the popular uprising at any cost. Since 15 November, they have also intensified their exclusive use of live ammunition to disperse protests in provinces populated by Kurds and other oppressed ethnic minorities.

Member states of the UN Human Rights Council have an opportunity to amplify calls by people in Iran, who continue to risk their lives to protest for human rights, freedom and accountability for protester killings.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International

“At the 24 November Special Session on Iran, member states of the UN Human Rights Council have an opportunity to amplify calls by people in Iran, who continue to risk their lives to protest for human rights, freedom and accountability for protester killings. It is horrifying that so many men, women and children have paid the ultimate price over their cries for a hopeful, rights respecting future,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“The situation in Iran calls for a robust resolution establishing an independent investigative and accountability mechanism on Iran to collect and preserve evidence of crimes, tackle impunity and send a clear message to the Iranian authorities that their crimes under international law will no longer go unchecked.”

Since protests erupted in mid-September, Amnesty has recorded the names and details of 305 people, including at least 41 children, killed by security forces. In the past week alone, Amnesty International has identified 53 men, 2 women and 5 children killed in 10 provinces across Iran, the majority (42) in Kurdish populated areas. Members of Iran’s oppressed ethnic minorities, including Baluchis and Kurds, have borne the brunt of the vicious crackdown by security forces. Investigations into the identities of those killed continue, with the true death toll believed to be far higher.

Over two months into the popular uprising, systematic impunity has emboldened the Iranian authorities not only to continue unlawfully deploying lethal force, but also to resort to the death penalty as a tool of intimidation and political repression. Since late October 2022, the authorities have sought the death penalty in grossly unfair trials by Revolutionary Courts against at least 21 individuals who were all charged in connection with the protests amid disturbing calls by officials to rush proceedings and execute them in public.

In an attempt to weaken international support for the Special Session and the establishment of an investigative mechanism at the UN Human Rights Council, the Iranian authorities have falsely claimed that they are de-escalating their crackdown, and conducting investigations.

Unlawful killings continue unabated

Since 15 November 2022, Iran’s security forces have persisted in their widespread use of unlawful force — including lethal force — against protesters, killing at least 60 people in the provinces of Bushehr, East Azerbaijan, Esfahan, Fars, Gilan, Hormozgan, Kermanshah, Khuzestan, Kurdistan and West Azerbaijan. Protesters, bystanders and mourners attending funerals of protesters are all among the dead. 

On 20 November, security forces killed at least two children, both aged 16: Baha’aldin Veisi in Javanroud, Kermanshah province, and Karwan Ghader Shokri in Piranshahr, West Azerbaijan province. Days before, on 16 November, security forces unlawfully killed at least three children. Security forced shot dead Kian Pirfalak, 10, and Artin Rahmani, 14, in Izeh, Khuzestan province, while 17-year-old Danial Pabandi was killed by security forces during a protest in Saqqez, Kurdistan province.

Last week marked three years since security forces killed hundreds of men, women and children during nationwide protests in November 2019. Demonstrations held to mark this anniversary were met with unlawful force by security forces and further killings, all of which occurred amid internet and mobile network disruptions.

“This week, as UN Human Rights Council member states prepare for Thursday’s Special Session, the country’s security forces are continuing to unleash a barrage of bullets against men, women and children while enforcing mobile and internet blackouts to conceal their crimes from the world. These patterns of killing hundreds of protesters under cover of darkness are reminiscent of the Iranian authorities’ crackdown on the November 2019 protests, demonstrating how the failure of the international community to respond adequately then enabled the ongoing bloodshed. It is now high time for UN Human Rights Council member states to do their part to help break this cycle of violence,” said Agnès Callamard.

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The decision by Türkiye’s highest appeals court to overturn baseless convictions of Amnesty International Türkiye’s Honorary Chair and three other human rights defenders is a huge relief, yet also highlights once more the politically motivated nature of the prosecutions, Amnesty International said today.

The ruling by the Court of Cassation on the convictions of Taner Kılıç, İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun – four of 11 human rights defenders in the Büyükada case, who were convicted in July 2020 – comes more than five years after their initial arrests in the summer of 2017. Taner Kılıç’s case was quashed on the grounds of ‘incomplete investigation’ and referred back to the first instance court.

“Today’s ruling brings to an end a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. While we are hugely relieved that the convictions have finally been quashed, the fact that the court has ruled that Taner’s case requires further investigation is disappointing,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“For more than five years, we have watched the wheels of injustice grind as the baseless claims levelled against these four brave human rights defenders have been accepted as fact by successive courts. Today’s ruling reveals the true purpose of such politically motivated prosecutions: using the courts as a weapon to silence critical voices.”

Taner Kılıç, a refugee rights lawyer and Honorary Chair of Amnesty’s Türkiye section, was arrested in June 2017 and detained in prison for more than 14 months. Despite a complete lack of evidence, in July 2020, he was convicted of “membership of a terrorist organisation” and sentenced to six years and three months in prison. İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun were all convicted for 25 months for “assisting a terrorist organisation” and spent more than three months in behind bars in 2017.

Over the course of 12 court hearings, every allegation levelled against the four human rights activists was repeatedly and comprehensively proven baseless, including in the state’s own police report.

In May, the European Court reaffirmed that the authorities in Türkiye did not have “any reasonable suspicion that Taner Kılıç had committed an offence”. It also found that his pre-trial detention under terrorism-related charges was “directly linked to his activity as a human rights defender”. This binding decision became final in October.

“Whilst we celebrate this decision today, we do not forget that across Türkiye many human rights defenders are languishing in jail, living in fear of arrest or facing similar unfounded prosecutions,” said Agnès Callamard.

“We will take strength from today’s victory. We will continue to stand with Taner until the end and to fight against the relentless curtailing of human rights in Türkiye, and on behalf of those who refuse to be silenced by the government’s threats.”

Background

Taner Kılıç and Özlem Dalkıran are both founding members of Amnesty International Türkiye. Over the last 20 years, they have played a crucial role in defending human rights as part of the organisation, and also the wider human rights community in Türkiye.

At the time of her arrest in July 2017, Idil Eser was the Director of Amnesty International Türkiye. Günal Kurşun, a lawyer, international criminal law expert and a member of Amnesty International Türkiye since its early days, is a prominent human rights defender in the country.

Taner Kılıç was alleged to have downloaded and used the ByLock messaging app, which the prosecution claimed was used for communication by the Gülen movement, a group blamed for organizing an attempted coup in 2016.

Two forensic analyses of Kılıç’s phone commissioned by Amnesty, however, found no trace of ByLock having ever being installed. In June 2018, any legitimacy of the prosecutor’s case was stripped away in the police report submitted to the court, which also concluded that no evidence of ByLock on Kılıç’s phone had been found. Nevertheless, merely downloading or using an app would not be sufficient evidence of alleged offences, as concluded in a recent ECtHR judgment concerning another applicant, unrelated to the Büyükada defendants.
İdil Eser, Özlem Dalkıran and Günal Kurşun were among 10 people, dubbed the Istanbul 10, who were detained by police as they attended a workshop on well-being and digital security on 5 July 2017 on Istanbul’s Büyükada island.

On 4 October 2017, an Istanbul prosecutor filed an indictment against the Istanbul 10, and also Taner Kılıç, who was allegedly aware of preparations for the workshop and in contact with two defendants.
At his first trial hearing on 26 October, the judge accepted the prosecutor’s application to merge Kılıç’s prosecution that had been opened in Izmir, with that of the other ten human rights defenders, even though the accusations levelled against him had nothing to do with the workshop and the two cases were in no way connected.

Amnesty has previously published an analysis of the case against Taner Kılıç and detailed further information about the case in general.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Stefan Simanowitz on press@amnesty.org

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Reacting to the outcome of COP27, Chiara Liguori, Amnesty International’s Climate Justice Adviser said:

“This was a tale of two COPs: joy at the adoption of a Loss and Damage fund but anguish that, despite overwhelming scientific evidence and escalating human rights impacts, the negotiations failed to secure vital commitments on the phasing out of all fossil fuels, which are the number one driver of the climate crisis.

“The establishment of the Loss and Damage fund was the result of a united position presented by global south countries and persistent campaigning by a wide range of groups. It sends a ray of hope to people whose human rights have been harmed by climate change. It will still be a long road before those most impacted can access real financial support but the decision sets in motion a process to redress historical injustices. Now it is up to wealthy countries to step up and ensure the fund is adequately resourced.

“However, demands from a growing number of civil society groups and others including many states to secure agreement on the phasing out of all fossil fuels did not prevail in the face of a powerful fossil fuel lobby, the blatant opposition of fossil-fuel producing countries, and the ambiguous position of some wealthy countries.

“Governments failed to commit to phase out all fossil fuels, including oil and fossil gas (so-called ‘natural gas’), restating instead the pledge from last year’s COP that they would be ‘accelerating efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’.

“In light of the extreme climate-driven disasters that we have witnessed in the last year, and the growing catalogue of reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and others documenting both the impacts and the causes of climate change, this failure to progress on fossil fuels represents an enormous abdication of human rights obligations and disregards the rights of all those being affected, and future generations.”

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Responding to FIFA’s threats to sanction players who planned to wear ‘One Love’ armbands to show support for the LGBTI community, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Head of Economic and Social Justice said:

“Last minute threats to sanction players for wearing messages in support of human rights and equality is the latest example of FIFA failing to fully uphold its own values and responsibilities. Sport does not happen in a vacuum and these are issues on which FIFA should be leading, not cracking down on. Agreements on armbands, and better protections for LGBTI communities, should have been reached a long time ago.

“We applaud the courage of teams and players who have spoken out about human rights and we hope they continue to do so. Fans, players and FAs want to ensure that football can be a vehicle to promote human rights, and FIFA needs to heed these calls quickly. It must not only encourage messages of equality, but take proactive action to ensure LGBTI people are protected.

“And let’s not forget the migrant workers who made the tournament possible. They must be compensated in full for the unspeakable abuse they suffered.”

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