Human Rights Watch News https://www.hrw.org/ en World Should Rally to Halt Unfolding Atrocities in Darfur https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/world-should-rally-halt-unfolding-atrocities-darfur Click to expand Image Damage to Babiker Nahar Pediatric Hospital in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur following an airstrike, May 11, 2024. © 2024 Ayin Network <p>Hundreds of thousands of civilians are at risk of again becoming victims of atrocities, this time in the North Darfur city of El Fasher, amid fighting between the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), as well as allied militias. Fighting began in April, and the last week has seen fierce clashes in and around the city, including deliberate attacks on civilians, burning of residential neighborhoods, and indiscriminate bombing and shelling.</p><p>Tens of thousands of people in El Fasher have already been displaced, with many civilians trapped in the city without access to aid. A telecommunications blackout is also hampering real-time reporting.</p> Click to expand Image Damage to Babiker Nahar Pediatric Hospital in El Fasher, capital of North Darfur following an airstrike, May 11, 2024. © 2024 Ayin Network <p>Observers within the United Nations, governments, and civil society have warned an attack on El Fasher would cause immeasurable suffering. On May 15, the United States sanctioned two high-level RSF commanders, one for involvement in leading the attacks on El Fasher, but greater focus on civilian protection is needed.</p><p>Satellite imagery indicates fires in the eastern part of the city since at least April 18, with an increase from May 10 to 12, days when fighting in the city spiraled. The images show burn marks in the city that suggest targeting of non-Arab neighbourhoods. We also geolocated videos posted online of RSF soldiers close to residential areas ablaze. This is consistent with the RSF and allied forces’ modus operandi in West Darfur last year.</p><p>Bombing and shelling in the city is also costing lives. On May 15, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders or MSF), one of the only aid groups present in El Fasher, said the South Hospital, which it supports, had received 454 casualties, 56 of them succumbing to their injuries since May 10. MSF also reported that on May 11, an SAF airstrike 25 meters from a pediatric hospital had killed two children and at least one caregiver and forced the hospital to stop operations. The strike left an approximately 5 meter-wide crater near the hospital visible on satellite imagery.</p><p>Last week Human Rights Watch released a report documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity by the RSF and allied militias in West Darfur’s El Geneina. The ongoing assault in El Fasher bares stark similarities to these findings and warns of a tragedy which may repeat itself.</p><p>Concerted global action is needed now. The UN Security Council and the African Union’s Peace and Security Councils should meet, deploy a civilian protection mission to Sudan, and call on their respective institutions to press warring parties to ensure trapped civilians can safely flee.</p> Fri, 17 May 2024 15:21:57 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/world-should-rally-halt-unfolding-atrocities-darfur Enduring Legacy of Photojournalist Killed in Central African Republic https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/enduring-legacy-photojournalist-killed-central-african-republic Click to expand Image French photojournalist Camille Lepage at Bonga Bonga stadium in Bangui, Central African Republic, on October 6, 2013. © 2013 Sylvain Cherkaoui/AP Photo <p>This week marked ten years since the death of Camille Lepage, a French photojournalist who was killed while working in western Central African Republic (CAR). She was a true friend to a country in need of people to bear witness to abuse. Camille was 26.</p><p>Months before her arrival in CAR in 2013, an alliance of rebel groups known as the Seleka took control of Bangui, the capital. By then they had also seized control of most of the country’s provinces, and its fighters unleashed waves of violence against civilians across the country. Camille arrived later that year as Christian and animist militias, known as anti-balaka, began to organize counter attacks against the Seleka. The group frequently targeted Muslim civilians, associating them with the Seleka. As the humanitarian situation rapidly deteriorated, hundreds of thousands of people fled the country as refugees, while others were displaced internally.</p><p>As people were fleeing, Camille went in. She used her camera lens to tell the story of those who had been left behind. She knew it was a forgotten crisis and knew she had a way to help.</p><p>Camille’s photos continue to be some of the most striking images that illustrate the human cost of the conflict in those early years. She gave faces to the victims and survivors, capturing in an image the fear of battle, the agony of losing a loved one, the injustice of war crimes. I remember accompanying her on a protest, where people called for justice for a slain judge. Ten years on, the images she took that day still stand as a testament to CAR’s indefatigable calls for justice and accountability.</p><p>Since Camille was killed, the Central African Republic continues to be one of the most dangerous places for humanitarians to work. Impunity is a key driver of abuse; there has been too little accountability for the war crimes committed across the country. Camille’s case is emblematic of this, as there has been little movement on bringing her killers to justice.</p><p>A book of Camille’s photography was issued after her death. Its title, Republique Centrafricaine: On est ensemble (Central African Republic: We Are Together), represents both Camille’s ties to the country and a common phrase she would say in Sango, the local language. After ten years, Camille is still connected to the country and her legacy lives on.</p> Fri, 17 May 2024 13:45:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/enduring-legacy-photojournalist-killed-central-african-republic Greece: Respect Fair Trial Rights of Pylos Shipwreck Survivors https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/greece-respect-fair-trial-rights-pylos-shipwreck-survivors Click to expand Image Rescued migrants shelter at a depot, following a shipwreck off shore in Kalamata , Greece on June 14, 2023. © 2023 Costas Baltas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images <p>(Athens, May 17, 2024) – The imminent trial of nine survivors of the June 2023 Pylos shipwreck off Greece raises fair trial concerns, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The survivors are charged with smuggling, aggravated by the deaths of passengers, causing a shipwreck, irregular entry, and forming and membership of a criminal organization, and could face multiple life sentences if convicted. A parallel investigation into the potential liability of the Greek authorities for the shipwreck is at the preliminary stage, meaning the criminal court will have incomplete information in assessing the culpability of the defendants. The criminal trial is due to begin in Kalamata, Greece, on May 21, 2024.</p><p>“There’s a real risk that these nine survivors could be found ‘guilty’ on the basis of incomplete and questionable evidence given that the official investigation into the role of the Coast Guard has not yet been completed,” said Judith Sunderland, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Credible and meaningful accountability for one of the worst shipwrecks in the Mediterranean needs to include a determination of any liabilities of Greek authorities.”</p><p>The severely overcrowded fishing trawler capsized on June 14, 2023, leading to the death of more than 600 of its estimated 750 passengers, mainly from Syria, Pakistan and Egypt. Research by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International and numerous investigative journalists and organizations points to several failures by the Greek authorities in the hours leading up to the shipwreck, as well as serious allegations that a Hellenic Coast Guard patrol boat caused the boat to capsize while attempting to tow it.</p><p>The case against the nine Egyptian survivors, referred to as the “Pylos 9” appears to be based on the theory that the poor and overcrowded state of the boat caused the shipwreck and that the defendants were smugglers in charge of the boat and its passengers, and therefore responsible for the deaths of those on board. The accused deny the charges. It is unclear whether and how the criminal court will examine the behavior of the Hellenic Coast Guard or the allegation that the attempt to tow the boat was the direct, material cause of the shipwreck.</p><p>A separate Naval Court investigation into the potential liability of the Hellenic Coast Guard, opened in June 2023, remains at the preliminary stages. Legal nongovernmental organizations joined the case filing a complaint on behalf of 53 survivors alleging that Greek authorities were responsible for the shipwreck, and many of them have been summoned to testify. The Naval Court prosecutor’s request for forensic analysis of coast guard officers’ phones – only seized by authorities in late September 2023, over two months after the events – is still pending.</p><p>The Pylos 9 were arrested on June 15, 2023, apparently on the basis of testimonies from nine other survivors taken by Hellenic Coast Guard officers in the immediate aftermath of the traumatic shipwreck, between June 14 and 15. It is unclear whether or how many other survivors gave their accounts and whether these were evaluated before the accused were arrested and subsequently sent into pretrial custody, on June 20.</p><p>Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have previously said that the fact that Coast Guard officials conducted the interviews raised concerns for the independence and integrity of the investigation, especially considering that allegations about the Coast Guard’s actions emerged soon after the shipwreck.</p><p>There are real concerns regarding the respect of fair trial standards based on questions about the integrity of the investigation and evidence, the organizations said. The speed at which the investigation against survivors was concluded, and the Pylos 9 defense lawyers’ lack of access to the Naval Court case file compound these concerns.</p><p>In separate investigations, Lighthouse Reports, Solomon, and others found that various survivors’ statements to the Coast Guard, admitted as evidence, described the shipwreck in identical terms and did not include allegations about the towing attempt, suggesting that those taking the first statements may have written official pro forma accounts rather than the actual accounts provided by survivors. However, in later testimony to the Kalamata prosecutor, several of those same survivors made the allegation of the towing attempt. One survivor also told Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch that his statement to the prosecutor that the Coast Guard had caused the fishing boat to capsize was changed to say that the boat sank due to other reasons.</p><p>Members of the Pylos 9 defense team told the organizations that the investigating judge in the Kalamata court rejected defendants’ requests to secure further evidence, including evidence pertaining to the potential liability of the Hellenic Coast Guard, on the grounds that it falls within the jurisdiction of the Naval Court. The defendants’ lawyers have been unable to gain access to the investigation file before the Naval Court despite its clear relevance to preparing the defense.</p><p>The judge rejected the request for analysis of any data from survivors’ mobile phones which were confiscated by Greek authorities under unclear circumstances, then reportedly discovered on the coast guard boat and seized as part of the Kalamata investigation only in July 2023. The judge also rejected motions by defense lawyers to take testimony from additional survivors, and to acquire the communications between the Hellenic Coast Guard, Frontex and the Greek Joint Rescue Coordination Center, and aerial photos of the boat prior to the shipwreck.</p><p>The separate investigation into the Hellenic Coast Guard’s potential liability should not impede the defendants’ access to crucial, and potentially exculpatory, evidence on the causes of the shipwreck, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said. The Kalamata and Naval courts should cooperate in the interests of justice, with the goal of achieving as full and credible an account of how the shipwreck occurred and identifying those responsible and any alleged fatal shortcomings in the rescue efforts.</p><p>International and European human rights law guarantees a defendant’s right to an effective defense when facing a criminal charge. Among other things, this means the defendants have the right to “adequate facilities” for preparing their defense, including “all materials that the prosecution plans to offer in court against the accused or that are exculpatory.”</p><p>The Kalamata court should guarantee that the Pylos 9 receive a fair and impartial trial, and that their full due process rights are upheld and respected. The Naval Court should advance investigations promptly, effectively and impartially and ensure the safe and effective participation of the largest possible number of survivors and relatives of victims and full collection of evidence.</p><p>“Time and again, in Greece and in other countries, racialised people who are seeking to travel to Europe end up being the only ones facing accountability in the context of migration movements,” said Adriana Tidona, Migration researcher at Amnesty International. “The Pylos investigations and trials must serve as a turning point for this dangerous trajectory.”</p><p>After examining 81 trials in Greece, the nongovernmental group Borderline Europe found that “smuggled people themselves, including asylum seekers, are systematically convicted of smuggling because they (allegedly) drove or assisted in driving the boat or car” and denounced serious shortcomings and abuses in the context of arrests and preliminary investigations. According to the study, as of February 2023, 2,154 people were detained in Greece on suspicion of smuggling, and 90 percent of them were third country nationals. Meanwhile, serious and persistent human rights violations committed by the authorities against refugees and migrants at Greek borders – including pushbacks, arbitrary detention and torture – remain unpunished.</p><p> </p> Fri, 17 May 2024 07:50:15 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/greece-respect-fair-trial-rights-pylos-shipwreck-survivors Tunisia: Deepening Civil Society Crackdown https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/tunisia-deepening-civil-society-crackdown Click to expand Image Municipal workers clean a makeshift camp outside the International Organization for Migration office after police forces attempt to evacuate the camp in Tunis, Tunisia, April 11, 2023. © 2023 Hassene Dridi/AP Photo <p>Update May 17, 2024: On May 16, Saadia Mosbah and at least two people connected to Terre d'Asile Tunisie (Land of Asylum Tunisia) appeared before a judge and were placed in pretrial detention. </p> (Beirut) – Tunisian authorities have arrested at least nine people amid escalating government actions in recent weeks to muzzle free speech, prosecute dissent, and crack down on migrants and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today. Tunisian authorities should respect and protect space for independent civil society to operate fully and freely.<p>Between May 3 and 13, 2024, security forces arrested two prominent lawyers and two well-known journalists, as well as at least five members of at least three legally registered nongovernmental organizations working on migration, asylum, and racial justice: Mnemty, the Tunisian Refugee Council, and Terre d’Asile Tunisie. In total, members of at least eight nongovernmental organizations have been investigated or summoned. </p><p>“The clampdown on migration-related work at the same time as the increasing arrest of government critics and journalists sends a chilling message that anyone who doesn't fall in line may end up in the authorities’ crosshairs,” said Lama Fakih, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “By targeting these civil society groups, Tunisian authorities jeopardize the vital support they provide migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers living in extremely vulnerable situations.” </p><p>On May 11, security officers stormed the Tunisian Bar Association’s headquarters during a live television broadcast, arresting a media commentator and lawyer, Sonia Dahmani, for sarcastic comments made on May 7 questioning the claim that Black African migrants were seeking to settle in Tunisia. Based on media reports, Dahmani’s arrest and subsequent detention was based on Decree-Law 54 on cybercrime, which imposes heavy prison sentences for spreading “fake news” and “rumors” online and in the media, after she refused to respond to a summons for questioning.</p><p>The same evening, authorities also arrested two other journalists and colleagues of Dahmani—Mourad Zeghidi and Borhen Bsaies—in connection with unrelated statements made in the media and online, also under Decree-Law 54. They have been placed in pretrial detention pending trial on April 22.</p><p>On May 13, security officers arrested Mehdi Zagrouba, a lawyer and government critic. Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that Zagrouba was arrested because he had assaulted police officers that day near a Tunis court. On May 15, Tunisian President Kais Saied said in a statement that “those who dare to denigrate their country in the media and who violently assaulted police officers ... cannot remain unaccountable,” in indirect reference to Dahmani and Zagrouba. </p><p>Security forces arrested Saadia Mosbah, the head of the anti-racism organization Mnemty (My Dream), and Zied Rouin, the organization's program coordinator, on May 6. They also searched Mosbah’s home and the group’s offices, confiscating devices and documents. While Rouin was released after questioning, a public prosecutor placed Mosbah in custody for 10 days as part of an investigation into alleged financial crimes under Tunisia’s 2015 counterterrorism law. A person close to the case told Human Rights Watch that security forces questioned Mosbah about Mnemty’s funding and activities.  </p><p>Mosbah is a prominent Black Tunisian activist and a pioneer in the fight against racism in Tunisia who contributed to the adoption in 2018 of a landmark law for the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination. Pro-government social media accounts engaged in an aggressive online smear campaign against Mosbah that gained traction days before her arrest, Human Rights Watch said.</p><p>The same day as Mosbah’s arrest, Saied said that foreign funding was being funneled to national organizations to settle migrants in Tunisia illegally and referred to the heads of the organizations as “traitors.” He also confirmed that Tunisian authorities were expelling migrants to border areas in “continued cooperation” with neighboring countries. On May 3 and 4, security forces raided at least two makeshift camps and a youth hostel in Tunis and evicted hundreds of Black African migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers. At least 80 of them were arrested and 400 were expelled to the country’s borders, according to the authorities. These constitute unlawful collective expulsions, which are prohibited by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Human Rights Watch said. </p><p>Saied's comments strongly echoed his February 2023 speech, which led to a surge in attacks and abuses by both Tunisian citizens and security forces against Black Africans in Tunisia. At the time, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called Saied’s speech racist and considered that such remarks violate the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, to which Tunisia is a state party.</p><p>On May 7, a court spokesperson told the national news agency that the president and vice president of a civil society group had been detained that day on suspicion of embezzlement and financial misconduct. Though they were not named, Human Rights Watch confirmed that these remarks were in reference to the president and vice president of the Tunisian Refugee Council (Conseil Tunisien pour les Réfugiés, CTR).</p><p>Based on the spokesperson’s comments to the media, the public prosecutor’s office accused the heads of the CTR of “forming a criminal association with the aim of helping people to enter Tunisia” illegally in connection with a “call for tenders to Tunisian hotel establishments for the accommodation of African migrants” that their organization published “without coordination with the security and administrative authorities,” referring to its work with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).</p><p>The CTR was formed in 2016 and has been a key partner of the UNHCR in Tunisia, being primarily responsible for the collection and initial screening of asylum applications, which are subsequently processed by UNHCR. </p><p>The CTR also provides other services to support the UNHCR’s mandate, such as arranging emergency accommodation and medical assistance for refugees and asylum seekers. On May 2, it published a public tender for Tunisian hotels to provide services for the CTR’s beneficiaries, sparking a backlash on social media and among parliament members.</p><p>The court spokesperson also said that another group supporting asylum seekers and refugees in Tunisia was also being investigated. Sources told Human Rights Watch that the spokesperson was referring to Terre d’Asile Tunisie (Land of Asylum Tunisia), and that at least two people linked to the organization had been arrested on May 8.</p><p>The Tunisian police, military, and National Guard, including the Coast Guard, have committed serious abuses against Black African migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers in recent years, with abuses increasing since 2023. Human Rights Watch has documented beatings, use of excessive force, some cases of torture, arbitrary arrests and detention, collective expulsions, dangerous actions at sea during boat interceptions, forced evictions, and the theft of money and belongings. </p><p>As of April 30, over 17,000 refugees and asylum seekers were registered with the UNHCR in Tunisia. Over 7,000 are Sudanese, including many who have fled Sudan’s conflict since April 2023.  </p><p>On May 15, the European Union and France issued statements expressing concern over the recent arrests of civil society representatives in Tunisia. The EU said its delegation in the country had made inquiries to the authorities about the reasons for the arrests. Saied indirectly referred to these statements later that day, saying they were an unacceptable foreign intervention.</p><p>On July 16, 2023, the EU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Tunisia that included a funding package of up to €1 billion, including €105 million to curb irregular migration, without any specific human rights guarantees for migrants and asylum seekers.</p><p>The EU Commission should ensure that no EU funding is disbursed to governmental entities that commit human rights abuses against migrants or asylum seekers, and they should tie future migration cooperation with Tunisia to genuine guarantees that civil society groups working on migrant and refugee rights can perform their activities without fear of harassment or reprisal.</p><p>According to the Tunisian government, a draft law on associations is currently being finalized by the Tunisian Justice Ministry. Leaked drafts since 2022 suggest that the government may give the administration overly broad powers and discretion to interfere with the way civil society organizations are formed, their functions and operations, and their funding. Human Rights Watch has previously expressed concerns about another draft law on associations. </p><p>Since July 25, 2021, Saied has dismantled Tunisia’s democratic institutions, undermined judicial independence, and stifled the exercise of freedom of expression and the press, Human Rights Watch said. Tunisia’s international partners should press the government to drop the plan to adopt the draft law on civil society organizations, which if passed would undermine freedom of association in the country.</p><p>“Targeting nongovernmental groups supporting migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees is part of a broader effort to dismantle Tunisia's civic space,” Fakih said. “The EU, which has pledged millions to Tunisia on migration cooperation, should ensure that the authorities protect space for independent civil society to work on these issues in the country.”</p> Fri, 17 May 2024 01:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/17/tunisia-deepening-civil-society-crackdown Japan: Press Saudi Arabia on Human Rights https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/japan-press-saudi-arabia-human-rights Click to expand Image Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attend Kishida's welcome ceremony in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, July 16, 2023. © 2023 Kyodo via AP Images <p>(Tokyo) – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida should publicly call on Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, to respect human rights, Human Right Watch said today. The crown prince’s visit to Tokyo from May 20-23, 2024, is his first visit to Japan as Saudi Arabia’s prime minister.</p><p>As the Japanese government increases its engagement with Saudi Arabia, spanning sectors such as energy, trade, investment, and tourism, it should also be strengthening its calls for improvements in the country’s human rights situation. Most recently, during Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review at the United Nations Human Rights Council in January 2024, Japan urged Saudi Arabia to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, as well as to “take further actions to ensure women’s rights and participation in society, including for women with disabilities.”</p><p>“A healthy and productive Japanese relationship with Saudi Arabia means publicly urging Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to respect the rights of women, human rights defenders, and migrant workers, among others,” said Kanae Doi, Japan director at Human Rights Watch. “A mutual understanding and respect for human rights are critical for a strong friendship between the two governments.”</p><p>Since Mohammed bin Salman came to power in 2017, Saudi Arabia has experienced the worst period of repression in the country’s modern history, Human Rights Watch said. Saudi Arabia formally enshrined male guardianship over women through its “personal status” law, issued on May 8, 2022. Although bin Salman and other Saudi officials touted the law as “comprehensive” and “progressive,” it contains discriminatory provisions against women concerning marriage, divorce, and decisions about their children, and includes provisions that facilitate domestic violence and sexual abuse in marriage.</p><p>Saudi women’s rights activists had long campaigned for a codified Personal Status Law that would end discrimination against women. However, the authorities provided them with no opportunity to offer input, as the bill was not made public before it was adopted. In recent years, Saudi women’s rights activists have faced arbitrary arrest and detention, torture, and travel bans. Women’s rights defenders, including Loujain al-Hathloul, Nassimah al-Sadah, and Samar Badawi, remain banned from travel and under suspended prison sentences, allowing the authorities to return them to prison for any perceived criminal activity. Kishida should urge Mohammed bin Salman to end the arbitrary travel bans on women’s rights defenders, including Loujain al-Hathloul.</p><p>Repression of civil and political rights has worsened as Saudi Arabian authorities arbitrarily arrest peaceful dissidents, public intellectuals, and activists. Dozens of Saudi human rights defenders and activists have been serving long prison sentences for criticizing government policies or advocating for political and rights reforms.</p><p>Saudi authorities increasingly target Saudi and non-Saudi social media users for their peaceful expression online and punish them with decades-long sentences, and even the death penalty. In July 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court, Saudi Arabia’s counterterrorism tribunal, convicted Muhammad al-Ghamdi, 54, a retired teacher, of several criminal offenses related solely to his peaceful expression online. The court sentenced him to death, using his tweets, retweets, and YouTube activity as the evidence against him.</p><p>Mohammed al-Rabea, a human rights activist; Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, an aid worker; and Waleed Abu al-Khair, a human rights lawyer; remain imprisoned on charges relating to peaceful expression or activism. Kishida should press Mohammed bin Salman to immediately and unconditionally release al-Rabea, al-Sadhan, and al-Khair, Human Rights Watch said.</p><p>Saudi Arabia’s economy relies heavily on migrant workers, who make up 42 percent of the population. These workers face widespread abuses including wage theft, exorbitant recruitment fees, and passport confiscation with little government protection. Despite recent reforms, the abusive kafala (sponsorship) system continues to give employers excessive power over migrant workers’ mobility and legal status in the country. Migrant workers struggle to change jobs or leave the country while many become undocumented because their employers do not issue or renew their residency permits.</p><p>Workers who leave their employers without consent can be falsely charged for “absconding,” even when they are fleeing abuse, and face imprisonment, and deportation. Migrants are denied the right to contest their detention and deportation. In addition to these widespread abuses, migrant domestic workers also face forced confinement, isolation, and physical and sexual abuse.</p><p>Kishida should press Mohammed bin Salman to fully dismantle the abusive kafala system and fully enforce the labor reforms to improve protections for workers.</p><p>Japan should be incorporating a strong human rights message in its growing dealings with Saudi Arabia, Human Rights Watch said. In 2017, the two governments established a “framework” called the “Japan-Saudi Vision 2030,” which “aims to facilitate public and private sector involvement between Saudi Arabia and Japan by aligning and reporting on strategic initiatives that contribute to the objectives of each country’s national growth and development strategies.”</p><p>During a July 2023 visit to Saudi Arabia, Kishida told the crown prince that “Japanese companies are highly interested in investing in Saudi Arabia and that a number of companies” had accompanied him. During his stay, Kishida also “expressed his desire to continue working closely with Saudi Arabia in addressing various challenges the international peace and security.”</p><p>“Prime Minister Kishida should take this rare opportunity to publicly impress upon Mohammed bin Salman that Japan will not conduct ‘business as usual’ if the Saudi government continues to commit serious rights violations,” Doi said. “Japan’s silence will not only embolden Saudi authorities, but also betray its own pledge to promote human rights in its diplomacy.”</p><p></p> Thu, 16 May 2024 19:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/japan-press-saudi-arabia-human-rights FIFA: Publish Robust Rights Framework for 2026 World Cup https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/fifa-publish-robust-rights-framework-2026-world-cup Click to expand Image The logo for the 2026 US, Canada, and Mexico-hosted FIFA Men’s World Cup on a screen outside Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, May 17, 2023. © 2023 Jae C. Hong/AP Photo <p>(New York) – FIFA should immediately release and commit to implementing the robust Human Rights Framework for the 2026 Men’s Soccer World Cup, which it developed through extensive consultations with civil society stakeholders and public officials from across North America. The framework, which FIFA shared with host cities in March 2024, will govern labor and human rights for all 16 North American host cities.</p><p>FIFA should now make the framework public for all stakeholders without any dilution or further delay. FIFA’s continued delay in a public release of the framework raises alarm bells, especially as the work of planning and delivering the World Cup is well underway without those human rights guardrails in place. The Dignity 2026 Coalition calls on the FIFA officials convening on May 17 in Bangkok for the 74th Congress to rectify this critical human rights deficit in FIFA policy.</p><p>In early May, FIFA president Gianni Infantino traveled to Washington, D.C., to press the United States to expedite visas for fans. FIFA expects the US to implement many other government guarantees, including massive tax waivers and blanket exemptions from labor law.</p><p>“FIFA will need the buy-in of workers, communities, and elected officials for a successful tournament, and that will not happen unless FIFA keeps its promises on human rights,” said Cathy Feingold, director of the AFL-CIO’s International Department. “In light of its financial, operational, and legal demands on host governments, FIFA’s delays and silence on its human rights strategy are particularly glaring.”</p><p>The members of Dignity 2026—an alliance of organizations representing millions of civil society stakeholders in the US that works in close partnership with coalitions in Canada and Mexico—have strong concerns about the delay and the status of the concrete human rights standards that Dignity 2026 has advocated for with FIFA, host cities, and the US government. Several of the founding organizations of Dignity 2026, including Human Rights Watch and the AFL-CIO, had worked with the North American Bid Committee in 2018 to shape strong human rights language. Civil society support for the hosting of the 2026 World Cup in North America was premised on these commitments.</p><p>“Sports uplift the values of fair play and competition. International competitions like FIFA’s World Cup draw attention to equity, not just through play but by valuing fairness and an equal application of the rules, including the economics of sport,” said Jamal Watkins, Senior Vice President of Strategy and Advancement for the NAACP. “There are NAACP units in each of the 11 US host cities, and we want FIFA to know that we are watching. Through our close relationships, from Seattle to Miami, we are very familiar with the standards and tools in the framework that FIFA shared with host cities in March. We expect that document to be released at once.”</p><p>In 2010, FIFA awarded the 2022 World Cup to Qatar without any conditions on human rights protections, despite the country’s poor human rights record and massive infrastructure deficit. FIFA’s decision drew widespread criticism for the need to construct eight stadiums in dangerous heat and the lack of human and labor rights protections in place.</p><p>“In view of migrant worker deaths, discrimination against LGBT people, and other abuses at past World Cups, workers, local communities, and rights defenders deserve more than empty promises from FIFA,” said Minky Worden, director of global initiatives at Human Rights Watch. “FIFA needs a concrete, published, and enforceable plan to protect labor and human rights around the 2026 World Cup.”</p><p>The Dignity Coalition is concerned that pressure from business partners and future World Cup host countries may account for FIFA’s stalling on human rights. In July, FIFA is expected to confirm that the 2030 World Cup will take place in Morocco, Portugal, and Spain, and that Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 World Cup, raising concerns globally about FIFA’s commitment to human and labor rights.</p><p>“FIFA has a chance to remake the world of sport into one that champions fundamental rights and principles on occupational health and safety, worker organizing, gender equality, forced labor, and more,” said Luc Triangle, general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation. “But it will lose all credibility if it abandons or dilutes concrete standards and implementation criteria that were developed with unions, fans, and human rights organizations.”</p><p>About the Dignity 2026 coalition</p><p>The Dignity 2026 Coalition brings together 13 national-level human rights groups, labor unions and worker center networks, athletes’ organizations, fans, and migrant rights groups to ensure that the 2026 FIFA World Cup protects affected communities and advances their interests. Member organizations include the AFL-CIO, The Army of Survivors, Athlete Ally, Centro de los Derechos del Migrante (CDM), Global Labor Justice, Grassroots Law &amp; Organizing for Workers (GLOW), Georgetown University Law Center (Harrison Institute), Human Rights Watch, Independent Supporters Council, Jobs with Justice, the NAACP, PowerSwitch Action, and the Sport &amp; Rights Alliance.</p> Thu, 16 May 2024 17:15:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/fifa-publish-robust-rights-framework-2026-world-cup Türkiye: Kurdish Politicians Convicted in Unjust Mass Trial https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/turkiye-kurdish-politicians-convicted-unjust-mass-trial Click to expand Image A young man holds up a photo of Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, in prison since November 4, 2016, at a demonstration in Diyarbakir, Türkiye, April 4, 2024.  © 2024 Sipa via AP Images <p>(Ankara, May 17, 2024) – A Turkish court’s conviction on May 16, 2024, of 24 Kurdish politicians on bogus charges of crimes against the state follows a manifestly political and unjust trial, Human Rights Watch and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project said today. The court sentenced the 24 to prison terms ranging from 9 to 42 years, while acquitting 12 other politicians who had been on trial with them. </p><p>The politicians were from the parliamentary opposition party Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), including former party co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ. The ruling confirms that the Turkish authorities instrumentalized the criminal justice system to secure the politicians’ prolonged arbitrary detention on baseless charges and remove them from political life as elected representatives. </p><p>“The conviction of Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, and other leading Kurdish opposition politicians in a mass trial is the latest move in a campaign of persecution that has robbed mainly Kurdish voters of their chosen representatives, undermined the democratic process, and criminalized lawful political speech,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Using bogus criminal proceedings to remove democratically elected Kurdish politicians from political life will do nothing to end the Turkish state’s decades-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).”     </p><p>In the Ankara 22nd Assize Court hearing, the court sentenced Selahattin Demirtaş to 42 years in prison, Figen Yüksekdağ to 30 years, and Gültan Kışanak, the former mayor of Diyarbakır, to 12 years, while releasing Kışanak and four others pending appeal. Ahmet Türk, the serving mayor of Mardin, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The court ordered the continued detention of 13 defendants, including Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ. The former HDP members of parliament, elected mayors, and party officials have stood trial for the past three years on multiple charges, ranging from attempting to “destroy the unity and integrity of the state” and “membership of a terrorist organization” to “murder.” The evidence against them, as confirmed by the European Court of Human Rights, consists almost exclusively of their party’s social media posts and political speeches.</p><p>The core accusation in the 3,530-page indictment naming 108 defendants—of whom 36 stood trial—centers on four social media postings on October 6, 2014, from the Twitter account of the HDP alongside the politicians’ political speeches. </p><p>The prosecution added to the case file, several years after the events in question, a few statements, including from anonymous witnesses, making unsubstantiated and generalized assertions against the politicians. The addition of these dubious statements to the case file followed an arbitrary procedure that failed to respect the defendants’ basic fair trial guarantees. </p><p>The party’s 2014 tweets called on supporters to protest the ongoing siege of the Kurdish-majority Syrian town of Kobane by the extremist group Islamic State (ISIS). The indictment takes these tweets as grounds to hold the accused politicians directly responsible for the ensuing protests in 32 cities across Türkiye from October 6 to 8, 2014, in which violent clashes resulted in at least 37 deaths, the circumstances of which have never been fully elucidated. The trial of the politicians has been dubbed the “Kobane trial” in the media because of the reference to the Kobane protests.  </p><p>The indictment charged the politicians with up to 30 offenses, including the main crime of attempting to “destroy the unity and integrity of the state,” as well as “murder,” “damage to property,” and “theft” in relation to the deaths and violence during the protests for which it held them liable. Ongoing criminal case files against the politicians in different courts charging them with crimes such as “membership of a terrorist organization” and “spreading terrorist propaganda” were then merged with the “Kobane trial” casefile.  </p><p>The Ankara court’s verdict, which the convicted politicians said they would appeal, is the latest development in a long campaign of persecution against the pro-Kurdish rights HDP. The persecution has been led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in coalition with the far-right Nationalist Action Party (MHP), Human Rights Watch and the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project said. </p><p>The crackdown on the politicians followed the breakdown in 2015 of intensive efforts by the party and the government to bring an end to the decades-long conflict between the armed PKK and the Turkish state. In May 2016, in a rapid sequence of events, the government led a controversial move to lift the parliamentarians’ parliamentary immunity through a temporary constitutional amendment. On November 4, 2016, leading HDP members of parliament, and on separate dates elected mayors from a sister party, were arrested and jailed on terrorism charges . </p><p>Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ, the HDP’s former co-chairs, have remained in prison ever since. The party itself is fighting a case seeking its closure before Türkiye’s Constitutional Court. </p><p>The Ankara court’s verdict also flagrantly flouts two binding judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR determined, in a judgment pertaining to Demirtaş in December 2020 and one pertaining to Yüksekdağ and 12 others in October 2022, that their detention on the basis of speeches and social media postings constituted a politically motivated move to silence them, “stifling pluralism and limiting freedom of political debate, the very core of the concept of a democratic society.” The ECtHR found that their rights to liberty, to freedom of expression, and to run for election had been violated and that the politicians must be released immediately. </p><p>The alleged facts forming the basis on which Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ are detained, and which form the basis of their conviction, are substantially the same as those contained in the proceedings which the ECtHR found to be insufficient grounds for their detention. </p><p>“The sentencing of Demirtaş, Yüksekdağ, and several other prominent opposition politicians in Türkiye to lengthy prison terms for their just political advocacy for Kurdish rights is yet another blow to hopes for positive change in the state of human rights, rule of law, and democracy in the country,” said Ayşe Bingöl Demir, director of the Turkey Human Rights Litigation Support Project. “This latest conviction, alongside ongoing arbitrary and politically charged detentions, blatantly violates international human rights standards and disregards ECtHR judgments. The international community now faces a critical choice: remain silent and risk complicity in these repressive practices, or call them out and take robust action, including initiating proceedings designated for such serious breaches of international obligations.”</p><p> </p> Thu, 16 May 2024 16:10:24 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/turkiye-kurdish-politicians-convicted-unjust-mass-trial Rwanda: Human Rights Watch Researcher Barred https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/rwanda-human-rights-watch-researcher-barred <p>(New York) – Rwandan immigration authorities denied entry to Clémentine de Montjoye, a senior researcher in the Africa division at Human Rights Watch, upon arrival at Kigali International Airport, on May 13, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. </p><p>De Montjoye traveled to Rwanda for meetings with officials from foreign embassies but was told upon arrival that she was “not welcome in Rwanda” for undisclosed “immigration reasons,” and Kenya Airways was instructed to ensure her removal from the country.</p><p>“Rwanda touts itself as an open and welcoming destination, but the treatment reserved for those who may investigate abuse exposes the government’s deep-seated hostility to human rights monitoring and independent scrutiny of any kind,” said Tirana Hassan, executive director at Human Rights Watch. “The Rwandan authorities can demonstrate that their projected openness is not just a façade and allow de Montjoye to return to Rwanda and carry out her work without obstruction or interference.”</p><p>De Montjoye, a Franco-British national, informed the government of her travel plans and sent meeting requests to the Justice Ministry, Human Rights Watch’s interlocutor in the Rwandan government, on April 29 and May 7, who did not respond. Human Rights Watch also contacted the National Commission for Human Rights’ chairperson, who replied that she was out of the country. The chairperson did not respond to a proposal to have a meeting once she returns to Kigali.</p><p>Human Rights Watch had informed Rwandan authorities when de Montjoye traveled to Rwanda with the same entry documents in June 2022 and August 2023, and she did not face any problems entering the country.</p><p>When de Montjoye arrived on the morning of May 13, immigration authorities took her passport. She was told to board a flight back to Nairobi, Kenya, the same evening, where she was given her passport and a document stating she had been denied entry for “immigration reasons.”</p><p>The denial of entry reflects the authorities’ intensifying assault on human rights, months ahead of the country’s 2024 general elections, Human Rights Watch said.</p><p>Human Rights Watch has conducted research on the human rights situation in Rwanda for over 30 years, since before the 1994 genocide. De Montjoye is the fourth Human Rights Watch researcher to be blocked from entering Rwanda, with previous staff facing similar treatment in 2008, 2010, and 2018. In January 2018, after a Human Rights Watch researcher was denied entry to the country, a Rwandan consultant working with Human Rights Watch was detained and arbitrarily held for 6 days, the first 12 hours of which were incommunicado.</p><p>De Montjoye’s denied entry follows the publication of a comprehensive October 2023 report documenting Rwanda’s systematic targeting of critics and dissidents beyond its borders.</p><p>During a parliamentary session to discuss the report, a Rwandan Patriotic Front member, John Ruku-Rwabyoma, accused Human Rights Watch of “never step[ping] foot in Rwanda” to carry out research. Speaking directly to Human Rights Watch, he suggested: “Just dare come here, you don’t need a visa … you can get visas at the airport … Then you will find the true Rwanda you’re trying to tarnish the image of.”</p><p>Rwandan authorities have long sought to block independent scrutiny and criticism, including by denying entry to a number of international journalists, maligning Rwandan rights advocates and journalists, and subjecting them to abusive prosecutions. Several Rwandan journalists, critics, and activists have been killed or have been reported missing in suspicious circumstances.</p><p>Rwanda’s rights record has garnered significant international attention in recent months. Its army has played an increasingly active role in the armed conflict in the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, where it provides logistical and operational support to the abusive M23 armed group.</p><p>Despite the country’s dire human rights record, the United Kingdom is continuing with its plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, where, in defiance of the facts, it claims independent monitoring and oversight of people’s conditions will be possible. De Montjoye’s denied entry raises renewed questions about the UK government’s persistence in its intention to send asylum seekers to a country that so openly blocks scrutiny and is itself responsible for turning away human rights investigators, Human Rights Watch said.</p><p>Thirty years after the 1994 genocide, the Rwandan government has made great strides in rebuilding its infrastructure, developing its economy, and delivering public services. It should recognize the valuable role civil society can play and allow free access to those monitoring the country’s human rights record.</p><p>Human Rights Watch remains committed to engage with the Rwandan authorities and requests access for its staff to meet with government officials and carry out the same work it conducts in over 90 countries across the world.</p><p>“Rwanda’s decision shows why the international community needs to reboot its approach to Rwanda’s deteriorating human rights record,” Hassan said. “A government that blocks a leading human rights organization’s staff is not likely to stop its repression of human rights without greater international pressure. This is about more than forcing Human Rights Watch out of Rwanda, it is a brazen attempt to muzzle reporting on Rwanda’s compliance with its international human rights obligations.”</p> Thu, 16 May 2024 09:45:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/16/rwanda-human-rights-watch-researcher-barred Thailand: ‘Swap Mart’ Targets Foreign Dissidents, Refugees https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/thailand-swap-mart-targets-foreign-dissidents-refugees Click to expand Image Suspected Uyghurs are transported back to a detention facility in the town of Songkhla in southern Thailand, March 26, 2014. © 2014 Andrew RC Marshall/Reuters  Thai authorities are helping neighboring governments to take unlawful actions against refugees and dissidents from abroad, making Thailand increasingly unsafe for those fleeing persecution.These targets of transnational repression have gotten caught up in a “swap mart” in which foreign dissidents are effectively traded for critics of the Thai government living abroad.The Thai government should investigate alleged harassment, threats, surveillance, and forced returns against migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and the role of Thai officials in these actions.<p>(Bangkok) – Thai authorities are assisting neighboring governments to take unlawful actions against refugees and dissidents from abroad, making Thailand increasingly unsafe for those fleeing persecution, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These targets of transnational repression have gotten caught up in a “swap mart” in which foreign dissidents in Thailand are effectively traded for critics of the Thai government living abroad. </p><p>The report, “‘We Thought We Were Safe’: Repression and Refoulement of Refugees in Thailand,” details Thai authorities’ upsurge in repression directed at foreign nationals seeking refugee protection in Thailand. Foreign governments have subjected exiled dissidents and activists living in Thailand to harassment, surveillance, and physical violence, often with the cooperation and knowledge of Thai authorities. In a number of cases, Thai officials arrested asylum seekers and refugees and deported them without due process to their home countries.</p><p>“Thai authorities have increasing engaged in a ‘swap mart’ with neighboring governments to unlawfully exchange each other’s dissidents,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin should break with this practice and prosecute Thai officials wrongfully collaborating with foreign governments acting on Thai soil.” </p><p>The term “transnational repression” describes efforts by governments or their agents to silence or deter dissent by committing human rights abuses against their own nationals or members of the country’s diaspora outside their territorial jurisdiction.</p><p>Human Rights Watch analyzed 25 cases that took place in Thailand between 2014 and 2023 and conducted 18 interviews with victims, their family members, and witnesses to abuses, along with representatives of local and international nongovernmental organizations. The governments responsible include member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as well as China and Bahrain, among others.</p><p>In one case, a Cambodian dissident who had fled to Thailand in July 2022, said he started receiving letters from Cambodian officials urging him to defect from the main Cambodian opposition party. After he had received these letters for months, unidentified men attacked him in August 2023. “They did not say anything to me, they just came out and started beating me,” the Cambodian dissident said.</p><p>In recent years in Thailand, dissidents from Vietnam have been tracked down and abducted, Lao democracy advocates have been forcibly disappeared or killed, and a Malaysian LGBTI rights influencer was targeted for repatriation. Thai authorities have detained and unlawfully deported Chinese dissidents and refugees, seemingly at the request of the Chinese government. Thai authorities also detained a visiting professional football player from Bahrain with Australian refugee status, and nearly returned him to Bahrain.</p><p>At the same time, a number of Thai activists have been killed or disappeared in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The mutilated bodies of two missing activists were later found floating in the Mekong River.</p><p>“Swap mart” arrangements increased under Thailand’s National Council for Peace and Order military government that came to power after the May 2014 coup and continued under the post-2019 government of Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha.</p><p>The Thai authorities, in addition to facilitating assaults, abductions, enforced disappearances, and other abuses, repeatedly violated the principle of nonrefoulement: the prohibition on returning anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture, or other serious ill-treatment, or a threat to life.</p><p>Thai authorities have arrested and summarily deported exiled critics and dissidents, even those with refugee status determined by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). One Cambodian activist pleaded with Thai police, saying he would “be killed or put in jail … if deported.” Yet Thai authorities forcibly returned him to Cambodia within days of his arrest.</p><p>Thailand’s actions violate customary international law as well as the UN Convention against Torture and other treaties that Thailand has ratified barring refoulement. The actions also violate Thailand’s Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances, which came into effect in February 2023. It states that “no government organizations or public officials shall expel, deport, or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, or enforced disappearance.”</p><p>The Thai government should thoroughly and impartially investigate alleged harassment, threats, surveillance, and forced returns from Thailand by foreign governments against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers in Thailand and the role of Thai officials in those actions, Human Rights Watch said.</p><p>“Prime Minister Srettha should act to restore Thailand’s deserved reputation as a country that is a safe haven for dissidents from abroad,” Pearson said. “He should immediately order a full and transparent investigation into arbitrary arrests, violent assaults, and forced returns of refugees and political dissidents.”</p> Wed, 15 May 2024 21:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/thailand-swap-mart-targets-foreign-dissidents-refugees No Justice for Crackdown in Tajikistan’s Autonomous Region Two Years On https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/no-justice-crackdown-tajikistans-autonomous-region-two-years Click to expand Image The Tajikistan flag. © 2022 Maksim Konstantinov, Sipa via AP Images <p>Two years ago, Tajik authorities cracked down on protesters in an autonomous region of the country, resulting in the death of a local man by what witnesses reported was live ammunition from security forces. In the next couple of days, police reportedly killed up to 40 people from the area during so-called security operations.</p><p>These events were a turning point for an already troubled region.</p><p>The protests began peacefully on May 16, 2022, in Khorog, the capital of the Gorno-Badakshan autonomous region (GBAO), with people demanding an end to harassment and alleged persecution of local people by Tajik authorities.</p><p>Over the next two days, police blocked and dispersed protesters using rubber bullets and teargas, reportedly with excessive force. Police also carried out killings and arbitrarily detained and tortured more than two hundred protesters and local people, who were prosecuted behind closed doors.</p><p>There has been no accountability for the crackdown on protesters, which authorities called an “anti-terrorism operation.”</p><p>At least six civil society activists who stood up for the rights of the Pamiris, a culturally, religiously, and linguistically distinct ethnic minority living in the region that has been historically persecuted by authorities, are still imprisoned.</p><p>They include Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva, a 67-year-old independent journalist and civil rights activist sentenced to 21 years in prison on charges of conspiring against the state and organizing the protests, and Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov, director of the Lawyers Association of Pamir, sentenced to 16 years on charges of participation in a criminal organization.</p><p>Since the protests, Pamiris have reportedly been prohibited from speaking their languages in public and from hosting prayer meetings in their homes. At a high-level UN meeting, Tajikistan’s justice minister, Muzaffar Ashuriyon, denied that the Pamiris are a distinct ethnic minority. Hundreds of nongovernmental groups in the region and the country have been forced to close.</p><p>The international response to the crisis has been relatively muted. In July 2022, the European Parliament and in December 2022, Mary Lawlor, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, called on the Tajik authorities to investigate the clashes in GBAO. But more is needed.</p><p>Despite reports of Tajikistan's increased involvement in transnational repression, there are signs of growing security cooperation between certain EU members and Türkiye with Tajikistan.</p><p>It is imperative that Tajikistan’s international partners remember the May 2022 events in Khorog and demand accountability from Tajik authorities.</p> Wed, 15 May 2024 19:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/no-justice-crackdown-tajikistans-autonomous-region-two-years Peru Chooses Bigotry in Medical Services https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/peru-chooses-bigotry-medical-services Click to expand Image Organizations march to demand investigations and justice in cases of transphobic violence in Lima, Peru, on February 22, 2023. © 2023 Guillermo Gutierrez Carrascal/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images <p>Peru’s government published a presidential decree on May 10 classifying trans identities as mental health conditions in the country’s Essential Health Insurance Plan, which lists insurable health conditions for insurance policies. The decree, signed by President Dina Boluarte, the minister of health, and the minister of the economy, also refers to “ego-dystonic sexual orientation” as a mental health condition.</p><p>A Ministry of Health official said the policy change was meant to facilitate coverage for “transsexual people and people with gender identity disorders,” particularly in private clinics. However, the decree is profoundly regressive.</p><p>It employs obsolete classifications related to gender identity and sexual orientation that the World Health Organization (WHO) replaced in the most recent International Classification of Diseases, published in 2019. The decree also further calcifies prejudices against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Peru which have led to violence and discrimination against this population.</p><p>The Ministry of Health has since affirmed it does not view LGBT identities as “illnesses,” but the decree remains in place despite heavy criticism from Peruvian human rights organizations and activists, including PROMSEX, Más Igualdad Perú, and Gahela Cari.</p><p>Officially pathologizing LGBT people in Peru may seriously undermine efforts to improve rights protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Peru currently does not allow same-sex couples to marry or enter into civil unions, does not have a procedure for trans people to change their documents to reflect their gender identity, and does not have civil laws prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people. The decree could also give legitimacy to “conversion practices” and exacerbate mental health issues that LGBT communities face in Peru.</p><p>The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, a group of UN human rights experts, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe have urged governments worldwide to reform medical classifications because pathologization is “one of the root causes behind the human rights violations that [LGBT people] face.”</p><p>The Peruvian government should discard this biased and unscientific decree and aim to implement the WHO’s updated classification of diseases with respect to sexual orientation and gender identity. It should also consult with Peru’s LGBT organizations about how best to ensure their communities’ rights to physical and mental health through rights-respecting and proportionate public policies.</p> Wed, 15 May 2024 16:03:11 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/peru-chooses-bigotry-medical-services Mozambique: Child Soldiers Used in Raid on Northern Town https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/mozambique-child-soldiers-used-raid-northern-town Click to expand Image Rwandan Counter-Terrorism Special Units and Mozambique police patrol streets in Palma, Cabo Delgado province, Mozambique on December 18, 2023. © 2023 Cyrile Ndegeya/Anadolu via Getty Images <p>(Johannesburg) – An armed group linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) in northern Mozambique used boys as young as 13 to raid and loot the town of Macomia, in Cabo Delgado province, on May 10, 2024, Human Rights Watch said today. It is unclear if the children also engaged in fighting against government armed forces. The recruitment and use of children under age 15 as child soldiers is a war crime.</p><p>The armed group, known locally as Al-Shabab, attacked Macomia to loot shops and warehouses before targeting government forces’ positions in the town, triggering heavy fighting. Several witnesses, including relatives of the boys, told Human Rights Watch that among the Al-Shabab fighters who took part in the raid were dozens of boys carrying ammunition belts and AK-style assault rifles. Two people from the same family said they recognized their 13-year-old nephew among the children.</p><p>“The armed group Al-Shabab’s use of children as soldiers is cruel, unlawful, and only adds to the horrors of Cabo Delgado’s conflict,” said Zenaida Machado, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Al-Shabab should immediately release all children in their ranks and stop any further recruitment.”</p><p>Human Rights Watch spoke by phone with six residents who witnessed the Macomia raid, as well as two humanitarian aid workers in the region. They said that the fighters, including dozens of boys, arrived in the town at around 4 a.m. on May 10. They were divided into at least three groups of “hundreds,” witnesses said. One group wandered around the town, speaking to residents and looting shops and warehouses.</p><p>Footage seen by Human Rights Watch, and now widely shared on social media, appeared to show some of the fighters, including a child, carrying guns and freely moving near a local market. According to witnesses and media reports, a second group engaged in fighting against joint South African and Mozambican army troops stationed in the town, while a third group blocked the main road to Macomia, where they reportedly ambushed military vehicles carrying South African troops serving with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Mission in Mozambique (SAMIM).</p><p>President Filipe Nyusi confirmed the raid, which took place in an area that the Southern African military mission previously controlled. The military mission is gradually withdrawing from the country ahead of a July deadline.</p><p>More than 700 people fled the fighting that started on May 10 and continued through May 12, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Some of the displaced sought to hide in the surrounding forests according to press reports and footage shared online. At least 10 people, mostly soldiers, were reportedly killed in the fighting.</p><p>One of the people who hid in surrounding forests was the 22-year-old trader, Abu Rachide. He told Human Rights Watch that upon arrival in the town, fighters engaged peacefully with people and told residents not to fear or flee as they had “come only for the food.” He said: “I and my sister decided to flee anyway because we didn’t want to take risks, but many people stayed behind.”</p><p>Abu Rachide said that he saw dozens of children among the fighters, including his 13-year-old nephew who had been missing since a January 10 attack in Mucojo. “I saw him with my own eyes carrying a big gun and ammunition belt and acting like a confident big man,” Abu Rachide said. When he called out to his nephew, Abu Rachide said, the boy waved at him and then continued on his mission.</p><p>Abu Rachide’s sister, Aida, confirmed his account. “The boy seemed very comfortable carrying a gun and taking instructions from the [older ones],” she said. “I kept wondering how he became a fighter like that in just four months.”</p><p>A 47-year-old trader, Jamal Jorge, who decided to stay in the market to monitor events, said most of the fighters were children and young men who spoke Swahili and Kimwani, a language spoken on the coast of Cabo Delgado. He said he saw more than 20 children among the fighters. “There in the market, I only saw children, some a bit older, maybe 17 or 20 years,” he said. “But to me, most of them were children not older than 16 years.”</p><p>Al-Shabab fighters occupied Macomia town for more than 24 hours, abandoning the area on the afternoon of May 11, then moving toward Mucojo, various sources said. Before departing the town, they looted food from various shops and warehouses of humanitarian groups, two humanitarian workers said. Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders or MSF) said it had suspended its activities in Macomia following the violence.</p><p>Mozambique’s Al-Shabab have long used children in combat. In 2021, Human Rights Watch reported that the group was kidnapping boys and using them to fight government forces in violation of the international prohibition on the use of child soldiers.</p><p>The United Nations Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, which Mozambique ratified in 2004, prohibits non-state armed groups from recruiting children under 18. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court categorizes as a war crime the conscription, enlistment, or active use of children under age 15 in active hostilities during armed conflict. The African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child further notes that non-state armed groups are bound by international humanitarian law.</p><p>“Al-Shabab’s ability to recruit, train and use child soldiers across Cabo Delgado is very concerning,” Machado said. “The Mozambican authorities, armed groups, and international partners should step up their efforts to ensure that children stay safe in school and at home and keep children off the battlefield.”</p> Wed, 15 May 2024 01:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/mozambique-child-soldiers-used-raid-northern-town Gambia: Landmark Swiss Conviction of Ex-Official https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/gambia-landmark-swiss-conviction-ex-official Click to expand Image Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona, Switzerland, May 15, 2024. © 2024 Human Rights Watch <p>(Geneva) – A Swiss court’s conviction of the former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity is monumental for Gambian victims of atrocity crimes during the rule of Yahya Jammeh, Human Rights Watch said today. The verdict is a major achievement for Switzerland’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for grave crimes committed abroad.</p><p>On May 15, 2024, the Swiss Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona convicted Sonko and sentenced him to 20 years in prison for his role in crimes against humanity relating to torture, illegal detentions, and unlawful killings between 2000 and 2016 during then-President Jammeh’s administration. Sonko is the second person convicted in Europe for international crimes committed in Gambia.</p><p>“Ousman Sonko’s conviction is a landmark moment for Gambian victims of brutal crimes under Yahya Jammeh’s rule,” said Balkees Jarrah, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “The verdict should catalyze justice efforts in Gambia and further bolster Swiss prosecutors to continue to pursue international atrocity cases.”</p><p>Sonko’s trial was possible because Swiss law recognizes universal jurisdiction over certain serious international crimes, allowing for the prosecution of these crimes no matter where they were committed and regardless of the nationality of the suspects or victims. Sonko is the highest-ranking former government official to be convicted on the continent under the principle of universal jurisdiction, Human Rights Watch said.</p><p>Swiss authorities arrested Sonko in Bern on January 26, 2017, the day after a Swiss nongovernmental group, TRIAL International, filed a criminal complaint against him. The Swiss Attorney General’s office filed an indictment against Sonko on April 17, 2023. The prosecution, representatives of victims who were formal parties to the proceeding known under Swiss law as private plaintiffs, and the defense presented arguments during the trial, which opened on January 8 and closed on March 7. A number of witnesses, as well as Sonko himself, testified during the proceedings. TRIAL International provided daily highlights of the hearings.</p><p>Over the past two decades, the national courts of an increasing number of countries have pursued cases involving war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial executions committed abroad. Despite having solid legislation to pursue such cases, judicial officials in Switzerland have been criticized in the past for lagging behind other European counterparts. Nevertheless, over the past few years, Swiss authorities have pursued a number of universal jurisdiction cases involving alleged crimes in Liberia, Algeria, and Syria.</p><p>Members of the media, civil society representatives, and the general public were able to attend the trial in person. However, remote access to the proceeding was not available, posing problems for victims and affected communities in Gambia to follow the case. The media reported that the Swiss court did not cover the private plaintiffs’ costs to attend the entire trial, only the days they presented evidence in the courtroom, hindering the ability of plaintiffs to attend key hearings, including the delivery of the verdict. Human Rights Watch research in other situations has shown that inadequate outreach to affected communities can undermine the impact of accountability efforts for serious international crimes.</p><p>Another concern was whether Gambians could follow and understand the proceedings, which were conducted in German. Human Rights Watch monitored five court sessions and noted that the interpretation provided from German into English, a language understood by the accused and Gambian communities, was not comprehensive. On the final day of the trial, Sonko expressed his concern that crucial steps of the proceeding, such as the parties’ closing arguments, were not accompanied by English interpretation. The court made the conclusions of the judgment available in English. Swiss authorities should ensure that future universal jurisdiction cases are fully accessible to the accused and affected communities, including by providing adequate interpretation, even if not legally required.</p><p>Under Jammeh’s 22-year rule, the government carried out systematic oppression against any real or perceived opponents to maintain political power. The government targeted journalists, human rights defenders, student leaders, religious leaders, political opposition members, judiciary officials, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and security force personnel, among others. Those apprehended were subjected to torture, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, and sexual violence. Many of these human rights violations were brought to light during the hearings of Gambia’s Truth, Reconciliation and Reparations Commission (TRRC), which was set up in 2018.</p><p>Since Jammeh’s fall, Gambia’s government has brought only two prosecutions for Jammeh-era crimes. In December 2021, the final report of the TRRC found that Jammeh and 69 of his associates committed crimes against humanity, and called for their prosecution. In May 2022, the Gambian government accepted the TRRC’s recommendation for accountability.</p><p>On April 22, 2024, in a pivotal move toward justice, the Gambian national assembly approved two bills to further the creation of a Special Prosecutor’s Office and a hybrid court with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to try the most serious crimes.</p><p>“Victims of Jammeh-era crimes are entitled to justice and Sonko’s conviction is a step closer to that goal,” Jarrah said. “The verdict underscores the importance of the Gambian government and ECOWAS following through swiftly on establishing an impartial and independent hybrid court to widen accountability’s reach in the country.” </p> Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/15/gambia-landmark-swiss-conviction-ex-official Victims of Vietnam’s Formosa Toxic Spill Deserve Justice https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/victims-vietnams-formosa-toxic-spill-deserve-justice Click to expand Image Vietnamese activists hold a photo of dead fish allegedly killed with toxic chemicals during a protest to urge Formosa Plastics Group to take responsibility for the cleanup in Vietnam, August 10, 2016, in Taipei, Taiwan. © 2016 Chiang Ying-ying/AP Photo <p>In April 2016, Vietnam experienced one of the worst environmental disasters in its history when Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group, discharged toxic chemical waste off the coast of Ha Tinh province, killing millions of fish and destroying the livelihoods of fishing communities.</p><p>Afterwards, Formosa admitted responsibility for the disaster and pledged US$500 million in compensation—not to the victims but to the Vietnamese government. Residents of affected provinces have complained about the lack of transparency in the payment of the compensation, including obstacles to claiming damages and misappropriation of funds by local authorities.</p><p>Vietnamese authorities have also repressed protests over the disaster. Shortly after the spill, thousands of people carrying homemade banners calling for “clean water, clean government, and transparency” demonstrated peacefully to demand an investigation. Police and other security forces used unnecessary and excessive force against the marchers, assaulting people and arresting them. In the years since, the government has continued to silence critics. At least 41 activists involved in protests were sentenced to many years in prison. Of this group, 31 are still behind bars.</p><p>The prominent blogger Pham Doan Trang is currently serving a nine-year prison sentence after being charged with “conducting propaganda against the state.” One of the documents the authorities cited in her conviction was her report on the Formosa toxic chemical spill.</p><p>Labor activist Hoang Duc Binh is serving a 14-year prison sentence. He had participated in protests and helped organize advocacy around compensation for fishermen who lost their livelihoods.</p><p>Nguyen Nam Phong was arrested after driving people to an event where hundreds of people were gathering to file court petitions against Formosa. Many of the protesters were reportedly arrested or assaulted.   </p><p>Facing the impossibility of pursuing justice in Vietnam, some victims of the spill took their case to Taiwan in 2019. Taiwan’s Supreme Court eventually determined that the plaintiffs needed to have their court documents notarized at Taiwan’s mission in Vietnam. But because the Vietnamese government continues to retaliate against victims and advocates, that has proved nearly insurmountable as well.</p><p>Given the extraordinary situation in Vietnam, Taiwan’s courts should consider other methods of notarization and extend the deadline for submission, which is currently the end of this week. The courts should not compound injustice by accommodating Vietnamese government repression.</p> Tue, 14 May 2024 17:28:24 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/victims-vietnams-formosa-toxic-spill-deserve-justice Thai Youth Activist Dies in Custody https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/thai-youth-activist-dies-custody Click to expand Image Pro-democracy protesters during a mourning ceremony for Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, a Thai political activist, outside the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on May 14, 2024. © 2024 Peerapon Boonyakiat/SOPA Image/Sipa USA via AP Photo <p>Thai anti-monarchy activist Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, 28, died in custody in Bangkok today while on a hunger strike she began in January.</p><p>Netiporn brought attention to Thailand’s cruel use of its lese majeste (insulting the monarchy) law, which punishes critics of the monarchy with up to 15 years in prison. Thai authorities had paused lese majeste prosecutions for nearly three years until November 2020, when then-Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha ordered prosecutions resumed, purportedly due to growing criticism of the monarchy.</p><p>Authorities have jailed thousands under this law in recent years, and hundreds have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Hundreds of people accused of criticizing the monarchy are currently in pretrial detention without access to bail.</p><p>Thailand’s current prime minister, Srettha Tavisin, has vowed to continue strict enforcement of the lese majeste law. The Constitutional Court in January ruled that attempts by the opposition Move Forward Party to amend the law would amount to treason, which could result in the party’s dissolution and a ban on its leaders from politics.</p><p>Netiporn was one of about 270 activists charged with lese majeste after pro-democracy demonstrations broke out in Thailand in 2020. Her alleged crimes were related to a peaceful campaign to survey inconveniences to the Thai public from royal motorcades.</p><p>Human Rights Watch and several United Nations human rights experts, including the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, have repeatedly voiced concern over the Thai government’s use of arbitrary arrest and pretrial detention to punish critics of the monarchy.</p><p>Netiporn began her hunger strike to demand the right to bail for detainees like herself and to protest such prosecutions in general. Authorities met her demands with silence and have shown no interest in reforming the law or leniency for critics.</p><p>Prime Minister Srettha has now been in office 10 months, saying he would strengthen the rule of law and make Thailand a more rights-respecting country. But repressive government prosecutions remain the norm, reminiscent of when Thailand was under military rule.</p><p>Netiporn’s death should be a catalyst for Thai government reform. Authorities should engage with UN experts and civil society groups to amend the lese majeste law and bring it into compliance with human rights standards. The Thai government should permit all peaceful expression of political views, including issues about the monarchy.</p> Tue, 14 May 2024 16:32:59 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/thai-youth-activist-dies-custody Lesbian Women Set on Fire in Argentina https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/lesbian-women-set-fire-argentina Click to expand Image People light candles during a vigil on May 8, 2024, in front of the house where three lesbian women were killed following an attack in Buenos Aires. © 2024 Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images <p>Three lesbian women have died and one more is in critical condition in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after a man threw a Molotov cocktail into their boarding house room on May 6, setting them all on fire. One woman, Pamela Fabiana Cobas, was severely burned and died almost immediately. Her partner, Mercedes Roxana Figueroa, died of organ failure two days later, with burns covering 90 percent of her body. Andrea Amarante died in the hospital on May 12.</p><p>Police arrested a 62-year-old male suspect but have not announced a motive for the attack. Local human rights defenders have expressed concern that disparaging comments about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people and their rights made by prominent politicians, some of whom are now holding high office, are contributing to already high levels of violence against queer communities. The 2023 report from Buenos Aires’ LGBT ombudsman found that offensive speech by members of President Javier Milei’s political party, as well as on social media and in the streets, in the context of the 2023 presidential campaign “built a climate of segregation, rejection and discrimination; the most fertile ground for violence toward historically vulnerable groups.”</p><p>In May 2023, then-candidate Milei said on TV that education on gender and sexuality seeks to “exterminate the population” and causes “the destruction of the most important social nucleus within society ... the family.” In November 2023, now-Foreign Minister Diana Mondino claimed to support marriage equality, but then compared it to head lice in a nationally televised interview, saying: “If you prefer not to bathe and be full of lice and it is your choice ... then don't complain if there is someone who does not like that you have lice.”</p><p>A 2023 Human Rights Watch investigation found that around the world, lesbian, bisexual, and queer (LBQ+) couples have been murdered, sexually assaulted, dismembered, or physically attacked alongside their partners. The report found that this “risk of lethal violence” to couples is chronically under-documented. In 26 countries, including Argentina, interviewees repeatedly cited “the extreme danger of appearing in public with an LBQ+ partner as a reason to stay home, refrain from holding their partners’ hand, or otherwise limit their movement and queer signaling.” In Argentina, where government data from 2023 showed 41.7 percent of the population lives in poverty, lesbian couples face heightened barriers to secure housing, limiting their ability to use the privacy of a home to protect themselves.</p><p>Authorities in Argentina should conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the killings and ensure proper medical care and housing for the surviving woman. Government officials should cease and condemn rhetoric that stigmatizes queer women and may contribute to a climate in which they are seen as deserving of violence.</p> Tue, 14 May 2024 04:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/lesbian-women-set-fire-argentina Gaza: Israelis Attacking Known Aid Worker Locations https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/gaza-israelis-attacking-known-aid-worker-locations Click to expand Image On April 1, 2024, an Israeli attack in Deir Al-Balah in Gaza on a convoy of three World Central Kitchen vehicles killed seven aid workers. © 2024 Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP Photo <p>(Jerusalem, May 14, 2024) – Israeli forces have carried out at least eight strikes on aid workers’ convoys and premises in Gaza since October 2023, even though aid groups had provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities to ensure their protection, Human Rights Watch said today. Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations before the strikes, which killed or injured at least 31 aid workers and those with them. More than 250 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the October 7 assault in Israel, according to the UN.</p><p>One attack on January 18, 2024, injured three people who were staying in a joint guest house belonging to two aid organizations and was most likely carried out with a US-made munition, according to one of the organizations and to a report by UN investigators who visited the site after the attack, which Human Rights Watch reviewed. One of the aid organizations, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), said UN inspectors concluded that the bomb was delivered by an F-16 aircraft. F-16 aircraft use British made components according to campaigners.</p><p>The eight incidents reveal fundamental flaws with the so-called deconfliction system, meant to protect aid workers and allow them to safely deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance in Gaza.</p><p>“Israel’s killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers was shocking and should never have happened under international law,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at Human Rights Watch. “Israel’s allies need to recognize that these attacks that have killed aid workers have happened over and over again, and they need to stop.”</p><p>Israel’s attack on April 1 on the World Central Kitchen convoy, which killed seven workers, far from being an isolated “mistake,” is just one of at least eight incidents that Human Rights Watch identified in which aid organizations and UN agencies had communicated with Israeli authorities the GPS coordinates of an aid convoy or premises and yet Israeli forces attacked the convoy or shelter without any warning.</p><p>In these eight incidents, Israeli forces killed at least 15 people, including 2 children, and injured at least 16 others. Five of these attacks were the subject of a recent New York Times investigation that included visual evidence and internal communications between aid organizations and the Israeli military.</p><p>The other seven attacks are:</p>Attack on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF or Doctors without Borders) convoy, November 18, 2023Attack on a guest house of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), December 9, 2023Attack on an MSF shelter, January 8, 2024Attack on an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) guest house, January 18, 2024Attack on an UNRWA convoy, February 5, 2024Attack on an MSF guest house, February 20, 2024Attack on a home sheltering an American Near East Refugee Aid Organization (Anera) employee, March 8, 2024<p>As of April 30, the UN reported that 254 aid workers had been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023, with UNRWA personnel accounting for 188 of these fatalities. On May 13, a UN vehicle was hit on the way to a hospital in Gaza, killing at least one UN staff member and injuring at least one more. According to UNRWA, 169 of its facilities have been affected by the hostilities in 368 incidents and at least 429 displaced people have been killed in UNRWA shelters. Israeli forces have, according to the UN, also shot at and shelled people congregating to collect aid, killing and injuring hundreds. These attacks are having a chilling effect on efforts to provide lifesaving aid in Gaza.</p><p>Aid workers have also been unable to leave Gaza, since Israeli forces seized control of and closed the Rafah Crossing on May 7.</p><p>During a recent trip to Cairo and northern Sinai, near the border between Egypt and Gaza, Human Rights Watch met with staff from 11 humanitarian organizations and UN aid agencies operating in Gaza who said that Israeli attacks on aid workers had forced them to take various measures that for some included suspending activities for a period of time, reducing their staff inside Gaza, or severely restricting their aid activities in other ways.</p><p>“I can’t risk sending more staff into Gaza because I cannot rely on deconfliction as a way of keeping them safe,” a senior employee from one of the organizations whose guest house was attacked told Human Rights Watch. He said this was a key factor in limiting the organization’s ability to provide medical services. “You can build docks and send shipments, but without a safe operating environment, you will have a pile up of shipments that people aren’t able to deploy safely to help people.”</p><p>This pattern of attacks despite proper notification of Israeli authorities raises serious questions about Israel’s commitment and capacity to comply with international humanitarian law, which some countries, including the UK, rely on to continue to license arms exports that end up in Israel.</p><p>Human Rights Watch has found that Israeli authorities are using starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza. Pursuant to a policy set out by Israeli officials and carried out by Israeli forces, the Israeli authorities are deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, willfully impeding humanitarian assistance, apparently razing agricultural areas, and depriving the civilian population of objects indispensable to its survival. Children in Gaza have been dying from starvation-related complications.</p><p>Israel has not responded to a Human Rights Watch letter sent on May 1, requesting specific information about the attacks on aid workers documented in this report.</p><p>The laws of war prohibit attacks that target civilians and civilian objects, that do not discriminate between civilians and combatants, or that are expected to cause harm to civilians or civilian objects that is disproportionate to any anticipated military advantage. Indiscriminate attacks include attacks that are not directed at a specific military target or use a method or means of combat whose effects cannot be limited as required.</p><p>Warring parties must take all feasible precautions to minimize harm to civilians, including by providing effective advance warnings of attacks unless circumstances do not permit, and by sparing civilians under their control from the effects of attacks. Serious violations of the laws of war committed by individuals with criminal intent – that is, deliberately or recklessly – are war crimes.</p><p>Israel should make public the findings of investigations into attacks that have killed and injured aid workers, and into all other attacks that caused civilian casualties. The Israeli military’s long track record of failing to credibly investigate alleged war crimes underscores the importance of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) inquiry into serious crimes committed by all parties to the conflict.</p><p>Israeli and Palestinian officials should cooperate with the ICC in their work, Human Rights Watch said. Israel should also provide the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel access to Gaza to conduct its investigations.</p><p>Given the pattern of attacks on aid groups that have provided Israeli authorities with proper information about their locations, a group of recognized international experts should conduct an independent review of the humanitarian deconfliction process. Israel should give these experts full access to its processes, including the coordination and communications that occur before, during, and after such attacks as well as information regarding any alleged military target in the vicinity and any precautionary measures taken to mitigate harm.</p><p>Israel’s allies, including the United States and United Kingdom – both states sending the weapons parts apparently used in at least one of the documented attacks – should suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel so long as its forces commit systematic and widespread laws-of-war violations against Palestinian civilians with impunity. Governments that continue to provide arms to the Israeli government risk complicity in war crimes.</p><p>They should also use their leverage, including through targeted sanctions, to press Israeli authorities to cease committing grave abuses and enable the provision of humanitarian aid and basic services in Gaza, in accordance with Israel’s obligations under international law and recent International Court of Justice (ICJ) orders to Israel in the case brought by South Africa concerning alleged violations of the Genocide Convention.</p><p>“On one hand, Israel is blocking access to critical lifesaving humanitarian provisions and on the other, attacking convoys that are delivering some of the small amount that they are allowing in,” Wille said. “Israeli forces should immediately end their attacks on aid organizations, and there should be accountability for these crimes.”</p><p>For details of attacks on the aid organizations, please see below.</p>Attack on the World Central Kitchen Workers<p>On April 1, just before 11 p.m., Israeli forces carried out a drone strike with three missiles targeting a convoy of three World Central Kitchen (WCK) vehicles, two marked with the organization’s logo on the roof, in central Gaza, all carrying civilians, that were escorting eight aid trucks. The attack killed seven aid workers. The convoy had just left a food warehouse in Deir al-Balah and was traveling a route that the organization said they had agreed upon with the Israeli military. The attack was reportedly carried out by an Israeli-made Hermes 450 drone.</p><p>After the attack, WCK paused its operations in Gaza for several weeks, as did American Near East Refugee Aid  (Anera). At the time, the two groups had together been providing an average of 300,000 meals across Gaza daily. Photographs of the damaged vehicles were initially verified by the independent investigative collective Bellingcat and later independently verified by Human Rights Watch researchers.</p><p>A preliminary Israeli investigation into the attack found that Israeli forces’ conduct was “contrary to the Standard Operating Procedures” and had occurred because of “a grave mistake,” including a lack of coordination between different levels of the army and the mistaken identity of a man in one of the vehicles, according to the Israeli armed forces. The preliminary investigation also found that the two additional drone missiles were fired against army protocol.</p><p>In its response, WCK reiterated its call for an independent commission to investigate the incident because, it said, the “[Israeli Defense Forces] cannot credibly investigate its own failure in Gaza.” WCK resumed its operations in late April because, it said, “The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire,” but said it had still received “no concrete assurances” that the Israeli military’s operational procedures had changed.</p><p>This incident elicited widespread condemnation, including from leaders of countries whose citizens were killed in the attack, including United States President Joe Biden, United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.</p>Attack on a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Convoy, November 18<p>On November 18, 2023, armed forces attacked a convoy of five marked MSF vehicles, killing two people, witnesses said. The group had been trying to evacuate 137 civilians from its guesthouse near al-Shifa Hospital in Rimal, northern Gaza, where they had been trapped for a week, to southern Gaza. MSF said that it had coordinated the convoy’s movement with the Israeli armed forces and followed the route prescribed by the army. Once the convoy reached a crowded checkpoint near Wadi Gaza, Israeli soldiers did not allow the vehicles to clear the checkpoint for hours.</p><p>When gunfire rang out near the checkpoint, MSF staff, who were still waiting to go through the checkpoint, decided to return to the guest house, 7.5 kilometers to the north. They said they maintained contact with the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA), the military unit responsible for the coordination of access to and from Gaza in connection with the facilitation of civilian and humanitarian needs, throughout their travel back and informed them that the convoy had to return to their guest house.</p><p>As they were approaching their office, between 3:30 and 4 p.m., MSF said that the Israeli army attacked the convoy, hitting two of the vehicles. The organization quoted one staff member as saying: “I was terrified when I saw that the snipers and the tanks were pointing their weapons at us, especially at the fourth and the fifth van [in the convoy].” MSF said that the staff there during the incident saw no military targets in the area. The organization has requested an explanation from Israeli authorities, but has received no response, a representative told Human Rights Watch.</p><p>“This incident shows just how ineffective the coordination mechanisms put in place by Israeli authorities have been,” said the representative of MSF. In this instance, “The latter appeared to have little or no influence on the operational troops on the ground, including to let the vehicles pass through the checkpoint.”</p><p>This failed coordination with the CLA has been cited in previous UN reporting.</p>Attack on a Guest House of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), December 9<p>On December 9, the Israeli navy fired 20mm cannon rounds at an UNRWA guest house consisting of two buildings in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost governorate, the agency told Human Rights Watch. The rounds damaged the west side of both buildings. The attack occurred late in the evening, while 10 staff were asleep inside. The agency said it had shared the coordinates of the guest house with Israeli authorities on a regular basis prior to the attack, including on the date of the attack, and was not aware of any military targets in the area at the time. UNRWA told Human Rights Watch that it had received no warning of the attack. Following the attack, the deputy commander of the Israeli Southern Command told UNRWA that the attack had been carried out in error, UNRWA told Human Rights Watch.</p>Attack on an MSF Shelter, January 8<p>On January 8, an Israeli projectile pierced the side of a building in which over 100 MSF staff and their families were sheltering in Khan Yunis, MSF said. The strike killed the 5-year-old daughter of an MSF worker and injured four people. At the time, the staff saw no military targets in the area and received no warning of the attack, which took place in an area under no evacuation order, the organization told Human Rights Watch. The organization said it had shared the coordinates of the building with Israeli authorities on a regular basis, saying it was being used as an MSF shelter.</p><p>MSF published a video in which Léo Cans, the MSF head of mission for Palestine, described the attack and showed two parallel holes in the wall that munitions had passed through, he said. The video also included two photographs of remnants lying on the grass, allegedly outside the building. Human Rights Watch could not confirm the location of these remnants but was not able to find them online prior to January 8. The New York Times analyzed the photographs and reported that they showed the remnants of an Israeli 120mm tank shell with Hebrew markings outside the shelter. Human Rights Watch independently verified the type of remnants. </p><p>The Israeli military denied to the New York Times that it had struck the building. However, MSF said that Israeli authorities later told the organization that the damage to the guest house had been collateral in an attack on a “terror” target.</p>Attack on an International Rescue Committee (IRC) and Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) Guest House, January 18<p>On January 18, an Israeli air attack hit the perimeter wall around a guest house being used by both the IRC and MAP north of Khan Younis, where 12 people, including 4 doctors, were staying at the time, according to the 2 organizations. No one was killed in the strike but three people suffered light injuries, MAP told Human Rights Watch.</p><p>Satellite analysis shows the attack left a roughly 15-meter-wide crater in the sandy ground, destroyed the wall marking the perimeter of the property, and significantly damaged the house. MAP confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the organization had shared the coordinates of the guest house with the Israeli authorities and with the UN twice in late 2023 to ensure it did not come under attack. The building stands alone, with no other buildings or structures around it, and MAP said they knew of no military targets in the area at the time of the attack and received no warnings.</p><p>Human Rights Watch reviewed a report of an on-site independent assessment by a multi-agency UN team after the attack, which concluded that the damage was the result of an airstrike, most likely involving a US-made guided GBU-32 air-dropped bomb. MAP said inspectors concluded that the bomb was delivered by an F-16 aircraft. The organizations said that, since the attack, Israel has provided six different and often contradictory explanations as to whether and why the attack took place, but they said the explanations had not provided clarity or accountability.</p>Attack on an UNRWA Convoy, February 5<p>On February 5, Israeli naval gunfire hit an UNRWA aid truck, the agency said. The attack occurred while a convoy of 10 trucks flanked by marked UN vehicles were parked on a road in western Nuseirat, waiting at a previously agreed holding point for permission from the Israeli military to proceed to an Israeli checkpoint. The shelling damaged the last truck in the convoy. No one was injured. UNRWA said it had coordinated with Israeli authorities the planned movement of trucks prior to the attack, including reporting to Israeli authorities when the convoy had reached the holding point and when aid workers in the convoy began to hear naval gunfire in proximity to the stationary convoy.</p> Click to expand Image On February 5, 2024, Israeli naval gunfire hit an UNRWA aid truck carrying food. © 2024 UNRWA <p>Because of this incident, UNRWA and its partners had to pause assistance activities to northern Gaza, affecting 200,000 people, for 19 days, a UNRWA representative said. Since March 24, the Israeli government has restricted access to northern Gaza for UNRWA , refusing to allow UNRWA to provide food assistance to the north, despite UNRWA’s mandate. Israeli authorities have taken other steps that have undermined the ability of UNRWA to distribute aid in Gaza, which has contributed to the dire humanitarian situation, given that UNRWA has maintained  the largest humanitarian aid operation in Gaza.</p><p>The Israeli military told CNN the same day that it was looking into the incident. An UNRWA official told Human Rights Watch that Israeli authorities have since acknowledged the attack and said they have put in place “prevention measures to prevent another such occurrence.”</p>Attack on an MSF Guest House, February 20<p>Just after 8 p.m. on February 20, an Israeli tank fired a medium- to large-caliber weapon at a multi-story apartment building in al-Mawasi neighborhood of Khan Younis housing only MSF staff and their families, 64 people in all. The attack killed two people and injured seven others. MSF said that the weapon was an Israeli tank shell. It said that staff saw no military objects in the area at the time and received no warning.</p> Click to expand Image On February 20, 2024, an Israeli tank fired a medium- to large-caliber weapon at a multi-story apartment building in al-Mawasi neighborhood of Khan Younis in Gaza.  The building housed only Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff and their families, killing two people and injuring seven more. © 2024 Mohammed Abed/MSF <p>Photographs and videos included in a Sky News report on the attack and reviewed by Human Rights Watch confirm that a large MSF flag was draped on the outside of the building at the time of the attack. The images and satellite imagery also show that the building is secluded, with the nearest buildings approximately 50 meters away.</p><p>MSF said that armed forces fired additional rounds at the building’s exterior and the interior of the ground floor. It told Human Rights Watch that an independent investigation, which was corroborated by witness accounts, confirmed that there had been an Israeli tank in the area at the time of the incident. The investigation found that the projectile causing the explosion was fired by an Israeli Merkava tank. The small-caliber bullet impacts on the building are consistent with the secondary armament of Merkava tanks, it also concluded. Human Rights Watch verified a photograph posted on X (formerly known as Twitter) by MSF on February 22, showing damage to the exterior of the building.</p><p>MSF said that the organization had shared the coordinates of the building with the Israeli authorities prior to the attack. It received no warning. MSF said that, after the attack, Israeli authorities reconfirmed that they had received the coordinates of the building.</p><p>In response to the attack, the Israeli army told Sky News the tank opened fire on the building because it had been “identified as a building where terror activity is occurring.” It committed to an examination by the Israeli Army's General Staff's Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, a permanent “independent” body established in 2014 to examine “exceptional incidents” that take place during military operations. No results have been made public.</p><p>“These killings underscore the grim reality that nowhere in Gaza is safe, that promises of safe areas are empty and deconfliction mechanisms unreliable,” Meinie Nicolai, MSF general director, told Sky News after the incident.</p>Attack on a Home Sheltering an American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) Employee, March 8 <p>On October 13, Doaa Shawwa, her husband Mousa Shawwa, and their children Dima, 13, and Karim, 6, fled their home in Tal al-Hawa and moved into the second-floor apartment of a friend in al-Zuwaida, in a building with three apartments further south. The attack killed at least three people and injured at least three more. Doaa told Human Rights Watch the neighborhood had avoided the worst of the hostilities over the subsequent months. Mousa was the Anera supply and logistics coordinator, and, upon moving to al-Zuwaida, he had communicated the coordinates of the home with his Anera colleagues, the organization confirmed.</p> Click to expand Image On March 8, an Israeli attack on an apartment in al-Zuwaida, killed Mousa Shawwa, the American Near East Refugee Aid (Anera) supply and logistics coordinator. © Private <p>Anera showed the New York Times emails it had sent to Israeli authorities in which it included the coordinates of the house, as well as photographs of the building, informing them that this was where one of their workers was living with his family. In the emails, Israeli authorities confirmed that the location was being “processed” in their “system.”</p><p>On Friday, March 8, at about 4 p.m., an Israeli strike hit the building without warning, Doaa said. Mousa was standing in the doorway of the apartment with Doaa’s visiting brother, Baha al-Gifri, speaking to Doaa when the strike hit. “He was halfway through his sentence when we were hit. I don’t remember anything from that moment, I lost consciousness immediately and only woke up later in the hospital to find out that I had lost Mousa and my brother,” she said.</p><p>Mousa had injuries all over his body and died as he arrived at al-Aqsa Hospital, Doaa said she was later told. Baha died at the moment of impact, with wounds to his head and face. Doaa’s 6-year-old son, Karim, had a head injury, but medical staff did not realize he had a skull fracture and internal bleeding in his brain, so his injuries went initially untreated. He died at al-Arish Hospital in Egypt, 11 days after the attack.</p><p>With the assistance of Anera, Doaa, Karim, and Dima had been transferred to Egypt from Gaza eight days after the attack. The attack fractured Doaa’s right hand and caused a large wound to her face and head. It fractured Dima’s right foot, and covered her body and face with wounds from metal fragments. Dima also had burns on her right hand. A friend who owned the home in Gaza where they were attacked also had burns on his face, Doaa said.</p><p>Doaa said that, as far as she knew, the other two apartments in their building had only been housing civilians, and that she knew of no presence of armed forces in the neighborhood. Human Rights Watch verified Al Jazeera footage, posted on YouTube on March 9, of the building after the attack which shows considerable damage to the second floor of the building, and experts consulted by the New York Times concluded the attack was carried out with a precision-guided air-dropped munition. Israel told the New York Times in response to its request for comment that the attack had targeted a Hamas member who participated in the October 7 assault in Israel. Anera said it had received no information from Israel about who or what had been targeted, or why.</p><p>“We did not receive any warning from the Israelis before the attack,” Doaa said. “This is the thing that upsets me the most. My husband works for an American organization and the Israelis knew we were there. They should have sent us a message to warn us to get out. Why didn’t they?” Doaa said she keeps asking herself. “This was something beyond our imagination. Our hearts were destroyed.”</p> Tue, 14 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/14/gaza-israelis-attacking-known-aid-worker-locations Guilty Verdict in High-Profile Kazakhstan Domestic Violence and Murder Case https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/13/guilty-verdict-high-profile-kazakhstan-domestic-violence-and-murder-case Click to expand Image Members of the Kazakhstan diaspora and supporters attend the “Justice for Saltanat” rally in Krakow, Poland, April 21, 2024. © 2024 Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via AP <p>A Kazakh court has delivered a guilty verdict in the high-profile trial of the country’s former economy minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev. On May 13, the court found Bishimbayev guilty of the torment and murder with extreme cruelty of his partner Saltanat Nukenova and sentenced him to 24 years in a maximum-security prison. Murder with extreme cruelty carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, while torment carries a maximum sentence of seven years.</p><p>The prosecution presented evidence during the trial showing how Bishimbayev severely tormented Nukenova before she died of a traumatic brain injury and provided audio and video material, witness testimony, and forensic reports to convince the court of his guilt. Bishimbayev has 15 days to appeal the verdict from the day he formally receives it and should not be eligible for parole until 2040.</p><p>Saltanat Nukenova is just one of hundreds of women who suffer violence at the hands of their partners in Kazakhstan each year. The Prosecutor General’s office has estimated that about 80 women die annually from domestic violence in Kazakhstan, while 150 women sustain injuries amounting to grievous bodily harm and more than 4,000 incur light bodily harm.</p><p>Every woman or girl who is beaten or killed at the hands of abusive partners or within the family deserves justice, and Kazakhstan’s authorities should conduct thorough investigations into every case of family abuse and hold those responsible to account.</p><p>In June, a new law criminalizing ‘battery’ and ‘light bodily harm,’ dubbed as Kazakhstan’s “domestic violence law” or “Saltanat’s law,” named for Nukenova, will come into force. Its effective enforcement is crucial to ensuring other women in Kazakhstan do not suffer the same fate.</p><p>During the trial, which I followed, the defense made many statements blaming Nukenova for the violence she suffered. This victim-blaming is outrageous, but sadly not unusual in Kazakhstan. Nukenova’s horrific killing and the spectacle of Bishimbayev’s trial should prompt the authorities to introduce measures to prevent investigations and prosecutions of domestic violence cases from becoming spaces for victim-blaming and revictimization.</p><p>While Kazakhstan has yet to heed the calls of women’s rights activists and others to make domestic violence a discrete criminal offense, full implementation of recent changes to laws offers Kazakh officials a way to meaningfully tackle the scourge of domestic violence and take action to save the lives of Kazakh women.</p> Mon, 13 May 2024 18:05:34 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/13/guilty-verdict-high-profile-kazakhstan-domestic-violence-and-murder-case Chad: Political Transition Ends with Déby’s Election https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/13/chad-political-transition-ends-debys-election Click to expand Image Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Déby campaigning as transition president at a rally in N'Djamena, Chad, on May 4, 2024. © 2024 JEROME FAVRE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock <p>(Nairobi) – The political transition in Chad ended with violence as at least 9, and possibly more, civilians were reported killed by celebratory gunfire from soldiers and civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. On May 9, 2024, the National Election Management Agency (Agence nationale de gestion des élections, ANGE) announced that the interim president, Gen. Mahamat Idriss Déby, had won the May 6 election outright, citing provisional results. His main challenger, Prime Minister Succès Masra, declared himself the winner in a separate announcement on social media.</p><p>The run up to the election and the days around the vote were violent. On February 28, members of the security forces killed Yaya Dillo, the president of the Socialist Party Without Borders (Parti socialiste sans frontières, PSF) and a potential election opponent, during an attack on the party’s headquarters in N’Djamena, the country’s capital. Human Rights Watch has called for an independent investigation into his killing. On the day of the vote, violence broke out in the southern city of Moundou and a man attempting to vote was killed. After the results were announced, celebratory gunfire by security forces and civilians broke out across N’Djamena, killing at least nine people according to local media reports.</p><p>“President Déby has consolidated his power as the transition period has now ended,” said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “As the result has already been contested, an investigation into the violence before and after the vote should be paramount.”</p><p>The election authorities announced that Déby won 61.03 percent of the vote, well over the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff. The authorities announced that Masra won 18.53 percent.</p><p>While international organizations, like the International Organization of la Francophonie (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie, OIF), made some attempts to observe the election, they did not have the capacity to systemically monitor the vote across the country. The interim government denied national civil society organizations funded by the European Union the accreditation to monitor the election. Masra has reported threats against him and his supporters since the vote.</p><p>On March 23, the civil society platform Wakit Tamma, which had been instrumental in leading pro-democracy protests, had called for a boycott describing the election as a “masquerade” aimed to support a “dynastic dictatorship.”</p><p>Former President Idriss Déby died in April 2021 in fighting with an armed group, and the military gave power to his son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, in a transition that violated the constitution. Mahamat Déby’s government violently suppressed continuing protests demanding a return to civilian rule, culminating in a bloody crackdown on October 20, 2022. On that day, thousands took to the streets in N’Djamena and several other towns in southern Chad, including Moundou, Doba, and Sarh, to protest the transitional government’s decision to extend a transition period. The constitution was replaced in a referendum in December 2023 by a new one enabling Mahamat Idriss Déby to run for president.</p><p>In the months leading up to the vote, the political space tightened for Masra’s party Les Transformateurs (The Transformers, in English). Despite an arrest warrant issued for Masra, he was named prime minister in January as part of a political deal.</p><p>Dillo, the president of the Socialist Party Without Borders, was considered Déby’s leading political opponent. The two men are reported to be cousins from the same Zaghawa ethnic group. Dillo had been widely reported to be preparing to run for president though he had not announced his intention. An independent investigation into Dillo’s death should be a priority for the Déby government, Human Rights Watch said.</p> Click to expand Image Identity card of Enock Neratar. © 2024 Private <p>On election day, a group of men tried to access a polling place in Moundou. When they failed to produce identification cards the men were asked to leave the center. A witness told Human Rights Watch that the men then started shooting in the area around the polling site. “It was chaos, and a man was hit,” the witness said. “The military and the gendarmes came, but by then the attackers had left and the officials said they did not have any idea as to whom they may be.” The victim, Enock Neratar, was shot in the stomach while waiting to vote and died on the spot. He was buried on May 9.</p><p>While the ANGE, the national election body, had an additional 12 days to announce results, it released the provisional tally on May 9. In his speech on social media just before the results were announced, Masra claimed victory and called on security forces and his supporters to oppose what he deemed an attempt to steal the vote. To the Chadian people he said, “Don’t let your destiny be stolen,” however, Masra reiterated that any mobilization should be “with a spirit of peace.”</p><p>Human Rights Watch reviewed multiple videos and photos from N’Djamena on May 9, which show large numbers of Chadian military taking up key positions across the city, and multiple videos of soldiers firing off their weapons to celebrate Mahamat Déby’s victory. Local media reported that the shooting across the capital killed at least 9 civilians and wounded 60 others. </p><p>Some of the shooting was concentrated in neighborhoods considered strongholds for Les Transformateurs party. “These shots are a threat to us, they are sending us a message: if you take to streets to protest, we will kill you,” one member of the party told Human Rights Watch. On their Facebook page, Les Transformateursannounced that there was heavy firing outside of Masra’s residence in Gassi neighborhood, 7th arrondissement, in a heavily populated neighborhood outside the city center. </p><p>“The lead up to this election has been fraught with violence and civil society, journalists, and opponents fear that some Chadians, frustrated with the outcome of the election, may take to the streets,” Mudge said. “President Déby should instruct the security services unequivocally and publicly not to resort to violence against protesters, and warn them that those who do will be held accountable and met with severe sanctions.”</p> Mon, 13 May 2024 13:30:00 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/13/chad-political-transition-ends-debys-election Philippines’ Marcos Forms Toothless Rights ‘Super Body’ https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/13/philippines-marcos-forms-toothless-rights-super-body Click to expand Image Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech at Camp Aguinaldo military headquarters in Quezon City, December 21, 2023. © 2023 Aaron Favila/AP Photo <p>President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has created a “super body” to promote human rights protection in the Philippines.</p><p>On paper, the Special Committee on Human Rights Coordination looks impressive, and its stated purpose is admirable. But as constructed, the body will have little authority to address the serious rights abuses facing the country.</p><p>At best, the special committee is a coordinating mechanism among its members: the Presidential Human Rights Committee, the Department of Justice, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, which oversees the Philippine National Police, and the Department of Foreign Affairs. None of these entities have distinguished themselves combatting rights violations, including thousands of extrajudicial killings in the “war on drugs” since 2016.</p><p>The administration said the special committee will replace the structures set up by the United Nations Joint Programme, a technical cooperation and capacity-building program run by the UN to institutionalize human rights reforms. However, the program proved unable to fulfill its mandate because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Philippine government’s initial lack of engagement. The three-year program is set to expire in July after Manila and UN member countries decided not to extend it.</p><p>The Philippine government has sought to frustrate attempts by the UN Human Rights Council and now the International Criminal Court to investigate grave abuses committed in the “drug war.” This meant haphazard cooperation with the UN Joint Programme.</p><p>Excluded from the new special committee is the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), created as an independent body under the 1987 Philippine Constitution and mandated to investigate human rights violations. The CHR is in the best position to do what the “special committee” is tasked to do. If Marcos were serious about improving human rights protections and accountability for abuses, he would seek an expanded role for the CHR, including by ensuring they were part of the new special committee. He would also create a clear role for the involvement of nongovernmental human rights groups.</p><p>The human rights “super body” might impress some foreign observers, but what would impress people in the Philippines would be rescinding the “war on drugs,” ending the targeting of activists through often deadly “red-tagging,” and fairly prosecuting government officials implicated in serious rights violations. Another layer of questionable bureaucracy will do little to protect anyone’s rights in the Philippines.</p> Mon, 13 May 2024 10:51:45 -0400 Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/13/philippines-marcos-forms-toothless-rights-super-body