Human Rights Watch News

Tibet: Mass Relocations of Tibetans Not Voluntary

Human Rights Watch — Tue, 21 May 2024 12:00:00 -0400

Click to expand Image A Chinese Communist Party deputy secretary of Gonjo county visits households to persuade them to agree to the proposed relocation of their village, in Sa-ngen, Tibet Autonomous Region, March 2024. © 2024 Gongjue Pioneers (贡觉先锋) WeChat Account The Chinese government is using extreme forms of pressure to coerce Tibetans to relocate their long-established villages.Chinese officials misleadingly claim that relocation will lead to improved employment and higher incomes.The Chinese government should suspend relocations in Tibet and conform with Chinese laws and standards and international law concerning relocations and forced evictions.

(Taipei) – Chinese government officials are systematically using extreme forms of pressure to coerce rural Tibetans to relocate their long-established villages, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Since 2016, officials in the Tibet Autonomous Region have relocated or are currently relocating 500 villages with over 140,000 residents to new locations, often hundreds of kilometers away.

The 71-page report, “‘Educate the Masses to Change Their Minds’: China’s Coercive Relocation of Rural Tibetans,” details how participation in “whole-village relocation” programs in Tibet, in which entire villages are relocated, amounts to forced eviction in violation of international law. Officials misleadingly claim that these relocations will “improve people’s livelihood” and “protect the ecological environment.” The government prevents relocated people from returning to their former homes by generally requiring them to demolish these homes within a year of relocating.

“The Chinese government says that the relocation of Tibetan villages is voluntary, but official media reports contradict this claim,” said Maya Wang, acting China director at Human Rights Watch. “Those reports make clear that when a whole village is targeted for relocation, it is practically impossible for the residents to refuse to move without facing serious repercussions.”

The report draws on over 1,000 official Chinese media articles published between 2016 and 2023. It includes three case studies, including video footage, that show in detail the arguments and methods Chinese officials use to obtain the “consent” of residents to relocate their villages.

Chinese government policy in Tibet sets out that every household in every village targeted is to consent to relocation. Human Rights Watch found multiple references to initial reluctance among Tibetans whose villages were scheduled for relocation. In one case, 200 out of 262 households in a village in Nagchu Municipality initially did not want to relocate to a site nearly 1,000 kilometers away. The government claimed that all eventually agreed to move voluntarily.

Chinese officials attribute their success in getting total consent to “publicity work” and “door-to-door ideological work” carried out by officials. This often involves intrusive home visits. In some cases, officials of increasing seniority visit families repeatedly at their homes to gain their “consent.” In some cases, they also tell residents that essential services would be cut to their current homes if they did not move.

They openly threaten villagers who voiced disagreements about the relocations, accusing them of “spreading rumors” and ordering officials to crack down on such actions “swiftly and resolutely,” implying administrative and criminal penalties. In addition, officials require each targeted village to reach a consensus decision and do not allow any individual resident to opt out from that decision, creating additional peer group pressure on all residents to comply.

In addition to programs that relocate entire villages, officials in Tibet also use a form of relocation known as “individual household relocation.” This typically involves officials selecting poorer households for relocation to sites deemed more suitable for income generation. The government relocated 567,000 people under this program in Tibetan areas of China between 2016 and 2020.

While participants selected for this program could decline to take part, official media articles show that officials routinely assured them that relocation would lead to improved employment prospects and higher incomes. However, studies by Chinese government-affiliated researchers in Tibet show that most relocatees, having been moved to peri-urban areas where their farming or herding skills cannot be used, are unable to get sustainable employment.

While such mass relocations of residents have been occurring elsewhere in poor rural areas in China, these drives risk causing a devastating impact on Tibetan communities, Human Rights Watch found. Together with current Chinese government programs to assimilate Tibetan schooling, culture, and religion into those of the “Chinese nation,” the relocation of rural communities erode or cause major damage to Tibetan culture and ways of life – not least because most relocation programs in Tibet move former farmers and pastoralists to areas where they cannot practice their former livelihood and have no choice but to seek work as wage laborers in off-farm industries.

“The mass relocations of rural Tibetan villages are severely eroding Tibetan culture and ways of life,” Wang said. “China’s government should suspend relocations in Tibet until an independent, expert review of existing policies and practices is carried out to determine their compliance with Chinese law and standards and international law concerning relocations and forced evictions.”

What the Iranian President’s Death Means for Human Rights

Human Rights Watch — Mon, 20 May 2024 18:16:13 -0400

Click to expand Image Iranian President Ebrahim Raeesi at the inauguration ceremony of dam of Qiz Qalasi, at the border of Iran and Azerbaijan, on May 19, 2024. © 2024 Iranian Presidency Office via AP Photo

Iranians woke up on Monday to the news that President Ebrahim Raeesi, Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian, and several other government officials were killed in a helicopter crash in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. How Raeesi’s death will affect human rights in the country is already the subject of much commentary.

Since the early years after the 1979 revolution, no high-level Iranian officials have been held to account for serious human rights violations, and Raeesi is closely affiliated with this legacy of abuse. Many families have placed Raeesi near the top of the list of officials they wished to see brought to justice for the government’s most egregious crimes.

Raeesi was one of four people who sat on a panel and issued death sentences against thousands of political prisoners in 1988. These panels made a mockery of fair trial standards, and the resulting mass executions should be investigated as crimes against humanity.

Raeesi formerly headed Iran’s judicial branch, and when he served as president, the executive branch. He bore significant responsibility for many repressive policies, including the deadly crackdowns against widespread protests in 2019 and the 2022 “women, life, freedom” protests following Mahsa Jina Amini’s death while in the morality police's custody. Raeesi also shoulders much responsibility for the executions of protesters after unfair trials, prosecution of peaceful dissidents, and the enforcement of the country’s abusive, compulsory hijab laws.

Yet it is important to recognize that Iran’s repressive machinery goes beyond the power of the president. Absent fundamental change, these violations can be expected to continue.

Under Iran’s constitution, a presidential election should be held within 50 days. Authorities are reportedly considering June 28 as the tentative date. Historically, Iran’s presidential elections have been far from free or fair, but they offered a narrow opportunity for parts of society and candidates to weigh in on issues, including some social and political freedoms.

For more than a decade, Iran’s Guardian Council has led the way in systematically disempowering elected bodies as spaces to influence government policy, including by narrowing the pool of eligible candidates so that even the speaker of the parliament was disqualified from the 2021 presidential elections.

Absent a major shift in the political landscape, don’t expect that Raeesi’s passing is going to bring real changes in human rights to Iran.

Iraq: Repeal Anti-LGBT Law

Human Rights Watch — Mon, 20 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

Click to expand Image Mariam, a 21-year-old lesbian woman from Baghdad, is one of many LGBT Iraqis who said they were harassed at checkpoints by security forces due to their appearance. © 2022 John Holmes for Human Rights Watch

(Beirut) – The Iraqi government should immediately reverse the recently passed law that punishes same-sex conduct and transgender expression with imprisonment, Human Rights Watch said today. The law violates fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression, association, privacy, equality, and nondiscrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Iraq.

On April 27, 2024, Iraq’s parliament passed the anti-LGBT law as an amendment to the country’s existing “Law on Combatting Prostitution,” No. 8 of 1988. The new law punishes same-sex relations with a penalty of between 10 and 15 years in prison as well as allowing for a prison term between 1 and 3 years for people who undergo or perform gender-affirming medical interventions and for “imitating women.” The law also provides for 7 years in prison and a fine between 10 million Iraqi dinars (US$7,700) and 15 million dinars (US$11,500) for “promoting homosexuality,” which is undefined.

“The Iraqi parliament’s passage of the anti-LGBT law rubber-stamps the Iraqi government’s appalling record of rights violations against LGBT people and is a serious blow to fundamental human rights,” said Rasha Younes, interim LGBT rights director at Human Rights Watch. “The law adds insult to injury for LGBT people in Iraq, who are already facing violence and threats to their lives.”

Though consensual same-sex conduct was not previously explicitly criminalized in Iraq, the authorities have historically used vague “morality” laws to prosecute LGBT people. The introduction of the anti-LGBT law follows months of hostile rhetoric against sexual and gender minorities by Iraqi officials, as well as government crackdowns on human rights groups. Previous proposed amendments to the anti-prostitution law would have imposed the death penalty for same-sex relations, but this provision did not appear in the final version.

The new law, which Human Rights Watch reviewed, equates same-sex relations with “sexual perversion,” which it defines as “repeated sexual relations between members of the same sex … if occurring more than three times.”

The new law also specifically targets transgender women. It allows for a prison term between one and three years or with a fine between 5 million dinars (US$3,800) and 10 million dinars (US$7,700) for “imitating women,” which it defines as “wearing makeup and women’s clothing” or “appearing as women” in public spaces.

The law prohibits hormone therapy and what it calls “sex change” based on personal desire, as well as any attempt to change one’s gender identity, punishable by prison terms between one and three years. The same penalty applies to any surgeon or other doctor who performs gender-affirming surgery. The law makes an exception for cases of people born with intersex traits, when a surgeon is performing an operation to “normalize” the sex characteristics into classical male or female aesthetics.

Iraq’s new anti-LGBT law builds on and reflects an increasing effort by anti-LGBT legislators to explicitly make same-sex relations and transgender expression a criminal offense. The immediate precursor to the law passed in April was a bill introduced on August 15, 2023, by Raad Al-Maliki, an independent member of parliament.

If passed in its original form, the bill would have punished same-sex relations with the death penalty or life in prison, punished “promoting homosexuality” with a minimum of seven years in prison and a fine, and criminalized “imitating women” with up to a three-year sentence. In introducing the bill, Al-Maliki said its purpose was to “preserve the entity of the Iraqi society from deviation and calls for ‘paraphilia’ [abnormal sexual impulses] that have invaded the world.”

The introduction of the 2023 bill in turn followed a proposed anti-LGBT law put forward by legislators in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In September 2022, members of the Kurdistan Regional Parliament introduced the “Bill on the Prohibition of Promoting Homosexuality.” Under the bill, anyone who advocates for LGBT rights or “promotes homosexuality” would face up to a year in prison and a fine of up to five million dinars (US$3,430). The bill would also suspend, for up to one month, the licenses of media companies and civil society organizations that “promote homosexuality.”

Although the bill was not passed, it was introduced amid a heightened crackdown on free assembly and expression in the Kurdistan region. On May 31, 2023, a court in the region ordered the closure of Rasan Organization over “its activities in the field of homosexuality.”

Violence and discrimination against LGBT people are already rampant in Iraq. The targeting of LGBT people online and lethal violence against LGBT people by armed groups in Iraq has routinely been met with impunity, Human Rights Watch said.

On August 8, 2023, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission issued a directive ordering all media outlets to replace the term “homosexuality” with “sexual deviance” in their published and broadcast language and banning use of the term “gender.”

Iraqi authorities’ continued attacks against LGBT people and activists violate their basic rights, including their right to privacy, free movement, free expression, assembly, and association, including on the internet, as well as their right to nondiscrimination and protection under the law. The abuses violate Iraq’s Constitution and international treaties to which Iraq is a party.

Unequal protection against violence and unequal access to justice are prohibited under international law. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in its articles 2 and 26, guarantees fundamental human rights and equal protection of the law without discrimination. The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the international expert body that provides authoritative interpretations of the covenant, has made clear that sexual orientation is a status protected against discrimination under these provisions. Similarly, the Arab Charter on Human Rights, of which Iraq is a member, affirms these rights.

“Relentless abuses against LGBT people in Iraq, starting with the family and stretching into every aspect of their public life, not only results in the deaths but makes people’s lives unlivable,” Younes said. “The Iraqi government should immediately repeal the anti-LGBT law and end the cycle of violence and impunity against LGBT people.”

South Korea: Extend Health Benefits to Same-Sex Partners

Human Rights Watch — Sun, 19 May 2024 23:00:00 -0400

Click to expand Image So Seong-wook (L) and Kim Yong-min attend a news conference after filing a lawsuit against South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service for dependent family status, in Seoul on February 18, 2021. © 2021 Jung Yeon-je/AFP via Getty Images

(Seoul) – South Korea’s National Health Insurance Service should extend benefits to same-sex partners, Human Rights Watch said in an amicus brief filed before the country’s Supreme Court on May 16, 2024. The agency extends dependent benefits to heterosexual couples who are deemed to be in a de facto marriage, but has refused to extend those benefits to same-sex couples in a similar position.

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether the agency has impermissibly discriminated against a same-sex couple that was refused dependent benefits. In 2023, the Seoul High Court ruled in favor of the couple, concluding that the refusal to extend benefits constituted discrimination based on sexual orientation. The health agency appealed to the Supreme Court.

“The Seoul High Court correctly observed that the health agency’s refusal to recognize same-sex couples is discrimination,” said Lina Yoon, senior Korea researcher at Human Rights Watch. “We hope the Supreme Court will affirm the principle that nobody should be denied benefits solely because of their sexual orientation.”

The couple who brought the case had held a symbolic wedding ceremony in 2019, and one of the men registered his partner with the National Health Insurance Service as his spouse in 2020. The agency later revoked the partner’s dependent benefits following media attention to its effective recognition of a same-sex couple.

Human Rights Watch’s brief examines international and regional precedents for state recognition of same-sex partnerships, the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in South Korea, and the growing recognition of same-sex partnerships elsewhere in Asia.

South Korea has not created any framework for recognizing and supporting same-sex couples. The absence of any legal framework or protections for same-sex partners leaves LGBT people with few avenues to protect their relationships with partners and children, to safeguard their shared finances and property, and to access state benefits designed to support couples and families.

The government’s failure to recognize same-sex partnerships falls short of its human rights obligations, Human Rights Watch said. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has concluded that UN member states “have a positive obligation to provide legal recognition to couples, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics, as well as to their children,” and to extend those benefits offered to heterosexual couples without discrimination.

Among regional human rights bodies, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has said that states must extend the right to marry to same-sex couples, while the European Court of Human Rights has said that states must create some form of legal recognition and protection for same-sex relationships.

As Human Rights Watch and others have noted, South Korea also lacks comprehensive protections from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Despite strong public support for a comprehensive antidiscrimination law, lawmakers have repeatedly failed to enact basic protections that would prohibit discrimination in employment, education, and other areas.

In failing to protect LGBT rights, South Korea is out of step with trends elsewhere in the region. In 2019, Taiwan became the first jurisdiction in Asia to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples, and Australia and New Zealand have subsequently recognized the right to marry as well.

Courts in Japan and Thailand have expressed concern about the lack of partnership recognition in those contexts, and Nepal’s supreme court has extended interim recognition of the right to marry while it considers a marriage equality case.

A growing number of states in the region also prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Australia, Fiji, Macao, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Thailand, Tuvalu have prohibited sexual orientation discrimination in employment and other fields.

“South Korea’s lawmakers have failed to provide basic protection for same-sex couples by dragging their feet on nondiscrimination and partnership bills,” Yoon said. “South Korea’s courts now have the chance to uphold the state’s human rights obligations by ensuring that the state does not discriminate in the material benefits it does offer to committed couples.”

World Should Rally to Halt Unfolding Atrocities in Darfur

Human Rights Watch — Fri, 17 May 2024 15:21:57 -0400

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Enduring Legacy of Photojournalist Killed in Central African Republic

Human Rights Watch — Fri, 17 May 2024 13:45:00 -0400

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Greece: Respect Fair Trial Rights of Pylos Shipwreck Survivors

Human Rights Watch — Fri, 17 May 2024 07:50:15 -0400

(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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

“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.”

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.

Tunisia: Deepening Civil Society Crackdown

Human Rights Watch — Fri, 17 May 2024 01:00:00 -0400

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

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.

(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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Japan: Press Saudi Arabia on Human Rights

Human Rights Watch — Thu, 16 May 2024 19:00:00 -0400

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

(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.

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.”

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kishida should press Mohammed bin Salman to fully dismantle the abusive kafala system and fully enforce the labor reforms to improve protections for workers.

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.”

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.”

“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.”

FIFA: Publish Robust Rights Framework for 2026 World Cup

Human Rights Watch — Thu, 16 May 2024 17:15:00 -0400

(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.

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.

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.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

About the Dignity 2026 coalition

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 & 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 & Rights Alliance.

Türkiye: Kurdish Politicians Convicted in Unjust Mass Trial

Human Rights Watch — Thu, 16 May 2024 16:10:24 -0400

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

(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.

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.

“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).”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Rwanda: Human Rights Watch Researcher Barred

Human Rights Watch — Thu, 16 May 2024 09:45:00 -0400

(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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Thailand: ‘Swap Mart’ Targets Foreign Dissidents, Refugees

Human Rights Watch — Wed, 15 May 2024 21:00:00 -0400

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.

(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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

“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.”

No Justice for Crackdown in Tajikistan’s Autonomous Region Two Years On

Human Rights Watch — Wed, 15 May 2024 19:00:00 -0400

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.

These events were a turning point for an already troubled region.

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.

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.

There has been no accountability for the crackdown on protesters, which authorities called an “anti-terrorism operation.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

It is imperative that Tajikistan’s international partners remember the May 2022 events in Khorog and demand accountability from Tajik authorities.

Peru Chooses Bigotry in Medical Services

Human Rights Watch — Wed, 15 May 2024 16:03:11 -0400

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

Mozambique: Child Soldiers Used in Raid on Northern Town

Human Rights Watch — Wed, 15 May 2024 01:00:00 -0400

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

(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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Gambia: Landmark Swiss Conviction of Ex-Official

Human Rights Watch — Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 -0400

(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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

“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.”

Victims of Vietnam’s Formosa Toxic Spill Deserve Justice

Human Rights Watch — Tue, 14 May 2024 17:28:24 -0400

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Thai Youth Activist Dies in Custody

Human Rights Watch — Tue, 14 May 2024 16:32:59 -0400

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

Thai anti-monarchy activist Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, 28, died in custody in Bangkok today while on a hunger strike she began in January.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Lesbian Women Set on Fire in Argentina

Human Rights Watch — Tue, 14 May 2024 04:00:00 -0400

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

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.

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.”

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.”

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.

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.