The Good Place or The Bad Place?

Tanzania: Post-election crackdown and intimidation underway with ‘arrest and release’ of opposition leaders 30 October 2020, 20:43 UTC Authorities in Tanzania’s semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar have mounted a campaign of intimidation, arbitrary detention and subsequent release of opposition leaders from the ACT-Wazalendo party following contested elections. Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa, said: At least 36 ACT-Wazalendo members and five party leaders have been arbitrarily detained in recent days Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International's Director for East and Southern Africa “At least 36 ACT-Wazalendo members and five party leaders have been arbitrarily detained in recent days. Presidential candidate Seif Sharif Hamad was yesterday arrested for the second time in a week, part of a crackdown on critics and political opponents. They were all later released on bail between Thursday night and Friday morning. “These arrests, accompanie...

Qatar: Domestic workers share harrowing accounts of abuse and exploitation 20 October 2020, 12:01 UTC A new report by Amnesty International reveals how migrant domestic workers employed in Qatar have been pushed to breaking point by extreme overwork, lack of rest, and abusive and degrading treatment. The organization spoke to 105 women who had been employed as live-in domestic workers in Qatar, and found that their rights were still being abused and violated despite government reforms aimed at improving their working conditions. Some women said they had been victims of serious crimes such as sexual assault. In 2017 Qatar introduced the Domestic Workers Law, which stipulated limits on working hours, mandatory daily breaks, a weekly day off and paid holidays. Three years on, 90 of the 105 women contacted by Amnesty said they regularly worked more than 14 hours per day; 89 regularly worked seven days a week; and 87 had their passport confiscated by their employers. Half of the women wo...

Amnesty International India halts its work on upholding human rights in India due to reprisal from Government of India 29 September 2020, 21:45 UTC Responding to Amnesty International India’s bank accounts being frozen by the Enforcement Directorate, an investigative agency of the Government in India, Julie Verhaar, Acting Secretary General of Amnesty International said: “This is an egregious and shameful act by the Indian Government, which forces us to cease the crucial human rights work of Amnesty International India for now. However, this does not mark the end of our firm commitment to, and engagement in, the struggle for human rights in India. We will be working resolutely to determine how Amnesty International can continue to play our part within the human rights movement in India for years to come. “The Amnesty movement is very proud of the vital work carried out by our outstanding colleagues in India regardless of the risks they faced, including their unequivocal calls for...

  Iran: Horrifying plan to amputate fingers of four men convicted of robbery must be stopped 24 September 2020, 15:01 UTC The international community must do everything in its power to stop Iranian authorities from amputating the fingers of four men convicted of robbery following forced “confessions” and grossly unfair trials, said Amnesty International today. According to information obtained by the organization, the sentences against the four men, Hadi Rostami (33), Mehdi Sharfian (37), Mehdi Shahivand (42) and Kasra Karami (40), have been upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court and referred to the Centre for the Implementation of Sentences. The sentences may be carried out at any moment. Carrying out such unspeakably inhumane punishments is not justice and underlines the cruelty of Iran’s criminal justice system.  Diana Eltahawy The four men, currently held in Urumieh prison in West Azerbaijan province, are sentenced to “have four fingers on their right hands completely cut off so t...

  Kyrgyzstan: Medics suffer rights violations, pay high personal price during COVID-19 pandemic 25 September 2020, 00:01 UTC Health workers in Kyrgyzstan have paid an astoundingly high personal price during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has seen them forced to work long hours, often without promised additional pay and sometimes with reduced pay, and subjected to a “prison-like” quarantine regime, Amnesty International said in a  new report  today. According to official data from the Ministry of Health, during the peak of the epidemic from mid-March to 22 July, 29 health workers died. However, unofficial sources put the figure at 40. “Kyrgyzstani doctors have worked selflessly, risking their lives every day looking after their patients, often in the absence of vital medical supplies. Short of adequate support from the authorities, they have relied on the assistance of volunteers. It is appalling that in return they were denied their human rights, underpaid and forced to kee...

  Mozambique: Video showing killing of naked woman further proof of human rights violations by state armed forces 15 September 2020, 21:22 UTC The authorities in Mozambique must immediately launch an independent and impartial investigation into the extrajudicial killing of a defenceless naked woman in  Mocímboa  da Praia in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, Amnesty International said today, after verifying video footage of the attack which was shared on social media.  “This horrendous video is yet another gruesome example of the gross human rights violations and merciless killings taking place in Cabo Delgado by the Mozambican security forces,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa. “The incident is consistent with our  recent findings  of appalling human rights violations and crimes under international law happening in the area. It demonstrates a repeated and unrelenting pattern of crimes being committed by t...

  Myanmar: Leaked documents reveal global business ties to military crimes 10 September 2020, 00:02 UTC An Amnesty International investigation  has exposed how international businesses are linked to the financing of Myanmar’s military, including many units directly responsible for crimes under international law and other human rights violations. Leaked official documents analyzed by Amnesty International reveal how Myanmar’s military receives huge revenues from shares in Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (MEHL), a secretive conglomerate whose activities include the mining, beer, tobacco, garment manufacturing and banking sectors. MEHL has partnerships with a range of local and foreign businesses including Japanese beer multinational Kirin and South Korean steel giant POSCO. The perpetrators of some of the worst human rights violations in Myanmar’s recent history are among those who benefit from MEHL’s business activities  Mark Dummett, Head of Business, Security and Human...

  India: Stop Using Pellet-Firing Shotguns in Kashmir Use Against Religious Procession Caused Serious Injuries Click to expand Image An Indian police officer aims a shotgun at Kashmiri protesters throwing stones, in Srinagar, India, May 8, 2018.   © 2018 AP Photo/Mukhtar Khan (New York) – The  Indian  authorities should prohibit security forces in Jammu and  Kashmir  from using shotguns firing metal pellets to disperse crowds, Human Rights Watch said today. Indian  police and paramilitary forces fired shotguns  as well as tear gas at a Shia Muslim procession in Srinagar on August 29, 2020, injuring dozens of people. The forces opened fire after marchers in Muharram defied orders to disperse under a  Covid-19 ban . This sparked violent protests in which some protesters threw stones, injuring 15 security personnel,  according to the police . “Time and again, Indian law enforcement’s use of shotguns in Kashmir has resulted in shocking, grie...

  Global: Amnesty analysis reveals over 7,000 health workers have died from COVID-19 3 September 2020, 11:36 UTC New analysis by Amnesty International has found that at least 7,000 health workers have died around the world after contracting COVID-19. At least 1,320 health workers are confirmed to have died in Mexico alone, the highest known figure for any country. Amnesty International also recorded high numbers of health worker deaths in the USA (1,077) and Brazil (634), where infection and death rates have been high throughout the pandemic, as well as alarming figures in South Africa (240) and India (573), where infection rates have soared in recent months. For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale  Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice “For over seven thousand people to die while trying to save others is a crisis on a staggering scale. Every health worker has the right to be safe at work, and it is a sc...

  Russia: Kremlin must explain the use of nerve agent to poison Aleksei Navalny 3 September 2020, 16:46 UTC The Russian authorities’ failure to investigate the poisoning of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny will be a blatant violation of his right to life, said Amnesty International, reacting to the finding by German authorities that Navalny was poisoned with a nerve agent from the Novichok family. Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “The Russian authorities must immediately open an investigation into the apparent use of a banned chemical weapon to poison an opposition leader. Failure to do so will heighten suspicions that top-level Russian officials were involved in this crime or its cover-up. “The Russian authorities deny involvement in the attempted murder of Navalny, a prominent government critic, but have so far failed to address the implications of the finding that he was poisoned with a chemical weapon. In 2017, Russia...