As you can see from the last three posts, we have been somewhat focussed on Europe during the lockdown. This has led to some of us attending Ulrike Schmidt‘s talk from the Hammersmith group (via Zoom) on the 13th May, then our own Zoom meeting on the 20th. So we thought it useful to start posting the Europe Newsletter, put together by Ulrike, in the same way we publish the South America one.

Newsletter   Europe   May 2020

Campaigning works ! Thank you to everyone who signed and circulated the petitions, contacted their MP and wrote to the Home Office. Several countries have now resettled vulnerable children (Portugal took 500 last week) and the UK has now relented and accepted 50 refugees to be reunited with families.

Content                                                                                     page

Turkey  Updates and Actions	2-3
Hungary Action Drop #33       Trans Rights are Human Rights	4-5
Hungary courts :   Great News   and worries for the future	6-8
Roma communities threatened by vigilante and police violence	8-9
Punishing Compassion   Introduction to a very important report	10-12
UK concerns over data security	13

Page 2

URGENT ACTIONS FOR TURKEY     By Helen Clarke Bury 

 Hello, and thank you for continuing your work to fight for the human rights of others during this time and thank you for keeping up to date with the situation in Turkey. As the country coordinator for this region I wanted to share with you 2 actions we are currently working on.

CASES

1. Eren Keskin – a prominent campaigner who has been harassed by the police in Turkey and subject to completely unfounded charges and arrests for simply speaking out against human rights abuses.

Eren Keskin is on our Individuals at Risk file. Groups who are interested in working long term on this case please email Helen

2. Turkish Prisoners – as Turkey passes a law to release up to 90,000 prisoners due to the covid19 situation – we believe these should include those in pre-trial detention centres – held inhumanely in captivity before they have even seen a court room; losing their right to a free trial.

ACTIONS

Eren Keskin – Email Action & SOCIAL

Eren Keskin Action #HumanRighstHeroes is a PDF of the action we are asking you to take to help Eren – simply sending an email as an individual or as a group – the more emails the better! Tag us at @amnestyeuropeuk on Twitter or @amnestyukeurope on Facebook.   If you have taken this action please let me know.

[Read more…]

Last September we had an excellent talk from Ulrike Schmidt – Shrinking Spaces in Europe. We delighted to announce Ulrike is giving a Zoom talk to Hammersmith & Fulham AI Group, “Human rights in Hungary, Poland and Central Europe” It’s open to everyone on Wednesday 13th May at 7.30pm. The only problem is, it clashes with our first Zoom meeting, which is also going to focus on the current state of human rights in Europe! If you would like to attend Ulrikes talk, please email the chair/secretary of their group on secretaryhammersmithamnesty@outlook.com  by 4pm on Wednesday 13th. The talk starts at 7.30pm. We have postponed our meeting till Wednesday 20th (8.0pm). Please reply to this email for a link.

Ted Stevens As we announced in an earlier newsletter, one of our founder members and long time Chairman Ted Stevens died in January. We are pleased to announce that the Bournemouth Echo published a marvellous obituary to Ted at the weekend. https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/18437704.ted-stevens-obituary-magistrate-labour-activist-chairman-amnesty-international/

The next meeting  is on Wednesday 13th May 2020, 8pm, – on ZOOM.  After a bit of experimentation we have decided to try and hold a virtual “meeting” – more of a discussion. More details below, but please reply if you would like an invite.

Human Rights in Europe after COVID-19 At the start of the pandemic Amnesty International produced a document “Europe at a Crossroads“.  Amnesty International doesn’t take a position on the type of public health measures governments should take. But the document spells out that governments should ensure that all such measures are consistent with their human rights obligations. It lists eleven  “Dos” and “Don’ts”. You can download the document on our blog; we’ve also posted a summary (although the document itself is quite short). We are planning to use this as a starting point for our Zoom discussion next Wednesday. Lucy-Ann Pope has also agreed to share more recent updates, concerns and actions from one of AIUK’s Europe coordinators. However, we aim to start putting more of this information on the blog – we won’t overwhelm you with information next week! So please join us. The call is booked but we need to invite you prior to the call – so do reply to this newsletter asap. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/europe-at-a-crossroads

South America Newsletter The May edition of the South America Regional Newsletter is now on the blog. Our group has focused on South America since its inception. The 3 volunteers who run the network for AIUK – and produce the newsletter – do a huge amount of work on our behalf. The Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on human rights is discussed in relation to several countries. Plus updates on many other ongoing issues. https://amnestyat50.co.uk/south-america-newsletter-may-2020

Last year we had a talk by Ulrike Schmidt “Shrinking Spaces for Human Rights in Europe“. She gave us an excellent overview on human rights infringements in Europe, with some actions we could take. Our group has continued to follow developments in Europe, particularly human rights infringements that don’t make the headlines.

Amnesty International published a document Europe at crossroads in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.  Amnesty International does not take a position on the type of public health measures governments should take. But the document spells out that governments should ensure that all such measures are consistent with their human rights obligations. It lists eleven  “Dos” and “Don’ts”. We have copied them below with some key quotes from each:-

DO FULFIL THE RIGHT TO HEALTH FOR EVERYONE

“All European states have committed to fulfilling the right to health and have signed international and regional human rights treaties to that purpose. However, in recent years, many European governments have adopted austerity measures that resulted in cuts to the funding for public health systems, some of which have jeopardized the right to health. These cuts have often had a disproportionate impact on people with lower incomes, people accessing mental health care, survivors of gender-based violence, people with disabilities and with chronic health conditions.”

DO ENSURE THAT ALL EMERGENCY MEASURES ARE NECESSARY AND PROPORTIONATE

“Public health emergency and attendant emergency measures should never be used by governments as a pretext for repressive measures, including to target particular groups, such as racial and ethnic minorities, refugees and migrants, political opponents, journalists, and human rights defenders.”

DON’T DISCRIMINATE

“In particular, they must ensure that the measures do not have a disproportionate impact on specific groups, including for example people living in informal settlements or people who are homeless. Governments should ensure that these groups can effectively protect themselves from contracting COVID-19.”

[Read more…]

This month’s newsletter includes good news regarding the release on bail of a Venezuelan journalist, an urgent action for Colombia,  two regarding Venezuela  and a petition regarding the response to Covid-19. The Covid-19 pandemic and its effect on human rights is discussed in relation to several countries. In Colombia, the killings of human rights defenders and social leaders is on the rise, while the displacement of indigenous peoples and the lack of basic services for them is a major concern. There are also reports on indigenous people in Brazil, the effects of a cap on public expenditure and allegations that the Brazilian President is interfering in the Marielle Franco case. In Venezuela, attacks on opposition members are reported plus news about an addition to the Individuals at Risk portfolio. We report on prison riots in Peru and the findings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights regarding the arbitrary detention and rape of a transgender woman. We  also report on developments in Ecuador, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty International has issued an  Urgent Action   asking for protection for the human rights defender Jani Silva. On 17 April, Jani Silva heard 6 gunshots at less than 30 metres from her residence in Putumayo (South West), Colombia. On 22 April, she heard again three gun shots at less than 50 meters from her residence and noise from the movement of people and a motorcycle around her house. These two incidents occurred after a confidential source provided information to the Inter-Church Commission for Truth and Peace in late March about an ongoing plan to kill Jani Silva. We are urging the Ministry of Interior to provide appropriate protection for her.

Colombia has reported 5,949 cases of coronavirus and 269 deaths,   a very low proportion of its 46 million people. By taking confinement measures early, the outbreak has been contained at a low level, at least for the moment. However, the first cases of infection among indigenous communities have been identified, which is a major concern as it is believed indigenous communities are particularly at risk.

In a  press release  Amnesty International calls for the authorities to ‘urgently take appropriate measures to guarantee the rights of Indigenous Peoples, including their rights to health, water and food’.  While indigenous communities have followed the strict lockdown measures imposed from 25 March, rural indigenous communities in the departments of Casanare, Vichada and Meta informed Amnesty International that they have received no support from government authorities.  Unable to access their sources of food, they face starvation. The level of risk is also a concern for indigenous peoples living in settlements on the outskirts of towns and cities, as they have no way of growing their food and survive by working in informal jobs, which they are currently unable to do. Many of these communities do not have access to clean water or hygiene products, making personal cleanliness to prevent COVID-19 infection impossible.

The UN Verification Mission in Colombia  reported   that it had received 56 complaints of the killing of social leaders and human rights defenders between 1 January and 24 March, of which 4 had been verified. ‘Indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities continue to be affected by pervasive violence, including attacks, mass displacements, confinement and recruitment of children, in several departments, in particular Cauca, Chocó, Nariño and Antioquia.’

23 April Amnesty International adds, ‘Since President Iván Duque declared a national quarantine on March 24, at least 14 people who defend human rights and social leaders have been killed, 3 of them while they complied with the quarantine in their homes. Additionally, the State protection protocols for human rights defenders have been reduced. Amnesty International has received information that the National Protection Unit (UNP) has reduced the number of escorts of at least two defenders and ceased their night patrols. Both defenders fear attacks from armed groups that have threatened them because of their work in defence of human rights.’

Fighting between three armed groups, the National Liberation Army (ELN), the Gaitanista Self-Defence Groups (AGC) and FARC dissidents, triggered most of the 139,000 conflict displacements recorded in 2019. ‘The figure is a small decrease from the 145,000 recorded in 2018, but a sign that insecurity remains high,’ according to the  Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre . 393 people were forcibly displaced in Chocó between 1 and 15 April and another 969 people remained in forced confinement due to clashes between these armed groups. [Read more…]