Europe Newsletter November 2022

November 3, 2022 by zarganar

Please find our latest Newsletter full of Actions and reports. Starting with a very urgent Action on Turkey, we are also campaigning for justice for Zineb Redouane, who was killed by a tear gas grenade in France. For the last year we have been campaigning against unlawful pushbacks and the inhumane and cruel treatment of asylum-seekers who tried to enter the European Union via Belarus. (Europe -wide action January 15^th Stop Refugees Freezing about refugees trapped in the freezing forests between Poland and Belarus).

Meanwhile we have received shocking reports about violent pushbacks and detention of refugees in overcrowded conditions as well as cruel treatment amounting to torture from Lithuania and now in the latest report from Latvia. The treatment of asylum-seekers from war-torn and repressive countries like Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Congo, Iraq and Eritrea stands in stark contrast to the warm welcome offered to refugees from Ukraine. We are calling for all refugees and asylum-seekers to be treated with compassion and dignity and offered protection from persecution.

At the end of this newsletter you will find an action which is not (yet) an amnesty case but a Syrian family being supported in their community.

Darkness is rarely lifted by itself. We have to continue to light the candle standing up for universal human rights.

Türkiye

FREE PROF ŞEBNEM KORUR FİNCANCI

Prof Şebnem Korur Fincancı is a prominent forensic medicine doctor, a member of the Human Rights Foundation of Türkiye and the head of the Union of Turkish Medical Associations. As a human rights defender, she has been subjected to baseless criminal investigations, detentions and prosecutions in the past. In 2016, she was briefly remanded in pre-trial detention when prosecuted for ‘propaganda for a terrorist organization’ for her role as a symbolic editor of the shuttered Kurdish daily Özgür Gündem. Along with her two co-defendants, she was acquitted in 2019 but their acquittals were overturned on appeal and their retrial is ongoing.

Over the last seven years, the Union of Turkish Medical Associations has also been targeted in multiple criminal investigations under Türkiye’s overly broad anti-terrorism laws, their prominent members subjected to detention and prosecutions.

In the early hours of 26 October 2022, police detained Prof Fincancı. A criminal investigation was launched against her after she called for an independent investigation into allegations that Turkish armed forces might have used chemical weapons in Kurdistan Region of Iraq in comments during a live TV interview. Amnesty International is calling for Prof Fincancı to be released immediately and unconditionally from detention and must not be prosecuted for her human rights work.

There is an Urgent Action aimed at the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor. Please take part in this action as soon as possible and circulate it to supporters to maximise the impact. Download and edit with your details this Sample Letter

Pressure on Freedom of Expression

In yet another squeeze on freedom of expression in Türkiye, in early October the authorities pushed a bill through parliament that enables three year sentences to be imposed on individuals who the courts decide have been publicly spreading “false information”. The broad, “catch all” wording of the new criminal code will make it very difficult for individuals to be able to judge in advance whether they are likely to fall foul of it and there are significant concerns that this will lead to increasing self censorship by civil society groups. [Read more…]

South America Newsletter October 2022

October 12, 2022 by zarganar

This month, we update you on developments in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, Paraguay, Suriname, and Argentina.

In Colombia, most of the country’s dissident FARC guerrillas declared a unilateral ceasefire: during the conflict over 1,700 people were forcibly displaced by non-state armed groups, and over a million individuals from ethnic minorities were displaced. In Brazil, general elections have taken place, with Lula polling 48% of the vote and Bolsonaro 43%. The United Nations Human Rights Council discussed the report of the latest Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela, which was rejected by Venezuela’s government. The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture visited Ecuador, in response to the continuing violence, riots, and deaths in their prisons. This year, Paraguay will feature the Write for Rights campaign. In Suriname, Parliament continues to work to recognize the rights of indigenous people. Lastly, Argentine doctor Miranda Ruiz was cleared of all charges after performing an abortion.

COLOMBIA

In a hopeful development, the commander of the majority of Colombia’s dissident FARC guerrillas declared a unilateral ceasefire ahead of a possible multilateral ceasefire that includes the security forces.

Colombia Reports explains how the new government’s peace proposals could seriously disrupt the cocaine trade if it were taken up by the 22-armed groups fighting over cocaine cultivation, laboratories and trade routes. As drug traffickers largely fund the ongoing war in Colombia and Colombia accounts for nearly half the world’s production of cocaine, this would be a stunning success for the government of Gustavo Petro. But there is a long way to go, as the new plan resembles in many ways the peace accord with the FARC and earlier agreements to disband the paramilitaries, which have not put an end to the fighting or illegal drug trafficking.

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP in Spanish) has identified 1.35 million victims from ethnic minorities, who have suffered from forced displacement during the 52-year conflict to 2016. The JEP has begun mega proceedings against landowners which are aimed to activate the process of reparations for these communities. This is also an opportunity for communities, who have never denounced their loss of land, to have their claims investigated.

The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre notes that 1,791 people were forcibly displaced by non-state armed groups from three different regions of Colombia in the month of September 2022. In 2021, 134,000 people were internally displaced, of whom 41 per cent were African Colombians and indigenous people. Around 5,235,000 people were living in displacement as result of conflict and violence as of the end of the year.

According to Global Witness, of the 200 land and environmental rights defenders killed worldwide in 2021 thirty-three were killed in Colombia. ‘Land disputes are a driving force behind the killings of land and environmental defenders, and the peace agreement acknowledges the need to address matters such as forced land displacement, unequal land tenure and the substitution of illegal crops by alternative legal crops.’

The London Mining Group and other international organizations are appealing to the highest court in Colombia over ongoing concerns of human rights violations at one of the largest open pit coal mines in the world. The organisations call on the court to uphold its earlier decision supporting the rights of Indigenous communities resisting the expansion of the Cerrejón mine, which is owned by London-listed Glencore. [Read more…]

Europe Newsletter September 2022

September 30, 2022 by zarganar

Here is our latest Newsletter with updates and actions.

MALTA: EL HIBLU 3

The prosecution against the El Hiblu 3 has rested its case. That means that the court has finished hearing testimonies in the pre-trial period & the Attorney General will soon decide
which charges to bring against the El Hiblu 3.
We need to continue to push the Attorney General to DROP ALL THE CHARGES AGAINST ABDALLA, AMARA AND KADER!
To help us fight for their justice, an open letter to Malta Attorney General Dr Victoria Buttigieg was signed by supporters and sent to her on 28 September . The link to the open letter can be found here: https://elhiblu3.info/openletter.
Read Abdalla’s story here: https://elhiblu3.info/abdalla.
Read Amara’s story here: https://elhiblu3.info/amara.
Read Kader’s story here: https://elhiblu3.info/kader.
Further actions in support of the El Hiblu 3 will be sent to you as they appear.

Türkiye

Saturday Mothers

As I reported in the last edition of the newsletter the next (5th) hearing of the Saturday Mothers case was due to take place on 21st September.

Several colleagues from AI Türkiye were present, as were representatives of Turkish civil society organisations, Article 19 and some other human rights organisations, members of parliament and others.

On Monday 19 September, Saturday Mothers/People issued an appeal on social media announcing that they will issue a press statement outside the courthouse at 12.30. As result, the district governorate issued a decision to ban the gathering for one day, providing for reason the following: ‘in order to protect the rights and freedoms of others, because it represents a threat to public order, also because of the sensitive period our country is in and that it would create uproar, hurt national, conscience and human values, threatening societal peace, considering also that there may be the possibility of physical and verbal provocative actions between the organisers and citizens, in order to ensure public order, prevent the commission of crime and for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others might be threatened, that the planned events might need to unwanted outcomes..’
In the event, on the 21st the Saturday Mothers/People group and their lawyers and supporters were kettled outside the court by police both in uniforms and civilian clothes.

MP Alper Tas Republican Peoples Party [CHP] arrested outside courthouse

Even though they agreed not to read the press statement, they were then prevented from leaving the space, and 16 relatives, including three lawyers and supporters were detained with police apparently using excessive force – the footage in the link below shows the detention of one of the participants, Alper Tas a member of parliament from the CHP Party.
https://twitter.com/t24comtr/status/1572531900249423872?s=20&t=Vb4DcDDZbnes8T4-mFO4lg

Eventually the interim decision taken by the court was that of the 46 defendants, those who have yet to appear in the trial are called in one last time, the requests for criminal complaint regarding the police intervention to be rejected, with the next hearing set for 3 February 2023 at 2pm. The day after the latest hearing the European Parliament Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sánchez Amor paid a visit to the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association to show solidarity with the Saturday Mothers. The link below contains video of a statement he made after that visit.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1573658477637107714

It is very important that as a Human Rights movement, we increase our solidarity with the Saturday Mothers and continue to challenge the denial of their rights to peaceful assembly. We will pass on further actions on this case as they requested by the International Secretariat. [Read more…]

South America Newsletter September 2022

September 4, 2022 by zarganar

Welcome to the latest South America newsletter. Several illegal armed groups in Colombia have agreed to talks after the new President proposed a conditional ceasefire, while new figures have revealed the huge numbers of deaths, kidnappings and disappearances in the civil war. Brazilian police have arrested five more suspects of the killing of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira, while UN experts have called on the government to take steps to put an end to police violence. 125 organisations including Amnesty have called for the renewal of the mandate of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela. Human Rights Watch have highlighted the scale of sexual violence in schools in Ecuador.

COLOMBIA

Amnesty international — Wilmar Ascanio Angarita, leader of Alto Cañabraval, San Pablo, Bolivar, killed by ELN 23 December 2021

Colombia’s recently inaugurated President Gustavo Petro has proposed a multilateral ceasefire with illegal armed groups that agree to negotiate their demobilization and disarmament. According to Colombia Reports, opposition armed groups that have agreed to talks include the ELN (National Liberation Army) two dissident FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) commands and dissident AUC (United Self-defence forces of Colombia) paramilitaries.

Colombia’s Truth Commission has issued its final report and executive summary on the six decades long civil war in Colombia. Its estimates for the number of victims are much higher than previously thought.

450,000 fatalities. Those responsible for deaths were mainly paramilitaries (45%), guerrillas (27%) and state agents (12%).
Over 110,000 forcibly disappeared. Main perpetrators were paramilitaries (52%), FARC (24%) and state agents (8%).
At least 50,000 kidnappings. Main perpetrators FARC (40%), paramilitaries (24%), ELN (19%).
At least 8 million people have been forcibly displaced. 70% of the perpetrators are not recorded.
Recruitment of child soldiers exceeded 30,000. 40% by the FARC, 13% by paramilitaries and 9% by the ELN.

You can download the Executive Summary with a commentary by the UK’s ABColombia here.

WOLA Colombia Peace report that investigative journalists at Blu Radio allege that corrupt officials in Colombia abused their positions to steal hundreds of millions of dollars in peace accord implementation funds, which were meant for some of the country’s poorest, most violent, and least governed territories. They estimate that 12% of the funds never reached their destination. Three investigations by the Attorney General, the Internal Affairs Office and the Supreme Court are under way. Corruption is endemic in Colombia.

Following their visit to Colombia, the international lawyers group Colombia Caravana is deeply concerned about serious threats to the rule of law that limit access to justice, the repression of political participation and social protest, and the lack of security guarantees for those carrying out vital human rights work in Colombia. They denounce the stigmatisation of legal defence work by conflating lawyers with their clients, the criminalisation of human rights defenders, lawyers and
judges through vexatious litigation [Read more…]

Friday 11th November 8pm

Can’t wait?! Try the 2018 quiz