The war unleashed by Putin’s army against Ukraine has led to the largest displacement of people within Europe since the second world war. For once the EU has agreed to implement the TPD (temporary protection directive) which allows refugees from Ukraine to find refuge within the EU without bureaucratic obstacles and with permission to work and re-build their lives. But not all refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine are given the same generous help.  Amina Gerikhanov had fled with her little son from Chechnya to Ukraine, now driven to flee the war she is threatened with deportation to Russia from Romania. Please take Action.

In particular people in Poland and Moldavia have been exemplary in their generosity and welcome towards Ukrainian refugees. But at Poland’s other border with Belarus refugees including women with small children fleeing equally brutal wars and violence in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are still forced back into the swampy forests at the border with Belarus, violently pushed from both sides of the border. Those who did succeed in not being pushed back are languishing in overcrowded detention centers. In one detention center 20-24 people were squashed into rooms measuring only 8 square meter. Nearly 2000 people including hundreds of children are detained in Polish detention centers. Please read Amnesty’s latest report:-

POLAND: CRUELTY NOT COMPASSION, AT EUROPE’S OTHER BORDERS

Polish people, mostly women, who are bringing food and aid into the forest to help refugees survive are being criminalised. Women like Weronika Klemby who has been arrested and is threatened with 3 month imprisonment : ”My fault is that I didn’t want to let people die who are not welcome in Poland by the authorities. Giving people in the forest warm soup, that is all “

In Italy court proceedings against the crew of the Iuventa are starting on 21. May. Over 14000 people were rescued by the Iuventa from drowning in the Mediterranean until the ship was seized by the Italian authorities and the crew arrested.

Court proceedings also started against the El Hiblu 3 in Malta, whose only crime was to use their language skills and help to negotiate the rescue of more than 100 people.

And shockingly the UK government is planning to send people seeking asylum in the UK to Rwanda. This is the most shocking assault by our government on the Right to Asylum which is already thoroughly undermined by the Nationality and Borders Bill. Please take action and lobby your MP.

AI must remain alert, call out and fight any measures that reflect systemic racism entrenched in Europe’s migration policies. While working to ensure that the welcoming attitude towards people fleeing the war in Ukraine is viable and long-lasting, we also must ensure that this doesn’t further entrench a two-tier system for refugees and asylum-seekers in Europe.

Turkey

Sadly, April was not a good month for Human Rights in Turkey

Aggravated life sentence for Osman Kavala a devastating blow for human rights 

On 25 April, civil society leader Osman Kavala, who had been imprisoned on pretrial detention since November 2017, was convicted for “attempting to overthrow the government” and sentenced to aggravated life in prison; his seven co-defendants each received a sentence of 18 years, allegedly for aiding Osman Kavala and were immediately remanded in prison.

Responding to the conviction, Nils Muižnieks, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, said:

“Today, we have witnessed a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. This verdict deals a devastating blow not only to Osman Kavala, his co-defendants and their families, but to everyone who believes in justice and human rights activism in Turkey and beyond.

 “The court’s decision defies all logic. The prosecuting authorities have repeatedly failed to provide any evidence that substantiates the baseless charges of attempting to overthrow the government. This unjust verdict shows that the Gezi trial was only an attempt to silence independent voices.                               

“This politically motivated charade has already seen Osman Kavala arbitrarily imprisoned for more than four-and-a-half years over his civil society activism. We continue to call for Osman Kavala’s and his co-defendants’ immediate release as they appeal these draconian verdicts.”

[Read more…]

This month, we update you on developments in Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Argentina, and Venezuela.

The UN Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders has denounced the killing of indigenous human rights defenders in Colombia. It is believed the killings were carried out by a non-state actor, believed to be a dissident FARC. Meanwhile, Amnesty International has published its 2021 Annual Report on Colombia, analyzing the slow implementation of the peace process and the situation of indigenous, gender, and LGBT+ rights, attacks on human rights defenders.

In Brazil, the number of civilians killed because of police intervention in Rio de Janeiro has more than quadrupled between 2013 and 2019. Amnesty International has submitted a report to Brazil’s Universal Periodic Review, which will take place in November. According to Amnesty International’s latest Annual Report, Peru has recorded the world’s highest number of COVID-19 per million people.

In Argentina, health professional Miranda Ruiz, who guaranteed access to legal abortion in the city of Tartagal in Argentina’s province of Salta, is being investigated by the criminal prosecutor despite abortion being legalized a year ago. During the 49th session of the Human Rights Council, Amnesty International expressed its concern regarding the human rights situation in Venezuela.

You can now access and download the Amnesty International Annual report 2021/2022.

Find out more.

 

 

COLOMBIA

The UN rapporteur for human rights defenders has denounced the killings of indigenous Nasa human rights defenders by a non-State actor, believed to be dissident FARC. This follows the killing of four Nasa indigenous Guardians by the same non-State armed group in the last week of January.  “It is extremely worrying and shocking that children are direct victims of these attacks.” Non-State armed groups continue to recruit children, abducting a 14-year-old Nasa boy.

Spain’s leading newspaper El País reports that the Colombian government’s claim to have ‘neutralised’, i.e. killed, 11 members of dissident FARC in a town near the border with Ecuador has been contested by locals and the Defender of the People. They claim that these were mainly local civilian leaders and their families. This raises the spectre of a return to ‘false positives’, when the army killed innocent civilians and then claimed they were armed guerrillas.

Peace Brigades International explores recent investigations by the transitional justice system (JEP), set up under the Peace Accords, into human rights abuses against environmental rights defenders in Magdelena Medio region. Local communities have long opposed extractive industries which have damaged the environment and provided them with no monetary benefits.

Amnesty International’s 2021 Annual Report on Colombia analyses: the slow implementation of the Peace process; the military’s profiling of 57 journalists as part of its campaign ‘truth in a sea of lies’ and the attacks on 402 press workers; excessive use of force by the police; arbitrary detention and torture; the situation of indigenous, gender and LGBT+ rights; attacks on human rights defenders; forced displacement and confinement of 100,000 people in the year; impunity; and refugee and migrants’ rights.  [Read more…]

Welcome to the latest newsletter. The next meeting  is on Thursday 7th April 2022 7.30pm  at Moordown Community Centre. At the next meeting we will be campaign updates, letter writing and planning for future events.

Ukraine Since our last newsletter the we’ve had the human rights catastrophe of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The UK government must do its part to help those fleeing the war. AIUK are calling for the UK Government to urgently:-     Strengthen international efforts to protect civilians, provide humanitarian relief and help bring suspected perpetrators of crimes under international law to justice.     Press for parties to the conflict to create & respect humanitarian corridors to safe havens, for all civilians to have access to transportation and time to leave, and for international observers to be granted access to monitor their safe passage.     Fulfil the commitment to provide sanctuary to 200,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK by providing safe routes to travel here, such as by a temporary visa waiver.     Abandon measures which will do serious damage to the UK’s asylum system. You can email the Prime Minister to urge him to help people fleeing the war https://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions/UkraineCrisis There is a template letter to send to Members of Parliament, with an accompanying briefing, that can be downloaded from the AIUK website. Please let us know if you write to your MP, so we can track which MPs have been contacted. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/invasion-ukraine-resources Morad Tahbaz and Mehran Raoof Also since the last newsletter Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori have been reunited with their families in the UK after years of detention in Iran.  But Amnesty continues to campaign for Morad Tahbaz and Mehran Raoof, who are still arbitrarily detained in Iran. Please continue to campaign with us, and contact your local MP to:- ask them to raise Morad’s and Mehran’s cases with the Foreign Secretary, asking for them to not be forgotten and calling for their release ask them to raise their cases publicly and mention Morad and Mehran in Parliament. There is a template letter you can download here.

This month we bring you updates on human rights issues in Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina, Chile, Brazil and Ecuador.  A request to sign Amnesty International’s petition on Colombia, asking the Attorney General to investigate the murder of Kevin Agudelo and other violations committed during the national strike. And Amnesty’s new Urgent Action to protect human rights defenders in the Magdalena Medio region of southeastern Colombia.

Also Amnesty International’s new report on human rights violations in Venezuela.  The letter that Amnesty International sent to President Fernandez about the fires in the province of Corrientes in Argentina. The situation of the former Carabinero, Claudio Crespo, who was accused by the Chilean National Prosecutor’s Office of shooting Gustavo Gatica. The murders that occurred in Rio de Janeiro by the police in Brazil, and violence against the LGBT+ community in the country. The decision of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador on mining in the territory of the Aí Cofán indigenous people.

COLOMBIA

Kevin Agudo, allegedly killed by police, Cali 3 May 2021

On 3 May 2021 a joint raid by National Police officers, members of the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD) and the Special Operations Group of the Colombian National Police (GOES) used lethal weapons and tear gas against people who were holding a memorial service for the killing of a young man near the roundabout in Siloé district the previous day.  Three people lost their lives the night of 3 May, among them Kevin Agudelo, a young football player. Please sign Amnesty International’s petition (UK is Reino Unido) asking the Attorney General to investigate this murder and other human rights violations during the National Strike.
Amnesty International has issued a new report, Repression in the Spotlight, with a video showing the police using lethal weapons, such as Tavor 5.56 mm rifles, against peaceful protestors in Siloé district, Cali. The reconstruction uses more than 200 audiovisual assets analysed by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab and SITU Research, as well as witness testimony to verify and illustrate the details of the incursion and the events leading to Kevin’s death.

Amnesty International has issued a new Urgent Action to protect human rights defenders in the Magdalena Medio region in southeast Colombia who have been subject to multiple threats in recent weeks. On 9 February unknown men broke into the house of the environmental defender Yuvelis Morales. She had received a death threat the day before and was forced to leave Colombia. On 7 February several human rights defenders of the region were also targeted in a ordering them to leave the area or face the consequences. We urge the authorities ensure the safety of all human rights defenders in the region. Columbia – Environmental Defenders at Risk

Good news! Amnesty International welcomes the decision by Colombia’s Constitutional Court to decriminalise abortion. Abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy is decriminalised. After 24 weeks, legal abortion will continue to be permitted only in cases of a risk to the life or health of the pregnant person; the existence of life-threatening foetal malformations; or when the pregnancy is the result of rape, incest or non-consensual artificial insemination.

In a press release on the killing of human rights defenders and journalists in the Americas, Amnesty International notes that 13 Colombian human rights defenders were killed in January this year. ‘The protection of Indigenous, campesino and Afro-descendant communities in Colombia is ineffective because it does not address the structural causes of violence and often occurs without the proper participation of those at risk. Defenders of communities at risk are constantly unprotected, and threats, attacks and killings are constant in the country considered the most dangerous in the world for defending human rights.’ [Read more…]

Turkey

Support women in Turkey on International Women’s Day, 8th of March 2022

In the January newsletter we reported that Amnesty International had published a new briefing document, Turkey, Turn Words Into Actions setting out the increasingly worrying situation regarding violence against women in Turkey and reminding the government there of its obligations. As we move towards this year’s International Women’s Day, on 8 March we are working with colleagues in AI Germany to send a common message to the Turkish government focussing particularly on the role of the judicial authorities and police.

Attached with this newsletter are two documents that you could use to join this campaign.

1. A letter to the Minister of Interior, to be copied to the Turkish Ambassador in London. Please print and sign as soon as possible so it will arrive before 8 March (download here).

2. A pdf file that you can use to print campaigning postcards yourselves or arrange to have multiple copies printed at your local printers. This postcard has been worded so that it can be used beyond International Women’s Day as we will certainly be campaigning on this issue for some considerable time to come (download here).

Ukraine

We are commending Poland and the Polish people for welcoming refugees from Ukraine and are asking our government to help too!

Dear Amnesty Activists and supporters,
We are all in shock watching the invasion of Ukraine by Putin’s army. Bombs raining on blocks of flats, a Kindergarten, over 100000 people trying to flee to neighbouring countries Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania. Poland is preparing reception centres to welcome refugees from Ukraine.
We are commending Poland and the Polish people for welcoming refugees from Ukraine and are asking our government to help too: Many Ukrainians in the UK are desperately worried for friends and family in the Ukraine. [Read more…]