China: #MeToo and labour activists facing ‘baseless’ trial must be released

21 September 2023

Two Chinese activists whose trial begins on Friday are facing lengthy jail terms simply because Beijing authorities fear their peaceful activism, Amnesty International said today as it joined dozens of civil society groups in calling for their release.

#MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin and labour activist Wang Jianbing are accused of “inciting subversion of state power” and face prison sentences of up to five years, or longer if they are considered “ringleaders”. Ahead of their trial in the south-eastern Chinese city of Guangzhou, 32 NGOs issued a joint statement demanding the charges against them are dropped.

“Sophia Huang Xueqin and Wang Jianbing represent the courageous wave of younger Chinese activists who have connected with the public concerned about social issues. They have been targeted for their peaceful activism on women’s and labour rights by a government that fears organized dissent,” said Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for China.

“These baseless charges are motivated purely by the Chinese authorities’ relentless determination to crush critical voices. But activists in China refuse to be silenced despite the serious risks of raising their voices to address so-called ’sensitive’ issues.” 

Sophia Huang Xueqin is a journalist who has been involved in several #MeToo campaigns to provide support and assistance to survivors of sexual assault and harassment. Wang Jianbing has provided legal support for people with disabilities and workers with occupational diseases. He is also a prominent supporter of the #MeToo movement in China.

“Across the globe, the #MeToo movement has helped empower survivors of sexual violence. Yet in China, #MeToo activism is met with arrest, prosecution and ill-treatment. This case perfectly illustrates the dire state of freedom of expression in the country and how it prevents the full realization of women’s rights.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/3t7Gc59

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Iran: Compulsory veiling bill a despicable assault on rights of women and girls

21 September 2023

Reacting to the news that Iran’s parliament has passed a new bill that would impose further draconian penalties severely violating women’s and girls’ rights as well as increasing  prison terms and fines for defying Iran’s degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa said:

“This bill is a despicable assault on the human rights of women and girls that will further entrench violence and discrimination against them in Iran. If approved by Iran’s Guardian Council, it will further exacerbate the already suffocating surveillance and policing of women’s bodies and require the Islamic Republic’s various political, security and administrative arms to obsessively observe compliance with compulsory veiling laws and control women’s and girls’ lives.

“The Iranian authorities are doubling down on punishments against women and girls who claim their human rights to freedom of expression, religion, belief and bodily autonomy. This all-out assault is part of the authorities’ ongoing efforts to crush the spirit of resistance among those who dared to stand up against decades of oppression and inequality as part of the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ popular uprising.

“States must urgently call on the Iranian authorities to revoke the bill and abolish all degrading and discriminatory compulsory veiling laws and regulations. They must also pursue legal pathways at the international level to hold Iranian officials accountable for ordering, planning and committing such widespread and systematic violations against women and girls.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/3sY8dMg

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Americas: Growing exodus of Venezuelans highlights failure of Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile to comply with obligations

21 September 2023

In its new report published today, Regularize and Protect: International obligations for the protection of Venezuelan nationals, Amnesty International reveals that Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile are failing to comply with their obligations under international law to protect those fleeing Venezuela in order to safeguard their lives, integrity and human rights.

“In the face of an unprecedented crisis in the region, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador and Chile have either not been able to or not wanted to protect those fleeing Venezuela. The various measures and programs they are implementing to offer them regular migrant status do not comply with the standards outlined by international law. These states have the opportunity and obligation to protect the more than 5 million Venezuelans in their territories as a matter of urgency,” said Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

“The lack of access to a regular migratory status is especially concerning for women who have survived gender-based violence, who remain completely unprotected in their host countries. Far from states having adopted our recommendations to reduce this vulnerability, our new report reveals that the existing programs, such as those implemented in Peru and Chile, not only re-victimize, but on very few occasions have they been of benefit to Venezuelan women,” said Ana Piquer. 

Amnesty International alerts states receiving Venezuelan people that they must guarantee, as a matter of urgency, access to international protection and forms of supplementary protection. Supplementary protection and regularization measures cannot become substitutes for refugee status. Regardless, when states choose to use temporary and supplementary protection programs, they must guarantee that the programs comply with the criteria of legality, accessibility and protection of rights, including non-refoulement. Amnesty International also notes the continuation of the critical situation has led to more than 7.71 million people leaving Venezuela in search of protection, a number that represents more than 25% of Venezuela’s total population. The situation is by no means on the path to reversal; the number of people abroad reflects an increase of 1,400,000 people who left the country between May 2022 and August 2023.

Read more: https://bit.ly/48we7on

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France: Attack on journalist attempt to cover up “pattern of complicity in serious human rights abuses”

20 September 2023

Responding to the detention of investigative journalist Ariane Lavrilleux who reported on leaked documents alleging that French intelligence was used to target civilians in Egypt, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard, said:

“It is deeply chilling that, almost two years after the revelations that France was allegedly complicit in the extrajudicial executions of hundreds of people in Egypt, it is the journalist who exposed these atrocities that is being targeted, rather than those responsible.

“This is not just a case of muzzling an individual journalist and threatening the confidentiality of her sources, but these actions are part of a wider attack on public interest journalists who attempt to expose the opaque actions of the French intelligence services.

“The bodies on Egypt’s border with Libya have exposed skeletons in France’s closet and point toward a grisly and secretive pattern of French complicity in serious human rights abuses conducted by abusive regimes across the region.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/3t7r6g5

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Algeria: Government must halt crackdown on rights and immediately release detained journalists

20 September 2023

The Algerian government must end its relentless assault on freedom of expression and peaceful activism, Amnesty International said today, launching a new campaign to shed light on the impact of the authorities’ repressive crackdown on brave dissenting voices.

Dozens of activists, journalists and human rights defenders are currently behind bars and the number is increasing as the government carries out more arrests and brings further charges against people who are simply exercising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.

Algeria’s dire human rights record is subject to some rare international scrutiny amid an ongoing visit by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association to the country.

“In Algeria today, no one speaking out bravely and critically is safe from the authorities’ repressive clutches, anyone deemed to be a threat from students to the elderly – have found themselves facing harassment, intimidation or arbitrary arrest simply for exercising their human rights,” said Heba Morayef, Amnesty International’s Director for the Middle East and North Africa.

“The government’s crackdown must end immediately and all those who were arrested solely for peacefully expressing their opinion or criticizing the government, including journalists and media workers who have been convicted of vague and overbroad offences such as ‘spreading fake news’ or ‘offending public officials’, must be released immediately and unconditionally.”

Algeria’s authorities must also engage constructively with the Special Rapporteur during his visit to the country, ensuring that he has full and unfettered access and is able to have confidential and unsupervised contact with anyone he wishes to meet. The authorities must also ensure that no individual who engages with the Special Rapporteur will face reprisals. 

Read more: https://bit.ly/3rvto7Z

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