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Click to expand Image Federal Security Service officials bring Dalderjon Mirzoev, a suspect in the Crocus City Hall's massacre, to the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on March 24, 2024. © 2024 Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images

(Берлин) — Российские должностные лица применили пытки, зафиксировали их на видео и опубликовали записи пыток в отношении по меньшей мере двух мужчин, задержанных в качестве подозреваемых в совершении 22 марта 2024 года чудовищного теракта в концертном зале, заявила Human Rights Watch.

Фотографии и видеозаписи арестов и пыток подозреваемых, предположительно сделанные сотрудниками правоохранительных органов, начали появляться 23 марта в Telegram-каналах, освещающих работу российских военных и спецслужб. 24 марта на закрытом слушании суд в Москве назначил содержание под стражей четырем подозреваемым, которые были доставлены в суд с многочисленными и видимыми травмами.

«Ничто, даже такая чудовищная бойня, не оправдывает пытки и тем более не делает их законными», — говорит замдиректора Human Rights Watch по Европе и Центральной Азии Таня Локшина. «Похоже, быстрое и массовое распространение этих видео не случайность, а своего рода ужасающее бахвальство путинского режима своим вопиющим игнорированием основных прав человека, фундаментальных принципов гуманизма и верховенства закона».

22 марта в концертном зале «Крокус Сити Холл» в Красногорске, граничащим с Москвой подмосковном городе, вооруженные люди открыли огонь по зрителям и подожгли здание, после чего скрылись с места теракта. В результате погибли по меньшей мере 143 человека. 23 марта власти заявили, что арестовали четырех подозреваемых в нападении и семерых сообщников.

Следственный комитет России заявил, что подозреваемые в теракте были задержаны сотрудниками спецслужб и правоохранительных органов. Александр Богомаз, губернатор Брянской области, где были задержаны подозреваемые, публично утверждал, что задержание осуществлялось специальными силами Росгвардии, сотрудниками уголовной полиции, ГИБДД и полицейским спецназом при содействии военных и Федеральной службы безопасности.

На одном из видео мужчины в камуфляжной форме без знаков различия избивают лежащего на земле Саидакрами Рачабализоду, пытаясь получить от него информацию. На этом видео полицейские угрожают прострелить ему ноги, спустить на него собаку и отрезать голову. На другом видео мужчина в камуфляже отрезает у Рачабализоды часть уха и засовывает его ему в рот, приказывая съесть и угрожая отрезать и скормить ему его гениталии. На других видеозаписях видно, как силовики ведут из леса к машине Рачабализоду, из уха у него сильно течет кровь, и допрос начинается с того, как один из дознавателей напоминает забинтованному и окровавленному задержанному, что у него «одно ухо осталось».

На допросе присутствует офицер в камуфляже со знаками различия Федеральной службы безопасности. Во время суда у Рачабализоды было забинтовано ухо, на лице видны следы засохшей крови, синяки и отеки. Из-за отсутствия в видеозаписях контекстной информации Human Rights Watch не удалось определить точное место и дату записи видео.

На кадрах еще один предполагаемый участник вооруженного нападения Шамсидин Фаридуни, который лежит на полу с заведенными за спину руками и спущенными до колен брюками. По всей видимости, к нему подключены провода от полевого телефона той же модели, о которой известно, что она используется российскими правоохранительными органами для пыток током, в том числе и в Украине. Фаридуни предстал перед судом с заплывшим от синяков лицом и гематомой под глазом.

На сделанных во время судебного заседания снимках у Далержона Мирзоева вокруг шеи остатки рваного полиэтиленового пакета, а также раны на лице. Во время чтения постановления суда о заключении под стражу Мирзоев не смог встать и прислонился к стене. Хотя неясно, почему на шее подозреваемого остатки пакета, известно, что российские правоохранительные органы используют пластиковые пакеты для пытки удушением.

Проанализировав опубликованные материалы из зала суда, Human Rights Watch установила, что люди на фотографиях и видеозаписях арестов и задержаний — те же самые, в отношении которых суд избрал заключение под стражу на время предварительного расследования.

Рачабализода, Фаридуни, Мирзоев и Файзов — граждане Таджикистана, где власти задержали их родственников, в том числе престарелых родителей. По сообщениям СМИ, таджикистанские мигранты в России все чаще сталкиваются с проявлениями ксенофобии и насилия, от отказа российских граждан ездить с таксистами из Таджикистана до как минимум одного случая группового избиения. Правозащитники говорят, что к ним поступает множество сообщений и просьб о помощи от мигрантов из Центральной Азии, особенно в связи с необоснованными арестами и длительными сроками содержания под стражей.

Несмотря на убедительные свидетельства того, что сотрудники силовых ведомств и службы безопасности применяли пытки и предали их огласке, от представителей государственной власти не прозвучало ни одного требования привлечь их к ответственности. Одновременно с этим, военных, задержавших подозреваемых, наградили медалями. Human Rights Watch не располагают информацией, подтверждающей, что были награждены именно те военнослужащие, которые применили пытки. Высшие должностные лица России призывали к насилию над подозреваемыми.

Спикер нижней палаты парламента Вячеслав Володин заявил, что виновные в теракте «должны быть уничтожены». Заместитель председателя Совета безопасности России Дмитрий Медведев сказал, что арестованных подозреваемых нужно убить вместе со всеми причастными и сочувствующими. Пресс-секретарь президента Путина Дмитрий Песков отказался отвечать на вопрос по поводу обвинений в пытках.

В адрес сотрудников российских правоохранительных органов и силовых структур уже давно звучат обвинения в применении пыток и жестокого обращения к арестованным подозреваемым, в том числе к обвиняемым в терроризме. В 2017 году подозреваемые в организации взрыва в метро Санкт-Петербурга сделали заслуживающие доверия заявления о том, что сотрудники российских спецслужб похитили их и подвергли пыткам, а затем инсценировали их арест.

Пытки имеют абсолютным запрет в международном обычном праве. Запрет пыток также зафиксирован в имеющих обязательную силу международных договорных обязательствах России, в том числе в Международном пакте о гражданских и политических правах и Конвенции против пыток и других жестоких, бесчеловечных или унижающих достоинство видов обращения и наказания. Из запрета на применение пыток не существует исключений.

«Пытки не только незаконны и аморальны — они подрывают верховенство права и возможность справедливого правосудия для жертв, — говорит Таня Локшина. — Представители российской власти на самом высоком уровне должны заявить о политике нулевой терпимости к пыткам. Все акты пыток должны быть быстро и тщательно расследованы, а виновные — привлечены к ответственности.  

 

Click to expand Image Federal Security Service officials bring Dalderjon Mirzoev, a suspect in the Crocus City Hall's massacre, to the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on March 24, 2024. © 2024 Sefa Karacan/Anadolu via Getty Images

(Berlin, March 29, 2024) – Russian authorities tortured, recorded, and shared recordings of the torture, of at least two men held as suspects for the monstrous March 22, 2024 attack on a concert hall, Human Rights Watch said today.

Photographs and videos of the arrests and torture of suspects, presumably taken by law enforcement officials, started surfacing on March 23 on Telegram channels that cover Russian military and security services. On March 24, a judge in Moscow in closed hearings imposed pretrial detention on the four suspects, who were taken to the court with visible, extensive injuries.

“Nothing, not even a massacre this heinous justifies torture, far less makes it legal,” said Tanya Lokshina, associate Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The rapid and widespread sharing of these videos appears to be no accident but rather some kind of appalling boast by the Putin government of its brazen disregard for basic rights, fundamental humanity, and the rule of law.”

On March 22, gunmen opened fire at concertgoers at the Crocus City Hall concert hall in Krasnogorsk, a city on the outskirts of Moscow, and set the building on fire before fleeing the scene. The attack claimed the lives of at least 143 people. On March 23, officials said they had arrested four alleged attackers and seven accomplices.

Russia’s Investigative Committee said that special services and law enforcement arrested the suspects. Aleksandr Bogomaz, governor of Bryansk region, where the suspects were apprehended, stated publicly that Russia’s National Guard special forces, police who work on criminal cases, traffic police, and police special forces were in charge of apprehending the suspects, assisted by the military and the Federal Security Service.

In one video, men in camouflage uniforms without insignias are seen beating Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, who is pinned to the ground, trying to extract information from him. The video shows the officers threatening to shoot him in the legs, unleash a dog on him, and cut off his head. Another video shows a man in camouflage cutting off a part of Rachabalizoda’s ear and forcing it into his mouth, ordering him to eat it, while also threatening to cut off and feed him his genitalia. Other videos show security forces leading Rachabalizoda, his ear bleeding profusely, from the forest to a car, and an interrogation that starts with one of the interrogators reminding the detainee, bandaged, and soaked in blood, that he has “only one ear left.”

An officer wearing camouflage with the Federal Security Service insignia is present during the interrogation. In court, Rachabalizoda wore a bandage on his ear, and had dried blood, bruises, and swelling on his face. Due to the lack of contextual information in the videos, Human Rights Watch was unable to determine the exact location and date the videos were recorded.

A photograph shows Shamsidin Fariduni, another suspected gunman, lying on the floor with his hands behind his back and his pants pulled down to around his knees. He is apparently connected by a wire to a field telephone, of the same model that that Russian law enforcement are known to use to administer electric shocks during torture, including in Ukraine. Fariduni appeared in court with half of his face swollen and a black eye.

Photographs from the court hearing show Dalerjon Mirzoev with a torn plastic bag still taped around his neck and injuries to his face. While the judge was reading the decision to send him to pretrial detention, Mirzoev could not stand up and leaned on the wall. Although it is not clear why the bag is on his neck, Russian law enforcement are known to use plastic bags for torture by asphyxiation.

Unable to walk on his own, Mukhammadsobir Faizov was wheeled in for his pretrial custody hearing in a wheelchair, visibly in a barely semiconscious state. Photographs from the courtroom show him in a hospital gown and with a urine drainage bag. During his arrest, law enforcement officers reportedly dislodged his eye, necessitating surgery. During the hearing, the judge ordered Faizov’s doctors out of the courtroom.

Based on an analysis of the published material from the courtroom, Human Rights Watch determined that the individuals seen in the photographs and videos of arrests and detentions are the same people the court has placed in pretrial detention.

Rachabalizoda, Fariduni, Mirzoev, and Faizov are all citizens of Tajikistan, where the authorities detained their relatives after the attack, including their elderly parents. According to media reports, Tajik migrants in Russia are facing an increase in xenophobic acts and violence, ranging from Russian citizens’ refusal to ride with Tajik taxi drivers to at least one instance of a group beating. Human rights defenders say they are facing a flood of reports and requests for assistance from migrants from Central Asia, particularly in reference to arbitrary arrests and prolonged detention.

Despite strong indications that law enforcement and security services have been committing and publicizing torture, public officials have made no calls to hold them accountable. Meanwhile, officers in the units that arrested the men received medals of distinction, although Human Rights Watch does not have information to confirm whether these were the same officers involved the torture. Top Russian officials have publicly called for violence against the suspects.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, said that those responsible for the attack “must be annihilated.” Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, said the arrested suspects should be killed, along with all their accomplices and sympathizers. Dmitry Peskov, President Putin’s spokesperson, refused to address the torture allegations.

Russian law enforcement and security forces have long been accused of torturing and otherwise ill-treating suspects in custody, including those held on terrorism charges. In 2017, people suspected of staging a bombing in the St. Petersburg metro made credible allegations that Russian security agents forcibly disappeared and tortured them, then staged their arrests.

Torture is absolutely prohibited under customary international law, a prohibition which is also reflected in Russia’s binding treaty obligations such as in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. There are no exceptions to the prohibition of torture.

“Torture is not only illegal and immoral, it also jeopardizes the rule of law and justice for victims,” Lokshina said. “Russian authorities at the highest level should declare a zero tolerance policy for torture; all incidents should be promptly and thoroughly investigated, and those responsible brought to account.”

 

Click to expand Image Reuters' journalist Issam Abdallah films an interview amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhya, Ukraine, April 17, 2022. © 2022 Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

(New York) – The United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) should release the findings of its investigation into two Israeli strikes on a group of journalists in south Lebanon on October 13, 2023, 16 NGOs and journalist groups said today in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, force commander Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Joanna Wronecka and  Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations. The strikes killed a Reuters journalist, Issam Abdallah, and injured six other media workers.

“The Israeli forces’ apparently deliberate attack on journalists should not go unpunished,” said Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The UN peacekeepers’ investigation is an important step toward justice, and they should release their findings.”

ATTN: António Guterres Secretary-General of the United Nations
CC: Joanna Wronecka UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General   Lieutenant General Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon   Jean-Pierre Lacroix  United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations

The undersigned, Victims/survivors, The National Human Rights Commission - Lebanon, International Human Rights Non-Governmental Organizations, Local Media Syndicates

Dear Secretary-General António Guterres,

We, the undersigned victims, survivors, and local and international human rights and civil society organizations, welcome the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) investigation into the October 13, 2023, Israeli attack on a group of journalists doing their job in south Lebanon, which killed Reuters videographer, Issam Abdallah, and wounded six other journalists from Reuters, Agence-France Presse (AFP), and Al Jazeera.

Reuters staff, who saw a copy of the seven-page report dated February 27, 2024, summarizing the investigation, reported that UNIFIL found that an Israeli tank killed Abdallah by firing two 120 mm rounds at a group of “clearly identifiable journalists” in violation of international law. The investigators said that UNIFIL personnel did not record any exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon for more than 40 minutes before the Israeli Merkava tank opened fire.

The Reuters report suggests that the UNIFIL investigation corroborated the findings of investigations conducted by Reporters Without Borders, Reuters, AFP, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. It will be an essential tool in seeking truth, accountability and redress for the victims and survivors.

We therefore request that UNIFIL make its full investigation public in accordance with the UN’s commitment to transparency. Since the UN does make findings related to internal investigations public, there is no shortage of precedents. If UNIFIL is currently unable to make the full report public, we ask you to make a public statement explaining why and providing a timeline for when publication will occur. In such instances, a redacted or summarized version of the report should be released in the interim.

The publication of the investigation findings is necessary to support other justice and accountability efforts that the victims' families want to pursue.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Signatories   Victims Carmen Joukhadar (Reporter, Al-Jazeera - Injured) Christina Assi (Videographer, Agence France Press - Critically Injured) Dylan Collins (Videographer, Agence France Press – Injured) Elie Brakhia (Videographer, Al-Jazeera - Critically Injured) Local and Regional Syndicates and Journalists' groups Alternative Press Syndicate - Lebanon Syndicate of workers in Audiovisual in Lebanon Local, Regional, and International Organizations Amnesty International Arab NGO Network for Development Committee to Protect Journalists Euromed Rights Helem Human Rights Watch Lebanese Center for Human Rights Maharat Foundation Media Association for Peace (MAP) MENA Rights Group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy The Legal Agenda Samir Kassir Foundation

Click to expand Image Somali members of Parliament vote on a resolution on the procedural rules for constitutional amendments, Mogadishu, Somalia, January 24, 2024.   © 2024 REUTERS/Feisal Omar

(Nairobi) – Somalia’s parliament should reject any proposed constitutional amendments that would weaken rights protections for children, Human Rights Watch said today.

On March 30, 2024, both houses of parliament are expected to vote on the proposed amendments, which would reduce the age of majority – increasing the risk of child marriage and lowered juvenile justice standards – and possibly permit certain forms of female genital mutilation.

“Somalia’s parliament should resist efforts to weaken constitutional protections for children, especially girls,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Somalia’s donors should press the government to carry through on its claims that it is taking significant steps to meet its international human rights commitments.”

Somalia’s 2012 provisional constitution has been under review for nearly a decade, but efforts to finalize the review have picked up since late 2023. In February, the Independent Constitutional Review and Implementation Commission sent parliament suggested amendments to the provisional constitution’s first four chapters, which includes articles on the age of majority and on the criminalization of female genital mutilation.

Under Somalia’s provisional constitution, a child is defined as a person under the age of 18. The proposed amendment states that the term child “refers to a person under the age of 15 years of maturity while the age of responsibility is 18 years, as defined in the law of the Federal Republic of Somalia.” Adopting this standard would be contrary to Somalia’s obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a child as anyone under 18.

The proposed amendment to set the age of “maturity” at 15 would place girls in particular at greater risk of child marriage, which affects their health, notably reproductive health, their access to education, and their protection from other forms of abuse, Human Rights Watch said. Girls Not Brides, an international group that works to prevent child marriage, has reported that 17 percent of girls in Somalia were married before by 15, and 36 percent by 18.

The proposed amendments also include physical development as the determining factor in a person’s majority. This is contrary to international standards, which call upon governments to make determinations of adult competence based on “emotional, mental and intellectual maturity,” and not physical maturity.

The proposed amendments distinguish the 15-year age of maturity from an 18-year age of responsibility, suggesting that everyone under 18 would remain protected by juvenile justice standards. However, in practice, this new age of majority risks reinforcing existing ambiguities in Somali law around the age of majority that could heighten children’s vulnerabilities, Human Rights Watch said. Children in Somalia have long been subject to arrest, detention, and custodial sentences as adults, including in capital cases.

During President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s first term in office, Human Rights Watch found that authorities across Somalia had treated boys suspected of affiliation with the armed Islamist group Al-Shabab as adults in violation of international law. Intelligence agencies threatened, beat, and in some cases tortured boys in custody. Military courts have also tried children as adults.

The proposed constitutional amendments also raise concerns regarding other harmful practices, such as female genital mutilation (FGM). The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reported that Somalia has one of the highest rates of FGM in the world with 99 percent of girls and women ages 15 to 49 having undergone genital cutting.

Somalia’s provisional constitution is ambiguous with respect to female genital mutilation. It states that: “Female circumcision is a cruel and degrading customary practice and is tantamount to torture. The circumcision of girls is prohibited.” However, the provision does not define female circumcision, which may or may not be interpreted to mean the same thing as female genital mutilation.

The constitutional review should ensure that a complete ban on all forms of FGM is enshrined in the constitution, which would facilitate the government’s development of a legislative and policy framework to eradicate all forms of FGM, Human Rights Watch said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has classifed four types of FGM. All forms of female genital mutilation are a form of violence and discrimination against women and girls, involving the partial or complete removal of external female genitalia or injuring female genital organs without medical cause. It has no health benefits and leads to immediate and long-term harm for women and girl’s physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health, including death in some cases.

Human Rights Watch research in various countries across the world shows that women and girls experienced fear before being cut, and the cutting had a serious toll on their health, including excessive bleeding, shock, infection, complications during childbirth, complications during menstruation, lack of or reduced sexual pleasure, infertility, and other long-term gynecological issues. Depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychosexual problems are also common.

UN human rights treaty bodies have repeatedly called on Somalia to pass legislation criminalizing all forms of this harmful practice. In 2021, the Somali government committed during its review by the Committee on the Rights of the Child to “eradicating traditional harmful practices.”

“Somalia’s parliament appears poised to adopt amendments to the country’s constitution that could subject generations of children to harmful practices,” Bader said. “Constitutional reform should instead assist the government to better protect the rights of children.”

Click to expand Image Inter Milan's players lift the trophy to celebrate winning the Italian SuperCup football match at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on January 18, 2023. © 2023 Fayes Nureldine/AFP via Getty Images

(Beirut) – A Saudi court sentenced 12 football fans from six months up to a year in prison on March 27, 2024, for peacefully chanting during a January football match, Human Rights Watch said today. Saudi authorities should immediately quash the verdict, which is based solely on the peaceful expression of exuberant football fans.

Saudi police summoned and arrested the fans after a video of them chanting a Shia religious song during a match was posted and spread on social media. The Saudi Criminal Court in Dammam sentenced two fans to one year in prison with a fine of 10,000 Saudi Riyals (about US$2,666) and the others to a year in prison, with six months suspended, and fines of 5,000 Saudi Riyals (about $1,333). Saudi Arabia is the sole bidder to host the 2034 men’s World Cup.

“Jailing football fans for chants at a match is just one more reason that FIFA’s rigging of the 2034 World Cup bidding process to allow Saudi Arabia to be the sole bidder is not just embarrassing, but dangerous,” said Joey Shea, Saudi Arabia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “How can football fans feel safe in Saudi Arabia if they can be so easily sentenced to prison for nothing more than chants the government doesn’t like?”

On January 24, during a football match between Al Safa Club and Al Bukiryah Club in the country’s Eastern Province, where Saudi Arabia’s minority Shia community is concentrated, a group of Al Safa football fans were filmed peacefully singing a Shia religious song celebrating the birth of Imam Ali, who is considered by Shia Muslims to be the first Imam. Saudi Arabia’s Shia Muslim minority have long suffered systemic discrimination, government hate speech, and violence from the government.

Qatif police summoned and released more than 150 fans for questioning in the days after the match, according to a source familiar to with the case. They detained 12 people, initially holding them in Qatif Prison, and later in Dammam General Prison, the source said.

In court documents viewed by Human Rights Watch, including the list of charges, the police investigation ended with a request for indictment of the defendants under article 6 of Saudi Arabia’s notorious 2007 cybercrime law.

The charge requested for two of the defendants was “sending what can undermine public order using the internet and electronic devices.” Another charge, requested for all 12, was “undermining public order through the spirit of sectarian intolerance by passing sectarian content in places of public gathering and inciting social strife.” Article 6 of the cybercrime law provides for penalties of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to 3 million Saudi Riyals (about $800,000).

On February 3, the Saudi Ministry of Sport announced the dissolution of the Board of Directors of the Al Safa Club due to violations of the country’s basic regulations for sports clubs. The basic regulations allow the Sport Ministry to dissolve a club’s board of directors if it “commits … practices or actions that are inconsistent with public order, public morals, or regulations.” The Sport Ministry then put Ahmed Mohamed al-Sada in charge of the club’s affairs.

On February 4, the Discipline and Ethics Committee of the Saudi Football Federation found that Al Safa Club fans had violated the Federation’s discipline and ethics regulations and fined the club 200,000 Saudi Riyals (about $53,325). The ruling also barred the public from attending the next five home games of the Al Safa Club.

The Saudi government has spent billions of dollars to host major sporting events as an apparently deliberate strategy to deflect from the country’s image as a pervasive human rights violator, and its investments in football are astronomical. In October 2021, the Premier League announced the sale of Newcastle United to a business consortium led by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), a government-controlled entity implicated in serious human rights abuses.

On October 31, 2023, Saudi Arabia became the “sole bidder” to host the 2034 men’s World Cup, when Australia, the only country with a potential competing bid, dropped out. FIFA, the international governing body for football, will certify the World Cup award at meeting in 2024, but there little doubt of the outcome with only one candidate. Saudi Arabia has recently hosted the men’s Club World Cup, the Spanish football Super Cup, and the Italian equivalent. 

Human Rights Watch has long documented that some Saudi state clerics and institutions incite hatred and discrimination against the country’s Shia minority. Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has tried to appeal to the country’s Shia minority, including neutering the country’s once-powerful religious establishment, and making changes to the 2018-19 Saudi school curriculum to remove some anti-Shia images and rhetoric. But some of the worst abuses of Shia citizens and their ability to practice their religion remain unchanged.

“Any sports institution, musician, or global entertainer needs to ask themselves a serious question before they perform in Saudi Arabia,” Shea said. “They should ask themselves whether their own fans might be arrested if they chant something the government doesn’t like.”

Click to expand Image A vigil decrying the assassination of Eswatini Human Rights Lawyer Thulani Maseko in Nakuru Town, Kenya, January 30, 2023. © 2023 James Wakibia/SOPA Images via AP Photo

On March 27, immigration officials at the Ngwenya Border post between South Africa and Eswatini stopped Tanele Maseko, widow of murdered human rights lawyer and opposition activist Thulani Maseko, along with her two young children and her helper while they were trying to enter Eswatini.

Immigration officials flagged Tanele’s passport as belonging to a wanted person and confiscated it along with her mobile phone. Officials then called the police, who interrogated Tanele for about four hours before releasing her pending an appearance at the Mbabane police headquarters on March 28.  

But after Tanele arrived at the headquarters Thursday, police delayed her further interrogation until April 2, after her lawyers challenged how many officials could interview her without a lawyer present. The police are now seeking legal advice about interviewing her without her lawyers. Throughout all this, however, officials have yet to provide the reason why Tanele has been labeled a wanted person to begin with.

Since Thulani Maseko was brutally killed in his home in front of Tanele and their children on January 21, 2023, the government of Eswatini has been unrelenting in what appears to be a harassment campaign against Tanele to dissuade her from pursuing justice and accountability for her husband’s murder and continuing his legacy of promoting rights and democracy in Eswatini.

Some media have published reports that Eswatini state forces are targeting and monitoring Tanele and her life may be in danger. On December 29, 2023, the government released a statement in which it made untrue and defamatory remarks against her.

Regional human rights networks have condemned Tanele’s detention and targeting and are calling for an independent and transparent investigation into Thulani Maseko’s killing. The government of Eswatini should ensure transparency and accountability for the Maseko family instead of harassing and intimidating Maseko’s widow for seeking answers to her husband’s death.

Authorities should stop retaliating against Tanele for raising awareness about the situation in which her husband was killed. It has been 14 months since Maseko’s murder and authorities need to demonstrate greater commitment towards apprehending his killers and ensuring justice.

The Indonesian military apologized to “all Papuan people” and detained 13 soldiers from an elite battalion in West Java who had tortured a Papuan man in Gome, Central Papua.

Click to expand Image A video still shows Indonesian soldiers seriously mistreating a Papuan man in their custody in Gome, Central Papua, March 2024. ©

A video posted to social media shows three soldiers in army undershirts brutally beating Definus Kogoya, a young Papuan man, who had his hands tied behind him and been placed inside a drum filled with water. The soldiers taunted Kogoya with racist slurs, kicking and hitting him. In another video, a man used a bayonet to cut his back. The water turned red.

The army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Kristomei Sianturi, said the soldiers had “tarnished efforts to handle conflict” in Central Papua, adding that the military police had questioned 42 soldiers of the 300 Infantry Raider Battalion, and identified at least 13 suspects.

General Sianturi alleged that Kogoya was a member of the West Papua National Liberation Army and had been arrested on February 3 with two other Papuan men, Alianus Murib and Warinus Kogoya, after they had allegedly tried to burn down a medical clinic in Gome. He said Warinus Kogoya died when he jumped from a military vehicle after arrest.

Kogoya and Murib were handed over to police custody by the battalion on February 6. The police immediately released the two men as they had found no evidence of arson or other violent acts. Both men needed medical treatment.

On March 21, Benny Wenda, a West Papua leader in exile in the United Kingdom, posted the video, saying, “Torture is such a widespread military practice that it has been described as a ‘mode of governance’ in West Papua.”

Human Rights Watch has documented numerous accounts of torture from West Papua over the past two decades including some that were filmed and later made public. Several soldiers have been prosecuted but received light punishment.

Some Indonesian officials have blamed Papuan militants when confronted with torture allegations.

While there is an ongoing armed conflict in Central Papua – in May 2023, an Indonesian soldier was fatally shot – international law forbids torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of civilians or captured combatants in custody.

To end such abuses, Indonesian authorities should prosecute the alleged perpetrators in civilian courts. The Indonesian military justice system lacks independence, impartiality, and transparency.