IHRP external news feeds

Click to expand Image Pregnant women wait in the corridor of the maternity hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Khost, Afghanistan, December 8, 2023. © 2023 Kobra Akbaro/AFP via Getty Images

This week the Taliban in Afghanistan closed one of the last remaining loopholes in their ban on education for older girls and women by forbidding them from attending institutions offering medical education.

The Taliban have also banned women in some provinces from being treated by male medical professionals, which means that this new decree, halting the training of new female healthcare workers, will result in unnecessary pain, misery, sickness, and death for the women forced to go without health care, as there won’t be female healthcare workers to treat them.

The Taliban’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, issued this order, which was announced at a meeting of the Taliban Ministry of Public Health on Monday. The ministry summoned directors of private medical training institutions to be instructed about the new order.

In September 2021, the Taliban stopped girls from attending secondary school beyond sixth grade. In December 2022, they banned girls and women from attending higher education.

Since regaining control of the country on August 15, 2021, the Taliban have imposed rules that systematically violate the rights of women and girls in most aspects of their lives, including not only the right to education but also to freedom of movement and speech, to work, to live free from violence, to participate in public life, and to access health care. Women and girls can’t even go to a gym or walk in a park.

Women’s rights defenders who protested against these rights violations, along with their family members, have faced grave retaliation from the Taliban, including physical assault, arbitrary detention, sexual violence, torture, and enforced disappearance.

Afghan women’s rights defenders and human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have called for the Taliban to be held accountable for their crimes against women and girls as part of more comprehensive efforts to address impunity for grave crimes in Afghanistan.

There are prospects for accountability. The announcement by International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan, also on Monday, stating that his team “will be announcing applications for arrest warrants in the Afghanistan situation very soon,” prompts hope that perhaps soon – finally – there will be first steps toward holding the Taliban to account.

Click to expand Image Clockwise from top left, Simone Ngalula, Monique Bitu Bingi, Lea Tavares Mujinga, Noelle Verbeeken and Marie-Jose Loshiborn, who were born in Congo when the country was under Belgian rule and were taken away from their mothers, successfully sued the Belgian state for crimes against humanity. © 2021 Francisco Seco/AP Photo

On December 2, the Brussels Court of Appeal found the Belgian government guilty of crimes against humanity in Congo during Belgian colonial rule and ordered it to pay compensation as a form of reparation.

This landmark win for the reparations movement was achieved thanks to the tireless struggle for justice by five women of mixed African and Belgian descent, Marie-Josée Loshi, Noëlle Verbeken, Léa Tavares Mujinga, Simone Ngalula, and Monique Bintu Bingi, together with associations located in Belgium and Africa’s Great Lakes region.

The women, now in their 70s, were born between 1948 and 1952 in Congo, which was colonized by Belgium from 1908 to 1960. They collectively sued the Belgian government for forcibly abducting them as children. The court found that under Belgium’s colonial rule in the Great Lakes region, the systematic racial segregation of so-called Métis (“mixed-race”) children was inhumane and an act of persecution. 

The practice deprived Métis children any contact to their families, their roots, and their identity. Following the end of colonization, they were abandoned by the Belgian state. 

In 2019, then-Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel issued an official apology and Belgium’s federal parliament adopted the “Métis Resolution,” recognizing that Métis children had been victims of “targeted segregation” and “forced removals.” However, it fell short on calling for full reparations and accountability. In 2020, the five women decided to demand compensation in court. 

The Belgian government denied its responsibility for crimes committed during colonization before the court. Similar to other European governments’ arguments against reparations, the Belgian government claimed that the colonial policy, which targeted mixed-descent children for being a threat to the white racial supremacy of the colonial order, had not been a crime at the time.

In November, Human Rights Watch, African Futures Lab, and Amnesty International organized a workshop on reparations to mark 140 years since the Berlin Africa Conference, which divided up the African continent among European colonizers. The workshop featured powerful testimony from a woman affected by Belgium’s colonial Métis policy, who supported the five women in their pursuit for justice and advocated wider remembrance in Belgium of these forgotten colonial crimes.

The case exemplifies the urgency and importance of colonial reckoning. European countries, including Belgium, should recognize the atrocities committed during colonization and their ongoing impacts on the lives of survivors and descendants today. That recognition includes the acknowledgment of a right to full reparations.

Click to expand Image A worker applies fungicide after harvesting soybeans in Campo Mourão, in the Central-West Region of Paraná, Brazil, October 14, 2021. © 2021 Francisco Seco/AP Photo

The Brazilian government failed to follow through on its commitment to enact a National Pesticide Reduction Program on International Pesticide Free Day today. Brazil is among the top consumers of pesticides in the world, many of which are highly hazardous.

Though the original plan was drafted in 2014, the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply (Ministério da Agricultura e Pecuária, MAPA) has repeatedly blocked it from moving forward. The failure of the ministries involved to reach an agreement today is a striking blow to the Brazilian scientists, activists, and family farmers who have advocated for the plan for over a decade.

Any current revisions to the plan have not been made public. The interministerial body responsible for the plan should urgently move it forward without further delay or weakening of the 2014 draft.

The original pesticide reduction plan has six key areas and includes initiatives to improve monitoring and research on pesticide exposure and health impacts, strengthen regulations on spraying of pesticides, create pesticide-free zones, eliminate tax advantages for pesticides, and incentivize agroecological alternatives, including by increasing access to financial credits for organic farmers.

Under the original plan, the registration process will need to apply the precautionary principle to pesticide evaluations, meaning that Brazil would limit or prohibit the use of a pesticide when there is reason to believe it could be harmful. This measure is even more important since Brazil passed the “poison package” law in May, which reduced the role of the health and environment ministries in approving pesticides for use, instead granting MAPA primary authority.

The original plan also seeks to strengthen the registration process for pesticides and stop using pesticides that are banned elsewhere due to health or environmental risks. Among these are pesticides banned in the European Union but exported to and sold in Brazil. In September, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called out this double standard and what he described as pressure by “pesticide entrepreneurs” on the legislature.

Recent investigations have revealed that some pesticide manufacturers are frequently meeting with the Brazilian government. Investigative journalism group O Joio e O Trigo recently published research showing that agribusiness and agrichemical lobbyists held 752 meetings between October 2022 and August 2024 with federal government officials. Of these, more than half were held by one of three European pesticide manufacturers: BASF, Bayer, or Syngenta. Recent research led by Repórter Brasil, in collaboration with Human Rights Watch, showed that agribusiness lobbyists are frequently visiting MAPA through a private door.

Policymakers seeking to implement the pesticide reduction plan face strong opposition from agribusiness and agrochemical industries, but they should stay true to the plan’s important commitments. It’s been ten years since the plan was first drafted. It shouldn’t take another ten to put it into action.

Click to expand Image © 2024 Brian Stauffer for Human Rights Watch Canada’s immigration detention system discriminates against people with disabilities, including through widespread violations of their right to make crucial decisions about their own lives.Instead of supporting immigration detainees with disabilities make their own decisions, the country’s use of “designated representatives,” undermines their rights and dignity, often with dire consequences.If accommodations and supported decision-making cannot protect detainees’ legal capacity rights, they should be released from detention and provided the necessary support in the community.

 

(Toronto) – Canada’s immigration detention system routinely discriminates against people with disabilities, including through widespread violations of their legal capacity rights that strip them of their ability to make crucial decisions about their own lives, Human Rights Watch said today in a report marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The 40-page report, “‘It Felt Like Everything in Life Stopped’: Legal Capacity Rights Violations Against People with Disabilities in Canada’s Immigration Detention System,” documents how the country’s use of designated representatives undermines the rights of immigration detainees with disabilities to make their own decisions, often with life-altering or even life-endangering consequences. Designated representatives are appointed by the Immigration and Refugee Board when it deems that a detained person is “unable to appreciate the nature of the proceedings.”

December 3, 2024 “It Felt Like Everything in Life Stopped”

Legal Capacity Rights Violations Against People with Disabilities in Canada’s Immigration Detention System

Download the full report in English

Appendix: Human Rights Watch Letter to the Canadian Government

“Canada’s immigration detention system not only strips people with disabilities of their freedom, but also of their right to make their own decisions,” said Samer Muscati, acting deputy disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “This system perpetuates discrimination against people with disabilities, robs them of their autonomy, and can have devastating consequences on their lives.”

Each year, Canada detains thousands of people on immigration-related grounds, including people with disabilities who face discrimination throughout the process. Human Rights Watch interviewed lawyers, designated representatives, disability rights experts, and people formerly in immigration detention. The report found that the role of designated representatives – while invaluable when operating in a supportive function by helping detainees navigate tribunal hearings and legal processes – is deeply flawed in practice.

Human Rights Watch found that designated representatives are legally empowered to make decisions for detainees without proper communication, consent, or understanding of their unique accommodation requirements. This substitute decision-making practice undermines the rights and dignity of detainees with mental health conditions and other disabilities.

Prosper Niyonzima spent nearly five years in immigration detention, including two years in solitary confinement, after a mental health crisis left him unable to communicate. Despite his condition, his detention review hearings continued with a designated representative making decisions on his behalf. “Detention destroyed everything,” he said. “I never thought this would happen in Canada.” After languishing in jail for years, he was released from detention and was provided with access to meaningful support and care in the community, and he regained his ability to speak. Today, he continues to live in Canada with his wife and children.

As noted by an independent auditor, the designated representative’s presence in Prosper’s case seemed to provide the tribunal with the assurance that due process was being followed, even though he was in a catatonic state, unable to participate or communicate. His case highlights the dangers of Canada’s current system, which often disempowers the very individuals it claims to support, leaving people stuck in detention for months or even years without meaningful representation or support.

Human Rights Watch found several key areas in which the designated representative system fails people in immigration detention with mental health conditions:

Substitute decision-making: Rather than being limited to providing decision-making support with proper accommodations, designated representatives are legally empowered to make decisions for immigration detainees, in violation of legal capacity rights.Improper assessment: The process for appointing designated representatives is informal, often subjective, and is conducted without a proper assessment to determine what support or accommodation the person requires to exercise their legal capacity.Unclear and contested roles: The responsibilities of designated representatives are broad, undefined, and inconsistently applied. Some representatives are deeply involved in cases, while others barely engage with the people they are tasked with supporting.  Lack of choice or oversight: People in immigration detention cannot choose their designated representatives, and there is little oversight or accountability to ensure that representatives act in line with the detainees’ will and preference. In some cases, designated representatives align themselves with detention authorities, further eroding trust in the system and creating conflicts of interests.Inadequate training and resources: Designated representatives often lack the necessary training and resources to work effectively with people with mental health conditions or other disabilities, leading to inadequate representation and harmful decisions.

The report builds on the findings of a 2021 report, “‘I Didn’t Feel Like a Human in There’: Immigration Detention in Canada and Its Impact on Mental Health,” that documented widespread abuses in the immigration detention system, including how people with disabilities experience prolonged detention and solitary confinement, which exacerbate existing mental health conditions.

A joint Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International campaign, #WelcomeToCanada, resulted in all ten of Canada’s provinces committing to severing their immigration detention contracts with the federal government, thereby ending the practice of incarcerating immigration detainees in provincial jails. In response, the federal government passed harmful legislation under its 2024 Budget to expand immigration detention into federal prisons.

The Canadian government should work toward abolishing immigration detention, starting with the immediate end to the use of correctional facilities for immigration-related detention, Human Rights Watch said. Meanwhile, the authorities should also shift from substitute decision-making to a model of supported decision-making among designated representatives, which empowers people in immigration detention to make informed choices about their lives.

Where supported decision-making and meaningful accommodations cannot be provided in a way that respects immigration detainees’ legal capacity rights, they should be released from detention and provided the necessary support and care in the community. Canada should align its immigration detention policies with international human rights standards, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, by recognizing and respecting the legal capacity of everyone in detention.

“Canada can and should do better,” Muscati said. “Canada’s federal government needs to take steps to abolish immigration detention, while also prioritizing support, agency, and informed consent for people in immigration detention with mental health conditions.”

(New York) – Benon Kabale, a Ugandan disability rights advocate, is the 2024 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Courageous Leadership in Disability Rights, Human Rights Watch announced today on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. 

Click to expand Image Benon Kabale, a Ugandan disability rights advocate, is the 2024 recipient of the Human Rights Watch Marca Bristo Fellowship for Courageous Leadership in Disability Rights. © 2024 Benon Kabale

For years, Kabale has been fighting for the rights and dignity of people with psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions). As a person with lived experience, Kabale has been seeking justice after being secluded and restrained in a mental health hospital. In 2018, he founded and currently serves as executive director of the Mental Health Recovery Initiative, which aims to raise awareness of human rights in mental health and promote respect for and protection of the autonomy of people with psychosocial disabilities. 

“Benon Kabale has showed incredible resilience advancing rights in mental health, guided by his experiences of having his rights violated in a mental health setting,” said Elizabeth Kamundia, disability rights director at Human Rights Watch. “His exceptional fight for justice constitutes a beacon of hope for people with disabilities, a group that remains highly stigmatized in Uganda and around the world.” 

In 2015, Kabale, together with the Center for Human Rights and Development (CEHURD) with the support of Validity Foundation and Mental Health Uganda, sued the government for restraining and keeping people with psychosocial disabilities in seclusion rooms in mental health facilities. They urged the court to declare this treatment a violation of fundamental human rights guaranteed by Uganda’s constitution. The case is on appeal, and as of June 2023, the Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT) has taken on the representation.

The case followed Kabale’s seclusion at Butabika Hospital, Uganda’s national mental health hospital, first in 2005 and again in 2010. The first time, workers at the hospital wrestled him to the ground, injected him with something, and undressed him. He woke up naked, in a sealed, dark, cold, and soundless room with no ventilation, bedding, or toilets. He was kept there totally alone for over 24 hours.

In 2018, the high court ruled against Kabale, stating that his seclusion did not violate his rights. Disturbingly, the judge dismissed his testimony, saying that “it is not believable that he could have recalled all that he went through” because Kabale had admitted to experiencing a mental health crisis. The judge thus reinforced an often-held but incorrect belief that people with psychosocial disabilities cannot be reliable or competent witnesses. 

“I view this fellowship as a stepping-stone toward realizing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, ratified by Uganda in 2008, especially in the field of mental health,” Kabale said. “Based on lived experience, I strive to be a voice for persons with psychosocial and intellectual disabilities around the world.”

Kabale was selected from a competitive pool of candidates nominated by Human Rights Watch staff for their disability rights leadership. As part of his fellowship, Kabale will receive training in research, advocacy, communications, and fundraising from Human Rights Watch colleagues. The fellowship further provides opportunities to strengthen his networks with other organizations and advocates, particularly those focusing on human rights in mental health. 

Human Rights Watch established the fellowship to honor the disability rights icon Marca Bristo, founder of Access Living and inaugural chair of the Human Rights Watch disability rights advisory committee. Bristo was a key advocate for the adoption of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act and helped shape Human Rights Watch’s disability rights strategy. She encouraged Human Rights Watch to actively involve people with disabilities in its work and to invest in the development of emerging disability rights activists.

Previous Marca Bristo fellows have continued to promote disability rights with added skills to do their work more effectively. For example, 2023/2024 fellow Mariana Lozano briefed states party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) about the rights of young people with intellectual disabilities, particularly their rights to inclusive education and employment. 

In March, 2022/2023 fellow Benafsha Yaqoobi received the International Women of Courage Award from the US Department of State for her extraordinary achievements advocating for the rights of women with disabilities in Afghanistan. Hauwa Ojeifo, Marca Bristo inaugural fellow in 2020 and founder of She Writes Woman, a movement that gives mental health a voice in Nigeria, received funding from Melinda French Gates to advance the health and wellbeing of women based on her achievements. 

“This fellowship has supported rising leaders with disabilities, and Benon Kabale embodies the passion and purpose needed to advance disability rights and mental health care reform globally,” said Karen Tamley president and CEO at Access Living. “As a human rights activist, Benon’s groundbreaking work in Uganda demonstrates his unwavering commitment to justice. We look forward to seeing the important impact his work will make this year and for years to come.”

On November 27, gendarmes in Cameroon arrested and severely beat prominent human rights lawyer Richard Tamfu in the country’s largest city, Douala. The vicious assault fits a pattern of official attacks on lawyers, presumably designed to deter them from doing their job.

Click to expand Image Leading Human Rights Lawyer Richard Tamfu at the hospital following beatings by gendarmes in Douala, Cameroon, November 2024. © 2024 Private

On the day in question, three gendarmes came to arrest a client of Tamfu’s in the Bonaberi neighborhood. Tamfu told Human Rights Watch he was there to assist her and said he challenged the gendarmes’ authority, as they did not have an arrest warrant. “So, they put me in the back of their pickup truck and started beating me,” he said. “They kicked me, pressed their hands on my neck, jumped on me with their boots.”

A video of the incident taken by a bystander was shared widely on social media. It shows two men wearing gendarme uniforms stomping on Tamfu, who is lying in the back of the truck, while people in a crowd scream for them to stop. Tamfu confirmed the video’s authenticity.

The gendarmes then took Tamfu to a gendarmerie post and released him shortly after. Tamfu, who is currently hospitalized, suffered severe injuries. On November 29, he filed a complaint against the head of the gendarmerie in the Littoral region for “complicity to torture.” The previous day, the head of the national gendarmerie had announced they would investigate the beating.

Arbitrary arrest, harassment, and other forms of police brutality, including verbal and physical assault, against lawyers are common in Cameroon. In December 2023, police assaulted Atoh Walter M. Tchemi, a prominent human rights lawyer, in Kumba, Southwest region, while he was assisting a client. In May 2021, gendarmes in Yaoundé, Cameroon’s capital, arrested another prominent rights lawyer, Amungwa Tanyi Nicodemus, on bogus charges of inciting terrorism because he possessed photographs showing evidence of abuses in the country’s English-speaking regions. In November 2020, security forces used tear gas and live ammunition to disperse lawyers in a courtroom in Douala. The lawyers were protesting the arrest of two colleagues accused of corruption.

Cameroonian authorities should stop targeting lawyers and ensure that the promised investigation into the attack against Tamfu is credible, thorough, and impartial, and that those responsible are held accountable.

Click to expand Image US President Joe Biden is greeted by Angolan Foreign Minister Tete Antonio as he arrives at Quatro de Fevereiro international airport in Luanda, Angola, December 2, 2024. © 2024 Ben Curtis/AP Photo

United States President Joe Biden is embarking on a two-day visit to Angola, his only Africa trip as president. His visit is highly anticipated in Angola, and for President João Lourenço, it could be his biggest diplomatic achievement since taking office in 2017.

Biden had pledged in 2022 to come to the continent to strengthen ties and counter China’s influence. The US government has also expressed interest in greater access to central Africa’s valuable minerals. The US has sought to justify its investment in the Lobito Corridor—a railway project from Angola’s Lobito port to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo—on national security and “green energy” grounds.

Less clear is whether Biden intends to use his visit to address Angola’s poor human rights record and the country’s economic and social inequalities. In particular, he has an opportunity to publicly raise concerns about police brutality and attacks on freedoms of expression, media, and association. 

This past year, Lourenço signed into law two bills that severely restrict fundamental human rights. The law on the Crimes of Vandalism of Public Goods and Services provides prison terms of up to 25 years for people who participate in protests that result in vandalism and service disruptions. The National Security Bill permits excessive government control over media, civil society organizations, and other private institutions.

Angola’s police have been implicated in killings, sexual violence, torture, excessive use of force, and arbitrary detention of peaceful activists and protesters. Former Interior Minister Eugénio Laborinho has acknowledged that police officers “regrettably make mistakes, some of which culminate in the loss of human life.” But he did not say if there were plans to criminally charge those involved in abuse.

If this first-ever visit of a US president to Angola is limited to strengthening business links, it will send the wrong message. Instead, Biden should stand with the Angolan people and seek a public commitment by Angola’s president to investigate rights violations by the security forces and appropriately hold those responsible to account.

Click to expand Image The International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, opens hearings into the legal obligations of countries with respect to combating climate change on December 2, 2024. © 2024 Peter Dejong/AP Photo

Over the next two weeks, over 100 countries and international organizations will participate in hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague as part of historic proceedings on climate change.

The ICJ, also known as the World Court, will consider states’ obligations under international law to address rising greenhouse gas emissions and the legal consequences should they fail to do so. The court may look to various sources of international law, including environmental and human rights treaties, during its deliberations. 

The ICJ’s legal opinion is expected in 2025. 

Tireless campaigning by youth activist groups – led by the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change and World’s Youth for Climate Justice  – and diplomatic efforts by the island nation of Vanuatu resulted in these oral proceedings at the World Court.

In March 2023, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution recognizing climate change as “an unprecedented challenge of civilizational proportions” and requesting an ICJ advisory opinion.

Although ICJ advisory opinions are nonbinding, they can carry great moral and legal authority and can ultimately become part of customary international law, which is legally binding.

Every UN member state is obligated to protect and promote human rights and prevent rights violations in the context of climate change. Additionally, every country that is a party to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has ratified one or more major UN human rights treaties, and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change explicitly states that respect for human rights is key to taking ambitious climate action.

International human rights law obligates governments to protect people from current and foreseeable climate-related harms. Human rights standards place tighter controls on corporate actors that drive greenhouse gas emissions and contribute to harm.

While many governments have pledged to phase out fossil fuels and protect tropical forests, this doesn’t mean they will do so in a timely or effective manner. International human rights law can help to hold to account those governments that don’t comply with or enforce existing environmental regulations and climate policies that contribute to violations of human rights.

One question – among many – that an ICJ Advisory Opinion could help clarify is when delays or even backtracking amounts to a violation of international human rights law.

The court’s opinion will have great significance for millions already impacted by climate change, and many more who face harm in the immediate future. 

Click to expand Image Men in downtown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, November 3, 2021. © 2021 Eduardo Soteras/AFP via Getty Images

(Nairobi) – Ethiopian authorities should immediately reverse the suspension of three independent human rights organizations and allow them to freely operate, Human Rights Watch said today. Ethiopia’s partners should publicly condemn the government’s latest attacks on civil society organizations.

Since November 14, 2024, the Ethiopian Authority for Civil Society Organizations (ACSO), a government body that oversees civil society groups, has issued suspension letters to the Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy (CARD), the Association for Human Rights in Ethiopia (AHRE), and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), forcing the organizations to cease their work. The letters alleged that the organizations were politically biased and engaged in activities that “undermined national interest.”

“Ethiopian authorities are squeezing shut whatever space remains for independent rights groups to operate in the country,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government’s latest assault shows that Ethiopia remains among the most inhospitable places to criticize government actions and promote human rights.”

The three suspended organizations, which have been outspoken about governance, the rule of law, and rights abuses in Ethiopia, received the notices days after joining a public letter that criticized proposed amendments to the government’s media law. The amendments would roll back the institutional independence of the country’s media authority and bring it under the control of the Office of the Prime Minister.

CARD and AHRE responded that the ACSO did not follow required procedures under the 2019 Charities and Societies Proclamation, including by failing to provide prior written notice that the groups were not in compliance with the law. The two groups indicated they were engaging with the authority to reverse the decision. LHR stated that it would challenge the suspension through legal channels. In a November 28 press briefing, the deputy director of the government’s civil society authority stated that the authority would issue shortly a decision regarding the suspended organizations, adding that it was inappropriate to conclude that civil society space had narrowed.

Suspending the organizations reflects a much broader government effort in recent years to silence independent civil society groups, the media, and other critical voices to evade scrutiny, Human Rights Watch said. During unrest or conflict, government authorities have shut down the internet and access to telecommunications and carried out sweeping arrests against journalists and government critics, detaining people for prolonged periods without charge. In June, the Committee to Protect Journalists found that government harassment and persecution had forced at least 54 Ethiopian journalists and media workers into exile since 2020.

The government’s repressive tactics have also extended to international humanitarian organizations. In 2021, the civil society authority suspended the operations of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), and Al Maktoume Foundation during the humanitarian crisis resulting from the Tigray conflict.

In September 2022, the civil society authority’s director general told state media that the agency would make organizations “working against Ethiopia’s sovereignty and public interest” accountable by law. The warning came after 35 civil society groups issued a public statement calling for peace in Ethiopia and an end to ongoing conflicts in the Tigray, Afar, Amhara, and Oromia regions after authorities blocked them from holding a media conference on the topic.

Earlier in 2024, Ethiopian security and intelligence forces followed staff members of prominent human rights organizations, including those now suspended, at their places of work and at home, and demanded that they stop their human rights reporting and work or face consequences. The continued threats and harassment forced some human rights defenders to suspend their work, censor themselves, or flee the country altogether.

The Ethiopian government’s actions mimic those of previous administrations, Human Rights Watch said. In the past decades, the Ethiopian government has enacted draconian laws that punished political speech and protests and shut down civil society groups and the media. The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which took office in 2018, carried out reforms that repealed abusive laws.

In a November 26, 2024 post on Facebook, Abiy extolled his government’s reforms, including respect for media freedom, the increased registration of nongovernmental organizations, and the important role that civil society plays in political and social life. However, the prime minister’s statement ignored the government’s concerted efforts to evade scrutiny, silence its critics, and roll back recent reforms, Human Rights Watch said.

Ethiopian authorities should immediately reverse the suspension of the groups, end the escalating crackdown, and allow civil society organizations to freely carry out their human rights work, Human Rights Watch said.

Few avenues currently exist for international scrutiny of the government’s abusive actions, including serious conflict-related violations. In June 2023, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights quietly terminated the Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Tigray, and in September 2023, Ethiopia’s international partners, including the European Union and its members on the United Nations Human Rights Council, failed to renew the UN expert inquiry on Ethiopia.

With shrinking space domestically for rights groups, Ethiopia’s regional and international partners should take a firm stance against the government’s attempts to curtail fundamental rights.

Ethiopia’s partners have a critical window to step up and tie their relationship with Ethiopia to tangible benchmarks and indicators on human rights and accountability, including urgently demanding the government reverse the decision to suspend the three organizations, Human Rights Watch said.

Given the failure to ensure accountability for past and ongoing violations and the increased crackdown on rights, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights should increase its scrutiny and regularly and publicly report on the deteriorating situation. UN member states should also raise their human rights concerns directly with the Ethiopian authorities and in their interventions at the UN Human Rights Council and remain ready to bring the situation in Ethiopia back onto the council’s agenda.

“Concerned governments should not remain passive observers to Ethiopia’s deepening repression,” Bader said. “Swift condemnation and concrete pressure by regional and international partners are needed to deter and reverse further oppression.”

Click to expand Image A group of women travel during a heatwave for medical consultation to the only midwife who arrives from the mainland to Baba Island along the Karachi Harbor, Pakistan, June 11, 2024. © 2024 Rizwan Tabassum/AFP via Getty Images

The climate crisis is undermining the work of midwives around the world, according to a new survey of 74 midwives from more than 30 countries done by the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM).

The report highlights several hazards: from flooding and wildfires cutting communities off from midwives’ care, including deliveries and contraception, to pregnancy nutrition being degraded by drought. Midwives spoke about sweltering heat adding to their exhaustion as well as contributing to increasing rates of preterm birth and heat rash in newborns.

Human Rights Watch provided support for the survey, based on our work on climate and reproductive rights.

ICM sees how midwives’ work is interlocked with the climate crisis, and the group wants more resources to support midwives; both because essential midwifery services may “have the potential to save lives of women and children at a scale unmatched by other health interventions” even in “normal” circumstances, but also because midwives are well positioned to be a key part of the climate crisis response. At the same time, ICM urges states to meet their commitments under the Paris Agreement and other climate treaties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

ICM argues that midwives play a role in building climate resilience for communities in several ways. Midwives are often trusted community members with strong networks, and they can be useful in providing emergency care as well as information to help clients handle new environmental health problems. Also, midwives are trained to provide responsive care based on patients’ needs, meaning they are perhaps better suited to provide emotional support as crises linked to climate change impact communities.

For example, Human Rights Watch research in the United States found there were significant maternal mental health implications during wildfires, not just because of the stress, but also because pregnant woman have significant vulnerabilities to toxic air pollution.

One midwife from Brazil said: “[A midwife] can promote conversations with pregnant and breastfeeding women about empowerment, in order to make them understand their power as women-mothers, ensuring that they know they are everything their baby needs, allowing them to find their inner power, while bringing the community closer so that mothers are looked after and cared for as they care for their babies.”

More research is needed, but this survey contributes to a global public health community that is looking for answers as the climate crisis everywhere deepens health inequities.

Click to expand Image A chair inside of a sex worker's booth in Antwerp, Belgium, November 3, 2020. © 2020 Virginia Mayo/AP Photo

A new Belgian law addressing sexual and labor exploitation came into force on December 1. The law follows years of human rights advocacy by community experts Utsopi, Violett, and Espace P, and responds to some of the worst forms of violence and discrimination faced by people who sell sexual services.

First, the law provides access to social security for workers who sign employment contracts. Belgium decriminalized sex work in 2022, in line with policy recommendations from several UN bodies. Research consistently shows that criminalization increases sex workers’ risk of murder and police abuse, and impacts on their ability to secure housing, while having no demonstrable impact on eradicating trafficking.

Decriminalization is a data-backed policy solution which mitigates a wide range of abuses, but decriminalization alone doesn’t guarantee people access to social security, which is also a human right. A 2015 International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation called on states to extend “social security, maternity protection [and] decent working conditions” to informal workers. Belgium’s new law allows workers to sign employment contracts with vetted establishments, which,  under Belgium’s social security system, would give them access to health insurance, unemployment support, paid vacation, parental leave, and pensions. Unfortunately, however,  the law does not extend these benefits to self-employed workers.

Second, the law establishes specific rights for contracted employees and strict requirements for employers. Workers can refuse clients, stop services at any time, and impose conditions on how they perform services. Employers must undergo background checks and provide a clean work environment. 

I’ve interviewed sex workers and survivors of sexual exploitation – groups which intersect but are not synonymous – in dozens of countries. Most cases of sexual exploitation I’ve documented involve people who consented to selling sex, but did not consent to abuses they experienced working in unregulated conditions. In practice, sexual exploitation can take the form of wage theft, forced relocation, punishment for taking breaks, unhygienic conditions, and a lack of autonomy over how many clients they see. Belgium’s law tackles these abuses head on, a testament to the fact sex workers were in the room when it was drafted.

For the law to live up to its potential, Belgian authorities should ensure that workers who cannot or do not wish to sign employment contracts – such as undocumented or street-based sex workers – are not subjected to increased policing or harassment. The government should focus on upholding and protecting the rights and labor protections for those sex workers with employment contracts rather than penalizing or punishing those without.

Click to expand Image A plant operated by a subsidiary of SAIC-Volkswagen on the outskirts of Urumqi, the capital of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on April 22, 2021. © 2021 AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein

Volkswagen’s decision last week to cease operations in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region after 12 years is significant, though long overdue.

The German automaker’s exit demonstrates the near impossibility of operating responsibly in a region where the Chinese government is committing crimes against humanity, and subjecting Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims to state-imposed forced labor.

Volkswagen was among the highest-profile global brands to maintain a presence in Xinjiang, with a subsidiary of its Chinese joint venture, SAIC-Volkswagen, operating a production plant in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, and a testing track in the city of Turpan. The company has long denied any risk of forced labor at the facilities and cited “economic reasons” for the decision to sell them.

Sustained global pressure on Volkswagen led the company to commission and release a deeply flawed audit of the Xinjiang facilities in 2023. Although the audit purportedly found no evidence of forced labor at the plant, the German official overseeing the audit acknowledged it was based on a review of documentation rather than interviews with workers, which he said could be “dangerous.” He also suggested the risk of retaliation meant workers would be unlikely to report evidence of forced labor at the plant.

Human Rights Watch and other organizations have repeatedly warned that credible auditing and human rights due diligence is not possible in Xinjiang and urged Volkswagen to leave the region. The company said in February it was in talks with its Chinese joint venture “regarding the future direction of the JVs [joint ventures] business activities in Xinjiang Province.”

However, selling the Xinjiang plant won’t eliminate Volkswagen links to forced labor. Reports by Human Rights Watch and others have found that carmakers, including Volkswagen, are at risk of exposure to Uyghur forced labor through their supply chains, especially for materials, like aluminum, produced in large quantities in Xinjiang.

Volkswagen should take further steps to insulate itself from state-imposed forced labor by ensuring its Chinese joint ventures and suppliers adopt and enforce the same human rights and environmental standards as the company’s German operations.

All companies should map their supply chains and cease doing business with any supplier sourcing material directly or indirectly from Xinjiang. Companies should ensure their products are not tainted with state-imposed forced labor. 

Click to expand Image Sudanese students attend a class at a school teaching Sudanese curriculum, in Giza, Egypt, September 23, 2024. © 2024 Mohamed Abd El Ghany/Reuters

(Beirut) – Tens of thousands of refugee and asylum-seeking children in Egypt are out of school, in many cases due to significant bureaucratic registration barriers and a lack of free, publicly available education, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should immediately remove the barriers keeping refugee and asylum-seeking children out of school, and international partners should urgently support humanitarian funding for education for refugees in Egypt.

The Egyptian government requires proof of residency as a prerequisite to enroll in public schools, an impossible hurdle for many refugee and asylum-seeking families. Amid Egypt’s deteriorating economic crisis, fees, including for school enrollment and transportation, are also a barrier. At school, some children face bullying, abuse, and discriminatory practices from other students and teachers, further deterring enrollment or leading students to drop out. 

“Many refugee and asylum-seeking children in Egypt have found the school doors firmly shut, depriving tens of thousands of their fundamental right to education,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Egyptian authorities should ensure that all children have access to free, public primary and secondary education, regardless of their legal status.” 

As of November 2024, Egypt hosts 834,000 refugees and asylum seekers registered with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). This is more than double the number from a year earlier, and the real number is most likely much higher, with the Egyptian government estimating that 1.2 million people have fled Sudan to Egypt. 

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that there are 246,000 school-age refugee and asylum-seeking children in Egypt, approximately half of whom were out of school as of October. A recent assessment found that nine thousand children arrive every month and approximately half of those recently arrived were out of school. These numbers do not include the estimated 100,000 Palestinian refugees who have crossed into Egypt from Gaza in the past year and who do not register with UNHCR. According to a diplomatic source in Cairo, the vast majority have not been able to secure legal residency or enroll in public schools. 

Human Rights Watch conducted 27 remote interviews with refugee community leaders, teachers, parents, and other family members from Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, Eritrea, and Palestine. Human Rights Watch also conducted two remote interviews with representatives of humanitarian organizations and a diplomatic source in Cairo. Researchers also reviewed Egyptian laws and regulations, official statements, and publicly available information and wrote to the Egyptian Ministry of Education and Technical Education on October 8 and to UNHCR on October 24, but did not receive a response. 

“All children are receiving education except mine. One of my sons drew a picture of his school in Sudan, reflecting on his memories,” said a Sudanese father unable to register his children in school.

Egypt’s 1981 education law guarantees the right to free education for “citizens.” The government should amend the law to encompass all children in the country, including refugees, Human Rights Watch said. School enrollment for non-Egyptians is regulated by Education Ministerial Decree 284 of 2014, which allows them to enroll in private schools but generally curtails their access to public schools, except for nationals of Sudan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan who hold residency permits. The decree does not otherwise grant access to public schools for refugees except for students who receive scholarships from UNHCR. 

A November 2023 ministerial directive amending the 2014 decree permits refugees to “exceptionally” enroll in public schools. According to UNHCR, access to public education “on equal footing to Egyptians” is currently only available to nationals of Sudan, South Sudan, Yemen, and Syria. UNHCR does not provide a legal basis for the restriction to those nationalities.

The Egyptian government fails to fully guarantee free education, since public schools charge fees for both Egyptians and non-Egyptians. Some categories of students are exempt, but not refugee or asylum-seeking students.

Some of those interviewed said that refugees and asylum seekers from non-Arabic speaking countries are discriminated against in enrollment, which affects access to public schools for sizable populations, including some 40,000 registered from Eritrea and 18,700 from Ethiopia.

Under international law, Egypt is bound to guarantee that all children, irrespective of legal status, have a right to education without discrimination. Egypt is party to several international treaties enshrining the right to free and compulsory primary education and progressively free secondary education, including the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

As a party to the Convention Against Discrimination in Education, Egypt is under an obligation to give foreign nationals living within its territory the same access to education as is its own nationals. Egypt has also ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which guarantees children with disabilities the right to “access an inclusive, quality and free primary education and secondary education on an equal basis with others in the communities in which they live.”

The Egyptian government should allow refugee and asylum-seeking children of all nationalities to enroll in public schools and remove bureaucratic barriers such as the residency requirement and school fees, Human Rights Watch said. Egypt’s international partners should increase their funding for education programs and ensure that funds are channeled for their designated purpose. The UN has appealed for additional funding to scale up access to education for refugees in Egypt following the conflict in Sudan, however only 55 percent of the appeal was funded as of November.

“Egyptian authorities should stop putting up walls that keep children who have already had to flee their home countries from getting an education,” Khawaja said. “We’ve seen in other refugee crises how barriers to education do enormous harm to an entire generation of children, and Egypt’s policies now risk doing the same.”

Bureaucratic Barriers and Residency Requirements

Bureaucratic enrollment requirements imposed by the Egyptian authorities are significant barriers that keep refugee and asylum-seeking children out of school, even if they are legally permitted to enroll in public schools. According to UNHCR, even children from the nationalities permitted to attend Egyptian public schools must bring a valid residence permit and a previously recognized school certificate in order to register. 

Children without a school certificate must take a placement test, and those without a residency permit must go through a convoluted, multistep process to seek an exception from the Ministry of Education and Technical Education. According to the UN, Egyptian authorities temporarily waived residency requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic for the 2020 and 2021 academic years, allowing some 45,000 refugee children to enroll.

Refugees and asylum seekers said it was very difficult to obtain legal residency in Egypt, describing a convoluted process that can take well over a year. It entails first obtaining a UNHCR registration card, waiting for an appointment with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, collecting required documents that some do not possess, and paying a fee.

Several families interviewed said that a lack of residency requirements prevented their children from getting an education. Three Sudanese parents said they tried to enroll their children in public schools, but school administrators rejected them due to a lack of residency documents. One Yemeni mother, who arrived in Egypt in 2022, said: “We can’t register in Egyptian schools. They ask for residency. I tried to register but they rejected my children.”

A Sudanese woman who arrived in Egypt with her three daughters in 2020 said that administrators at a Cairo public school informed her they would not accept UNHCR documents and requested her passport and residency permit to enroll her children. She also said that the school's principal attempted to deter their registration, saying: “Your children will not understand us.”

Bureaucratic requirements discourage families from even trying to enroll their children. Fourteen parents interviewed said they did not try to register their children in public schools because they were aware that proof of residency would be required.

Even when refugees and asylum seekers have legal residency, Human Rights Watch found that in some cases they are still not able to enroll. A Yemeni mother who came to Egypt in 2019 said that she tried several times to register her 16-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son. However, even though she had legal residency, public school administrators informed her each time that there was no space for her children.

School Fees and Other Costs

Human Rights Watch found that general fees for public school students and other costs, including for placement tests, supplies, school uniforms, transportation, and other necessary expenses, keep refugee and asylum-seeking children out of school. A 2022 UN report found that such costs were the greatest barrier to education for refugees in Egypt. Public schools in Egypt charge students fees of some 210-520 Egyptian pounds (about US$4-10) per year. Additionally, the Ministry of Education and Technical Education announced placement test fees of 3,000 Egyptian pounds (about $60) in September. 

Refugee and asylum-seeking children unable to enroll in public education due to bureaucratic and other administrative barriers must resort to private or informal schools, which charge even higher fees.

One Sudanese mother said that after failing to enroll her children in public school, she enrolled her two youngest daughters in an informal community school. However, she could not afford to also enroll her 10-year-old daughter due to the fees charged by these schools and had to keep her home as a result. “Education is a right of all children,” she said. “Being a refugee shouldn’t mean that children’s future remains uncertain. It doesn't mean that children become illiterate, unable to read or write. Being a refugee means you can’t afford paying these high fees.” 

UNHCR and Catholic Relief Services provide some financial support to families toward the costs of education. In 2024, UNHCR said they had provided education cash grants to 76,400 children to support their enrolment in public schools and refugee community learning centers. However, three families who were unable to enroll their children in public schools said that the UNHCR grants were not enough to cover community school fees. 

Discrimination, Bullying, and Harassment

Human Rights Watch found that refugee and asylum-seeking children face bullying and racial or other forms of discrimination in schools. Four parents said that the risk of bullying and racial or other discrimination discouraged them from enrolling their children in public schools. 

One Eritrean teacher who arrived in Egypt in December 2020 with her 12-year-old daughter said: “It’s difficult for our children to integrate into Egyptian schools. [Refugee] students are mistreated and insulted. We heard stories of sexual harassment too. I would rather keep my daughter at home than enrolling her in public school.” 

A 21-year-old South Sudanese woman who came to Egypt as a child in 2011, and went to public secondary school in Egypt, described teachers discriminating against South Sudanese and Sudanese students by separating them from Egyptians. She said they were bullied and experienced verbal and physical harassment from students, who threw stones and gum at them, damaged their books, and hit her brother in the head with a stone. “Because of the color of our skin, they consider us non-human,” she said. “When the teacher leaves the classroom, students start insulting and hitting us. The teacher never listened to us and blamed us by shouting ‘Our children are polite, you are not polite.’”

She also said Sudanese and South Sudanese students experienced sexual harassment from both teachers and peers in her school. She said her brother was sexually assaulted by a student from his school. “An Egyptian student chased my brother and dragged him under the stairs of our building, covered his mouth with his hand, took off his pants, and did bad things. My brother came back home crying. This experience psychologically devastated him.” When they tried to file a police complaint, an officer told them to leave without documenting the case. 

Human Rights Watch has previously documented how Egyptian authorities systematically fail to investigate cases of sexual abuse against refugees. Egyptian authorities should address bullying, racism, and other forms of discrimination and stigma in schools, and ensure that refugee and asylum-seeking families are able to report any incidents to school authorities or police and other enforcement authorities without prejudice. 

Mental Health Concerns

Many refugee and asylum-seeking children who fled conflicts in their home countries and witnessed violence and mass killings experience anxiety, psychological distress, or trauma but have no access to psychosocial support in Egypt. Access to quality schooling in safe and supportive environments can provide children with stability and normalcy, ensuring that children resume routines, play, and spend time with peers. 

Three families said that they were concerned about the mental health of their children who found themselves trapped in their houses following displacement and violence in their home countries. None of their children were able to go to alternative learning or play centers or to get psychosocial support.  

A Sudanese mother said her house was raided and husband detained during the war in Sudan, before she arrived in Egypt with her five children in December 2023. “My children suffer bedwetting as result of what they witnessed of death and violence in Sudan,” she said. “I’m not able to do anything for them. I am worried about them. They are psychologically tired. They see their neighbors going to school happily while they’re staying all day at the apartment.”

A Sudanese father unable to register his three children in a public school due to residency requirements and unaffordable community school fees said he’s worried about the mental health of his children who fled violence in their home country and are coping in isolation in their Cairo apartment. “My children are psychologically exhausted,” he said. “Registration in any school requires money. My children need care, they are so shattered and introverted. Our situation was good in Sudan, but we lost everything after the war.” 

Egyptian authorities should ensure that children can access psychosocial support, counseling, and individual support, as needed, in schools and other child and youth-responsive settings. Egypt’s development and humanitarian partners should fund psychosocial programs in schools and out-of-school settings to ensure that refugee and asylum-seeking children can get these services without experiencing the same bureaucratic barriers. 

Informal Education

Some refugees and asylum seekers, including some from countries whose nationals should be able to access public schools in Egypt, rely on informal “community” schools outside the public education system. However, such schools provide certificates not accredited by the Ministry of Education and Technical Education, charge fees, and are vulnerable to crackdowns from the authorities. Local media reported that more than 300 Sudanese community schools shut down in 2024 amid a crackdown by Egyptian authorities for operating without a license. 

Ministerial decrees regulating the establishment of community schools impose a difficult process to obtain licenses, including the need to obtain approval from the relevant embassy. Additionally, while community schools can be set up by registered nongovernmental organizations, Egypt has in recent years curtailed the work of independent organizations under draconian laws that impose security and other restrictions on their work. Because many community schools have functioned for years in an opaque space without official licenses, teachers, students, and families are left vulnerable to interruption, unsafe conditions, and a lack of oversight over high fees.

Click to expand Image Exterior view of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands. © 2021 AP Photo/Peter Dejong Member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should support the court against efforts to undermine its global mandate.The court has been under extreme pressure since ICC judges issued arrest warrants for senior Israeli leaders as well as a Hamas official in the Palestine investigation.Member countries should make a commitment during their annual meeting to fulfill their obligation to execute the court’s arrest warrants, regardless of whom they target.

(The Hague) – Member countries of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should support the court against efforts to undermine its global mandate, Human Rights Watch said today. The annual session of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties will take place in The Hague, Netherlands, from December 2 to 7, 2024.

Human Rights Watch issued a 24-page report providing recommendations to member countries aimed at ensuring the court has the political backing, resources, and cooperation it needs to advance investigations and cases across its docket. The court has been under extreme pressure since ICC judges in the Palestine investigation issued arrest warrants on November 21, for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri (Mohammed Deif), commander-in-chief of Hamas’ military wing, the Qassam Brigades. US lawmakers renewed their threats to impose sanctions on ICC officials and those cooperating with the court.

“ICC warrants, whether against Vladimir Putin or Benjamin Netanyahu, send a critical message that no one is above the law,” said Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch. “ICC member countries should make a commitment during their annual meeting to take all necessary steps to ensure that the ICC’s crucial work for justice can continue without obstruction.”

Following the November 21 warrant decisions, US Senator Lindsey Graham called for the US Senate and President Joe Biden to enact a bill passed by the House of Representatives on June 4, aimed at imposing sanctions against the court, its officials, and those supporting its work. The bill is modeled on a sanctions program put in place by then-US President Donald Trump in 2020.

Any US sanctions would have wide-reaching consequences for global justice that go beyond the individuals targeted, Human Rights Watch said. Sanctions may create apprehension and legal uncertainty for service providers, nongovernmental organizations, consultants, and lawyers who work with the ICC. Sanctions are a tool to be used against those responsible for the most serious crimes, not against those promoting justice, Human Rights Watch said.

In a principled show of support, ICC member countries from every region affirmed their backing for the court’s independence and their commitment to abide by the court’s decisions, and called on others to do the same. However, some member countries appeared to avoid explicitly committing to enforcing the warrants flowing from the Palestine investigation, while a few openly criticized the judges’ decision to issue them. Hungarian President Victor Orban said he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary, though all ICC members, including Hungary, have an obligation to arrest anyone wanted by the court.

On November 27, the French government apparently claimed that Netanyahu has immunity from arrest as the head of state of a country that is not a member of the ICC. ICC judges have rejected this view, most recently in relation to Putin’s travel without arrest to Mongolia, an ICC member country.

At the Assembly session, ICC member countries should publicly make a commitment to enforce the ICC warrants, regardless of whom they target, and condemn threats and attacks against the court, its officials, and its supporters including civil society organizations and human rights defenders.

Beyond the threatened US sanctions, arrest warrants issued by Russia against the ICC prosecutor and six of the court’s current and former judges in retaliation to the court’s March 2023 warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, remain pending, and a law criminalizing cooperation with the ICC remains in force in the country. In September 2023, the court was the target of a serious cyber-attack.

Member countries should also commit during the session to take concrete steps to protect the court from all coercive measures. This includes adopting and implementing national and regional laws to minimize or eliminate the effects of sanctions. The European Union should be ready to swiftly activate its “blocking statute” if the US puts sanctions in place, Human Rights Watch said. This law aims to shield European operators from the effects of extraterritorial sanctions and ensure that the court can continue its work unaffected.

ICC member countries will also set the court’s budget for 2025. The court is currently operating in 16 countries across the globe. An ongoing mismatch between the court’s workload and the resources available to it has severely hampered its ability to effectively deliver on its mandate. Member countries should be mindful of how the court’s chronic underfunding affects victims’ access to justice, and adopt an annual budget that will allow the ICC to do its job consistently and effectively across all situations on its docket, Human Rights Watch said.

At the Assembly session, member countries will also determine the future of the review of the court’s performance by independent experts, which produced nearly 400 recommendations for change, in 2020. As they decide on next steps, member countries should ensure continued monitoring of how the experts’ recommendations are being implemented and reflect on the role of member countries in providing the court with the support it needs, Human Rights Watch said.

The expert report included troubling findings about workplace culture at the court. Among other issues, the experts identified gaps in the current system to address allegations of misconduct by elected court officials and made a number of recommendations to strengthen internal grievance procedures, but most of these have not been implemented. 

On November 11, the Assembly President Päivi Kaukoranta of Finland, announced that she is seeking an external investigation into allegations of sexual harassment against the ICC prosecutor, after an initial inquiry by the court’s Independent Oversight Mechanism was closed. The external investigation should have the authority to put in place necessary safeguards to protect its integrity, including considering whether the prosecutor should temporarily step away from his duties while the investigation is ongoing, Human Rights Watch said. 

“The ICC needs the support of its member countries to fulfill its ambitious global mandate of delivering justice for the most serious crimes,” Evenson said. “Member country support needs to be consistent over time and across situations to avoid double standards and uphold the court’s legitimacy for victims and affected communities.”

Click to expand Image Poster of Gen. Mamady Doumbouya in Conakry's streets, Guinea, September 2024  © 2024 Human Rights Watch The military authorities in Guinea have cracked down on the opposition, media, and peaceful dissent, and have failed to keep their promises to restore civilian rule by December 2024.When Gen. Mamady Doumbouya overthrew his autocratic predecessor, Alpha Condé, he pledged to rebuild the state, respect human rights, and deliver justice. But his government has largely continued killing, intimidating, and silencing critics.Guinean authorities should respect people’s right to demonstrate peacefully and express themselves freely; rein in the security forces and hold them to account.  

(Nairobi) – The military authorities in Guinea have cracked down on the opposition, media, and peaceful dissent since taking power in a September 2021 coup, and have failed to keep their promises to restore civilian rule by December 2024, Human Rights Watch said today.

Security forces have used excessive force, including tear gas and gunfire, to disperse those who defied the ongoing ban on protests imposed in May 2022 by the National Committee for Reconciliation and Development (Comité national du rassemblement et du développement, CNRD), the junta headed by Gen. Mamady Doumbouya. The crackdown has led to the death of dozens of protesters and other residents of Conakry, Guinea’s capital, since January 2024. During the same period, the junta suspended at least six independent media outlets, arbitrarily arrested at least ten journalists, and disappeared and allegedly tortured two prominent political activists.

“When Gen. Mamady Doumbouya overthrew his autocratic predecessor, Alpha Condé, he pledged to rebuild the state, respect human rights, and deliver justice,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Yet for the last two years, his government has largely carried on where Condé left off, killing, intimidating, and silencing critics, and torturing and disappearing those suspected of working with the political opposition.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed 30 people in person in Conakry, between September 22 and 28, including representatives of United Nations agencies and the international community, national and international human rights organizations, journalists, members of the political opposition, and victims of human rights abuses, and met with the Guinean minister of justice and human rights. From October 10 to 31, Human Rights Watch also interviewed by telephone 27 witnesses to rights abuses. Human Rights Watch reviewed government statements, and analyzed medical and forensic records, legal documents, photographs, and video footage shared directly with its researchers to corroborate victim and witness accounts.

Human Rights Watch wrote to the justice minister on November 5, sharing research findings and requesting responses to specific questions. The justice minister did not respond to Human Rights Watch.

The National Front for the Defense of the Constitution (Front national pour la défense de la Constitution, FNDC), a prominent coalition of Guinean civil society groups and opposition parties, has been calling for the restoration of democratic rule following the military coup. The coalition and Guinean human rights organizations consulted by Human Rights Watch said that up to 59 people, including at least 5 children, have died during protests since June 2022, mainly in Conakry. Some were protesters, while others were ordinary citizens who found themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Human Rights Watch research indicates that security forces used lethal force leading to the deaths of at least nine people, including one woman and four children ages 9 to 17, during protests in Conakry between January and September 2024. Only one of them took part in the protests. Protesters also assaulted the police and gendarmes, throwing rocks and other objects, and blocked roads.

Human Rights Watch has extensively documented that while security force members have allegedly shot and killed dozens of demonstrators since 2019, authorities have consistently failed to investigate deaths and other abuses during political protests and prosecute those allegedly responsible. The recently concluded trial of crimes committed as part of the September 28, 2009 massacre is an important step towards justice. Guinean human rights activists told Human Rights Watch, however, that it is important to ensure that the trial is not a one-time justice effort, but rather the beginning of further investigations and prosecutions for human rights abuses in the country.

Human Rights Watch has also documented enforced disappearances by the junta to silence dissent and the political opposition. On July 9, Guinean security forces allegedly tortured and forcibly disappeared Oumar Sylla, known as Foniké Menguè, and Mamadou Billo Bah, two prominent opposition members. Authorities have not acknowledged their detention or responded to their lawyer’s requests for their whereabouts.

The military authorities have jammed and suspended media outlets, threatened, and arbitrarily arrested journalists.  

On September 18, the foreign affairs minister, Morissanda Kouyaté, announced that, contrary to a 24-month transition timetable agreed between the junta and the regional bloc of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in December 2022, the presidential election would not take place at the end of 2024, but in 2025. Kouyaté confirmed that a referendum to adopt a new Constitution to replace the transitional charter and potentially pave the way for Doumbouya’s participation in the presidential election would still be held at the end of 2024. However, at the time of publication, no date had yet been set for the promised referendum. Several CNRD members, including its spokesperson, Ousmane Gaoual Diallo, have publicly expressed their support for Doumbouya to run for president in the next election.

Members of the opposition and civil society have raised concerns about the absence of a clear electoral timeline and breaches of the transitional charter. On November 12, a coalition of Guinean opposition groups and civil society organizations, known as Living Forces of Guinea (Forces Vives de Guinée, FVG), called on the junta to leave by January 1, 2025, and for the return to constitutional rule.

A civil society activist told Human Rights Watch in September that “the junta’s increasing intolerance for the opposition and its broken promises to organize free and fair elections before the end of the year are a recipe for disaster,” and that “the government should stop the repression or risk escalating an already tense political environment, leading to violence.”

On October 29, the territorial administration and decentralization minister dissolved 53 political parties, suspended 54 others for 3 months, and placed 67 more under observation, giving them 3 months to provide the ministry with required information. The decision came after the publication of a “political parties’ evaluation” report by the minister citing non-compliance with the law, including parties’ lack of valid licenses and transparent financial accounts.

Among the parties under observation are three prominent opposition parties, including the Rally of the Guinean People (Rassemblement du peuple de Guinée, RPG) headed by former president Condé, the Union of Democratic Forces of Guinea (Union des Forces Démocratiques de Guinée, UFDG) headed by Cellou Dalein Diallo, and the Union of republican forces (Union des forces républicaines, UFR) headed by former Prime Minister Sidya Touré. The opposition contends that the decision aims at excluding key political figures from the elections.

As Guinea is a party to the African Union Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance, the authorities should cease targeting opposition politicians and civil society activists, and ensure a swift return to democratic rule, Human Rights Watch said.

The Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials provide that law enforcement officers may use force only when strictly necessary and to the extent required to achieve a legitimate policing objective.

“As the transition period comes to an end and the risk of unrest grows, Guinean authorities should respect people’s right to demonstrate peacefully and express themselves freely,” Allegrozzi said. “They should also rein in the security forces, investigate those implicated in present and past abuses, and hold them to account, while political leaders should instruct their supporters to refrain from using violence.” 

For further details and accounts from witnesses, please see below.

Excessive Use of Force in 2024

January

On January 8, at around noon, security forces used tear gas and gunfire to disperse people who had gathered in Conakry’s Hamdallaye neighborhood to protest power cuts. They injured Amadou Oury Diallo, a 17-year-old student, who died of his injuries on January 11. Relatives and witnesses said Diallo was not among the protesters.

“There were dozens of young people, some were violent and threw rocks at the gendarmes,” said a witness. “Then, I heard gunfire and saw the crowd dispersing.”

“He was unconscious,” said the victim’s relative, 31, who rushed to the Sino-Guinean hospital where Diallo was taken for surgery the same day. “The doctor told me that he received a bullet right in the head.”

Human Rights Watch reviewed Diallo’s medical records, a January 12 letter from a family member seeking the return of Diallo’s body, and his death certificate issued by the hospital.

On January 9, at about 5 p.m., gendarmes also shot Amadou Korka Diallo (hereafter Korka), 18, and injured another young man, who Human Rights Watch interviewed, during an opposition-led protest against fuel shortages in Conakry’s Hamdallaye neighborhood.

The injured man said:

The protest was almost over, but there were still some 30 to 50 young people facing the security forces. A gendarmerie pick-up stopped by the roadside, a gendarme got out and shot Korka. Gendarmes also fired tear gas to prevent us from rescuing him. Then, the gendarme shot two more times, one of the bullets hit me in the right arm.

Human Rights Watch analyzed and geolocated a 13-second video sent directly to researchers. The video shows a gendarmerie pick-up truck stopping at the end of a street. Korka is lying on the ground, propping himself up on one arm, approximately 40 meters away from the pick-up truck. Moments later, a canister can be seen arcing through the air from the direction of the pick-up truck over Korka’s head. It lands on the ground between Korka and the person filming and releases smoke consistent with tear gas. As the truck drives off, a gunshot can be heard and Korka immediately falls to the ground. Human Rights Watch also analyzed another 9-second video showing people carrying Korka, who is bleeding.

Click to expand Image Screenshots taken from a 13-second video shows a gendarmerie pick-up truck near Amadou Korka Diallo. A few seconds later a canister is deployed from the direction of the truck, landing near Korka and smoke consistent with tear gas is released. At the end of the video, a gunshot is heard and Korka falls to the ground.  © Screenshots: Source: Private (2024)

One of Korka’s relatives said:

He was shot twice, in the abdomen and in the chest. He was first taken to a small health center, but the doctor advised taking him to Jean Paul II hospital. From there he was taken to Donka hospital, where he died.

Human Rights Watch reviewed two photographs showing Korka’s gunshot wound in the abdomen, consistent with witness accounts, a photograph of Korka’s body at the morgue, and Korka’s medical records and death certificate, stating that he died a “violent death by firearm,” at 7.55 p.m. on January 9, 2024.

February

On February 19, at about 1 p.m., security forces used force, including tear gas and gunfire, to disperse people who had gathered in Conakry’s Nassouroulaye neighborhood to protest power cuts, killing Mamadou Alhadji Diallo, 30. “Uniformed men dressed in blue, most likely gendarmes, were confronting youth who threw stones at them,” said a witness. “Diallo was there to calm down the youth when security forces fired. I heard two gunshots, the second one hit Diallo in the head.” National media also reported Diallo’s death.

The same day, between 3 and 4 p.m., gendarmes opened fire on protesters throwing rocks at them and at other people in Conakry’s Hamdallaye neighborhood, killing Abdoulaye Djibril Diallo (hereafter Djibril), 16, and injuring another boy, also 16, who Human Rights Watch interviewed.

The injured boy said:

We were there to see what was going on, when gendarmes inside a pick-up truck started shooting. I was hit in the right foot … and Djibril [was hit] in the chest.

Human Rights Watch spoke to another witness, a family member of the victim, and reviewed a photograph showing Djibril’s body and the gunshot wound, consistent with the witness’ accounts. On February 24, the United Nations agency for children (UNICEF) issued a communiqué deploring Djibril’s death, exhorting “all parties to protect children” during demonstrations, and calling on authorities to identify and punish those responsible for his death.

On February 26, as several unions in Guinea had called for a general strike starting the same day to protest the arbitrary detention of Sékou Jamal Pendessa, a prominent media freedom activist and the secretary-general of the Union of Press Professionals of Guinea (Syndicat des professionnels de la presse de Guinée), people took to the streets in several neighborhoods in Conakry, throwing rocks at security forces and blocking roads. National and international media reported that two people died and more than a dozen were injured. Human Rights Watch documented the death of Ibrahima Toure, 19, and Mamady Keïta, 17, who were not protesting, respectively in Conakry’s Hamdallaye and Sonfonia neighborhoods.

An 18-year-old man who witnessed the incident involving Toure said:

It was between 10 and 11 a.m. when Toure and I arrived in Hamdallaye together…. Toure said he needed to buy soap and would soon come back. I stopped near the Hamdallaye pharmacy where a gendarmerie pick-up was stationed, and some 20 angry youth were throwing rocks at the gendarmes. I knew some of these young people and I intervened, I told them to stop because it could turn bad, but they continued. Sometime later, a pick-up truck with gendarmes coming from Bambeto’s neighborhood drove toward us and gendarmes started shooting. It was by this time that Toure was coming back and was shot. […] I attempted to rescue him, but a gendarme who was close to me said: ‘If you move, I’ll shoot.’

Human Rights Watch reviewed a February 29 autopsy report, which stated that Toure died following “a hemorrhagic shock” caused by a gunshot wound. National media also reported Toure’s death.

A 25-year-old man who witnessed Keïta’s death, the same day, said:

Police and gendarmes were deployed on the main road, where youths were protesting […], but a pick-up truck of the gendarmerie entered the neighborhood, and they started shooting. There were four to five gunshots. Mamady was hit. I rushed to help him, and with other people we took him to a local health center. But the case was too serious, so we attempted to transfer him to Donka hospital, but he died on the way.

“I saw the body at the hospital,” a relative of Keïta said. “The bullet hit him in the back and passed through the thorax.”

Click to expand Image Mamady Keïta’s death certificate indicating he died a “violent death.” Keïta died following a union-led demonstration on September 26, 2024, in Conakry’s Sonfonia neighborhood, during which security forces used excessive force.  © 2024 Private

Human Rights Watch reviewed a March 1 court document asking hospital staff to return Keïta’s body to his family, as well as Keïta’s death certificate, issued by the hospital, stating he died of a “violent death.” International media also reported Keïta’s death.

July

On July 30, at about 4 p.m., a policeman shot Mamadou Baïlo Diallo, 27, in the head, in Conakry’s Koloma neighborhood. Two witnesses and a relative of the victim said that security forces were heavily deployed across the capital that day because of civil society-led demonstrations to protest the disappearances of FNDC political activists Foniké Menguè and Mamadou Billo Bah, but that Diallo was not among the protesters.

A 25-year-old witness said:

We were not taking part in the protests. […] A policeman came out of nowhere and when we saw him, we instinctively ran away, so he shot at us, at less than 20 meters, and hit Baïlo, who fell. I kept running. When the policeman left, I turned around, I looked for a biker to rescue Baïlo, and we took him to the Sino-Guinean hospital around 4 p.m. […] He was already dead. The bullet had hit him in the back of the neck […] The body was later taken to the morgue of the Ignace Deen hospital.

Human Rights Watch reviewed a photograph of Diallo’s gunshot wound, consistent with witness accounts. On July 31, Cécé Roger Kolie, the deputy prosecutor of Conakry’s Dixinn first instance court, requested an autopsy to determine the cause of his death described as “suspicious death by firearm.” Guinean media also reported on Diallo’s death.

August

On August 15, security forces used lethal force to disperse people who had gathered in Conakry’s Sonfonia neighborhood to protest power cuts. Ibrahima Sadio Diallo, 9, was hit by a bullet and died on the spot. Human Rights Watch was not able to speak with any witness to his death but reviewed media reports about the incident and spoke to the victim’s relatives, who saw the body.

A family member of the victim said:

He was returning from Koranic school at about 5 p.m., when the security forces opened fire, according to those who saw what happened. He was taken to a local health center, but he was already dead. I went into the health center, saw the body, and the bullet wound in the head […] We buried him the next day.

September

On September 4, at around noon, Aissatou Traore, a 35-year-old mother of four who was in the back seat of a taxi, was lethally hit by a live bullet allegedly fired by Guinean security forces at T8 roundabout in Conakry’s Sonfonia neighborhood. National media and the victim’s relatives said that security forces were deployed in Sonfonia to disperse protesters who had responded to a call by the Living Forces of Guinea, a coalition of civil society actors and political parties, to take to the streets to end the political transition.

A friend of the victim said:

I rushed to the scene, shortly after Aissatou had been shot. When I arrived at T8, I noticed a heavy deployment of security forces, there were gendarmes, policemen, and soldiers. But … she had already been taken to a local health center […] I went there, and she had died. I identified the body.

Click to expand Image Photo of the broken window of the taxi where Aissatou Traore was shot, in Conakry’s Sonfonia neighborhood, September 4, 2024.  © 2024 Private

Human Rights Watch reviewed two photographs showing the taxi window destroyed by the bullet, five photographs showing Traore’s wound, consistent with witness accounts and medical records, and a 1-minute and 16 second video showing medical staff explaining that the bullet hit Traore’s right shoulder blade, went through her rib cage, and exited before entering her left arm.

Human Rights Watch also reviewed a September 13 document signed by deputy prosecutor Kadiatou Rolou Guilao asking Traore’s family to bury the body. The document cites a report by forensic doctor Hassane Bah, who carried out an autopsy of Traore’s body, describing her wounds.

Lack of Accountability for Security Forces Violence During Protests

Among the families of the nine victims whose cases Human Rights Watch documented, only the family of Aissatou Traore filed a complaint. Some said they do not trust the Guinean judicial system, others that they feared reprisals.

“When we went to the court to request the authorization to bury the body, they told us to never file a complaint,” said a close friend of one of the victims. “They said that all [the families of] those killed on the Hamdallaye road should never file a complaint.”

“A complaint? Well, the family didn't want to,” said a friend of one of the victims. “It’s not that we didn’t want to do that, but before which authority?” asked the family. “We do not trust the justice [system]. As soon as you file a complaint, you are automatically threatened ... as soon as you dare to denounce, the junta erases you.”

In its November 5 letter, Human Rights Watch asked the authorities whether there were investigations into security forces members involved in human rights violations since 2021, including those documented in this report. The authorities did not respond to the letter.

Traore’s family reported the crime to the prosecutor of the Dubreka first instance court in Conakry, on September 5. The same day, speaking to the media, Prime Minister Bah Oury condemned “the fact that yesterday a lady was hit by a bullet at the T8,” and noted that “two weeks ago, a child in the same area was hit by a bullet.” He added that “We cannot tolerate that every time, in the context of maintaining order, there are deaths. Investigations must be pursued without complacency. Justice must be carried out to the end.” However, three months later, there has been no progress in the investigation of Traore’s death, the victim’s relatives said.

“Here there is no investigation,” said a friend of Traore. “Our leaders glorify the crimes; they don't want to make heads fall so they prefer to side with the perpetrators rather than with the victims.”

Positive Steps Towards Accountability

Human Rights Watch has reported on the recently concluded trial in Conakry of crimes during the massacre of September 28, 2009, when security forces killed more than 150 peaceful demonstrators and raped scores of women. The Guinean court convicted eight people, including the former self-proclaimed president, Moussa Dadis Camara, of crimes against humanity, acquitted four others, and ordered reparations. The verdict has been appealed, and proceedings remain pending against other individuals accused of involvement.

Enforced Disappearances

During a meeting with Human Rights Watch in Conakry on September 26, the justice minister said that “a new wind is blowing in the country,” since the CNRD took power, that “politically motivated arrests have decreased by 60 percent compared to 2021,” that “authorities have the attention and vision over the human rights question in the country,” and that allegations of disappearances of the two FNDC political opponents “remain a mystery to us.”

About two months after the disappearance of the two FNDC activists, on September 25, the body of Col. Celestin Bilivogui, who had disappeared in November 2023 after security forces arrested him at his office in Conakry, was presented to his wife at the morgue of the Ignace Deen hospital in Conakry. Days after his disappearance, Doumbouya issued a decree dismissing Bilivogui from the army for “gross misconduct.” The decree did not provide other reasons for the dismissal, but media reported that it was linked to the November 4, 2023 prison break of Col. Claude Pivi who had been charged with complicity in murder, rape, and torture, among others in the trial for the 2009 stadium massacre. According to Pivi’s lawyers, the Guinean security forces arbitrarily arrested and detained his spouse after his prison break. She was released about ten months later, on September 23, without charges when Pivi was apprehended and returned to custody.  

Crackdown on Media and Journalists

The junta has severely restricted media freedom. The military authorities have jammed and suspended media outlets, threatened, and arbitrarily arrested journalists, many of whom said they are self-censoring amid fear of reprisals. “I can’t say what I think anymore. I can’t report freely,” said a journalist at a national news website called Guinée Matin. “Journalists feel like they have a burden of lead on their shoulders. It’s like being in prison.”

On May 21, the authorities withdrew the licenses of four private radio stations and two private TV channels known for their outspoken reporting, for “non-compliance with the content of their specifications.”

“They want to break the opposition,” a member of an international organization in Guinea told Human Rights Watch. “By suspending the activities of these media outlets, the junta is depriving the opposition of its ability to mobilize, rally its supporters, and circulate its messages.”

On January 18, ahead of a press union-led protest against the jamming of several radio stations in November 2023, as well as the suspension of three TV channels in December 2023, security forces besieged the House of the Press (Maison de la presse), an independent media organization in Conakry, trapping at least 30 journalists inside for several hours, and arrested at least nine other journalists. The nine were released that evening without charges.

The same day, security forces arbitrarily arrested Pendessa. After three days of detention at a gendarmerie post, Pendessa was presented before a court in Conakry, and charged with “unlawful participation in public demonstration and disturbing  public order.” On February 23, he was sentenced to six months in prison, of which three were on parole, and his lawyers filed an appeal after which the sentence was reduced to one month.

“My time in detention was tough,” Pendessa, who was held at the Conakry central prison, told Human Rights Watch. “I was in a room with up to 87 people, we slept on the floor, one mattress for two people, head to foot, in deplorable hygiene conditions.”

Pendessa was released on February 28.

 

Prison officers allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed Vida Rabbani, an Iranian journalist and activist, during a body search at Evin Prison in Tehran on October 3, an informed source told Human Rights Watch in late November.

Click to expand Image Vida Rabbani. (C) Private  ©

Security forces arrested Rabbani in September 2022, during the nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Jina Amini’s death while detained by morality police. In December 2022, Tehran’s revolutionary court sentenced Rabbani to six years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security” and an additional fifteen months for “propaganda against the state.”

Rabbani had previously been arrested and convicted due to her activism. In another case in 2022, Tehran’s revolutionary court sentenced her to 10 years in prison. Due to a 2023 general amnesty order, part of her sentence was pardoned.

Rabbani, who experienced severe headaches and poor physical health while serving her prison sentence, was temporarily released on medical leave. Upon her return to prison on October 3, she was allegedly sexually assaulted by prison officers during a body search. She reportedly made a complaint about this violation, which resulted in further punishments imposed by the prison disciplinary council, including being denied further leave.

Human Rights Watch previously documented how Iran’s security forces sexual assaulted and harassed people in detention.

In a letter written by Rabbani and published by Iran Wire on November 26, Rabbani highlighted the deteriorating health conditions of human rights defenders Narges Mohammadi and Warisha Moradi, also in Evin prison. She announced that, as of November 18, she and government critic Motahareh Goonei have been on a hunger strike, demanding medical attention for Mohammadi and adequate healthcare for other fellow detainees.

In her letter she wrote: “Our hunger strike, Motahareh’s and mine, is nothing but an act of desperation in the face of injustice. An act we know will harm our bodies, yet we see no other path before us.”

The alleged sexual assault against Rabbani, along with the serial violations of detainees’ rights in Iranian prisons, is appalling and the abuses should be publicly raised and condemned by states engaging with Iran. Targeting women activists is part of a broader effort by Iranian authorities to silence dissent. Iranian authorities should halt such inhumane practices, ensure the safety and rights of all detainees, and release all journalists and human rights defenders unlawfully detained, including Vida Rabbani.

Click to expand Image Detainees stand behind cell bars at the police immigration detention center in Bangkok, Thailand, January 21, 2019. © 2019 Sakchai Lalit/AP Photo

(Bangkok, November 29, 2024) – Thai authorities forcibly returned six Cambodian political opposition activists and a young child on November 25, 2024, putting them at risk of unfair trials and mistreatment in Cambodia, Human Rights Watch said today. Cambodian authorities should immediately drop the politically motivated charges against these refugees and an asylum seeker and unconditionally release them.

On November 24, Thai immigration officials in Pathum Thani province arrested the seven people, including the 5-year-old grandson of one activist. The authorities alleged they were staying in Thailand illegally and forcibly returned them to Cambodia the next day. Cambodian authorities have detained Pen Chan Sangkream, Hong An, Mean Chanthon, Yin Chanthou, Soeung Khunthea, and Vorn Chanratchana in three separate prisons under arrest warrants issued by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court. The 5-year-old boy was released to family members upon returning to Cambodia.

“Thai officials have used immigration charges as a convenient excuse to deport these Cambodian refugees without court review and in blatant disregard for fundamental refugee protection principles,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Thai authorities should not be complicit in the Cambodian government’s transnational persecution of political opposition figures.”

Cambodian authorities have charged five of the six detainees with “plotting” under article 453 of the criminal code, which is punishable by up to ten years in prison. The authorities previously brought plotting charges in a criminal case file opened on August 15 regarding the Cambodian government’s crackdown on protests against the trade and cooperation agreement between Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

The six detainees are supporters of the dissolved opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) and its subsequent incarnations. They traveled to Thailand in 2022, where five were recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The sixth was awaiting a refugee status determination from UNHCR.

In Cambodia, Human Rights Watch has documented systematic harassment and targeting of critics in the political opposition and civil society, including through threats and instigation of violence, arbitrary arrests and detention, unfair trials and baseless prison sentences. Conditions in Cambodian prisons are inhumane, with the United Nations special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia citing in his 2023 report an “overcrowding rate of about 300 percent, with some 40,000 inmates.”

Since the dissolution of the CNRP in 2017, the Cambodian government has pursued former CNRP members – including those living in exile in neighboring Thailand – on politically motivated charges.

In February, Thai police arrested three opposition activists in Bangkok ahead of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s visit to Thailand. Hun Manet expressed his gratitude to then-Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin for his commitment not to allow people to conduct “harmful activities” against neighboring countries. That same month, Thai authorities detained three former Candlelight party members who had fled to Thailand for fear of political persecution.

Human Rights Watch’s recent report, “‘We Thought We Were Safe’: Repression and Refoulement of Refugees in Thailand,” documents a pattern of transnational repression in which Thai authorities helped neighboring governments take unlawful actions against dissidents and activists seeking protection in Thailand. In exchange, Thai authorities were able to target critics of the Thai government living in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia as part of a “swap mart” of refugees and dissidents.

Refugees in Thailand face ongoing risks of forcible return in violation of their rights and international law, Human Rights Watch said.

Under customary international law and the United Nations Convention against Torture, to which Thailand is a party, Thailand is obligated to respect the international law principle of nonrefoulement, which prohibits countries from returning anyone to a place where they would face a real risk of persecution, torture or other serious ill-treatment, or a threat to life.

In addition, Thailand’s Act on Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances, which came into effect in February 2023, states that “no government organizations or public officials shall expel, deport, or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be in danger of torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment, or enforced disappearance.”

By deporting these refugee and asylum seekers, Thailand’s government violated its international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch said.

“Thai and Cambodian authorities continue to collude to repress critics in exile,” Pearson said. “Thailand and Cambodia’s new prime ministers should show they are different from their predecessors and ensure their governments uphold their international human rights obligations.”

Click to expand Image Activists gather in Brisbane's ANZAC Square to protest the indefinite detention of refugees and asylum seekers in Australian-run and funded facilities on the mainland and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, January 19, 2022. © 2022 Joshua Prieto/SOPA Images/Sipa via AP Photo

On Thursday night, the Australian government passed new laws that expand the country’s offshore detention regime, further evade international obligations, and allow officials to pursue prison terms for people who resist deportation, including asylum seekers. These laws undermine the core principles of refugee protection and mark an escalation in Australia’s existing mistreatment of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers.

The legislation was introduced through three bills: the Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill, the Migration Amendment Bill, and the Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill.

Under the new laws, the government now has the authority to pay third countries to accept noncitizens, including recognized refugees. Contrary to internationalstandards, the laws do not require these countries to be parties to the Refugee Convention, nor do they include adequate safeguards to protect refugees from harm or detention abroad, or refoulement to countries where they may face persecution.

A recent Senate inquiry into the legislation found that 80,000 noncitizens could be susceptible to deportation under the laws.

The Migration Amendment (Removal and Other Measures) Bill grants authorities the power to seek prison sentences of one to five years for previously recognized refugees whose status has been revoked or for individuals whose asylum claims have been rejected, if they refuse to cooperate with deportation efforts. This effectively treats administrative violations as criminal offenses.

The laws also expand the Australian immigration minister’s existing powers to reverse immigration decisions and strip people of their recognized refugee status. Human Rights Watch and other groups previously raised concerns that the new legislation risks violating the principle of non-refoulement under the Refugee Convention, that is the prohibition on returning people to face threats to their lives or freedom.

The laws also authorize the government to ban visas from countries that do not accept involuntary removals.

Broad powers have also been granted to immigration detention authorities to search detainees and seize their phones under the Migration Amendment (Prohibiting Items in Immigration Detention Facilities) Bill. Australia’s Human Rights Commission has raised concerns that this could allow for blanket phone bans being imposed.

Human Rights Watch has long documented Australia’s mistreatment of refugees. However, these laws mark a new low and risk further undermining the country’s obligations under international law. Rather than reinforcing a system that criminalizes and punishes refugees and asylum seekers, Australia should take a rights-respecting approach, end its offshore detention regime, and invest in detention alternatives.

Click to expand Image Activists with the opposition Citizens Coalition for Change party arrive at the Magistrates' courts in Harare, Zimbabwe, June 19, 2024.  © 2024 MUNASHE CHOKODZA/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

On November 27, a Zimbabwean court sentenced Jameson Timba, interim leader of the opposition Citizens’ Coalition for Change (CCC), and 34 others to suspended prison terms, after being convicted earlier in the week for participation in an unlawful gathering. Timba was sentenced to a suspended two-year prison term, while the other activists received lesser suspended prison terms.

The suspended sentences mean that Timba and the other activists will immediately be freed, but the convictions remain.

The defendants have been detained since June following their arrest at Timba’s home in the suburbs of the capital, Harare. The authorities charged over 70 people, who had gathered at his home to commemorate the Day of the African Child, with “gathering with intent to promote public violence and disorderly conduct.” All those arrested were denied bail several times. In September, they were acquitted of disorderly conduct and 40 were released. The rest remained in custody until Wednesday’s sentencing.

Lawyers for the defendants told Human Rights Watch that some of their clients had been left with serious injuries following police beatings. They had been denied the rights to humane treatment, a prompt trial and other basic rights, including access to medical care, adequate food and the right to bail.

One of the defendants, Maureen Dinha, was jailed five months with her year-old child.  Tambudzai Makororo, whose leg was fractured during the arrest, lost her son during her detention and was refused permission to attend his funeral.

Zimbabwean authorities are increasingly misusing the law against critics of the government.

Since taking power in a military coup in 2017, the administration of President Emmerson Mnangagwa, which initially promoted itself as a rights-respecting “new dispensation,”  has arrested and prosecuted dozens of politicians and activists on baseless charges.

Leading opposition figure Job Sikhala, who was detained in 2022 on charges of incitement to commit public violence, disorderly conduct, and obstruction of justice, was only released in January 2024 after 595 days in custody. Opposition leader Jacob Ngarivhume spent eight months in detention before a court set aside his conviction in December 2023.

Zimbabwe’s Constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Zimbabwe is a party, prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention and protect the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as to a fair trial. Targeting political opponents violates those rights and undermines Zimbabwe’s standing as a rights-respecting country.

Zimbabwe authorities should end the weaponization of the judicial system and its attacks on rights opposition politicians, activists and supporters.