Human Rights

Bhutan must seize an historic opportunity to secure equal rights for LGBTI people in the country, Amnesty International said today, calling on the upper house of parliament to pass a bill decriminalizing same-sex relationships.

Following the lower house’s vote in favour of repealing discriminatory sections of the penal code last June, the bill proposing amendments will be presented to the National Council, the upper house of parliament, this month.

“If the amendment bill is passed by the upper house, this will be an important step in recognizing that Bhutan supports the equality of all citizens regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. For a country that prides itself on the happiness of its people, Bhutan must without any delay rid itself of laws criminalizing consensual same-sex relationships,” said Babu Ram Pant, South Asia Campaigner at Amnesty International.

The multiple acts of harassment and threats against opposition legislators in Venezuela’s National Assembly are part of the policy of repression that the Nicolás Maduro government has maintained against any form of political dissent in recent years, said Amnesty International today.

“The authorities under Nicolás Maduro have made repeated and sustained attempts to dismantle any form of political dissent in the country, committing serious human rights violations including the use of torture, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

The organization has learned of what could amount to the forced disappearance of the congressmen Gilber Caro and Victor Ugas, who were arrested by alleged state agents on 20 December 2019. Although both were brought before a judge, the authorities have denied their families any information about where they are being held.

Responding to Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo’s call on the government to review its anti-drug strategy, including by ending violent police operations, Joanne Mariner, Amnesty International’s Research Director for Southeast Asia, said:

“Vice President Robredo gave a damning insider account of the government’s murderous approach to the drug problem. This is yet more proof that the Duterte administration should address the problem through drug rehabilitation programs rooted in communities – not through a brutal policy of extrajudicial killings.

“Robredo’s assessment gives credence to what Amnesty International and others have said time and again: the government’s ‘war on drugs’ is a war on the poor, marked by human rights violations and rampant impunity for the police and other high ranking officials. Another approach is possible, one based on respect for human rights, human life and human dignity, which addresses the social conditions that give rise to illegal drug use and trade.

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One year after protests broke out in Sudan leading to the ouster President Omar al Bashir on 11 April 2019, the new transitional authorities must to live up to the hopes and expectations of the Sudanese people, Amnesty International said today.

“A year after the Sudanese people took to the streets to protest a spike in food prices ultimately ending three decades of the Al-Bashir regime, they can celebrate that their collective action brought an end to suffocating repression and revived hopes for a better Sudan,” said Seif Magango, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

“The transitional authorities must honour the commitments they made to restore the rule of law and protect human rights. The Sudanese people deserve nothing less.”

The Sudanese people’s hopes now lie squarely with the transitional authorities headed by Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok, and backed by the Transitional Constitutional Charter, which enshrines the country’s most comprehensive Bill of Rights yet. 

Thousands arrested including children as young as 15 Detainees subjected to enforced disappearance and torture At least 304 people killed according to credible sources

Iran’s authorities are carrying out a vicious crackdown following the outbreak of nationwide protests on 15 November, arresting thousands of protesters as well as journalists, human rights defenders and students to stop them from speaking out about Iran’s ruthless repression, said Amnesty International today.

The organization has carried out interviews with dozens of people inside Iran who described how, in the days and weeks during and following the protests, the Iranian authorities have held detainees incommunicado and subjected them to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment.

At least 304 people were killed and thousands were injured between 15 and 18 November as authorities crushed protests using lethal force, according to credible reports compiled by the organization. The Iranian authorities have refused to announce a figure for those killed.

Responding to news that the regional Economic Community of West African States’ (ECOWAS) Community Court of Justice has today rejected a ban imposed by Sierra Leone’s government preventing pregnant girls from sitting exams and attending mainstream school, Marta Colomer, Amnesty International West and Central Africa Acting Deputy Director Campaigns said:

“Today’s ruling is a landmark moment for the thousands of girls who have been excluded from school, and whose right to access education without discrimination has been violated for the past four years because of this inherently discriminatory ban. 

“It is also a glimmer of hope for all those girls who if pregnant in the future will not be punished by being forced to leave school and not being able to sit exams.

“This also delivers a clear message to other African governments who have similar bans, such as Tanzania and Equatorial Guinea, or may be contemplating them, that they should follow this ground-breaking ruling and take steps to allow pregnant girls access to education in line with their own human rights obligations.