The following media round up on international and foreign policy issues from around the world for the period of 03 April to 08 April 2024.
Guernica 37 will provide weekly media updates from the International Criminal Court, European Court of Human Rights, United Nations, European Union and other sources. Should you wish to contribute or submit a media summary, opinion piece or blog, please send to Ned Vucijak at nenadv@guernica37.com for consideration.
Israel/Gaza
Israel has announced the opening of two humanitarian routes into the occupied Gaza Strip, including the temporary re-opening of the Erez crossing in northern Gaza and Ashdod port. Amnesty International has called for an immediate, sustained ceasefire by all parties and a complete lifting of Israel's illegal blockade of Gaza to alleviate mass suffering and, for armed groups to release hostages held in Gaza and for Israeli authorities to release arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
The International Court of Justice has ordered Israel to take additional provisional measures to prevent genocide in light of the worsening situation in Gaza. The organisation has also called for armed groups to release hostages held in Gaza and Israeli authorities to release arbitrarily detained Palestinians.
The end of Ramadan is just days away, and both the UN Security Resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire and the ICJ ruling have been utterly ignored. The US administration must ensure it uses its influence to push for an immediate ceasefire and prevent further violations of international law.
Saudi Arabia – 5 April
Tennis federations have been accused of enabling the Saudi government's efforts to "sportswash" its human rights record through two separate deals with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) and the Saudi Tennis Federation. The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) announced its successive three finals in Riyadh following an agreement with the Saudi Tennis Federation. Human Rights Watch has called for the WTA and ATP to demand improvements to Saudi Arabia's rights record before making deals that launder Saudi government abuses.
Other sports federations have restricted athletes from speaking out on issues, including human rights. Saudi Arabia has a severe women's rights record, with activists facing arbitrary arrests, torture, and travel bans. Despite legal changes since 2018, women and girls still face barriers to participation in sports and physical activities.
The country's first codified law on personal status enshrines male guardianship over women, facilitating domestic violence and sexual abuse. The Saudi government has also invested billions in entertainment, cultural, and sporting events to deflect from its human rights violations.
Rwanda – 5 April
As the 30th commemoration of the 1994 Rwandan genocide begins, Amnesty International urges the international community to renew its commitment to ensure justice and accountability for the victims and survivors. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and courts in Europe and North America have tried many perpetrators under universal jurisdiction.
However, recent developments highlight the importance of urgently pursuing justice. The confirmed deaths of several of the most-wanted genocide suspects and the indefinite suspension of the trial of another indictee due to age-related illness highlight the need for maintaining momentum to deliver justice for survivors and relatives of victims in Rwanda.
In May 2023, Fulgence Kayishema, another genocide suspect and ICTR indictee, was arrested in South Africa but remains in detention facing immigration-related charges. In August 2023, the trial of 90-year-old alleged chief genocide financier Félicien Kabuga was suspended indefinitely due to age-related illness.
Cuba – 5 April
Amnesty International has released the book "Images of Rebellion," a visual compilation that celebrates the defiant spirit of civil resistance in Cuba. The book contains over 21,000 letters and drawings sent to Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, a Cuban artist and prisoner of conscience, in a global outpouring of support.
It serves as a call to action and a reminder of Cuba's ongoing struggle for human rights and freedom of expression. The book features the stories of five prisoners of conscience: Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel "Osorbo" Castillo Pérez, José Daniel Ferrer García, Loreto Hernández García, and Donaida Pérez Paseiro.
The book is part of Amnesty International's #CubaWithoutRepression campaign, which aims to call attention to the plight of these five individuals, mobilise global solidarity, and secure the release of all unjustly imprisoned for exercising their human rights.
Myanmar – 4 April
The UN Security Council has been criticised for its inaction on the Myanmar crisis, which has worsened the country's human rights situation. The council has been silent on the problem since adopting Resolution 2669 in December 2022, condemning the Myanmar military's abuses and attacks on civilians since its February 2021 coup.
The resolution called for the military to release political prisoners, restore democratic institutions, and engage in dialogue. However, the situation has escalated, with Myanmar's junta ramping up attacks on civilians and blocking humanitarian aid. The Security Council has been urged to take more meaningful steps to address rights concerns, including instituting an arms embargo, referring the situation to the International Criminal Court, and imposing targeted sanctions on military-owned companies.
The Human Rights Council's April 4 resolution calls for restricting the Myanmar military's access to jet fuel, but China and Russia continue to block consideration of such measures and oppose holding debates. Almost every other government member raised severe concerns about the crisis, and many lamented the body's inaction.
Bulgaria – 4 April
Bulgarian authorities should investigate allegations of police assault on a Saudi human rights activist, Abdulrahman al-Khalidi, who has spent a decade exposing Saudi rights abuses. Al-Khalidi, who sought asylum in Bulgaria in October 2021, is at imminent risk of deportation back to Saudi Arabia, where he would face arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trial.
The incident occurred at the Busmanci Migrant Accommodation Center, where police allegedly beat and choked him. Human Rights Watch has documented poor and overcrowded conditions at the Busmanci Center, as well as abusive treatment by police officers.
Deporting al-Khalidi may violate Bulgaria's international obligations, including Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and Article 33 of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees.
EU – 4 April
Amnesty International has warned that the EU's Migration and Asylum Pact reforms will increase the risk of human rights violations. The reforms, first proposed in 2020, will set back European asylum law for decades, leading to greater suffering and putting more people at risk of human rights violations at every step of their journeys.
Since the first proposal, every step of the negotiations has further worsened the outcome, weakening protections and access to asylum for people on the move, expanding detention and containment at borders, and shifting responsibilities to countries outside of Europe. The Pact will only do something to improve Europe's response to people needing protection.
The proposals also risk subjecting more people, including families with children, to de facto detention at EU borders, denying them a fair and complete assessment of their protection needs. They come alongside mounting efforts to shift refugee protection and border control responsibility to countries outside the EU, such as recent deals with Tunisia, Egypt, and Mauritania or attempts to externalise the processing of asylum claims to Albania.
Uganda – 4 April
Uganda's Constitutional Court has upheld the abusive and radical provisions of the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, according to Human Rights Watch. The ruling further entrenches discrimination against LGBT people and makes them prone to more violence. The court struck down sections that restricted healthcare access for LGBT people, criminalised renting premises to LGBT people, and created an obligation to report alleged acts of homosexuality.
Human Rights Watch said that the ruling will have a detrimental impact on all Ugandans, including LGBT people, families, and communities who continue to suffer the stigma that the Anti-Homosexuality Act enshrined into law. The judges ruled that the act does not violate fundamental rights to equality, non-discrimination, privacy, freedom of expression, or the right to work for LGBT people. They also ruled that those who had challenged the law had failed to prove the negative financial implications of the law, or that there had been a lack of public participation in the legislative processes, or breaches in parliamentary rules of procedures.
The Ugandan Parliament passed the Anti-Homosexuality Act in March 2023, criminalising consensual same-sex conduct with penalties of up to life imprisonment, attempted homosexual acts with penalties of 10 years in prison, and the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality.” The court concluded that the law had been “overwhelmingly passed based on those views of the Ugandan people’s parliamentary representatives, who would know the sentiments of the people they represent on the subject.”
Pakistan - 4 April
Pakistan's newly elected government has announced plans to unlawfully deport Afghan refugees after Eid-ul-Fitr, a prominent Muslim holiday. This move violates refugee and international human rights law and puts the lives of over 800,000 Afghan refugees at risk. Amnesty International Campaigner for the Refugee and Migrants' Rights, James Jennion, has called on the Pakistani authorities to immediately reverse these decisions and pass human rights-compliant laws protecting the rights of refugees in the country.
Jennion argues that the decision endangers the lives of over 800,000 Afghan refugees across Pakistan and threatens another wave of harassment and detentions after the holy month of Ramadan. The government's 'Illegal Foreigners' Repatriation Plan' violates refugee and international human rights law, particularly the principle of non-refoulement. Jennion calls on the Pakistani authorities to immediately reverse these decisions, urgently pass human rights-compliant law protecting the rights of refugees in the country and become a state party to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its Protocols.
UN – 4 April
The United Nations human rights body has criticised the UK government for involuntary, compulsory treatment and detention of people with disabilities inside and outside hospitals. The Human Rights Committee, a body of independent experts monitoring the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, published its findings last week following a review of the UK's record.
The Committee highlighted how authorities continue to detain and involuntarily treat people with disabilities under the UK Mental Health Act based solely on their actual or perceived disability. The average length of stay for people with learning disabilities and autism detained under the act is over two years.
UK-based organisations representing people with disabilities and their families have been sounding the alarm about this issue for years, and the UK media has consistently exposed abuse in psychiatric units across the country. The UN expert on torture has noted that "involuntary treatment and other psychiatric interventions in health-care facilities" can be forms of torture and ill-treatment.
The UK government should heed the Committee's call and amend the Mental Health Act and Mental Capacity Act to ensure people with disabilities aren't locked up in institutions against their will. Instead, it should strengthen and develop voluntary, rights-respecting services so everyone can access adequate support to live in their communities with dignity.
Iran - 4 April
Iran has executed 853 people in 2023, marking a 48% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase from 2021, according to Amnesty International. The organisation argues that the Iranian authorities have intensified their use of the death penalty to instil fear among the population and tighten their grip on power.
The organisation also highlights the disproportionate impact of the authorities' lethal anti-narcotics policies on poor and marginalised communities. The organisation calls for an immediate moratorium on all executions and an international independent investigative and accountability mechanism to ensure the country's human rights record remains under global scrutiny.
Iran's anti-narcotics policy has seen a significant increase in executions in 2023, with 481 drug-related executions constituting 56% of the total number. This is a 98% increase from 2022 and a 264% increase from 2021. The Baluchi minority accounted for 29% of drug-related executions, while only 5% of Iran's population is affected. The Iranian authorities have intensified their use of the death penalty as a tool to quash dissent, with at least seven people at imminent risk of execution.
The rise in executions has led to prisoners on death row going on hunger strikes and pleading for interventions to stop their executions. Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the Iranian authorities to amend Article 91 of the Islamic Penal Code to abolish the death penalty for crimes committed by children in all circumstances.
Georgia/Kyrgyzstan – 4 April
Georgia's ruling party plans to reintroduce controversial Russia-style "foreign agent" legislation aimed at incapacitating civil society and independent media. If adopted, the laws would require foreign-funded nongovernmental organisations and media to register as "agents of foreign influence, " subject them to additional scrutiny and sanctions, including administrative penalties of up to 25,000 GEL (about 8,600 Euro).
Authorities claim the laws promote "transparency", but their statements make it clear the laws will be used to stigmatise and punish critical voices. Georgia was granted EU candidate status in December 2023 on the understanding it would improve conditions for civil society. This move risks derailing its EU integration even if the EU has been willing to move the country forward in the accession process despite limited progress on EU reform priorities.
The European Commission's December 2023 legislative proposal for an EU Directive on "transparency of interest representation" that would create a register of organisations which receive foreign funding has been widely criticised. The latest spate of curbs on civil society comes in the wake of the European Commission's legislative proposal for an EU Directive on "transparency of interest representation".
Cambodia – 3 April
Cambodian opposition politicians have reported harassment, threats, bribes, and unlawful inducements from government officials to withhold their support from opposition candidates in recent Senate elections. The Cambodian Senate approved former long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen of the ruling Cambodia People's Party (CPP) to be Senate president on April 3, 2024.
The opposition Candlelight Party (CLP), KWP, and National Power Party described efforts by local and provincial government officials to unlawfully discourage Candlelight commune councillors from voting for candidates other than those from the CPP. The National Election Committee banned the CLP from registering candidates for the July 2023 national elections and the February 2024 Senate elections. Opposition councillors in Cambodia have expressed concerns about the government's attempts to replace them with the ruling CPP, fearing that the CPP will take politically motivated legal action if they refuse to comply with election demands.
Four commune councillors have reported receiving direct or implied offers of money, gifts, or other rewards to vote for the CPP or not vote at all. The Cambodian Election Law protects political parties, candidates, and officials, but it must be adequately enforced.
Colombia – 3 April
Human Rights Watch has found that Colombia and Panama are failing to effectively protect and assist hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers in the Darién Gap. The report, which was released in April 2024, identified specific shortcomings in Colombia's and Panama's efforts to protect and assist people, including those at higher risk, such as unaccompanied children.
The report also found that efforts to guarantee access to food, water, and essential healthcare services have proven inadequate, affecting the fundamental rights of migrants and local communities. It highlighted the lack of criminal investigation strategies and poor coordination between Colombian and Panamanian authorities. Over half a million people, including 113,000 children, crossed the Darién Gap in 2023.
Panamanian authorities estimate that the number will likely be even higher in 2024. Many migrants and asylum seekers have experienced abuses, including sexual violence. The Panamanian government implements a strategy of "controlled flow" or "humanitarian flow," focusing on restricting the free movement of migrants and asylum seekers within Panama.