What's Going on in Human Rights: October 2022

In this year’s first update on human rights, I’m going to focus on what Amnesty has been saying about the human rights abuses and subsequent protests in Iran.

On the 16th of September Mahsa (Zhina) Amini died in custody. This came after her violent arrest by the “morality police” because she was not complying with the compulsory veiling laws. After the protests that followed it was found that at least 23 children were killed unlawfully by the authorities in an attempt to quash the protests.

The victims included 20 boys aged between 11 and 17, and three girls, two who were 16 and one who was 17. The majority of the boys were killed by security forces’ unlawful firing of live ammunition at them, and two boys were killed by being shot with metal pellets at close range. Three girls and a boy died after being beaten fatally by security forces. A detailed statement has been published explaining the circumstances of each of the deaths. Children make up 16% of the overall deaths of protesters and bystanders recorded by Amnesty.

Amnesty has been critical of the UN’s failure to tackle the crisis in Iran. For example, last month Ebrahim Raisi, the current president of Iran, was allowed to give a speech at the UN which legitimises him as a figure and gives him a platform. Amnesty and 42 other organizations have called on the UN Human Rights Council urgently to hold a special session on Iran.

The campaign UoB Amnesty has just chosen for this year is Refugee rights. So, I also wanted to cover some issues regarding this. In the UK, at the Conservative party conference Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, spoke in favour of the Rwanda policy. Since becoming Prime Minister this month Rishi Sunak has said that he will do whatever it takes to make this plan happen. Clearly this is a policy that has continued beyond Boris Johnson’s premiership. This policy refers to the Memorandum of Understanding that the UK and Rwanda signed on 14 April 2022. This was to agree a system where asylum seekers who are not being considered by the UK are relocated to Rwanda. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees pointed out concerns with the way Rwanda deal with asylum seekers. One example of this is that they are discriminatory and prevent access to asylum seeking resources if a person is LGBT+.

In terms of this issue internationally, Amnesty has criticised Lebanon’s treatment of refugees. On October 12th, Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced that Lebanon’s General Security agency was to start sending Syrian refugees back home “in batches” from the next week. It is claimed that this process is voluntary. However, given the dire conditions in Lebanon it is doubtful that it is possible for Syrian refugees to give informed and free consent to this process. Amnesty has previously found that Syrian refugees have been faced with torture, sexual violence, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention once they return home. Amnesty believes that, Lebanon’s government’s discriminatory policies towards Syrian refugees are a key factor in the decision to leave the country. Therefore, the refugee’s consent to returning to their country is not free.

It is clear that refugees internationally are facing a number of violations of their rights and require protection from the global community. Therefore, as a society, we cannot wait to start doing a part to help such a massive and important cause.