Amnesty report equates IDF defense with Iranian action against protesters

FEBRUARY 18, 2020 11:38

Amnesty International has labeled 2019 a “year of defiance” across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in a report released on Tuesday.

The study focuses on mass uprisings and human rights abuses, and equates the Israel Defense Forces’ use of “excessive, including lethal, force against demonstrators” in the Gaza Strip with the violent suppression seen during protests in Iran and Iraq.

 

It also celebrates the International Criminal Court’s decision to charge Israel with war crimes committed against Palestinians.

“The announcement by the International Criminal Court (ICC) that war crimes had been committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and that an investigation should be opened as soon as the ICC’s territorial jurisdiction has been confirmed, offered a crucial opportunity to end decades of impunity,” the report reads. “The ICC indicated that the investigation could cover Israel’s killing of protesters in Gaza.”

 

The report largely centers on Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria, noting how many civilians participated in protests calling for social justice and political reform. Many of these protests have were met with “brutal crackdowns” by governments that are attempting to silence the aggravated public, the report said.

“In Iraq and Iran alone, the authorities’ use of lethal force led to hundreds of deaths in protests; in Lebanon police used unlawful and excessive force to disperse protests; and in Algeria the authorities used mass arrests and prosecutions to crack down on protesters,” Amnesty wrote. “Across the region, governments have arrested and prosecuted activists for comments posted online, as activists turned to social media channels to express their dissent.”

As many as 550 demonstrators were killed in Iraq since protests began in October – with many of these killings allegedly being carried out by Iranian-backed militias. At least 304 people were killed in Iran during the anti-government unrest that broke out in November, starting as hundreds of young and working-class Iranians took to the streets to protest against fuel price rises.

The protests immediately turned political, with demonstrators burning pictures of senior officials and calling on clerical rulers to step down.

“In an inspiring display of defiance and determination, crowds from Algeria, to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon poured into the streets – in many cases risking their lives – to demand their human rights, dignity and social justice and an end to corruption. These protesters have proven that they will not be intimidated into silence by their governments,” said Amnesty International’s Director for MENA Heba Morayef.

Iranian authorities acknowledged that some “rioters” were shot and killed by security forces. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced the unrest as a “very dangerous conspiracy” by Iran’s enemies. Experts say he was referring to the United States.

Amnesty had said Iranian authorities carried out a “wide-scale clamp down designed to instil fear and prevent anyone from speaking out about what happened.”

Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s research and advocacy director for MENA said that, “The shocking death tolls among protesters in Iraq and Iran illustrate the extreme lengths to which these governments were prepared to go to in order to silence all forms of dissent.”

Additionally, in Egypt, during a rare public display of dissent, hundreds took to the streets in the capital and other cities in response to calls for protests against alleged government corruption in September. Egyptian authorities rounded up more than 400 people in response to these protests.

In Lebanon, protests broke out in October, eventually leading to the resignation of the Lebanese government. Protests that began peaceful – with an almost party-like atmosphere – quickly turned violent as Amnesty states that these protesters were met with “unlawful and excessive” force, adding that government security details failed to protect these citizens from clashing in the streets with rival political groups such as Hezbollah.

In Algeria, mass protests led to the resignation of president Abdelaziz Bouteflika after holding the office for 20 years. The protests were met with arbitrary arrests, prosecuting “peaceful demonstrators.”

“Governments in MENA have displayed a total disregard for the rights of people to protest and express themselves peacefully,” said Morayef. “Instead of launching deadly crackdowns and resorting to measures such as excessive use of force, torture, or arbitrary mass arrests and prosecutions, authorities should listen to and address demands for social and economic justice as well as political rights.”

In addition to suppressing protests on the streets, governments all across MENA are detaining and silencing “prisoners of conscience” for expressing oppositional opinions against the government online – be it dissident journalists, bloggers or social media users.

According to the report 136 people in 12 countries across MENA were arrested for their comments and activity over the internet. However, this wasn’t the only method of crackdown. Additionally, Amnesty recorded 367 “human rights defenders” that were subjected to detention – 240 arbitrarily detained in Iran alone in 2019, 118 were prosecuted for their dissidence.

In Iran, nearly a full internet shutdown was implemented to stop updates about the protest from spreading and even in times of calm citizens have no access Facebook, Telegram, Twitter and YouTube – as the applications are blocked from the state-run national internet.

“The fact that governments across MENA have a zero-tolerance approach to peaceful online expression shows how they fear the power of ideas that challenge official narratives. Authorities must release all prisoners of conscience immediately and unconditionally and stop harassing peaceful critics and human rights defenders,” said Luther.

Amnesty does point to causes for “hope.” These include the ICC’s charging Israel for Gaza war crimes; Tunisia prosecuting security forces for human rights abuses; improved protections for migrant workers in Qatar, Jordan and the UAE; as well as the “limited” advancements of women’s rights in Saudi Arabia.

“Governments across the region must learn that their repression of protests and imprisonment of peaceful critics and human rights defenders will not silence people’s demands for fundamental economic, social and political rights,” Morayef concluded. “Instead of ordering serious violations and crimes to stay in power, governments should ensure the political rights needed to allow people to express their socio-economic demands and to hold their governments to account.

Reuters contributed to this report.