“The Croatian authorities know that Aysoltan Niyazov’s activism would put her at great risk of suffering serious abuse, including torture and other ill-treatment, should she be extradited to Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan is not a safe country for her or any human rights defender.

“Interpol warrants have been notoriously abused by a number of authoritarian regimes and countries with appalling human rights records to try to silence activists and those who speak out about human rights violations. Croatia should not be complicit in such practices.

“International law requires Croatia not to return or extradite any person to a country where they would face a risk of serious human rights violations. The authorities in Zagreb must refuse Turkmenistan’s request for Aysoltan Niyazov’s extradition and immediately release her from detention.”

Background

Aysoltan Niyazov is a national of Russia and Turkmenistan. She was in Croatia taking part in the anti-war Riot Days tour, proceeds of which will go to support a hospital in Kyiv.

Croatian police arrested Niyazov based on an Interpol red notice issued by Turkmenistan in 2002. According to the notice, Niyazov is sought on charges of alleged embezzlement of funds belonging to the country’s central bank. Niyazov disputes these allegations.

Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of Turkmenistani authorities pressing charges based on fabricated or unreliable evidence. Human rights defenders and political dissidents are regularly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment in Turkmenistan.

The post Croatia: Dissident and Pussy Riot member must not be extradited to Turkmenistan appeared first on Amnesty International.

“The European Commission financed Croatia’s border operations, including the salaries of border guards who are notorious for violent treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers, and yet it turned a blind eye to abuses. The Ombudsman has made it clear that the Commission must ensure that EU funds do not support operations that violate human rights” said Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s EU Office.

The Ombudsman found that the fact that a mechanism for monitoring human rights in Croatia was only established in the summer of 2021, while the European Commission funded ‘emergency’ border control operations since 2018 created confusion and was “regrettable”.

“As Amnesty and other warned, the mechanism for monitoring rights violations in Croatia is not independent nor effective and cannot serve as a credible watchdog without significant improvements. Its first report, issued in December, which found that Croatian police ‘acted illegally by returning migrants from Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina outside of the framework of international or national law’, was quickly retracted and replaced with a new version which scrubbed all references pointing to any wrongdoing by the Croatian authorities,” said Eve Geddie.

“Too many people have borne the brunt of the Croatian authorities’ border violence, and the European Commission’s lamentable failure to prevent and ensure accountability for it. We expect the Commission to ensure that the mechanism put in place in Croatia with EU assistance is given a broader mandate to effectively monitor and investigate the violations and freed from undue political influence.”

Eve Geddie

In her conclusion, the Ombudsman requested that the EC take a more active role in overseeing the work of the monitoring mechanism to ensure its independence and efficacy and demand from Croatia concrete and verifiable information on steps taken to investigate the reports of collective expulsions and mistreatment of migrants and asylum-seekers. 

“The Commission must ensure that EU-funded border-related operations comply with EU law, not just in Croatia, but at all EU borders,” said Eve Geddie.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:      

Amnesty International press office on press@amnesty.org or +32 483 680 812      

Out of hours contact details      

+44 (0) 20 7413 5566      

email: press@amnesty.org       

twitter: @amnestypress     

Background 

Croatia is a beneficiary of more than 108 million EURO under EU’s Asylum Migration and International Fund (AMIF) and has received an additional 46 million EURO in emergency assistance for migration and border management since 2017.

In December, the Council of Europe’s Committee against Torture confirmed that Croatian authorities have assaulted refugees and migrants and denied them access to asylum. They also criticised the authorities for failing to conduct thorough and timely investigations into complaints of police misconduct.

The post EU: Ombudsman finds Commission failed to ensure rights at Croatian border appeared first on Amnesty International.

The CPT’s report on the treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers by the Croatian police confirmed research from Amnesty International and other groups which have found consistent abuses in Croatia’s border areas over the past four years. After visiting Croatia in August 2020, the CPT’s report was formally adopted in November 2020, however its publication was delayed as Croatian authorities did not provide consent for its publication.

“In the last few years thousands of people have recounted how Croatian police assaulted them as they tried to enter the country and refused to let them request asylum. This long-awaited report confirms their stories and numerous reports of widespread pushbacks and abuse, which the Croatian government can now no longer deny.

Massimo Moratti, Director for Research of Amnesty International in Europe

The CPT examined numerous allegations of physical ill-treatment of migrants and asylum-seekers by the Croatian police and concluded that, in a significant number of cases, the injuries suffered were consistent with those typically sustained in law-enforcement operations.

The CPT documented cases of people being kicked, repeatedly struck with rubber batons, barrels of automatic weapons, or wooden sticks, or attacked by police dogs. In some cases, people intercepted by the Croatian police were stripped of their possessions, including clothes, shoes, and even underwear, and forced to walk for kilometres to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“The violence and abuse documented here point to a systematic and deliberate practice designed to punish those who try to cross the border. It may amount to torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment on the part of the Croatian authorities,” said Massimo Moratti, Director for Research of Amnesty International in Europe.

The CPT concluded that Croatian authorities’ attempts to justify the abuses documented in the report do not constitute a plausible explanation for the many serious injuries compatible with police ill-treatment.

Lack of accountability

The CPT strongly criticised Croatian authorities’ failure to conduct thorough and timely investigations into complaints of police misconduct and noted that the files of a few completed cases “fail to demonstrate any fact-finding investigative acts worthy of the name.” Moreover, the CPT noted that these “investigations”, which should have been conducted by an independent body, were instead carried out by police officers themselves, undermining any notion of independence or impartiality.

“The CPT’s scathing comments about the failure of Croatian authorities to properly investigate ill-treatment confirm the Croatian government’s long-standing tactic of   vehemently denying any wrongdoing while effectively preventing any independent scrutiny of its abuses.  This has allowed violence to continue unchecked and with impunity,” said Massimo Moratti.

In July, the Croatian government finally set up an oversight mechanism which was meant to provide independent human rights monitoring of border-related operations. The CPT noted that effective human rights monitoring should be financially and operationally independent and have unfettered access, without notice, to border areas, relevant documentation and the victims of alleged violations. In practice, however, the authorities and the European Commission, which supported the mechanism’s establishment with funds and expertise, failed to ensure that it meets these standards.

The EU’s failure to hold Croatia to account

The European Commission has not taken any decisive action against Croatia despite overwhelming and credible reports of gross human rights abuses at the Croatian borders, some of which may have been committed with the assistance of EU funds. In fact, the Commission provided additional emergency funding to Croatia in July 2021 without seeking guarantees from the Croatian authorities that the allegations of ill-treatment would be effectively investigated, and that the monitoring mechanism would comply with key standards of independence, effectiveness and accountability.

“The Commission keeps missing opportunities to hold Croatia to account for widespread violations of EU law while continuing to support it with additional funds and resources. This raises serious questions about the EU’s potential complicity in human rights violations that are regularly documented on Croatian borders,” said Massimo Moratti, Director for Research of Amnesty International in Europe.

“The European Commission has long claimed that the consistent and credible reports by human rights organisations and media have not been officially confirmed. After today, there can be no doubt about the abuses being committed.” 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:      

Amnesty International press office on press@amnesty.org or +32 483 680 812      

Out of hours contact details      

+44 (0) 20 7413 5566      

email: press@amnesty.org       

twitter: @amnestypress     

Background 

Numerous reports over the past four years have revealed how the Croatian intervention police routinely assault men, women and teenagers trying to enter the country, destroy their belongings and often strip their clothes and shoes off before forcing them to walk for hours through snow and cold rivers. 

The CPT’s report comes less than two weeks after the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Croatia violated the rights of a six-year-old Afghan girl who was hit and killed by a train after being pushed back to Serbia in 2017.

In November 2020, European Ombudsman opened an inquiry into the possible failure of the European Commission to ensure that Croatian authorities respected fundamental rights while conducting EU-funded border operations against migrants and refugees. The inquiry was triggered by Amnesty International’s complaint.

Link to the CPT press release and report: https://www.coe.int/en/web/cpt/-/council-of-europe-anti-torture-committee-publishes-report-on-its-2020-ad-hoc-visit-to-croatia

The post Croatia: Damning new report slams systematic police abuses at country’s borders appeared first on Amnesty International.

The post Croatia: European Court of Human Rights rules that authorities violated rights of child killed by train after pushback appeared first on Amnesty International.

Responding to a new investigation by Lighthouse Reports which documents how authorities in several European Union (EU) countries have violently rounded up migrants and asylum-seekers and summarily returned them to countries outside EU borders, Jelena Sesar, Balkans Researcher at Amnesty International said:

“This is the latest evidence that unlawful pushbacks and violence against asylum-seekers and migrants are commonplace at the EU’s external borders. In numerous countries, including Greece, Poland, Spain, Croatia, people in search of safety and protection are being met with barbed wire and armed border guards.”

“Lighthouse’s report includes disturbing images of masked police and border officials beating migrants and asylum-seekers with sticks as they force them out of Croatia, in blatant violation of EU law. Yet by their own admission, European Commission funding has been used by Croatian authorities to buy police equipment and even pay the salaries of border officials, rendering the EU complicit in these violations.”

Jelena Sesar, Balkans Researcher at Amnesty International

“While the officials’ clothes are deliberately stripped of identifying insignia, it is clear that their uniforms, weapons and equipment are identical to those used exclusively by the Croatia’s special police, which has been notorious for conducting violent pushbacks for years now.”

European Commission officials, including Commissioner Johansson, said that they were appalled by such inhumane treatment of people on European borders. Yet this summer they allowed Croatia to set up a hollow shell of a monitoring mechanism, which would not ensure that those responsible for violations are brought to justice and held accountable. Greece has recently rejected the idea of setting a mechanism for monitoring human rights, despite Amnesty International documenting pushbacks and violence against refugees and migrants showing they are their de facto border policy.

“It is alarming that the European Commission continues to turn a blind eye to the staggering violation of EU law, and even continues to finance police and border operations in some of these countries. In July for example, the European Commission awarded Croatia a €14 million emergency funding grant, despite officials expressing their horror over Croatia’s inhumane treatment of migrants. These pushbacks, and the funding that facilitates them must end now,” said Jelena Sesar.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:    

Amnesty International press office on press@amnesty.org or +32 483 680 812    

Out of hours contact details    

+44 (0) 20 7413 5566    

email: press@amnesty.org     

twitter: @amnestypress     

After a complaint from Amnesty International, the European Ombudsman is currently conducting an inquiry into European complicity in Croatia’s border violence against migrants and refugees.

The post EU: New evidence of systematic unlawful pushbacks and violence at borders appeared first on Amnesty International.

The climate crisis does not respect borders and our laws and policies must reflect this

Ashfaq Khalfan, Amnesty International's Law and Policy Director.

The Court will decide on whether it agrees to proceed with the case filed not only against Portugal, where the applicants live, but also 32 other countries – which comprise of EU members as well as Norway, Russia, Turkey, Switzerland, UK and Ukraine.

“The climate crisis does not respect borders and our laws and policies must reflect this. To ensure justice for people most affected by heatwaves, drought and forest fires – particularly children – states must be required to tackle climate change and its impacts at home and abroad,” said Ashfaq Khalfan, Amnesty’s Law and Policy Director.

“Governments can no longer act as if people outside their borders do not matter when they design their climate policies.”

The crowdfunded case, Duarte Agostinho and others v. Portugal and others, in which the group is intervening, has been brought by six youth from Portugal who are accusing 33 European countries of violating their human rights, including their right to life, by not taking adequate steps to limit greenhouse gas emissions.

To ensure justice for people most affected by heatwaves, drought and forest fires states must be required to tackle climate change and its impacts at home and abroad

Amnesty International

“Those affected by climate change should be allowed to make claims against governments other than their own. If governments are only required to act on the rights of people living within their borders, it is easier for them to ignore the impacts on people in the most affected countries and be more lethargic in their work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions” said Professor Mark Gibney, of the University of North Carolina Asheville.

If allowed to proceed, the case could set an important precedent, clearing the way for other climate lawsuits based on human rights arguments.

“This case is also important to ensure governments are required to design climate policy in a way that recognises the particular climate risks to children and take the ambitious climate protection measures needed to protect their rights,” said Gamze Erdem Türkelli, of the University of Antwerp. 

For more information contact Ashfaq Khalfan, Twitter: @ashfaqkhalfan

Gamze Erdem Türkelli, Twitter: @GamzeErdmTrklli

Amnesty International press office: Twitter @StefSimanowitz

For more details about the intervention, see:https://www.etoconsortium.org/en/news/news/first-climate-change-case-at-the-european-court-of-human-rights-justice-must-not-stop-at-borders-182/ . The submission is available here.

For more information on the case, see http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-206535 and https://youth4climatejustice.org/the-case/.

BACKGROUND

The six applicants in this case, Cláudia Agostinho (21), Catarina Mota (20), Martim Agostinho (17), Sofia Oliveira (15), André Oliveira (12) and Mariana Agostinho (8), are suing the 27 European Union member states, as well as the UK, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine for failing to make deep and urgent emissions cuts to safeguard their future.

The group intervening today as a third party in the case is made up of members of the Extraterritorial Obligations Consortium which advocates for rights beyond borders.

It includes: Amnesty International; the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS); the Center for Transnational Environmental Accountability (CTEA); the Economic and Social Rights Centre (Hakijamii); FIAN International; the Great Lakes Initiative for Human Rights and Development (GLIHD); the University of Antwerp Law and Development Research Group; Prof. Dr. Mark Gibney; Dr. Gamze Erdem Turkelli; Dr. Sara Seck; Prof. Dr. Sigrun Skogly; Dr. Nicolas Carrillo-Santarelli; Prof. Dr. Jernej Letnar Cernic; Tom Mulisa; Dr. Nicholas Orago; Prof. Dr. Wouter Vandenhole; and Jingjing Zhang

The post Europe: “Climate justice must not stop at borders” human rights organizations tell ECHR in landmark case appeared first on Amnesty International.

The European Ombudsman’s Office has today announced that it will open an inquiry into the possible failure of the European Commission to ensure that Croatian authorities respected fundamental rights while conducting EU-funded border operations against migrants and refugees. Commenting on the decision, the director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office Eve Geddie said:

“Over the years, Amnesty International and other organizations have documented numerous violations, including beatings and torture of migrants and asylum-seekers by Croatian police, whose salaries may have been paid for by EU funds.  Today’s announcement of an inquiry by the EU Ombudsman into how the European Commission allowed the funds to continue to be used without ensuring compliance with human rights is a significant first step towards addressing these flagrant abuses and providing accountability.”

“By continuing to fund border operations and giving a green light for Croatia’s accession to the Schengen area, the Commission abdicated its responsibilities to monitor how EU assistance is used and sent a dangerous signal that blatant human rights violations can continue with no questions asked.”

Amnesty International’s September 2020 complaint, which triggered the investigation, argued that the Commission turned a blind eye to the reports of persistent abuses. It also revealed that the Commission failed to establish an Independent Monitoring Mechanism to ensure that Croatia’s border measures, many of which were funded through EU emergency assistance, complied with fundamental rights.

“We hope that the Ombudsman’s investigation will prompt the Commission to take action to ensure that EU assistance for border operations does not enable further violence and ill-treatment against men, women and children at Europe’s borders.”

Background

European Ombudsman’s Office decided to open an inquiry into the complaint by Amnesty International arguing that the European Commission failed to ensure respect for fundamental rights in the context of border management operations financed by EU funds.

Croatia is a beneficiary of over 108 million EURO under EU’s Asylum Migration and International Fund (AMIF) and has received an additional 23.3 million EURO in emergency assistance for migration and border management since 2017. The emergency assistance to Croatia covered in large part the operational costs, including the salaries of police forces that have been repeatedly accused of unlawful returns and abuse of migrants and asylum-seekers.

Numerous reports over the past three years, including by Amnesty International, have revealed how Croatian police routinely assault men, women and teenagers trying to enter the country, destroy their belongings, while people are sometimes stripped of their clothes and shoes and forced to walk for hours through snow and freezing cold rivers.

In October, Danish Refugee Council documented series of instances of brutal beating, torture, humiliation and a case of sexual assault of men and children apprehended inside of Croatian territory, prompting calls by the European Commission that Croatia investigate the incidents.  

For more information or to arrange an interview contact: press@amnesty.org +32 (0) 483 680 812 press@amnesty.org

The post EU: Inquiry into European complicity in Croatian border violence against migrants and refugees ‘significant’ appeared first on Amnesty International.

“This is the first time that a police officer has been charged for committing the type of violence against migrants that we have documented for years – it is therefore a significant step forward.

This is the first time that a police officer has been charged for committing the type of violence against migrants that we have documented for years – it is therefore a significant step forward

Jelena Sesar, Amnesty International

“Despite ample evidence, Croatian authorities have always denied any wrong-doing and refused to sanction perpetrators of police violence. We hope that this is a sign that the Croatian government is finally taking urgent steps to stop the rampant police abuse at its borders, openly condemn violence and hold perpetrators to account.”

See: https://www.amnesty.eu/news/croatia-fresh-evidence-of-police-abuse-and-torture-of-migrants-and-asylum-seekers/

BACKGROUND

Croatian police confirmed today that two police officers from Karlovac were charged for beating up a 34-year-old migrant from Afghanistan and causing him injuries that required medical treatment. The two police officers were detained, removed from service and will face both criminal and disciplinary proceedings for grave violations of official duty.

Amnesty International and Guardian reported over the past weeks about fresh evidence of police abuse and torture of migrants and asylum-seekers by Croatian police. A group of migrants told Amnesty International how they were bound, brutally beaten and tortured by officers.

The Croatian Ministry of Interior has always dismissed the allegations, accusing migrants and asylum-seekers of slandering Croatian police in order to gain access to the EU.

The United Nation’s Special Rapporteurs have called on Croatia to investigate police brutality against migrants.

The post Croatia: Prosecution of police accused of beating migrant must herald end of cruel practices at the borders appeared first on Amnesty International.

In a horrifying escalation of police human rights violations at the Croatian border with Bosnia, a group of migrants and asylum seekers was recently bound, brutally beaten and tortured by officers who mocked their injuries and smeared food on their bleeding heads to humiliate them, Amnesty International has revealed today.

Amnesty International spoke to six men among a group of 16 Pakistani and Afghan asylum-seekers who were apprehended by the Croatian police on the night between 26 and 27 May near Lake Plitvice, as they tried to cross the country to reach Western Europe.

Between eight and ten people wearing black uniforms and balaclavas identical to those used by Croatia’s Special Police, fired their weapons in the air, kicked and repeatedly hit the restrained men with metal sticks, batons and pistol grips. They then rubbed ketchup, mayonnaise and sugar that they found in one of the backpacks on migrants’ bleeding heads and hair and their trousers. Amnesty International also spoke to doctors who treated the men and NGOs who witnessed their injuries.

“The European Union can no longer remain silent and wilfully ignore the violence and abuses by Croatian police on its external borders. Their silence is allowing, and even encouraging, the perpetrators of this abuse to continue without consequences. The European Commission must investigate the latest reports of horrifying police violence against migrants and asylum-seekers.” said Massimo Moratti, Deputy Director of the Europe Office, following the latest incident on the Croatian border.

Physical and psychological abuse

Amir from Pakistan told Amnesty: “We were pleading with them to stop and show mercy. We were already tied, unable to move and humiliated; there was no reason to keep hitting us and torturing us.” He said the armed men showed no sympathy. “They were taking photos of us with their phones, and were singing and laughing.” Amir had a broken arm and nose, stiches on the back of his head, and visible bruising all over his face and arms.

Ten men suffered serious injuries that night. Thirty-year-old Tariq now has both of his arms and a leg in a cast, visible cuts and bruises on his head and face and is suffering from severe chest pain.

They did not give us a chance to say anything at all when they caught us. They just started hitting us. While I was lying on the ground, they hit my head with the back of a gun and I started bleeding. I tried to protect my head from the blows, but they started kicking me and hitting my arms with metal sticks. I was passing in and out of consciousness the rest of the night.

Tariq

Tariq is now forced to use a wheelchair to move around and it will take months before he is able to move on his own again. 

The men told Amnesty International how they felt humiliated as militia rubbed mayonnaise and ketchup on to their bloody heads and faces. One masked man squirted mayonnaise on an asylum-seeker’s trousers between his legs, while others laughed and sang “Happy Birthday” around them.

After almost five hours of continuous abuse, the migrants were handed over to the Croatian Border Police who transported them close to the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina in two vans before ordering them to walk. “They were taken aback by our condition. We were drenched in blood and very shook up. We could barely stand, much less walk for hours to Bosnia. But they told us to go. They told us to carry the guys who couldn’t walk and just go.” Faisal told Amnesty.

Some of the men eventually reached Miral, a reception centre run by the International Organization for Migration in Velika Kladusa in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but five, who were too weak to walk, stayed behind and were eventually picked up by an NGO operating in the camp.

An emergency doctor at the medical clinic in Velika Kladusa who treated the men told Amnesty International that they all had injuries on the back of their heads which were consistent with a blow by a blunt object and required stiches. Most had multiple fractures, joint injuries, collapsed lungs, cuts and bruises and several were traumatized. Their recovery could take months.

Routine violent pushbacks and torture by the Croatian police remain unpunished

While only the latest in the series, the incident points to a new level of brutality and abuse by the Croatian police. In early May, the Guardian reported about a group of men who were forced across the Croatian border after being beaten and having orange crosses spray-painted on their heads. The Croatian Ministry of Interior dismissed the allegations, but the testimonies of violence and intimidation fit the trend of unlawful pushbacks taking place not only on the Croatian, but also on other external borders of the European Union.  

Numerous reports over the past three years have revealed how the Croatian border police routinely assault men, women and teenagers trying to enter the country, destroy their belongings and smash their phones before pushing them back to Bosnia. People are sometimes stripped of their clothes and shoes, and forced to walk for hours through snow and freezing cold rivers.

A physician in the Velika Kladusa clinic told Amnesty International that approximately 60 per cent of migrants and asylum-seekers who required medical treatment reported that their injuries were inflicted by the Croatian police, while they were trying to cross the border. “Many injuries involve fractures of long bones and joints. These bones take longer to heal and their fractures render the patient incapacitated for extended periods of time. This appears to be a deliberate strategy – to cause injuries and trauma that take time to heal and would make people more reluctant to try to cross the border again or any time soon,” the physician told Amnesty International.

The Croatian Ministry of Interior has so far dismissed these allegations, refusing to carry out independent and effective investigations into reported abuses or hold its officers to account. In a climate of pervasive impunity, unlawful returns and violence at the border have only escalated. Amnesty International has shared the details of this incident with the Ministry of Interior, but has not received an official response.

The EU’s failure to hold Croatia to account

The European Commission has remained silent in the face of multiple, credible reports of gross human rights abuses at the Croatian border and repeated calls by the European Parliament to investigate the allegations. Furthermore, Croatia remains a beneficiary of nearly EURO 7 million of EU assistance for border security, the vast majority of which is spent on infrastructure, equipping border police and even paying police salaries. Even the small proportion (EURO 300,000) that the Commission had earmarked for a mechanism to monitor that the border measures comply with fundamental rights and EU asylum laws, has been no more than a fig leaf. Last year, the Commission recommended Croatia’s full accession to the Schengen Area despite human rights abuses already being commonplace there.

“The European Commission cannot continue to turn a blind eye to blatant breaches of EU law as people are being branded with crosses on their heads or brutally tortured and humiliated by Croatian police. We expect nothing less than the condemnation of these acts and an independent investigation into reported abuses, as well as the establishment of an effective mechanism to ensure that EU funds are not used to commit torture and unlawful returns.  Failing urgent action, Croatia’s inhumane migration practices will turn the EU into an accomplice in major human rights violations taking place at its doorstep,” said Massimo Moratti.

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International press office on press@amnesty.org +32 2 548 27 73 or +32 483 680 812

Background

Photographs of the injuries ©Danish Refugee Council [Note: distressing content]

Violent pushbacks from Croatian border have been a regular occurrence since late 2017. The Danish Refugee Council recorded close to 7,000 cases of forcible deportations and unlawful returns to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2019, most of which were accompanied by reported violence and intimidation by Croatian police. Despite the brief respite during the lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic, pushbacks continue with 1600 cases reported only in April. The figures are increasing daily, as the restrictions across the region are being lifted and the weather is turning milder.

Amnesty International has interviewed over 160 people who have been pushed back or returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina since July 2018. Nearly one third reported being beaten, having their documents and telephones stolen, and verbally abused in what appears to be a deliberate policy designed to deter future attempts to enter the country.

The post Croatia: Fresh evidence of police abuse and torture of migrants and asylum-seekers appeared first on Amnesty International.

People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking to erode the independence of the judiciary to avoid accountability, Amnesty International said today as it published its annual review of human rights in the region.

The organization praised those brave people who took to the streets to defend their own and others’ rights but warned that governments continue to perpetrate human rights violations with impunity across the region.

In 2019, people in Europe and Central Asia were threatened, intimidated, prosecuted, subjected to excessive use of force by police, and suffered discrimination. However, the grassroots mobilization of courageous people who dared to stand up and hold states accountable provides a ray of hope for the future,

Marie Struthers, Europe Director at Amnesty International

Independence of the judiciary under threat

In Poland, the independence of the judiciary – essential for ensuring fair trials and upholding human rights – was threatened as the ruling party took bolder steps to control judges and courts.

Judges and prosecutors found themselves at risk of disciplinary proceedings for speaking out in defence of the judiciary and risked becoming victims of human rights violations themselves. Many were subjected to smear campaigns on state and social media.

Concerns also mounted about the independence of the judiciary in Hungary, Romania and Turkey. Judges in Hungary came under attack from multiple directions as the government continued its attempts to undermine the independence of the judiciary. In May, the European Commission warned Romania that it should address issues including interference with judicial independence by the executive, or potentially face having some of the member state’s rights suspended for persistent breach of the EU’s founding values. In Turkey, a judicial reform package was passed by Parliament. The reforms failed to address the extreme political pressure on the judiciary or to end unfair and politically motivated prosecutions and convictions.

Freedom of peaceful assembly

Independent courts were vitally needed in 2019 to safeguard individual freedoms as state overreach came to the fore, with restrictions on protests in France, Poland and Turkey as well as prosecution of protesters in many more.

Major protests took place in numerous countries across Europe including France, Austria, Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Hungary, with people protesting against austerity measures and corruption, and in defence of social justice and the independence of the judiciary. Protests and strikes urging governments to take measures against climate change became a regular occurrence in major European cities. 

Many states repressed the demonstrations through measures that breached the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. In France, Austria and Spain, hundreds of people were injured by the police during protests. Police resorted to excessive force in France, and violently disrupted peaceful gatherings in Turkey where blanket bans on gatherings were often used to deny the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. States frequently failed to hold their security forces accountable for violence perpetrated during the protests.

Some judges adjudicating in cases relating to protests were harassed or demoted by the Polish authorities.

In Moscow, and other Russian cities, the largest numbers of peaceful protesters seen in many years stood up against the authorities’ refusal to allow opposition candidates to take part in the city elections. The resultant crackdown led to criminal convictions for two dozen participants, simply for exercising their right to protest.

“The reprisals against participants of mass protests in Moscow kick-started an unprecedented solidarity campaign that signals the further awakening of human rights awareness and people power in Russia,” said Marie Struthers.

Migration

European states continued to avoid accountability for human rights violations resulting from their migration policies by “outsourcing” border control to countries with questionable human rights records. In 2019, migration policies continued to prioritise the protection of borders over the protection of human lives. Despite the deteriorating security situation there, European countries continued cooperating with Libya to contain migrants and asylum-seekers in the country.

In November, the Italian government extended its agreement with Libya on migration for a further three years, despite continuing evidence pointing to systematic human rights violations including torture in Libya’s detention centres.

Reports of grave human rights violations against asylum-seekers and refugees, and their continued denial of access to protection, failed to deter the EU from partnering with Turkey to curb migration via the 2016 EU-Turkey Deal. Ahead of Turkey’s incursion into north-eastern Syria in October, Amnesty International conducted dozens of interviews which suggested hundreds of Syrians were likely forcibly deported from Turkey between May and September, under the guise of “voluntary returns”. The deal is also causing unprecedented overcrowding of the camps in the Aegean islands, where tens of thousands of people live in destitute conditions.

Human rights defenders under attack

Civil society, journalists and others responsible for holding governments to account faced pressure in 2019.

“Human rights defenders, journalists, NGOs and other people campaigning for a fairer and more just society were all at the sharp end of government crackdowns in 2019,” said Marie Struthers.

Their work to hold authorities to account, will only be more vital during the COVID-19 crisis and in its aftermath. The humanity and solidarity they show towards the most marginalized members of our societies are needed now more than ever, and will continue to be essential during the post-COVID-19 recovery.

Marie Struthers

For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International press office on press@amnesty.org +32 2 548 27 73 or +32 483 680 812

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To understand where the priorities of European governments lie, one only needs to follow the money. Their financial contribution towards humanitarian assistance is dwarfed by the funds they provide for border security

Massimo Moratti, Amnesty International

Pushed to the edge: Violence and abuse against refugees and migrants along Balkan Route details how, by prioritizing border control over compliance with international law, European governments are not just turning a blind eye to vicious assaults by the Croatian police, but also funding their activities. In so doing, they are fueling a growing humanitarian crisis on the edge of the European Union.

“To understand where the priorities of European governments lie, one only needs to follow the money. Their financial contribution towards humanitarian assistance is dwarfed by the funds they provide for border security which includes equipping Croatian border police and even paying their salaries,” said Massimo Moratti, Director of Research for Amnesty International’s Europe Office.

“Meanwhile people fleeing war and persecution are beaten and robbed by the Croatian police and forcibly pushed back to legal limbo, left at the mercy of a failing asylum system in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

Currently around 5,500 women, men and children are trapped in two small Bosnian towns near the Croatian border, Bihac and Velika Kladusa, living in defunct former factories without basic amenities. Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot offer them adequate protection or living conditions and the improvised camps are unhygienic, lacking hot water, medical care and sufficient food.

One Afghan mother told Amnesty International: “We don’t have enough food to feed the whole family, especially the children. They are always hungry.”

Bureaucratic obstacles, inadequate legal assistance and limited administrative capacity mean that potential asylum-seekers are unlikely to get their asylum claims processed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Most attempt to proceed to other European countries.

We don’t have enough food to feed the whole family, especially the children. They are always hungry

Afghan asylum seeker

This journey is not easy. Having previously entered the EU through Greece and Bulgaria and having been abjectly failed by the asylum system there, people exit the EU to continue the journey along the Balkans. In order to reach Slovenia or Italy, where the EU Schengen free movement regime begins, they have to navigate Croatia’s dense forests, fast moving rivers and, in some places, live minefields.

In the first ten months of 2018, at least 12 people drowned in the Western Balkans, most of them trying to cross the border from Croatia to Slovenia. Dozens more died in other ways. One young woman from Afghanistan told Amnesty International how, after seeing a bear in a forest in Croatia, a woman she was travelling with miscarried. “She got so scared that she delivered a stillborn baby. She was six months pregnant.”

Those attempting the journey are frequently subjected to deliberate pushbacks and collective expulsions – often accompanied by violence and intimidation – at the border between Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, without having their asylum claims considered.

They drove us to the border with Bosnia. They made us get out of the car one-by-one and started beating us with batons

A young asylum seeker from Gaza

Nearly all in the camps in Bihac and Velika Kladusa had been pushed back into Bosnia and Herzegovina from Croatia or Slovenia and nearly one third of those interviewed had experienced violence at the hands of the Croatian police. Many described how they were beaten, had their documents destroyed and possessions stolen in what appears to be a systematic and deliberate policy by Croatian authorities designed to deter future attempts to enter the country.

One young man from Gaza told Amnesty International what happened when he was caught by police with nine others. “They drove us to the border with Bosnia. They made us get out of the car one-by-one and started beating us with batons,” he said.

He then described how they were sprayed in the face with what he thought was pepper spray: “I couldn’t see anything. My eyes were burning. Then they told us to go and never come back to Croatia”.

Sami from Algeria told Amnesty International how he and a group of other men were taken one-by-one, and made to stand in a circle of masked policemen who beat them with batons and a baseball bat. “Then they took our money and the phones and told us to go towards Bosnia,” he said.

Another man described how Croatian police took their shoes, warm clothes and sleeping bags and forced them to walk barefoot for kilometres through freezing rivers and streams towards the Bosnian border. Such returns regularly took place at night and in remote areas outside of regular border crossings.

Those caught in Italy and Slovenia are often subject to chain pushbacks, summarily handed over to Croatian police and forcibly expelled back to camps in Bosnia and Herzegovina without having their asylum claims considered.

As the allegations of violent pushbacks on the borders have mounted, Croatian authorities have increasingly discouraged public scrutiny of country’s migration practices. Attempts by Croatian public institutions to oversee migration practices at the border have been blocked and organizations working on migrant and refugee rights have been targeted by the authorities.

As temperatures rise and the snows melt, the number of people attempting to cross Croatia will swell and action must be taken to avoid a humanitarian crisis in on the edge of the EU

Massimo Moratti, Amnesty International

NGO volunteers have been harassed, held for hours by police without formal charges and threatened with criminal prosecution. The Ministry of Interior has even accused some NGOs of assisting people to enter Croatia irregularly. This has had a chilling effect on those working to support refugees.

In spite of these appalling practices at the border, the European Union has continued to allocate significant funds to assist Croatia in its border security infrastructure. The EU has also wilfully ignored the failures of the European asylum system that make these journeys necessary.

“As temperatures rise and the snows melt, the number of people attempting to cross Croatia will swell. But with Bosnia and Herzegovina ill-equipped to handle the arrival of an increasing number of people seeking protection, action must be taken to avoid a humanitarian crisis in on the edge of the EU,” said Massimo Moratti.

“European leaders can no longer wash their hands of responsibility for the continued collective expulsions and violent pushbacks along the Balkan route that are the result of their determination to fortify EU borders, no matter what the human cost is.”

Background

The route through Bosnia and Croatia has become increasingly popular since Hungary erected fences along its borders and engaged in violent pushbacks making Serbia and Hungary increasingly impenetrable.

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“Today – a week after landmark sentencing of Ratko Mladic – judges at the tribunal have brought down their gavel for the last time ending an historic endeavour in international justice. It is now vital that the national courts take the baton from the ICTY and step up their efforts to bring remaining perpetrators to justice.

“The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia has helped bring a measure of justice to thousands of victims of the armed conflicts in former Yugoslavia and demonstrated what is possible when the international community comes together.

“The court has been a beacon sending out a powerful message around the world that impunity cannot and will not be tolerated.”

Background:

Today the tribunal confirmed the sentences against six former Bosnian Croat political and military officials is the final verdict before it shuts down in December. The court was established in 1993 and has prosecuted some of the most important war crimes cases in Europe since the Nuremburg trials. It has indicted 161 people, none of whom remain at large today.

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