On Monday 30 April the Australian government is expected to end its contract with International Health and Medical Services (IHMS), which provides healthcare for the refugees and asylum seekers Australia has sent to Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Graham Thom, Refugee Coordinator at Amnesty International Australia said:

“Ever since the Australian government began shipping refugees out to detention centres on remote tropical islands, they have been trying to hide from the consequences of this cruel policy. Withdrawing healthcare is Australia’s latest deplorable attempt to shift the responsibility for the suffering it has caused.

“The health situation for refugees and asylum seekers in PNG is already dire, but the end of the IHMS contract threatens to turn this into an all-out crisis.”

Graham Thom

“The health situation for refugees and asylum seekers in PNG is already dire, but the end of the IHMS contract threatens to turn this into an all-out crisis. Despite six deaths, and soaring rates of mental illness and self-harm among this traumatized population, the Australian government seems to have no plan in place for filling the void that will be left by the withdrawal of these services.

“Refugees in PNG have neither the freedom of movement nor the means to access healthcare on their own, and the fragile national health system will be unable to cope without Australian support.

“The only way for Australia to ensure the health of the refugees and asylum seekers on Manus is to end offshore processing for good. In the meantime, the Australian government must take immediate steps to ensure that the refugees and asylum seekers it has sent to PNG are able to access adequate healthcare, and reinstate torture and trauma counselling as a priority.”

A sustained and escalating crackdown curtailed the vital work of human rights defenders in Turkey and left swathes of society in a state of constant fear, a new report from Amnesty International has revealed.

The report, Weathering The Storm: Defending human rights in a climate of fear, reveals how few areas of Turkey’s once vibrant independent civil society have been left untouched by the ongoing state of emergency.  A nationwide crackdown has resulted in mass arrests and dismissals, the hollowing out of the legal system and the silencing of human rights defenders through threats, harassment and imprisonment.

“Whilst the jailing of journalists and activists may have hit the headlines, the profound impact that Turkey’s crackdown has had on wider society is harder to quantify but it is no less real,” said Amnesty International’s Europe Director, Gauri van Gulik.

“Under the cloak of the state of emergency, Turkish authorities have deliberately and methodically set about dismantling civil society, locking up human rights defenders, shutting down organisations and creating a suffocating climate of fear.”

Amnesty International Europe Director Gauri van Gulik

“Under the cloak of the state of emergency, Turkish authorities have deliberately and methodically set about dismantling civil society, locking up human rights defenders, shutting down organisations and creating a suffocating climate of fear.”

The state of emergency, declared in July 2016 as a temporary exceptional measure in the wake of the failed coup attempt, was renewed for a seventh time last week. Under its imposition, the rights to freedom of expression to liberty and security and to fair trials have been decimated. In so doing, the last line of defence for any healthy society – namely the work of human rights defenders – has been breached.

Blanket bans on public gatherings in cities across Turkey have curtailed the right to assembly and association. Meanwhile more than 100,000 people have faced criminal investigations and at least 50,000 people have been imprisoned pending trial. More than 107,000 public sector employees have been summarily dismissed.

Prosecution and detention

Many of the country’s most prominent journalists and human rights defenders, including Taner Kılıç, honorary chair of Amnesty International Turkey, have been jailed on baseless “terrorism” charges. But their arrests are merely the tip of the iceberg.

Anti-terrorism laws and trumped-up coup related charges are used to target and silence peaceful, legitimate dissent. Prominent journalists, academics, human rights defenders and other civil society actors are subjected to arbitrary detention, prosecutions and, if found guilty in unfair trials, face long sentences.

In February, journalists Nazlı Ilıcak, Ahmet Altan and Mehmet Altan were given life sentences without parole for “attempting to overthrow the constitutional order” merely for doing journalistic work. The same sentence could be imposed on human rights lawyer and columnist Orhan Kemal Cengiz for critical comments he made on social media, at speaking events and in his columns. A decision on his case is expected on 11 May.

Human rights defender, Dr Şebnem Korur Fincancı told Amnesty International: “I have a small bag ready at home” in case of arrest. Osman İşçi, General Secretary of the Human Rights Association told Amnesty International: “The aim is to maintain the climate of fear. It is arbitrary. It is not predictable. It cannot be effectively challenged so there is impunity.”

Intimidation and the silencing dissent

The crackdown on dissent has had a chilling effect on freedom of expression across the country. As lawyer and human rights defender Eren Keskin, who is facing 140 separate prosecutions, a travel ban and prison sentences pending on appeal, told Amnesty International: “I try to express my views freely but I am also acutely aware of thinking twice before speaking or writing.”

As the Turkish military offensive in Afrin, Northern Syria, began on 20 January 2018, hundreds of people who expressed their opposition to the intervention were targeted. According to the Ministry of the Interior, by 26 February, 845 people had been detained for social media posts, 643 people were subject to judicial proceedings and 1,719 social media accounts were under investigation in connection with Afrin.

One human rights activist, Ali Erol, was held in police custody for five days after tweeting an image of an olive tree alongside anti-war hashtags. He is facing a criminal investigation for “propaganda for a terrorist organization” and “inciting the people to hatred and enmity”.

In March, more than 20 students were taken into police custody for participating in a campus based anti-war protest. Ten were subsequently remanded in prison pending trial.

Shutting down of NGOs and marginalizing groups

More than 1,300 NGOs have been permanently closed down under the state of emergency for unspecified links to “terrorist” organizations. They include organizations that once carried out vital work supporting groups such as survivors of sexual and other gender-based violence, displaced people and children.

Zozan Özgökçe of the Van Women’s Association told Amnesty International: “There is now a huge gap in the provision of advice and support to survivors. It really breaks my heart.”

The organization which was uniquely placed to support women in hard to reach rural communities in eastern Turkey, helped raise children’s awareness of sexual abuse and provided training in leadership and financial literacy for women. It is now closed.

LGBTI organizations speak of being pushed “underground” with public events such as gay pride marches and film festivals banned in several cities.

One activist told Amnesty International: “Today most LGBTI+ people in Turkey are living in more fear than ever before. With the overall crackdown on freedom of expression, LGBTI+ people feel that the spaces for them to be themselves are drastically shrinking.”

“Extraordinary measures are becoming increasingly normalized in Turkey, and yet in spite of the pernicious, deliberate and targeted onslaught against individuals and groups, there are still brave people in Turkey willing to stand up and speak out,” said Gauri van Gulik.

“The international community should stand with them and call on the Turkish authorities to lift restrictions on civil society organizations, end the crackdown on freedoms and lift the climate of fear and intimidation.”

The Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative (CRSI) is calling on government to create a system that allows the generosity of ordinary Australians to flourish, welcoming refugees into our communities.

CRSI is a joint project of the Refugee Council of Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Save the Children Australia, Welcome to Australia, Rural Australians for Refugees and the Australian Churches Refugee Taskforce.

“We know Australians have big hearts and welcome people from all over the globe.”

Save the Children Australia policy adviser Lisa Button.

“We know Australians have big hearts and welcome people from all over the globe,” Save the Children Australia policy adviser Lisa Button said.

“Across the world we’ve seen similar successful refugee community sponsorship programs in places such as Canada and more recently in the United Kingdom, which have helped provide an extra avenue for welcoming and supporting the world’s displaced people. Australians can benefit from these experiences if we put in place a similar program on our own shores.

“The number of resettlement places available for refugees around the world is grossly inadequate to respond to the need. Globally, 65 million people are now forced from their homes, with fewer than one per cent finding safety through resettlement each year.

“This is not a problem that any government can solve on its own, but we need countries such as Australia to step up and provide solutions for those facing persecution and conflict. Part of that solution is changing immigration policy settings to allow individuals and communities to make their own contribution via community sponsorship.”

Save the Children Australia last month welcomed a delegation of Canadian community refugee sponsorship experts who were here to share with Australian policy makers and community groups what can be learned from the Canadian experience.

“We know from experience many Australians are willing and wanting to offer their own time, money and other resources to help refugees find safety and successfully integrate in Australia, including those from rural and regional areas, so why not encourage them to do so through community sponsorship?” Ms Button said.

“Candidates for sponsorship should include refugees referred by UNHCR, those with family in Australia and those who may have secured employment opportunities in Australia.”

Amnesty International Australia’s refugee campaign coordinator Shankar Kasynathan fled Sri Lanka with his family in 1987.

On arrival in Australia, Shankar and his family were resettled with help from the local community.

“Community-led, neighbourhood-driven sponsorship was how my family and I escaped a life of persecution, cruel racism and life-threatening situations,” he said.

“Communities around Australia are ready and willing to accept more refugees into their neighbourhoods, but for that to happen we need the Australian Government to expand and improve its refugee community sponsorship program.”

Shankar Kasynathan – Refugee Campaigner

“Communities around Australia are ready and willing to accept more refugees into their neighbourhoods, but for that to happen we need the Australian Government to expand and improve its refugee community sponsorship program.”

CRSI has modelled a community refugee sponsorship system for Australia which would supplement, not supplant, government-funded resettlement programs and encourage Australian communities to work closely with new arrivals to help them settle and integrate quickly.

Ms Button said: “With the scale of the global refugee situation, solutions for refugees are becoming increasingly scarce, but Australians can make a positive decision to support community sponsorship and open our hearts and homes to people who need a new home”.

For more information about the Community Refugee Sponsorship Initiative visit the website > http://www.ausrefugeesponsorship.com.au

WA Corrections Minister Fran Logan must stop Banksia Hill children’s prison falling into another cycle of “denial and spin” on his watch, said Amnesty International today, following the release of a new report into conditions at the detention centre.

Today’s Office of the Inspector of Custodial Services’ report found that, despite some improvements, Banksia subjected children to a range of harmful conditions and practises, including excessive strip-searching.

“Staff did 12,813 strip searches over the two years 2015-1016, on children as young as 10 years old, despite finding only 10 items of contraband. Whilst this rate dropped significantly in 2016, excessive strip-searching remains a gross violation of the rights of vulnerable children and should only be carried out when absolutely necessary,” said Tammy Solonec, Indigenous Rights Manager at Amnesty International Australia.

Isolation cell the size of car parking space

Of most concern, the centre’s so-called Intensive Support Unit “created a highly inappropriate and counter-therapeutic environment to house young people who are, or had been, acutely mentally unwell.”

A young person has now been held in an isolation cell in the ISU, the size of a car parking space, for over 340 days, has resorted to self-harm, and is applying to be transferred to an adult prison.

“When a young person is desperately applying to be transferred to a harsh adult prison just so they can get away from the punishment unit in Banksia, it’s clear that conditions are very bad. Minister Logan must close this isolation unit immediately,” said Tammy Solonec.

Amnesty International has, since December, repeatedly requested access to information on Banksia Hill via a Freedom of Information request. The department has failed for four months to make any decision about this request.

The report also found:

• the children’s prison is breaching international standards by subjecting all children to collective punishment;
• too many are children locked up in the controversial centre, highlighting that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up seven out of 10 children in Banksia Hill, and almost all of the younger and regional children;
• there was inadequate support to connect Indigenous children to culture, or support for Indigenous staff members;
• there was inadequate support for children with diverse needs, citing a recent Telethon Institute study, which showed that 9 out of 10 of the children in Banksia have some form of brain injury; and
• girls in the centre were housed inappropriately, with fewer access to privileges than boys, such as being able to make food for themselves and access sports training sessions run by external sporting clubs.

Poor leadership, denial and spin

This is all against a backdrop of years of mismanagement. Inspector Neil Morgan said, about the centre, that “Every period of crisis has been preceded by poor leadership and management, compounded by denial and spin.”

Tammy Solonec said, “Corrections Minister Fran Logan cannot hide behind these reports any longer. For these girls and boys, this report or the next one or the next one won’t matter. Mr Logan has a duty of care to these children – he must shut down the isolation unit immediately, and commit to an open, transparent and trackable strategy to overhaul the youth justice system in WA.”

The Australian Government, as a leading member of the US-led coalition during the operations, must do everything in its power to commit to protecting the rights of all Iraqis, particularly women and children in displacement camps.

The Government must also use its influence to urge the Iraqi government to protect all women and children in the displacement camps and prevent all armed actors, including security guards, military and militia personnel from entering the camps.

• Report reveals women raped for being related to men linked to Islamic State

• Women and children in camps across Iraq deprived of food, water and other essentials and prevented from returning home

• Harrowing testimony from 92 women in eight displacement camps

• “Each night, I say to myself, ‘Tonight is the night I’m going to die’” – Dana

Iraqi women and children with perceived ties to the armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) are being denied humanitarian aid and prevented from returning to their homes, with an alarming number of women subjected to sexual violence, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.

The Condemned: Women and Children Isolated, Trapped and Exploited in Iraq reveals widespread discrimination against women living in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) by security forces, members of camp administrations and local authorities, who believe these women are affiliated to IS.

Amnesty International established that sexual exploitation was occurring in each of the eight camps that Amnesty researchers visited.

“The war against IS in Iraq may be over, but the suffering of Iraqis is far from over. Iraqi women and children with perceived ties to IS are being punished for crimes they did not commit.”

Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International.

“The war against IS in Iraq may be over, but the suffering of Iraqis is far from over. Iraqi women and children with perceived ties to IS are being punished for crimes they did not commit,” said Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International.

“Cast out of their communities, these families have nowhere and no one to turn to. They are trapped in camps, ostracized and denied food, water and other essentials. This humiliating collective punishment risks laying the foundation for future violence. It is no way to build the just and sustainable peace that Iraqis so desperately desire and need.”

The report details the plight of thousands of female-headed families who have been left to fend for themselves in IDP camps after male family members were killed, or arbitrarily arrested and forcibly disappeared while fleeing IS-held areas in and around Mosul.

In many cases, the men’s only “crime” was escaping an IS stronghold, having similar names to those on questionable “wanted lists” or working in non-combat roles with IS as cooks or drivers.

Isolated and sexually exploited

The research shows that women and children in IDP camps across Iraq are denied food and health care as a result of their perceived ties to IS.

These families are also routinely blocked from obtaining identity cards and other documents needed to work and move freely. In at least one camp, families suspected of links to IS are forbidden to leave what has become a de facto detention centre.

Desperate and isolated, the women are at heightened risk of sexual exploitation by security forces, armed guards and members of militias working in and near the camps. In each of the eight camps Amnesty International visited, women were being coerced and pressured into entering sexual relationships in exchange for desperately needed cash, humanitarian aid and protection from other men.

These women are also at risk of rape. Four women told Amnesty International they had either witnessed rape directly or heard the screams of a woman in a nearby tent who was being raped by armed men, members of the camp administration or other camp residents.

“Dana”, a 20-year-old woman, told Amnesty International she had survived several rape attempts and faced relentless pressure to have sex with a member of the security forces in her camp.

“Because they consider me the same as an IS fighter, they will rape me and return me back. They want to show everyone what they can do to me – to take away my honour.”

“Dana”, a 20-year-old woman

“Because they consider me the same as an IS fighter, they will rape me and return me back. They want to show everyone what they can do to me – to take away my honour,” she said.

“I can’t feel comfortable in my tent. I just want a door to lock and walls around me… Each night, I say to myself, ‘Tonight is the night I’m going to die’.”

Many of the women that Amnesty interviewed in IDP camps expressed fear for their safety.

“Women are being subjected to dehumanizing and discriminatory treatment by armed men operating in the camps for their alleged affiliation with IS. The very people who are supposed to be protecting them are turning into predators,” said Lynn Maalouf.

“The Iraqi government must show it is serious about ending the violations against these women by holding all perpetrators to account and stopping all armed men from entering IDP camps.”

Nowhere to turn

In several areas, local and tribal authorities have issued orders that block the return of women and children with perceived ties to IS, leaving them trapped in the IDP camps.

Those who have made it home have faced evictions, forced displacement, looting, threats and abuse, including sexual abuse and sexual harassment. In some instances, their houses have been marked “Daesh” (the Arabic term for IS) and destroyed or they have had their electricity, water and other services cut off.

“Maha” described to Amnesty International the despair she felt at facing such discrimination.

“Sometimes I ask myself: why didn’t I just die in an air strike? I attempted to commit suicide but I didn’t follow through. I put kerosene on myself, but before I lit it on fire, I thought of my son.”

“MaHA”

“Sometimes I ask myself: why didn’t I just die in an air strike? I attempted to commit suicide but I didn’t follow through. I put kerosene on myself, but before I lit it on fire, I thought of my son,” she said.

“I feel I am at my end. I am in a prison here. I am completely alone – without my husband, my father – no one is with me anymore.”

The situation for women like “Maha” is likely to get even worse as international funding for the humanitarian crisis in Iraq is projected to sharply decrease.

In advance of Iraq’s parliamentary elections in May, displaced people are being urged to leave IDP camps as the government’s focus turns to closing and consolidating them.

“The Iraqi authorities must ensure that families in IDP camps with perceived ties to IS are given equal access to humanitarian aid, health care and civil documents. These families must be allowed to return home without fear of intimidation, arrest or attacks,” Lynn Maalouf said.

“The authorities must also immediately end the systematic and widespread practice of forcibly disappearing men and boys with perceived ties to IS that has left thousands of wives, mothers, daughters and sons in desperate situations.

“To put an end to the poisonous cycle of marginalization and communal violence that has plagued Iraq for decades, the Iraqi government and international community must commit to upholding the rights of all Iraqis without discrimination. Without this, there can be no national reconciliation or lasting peace.”

Background

The report was based on interviews with 92 women in eight IDP camps in Ninewa and Salah al-Din governorates. Researchers also interviewed 30 local and international NGO workers, 11 members of camp administrations and nine current and former UN officials.