Ai Weiwei joins call to pardon Snowden

World-renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is joining forces with Amnesty International to mobilize hundreds of thousands of supporters around the world to inundate the White House with messages in support of Edward Snowden, as part of the world’s biggest human rights campaign, launched today.

The Write for Rights campaign in Australia, with local events taking place in November and December, is also taking on eight other human rights cases, including a jailed Egyptian photojournalist at risk of execution, a Peruvian farmer facing harassment and attacks for refusing to leave her land, and an Indonesian teacher imprisoned for the simple act of waving a flag.

“A world in which nobody stands up for whistleblowers and activists is a world where nobody takes risks to defend the public interest or expose government abuses. People need to stand together to defend the kind of society they want to live in,” said Edward Snowden.

“By lifting the lid on global mass surveillance, Edward Snowden started one of the major human rights struggles of the 21st century. Without him, the world would still be in the dark about a massive invasion of privacy. Instead, there is now a nascent global movement fighting for human rights online,” said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“People need to stand together to defend the kind of society they want to live in.”

Edward Snowden

“The price of exposing abuse of power must not be exile. President Obama must listen to the voice of people around the world who stand with Snowden. These people want to live in a world where they can keep intimate details of their lives private, and where people are not prosecuted for exposing human rights abuses.

“Snowden clearly acted in the interest both of the US public, and of people around the world. The USA should never have charged him in the first place. By pardoning him, President Obama can end his term by breaking with an insidious pattern of US presidents favouring government secrecy over human rights.”

Amnesty International has always considered Edward Snowden a whistleblower, and believes that no one should be charged for disclosing information about human rights violations. Along with PardonSnowden.org, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International launched a petition on 14 September 2016 calling on President Obama to pardon Snowden.

Snowden still faces decades in prison under World War One-era espionage laws that equate whistleblowing in the public interest with selling secrets to foreign enemies of the USA. Without the guarantee of a fair trial and a public interest defence, he has no choice but to live in limbo in Russia.

Ai Weiwei backs human rights campaign

Ai Weiwei will join hundreds of thousands of Amnesty International supporters in sending messages of support to victims of human rights abuses and messages calling for action to world leaders like Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

“As an artist, free speech is essential to my work.”

Ai Weiwei

“I am taking part in this campaign to support people who have suffered for doing or saying things that their governments did not approve of. As an artist, free speech is essential to my work, and I know first-hand what happens when that comes into conflict with the powers that be, and how important global support is when the state tries to silence you. Allowing people to express themselves is the difference between a modern society and a barbaric one,” said Ai Weiwei.

Last year, people taking part in the Write for Rights campaign sent more than 3.7 million letters, emails, SMS messages, faxes, tweets and more, making it the world’s biggest human rights campaign.

This year people will be writing messages calling on, among others:

  • Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeau to stop the building of a huge dam that would drown more than 80km of land in Peace River Valley, British Columbia, sweeping away Indigenous hunting, fishing and burial grounds.
  • Cameroonian President Paul Biya to release Fomusoh Ivo Feh, a student from Cameroon locked-up and facing a prison term for forwarding an SMS to his friend, joking that even Boko Haram will only hire young people with good school results – a reference to how hard it is to get a good job without the right qualifications.
  • Chinese authorities to free Ilham Tohti, an economics professor and well known critic of China’s ethnic and religious policies in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR). He was sentenced to life in jail for “separatism” – a charge that has often been used against Uighurs who speak out against human rights violations.

“Amnesty International asks people to take injustice personally, and there are few more direct ways of taking action than picking up a pen and writing a letter to tell someone courageous that you stand with them, or telling someone in authority that you are watching them,” said Salil Shetty.

“Our campaign sends a message to the world that people are ready to stand up to abuses of power, wherever they take place. It’s our duty to shine a light on injustice, so governments cannot look the other way.”

Solidarity campaign has seen prisoners released, pardoned

In the 2015 campaign, hundreds of thousands of people in more than 200 countries and territories sent 3.7 million (up from 3.2 million in 2014) messages offering support or calling for action for individuals and communities from Mexico to Myanmar experiencing human rights abuses.

The campaign contributed to major human rights victories around the world:

  • DRC: On 30 August 2016, youth activists Fred Bauma and Yves Makwambala were released on bail, having been arrested at a press conference and accused of forming a criminal gang and attempting to overthrow the government. Until their release, Fred and Yves were awaiting a trial that could have seen them face the death penalty. Amnesty International supporters wrote more than 170,000 messages of support or calling for their release.
  • Mexico: On 7 June 2016, Yecenia Armenta was acquitted and released, after four years in jail. In 2012 she was beaten, near-asphyxiated and raped during 15 hours of torture until she was forced to “confess” to involvement in the murder of her husband. Amnesty International supporters sent 318,000 messages about her case.
  • Myanmar: On 8 April 2016, a court dropped charges against student leaderPhyoe Phyoe Aung, detained for a year after helping to organize largely peaceful student protests. Amnesty International supporters across the world wrote more than 394,000 letters, emails, tweets and other messages of support and calling for her release. Thanking them, she said, “International organizations like Amnesty never forget the people who are facing injustice in their struggle for democracy and human rights. We need to be strong and remember how important it is to join together in our struggles.”
  • USA: On 19 February 2016, the state of Louisiana freed Albert Woodfox, 44 years after he was first put into solitary confinement, following three court rulings overturning his conviction. More than 240,000 people took action for Albert during Write for Rights 2015.

“A message of solidarity from a stranger can give strength to people who have lost hope, and can stir a second thought in authorities who have lost compassion. Spread the word: writing a letter can change a life. Your grandparents, your friends, your neighbours, your school friends, your colleagues – get them all to write a letter this December, because everyone can make a difference,” said Salil Shetty.

“Even in an age of mass digital communication, the act of writing a message to someone facing grave injustice is a powerful act of solidarity that makes a massive difference. The Write for Rights campaign sends a message victims that ‘We are with you’, while also reminding the authorities that we are watching.”

UN: Inaction on Syria is not an option

Ahead of an urgent declaration being issued today by more than 200 civil society groups from around the world, urging the UN General Assembly to take action regarding the war in Syria, Sherine Tadros, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office, said:

“It is becoming clearer every day that the UN Security Council has failed the Syrian people. There have been almost half a million deaths, and each one is a stark rebuke of the Security Council, the supposed guardian of international peace and security, which has allowed a political deadlock to stand in the way of saving lives.

“The inaction we have seen over the past five years is a shameful chapter in the history of the Security Council.”

Sherine Tadros, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office

“This is why we, along with 224 civil society organizations, are urgently calling on UN member states to take action and request an Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly to demand an end to all unlawful attacks in Aleppo and elsewhere in Syria. They must call for immediate and unhindered humanitarian access so that life-saving aid can reach all those in need.

“UN member states can and should use all the diplomatic tools at their disposal to take action towards ending the atrocities in Syria – the inaction we have seen over the past five years is a shameful chapter in the history of the Security Council.”

Children’s Commissioner urges Australia to ratify OPCAT and protect kids in detention

We welcome the Children’s Commissioner’s report tabled today, urging the Australian Government to protect children in detention by ratifying the UN Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.

In response to the report, Roxanne Moore, Indigenous Rights Campaigner at Amnesty International Australia, said:

“Let’s see Australia’s leaders ratify OPCAT, and then commit to a national plan for protecting children in detention at next week’s COAG meeting, when youth detention and child protection will be on the agenda for the first time ever.”

“Ratifying OPCAT will allow independent inspectors to shine a light into the dark places of detention and protect children from abuse.”

 

“This adds to calls from the United Nations, Amnesty International, the Change the Record Coalition and many others. We’ve seen horrific torture at Don Dale, mistreatment in Cleveland Youth Detention Centre, and unrest in detention centres right around Australia”

“Prime Minister Turnbull needs to take action and ratify OPCAT now so human rights abuses of kids in detention never happen again.”

“When our leaders meet next week for COAG they must address the Children’s Commissioner’s call for a national strategy to end the overrepresentation of Indigenous children and adults in detention, under the Close the Gap Framework.”

“That is the only way we will see progress – and we can’t afford to fail another generation of Indigenous kids.”

“After reading this report, it’s clear how the Don Dale abuses happened, and how abuses are happening to kids all over the country. The report says loud and clear that current systems of oversight of places of detention are not in line with international standards – and they aren’t working effectively to capture all human rights abuses. Bodies that currently have some level of oversight – like Ombudsmen, Commissions and Official Visitors – are not independent enough and do not have a mandate to get full access into youth detention centres. Where there are a lot of agencies involved, there is a lack of coordination. Further, these agencies where they exist are not resourced well enough. The result is huge gaps in oversight, which leads to situations of abuse of children, as we saw in Don Dale and Cleveland.”

“The Commissioner finds that monitoring bodies need to extend to places like police cells and lock-ups, court holding cells, and vehicles used to transport people in the youth justice system. This is a particularly important finding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in the wake of Ms Dhu’s death in a police cell last year and the many other preventable Aboriginal deaths that have occurred in police custody.”

10 anti-slavery activists released in Mauritania

On International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, we celebrate the recent release of three anti-slavery activists, and the reduced sentence of 10 others in Mauritania who have been imprisoned since 30 June.

The Appeal Court ruling in Mauritania acquitted and ordered the release of three anti-slavery activists, and reduced the sentence of 10 others – including seven who will now be released as they have served their sentence.

Kiné Fatim Diop, Amnesty International’s West Africa Campaigner, said: “The release of three anti-slavery activists who had been unfairly sentenced to up to 15 years for peacefully expressing their opinions is a huge relief for them, their families and for all those who have been campaigning for an end to the brutal crackdown on human rights defenders in Mauritania.”

“The release of three anti-slavery activists who had been unfairly sentenced to up to 15 years for peacefully expressing their opinions is a huge relief for them, their families and for all those who have been campaigning for an end to the brutal crackdown on human rights defenders in Mauritania.”

However: “The authorities should explicitly recognise the legitimacy of all groups working against slavery and discrimination, including the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement, and ensure that the criminal justice system is no longer used to target and harass those who defend human rights.’’

Sentenced up to 15 years in prison

The activists were originally sentenced on 3 August to between three and 15 years in prison on trumped up charges of rebellion, use of violence, attacks against the police and judicial officials and membership of an unrecognised organisation.

The charges relate to a protest against the eviction of a slum that took place in the capital Nouakchott on July. However, none of the 13 activists were present at the protest and the organization they belong to – The Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement – did not provide any support to the protest.

Among the 10 remaining, seven have been sentenced to one year’s imprisonment with four months’ suspended. Two of them were sentenced to three years with two years suspended, and another one to six months’ imprisonment. Except those acquitted, they will pay a fine of 45,897 USD.

In 1981, Mauritania became the last country in the world to abolish slavery, but descendants of slaves are still disparagingly known as ‘Haratin’ and they continue to face slavery and discrimination.

Learn more about anti-slavery activism in Mauritania.

Palm Oil: Global brands profiting from child and forced labour

Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble among nine household names contributing to labour abuse.

The world’s most popular food and household companies are selling food, cosmetics and other everyday staples containing palm oil tainted by shocking human rights abuses in Indonesia, with children as young as eight working in hazardous conditions, according to our latest research.

Our new report, The great palm oil scandal: Labour abuses behind big brand names, investigates palm oil plantations in Indonesia run by the world’s biggest palm oil grower, Singapore-based agri-business Wilmar, tracings palm oil to nine global firms: AFAMSA, ADM, Colgate-Palmolive, Elevance, Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever.

Read the full report

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WooDTYT0v0

Colgate-Palmolive, Kellogg’s, Nestlé

“Companies are turning a blind eye to exploitation of workers in their supply chain. Despite promising customers that there will be no exploitation in their palm oil supply chains, big brands continue to profit from appalling abuses. These findings will shock any consumer who thinks they are making ethical choices in the supermarket when they buy products that claim to use sustainable palm oil,” said Meghna Abraham, Senior Investigator at Amnesty International.

“Corporate giants like Colgate, Nestlé and Unilever assure consumers that their products use ‘sustainable palm oil’, but our findings reveal that the palm oil is anything but. There is nothing sustainable about palm oil that is produced using child labour and forced labour. The abuses discovered within Wilmar’s palm oil operations are not isolated incidents but are systemic and a predictable result of the way Wilmar does business.

A child transporting a wheelbarrow full of heavy palm fruit bunches over a narrow bridge on a plantation in North Sumatra. © Amnesty International / WatchDoc
A child transporting a wheelbarrow full of heavy palm fruit bunches over a narrow bridge on a plantation in North Sumatra. © Amnesty International / WatchDoc

“Something is wrong when nine companies turning over a combined revenue of $325 billion in 2015 are unable to do something about the atrocious treatment of palm oil workers earning a pittance.”

Amnesty International says it will campaign to ask the firms to tell customers whether the palm oil in popular products like Magnum ice-cream, Colgate toothpaste, Dove cosmetics, Knorr soup, KitKat,  Pantene shampoo, Ariel, and Pot Noodle comes from Wilmar’s Indonesian operation.

Systematic abuses in supply chains

Amnesty International spoke to 120 workers who work on palm plantations owned by two Wilmar subsidiaries and three Wilmar suppliers in Kalimantan and Sumatra in Indonesia. The investigation exposed a wide range of abuses including:

  • Women forced to work long hours under the threat of having their pay cut, paid below minimum wage – earning as little as US$2.50 a day in extreme cases – and kept in insecure employment without pensions or health insurance,
  • Children as young as eight doing hazardous, hard physical work, sometimes dropping out of school to help their parents on the plantation,
  • Workers suffering severe injuries from paraquat, an acutely toxic chemical still used in the plantations despite being banned in the EU and by Wilmar itself,
  • Workers being made to work outdoors without adequate safety equipment despite the risks of respiratory damage from hazardous levels of pollution caused by forest fires during August to October 2015,
  • Workers having to work long hours to meet ridiculously high targets, some of which involve highly physically demanding tasks such as operating heavy manual equipment to cut fruit from trees 20 meters tall. Attempting to meet targets can leave workers in significant physical pain, and they also face a range of penalties for things like not picking up palm fruits on the ground and picking unripe fruit.

Wilmar acknowledged that there are ongoing labour issues in its operations. Despite these abuses, three of the five palm growers that Amnesty International investigated in Indonesia are certified as producing “sustainable” palm oil under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, a body set up in 2004 to clean up the palm oil sector after environmental scandals.

A 14-year-old boy who harvests and carries palm fruits on a plantation owned by Wilmar told Amnesty International that he dropped out of school when we was 12 because his father was sick and unable to meet his work targets. He said his 10 and 12-year-old siblings also work on the plantation after school:

“I have helped my father every day for about two years. I studied until sixth grade in school. I left school to help my father because he couldn’t do the work anymore. He was sick…I regret leaving school. I would have liked to have gone to school to become smarter. I would like to become a teacher.”

The physically demanding and tiring work can cause physical damage for young children. A 10-year-old boy who also dropped out of school to help his father, who works for a Wilmar supplier, when he was eight said he gets up at 6.00 AM to gather and carry away loose palm fruit. He said he works for six hours every day, except Sunday:

“I don’t go to school…I carry the sack with the loose fruit by myself but can only carry it half full. It is difficult to carry it, it is heavy. I do it in the rain as well but it is difficult…My hands hurt and my body aches.”

Women workers: danger and discrimination

The report highlights a discriminatory pattern of hiring women as casual daily labourers, denying them permanent employment and social security benefits such as health insurance and pensions.

Amnesty International also documented cases of forced labour and of foremen threatening women workers with not being paid or having their pay deducted in order to exact work from them.

A woman, who works in a unit involved in maintaining palm plants told Amnesty International how she was pressured to work longer hours with implicit and explicit threats:

“If I don’t finish my target, they ask me to keep working but I don’t get paid for the extra time…my friend and I told the foreman that we were very tired and wanted to leave. The foreman told us if you don’t want to work, go home and don’t come again. It is difficult work because the target is horrifying…My feet hurt, my hands hurt and my back hurts after doing the work.”

Indonesia has strong labour laws under which most of these abuses can amount to criminal offences. However, the laws are poorly enforced. Amnesty International is calling on the Indonesian government to improve enforcement and to investigate the abuses set out in the report.

Parliament urged to ditch lifetime ban bill

Amnesty International Australia and the Refugee Action Committee Canberra today urged Parliament to scrap the proposed lifetime ban bill.

Concerned community members brought giant photo portraits of people seeking asylum locked in offshore detention to the lawns of Parliament House early this morning.

“Enough is enough, the lifetime ban is yet another layer of cruelty in Australia’s already abusive policy. It is outrageous and completely unnecessary and must be scrapped completely.”

Phoebe Howe from Amnesty International Australia.

“Enough is enough, the lifetime ban is yet another layer of cruelty in Australia’s already abusive policy. It is outrageous and completely unnecessary and must be scrapped completely,” said Phoebe Howe from Amnesty International Australia.

“The Australian Government needs to stop shirking their responsibility to provide safety and protection for people who need it. We need urgent change, 2016 cannot end with the thousands of people left languishing in limbo, they have suffered enough at the hands of the Australian Government’s abusive policy, it must come to an end.”

Labor Member of Parliament Andrew Giles and Greens Senator Nick McKim addressed the crowd, outlining that the lifetime ban bill would be opposed.

“If passed, the lifetime ban bill would see all who arrived by boat after mid-2013 banned from entering Australia under any circumstances. This cruel measure could tear 20 families apart, by banning individuals from ever visiting their family in Australia. Powers to lift the ban would sit with the Immigration Minister, and would not be subject to review, giving the minister the power to arbitrarily decide who enters Australia,”  Dr John Minns, from the Refugee Action Committee Canberra, said.

“It is an unnecessary, and deliberately cruel measure, with the sole purpose of punishing refugees based on how they traveled to Australia seeking asylum.”

Dr John Minns, from the Refugee Action Committee Canberra

“It is an unnecessary, and deliberately cruel measure, with the sole purpose of punishing refugees based on how they traveled to Australia seeking asylum. It is also in clear breach of our international obligations, including Article 31 of the Refugee Convention. The community will not stand for this inhumane policy.”

Andrews’ Government must not send any child to adult prison

Amnesty International urges the Victorian Government to ensure no children are jailed at the maximum security adult facility Barwon Prison, following the Government’s astonishing decision to halt the transfer of some children, while exposing others to ongoing harm.

Ongoing risk

“The Andrews Government has agreed not to transfer Aboriginal children to a maximum security adult prison, yet bizarrely is choosing to expose other children to ongoing risk,” said Julian Cleary, campaigner at Amnesty International Australia.

The Victorian Government made the unusual decision in order to avoid a Supreme Court case brought by the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) to prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children being incarcerated in the adult prison.

Solitary Confinement

Amnesty International is disturbed by reports of children being locked down in their cells for up to 23 hours a day which amounts to solitary confinement, in violation of the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty.

“Solitary confinement, harsh conditions, limited access to education – no child deserves these conditions. All children deserve protection from harm, and Premier Andrews needs to recognise that he is still placing many children at risk, in breach of the Convention on the Rights of the Child,” said Julian Cleary.

Amnesty International notes that the former Victorian Ombudsman concluded in December 2013 that “there are no circumstances that justify the placement of a child in the adult prison system”.

Syria: Civilians in eastern Aleppo city fear revenge attacks

Syrian government forces who have captured parts of eastern Aleppo city in recent days must ensure that civilians living in these areas are allowed to move freely and are protected from revenge attacks including arbitrary detention, torture, enforced disappearance or harassment.

Syrian government forces have taken control of two neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo, Jabal Badro and Maskaen Hanano, where at least 100 families are currently living. Many who remain in eastern Aleppo city told Amnesty International that they fear acts of revenge by government forces.

“Syrian government forces have repeatedly launched unlawful attacks on Aleppo city displaying a callous disregard for the safety of civilians living in parts of the city controlled by armed opposition groups.”

Samah Hadid, Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International’s Beirut Regional office.

“Syrian government forces have repeatedly launched unlawful attacks on Aleppo city displaying a callous disregard for the safety of civilians living in parts of the city controlled by armed opposition groups,” said Samah Hadid, Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International’s Beirut Regional office.

“Given the Syrian government’s long and dark history of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances on a mass scale it is even more crucial that civilians are protected in newly captured areas of Aleppo city. The Syrian government must not arbitrarily restrict the movement of civilians and they must allow civilians who wish to leave the area freedom to do so without threat or constraint.”

Fadi, a local activist, told Amnesty International that people living in Masaken Hanano and Jabal Badro were not able to flee when the government advanced and are now too terrified to leave their homes.

“I know some of the families and they told me that they are now in their homes and afraid to move around because Syrian government soldiers are everywhere,” he said.

Another activist told Amnesty International that government forces took some male residents of Masaken Hanano to al-Nairab airport for interrogation and screening. Amnesty International could not verify these reports.

Residents of Sheikh Maqsoud – a district of Aleppo controlled by Kurdish People’s Protection Unit (YPG) – told Amnesty International that up to 8,000 people from eastern Aleppo city had also fled there over the past week as the fighting and air strikes intensified. Civilians have no means of leaving from Sheikh Maqsoud without passing through western Aleppo, which is under Syrian government control. Many are too afraid to leave the area for fear of facing retaliation from government forces if they leave.

As Syrian government forces tighten the stranglehold around eastern Aleppo the siege in that part of the city is also expected to intensify with devastating consequences for civilians.

One man who fled with his family to Sheikh Maqsoud described the desperate situation: “I arrived with my brother and our families few days ago. We took a risk and did not know if the YPG will allow us to cross but we couldn’t bear the feeling of hunger and sound of warplanes all days long so we decided to leave…. All types of food were scarce and as a result very expensive. At the end of each day I was grateful for still being alive from the air strikes and ground shelling. But we can’t live like that anymore.”

Fidel Castro: the good, the bad and the ugly

On 25 November 2016, Fidel Castro died at the age of 90. The former Cuban leader was revered and loathed by the people he reigned over for 47 years.

Fidel Castro, who seized power in 1959 following the Cuban Revolution, will be remembered as an iconic, yet deeply-polarising, figure of the 20th Century. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, has called Castro “a progressive but deeply flawed leader”.

Cuban officials claim that the former leader survived more than 600 assassination attempts. But as the memes read, ‘not even Castro could survive 2016’.

World leaders react

Following news of Castro’s death, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump released a statement calling the former leader “a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades”.

But in Canada, the tone was quite different.

Prime Minister Trudeau wrote that “while a controversial figure, both Castro’s supporters and detractors recognised his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for ‘el Comandante.'”

Trudeau’s words have sparked a barrage of ‘Trudeaueulogies’ on Twitter.

The good: Health, housing, literacy

Castro oversaw some significant human rights wins during his years in power, including dramatic improvements in Cubans’ access to healthcare and housing. He also led an unprecedented drive to improve literacy rates.

“For this [Castro’s] leadership must be applauded” says Guevara-Rosas.

The bad: Ruthless suppression

Despite his these achievements in social policy, Castro’s 49-year reign was characterised by a ruthless suppression of freedom of expression.

Amnesty International has been documenting the state of human rights in Cuba for more than 50 years. Over this time we’ve collected hundreds of testimonies from ‘prisoners of conscience’, people detained by the government simply for exercising their right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

“The state of freedom of expression in Cuba, where activists continue to face arrest and harassment for speaking out against the government, is Fidel Castro’s darkest legacy” says Guevara-Rosas.

Fidel Castro’s 49-year reign was characterised by a ruthless suppression of freedom of expression

(More of) the bad: The death penalty

Upon establishing his provisional government in 1959, Castro organised trials of members of the previous government that resulted in hundreds of summary executions. In response to international outcry, and amid accusations that many of the trials were unfair, Castro responded:

“Revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction… we are not executing innocent people or political opponents. We are executing murderers and they deserve it.”

Cuba retains the death penalty for serious crimes (although its use did decline over the course of Castro’s leadership).

Amnesty believes that the death penalty is wrong in all circumstances. We’re working to see it abolished for good, in Cuba and around the world.

All in all, the state maintains a firm grip on almost every aspect of Cubans’ lives.

The ugly: Castro’s dark legacy

Repression takes new forms in today’s Cuba.

We’re seeing fewer politically motivated long-term prison sentences, but widespread use of short-term arrests and ongoing harassment of people who dare to publish their opinions defending human rights or challenging the arbitrary arrest of a relative. 

The government limits access to the internet as a way of controlling both access to information and freedom of expression. Only 25 per cent of the Cuban population is able to get online and just 5 per cent of homes have an internet connection.

All in all, the state maintains a firm grip on almost every aspect of Cubans’ lives. 

“Fidel Castro’s legacy is a tale of two worlds” says Guevara-Rosas. “The question now is what human rights will look like in a future Cuba. The lives of many depend on it”.

Fremantle’s culturally-inclusive Australia Day a positive step for Indigenous people

In a bold move which has received both praise and cries of being ‘unAustralian’, the The City of Fremantle has cancelled its Australia Day festivities, instead celebrating its National Day on 28 January.

Its new family-friendly event, labelled “One Day” will replace the traditional fireworks display and include an impressive list of performances from artists including Dan Sultan, Mama Kin and John Butler.

The City of Fremantle said in its release it “wanted to celebrate being Australian in a way that included all Australians and we believe moving away from this date was more culturally inclusive and more in line with Fremantle’s values.”

Will other cities start to follow suit in solidarity with the Indigenous community? I hope so.

In 2009, when Aboriginal leader Mick Dodson was named Australian of the Year, he encouraged a national debate on changing the date of Australia Day, saying using January 26 as Australia Day alienates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“Invasion was the start of these problems. There will be lifetimes, even generations, that will keep feeling the long-term effects of these things. These issues are the by-product of what Australia Day represents”

Rodney Dillon, Amnesty International’s Indigenous Rights Advisor

Recently the debate has picked up steam, with Triple J revealing it had been considering shifting its music poll, The Hottest 100, away from 26 January. A change.org “change the date of the Hottest 100” petition received almost 5,000 signatures calling for this.

What it means for the Indigenous people

Rodney Dillon, Amnesty International’s Indigenous Rights Advisor and proud Palawa man says that Australia Day is always hard for his people.

One Day poster
One Day poster

“Survival for us is about taking steps to address the consequences of invasion that we still face today. We’ve got health issues, scars from not healing, substance abuse, too many of our people are in prison, too many of our kids are in care, and not enough of our kids are getting educated. Governments are still trying to close communities and move people off their land.

“Invasion was the start of these problems. There will be lifetimes, even generations, that will keep feeling the long-term effects of these things. These issues are the by-product of what Australia Day represents.”

Tammy Solonec, Amnesty Australia’s Indigenous Rights Manager says these shifts in public opinion could influence the Australia-Day debate.

“Changing the date of Australia Day is possible, she said. “We only have to look to the USA for inspiration, where the similarly insensitive ‘Columbus Day’ is being reclaimed as ‘Indigenous People’s Day’. Last month, Vermont Gov. Peter Schumlin signed an executive proclamation marking the day as Indigenous People’s Day. Over 27 other US cities also celebrate Native American history on this day.”

However, in an interview with radio station 3AW, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who acknowledged the controversy surrounding Australia Day, kept to his previous position: “Let’s stick with Australia Day on the 26th”.

Find out more about Amnesty International Australia’s Indigenous justice campaign “Community is Everything”.