Amnesty International Report 2017/18

Amnesty International Report 2017/18

47

low-paid workers, people with disabilities, migrants and asylum-seekers, ethnic minorities, and 

retired and single people.

Across the region, governments repeatedly failed to meet their responsibilities towards 

refugees and migrants. The number of irregular arrivals of refugees and migrants in the EU 

dropped significantly in the second half of the year, largely as a result of co-operation 

agreements with Libyan authorities that turned a blind eye and even contributed to the abuses 

faced by those trapped in the country. Those who did make it to the EU faced an increased 

risk of forcible return to countries such as Afghanistan, where their life or liberty were at risk.

At the UN Security Council, Russia used its veto for the ninth time to shield the Syrian 

government from the consequences of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Russia’s 

routine use of its veto had become the equivalent of acquiescence in war crimes, allowing all 

parties in Syria’s conflict to act with impunity, with civilians paying the ultimate price.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Across Eastern Europe and across Central Asia, civil society faced a range of harassment and 

restrictions. Dozens of individuals were jailed for their peaceful activism and became prisoners 

of conscience in Belarus and Russia, amid ongoing legislative restrictions on media, NGOs 

and public assemblies.

The deterioration of the respect for freedom of opinion and expression in Tajikistan became 

further entrenched with the authorities imposing sweeping restrictions to silence critical voices. 

The police and security services intimidated and harassed journalists. Human rights lawyers 

endured arbitrary arrests, politically motivated prosecutions, harsh prison sentences and 

harassment.

In Kazakhstan, journalists and activists faced politically motivated prosecutions and attacks. 

Having all but strangled independent media already, the authorities used increasingly 

elaborate and aggressive methods to stamp out dissenting voices on the internet and social 

media. A targeted cyber campaign was being waged against critical voices in Azerbaijan.

The Uzbekistani government used unlawful surveillance on its citizens at home and abroad – 

reinforcing a hostile environment for journalists and activists, and fostering a climate of fear for 

Uzbekistani nationals in Europe. Human rights defenders and journalists continued to be 

summoned for questioning at police stations, placed under house arrest and beaten by the 

authorities.

In Crimea, the de facto authorities continued to suppress dissenting opinion. Leaders of the 

Crimean Tatar community who spoke out against the Russian occupation and illegal 

annexation of the peninsula faced exile or prison.

Turkey continued to detain tens of thousands of perceived government critics in the 

aftermath of the 2016 coup attempt. Criticism of the government largely disappeared from 

mainstream media. More than 100 journalists languished in jail – more than in any other 

country – many for months on end, on spurious charges.

The primary positive developments in Eastern Europe and in Central Asia involved releases of 

prisoners of conscience and other long-term prisoners, notably in Uzbekistan. In Azerbaijan, 

some prisoners of conscience were released; however, new ones took their places in the never-

ending policy of repression. In Russia, prisoner of conscience Ildar Dadin – the first and so far 

only person imprisoned under a recent law criminalizing repeated violation of Russia’s 

draconian restrictions on public assembly – was released and cleared of conviction following a 

Constitutional Court ruling.

---

48

Amnesty International Report 2017/18

RESTRICTIVE LAWS

Across Europe and Central Asia, restrictive laws were passed. Drawing inspiration from similar 

legislation adopted in Russia in 2012, Hungary adopted a law on the transparency of 

organizations funded from abroad, which forced NGOs receiving more than EUR24,000 direct 

or indirect funding from abroad to re-register as a “civic organization funded from abroad” and 

to put this label on every publication. The move was accompanied by highly stigmatizing 

government rhetoric. Similar legislation was tabled in Ukraine and in Moldova, but was 

withdrawn in Moldova due to objections from civil society and international organizations.

In November, there were protests throughout Poland when MPs voted on two legislative 

amendments threatening the independence of the judiciary and placing the right to a fair trial 

and other rights at risk. President Andrzej Duda vetoed the amendments in July, but 

subsequently redrafted and submitted them to Parliament in September.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY

In Eastern Europe and in Central Asia, the authorities clamped down on peaceful protesters. In 

Russia, during mass anti-corruption protests across the country in March, police used 

excessive force and arrested hundreds of overwhelmingly peaceful demonstrators in the 

capital, Moscow, and well over a thousand across the country, including opposition leader 

Aleksei Navalny. Hundreds of people were again detained and ill-treated during anti-corruption 

protests across the country in June, and on 7 October, President Vladimir Putin’s birthday.

In Kazakhstan, organizing or participating in a peaceful demonstration without the authorities’ 

prior authorization remained an offence. Police in Kyrgyzstan disrupted a peaceful 

demonstration in the capital, Bishkek, organized to protest against deterioration of freedom of 

expression, and arrested several participants. The Belarusian authorities violently suppressed 

mass demonstrations against a tax on the unemployed.

A discriminatory amendment to a law in Poland led to bans of certain demonstrations and 

favoured pro-government assemblies. People participating in demonstrations against the 

government policies were prosecuted, harassed by law enforcement officials and political 

opponents, and prevented from exercising their right to freedom of peaceful assembly.

In several countries of Western Europe, public protests were met with a range of restrictive 

measures and abuses. In Germany, France, Poland and Spain, governments’ response to 

public assemblies against restrictive policies or human rights abuses included sealing off 

public spaces, excessive use of force by police, containment of peaceful protesters or 

“kettling”, surveillance, and threats of administrative and criminal sanctions. France’s 

government continued to resort to emergency measures to ban public assemblies and to 

restrict freedom of movement to prevent individuals from participating in demonstrations.

In October, Spanish security forces that were ordered to prevent the holding of the Catalan 

independence referendum used unnecessary and disproportionate force against 

demonstrators, injuring hundreds of them. This included evidence of police beating peaceful 

demonstrators.

COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY

In Western Europe, a raft of disproportionate and discriminatory counter-terrorism laws 

continued to be rushed through. The adoption of the EU Directive on Combating Terrorism in 

March looked set to lead to a proliferation of such measures in 2018, as states were to 

transpose the Directive into domestic law.

---