Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

DETENTION

Prisons continued to be overcrowded, 

facilities dilapidated and there was 

insufficient access to basic services. Several 

hundred offenders with mental health 

problems or mental disabilities remained in 

detention in regular prisons with insufficient 

health care and treatment.

In May, the European Court of Human 

Rights (ECtHR) found that the conditions of 

detention of two detainees in two different 

prisons amounted to inhuman or degrading 

treatment.

In July, the European Committee for the 

Prevention of Torture raised concerns 

regarding the consequences of the repeated 

strikes by prison officials in recent years 

which worsened the poor detention 

conditions.

In September, the ECtHR ruled that 

Belgium had violated the right to life of 

Michael Tekin, an offender with a mental 

health problem who died in custody in a 

regular section of Jamioulx prison on 8 

August 2009. The Court found that the 

restraining technique used by three prison 

officers was unnecessary and 

disproportionate.

REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS

The authorities resumed the transfers of 

asylum-seekers to Greece under the Dublin 

III Regulation – EU law that determines the 

EU member state responsible for examining 

an application for asylum.

In November, laws were adopted widening 

the scope for detention of asylum-seekers 

and curtailing the right to appeal negative 

asylum decisions.

In September, the government invited a 

delegation of Sudanese government officials 

to identify dozens of undocumented 

Sudanese nationals with the intention of 

returning them to Sudan. Several judicial 

proceedings were started challenging forcible 

returns on the basis of the principle of non-

refoulement – the forcible return of 

individuals to countries where they risk 

serious human rights violations. Ten 

Sudanese nationals were reportedly returned 

in the context of this operation. In December, 

testimonies surfaced of returnees who stated 

that upon return they had been detained by 

Sudanese government agents, interrogated 

and subjected to ill-treatment or torture. The 

government announced an investigation into 

the allegations.

DISCRIMINATION

On 14 March, the Court of Justice of the EU 

failed to uphold Muslim women’s right to 

non-discrimination by ruling that a private 

Belgian employer had not breached EU anti-

discrimination law in dismissing a woman for 

wearing a headscarf.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, 

TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

On 24 May, Parliament adopted a law 

allowing transgender people to seek legal 

gender recognition without imposing on them 

any psychiatric assessment or sterilization 

requirements.

ARMS TRADE

The Walloon regional government continued 

to license weapon transfers to parties of the 

Saudi-Arabia-led coalition in Yemen. In June, 

the Flemish regional Parliament improved the 

compliance of its legislation with the Arms 

Trade Treaty by, among other things, 

amending the legal definition of transit. 

However, it failed to address the control of 

the end-use of parts and components that 

could be used to produce arms.

BENIN

Republic of Benin

Head of state and government: Patrice Athanase 

Guillaume Talon

The authorities continued to restrict the 

rights to freedom of expression and 

peaceful assembly. Fourteen prisoners 

remained on death row although the death 

penalty had been abolished. Civil society 

groups’ access to prisons was restricted. 

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Benin joined the AU campaign to end child 

marriage.

BACKGROUND

In April, the National Assembly rejected a 

presidential bill which aimed to amend the 

Constitution. It contained provisions which 

limited the President’s tenure to one six-year 

non-renewable term and provided immunity 

from police custody or pre-trial detention for 

the President and members of the 

government.

In November, Benin’s human rights record 

was examined under the UN UPR process. 

The government accepted 191 

recommendations and made note of seven 

others including calls to strengthen efforts to 

prevent the use of arbitrary detention, 

extrajudicial executions and the excessive 

use of force by security forces; and to ensure 

that all national legislation complied with 

international standards on the rights to 

freedom of expression and media freedom, 

and to take steps to prevent the arbitrary 

suspension of media outlets.

FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND 

ASSEMBLY

In January, Radio Soleil FM, E-Tele and Eden 

TV reopened. They were three of the seven 

media outlets which the High Authority of 

Audiovisual Communication (HAAC) closed 

in November 2016. Four other outlets which 

broadcast from abroad – Sikka TV, la 

Chrétienne TV, Unafrica TV and La Béninoise 

– remained closed. In May, the Court of First 

Instance in Cotonou fined HAAC President 

50 million CFA francs (around USD89,648) 

for closing Sikka TV.

On 17 February police used tear gas to 

disperse hundreds of University of Abomey-

Calavi students. They had gathered at a hotel 

in Abomey-Calavi, a suburb of Cotonou, for a 

general assembly and press conference, and 

to peacefully protest against the October 

2016 ban on all student union activities.

DETENTION

Prisons remained overcrowded; Abomey Civil 

Prison in the de Zou district held three times 

as many detainees as its intended capacity, 

and Kandi Civil Prison held twice as many. 

Around 4,500 of the country’s 7,179 

detainees awaited trial.

In April, the Ministry of Justice issued an 

order restricting the access of NGOs, 

religious and civil society groups to detention 

centres. Authorization for group visits was 

issued for periods of three months. 

Authorization could not be renewed without 

groups presenting a report of their activities 

for sign-off by the prison director who could 

make observations for the Minister of 

Justice’s attention, or even refuse to sign the 

report.

DEATH PENALTY

The government failed to adopt laws to 

remove the death penalty from legislation 

despite its abolition by the Constitutional 

Court in 2016. However, it accepted a 

recommendation made under the UN UPR 

process to commute all death sentences and 

expedite the adoption of provisions under the 

new Criminal Code to abolish the death 

penalty. Fourteen prisoners remained on 

death row at the end of the year. Their 

detention conditions improved slightly during 

the year when restrictions on outdoor 

activities were relaxed.

1

CHILDREN’S RIGHTS

In June, Benin became the 20th country to 

join the AU Campaign to End Child Marriage. 

The campaign’s objectives included 

educating communities about the negative 

effects of child marriage. Despite legislation 

prohibiting marriage before the age of 18, 

32% of girls continued to marry under 18 

years, and 9% married before the age of 15. 

In November, the government accepted a 

recommendation under the UN UPR process 

to fast-track the implementation of legislation 

which would address harmful practices 

against children, including in relation to 

forced early and child marriages.

1. Living in limbo: Benin’s last death row prisoners (

ACT 50/4980/2017

)

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