Amnesty International Report 2017/18

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Amnesty International Report 2017/18

credible. In June, the UN Human Rights Council decided to dispatch a team of international 

experts to DRC to help in investigations. In July, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 

appointed a team of three experts whose findings were expected in June 2018.

In Ethiopia, the police and army continued to enjoy impunity for violations committed in 2015 

and 2016. The government rejected calls for independent and impartial investigations into 

violations committed in the context of protests in various regional states.

The Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal upheld the conviction and sentence of life 

imprisonment of former Chadian President Hissène Habré for war crimes, crimes against 

humanity and torture.

INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Burundi became the first State Party to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the ICC in October. 

Despite this, in November, the Pre-Trial Chamber made public its decision to authorize the ICC 

Prosecutor to open an investigation regarding crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court 

allegedly committed in Burundi – or by nationals of Burundi outside the country – between 

April 2015 and October 2017.

However, developments in Africa suggested a tempering of the rhetoric calling for withdrawal 

from the ICC. The AU adopted a decision in January, which despite its misleading title, 

outlined plans for engagement with the ICC and other stakeholders. More encouragingly, 

member states – including Senegal, Nigeria, Cape Verde, Malawi, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia 

and Liberia – expressly stated their support for the ICC and rejected any notion of mass 

withdrawal.

Gambia’s new government revoked its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, while Botswana’s 

Parliament passed a bill incorporating the Rome Statute into domestic law.

In March, the South African government announced it would revoke its 2016 notice of 

intention to withdraw from the Rome Statue after the North Gauteng High Court decision held 

that withdrawal from the ICC without consulting Parliament was unconstitutional and invalid. 

However, a draft bill to repeal the Rome Statue Domestication Act was introduced to 

Parliament in early December 2017, signalling the government’s intention to pursue its 

decision to leave the ICC.

Meanwhile, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber ruled that South Africa should have executed the 

arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir during his 2015 visit to the country. 

The ruling confirmed that President Al-Bashir did not have immunity from arrest and that any 

states party to the Rome Statute were obliged to arrest him if he entered their territory, and 

hand him over to the Court.

In its December preliminary report, the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC announced that it 

was continuing its analysis of the potential eight crimes it had previously identified as having 

been allegedly committed in Nigeria, as well as gathering evidence on new crimes, but was yet 

to reach a decision on whether to open an investigation.

DISCRIMINATION AND MARGINALIZATION

Discrimination, marginalization and abuse of women and girls – often arising from cultural 

traditions and institutionalized by unjust laws – continued in a number of countries. Women 

and girls were subjected to rape and other sexual violence, including in the context of conflicts 

and in countries with large numbers of refugee and internally displaced populations.

Pregnant girls continued to be excluded from school in countries including Sierra Leone and 

Equatorial Guinea. In June, Tanzania’s President announced a ban on pregnant girls returning 

to public-funded schools – fuelling stigma and discrimination against girls and victims of 

sexual violence.

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Gender-based violence against women and girls was prevalent in several countries including 

Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland.

In countries including Burkina Faso, lack of medical equipment, medication and staffing in 

hospitals left pregnant women and infants at serious risk of birth complications, infection and 

death. Female genital mutilation rates decreased; however, despite being outlawed, the 

practice remained widespread.

Unsafe abortions contributed to one of Africa’s highest rates of maternal death and injury in 

Liberia, where affordable and accessible abortion services were largely unavailable to rape 

survivors.

Despite its progressive abortion laws, women and girls faced substantial barriers to legal 

abortion services in South Africa and faced serious risks to health, and even death, from 

unsafe abortions. The government failed to address the refusal of health care professionals to 

provide abortions.

In Angola, the government proposed an amendment to the Penal Code, which would 

decriminalize abortion in certain limited cases, but Parliament rejected the proposal. After a 

public outcry, the parliamentary vote on the legislation was postponed indefinitely.

PEOPLE WITH ALBINISM

Superstitions about the magical powers of people with albinism fuelled a surge of attacks 

against them; in Malawi and Mozambique, they were abducted and killed for their body parts. 

In Mozambique, a seven-year-old boy was murdered when unidentified men abducted him 

from his home. Despite public outcry, the government took little action.

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE

LGBTI people faced discrimination, prosecution, harassment and violence, including in 

Senegal, Ghana, Malawi and Nigeria. In Ghana, the parliamentary Speaker called for a 

constitutional amendment to make homosexuality illegal and punishable by law. In Liberia, a 

man arrested in 2016 and charged with “voluntary sodomy” under the Penal Code, remained 

in detention awaiting trial. In Nigeria, arrest, public shaming, extortion of and discrimination 

against individuals based on their sexual orientation were reported.

In a landmark decision in Botswana, a High Court ordered the government to change the 

gender marker in the identity document of a transgender woman, ruling that its refusal to do 

so was unreasonable and in violation of her rights.

RIGHT TO HOUSING AND FORCED EVICTIONS

Amid increasing urbanization, unemployment, poverty and inequality, many countries failed to 

ensure accessible, affordable and habitable housing.

A landslide at a vast rubbish dump on the outskirts of Ethiopia’s capital caused 115 deaths. 

Most of the victims lived next to the site and supported themselves by recycling rubbish.

At least 10 people, including two children, were also killed in a landslide at a rubbish dump 

in Guinea.

In Lagos state in Nigeria, authorities forcibly evicted at least 5,000 people from the Otodo-

Gbame and Ilubirin waterfront neighbourhoods, while security services fired tear gas and live 

bullets to clear the area. The forced evictions were in violation of a High Court order restraining 

authorities from carrying out demolitions in these communities.

On the other hand, a High Court ruling in Nigeria declared the planned demolition of Mpape 

settlement in Abuja illegal, thereby offering relief to hundreds of thousands of residents. The 

Court ruled that the authorities were obliged to refrain from forced evictions and should 

develop policies to implement the right to adequate housing.

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