92
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.
Amnesty International Report 2017/18
93
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
)