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Scoop
02-08-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
India: End Unlawful Expulsion Of Indian Muslim Citizens And Rohingya Refugees
(Dhaka, July 31, 2025)—The Indian Government must immediately end its unlawful campaign of expulsion against Indian Muslim citizens and Rohingya refugees, said Fortify Rights today. Indian authorities have intensified their 'illegal immigrant' verification campaign in recent months, arbitrarily arresting, detaining, torturing, and coercively removing members of its Muslim minorities—including those with valid documentation or citizenship—as well as Rohingya refugees, in violation of India's international human rights obligations. 'India is targeting its Muslim citizens and refugees with a discriminatory campaign of arrest, detention, and forced expulsion in violation of their rights,' said John Quinley, Director at Fortify Rights. 'These actions not only violate international human rights law, but deepen the dangerous marginalization of Muslims and refugees in India.' Muslim communities and refugees in India are increasingly at risk since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was first elected in 2014. Fortify Rights' new investigation finds that in recent months, authorities in BJP-run states have arbitrarily arrested, detained, tortured, and coercively expelled Muslim minorities and Rohingya refugees. These efforts intensified in recent months, after deadly attacks in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, which Indian authorities alleged were linked to Pakistan-based militant groups. In response, on May 7, 2025, India launched Operation Sindoor, a retaliatory military campaign targeting alleged terrorist camps within Pakistan. Following the terror attack, BJP leaders and lawmakers have renewed their calls for stricter measures against what they termed 'infiltrators' and 'illegal immigrants' on Indian soil. Advertisement - scroll to continue reading In May 2025, India's Ministry of Home Affairs issued a directive mandating all states and union territories to verify the credentials of individuals suspected to be 'illegal immigrants' within 30 days. The directive was sent to India's Border Security Force (BSF) and Assam Rifles, which guard the country's borders with Bangladesh and Myanmar. Since this directive was issued, Indian authorities have conducted mass raids, forcibly returned Rohingya refugees and expelled Indian Muslims, to Myanmar and Bangladesh. According to Bangladeshi government data, since May 7, more than 1,800 people have been forced into Bangladesh from India. Indian officials reported that more than 2,000 have been sent to Bangladesh since May 7, 2025. From May to July 2025, Fortify Rights spoke with 16 individuals, including Muslim residents in the states of Assam and Gujarat, Rohingya refugees in India, relatives of detainees, as well as an Indian lawyer and a Bangladesh police officer at the border. Fortify Rights also documented torture and ill-treatment during India's arrest and expulsion campaign. An Indian Muslim citizen, 30, in Gujarat State, but originally from the state of West Bengal, told Fortify Rights how the Indian police detained and later expelled him to Bangladesh in May 2025, where he now remains: 'The police told us, 'Acknowledge that you are from Bangladesh, you are Bangladeshi. [Or] we will kill you.' … For 15 to 20 days, they kept us in an Indian jail.' Indian police demanded he convert to Hinduism if he wanted to remain in India: They [the police] said, 'If you convert to become a Hindu, we will release you. Then I said, 'No, I don't want to change my faith. If I have to die, I will die.' … They [the police] said, 'We will send you to Pakistan, you are all extremists.' ... From the prison, they took us to an airplane, we were blindfolded, and our hands were tied. They onboarded us, and [after the flight] they took us on a vessel. On the ship, they tortured us very brutally. … I have never been to Bangladesh; this is my first time in this country. I don't have any relatives in Bangladesh. … I want to return to India. … They sent me to Bangladesh forcefully. The man remains in Bangladesh and is unable to return to India. In Assam State, the state government is revising the National Register of Citizens (NRC) campaign to identify and expel 'illegal immigrants,' many of whom have families who have lived in the country for generations. Another Indian Muslim, 50, told Fortify Rights about being detained at Matia Transit Camp, India's largest detention facility for irregular migrants and refugees, in Assam's Goalpara District, and days later, being forcibly expelled to Bangladesh, saying: On May 23 [2025], I was asked to report to the Mikirbheta police station at 11 p.m. As soon as I arrived at the police station, I was detained. … I kept screaming that I was born and raised in India, that I am a government teacher, and that I had already served time in a detention camp for two years from 2018 to 2020. I spent at least a couple of days in the [Matia] Transit Camp before I was taken to a military camp of the BSF [Border Security Force]. … On the night of May 26, we were driven overnight with the BSF through the jungle and waterways, and were left in no man's land [on the India and Bangladesh border]. … I was in a group of 14 people pushed back … My hands were tied, and I was blindfolded. The man continued: 'The BSF fired rubber bullets at us while we were in no man's land just to force us to the other side [in Bangladesh]. I never thought that I would be made a foreigner in my own country.' Four days later, with support from his relatives in India, the man negotiated with the Indian authorities to be allowed back into Assam State because of a pending petition to the Supreme Court filed in December 2024 related to his family's citizenship. The court case is still pending. An Indian lawyer representing the family told Fortify Rights: 'Their family has a history going back at least a hundred years to colonial Assam. They have documents [proving their residence in Assam] from the 1900s, and Bangladesh was created in 1971.' Another Indian Muslim resident of Assam State told Fortify Rights how her father was taken into Indian police custody and later forced into Bangladesh on May 23, 2025. She said: My father was called a Bangladeshi all his life, but that he would be sent to Bangladesh was unimaginable. We are Indians. … We are being thrown out of our country. Why was my father sent to Bangladesh when he had all the documents [proving his Indian citizenship]? The woman's father was then intercepted by Bangladesh border guard forces and sent back again to India. Her grandmother, father, aunt, and other relatives had been declared ' bidexi' or 'foreigners' by a Foreigners Tribunal in Assam State, a quasi-judicial body, in 2011 and 2012. Others who were expelled were reportedly transported to coastal areas and forced into the water near the maritime border of Bangladesh. A Bangladeshi police officer, who received a group of more than 70 people pushed by Indian authorities into Bangladesh, told Fortify Rights: 'On the night of May 8, 2025, speedboats pushed them into the sea and forced them to swim ashore.' Rohingya refugees are also being detained and sent to Bangladesh, as part of India's campaign against 'illegal immigrants.' On May 6, 2025, authorities arrested scores of Rohingya, including both Muslim and Christian refugees, during coordinated raids in New Delhi under the pretext of a refugee biometric verification exercise, detaining men, women, and children, and later forcibly returning dozens to Myanmar, where they face an ongoing genocide. Around the same time in May, Indian authorities forcibly transferred at least 150 Rohingya refugees to Bangladesh. A 29-year-old Rohingya refugee and U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cardholder, told Fortify Rights: 'We were put into vehicles and, in the middle of the night, taken to the border by the BSF [Border Security Force],' he said. '[They] told us, 'Now go straight into Bangladesh. Do not come back. If you return, we will shoot you dead.'' The man is now in the Cox's Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh. The authorities continue to harass and routinely threaten other Rohingya refugees with forcible returns. A 23-year-old Rohingya refugee told Fortify Rights that police arrested and beat him on the street on May 8, 2025, falsely labelling him a Pakistani despite possessing a valid UNHCR refugee card. They also invited passing civilians to join the beatings. He told Fortify Rights, 'The police said, 'He's a Pakistani, if you want to beat him with us.' … So when the locals heard that I am Pakistani [and joined the beatings] … They were beating me continuously.' While in custody, officers stripped the man naked, beat the soles of his feet, and forced him to jump on his bruised and injured feet. 'You deserve to be under our feet … since you are not Indian,' they told him. Authorities later processed him for deportation, but ultimately released him due to a lawyer's intervention. In a separate incident, a 37-year-old Rohingya refugee was arrested by police officers on June 26 in New Delhi and brought to the police station, where officers forced him to write a confession. 'One of the police officers gave me a blank white paper. He told me, 'You write there, your story—that you came to India illegally, we detained you, and we will deport you. You sign there,'' he told Fortify Rights. He was released the same day due to his impending resettlement to a third country. A Bangladesh Foreign Ministry official told the media that Dhaka had raised the issue with New Delhi multiple times, "We've asked India to follow proper procedures, but have yet to receive a response. Meanwhile, the push-ins continue,' he said. In December 2019, the Modi administration passed the discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Under the act, for the first time in India, religion is a basis for granting citizenship. Furthermore, Indian officials rely on the Foreigners Act of 1946, which grants sweeping powers to detain and remove any non-citizen deemed a 'foreigner.' The Citizenship Act (1955), Section 2(b), defines an 'illegal migrant' as a person who enters India without valid documents or overstays a visa. In 2019, U.N. experts specifically expressed concern over the implementation of the NRC in Assam State and 'its potentially far-reaching consequences for millions of people, in particular persons belonging to minorities who risk statelessness, deportation or prolonged detention.' Customary international law, which reflects widespread and consistent state practice and is legally binding on all states, obliges the Indian government and, by extension, Indian state-level authorities to protect Indian citizens from expulsion, prevent statelessness, and ensure that refugees are not forcibly returned to situations where they may face harm or persecution. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which India is a signatory, states that: 'Everyone has a right to a nationality; No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.' The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which India is a state party, prohibits discrimination before the law 'on any ground such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.' India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol and lacks a domestic law protecting refugees; however, it remains obligated to respect the international customary law principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the forced return of Rohingya refugees to situations where they will face persecution and other serious human rights abuses.. 'India is stripping Indian Muslim citizens and Rohingya refugees of their rights,' said John Quinley. 'Despite its obligations under international law, India continues to violate these commitments through a series of disturbing official laws and policies tinged with ethno-religious supremacism.'
Scoop
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
U.S. Court Agrees Trump Administration's ICC Sanctions Likely Violate First Amendment Rights Of Fortify Rights CEO
(Bangkok, July 23, 2025)—A U.S. federal court last week granted a preliminary injunction in Smith v. Trump, a lawsuit brought by Fortify Rights CEO Matthew Smith and human rights advocate Akila Radhakrishnan challenging the Trump administration's executive order imposing sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and banning advocates from communicating with the ICC under threat of criminal prosecution. The court issued the order on July 17 and concluded that the advocates were likely to succeed on their claim that the speech restrictions imposed on them by the executive order violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to freedom of speech. The preliminary injunction prohibits the administration from punishing the two advocates for their work related to the ICC while the litigation is pending. 'I'm grateful the court recognized the serious threat this executive order against the ICC poses to fundamental freedoms and to our ability to pursue accountability for mass atrocity crimes,' said Matthew Smith. 'This case is not only about our rights — it's about safeguarding the space for all human rights defenders to advocate for justice, speak truth to power, and demand international accountability without fear of reprisal.' Both Smith and Radhakrishnan are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)—a leading American organization that defends and promotes individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. As the lawsuit explains, the sanctions violate the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by prohibiting Smith, Radhakrishnan, and other Americans like them from speaking with the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor, including by providing legal advice, expert analysis, and evidence. 'Preventing our clients and others like them from doing critical human rights work with the ICC is unconstitutional, and we're heartened that the court saw that as well,' said Charlie Hogle, staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project. 'The First Amendment does not allow the government to impose sweeping limits on what Americans can say and who they can say it to.' Under the executive order, people in the U.S. who have devoted their lives to seeking justice for the victims of atrocities — like the genocide of Myanmar's Rohingya people, or gender-based violence committed against Afghan women under the Taliban — could face stiff penalties simply for exercising their constitutional right to engage and advocate with ICC investigators and prosecutors. The international community, including the United States, established the ICC in 1998 to help maintain international peace and security. The ICC investigates and prosecutes crimes of the severest magnitude — including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes — when domestic courts are unwilling or unable to do so. Today, 125 countries have joined the ICC's founding treaty, known as the Rome Statute. As the lawsuit explains, although the United States has not ratified the Rome Statute, it has supported the ICC's critical work on a wide range of matters. 'Fighting this order isn't only a defense of the work I do, or the court itself,' wrote Matthew Smith in an op-ed published June 6 in the New York Times. 'It's also a statement about what kind of country we want to be.' On Friday last week, the New York Times referred to the court's decision to grant a preliminary injunction 'a striking, if tentative, blow to the president's efforts to penalize and isolate the world's highest criminal court.' For more information about the lawsuit, please see the ACLU's webpage devoted to Smith v. Trump.
Scoop
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
International Criminal Court: Investigate Arakan Army War Crimes Against Rohingya
(BANGKOK, July 23, 2025)— The International Criminal Court (ICC) should investigate war crimes, including abductions, torture, killings, and beheadings of Rohingya civilians committed by the Arakan Army (AA), a powerful ethnic resistance force fighting the Myanmar military junta in Rakhine State, Myanmar, Fortify Rights said today. A new investigation by Fortify Rights documents how the AA, which currently controls much of Rakhine State, has committed serious violations of the laws of war in ad-hoc detention centers and villages under its control. 'The Arakan Army is responsible for widespread abductions, brutal torture, and the murder of Rohingya, some of whom were found beheaded, in blatant violation of the laws of war,' said Ejaz Min Khant, Human Rights Specialist at Fortify Rights. 'The International Criminal Court has jurisdiction and should investigate and prosecute perpetrators of serious crimes in Rakhine State, including from the Arakan Army.' From April to July 2025, Fortify Rights interviewed 39 Rohingya individuals—including eight women—who survived and witnessed AA abuses in 2024 and 2025. Fortify Rights also viewed and analyzed photographic and video evidence of AA crimes. Fortify Rights documented multiple killings of Rohingya civilians in villages and ad-hoc detention facilities controlled by the AA, including five apparent beheadings by AA forces. The findings also reveal a systematic pattern in which Rohingya individuals were abducted and subsequently tortured or killed in AA-controlled detention facilities and towns. Survivors reported being detained as a result of unwarranted accusations of links with Rohingya armed groups or as a result of refusing to join AA ranks. Killings and Beheadings 'Ahmed,' a Rohingya, 21, told Fortify Rights how uniformed AA militants abducted his brother in March 2025, during Ramadan, saying: On the 20th day of Ramadan, my brother was killed by the AA. My brother and our family were fasting. … There were 10-15 AA armed members wearing uniforms. They had long guns. I saw them take my brother. My entire family witnessed them take my brother from the house …. I saw them forcibly grab him. They were very angry. He was not willing [to go with them]. They were dragging him. They pushed me away. Both my parents tried to stop the AA men. My younger brother was kicked. My parents pleaded with the AA, 'Where are you taking him? Please stop.' There is no way to get justice for what happened. 'The forest is behind my house. They took him into the forest,' Ahmed explained. Ahmed and some relatives later found his brother's decapitated body in the forest. Ahmed told Fortify Rights: We found him on the ground. He was packed inside an empty sack of rice. … His head was fully detached from his body. … We saw his head, and I could see that it was my brother. The day after, the family held a rapid funeral before fleeing to Bangladesh. _______________ In a separate case, a group of five Rohingya men were abducted by the AA from Abuja Hamlet in Tha Yet Oak village tract, in April 2024 and later found dead, with four beheaded and all their bodies showing signs of torture. A witness told Fortify Rights: When I was looking at them hiding behind the bushes and trees, I saw that they caught Numal Hakim and Islam, and took them out of the fish pond area [where they were working]. …And then they caught [withheld], Abdul Amin, from the shore…. [The AA] took him to sit next to the two others. I kept looking at them, the sun was about to set. … I saw that three to four [AA] people were kicking and punching them hard. … They caught all five [men] … tied their hands, and took them away. Less than a week later, the bodies of the five abducted Rohingya men were found in a man-made fish pond in Rohingya Daung village, also known as Ywet Nyo Taung, about one mile from where they were abducted. The witness recalled: '[A resident] went there to check the bodies, where they found them. You can listen to [his] voice in the video, which he recorded. They were beheaded, stabbed, and had other injuries. The 18-second mobile phone video on file with Fortify Rights shows five bodies in a small pond, four of whom were beheaded. In September 2024, a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights report documented the same incident: 'On 17 April 2024, the Arakan Army detained five Rohingya men in northern Maungdaw. … locals found their severely mutilated bodies, with four having been beheaded.' _______________ In another incident documented by Fortify Rights, a Rohingya man, 33, from Foteh Ali Fara [village] in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, recounted how the AA took his brother 'Mohammed': In January 2024, between 9 and 10 p.m., AA rebels came to our house. …. On that night, a group of 15 AA members came and called my brother. He came out of the house. They didn't tell him anything. He was just taken by the AA. They all had guns. … My mother asked the AA, 'Where are you taking my son?' One AA militants replied, 'We will return him.' Once the Rohingya are detained, you have to consider them disappeared or dead. We didn't have an option to find him or inquire about him. The man explained to Fortify Rights how, two months after the abduction, the AA came to his village and made an announcement saying: The AA came after two months and said to the residents, 'There are dead bodies in Boriyong village [also known as Bo Gyi Chaung village]. Go and find them.' I went with my elder brother to the field in Boriyong. It took about 45 minutes to walk. … I saw dead bodies in an open field. There were 12 dead bodies. They were all men from our village. Some of the dead bodies had gunshot wounds. All had bruises. My elder brother, Mohammed, had black and blue spots, as if he had been beaten very badly. ... His face looked like it had been hit and had dried blood [on it]. Detention and Torture Rohingya told Fortify Rights how they survived AA detention and torture. 'Abdullah,' 21, told Fortify Rights that the AA abducted and tortured him in Boli Bazar, also known as Kyein Chaung village, in Maungdaw Township, in early May 2024: They used bamboo, wire, and kicked and punched as strongly as they could. Four members of the AA came at once and beat me at the same time. One AA member would sit in front of me, on a yellow oil pot, and punch me in the face. Another AA member was beating me with a wooden stick on my back with all his force, just like playing golf. Once it hit my body, it bruised every time. The strikes with the wire immediately caused bruises and bleeding. And the ones with the stick caused painful internal injuries. I still have the scars on my body, as you can see [showing his scars]. They beat me more brutally than the other three [detainees]. He continued: They made me sit in a squat position and then started beating my back with sticks, kicks, and punches from all angles. It was extremely painful that I had to shout very loudly every time. They put a cloth in my mouth so that I couldn't shout. My mouth and nose were bleeding heavily. Then I fell on the ground and was unconscious. _______________ The AA abducted and tortured, 'Shofiq,' a Rohingya from Buthidaung Township, from January 2024 to November 2024. He told Fortify Rights: On January 12, 2024, at 8 p.m., I was praying the Namaz [evening prayer] at the Hatkannya Fara [village] Mosque near my home. At that time, a dozen of the AA came with guns into the mosque and handcuffed me. He continued: Once I arrived at the [AA detention facility], they immediately put both my legs into shackles. I still have scars on my legs [showing his scars]. It was so cold. …The ground was dirt, and it had only a tarpaulin on it. I had to lie down just like that on the ground. They kept me there for several weeks. ... One of the AA members said, 'We detained you because you're a bad person. You send information to the junta military. Tell me, when did ARSA [the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, a Rohingya armed group in league with the junta military] come to your village?' They were accusing me of such baseless, untruthful, and disturbing claims. I said, 'I have no knowledge or information on what you are asking.' Then they took a two-foot bamboo stick and began beating me on my back, groin and thighs. …When they beat me, they wore uniforms. I recognized that they were AA uniforms—it has an insignia with letters written 'Arakan Army.' They beat me for about an hour and a half that day. Shofiq described how on his third day in detention, an AA member escalated the torture, in an attempt to coerce a confession: An AA member came and beat me with a bamboo stick and kicked me when I was in a kneeling position, and I fell on the ground. He said, 'Why don't you accept the accusations yet?' Then he left. Shofiq was moved to the main prison in central Buthidaung in June 2024, where he was kept until November 2024. While in prison, he saw the bodies of deceased fellow detainees: At night, I saw the AA removing dead bodies from various cells. I didn't know who they were, but I clearly saw at least five dead bodies being taken from other cells [during my time in detention]. I was on the upper floor, and the bodies were carried through the ground floor—I could see everything. _______________ Fortify Rights also documented how the AA mistreated and killed Rohingya civilians in ad hoc detention facilities in Rakhine State. One former AA detainee told Fortify Rights: The AA kept my leg cuffed for over seven months until I escaped from their detention. The leg cuff is made of iron and welded shut. They keep others in the same way. Only when someone dies, do they cut it with iron cutters and remove it. I saw AA members bringing out dead bodies of detainees and removing leg cuffs, and then burying the dead bodies in the mountainous area nearby. … It was in Battalion No. 10, in Zambonya [village]. I was in that detention facility at that time. [The] family came to the AA to request that the dead body be buried according to Islamic rituals. But the AA didn't allow them to take the body out and buried him inside the compound. _______________ 'Shorif,' a 21-year-old Rohingya from Hawar Bill village, also known as Kyee Kan Pyin village in Maungdaw Township in Rakhine State, was also abducted along with 18 other residents in July 2024. They were detained in High School No. 3 for 35 days. Later, the AA took them to an AA base in 4-Mile Ward. The AA put nine of us in a narrow room. In that room, I couldn't lie down, sleep, or move—only sit. Mosquitoes bit us, rainwater leaked in, and it was very cold. We had to defecate and urinate in the same room, as there was no toilet. The smell was everywhere. There was no help—I had to keep myself alive. _______________ On July 14, 2025, Fortify Rights sent a letter to the AA requesting a meeting to discuss the allegations. In response, the AA asked for more details about the incidents cited. On July 18, Fortify Rights provided a three-page document containing testimonies and accounts of killings and torture of Rohingya civilians by the AA, and again requested a response. On July 20, the AA replied in writing, stating the group 'categorically reject[s] these false and defamatory accusations.' The AA statement said: Upon careful examination of the allegations in your correspondence, it is absolutely clear that this is a deliberate, repeated, and malicious attack aimed at damaging our reputation. These fabricated narratives, created with political motives, employ underhanded tactics to exploit human rights issues for the political gain of a few racist and Islamic extremist individuals. Fortify Rights has consistently documented and exposed instances of AA war crimes against the ethnic-Rohingya population in areas under its control, including a massacre of Rohingya civilians near the Naf River in Maungdaw on August 5, 2024, and an arson attack on Rohingya homes in May 2024. The AA has denied these allegations and has yet to take responsibility or hold its troops accountable for these crimes. In January 2025, the AA did publicly admit that its soldiers had tortured and summarily executed two prisoners of war - a war crime under international humanitarian law. International Legal Framework International humanitarian law—also known as the laws of war—is applicable to all parties to the conflict in Rakhine State and the broader conflict in Myanmar, which constitutes a non-international armed conflict. In particular, the Geneva Conventions set forth fundamental rules regulating conduct during armed conflict. Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions protects civilians in a non-international armed conflict, stating, 'Persons taking no active part in the hostilities …. shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, color, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.' Mutilation, including beheadings, is considered a war crime both under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions and Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC. Article 8 (2)(c)(i) of the Rome Statute explicitly prohibits, 'Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture,' as war crimes. On September 6, 2018, the ICC granted its Chief Prosecutor jurisdiction to investigate and possibly prosecute the crime against humanity of forced deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh, as well as persecution and other inhumane acts. While the court's jurisdiction stemmed from the Rohingya genocide of 2016 and 2017, its jurisdiction is indefinite, and its investigation could focus on any individual or group deemed responsible for perpetrating the forced deportation of Rohingya to Bangladesh, including the AA. The ICC Chief Prosecutor should include the AA's attacks on Rohingya civilians as part of his ongoing investigation, said Fortify Rights. 'The Arakan Army must end its campaign of torture and killings of Rohingya in detention facilities and villages,' said Ejaz Min Khant. 'If the Arakan Army wants to be seen as a legitimate revolutionary armed force, it must respect international law, protect civilians, and be held accountable for the atrocities it has committed.'
Scoop
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
International Criminal Court: Investigate Russian Airstrikes And Drone Attacks On Civilians
(KYIV, June 24, 2025)—The International Criminal Court (ICC) should investigate a pattern of recent Russian missile and drone attacks targeting Ukrainian civilians, following one of the deadliest assaults on civilian areas in recent months, Fortify Rights said today. During the night of June 16 to the morning of June 17, a nearly nine-hour-long assault struck multiple civilian locations in Ukraine, including the cities of Kyiv, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Poltava. According to the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, the attack killed at least 28 civilians and injured more than 140 in Kyiv alone and caused damage to civilian buildings in eight districts of the capital. Furthermore, reportedly at least nine more civilians died during Russian drone and missile attacks on Kyiv on the morning of Monday, June 23. 'Russia's egregious violations of the laws of war must not be ignored,' said Aliona Kazanska, Human Rights Associate at Fortify Rights. 'Even though Putin's top military commanders have already been indicted by the International Criminal Court for their massive attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, such attacks continue unabated, causing many civilian casualties.' Fortify Rights interviewed six survivors and eyewitnesses to recent attacks, including the June 16–17 missile and drone attacks. Fortify Rights also visited the site of a Russian attack and documented the destruction to civilian infrastructure caused by the attacks. Yulia, 40, a Kyiv resident who survived the June 16-17 attack, described to Fortify Rights the moment her apartment building, where she lives with her husband and young daughter, was struck by a Russian missile: [On June 16th] It all started with the [drones], and the air defense shooting them down. When they [drones] started arriving, we went down to the first floor. … Then it became all quiet. We returned to the ninth floor. We still have a small child, so we put her to bed. We heard flying [drones] again. My husband and I went down to the first floor and sat on the floor. It's literally been 15 minutes. … Sitting on the floor in the corridor, in a half-asleep state, I was holding my baby. Then I just saw from the other end of the corridor, from where the shock wave came, the doors flew open, and everything was covered in sand and plaster. It just took a second. In a second, everyone was down. Then I didn't know what to do. … A lot of wounded people were around me. Yulia added: 'You know, we live on the ninth floor, where the missile struck. If we were at home there, we would not be [alive] anymore.' The June 16-17 attack was not an isolated incident. Just days earlier, on June 10, Russian forces launched waves of missile and drone attacks targeting residential areas and civilian infrastructure. Iryna, 53, a resident of Kyiv, told Fortify Rights her experience of the June 10 attack: I did not sleep [because of the incoming attack alerts], and my mother is paralyzed … we had just put her to bed and were about to go to bed. Suddenly, there was a bang! It was deafening, louder than it's ever been. And we also heard the glass shattering. … There was debris almost all over the kitchen. My mother had such thick curtains, and the blinds were also thick. This must have protected her. But we were left without windows. During the early morning hours of April 24 in the Sviatoshynskyi District of Kyiv, Russian forces launched a massive aerial night-time drone and missile attack, which killed 13 people and injured 87, including six children. Fortify Rights spoke with Olena, 64, a survivor of the attack: It was sometime after midnight. I heard the alarm. … I didn't react, I just got up, covered my husband [with a blanket], and went to bed. … Then I heard an explosion that was so loud for us. … I opened the door and was going to sit in the corridor, and then [the shockwave of the explosion] hit me. I didn't hear the second explosion. It was just so dark and warm. … I [lost consciousness] and just remember waking up on the floor a minute later. She continued: My husband was saved. … He was under a heavy carpet and only had small cuts. … Both my arm and leg were injured. … Now, when the air raid alert goes off, I feel paralyzed with fear. I can't hold it back. I want to give up everything and run somewhere. I used to be very calm about all this. According to the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), on June 16-17, Russia launched 440 long-range drones and 32 missiles into Ukraine, of which 175 drones and 14 missiles were directed at Kyiv. OHCHR also reported that in the first 17 days of June, Russia launched at least 3,340 drones mostly manufactured by Iran and 135 missiles at Ukrainian targets, mostly striking civilian areas. The recent wave of Russian aerial attacks directed against Ukraine fails to distinguish between civilian populations and military targets, and should be considered war crimes, Fortify Rights said. It continues a pattern of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, showing clearly that Russia continues to violate the laws of war to a degree that reaches the level of crimes against humanity. International humanitarian law, also known as the laws of war, governs the conduct of parties to international armed conflicts. Article 43 of Additional Protocol 1 to the Geneva Conventions states that: In order to ensure respect for and protection of the civilian population and civilian objects, the Parties to the conflict shall at all times distinguish between the civilian population and combatants and between civilian objects and military objectives and accordingly shall direct their operations only against military objectives. Further, Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC explicitly categorizes 'Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population' as a war crime. Before Ukraine ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC in 2024, Ukrainian authorities twice accepted the court's jurisdiction. On April 9, 2014, Ukraine accepted the ICC's jurisdiction under Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute pertaining to acts committed in Ukraine from November 21, 2013, to February 22, 2014. On September 8, 2015, Ukraine extended the court's jurisdiction to focus on alleged crimes committed throughout Ukraine from February 20, 2014, onwards. Article 12(3) of the Rome Statute allows non-ICC member states to accept the jurisdiction of the Court. As part of the investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity during Russian aggression against Ukraine, the ICC has already issued an arrest warrant against Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash and Admiral Viktor Sokolov for directing attacks at civilian objects and for causing excessive harm to civilians or damage to civilian objects. 'Russia's continuing direct attacks against Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure demand international attention and accountability,' said Aliona Kazanska. 'The International Criminal Court must respond to this pattern of deliberate aerial attacks against civilians, and countries around the world must intensify their efforts to block the Russian military from continuing its attacks against Ukrainian civilians by strengthening sanctions and blocking its access to weapons technology.'
Scoop
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Protect Women Domestic Violence Survivors, Refugees, And Human Rights Defenders
Bangkok, June 19, 2025 U.N. committee to assess government record on women's rights The Government of Thailand should commit to ensuring the protection of women domestic violence survivors, refugees, and human rights defenders, Fortify Rights said today. The U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee) will consider Thailand's record on women's rights during a public hearing later today in Geneva, Switzerland. 'While Thailand has made progress on women's rights, substantial areas still need reform,' said Patrick Phongsathorn, Senior Advocate at Fortify Rights. 'Survivors of domestic violence continue to be underserved by Thai authorities, while women refugees and human rights defenders suffer from a lack of comprehensive legal protection.' Ahead of Thailand's review, Fortify Rights made an official submission to the CEDAW Committee, making recommendations on the rights of domestic violence survivors, refugees, and human rights defenders. In its submission, FortifyRights stated that progress on women's rights in Thailand 'has too often been characterized by weak enforcement and poor implementation of relevant laws and policies, further compounding the vulnerability of survivors of abuse.' Fortify Rights's submission includes research conducted over multiple years with women survivors of human rights abuses in Thailand, including a recent 46-page report that documents significant failings in Thailand's response to domestic violence. The report draws on more than 50 interviews, including with 32 women survivors of domestic violence, finding that Thailand's domestic violence legal framework and law enforcement mechanisms fail to provide adequate protections for survivors of domestic violence. The report also highlights that while a new draft domestic violence law, which was recently 'approved in principle' by the Thai Cabinet, expands certain protections for domestic violence survivors, it retains problematic provisions, including a six-month statute of limitations that risks excluding child survivors. In its submission to the CEDAW Committee, Fortify Rights recommended that the Thai government ensure that any changes to the domestic violence law align with international standards, that official responses to domestic violence are well-coordinated across all the relevant agencies and stakeholders, and that officials dealing with domestic violence cases are regularly trained in survivor-centered approaches as well as proper legal and procedural handling of cases. In its report to the committee, the Thai government stated that it 'aids refugees and asylum-seekers in accordance with human rights principles.' Several years of investigations by Fortify Rights have found, however, that refugee women, especially those escaping violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar, have been subjected to various abuses at the hands of Thai authorities. Without an effective legal framework to recognize and protect refugees in Thailand, refugees face criminal penalties under Thailand's 1979 Immigration Act, which prohibits unauthorized entry or stay in Thailand. Thailand is not party to the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention and does not formally recognize refugee status as defined by the Convention. As a result, refugees in Thailand are subject to arbitrary arrest, detention, and extortion, as well as forced returns. A lack of legal status in Thailand also means that refugees face considerable barriers when trying to access basic public services, including healthcare. Fortify Rights recommended to the CEDAW Committee that Thailand should ratify the U.N. Refugee Convention and end abusive practices, including arbitrary arrests, detention, and forced return of women refugees, especially those fleeing violence and persecution in neighboring Myanmar. Fortify Rights also recommended that Thailand ensure the broadest possible coverage of protective legal status and access to basic public services, including healthcare, for women refugees in Thailand. Women human rights defenders in Thailand continue to be subjected to judicial harassment, including through instances of Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation or SLAPP suits. According to a recent U.N. study, between 1997 and 2022, more than 400 people, including many women human rights defenders, were targeted by 109 instances of SLAPP suits in Thailand. In 2018, Thailand amended its Criminal Procedure Code, allowing judges to dismiss and forbid the refiling of a complaint by a private individual if the complaint is filed 'in bad faith or with misrepresentation of facts to harass or take advantage of a defendant' this amendment has, however, been under-utilized by the courts. In its submission to the CEDAW Committee, Fortify Rights recommended that Thailand bring its legal framework in line with international law and standards by decriminalizing defamation and treating it as a civil matter between individuals. Fortify Rights also recommended that judges and lawyers be trained and provided with guidelines to ensure the proper implementation of legal measures to prevent judicial harassment of women human rights defenders. 'In many ways, Thailand stands at a crossroads on women's rights—there have been advancements, but there are still major gaps to be filled,' said Patrick Phongsathorn. 'In its review, the CEDAW Committee must press the Thai government to do all it can to guarantee the rights of all women in Thailand.'
