Access to vaccines, another Middle East shortcoming in human rights, says AI

This content was published on March 28, 2022 – 23:03

28 March 2022 – 23:03

Cairo, March 29 (EFE) .- Access to the covid-19 vaccine in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, slow, not very transparent and without equitable access for people in marginal contexts, was added to this year to the long string of shortcomings in human rights that the region is experiencing.

This is reported in the Report on the Situation of Human Rights in the World published this Monday by Amnesty International (AI), which also detected serious restrictions on freedom of expression, the illegitimate use of force by the authorities, crimes of war and violations of international humanitarian law in war zones such as Yemen or Syria and systematic mistreatment of the migrant population.

AI’s report also highlights the persistence of impunity in acts of violence against women, from sexual harassment to “honor” killings, with “absence of any commitment” on the part of States to prosecute those responsible for these acts. crimes.

The rights of LGTBI people and discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities also continued to be harshly repressed.

VACCINES AND HEALTH

With exceptions in the Gulf countries and Israel, for AI vaccination against covid-19 was marked by “lack of transparency and consultation, delays in prioritizing risk groups and lack of measures to guarantee access equitable and fair to the vaccination of marginalized groups”.

In addition, “often” access to the vaccine was affected by political considerations that slowed down immunization campaigns.

Beyond the vaccine, the covid highlighted “the deficiencies of the region’s health systems and the difficulties in achieving the accessibility and affordability of adequate medical care.”

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

AI was also categorical in condemning the fact that “throughout the region” people continue to be “arrested, detained and prosecuted solely for the peaceful exercise of freedom of expression.”

In many of these cases, legal and police harassment was caused by complaints against the management of the pandemic by the authorities.

The organization also criticizes the fact that countries in the region continued to purchase expensive digital surveillance equipment, which was used against human rights defenders, a group harshly repressed across the board.

Citizens of the region were also subjected to arrests, beatings and prosecutions for participating in peaceful demonstrations, as happened in Tunisia, Algeria, Iran, Iraq and Lebanon, among others, while repressive forces routinely used live ammunition to quell protests. .

The “cruel and inhumane” conditions in the region’s prisons are also highlighted in the report, as well as the fact that torture and ill-treatment were common in up to 18 countries in the region.

DEATH PENALTY, IMPUNITY AND WAR

The use of the death penalty, often after “manifestly unfair” trials, was applied in at least six countries, often in secret and without informing the relatives of executed prisoners, and even affected people who were minors when they committed crimes. the crimes for which they were executed.

At the same time, impunity persists in the region for the security forces, militias and armed groups for crimes such as homicide, torture, forced disappearance and rape, whose perpetrators have in many cases been integrated or promoted to positions of public responsibility.

AI also pointed out in its report the persistence of armed conflicts that affect the lives of the civilian population in Iraq, Libya, Syria and Yemen, where “multiple belligerent actors” committed war crimes through indiscriminate attacks that killed and injured civilians.

HOMOSEXUALS, WOMEN AND MIGRANTS

Also in the region, refugees and migrants continued to be detained without legal grounds and in many cases were subjected to innumerable crimes, including torture and rape.

Widespread violence against women and girls continued to go unpunished in most cases, with recurrent “honor” killings in Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Palestine, without the authorities taking steps to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Throughout the region, women continued to face entrenched discrimination in the law in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance.

The LGBTI community has also suffered persecution, torture and rape due to their sexual orientation or gender identity, while the courts continued to treat consensual same-sex relations as a crime. EFE

amr / ppa / psh

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