AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

democracy activist Itai Dzamara, after he
held up a placard at an event attended by
President Robert Mugabe in Harare. In
Uganda, there was a series of attacks on the
offices of NGOs and human rights defenders.
Continuing lack of accountability for these
crimes sent the message that the authorities
condoned and tolerated these actions. In one
attack, intruders beat a security guard to
death.
Media houses, journalists and social media
users faced increasing challenges in many
countries. Zambia’s authorities shut down the
independent newspaper The Post in a ploy to
silence critical media ahead of the election,
also arresting senior staff and their family
members.
Burundi’s already-decimated civil society
and independent media came under
increasing attack: journalists, members of
social media groups and even schoolchildren
were arrested simply for speaking out. In
Cameroon, Fomusoh Ivo Feh was sentenced
to 10 years in prison for forwarding a
sarcastic text message about Boko Haram.
In some countries, emerging laws were
cause for concern. A draft law under
parliamentary consideration in Mauritania
restricted the right to freedom of peaceful
assembly and association. In Congo, a law
increasing government control over civil
society organizations was passed. In Angola,
the National Assembly approved five draft
bills that will impermissibly restrict the right to
freedom of expression. Elsewhere, existing
laws such as terrorism and state of
emergency laws were used to criminalize
peaceful dissent. The Ethiopian government
– increasingly intolerant of opposing voices –
escalated its crackdown on journalists,
human rights defenders and other dissenters
by using the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation.
On the positive side, there were some
hopeful signs of judicial activism and courage
– even in extremely repressive countries –
which challenged governments’ use of the
law and judiciary to stifle dissent. In DRC,
four pro-democracy activists were released, a
rare positive step in a very difficult year for
freedom of expression in the country. A
landmark court ruling against repressive laws
in Swaziland in September was also another
victory for human rights. Zimbabwe’s High
Court overturned a ban on protests. Although
another High Court ruling subsequently made
this void, the courageous decision – made
after President Mugabe threatened the
judiciary – represented a victory in defence of
human rights and sent a clear message that
the right to protest cannot be stripped away
on a whim. In Gambia, more than 40
prisoners of conscience, some of whom had
been detained for as long as eight months,
were released on bail pending appeal
immediately following the elections.
POLITICAL REPRESSION
2016 witnessed several contested elections
across Africa, characterized by increased
repression. In several countries, including in
Burundi, Chad, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, DRC,
Gabon, Gambia, Somalia and Uganda,
opposition leaders and voices came under
severe attack.
In one of the most unexpected
developments, tens of thousands of
Gambians took part in peaceful gatherings
ahead of the Presidential elections, although
at the end of the year the election results
remained contested.
The months leading up to the elections
were marred by serious violations of citizens’
rights to express themselves freely. Dozens of
opposition members were arrested, and two
died in custody after being arrested for
participating in peaceful protests. Thirty
protesters were sentenced to three years in
prison for their involvement in peaceful
protests, with 14 others awaiting trial. All
were released on bail immediately following
the elections on 1 December.
Despite initially conceding defeat to the
opposition leader Adama Barrow, President
Yahya Jammeh subsequently challenged the
results and remained defiant to domestic and
international pressure to hand over power.
The Ugandan government undermined the
opposition party’s ability to legally challenge
the results of February’s elections. Security
forces repeatedly arrested the aggrieved
18 Amnesty International Report 2016/17