AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
(North Korea) in Namibia. Their cameras and
laptops were confiscated by Namibian
security forces.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND GIRLS
Gender-based violence, including rape,
against women and girls continued at a high
rate as the government failed to address the
problem adequately.
For example, on 20 June, Janet Haoes
was strangled with electric wire, stabbed
several times and hit with a hammer by her
partner in the Otjomuise suburb of the
capital, Windhoek. On 26 August, the body of
Rosina Gaoses, who was pregnant, was
found in the riverbed in the Dolam suburb of
Windhoek. The body showed signs that she
had been raped before being murdered.
Although the Namibian police initiated
some investigations into cases of genderbased
violence, efforts to eradicate violence
against women and girls remained
inadequate.
NAURU
Republic of Nauru
Head of state and government: Baron Waqa
The Crimes Act 2016 contained provisions
to protect human rights but was
inadequately implemented. Concerns about
the denial of the rights to freedom of
expression and of peaceful assembly,
freedom of movement and access to the
country for foreign media persisted.
Passports of several former MPs were
suspended. Nauru continued to hold
hundreds of refugees and asylum-seekers in
a centre while others were placed in the
community under its transfer agreement
with Australia. The death penalty was
repealed for all crimes in May.
SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
The Crimes Act 2016, which came into force
in May, decriminalized same-sex relations,
abortions carried out by medical
professionals and criminalized marital rape.
The authorities took no steps to implement
the law to protect women and girls from
gender-based violence or to ensure their
access to sexual and reproductive health
information and services, particularly
affecting those in remote locations and/or in
marginalized communities.
The Act criminalized the buying and
selling of sex, impeding sex workers’ access
to sexual and reproductive health information
and services and making them vulnerable to
exploitation, abuse, violence and other
crimes. It also adversely impacted HIV
treatment and prevention.
FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT
In September, new laws granted the Foreign
Ministry powers to cancel passports without
court review. Twenty Nauruans claimed that
the Ministry cancelled their passports. They
included opposition MPs who were
suspended after being charged in 2015 in
connection with a pro-democracy rally in
2014. In September, Sprent Dabwido, former
MP, was prevented from leaving Nauru for
medical care. The government later reversed
the decision. Roland Kun, a former MP, had
his passport confiscated in 2015 after he was
charged in connection with speaking to
foreign media and protests against the
government. He was granted a New Zealand
passport and fled Nauru in July.
REFUGEES AND ASYLUM-SEEKERS
There were around 1,200 refugees and
asylum-seekers remaining in Nauru. As of 30
November, there were 383 in the Australianrun
Regional Processing Centre (RPC), of
whom 44 were children, 49 women and 290
men (see Australia entry). There were around
800 refugees living in the community.
There was evidence that children were
assaulted by staff working for companies
hired by the Australian government to run the
RCP and by private individuals. Health care
was inadequate and many children were not
attending school. Reports of attempted
suicide and self-harm were commonplace.
268 Amnesty International Report 2016/17