AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

EUROPE AND
CENTRAL ASIA
REGIONAL
OVERVIEW
On 30 November 2016, “Ahmed H”, a Syrian
man living in Cyprus, stood trial on terrorism
charges in Budapest, capital of Hungary. He
was accused of orchestrating clashes
between police and refugees following the
sudden closure of Hungary’s border with
Serbia in September 2015. His prosecution
played to the government’s conflation of
Muslim asylum-seekers with terrorist threats.
In reality, Ahmed H was only there because
he was helping his elderly Syrian parents flee
their war-torn country. Caught in the melee,
he admitted to throwing stones at the police,
but, for the most part, as numerous
witnesses testified, he had been trying to
calm the crowd. Nevertheless, he was
convicted, becoming a tragic, chilling symbol
of a continent turning its back on human
rights.
In 2016 populist movements and
messages burst into the mainstream.
Politicians across the region tapped into
widespread feelings of alienation and
insecurity. Their targets were many: political
elites, the EU, immigration, liberal media,
Muslims, foreign nationals, globalization,
gender equality and the ever-present threat of
terrorism. In power, in countries like Poland
and Hungary, they achieved most, but also
further west, they forced anxious
establishment parties to borrow many of their
clothes and usher in many of their policies.
The result was a pervasive weakening of the
rule of law and an erosion in the protection of
human rights, particularly for refugees and
terrorism suspects, but ultimately for
everyone.
Further east, long-established strongmen
strengthened their grip on power. In
Tajikistan, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan,
constitutional amendments extending
presidential terms were ushered in. In
Russia, President Vladimir Putin continued to
surf the wave of popularity generated by
Russia’s excursions in Ukraine and its
resurgent influence internationally, while
undermining civil society at home. Across the
former Soviet Union, the repression of dissent
and political opposition remained surgical
and constant.
The region’s most tumultuous
developments took place in Turkey, which
was shaken by ongoing clashes in the
southeast, a series of bombings and
shootings and a violent coup attempt in July.
The government’s backsliding on human
rights accelerated dramatically in its wake.
Having identified one-time ally turned bitter
foe Fethullah Gulen as responsible, the
Turkish authorities moved with speed to
crush the extensive movement he had
created. Around 90,000 civil servants, most
of them presumed Gulenists, were dismissed
by executive decree. At least 40,000 people
were remanded in custody, amid widespread
allegations of torture and other ill-treatment.
Hundreds of media outlets and NGOs were
closed down and journalists, academics and
MPs were arrested as the crackdown
progressively moved beyond the nexus of the
coup and weaved in other dissenters and
pro-Kurdish voices.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
Following the arrival by sea of just over a
million refugees and migrants in 2015, EU
member states were determined to
dramatically reduce their number in 2016. In
this they succeeded, but only at the
considerable, and quite deliberate, expense
of their rights and welfare.
At the end of December, around 358,000
refugees and migrants had made the
crossing into Europe. There was a modest
increase in numbers taking the central
Mediterranean route (up to around 170,000),
but a sharp decline in numbers arriving on
the Greek islands (down from 854,000 to
173,000), owing almost entirely to the
migration control deal between EU and
Turkey agreed in March. The International
40 Amnesty International Report 2016/17