AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

excessive force to disperse a peaceful crowd
and arrested scores of peaceful
demonstrators. Across the country, the
authorities also summoned for questioning
and arrested a number of political activists,
accusing them of organizing the protests.
The Constitutional amendments
introduced following the September
referendum granted the government even
more power to restrict the right to freedom of
peaceful assembly. The amendments limited
property rights and allowed the restriction of
freedom of assembly if it breached “public
morals”.
TORTURE AND OTHER ILL-TREATMENT
Law enforcement officials continued to
commit torture and other ill-treatment with
impunity.
Human rights defenders reported torture
and other ill-treatment of members of the
Muslim Unity movement who had been
arrested during clashes with government
security forces in the village of Nardaran in
2015. Muslim Unity activists were accused of
trying to forcibly change the constitutional
system and to create an organized
armed group.
The youth activists Bayram Mammadov
and Giyas Ibrahimov reported that they were
tortured and otherwise ill-treated in detention.
Injuries consistent with their allegations were
confirmed by the UN Working Group on
Arbitrary Detention after visiting the activists
in detention. Their findings were ignored by
judges during remand and case hearings.
Another youth activist, Elgiz Gahraman, told
his lawyer he had been subject to torture
following his arrest on 12 August. He was
held incommunicado for 48 hours and forced
to “confess” to charges of drug possession.
At the end of the year he remained in
detention with his trial pending.
ARMED CONFLICT
Four days of armed clashes between
government forces and the forces of the selfdeclared
Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh took
place in April. Azerbaijan reported the deaths
of six civilians and 31 military personnel; the
Armenian Ministry of Defence reported 93
persons killed on its side, including four
civilians. The two parties accused each other
of under-reporting military casualties and
over-reporting civilian casualties. Both sides
reportedly targeted civilian properties,
including schools.
BAHAMAS
Commonwealth of the Bahamas
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by
Marguerite Pindling
Head of government: Perry Gladstone Christie
Widespread ill-treatment and other abuses
against irregular migrants from countries
including Haiti and Cuba continued.
Bahamians voted “no” in a constitutional
referendum on gender equality in
citizenship matters in June. Discrimination
against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and intersex people continued.
LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS
On 7 June, Bahamians voted “no” in a
referendum on gender equality in citizenship
matters under Bahamian law. The proposed
amendments – backed by the government –
would have strengthened anti-discrimination
protections based on sex.
The result maintained inequality in
Bahamian laws so that women and men pass
on citizenship to their children and spouses
in different ways. The result put at risk the
citizenship rights of families, in particular the
risk of separation of families with diverse
nationalities or children born outside of the
Bahamas to Bahamian parents.
RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE
Stigma and discrimination against lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex
(LGBTI) people continued.
In April, activists founded the group
Bahamas Transgender Intersex United. After
its first press conference, members of the
76 Amnesty International Report 2016/17