Rédaction Africa Links 24 with pierre Dieme
Published on 2024-03-06 16:45:43
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has stated, this Wednesday, that the proposed amnesty bill currently being examined by deputies in the National Assembly “opens the way to impunity for serious crimes” in the country.
“If adopted, this law could effectively grant impunity to public officials responsible for serious human rights violations,” said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior researcher for the Sahel at Human Rights Watch. In her opinion, “any amnesty that would guarantee impunity by absolving government officials and members of security forces of their responsibility for serious human rights violations is incompatible with Senegal’s national and international obligations.”
The bill presented by outgoing President Macky Sall, aimed at promoting national reconciliation in the context of a political crisis caused by the postponement of the presidential election, will cover “all acts that may qualify as criminal or correctional offenses committed between February 1, 2021, and February 25, 2024, both in Senegal and abroad, related to demonstrations or with political motivations, including those made through any communication channels, whether their perpetrators have been judged or not.”
However, the non-governmental organization emphasized that several important international treaties to which Senegal is a signatory – including the Convention against Torture and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – stipulate that individuals suspected of serious crimes must be fairly prosecuted. An amnesty for perpetrators of serious crimes would contradict the founding principles of the African Union and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. “President Sall has stated that amnesty will be granted in a spirit of national reconciliation. But attempting to achieve general reconciliation should not be a means of evading accountability,” explained Ilaria Allegrozzi.
As a reminder, Human Rights Watch has previously documented the excessive use of force by Senegalese security forces, including live ammunition shootings and the inappropriate use of tear gas to disperse protesters in March 2021, June 2023, and February 2024. “At least 40 people have been killed in violent clashes since March 2021, without anyone being held accountable. According to opposition parties and civil society organizations, nearly 1,000 opposition members, including party leaders and presidential candidates, journalists, and activists, have been arrested across the country between March 2021 and January 2023. Since the announcement of the election postponement, at least 344 of them have been released, according to Justice Minister Aissata Tall Sall,” HRW adds.
HRW has also documented “the disregard for the right to due process of those arrested in connection with opposition-organized protests since 2021, including unfounded charges, lack of evidence to support the accusations, prolonged detention, mistreatment, and acts of torture during their detention or at the time of arrest.”
Read the original article(French) on Dakar Matin
