Gender-based violence, violence against immigrants and a lack of adequate housing are among the main references to Portugal in Amnesty International’s (AI) annual report on the state of human rights in the world, released today.
Referring to 2023, the document analyzes 155 countries and concludes that last year human rights violations “were widespread”.
For Portugal, AI points to the case of seven police officers who were accused of torturing immigrants and were allowed to resume their duties, says that last year concerns persisted about low rates of domestic violence prosecution, and recalls data indicating that the number of families without adequate housing tripled compared to 2018.
On torture and ill-treatment, the report cites the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which said that ill-treatment of detainees by law enforcement officials is a persistent practice, reiterating the government’s obligation to ensure that alleged cases are investigated and to combat impunity.
In June, the Évora Court of Appeal acquitted a military police officer and reduced the sentences of four other officers convicted of torturing immigrants in the town of Odemira, Beja district.
After an initial suspension from duty, the seven police officers involved in the case were given permission to return to work.
“According to a report by the Ombudsman published in April, the average occupancy rate of prisons in December 2022 was 100.8%, with 25 of the 49 prisons overcrowded,” the report says.
On gender-based violence, AI cites the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and its concern about the “high and persistent level of domestic violence” in Portugal, which has urged the authorities to address the low prosecution rates of domestic violence suspects, as well as the insufficient provision of shelters for victims seeking safety.
Amnesty also cites official data on internal security (from March), which estimated an increase of 18.2% in the number of people subjected to human trafficking, almost half for labor exploitation.
He recalls data from the National Statistics Institute from January, which estimated that 9.2% of people lived in overcrowded housing, affecting almost 20% of families in poverty. And that there were 86,000 families with housing shortages last year.
In 2023, says AI in the report on economic, social and cultural rights, France, Ireland and Portugal registered record levels of homelessness.
The international movement also talks about Portugal, the case of three activists who sued the Lisbon City Council for allegedly violating their rights, and the case of six young people who filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights against 32 countries, claiming that governments were not doing enough to fight climate change. This year, the Court ruled against the young people.
Globally, AI paints a much bleaker picture, talking about attacks and killings in a growing number of armed conflicts, repressions on freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly, and arbitrary detentions.
It also speaks of states that have failed to take measures to guarantee people’s right to food, health, education and a healthy environment, while neglecting economic injustices and the climate crisis.
The treatment of civilians as expendable in armed conflicts, the growing backlash against gender justice, the disproportionate impact of economic crises, climate change and environmental degradation on the most marginalized communities, and the threats of new and existing technologies represent, in AI’s view, critical challenges for human rights around the world in 2024 and beyond.
