Amnesty International Report 2020/21: The State of the World’s Human Rights

Page 296

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office for Foreigners suspended direct customer services and there were some limitations on the submission of asylum applications at border crossings.

4. Polki i Polacy chcą, by przestępstwa motywowane homofobią i transfobią były rozpoznawane przez państwo (in Polish only, translates as ‘Polish people want crimes motivated by homophobia and transphobia to be recognized by the state’) (News story, 24 September)

one third continued to lack PPE until the end of June. By November, 8,755 health professionals had contracted COVID-19. Older people in care homes accounted for one third of COVID-19 deaths, which reached 6,972 by the end of the year. A criminal investigation was ongoing into the deaths of 18 people at a nursing home in Reguengos de Monsaraz, following a report concerning failures to follow government health guidelines. With sub-standard conditions and overcrowding persisting in some prisons, the government released over 2,000 prisoners to limit contagion. However, some prisoners faced homelessness on release.

5. Poland: Abortion ban and regressive sexuality education laws must not be rushed through under cover of COVID-19 (News story, 14 April)

RIGHT TO HOUSING

1. Poland: Judges and lawyers from across Europe protest judicial takeover in Warsaw (News story, 9 January) 2. Poland: COVID-19 is no excuse to crack down on protests (EUR 37/2421/2020) 3. Poland: Activists at risk of 10-year jail term for COVID-19 poster campaign challenging government statistics (News story, 11 June)

PORTUGAL Portuguese Republic Head of state: Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Head of government: António Costa

The government’s response to COVID-19 exposed gaps in the rights to health and housing. Discrimination against Roma continued. A man died following a beating in border police custody. Prosecutions and convictions for gender-based violence remained low.

BACKGROUND From 18 March to 2 May, the government declared a state of emergency to control COVID-19, imposing limitations to freedoms of movement and assembly, including for religious purposes or protest. The government declared a second state of emergency on 9 November until the end of the year, restricting freedom of movement and gatherings.

RIGHT TO HEALTH The Portuguese Medical Association reported that over half of doctors lacked adequate PPE during the first state of emergency, and that

296

The government suspended foreclosures and evictions during the state of emergency and until the end of the year. Nevertheless, many families continued to lack access to adequate housing. In March, just before the suspension was in place, the City Council in the capital, Lisbon, evicted about 70 people who had occupied social housing for lack of alternatives. At least nine evicted families reported that they had not been offered alternative accommodation and had to sleep in vans, tents or entrance halls of neighbouring buildings. There were several reports that shelters for the homeless were both insufficient and of poor quality. Support for the homeless was largely left to local authorities and volunteers.

RIGHTS OF REFUGEES, ASYLUMSEEKERS AND MIGRANTS In March, the government temporarily granted access to health and social care to asylum-seekers and non-nationals with pending residency applications. The government relocated only 72 unaccompanied minors from Greece out of 500 it had pledged to receive. The death in custody in March of a Ukrainian national, following a beating by border police at Lisbon airport, exposed failures in the protection of people during border procedures. Three border police

Amnesty International Report 2020/21


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Articles inside

Slovakia

2min
page 319

Slovenia

5min
pages 320-321

Singapore

2min
page 318

Serbia

10min
pages 314-317

Senegal

2min
page 313

Rwanda

16min
pages 307-312

Portugal

2min
page 296

Qatar

8min
pages 298-300

Romania

15min
pages 301-306

Puerto Rico

2min
page 297

Poland

8min
pages 293-295

Philippines

5min
pages 291-292

Pakistan

8min
pages 279-281

Peru

5min
pages 289-290

Paraguay

5min
pages 287-288

Palestine (State of

13min
pages 282-286

Oman

5min
pages 277-278

Norway

2min
page 276

North Macedonia

2min
page 275

North Korea

5min
pages 273-274

Nigeria

14min
pages 268-272

New Zealand

2min
page 263

Niger

5min
pages 266-267

Nepal

5min
pages 260-261

Myanmar

8min
pages 257-259

Nicaragua

5min
pages 264-265

Netherlands

2min
page 262

Mozambique

5min
pages 255-256

Morocco/Western Sahara

10min
pages 251-254

Montenegro

2min
page 250

Mongolia

2min
page 249

Moldova

5min
pages 247-248

Mexico

11min
pages 243-246

Mali

5min
pages 239-240

Malta

5min
pages 241-242

Malaysia

5min
pages 237-238

Madagascar

7min
pages 233-235

Libya

11min
pages 228-231

Malawi

2min
page 236

Lesotho

5min
pages 226-227

Lithuania

2min
page 232

Lebanon

8min
pages 223-225

Latvia

2min
page 222

Kyrgyzstan

5min
pages 220-221

Kosovo

2min
page 217

Kuwait

5min
pages 218-219

Kazakhstan

5min
pages 212-213

Japan

5min
pages 207-208

Jordan

8min
pages 209-211

Kenya

8min
pages 214-216

Italy

8min
pages 204-206

Palestinian Territories

10min
pages 200-203

Ireland

2min
page 199

Iraq

11min
pages 195-198

Indonesia

11min
pages 186-189

Hungary

5min
pages 180-181

India

11min
pages 182-185

Honduras

5min
pages 178-179

Iran

13min
pages 190-194

Guinea

5min
pages 176-177

Greece

5min
pages 172-173

Guatemala

5min
pages 174-175

France

8min
pages 163-165

Germany

5min
pages 168-169

Ghana

5min
pages 170-171

Georgia

5min
pages 166-167

Finland

2min
page 162

Fiji

2min
page 161

Ethiopia

8min
pages 158-160

Eswatini

2min
page 157

Eritrea

2min
page 155

Estonia

2min
page 156

Equatorial Guinea

5min
pages 153-154

El Salvador

5min
pages 151-152

Egypt

13min
pages 146-150

Ecuador

2min
page 145

Dominican Republic

5min
pages 143-144

Denmark

2min
page 142

Côte d'Ivoire

5min
pages 131-132

Cyprus

5min
pages 136-137

Cuba

5min
pages 134-135

Croatia

2min
page 133

Colombia

16min
pages 125-130

Congo

11min
pages 138-141

Chile

5min
pages 117-118

China

17min
pages 119-124

Canada

13min
pages 110-114

Chad

5min
pages 115-116

Cameroon

5min
pages 108-109

Cambodia

5min
pages 106-107

Burundi

8min
pages 103-105

Burkina Faso

5min
pages 101-102

Brazil

14min
pages 94-98

Bulgaria

5min
pages 99-100

Bosnia and Herzegovina

5min
pages 91-92

Botswana

2min
page 93

Bolivia

5min
pages 89-90

Benin

5min
pages 87-88

Belarus

10min
pages 82-85

Belgium

2min
page 86

Austria

2min
page 73

Bangladesh

8min
pages 79-81

Bahrain

8min
pages 76-78

Azerbaijan

5min
pages 74-75

Australia

2min
page 72

Angola

8min
pages 65-67

Armenia

5min
pages 70-71

Argentina

5min
pages 68-69

regional overview

21min
pages 49-57

Albania

2min
page 61

Algeria

8min
pages 62-64

Afghanistan

8min
pages 58-60

overview

20min
pages 41-48
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