News & Blog

Monday 4 June, Amnesty International placed a giant heart balloon outside the Parliament in Budapest. The 10x10x5 meter red heart was there to tell Hungarian MPs that people working for a fair and safe Hungary need to be protected, not attacked or threatened. Therefore, the draconian legislative proposal submitted by the government to the Parliament – dubbed ‘Stop Soros’ and aiming to criminalise those helping refugees and migrants and to instil fear and silence civil society - must be voted down. . The face of the heart balloon installation was the “Civil” symbol - - logo of over 250 organizations working in coalition in Hungary for rights and freedoms. The giant heart is a symbol of the strong and heartfelt worldwide support for civil society, organisations and activists, working for a Hungary that is fair and safe for all. More than 22,000 people from 50+ countries around the world have sent messages of support to NGOs in Hungary both offline and online, which have also been collected in a booklet of solidarity that was handed over to MPs.

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Mass protests in Europe provide hope as rights and judicial independence eroded

People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking…

April 16, 2020

olice officers in face masks patrol the area around Patriarshy Pond in central Moscow
MOSCOW, RUSSIA - MARCH 30, 2020: Police officers in face masks patrol the area around Patriarshy Pond in central Moscow during the pandemic of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). On 29 March 2020, Moscow's authorities issued a stay-at-home order to all people in Moscow regardless of their age, which comes into effect from 30 March 2020. Earlier, the Russian government announced a paid week off work (30 March to 3 April) for employed people and school holidays (21 March - 12 April), while Moscow's authorities ordered the shutdown of restaurants, leisure facilities and other service industry businesses and urged older Muscovites to self-isolate to counter the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images)

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Authorities in Russia Urged to Protect Half a Million Prison Population in Face of COVID-19

Russian authorities should take urgent measures to address the potentially devastating consequences should COVID-19 begin spreading among prisoners and detainees,…

March 31, 2020

A supporter of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community shout slogans during the Equality March in Mumbai, India on 01 February 2020. (Photo by Himanshu Bhatt/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Press Release

Prominent Investigative Journalist and Lawyer Attacked During Visit to Chechnya

Reacting to news of a mob attack late last night, in the Chechen capital Grozny, on two visiting human rights…

February 7, 2020

BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Generation Z Ranks Climate Change Highest as Vital Issue of our Time in Amnesty International Survey

Climate change leads as one of the most important issues facing the world, according to a major new survey of…

December 9, 2019

People rally for transgender's rights in Kyiv, Ukraine, November 18, 2018. International day for the remembrance of transgender people is held around the world on November 18. (Photo by Sergii Kharchenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Press Release

Ukrainian Authorities Must Guarantee Safety and Security of Trans March Participants

The Ukrainian authorities must ensure the safety and security of all participants in the Trans March taking place in Kyiv…

November 22, 2019

People hold placards with an appeal to free Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov during a rally in Kiev on July 1, 2018, to demand the release Oleg Sentsov and other Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia. - Oleg Sentsov, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Russia, who have spent more than a month on hunger strike in jail to demand Moscow release Ukrainian political prisoners. (Photo by Genya SAVILOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read GENYA SAVILOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and others freed in prisoner swap

Reacting to the news that Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and dozens of other detainees have been released as a part…

September 7, 2019

A Russian woman holds a photograph of slain human rights activist Natalia Estemirova at a rally for police reform in Moscow on November 28, 2009. AFP PHOTO / ALEXEY SAZONOV (Photo credit should read Alexey SAZONOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

10 Years Since the Killing of Chechen Human Rights Defender Natalia Estemirova, No Justice in Sight

On the tenth anniversary of the murder of prominent Chechen human rights defender Natalia Estemirova, Amnesty International and 12 international…

July 15, 2019

Russian police officers detain a protester during a march to protest against the alleged impunity of law enforcement agencies in central Moscow on June 12, 2019. - More than 200 people including opposition leader Alexei Navalny were detained as police sought to break up a peaceful Moscow rally against the alleged impunity of law enforcement agencies. Russian police in riot gear moved in against the unsanctioned march of more 1,000 people amid screams of protesters shouting "you are criminals" and "stop police terror." (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALEXANDER NEMENOV/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Mass arrests in Russia show authorities’ contempt for solidarity and rights

Responding to the arbitrary arrests of over 400 people in Moscow who were peacefully protesting the treatment of journalist Ivan…

June 12, 2019

Photos from the court hearing on Oub Titiev, a head of human rights centre "Memorial" in Chechnya arrested on alleged "drug possession". All photos made in Staropromyslovskiy district court in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia

Press Release

Russia: Titiev’s parole a welcome step but not justice

Responding to news that Shali City Court in Chechnya has granted parole to the imprisoned human rights defender Oyub Titiev after almost one-and-a-half years…

June 10, 2019

Press Release

Lawyer detained in Crimea in latest campaign of harassment targeting human rights defenders

Responding to the news that Crimean lawyer Emil Kurbedinov was detained by the de-facto authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea and is…

December 6, 2018

Press Release

Amnesty and Sofar Sounds partner for Write for Rights concert and letter writing event

On Saturday, December 8, human rights organization Amnesty International USA in partnership with live music events startup Sofar Sounds will…

November 30, 2018

Nawal Benaissa, 36 yeards-old, is a mother of 4 who joined Hirak early on and became one of its main female leading voices. She took part to several protests with her husband and children and has been very active on social media. Her Facebook profile gained more than 80 000 followers, before authorities asked her to shut down during one of her detention in custody. She was arrested and held in custody for few hours four times between June and September 2017. This last time she was sued and on mid-February 2018, she was sentenced to 10 months suspended sentence and a fine of 500 hundred dirhams for inciting to commit an offence (by speech, cries or threats made in the places where public meetings, either through posters exposed to the public or by any means fulfilling the condition, advertising, including electronically, on paper and by audio-visual channel, if the provocation has not been followed by effect. Article 299 of the penal code). Her lawyer has appealed the sentence, the Court of Appeal has yet to rule. Benaissa responded to the court's decision on her Facebook page by expressing her continued support for the Rif protests. "I am proud to take part in the protests in the region and I denounce the imprisonment of Hirak activists. I demand their immediate release," she wrote. Few weeks ago, she moved from the northern city of Al Hoceima to another Moroccan city in order to flee harassment from authorities.

Press Release

Amnesty International launches world’s biggest human rights campaign

Women human rights defenders around the world are facing unprecedented levels of abuse, intimidation and violence, said Amnesty International as…

November 28, 2018