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Press Release

For a second consecutive year, Amnesty International has documented how African governments are grossly undermining regional human rights bodies by failing to comply with their decisions, ignoring their urgent appeals, neglecting to report to them on national human rights situations and starving them of resources they desperately need for operations. Governments also neglected the rights of people with disabilities and older persons by failing to ratify treaties relating to their protection. In the second edition of The State of African Regional Human Rights Bodies and Mechanisms 2019-2020, released on the African Human Rights Day, Amnesty International said the mechanisms established to safeguard…

October 20, 2020

Press Release

Authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa must take urgent action to protect people in detention from COVID-19, including releasing prisoners of conscience, reviewing cases of pre-trial detention, and guaranteeing access to healthcare and sanitation products in all facilities, Amnesty International said today.

April 20, 2020

Press Release

On the launch of its 2015 State of the World report, Amnesty International USA urged President Obama to use his last year in office to bring U.S. laws and policies in line with international human rights standards.

February 22, 2016

Report

International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

February 18, 2016

Press Release

International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

February 18, 2016

Report

This has been a devastating year for those seeking to stand up for human rights and for those caught up in the suffering of war zones. Governments pay lip service to the importance of protecting civilians. And yet the world's politicians have miserably failed to protect those in greatest need. Amnesty International believes that this can and must finally change.

February 25, 2015

Report

REPUBLIC OF BENIN Head of state Thomas Boni Yayi Head of government Pascal Koupaki Freedom of expression In September, a private television channel, Canal 3, was interrupted for a few days following statements by Lionel Agbo, a former adviser to President Boni Yayi, accusing the Head of State of corruption. The state television justified this cut by referring to non-compliance with transmission rules. Lionel Agbo was charged with offending the Head of State but had not been tried by the end of the year. Prison conditions Prisons remained overcrowded. The prison in Cotonou held six times its capacity, resulting in…

May 16, 2013

Report

Head of state and government Thomas Boni Yayi Death penalty abolitionist in practice Population 8.9 million Life expectancy 61 years Under-5 mortality (m/f) 123/118 per 1,000 Adult literacy 40.5 per cent Several demonstrations were banned. At least one person died in detention reportedly as a result of illtreatment. Prison conditions remained poor due to overcrowding. At least five people were sentenced to death. Freedom of assembly In May, the authorities banned public gatherings in two departments in the north of the country for alleged security reasons. In July, the authorities banned several demonstrations organized in Cotonou by trade unions protesting…

March 19, 2011