Newsroom

Press Release

Responding to reports that Abdulrasheed al-Faqih, the Executive Director of Mwatana Organization for Human Rights, was arrested this morning while on his way to Sey’oun airport in the southern Yemeni city of Mukalla, Samah Hadid, Middle East Campaigns Director at Amnesty International, said: “Abdulrasheed al- Faqih is one of Yemen’s most prominent human rights defenders and has worked tirelessly to expose the myriad human rights abuses committed by all parties in Yemen’s brutal conflict. He was arrested this morning by security forces affiliated to the internationally recognized Yemeni government while travelling to seek medical treatment, and we are now extremely concerned for his safety.…

June 14, 2018

Press Release

The arrest of Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian human rights lawyer, is an outrageous attack on a brave and prolific human rights defender, Amnesty International said today. Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested at her home in Tehran this morning and transferred to the prosecutor’s office of Evin prison, according to her husband, Reza Khandan. In an interview earlier today with Manoto News, a Persian language news channel broadcast from outside Iran, Reza Khandan also revealed that Nasrin Sotoudeh was told she was being arrested to serve a five-year prison sentence. However, neither he nor Nasrin Sotoudeh knew anything about this sentence.…

June 13, 2018

Press Release

Brazilian prosecutors must enlist specialist investigators to solve the killing of human rights defender Marielle Franco and her driver, Anderson Gomes, if there is to be any hope of bringing those responsible to justice, Amnesty International said today. “Three months have gone by since Marielle was brutally taken from us, and we are no closer to knowing who killed her and why. This lack of justice is unbearable for her loved ones, those who worked beside her and other human rights defenders who are looking over their shoulder in fear,” said Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil. “The…

June 12, 2018

Press Release

As Russia prepares for the opening game of the FIFA World Cup 2018, Amnesty International is shining a spotlight on 11 Russian human rights champions who routinely put their lives on the line to defend human rights in Russia. A new campaign, Team Brave, will profile a human rights defender from each of the 11 regions hosting World Cup matches to raise awareness of their important work, and Amnesty International supporters from around the world will send messages of solidarity to show these brave individuals that they are not alone. “As World Cup excitement builds, we want to highlight the…

June 8, 2018

Press Release

Wikipedia enthusiasts from around the world are joining forces on 19 and 20 May 2018 to take part in a global edit-a-thon to shine a spotlight on extraordinary unsung women human rights defenders who have devoted their lives to fighting injustice. BRAVE:Edit, a collaboration between Amnesty International and Wikimedia (Wikipedia’s non-profit organization), will see hundreds of online activists from over 20 countries taking to the popular website to upload biographies of women human rights defenders. Women human rights defenders are women, in all of their diversity, working on any human rights issue, and defenders of all genders working on rights…

May 18, 2018

Report

Human rights defenders in Pakistan are under threat from a targeted campaign of digital attacks, which has seen social media accounts hacked and computers and mobile phones infected with spyware, a four-month investigation by Amnesty International reveals. In a new report released today, “Human Rights Under Surveillance: Digital Threats against Human Rights Defenders in Pakistan”, Amnesty International reveals how attackers are using fake online identities and social media profiles to ensnare Pakistani human rights defenders online and mark them out for surveillance and cybercrime. “We uncovered an elaborate network of attackers who are using sophisticated and sinister methods to target…

May 15, 2018

Press Release

Regional leaders must prioritize the protection of human rights in their final declaration at the VIII Summit of the Americas and take immediate action to fulfil that commitment in their respective countries, Amnesty International said ahead of the summit in Lima, Peru, tomorrow. “From the discriminatory polices pushed by the Donald Trump administration to the violent repression of demonstrations in Honduras and Venezuela, the Americas has suffered an alarming pushback against human rights in the last years,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “Confronted by the growing demonization of communities at risk and human rights defenders, regional leaders…

April 11, 2018

Press Release

Following news that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has released at least 56 opposition activists after they spent up to 84 days in arbitrary detention for protesting against the escalating cost of food and healthcare, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, Joan Nyanyuki said: “We welcome the news of their release, but there is no place to treat the release of arbitrarily detained activists as a gift from the government. These detentions should never have happened at all in the first place and the government does not deserve congratulations. “For close to three months, the…

April 11, 2018

Press Release

This Friday, April 6, human rights activists of all ages will travel to New York City to participate in peaceful actions in front of a select group of consulate and permanent missions to the United Nations to highlight country-specific human rights violations for Amnesty International’s 23rd annual ‘Get on the Bus’ event, a day of human rights education and activism. The day will start with a Speaker’s Panel inside The Cooper Union. Following the panel, activists will take part in peaceful actions outside UN Missions and Dag Hammarskjold Plaza. This year’s actions will focus on six countries: Myanmar, Sudan, Iran,…

April 4, 2018

Press Release

There are at least 97 prisoners of conscience languishing in jails in Vietnam, many of whom are kept incommunicado in squalid conditions and routinely subjected to torture or other ill-treatment, new research by Amnesty International reveals today. The organization is publishing the list on the day before six activists – including five people from the Brotherhood for Democracy group – are facing an unfair trial on trumped-up charges of “attempting to overthrow the people's government.” They all risk lengthy jail sentences. “Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia’s most prolific jailers of peaceful activists – a shameful title no one should…

April 3, 2018

Report

This report seeks to analyze patterns of repression used against human rights defenders in Mauritania, particularly those who expose and combat slavery and discrimination, since the last presidential elections in 2014. There has been an increasing number of bans on peaceful protests and associations, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment and persecution of human rights defenders, as well as mushrooming of repressive legislations which further undermine human rights work. Download Report

March 22, 2018

Press Release

The decision to renew the detention of Amnesty International’s Turkey Chair mere hours after a court ordered his release must be immediately reversed and Taner Kılıç set free, said Amnesty International. “Over the last 24 hours we have borne witness to a travesty of justice of spectacular proportions. To have been granted release only to have the door to freedom so callously slammed in his face is devastating for Taner, his family and all who stand for justice in Turkey,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Salil Shetty. “This latest episode of his malicious detention has dashed the hopes of Taner…

February 1, 2018