Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
If you are a member of the press, please reach out to [email protected]
Press Release
Death Toll of Syrians in Custody Rises to 95, Says Amnesty International
The toll of Syrians who have died in custody has risen to 95, while also raising grave concerns about four activists arrested last week.
September 13, 2011
Press Release
Syria’s Surge of Deaths in Detention Revealed, in New Amnesty International Report
At least 88 people are believed to have died in detention in Syria during five months of bloody repression of pro-reform protests, a new Amnesty International report reveals today.
August 31, 2011
Report
Syria: Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria
At least 88 people are believed to have died in detention in Syria during five months of bloody repression of pro-reform protests, a new Amnesty International report reveals today. Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria documents reported deaths in custody between April and mid-August in the wake of sweeping arrests. The 88 deaths represented a significant escalation in the number of deaths following arrest in Syria. In recent years Amnesty International has typically recorded around five deaths in custody per year in Syria. "These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to be an…
August 31, 2011
Press Release
Syrian Journalist at Risk of Torture, Says Amnesty International
Journalists and activists in Syria who pass on information about the country's unrest to the media face torture and other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said today, as one journalist started his second week in incommunicado detention.
August 24, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Human Rights Council to Act on Crimes Against Humanity in Syria
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - As the Human Rights Council prepares to hold a special session on Syria next Monday, August 22, Amnesty International urges that U.N. body to add its voice to calls for the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Amnesty International believes that, given what it considers to be a growing body of crimes against humanity, the Human Rights Council should support a move which would demonstrate to Syria's leaders that the international community intends to hold those who have committed such crimes individually criminally responsible…
August 23, 2011
Press Release
Syrian Authorities Target Prominent Dissident and Teenage Son, Says Amnesty International
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - Syrian authorities are feared to be torturing a prominent dissident and his teenage son, his lawyer has told Amnesty International. Walid al-Bunni has been detained incommunicado since he was arrested from his Damascus hiding place on August 6 along with his 18-year-old son Mu'ayad, who is not believed to have taken part in the demonstrations. "I'm very worried that they may be keeping Mu'ayad in prison with his dad just to cause Walid pain by watching his son being tortured," Walid's lawyer told Amnesty International. Walid al-Bunni, aged 46, is one of…
August 23, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Human Rights Council to Act on Crimes Against Humanity in Syria
As the Human Rights Council prepares to hold a special session on Syria next Monday, August 22, Amnesty International urges that U.N. body to add its voice to calls for the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
August 19, 2011
Press Release
Syrian Authorities Target Prominent Dissident and Teenage Son, Says Amnesty International
Syrian authorities are feared to be torturing a prominent dissident and his teenage son, his lawyer has told Amnesty International.
August 19, 2011
Press Release
Young Syrian Activists Held Amid Widespread Repression, says Amnesty International
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - At least three young human rights activists who helped to organize peaceful protests in and near Damascus are being held incommunicado in unknown locations after their recent arrest, while fears are growing for a fourth who has gone missing. The news of the activists' plight comes amid reports that some 25 people have been killed since yesterday in the port city of Latakia, where Syrian tanks and ships reportedly continue to shell residential areas in an attempt to quell protests. Across Syria, more than 1,700 people have been killed since mass protests…
August 15, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges UN Security Council to Act Urgently on Syria Bloodshed
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) – Following the deadliest assault to date on Syrian protesters Sunday and more casualties reported Monday in the shelling of the city of Hama, Amnesty International repeated its demand that the United Nations Security Council urgently respond to the violence. With the death toll at 1,500 people since March in what amounts to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said at a minimum, the United Nations must impose an arms embargo, freeze the assets of President al-Assad and others suspected of crimes against humanity and refer the situation to the International Criminal Court for…
August 1, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Report Reveals Atrocities Against Civilians in Syrian Town Near Lebanese Border During Brutal May Security Sweep
A new Amnesty International report reveals atrocities committed against civilians in the Syrian town of Tell Kalakh near the Lebanese border, during a brutal May 2011 security sweep.
July 6, 2011
Report
Report reveals crimes against humanity in Syrian town
In recent months, relatively small demonstrations in Syria have developed into widespread mass protests. On 14 May, a devastating security operation began in Tell Kalakh, a town in the western governorate of Homs near the border with Lebanon. Scores of men were arbitrarily arrested, tortured and at least nine died in custody. Amnesty International considers that the Syrian army and security forces committed crimes and other violations during this security operation that, when taken in the context of other crimes and human rights violations elsewhere in Syria, amount to crimes against humanity.
July 4, 2011