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Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir delivers a speech at the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on January 3, 2019. (Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP) (Photo credit should read ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Former Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir Must Not Escape International Trial

Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir must face justice for crimes under international law, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, that he allegedly committed in Darfur while in power, Amnesty International said ahead of the start of his trial on corruption charges on August 18 in Khartoum.

August 16, 2019

Sudanese security forces drive through a main road linking Omdurman with its twin city Khartoum on the first day of a civil disobedience campaign across Sudan on June 9, 2019. - Sudanese police fired tear gas at protesters taking part in the a civil disobedience campaign, called in the wake of a deadly crackdown on demonstrators. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Urgent UN and AU investigation needed in Sudan after military admits deadly decision on protestor crackdown

Following an admission by Sudan’s Transitional Military Council (TMC) that they all met the country’s security chiefs on June 2, and after receiving undisclosed advice from the Attorney General and the Head of the Judiciary, ordered the dispersal of peaceful protestors on June 3, which “by mistake” killed more than 100 people and injured hundreds more , Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes Sarah Jackson said: “It is completely outrageous and unacceptable that what has now been confirmed to have been a carefully planned attack on sleeping protestors has in the same breath been reduced to…

June 14, 2019

Press Release

Sudan: Remove Rapid Support Forces from Khartoum streets immediately

Following the suspension of Sudan from the African Union after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led the horrific slaughter of more than 100 peaceful protestors over the past three days, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said: “The Transitional Military Council of Sudan must immediately withdraw all members of the Rapid Support Forces from policing and law enforcement anywhere in Sudan and especially in Khartoum. They must be ordered off the streets and confined to their barracks in the interests of public safety. “What we have witnessed in the past three days is horrific and barbaric. The senseless killing of protestors must…

June 6, 2019

Press Release

International community should impose sanctions in Sudan on transitional authorities

Amnesty International today called on the international community to consider all forms of peaceful pressure, including targeted sanctions, on those members of the Sudanese transitional authorities responsible for this morning’s violent attack on sleeping protesters.

June 3, 2019

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir delivers a speech at the presidential palace in the capital Khartoum on January 3, 2019. (Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY / AFP) (Photo credit should read ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Omar al-Bashir must face justice for recent and past crimes

Following the announcement by Sudan’s Public Prosecutor that he will charge former president Omar al-Bashir with the recent killing of protestors, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, Seif Magango said: “While this promises to be a first step towards holding al-Bashir accountable for his heinous crimes, the Sudan authorities must hand him over to the International Criminal Court to answer charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. Al-Bashir must face justice not only for recent crimes, but also for the crimes under international law he allegedly committed while he was in…

May 14, 2019

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 it launched its global Write for Rights campaign, in a bid to shine a spotlight on brave women who have been harassed, jailed, tortured or even killed for their human rights work. Women continue to face multiple forms of discrimination, targeted because of their gender and other characteristics, as well as for their human rights work. However, women refuse to stay silent and have been at the forefront of the battle for human rights in 2018. “Across the world, women are…

November 28, 2018

Press Release

Relentless harassment, intimidation and censorship of journalists must end in Sudan

Sudanese authorities have this year been unrelenting in their quest to silence independent media by arresting and harassing journalists, and censoring both print and broadcast media, Amnesty International said today. The organization documented the arrest and detention of at least 15 journalists between January and October 2018 by the government’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISS). In addition, the entire print run of 10 newspapers was confiscated on at least 27 occasions. Al Jareeda, one of the last independent newspapers, has been confiscated at least 13 times this year. “Since the beginning of 2018 the Government of Sudan, through its security machinery,…

November 1, 2018

African migrants demonstrate in Tel Aviv on April 9, 2018, against the Israeli government's policy to forcibly deport African refugees and asylum seekers. Only days before, a solution had been announced that would regularise the situation for many migrants and end the potential forced deportation of thousands of others. But in a stunning turnaround on April 3, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled the agreement with the UN refugee agency, bowing to pressure from his right-wing base to scrap the deal. / AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheet of paper Report

Israel: African asylum-seeker deportations and “voluntary” transfers are forced and illegal

The Israeli government’s transfers of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers is cruel and illegal, Amnesty International said today, as it released a new report titled Forced and Unlawful: Israel’s Deportations of Eritrean and Sudanese Asylum-Seekers to Uganda. In October 2017, Israel announced that it would start deporting Eritrean and Sudanese nationals to an unnamed “third country” in Africa that had agreed to receive them, widely reported to be Uganda and Rwanda. However, the Israeli government was unable to confirm which countries had agreed to cooperate in deportation agreements and the Supreme Court ordered the suspension of all deportations of Sudanese and Eritrean nationals.…

June 17, 2018

Press Release

Sudan: Death sentence for raped teenager is an intolerable cruelty

A Sudanese court’s sentencing today of a 19-year-old woman to death for killing her rapist husband in self-defence highlights the failure of the authorities to tackle child marriage, forced marriage and marital rape, Amnesty International said today.  Noura Hussein Hamad has been held in the Omdurman Women’s Prison since May 2017, and was today handed the death sentence for killing the man her father forced her to marry when she was 16 years old. “Noura Hussein life-long wish was to become a teacher but she ended up being forced to marry an abusive man who raped and brutalized her. Now…

May 10, 2018

Press Release

Sudan: Release of political activists is their right, not a gift!

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

No Ban No Wall protest at Grand Central Terminal

Press Release

Discriminatory Muslim Ban Again Defeated in Court

Following a ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals blocking President Trump’s revised Muslim ban, Margaret Huang, executive director Amnesty International USA had the following reaction:

May 25, 2017

Press Release

South Sudan: Arms embargo, sanctions fail at UN Security Council

The United Nations Security Council’s failure to approve a 23 December, 2016, resolution that would have imposed an arms embargo on South Sudan and placed a travel ban and asset freeze on three senior South Sudanese leaders was deeply disappointing, seven non-governmental groups said today. The measure failed to gain the nine votes needed to pass, with seven in favour and eight abstentions. “South Sudanese civilians had a reasonable expectation that the Security Council would make good on its long-standing threat to impose an arms embargo and extend sanctions to some of the senior leaders who have been responsible for…

December 23, 2016