Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Greece: Evidence points to illegal forced returns of Syrian refugees to Turkey
· “They lied to us”: testimony shows refugees were told they were going to Athens · Asylum claims and procedural guarantees ignored · EU border agency officers involved Greece has illegally returned at least eight Syrian refugees to Turkey without respecting procedural guarantees or considering their asylum claims, documentation and testimonies obtained by Amnesty International reveal. The Syrians, including four children under the age of five, were rescued in Greek waters when their boat travelling from Turkey to Italy encountered problems and they were taken to the island of Milos on October 9. All eight registered their intention to claim…
October 28, 2016
Press Release
South Korea: Stop criminalization of abortion
The South Korean government must withdraw proposed rules that would increase the penalty for doctors who perform illegal abortions, said Amnesty International, ahead of mass demonstrations planned by women’s rights groups on 29 October. On 23 September, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced a revision of a rule on “inappropriate medical practices” that could increase the penalty for doctors performing illegal abortions from the current one-month suspension of business to a possible maximum of 12 months. “This proposal, if enacted, would only perpetuate the existing criminalization of abortion in South Korea and is an obvious regression in the fight…
October 28, 2016
Press Release
Côte d’Ivoire: Authorities must stop arbitrary arrests and ‘mobile detention’ of opposition supporters ahead of referendum
Authorities in Côte d’Ivoire must stop targeting opposition members by curtailing their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, Amnesty International said ahead of Sunday’s referendum on constitutional changes. On October 20, at least 50 opposition members were arbitrarily arrested at a peaceful protest and detained for hours in moving police vehicles. Some of them were dropped in several places in the main city Abidjan, others around 100 km away from their homes and forced to walk back in a practice known as “mobile detention”. “This form of inhumane treatment is at odds with international and regional human rights…
October 28, 2016
Press Release
Myanmar: Authorities must investigate security forces as reports of Rakhine abuses mount
Amnesty International is calling for an prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the conduct of Myanmar’s security forces in the restive Rakhine state for human rights violations committed during ongoing security operations in the region. The organization has received numerous reports that Myanmar’s security forces operating in the state – home to most of the country’s oppressed Rohingya minority – are alleged to be involved in extra-judicial executions, arbitrary arrests and detentions, destroying people’s homes and crimes involving sexual violence amongst other violations. Ongoing restrictions on access to northern Rakhine State has made it extremely difficult to independently verify such…
October 28, 2016
Press Release
Amnesty International USA to Monitor to North Dakota Pipeline Protests
As tensions escalate at the site of a disputed pipeline close to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) has sent a delegation of human rights observers to monitor the response of law enforcement to protests by Indigenous communities.
October 28, 2016
Update
America Isn’t Itself When It’s Afraid
When a society becomes overrun by fear, it can be primed to accept policies that undermine human rights while providing an illusion of safety and security. We’ve seen it time and again throughout U.S. history – with disastrously counterproductive results.
October 27, 2016
Update
When Fear Stopped me from Fighting Xenophobia
What if I lived in a country where bombs were being dropped in my neighborhood, where my family was living in fear every moment of the day, or where there were no opportunities to find work so that I could feed my children?
October 27, 2016
Press Release
Civilians tell Amnesty of Being Caught in the Crossfire in Mosul
Military operations to retake Mosul and the surrounding areas from the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) are endangering civilians who are being caught in the crossfire or in some cases being used as human shields by IS fighters, said Amnesty International from northern Iraq. The organization’s research team met with civilians displaced from their homes in villages north of Mosul in recent days who are now in Zelikan and Khazer camps, in areas controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), and conducted phone interviews with people still trapped under IS control, gathering fresh evidence pointing to civilian deaths…
October 27, 2016
Press Release
Azerbaijan: Ten years in jail for youth activist who sprayed graffiti is a travesty of justice
A 10-year jail sentence handed to Giyas Ibrahimov, a 22-year-old youth activist detained after spraying graffiti on a statue of the former President of Azerbaijan, is a shocking assault on freedom of expression, Amnesty International said today. “Giyas Ibrahimov’s sentence is an absolute travesty of justice. He was arrested simply for painting a slogan on a statue, and was later tortured into ‘confessing’ to serious drug crimes. The authorities now want him to spend the rest of his youth behind bars on these fabricated charges,” said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International. “It is deeply disturbing…
October 26, 2016
Press Release
Russia: Ukrainians tortured to confess to Chechnya killings lose appeal against ‘grossly unfair’ jail sentence
Two Ukrainian men jailed in Russia after being tortured into confessing to a series of murders are the victims of a travesty of justice, Amnesty International said after they lost their appeals against lengthy prison sentences today. Stanislaw Klykh and Mykola Karpyuk were convicted of killing Russian soldiers in Chechnya in the 1990s, despite both providing credible evidence that they were not in the unstable region at the time. Moscow’s Supreme Court today upheld sentences of 22 years in jail for Karpyuk and 20 for Klykh. “Russia’s case against these men defies reason. The numerous fair trial violations and the…
October 26, 2016
Update
What happens to deported Central Americans?
Amnesty International's new report, Home Sweet Home? Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador's Role in a Deepening Refugee Crisis, documents the incredible levels of violence and impunity that are driving tens of thousands of people from these countries (known as the Northern Triangle of Central America) to flee their homes and seek asylum in the United States and Mexico. It also investigates what happens to those Central Americans who are sent back to their countries of origin—often without receiving a fair hearing regarding the threats to their lives. Unfortunately, it is not easy to find this information: No official statistics exist…
October 25, 2016
Press Release
Bahrain: Assault on freedom of expression continues as activists face jail for tweets
Bahraini authorities must immediately and unconditionally release human rights activist Nabeel Rajab and opposition leader Fadhel Abbas, two prisoners of conscience who are facing long prison sentences for using Twitter to voice concerns about human rights abuses in the conflict in Yemen, Amnesty International said today. Both men have criticized the killing of civilians in Yemen by the Saudi Arabia-led coalition, which includes Bahrain. They have already been wrongfully detained for months and are expecting their respective court verdicts in the next week. “It is an outrage that Nabeel Rajab and Fadhel Abbas have spent even one minute in jail…
October 25, 2016