Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Statement on Alexei Navalny’s status as Prisoner of Conscience
Following careful evaluation Amnesty International has decided to re-designate Alexei Navalny as a “Prisoner of Conscience”. In February, Amnesty took an internal decision to stop using the “Prisoner of Conscience” term for Navalny, due to concerns relating to discriminatory statements he made in 2007 and 2008 which may have constituted advocacy of hatred. The Russian government and its supporters used that internal decision, which we had not intended to make public, to further violate Navalny’s rights. That was the height of hypocrisy, coming from a government that not only attempted to kill Navalny by poisoning, but has carried out unconscionable…
May 7, 2021
Press Release
Amnesty International Statement on Aleksei Navalny
Amnesty International defines a prisoner of conscience (POC) as a person who has been deprived of their liberty solely because of their conscientiously held beliefs, or for discriminatory reasons relating to their ethnicity, sexuality, gender, or other identity, who has not used violence or advocated violence or hatred. Claims that Amnesty's decision on Aleksei Navalny was a response to external pressure are untrue and ignore our longstanding and detailed internal policy.
February 25, 2021
Press Release
Governments and Police Must Stop Using COVID-19 Pandemic as Pretext for Abuse
Abusive policing and excessive reliance on law enforcement to implement COVID-19 response measures have violated human rights and in some instances made the health crisis worse, Amnesty International said today.
December 16, 2020
Press Release
Amnesty International USA Statement on the Passing of Human Rights Activist Yuri Orlov
Amnesty International USA released the following statement from Board Chair Dr. Reza Fakhari following the death of human rights trailblazer and icon Yuri Orlov.
September 29, 2020
Press Release
Alleged poisoning of Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny must be thoroughly investigated
Amnesty International demands that the Russian authorities fully investigate the circumstances of the unexpected and critical deterioration of the health of opposition leader Aleksei Navalny and allow him to immediately be diagnosed by and receive treatment from doctors that his family trusts. The politician was hospitalized and placed in intensive care in Omsk (Siberia) on his way from Tomsk to Moscow. “The administration of the hospital must provide full access to information about his treatment to his family and doctors of his or their choice. There have already been reports that his chosen doctor was not allowed to see the…
August 20, 2020
Press Release
UN must not cut vital aid lifeline to north-west Syria amid Russian and Syrian war crimes
A new Amnesty International report, 'Nowhere is safe for us': Unlawful attacks and mass displacement in north-west Syria, details 18 cases – the majority in January and February 2020 – where Syrian and/or Russian government forces targeted medical facilities and schools in Idlib, western Aleppo and north-western Hama governorates.
May 10, 2020
Press Release
Prisoner of conscience Konstantin Kotov will remain in jail in Russia
Following today’s decision by Moscow City Court to uphold the conviction of human rights defender Konstantin Kotov and sentence him to a year-and-a-half in a penal colony, Amnesty International Russia’s Director Natalia Zviagina said: “This decision is a profound injustice. Konstantin Kotov has spent more than eight months behind bars simply for taking part in peaceful protests, after being convicted under the notoriously repressive Article 212.1. “Although the court reduced his sentence from four years, the fact remains that he should never have been detained at all. Konstantin Kotov is a prisoner of conscience, he must be acquitted and freed.…
April 20, 2020
Report
Mass protests in Europe provide hope as rights and judicial independence eroded
People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking to erode the independence of the judiciary to avoid accountability, Amnesty International said today as it published its annual review of human rights in the region. The organization praised those brave people who took to the streets to defend their own and others’ rights but warned that governments continue to perpetrate human rights violations with impunity across the region. “In 2019, people in Europe and Central Asia were threatened, intimidated, prosecuted, subjected to excessive use of force by police, and…
April 16, 2020
Report
Authorities in Russia Urged to Protect Half a Million Prison Population in Face of COVID-19
Russian authorities should take urgent measures to address the potentially devastating consequences should COVID-19 begin spreading among prisoners and detainees, Amnesty International said in a letter to Russian government agencies. At least 9,000 of Russia’s 519,600-strong prison population are over 60-years-old and many more in poor health.
March 31, 2020
Press Release
Prominent Investigative Journalist and Lawyer Attacked During Visit to Chechnya
Reacting to news of a mob attack late last night, in the Chechen capital Grozny, on two visiting human rights activists –one of whom is investigative journalist Elena Milashina, who uncovered a vicious campaign of abduction, torture and killings against gay men in Chechnya two years ago, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director, said:
February 7, 2020
Press Release
Filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and others freed in prisoner swap
Reacting to the news that Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and dozens of other detainees have been released as a part of prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Oleg Sentsov and many others jailed following Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea are simply victims of politically-motivated prosecution and they should never have been imprisoned in the first place. While it is a relief that they are now free, it is a travesty to see them being used as human bargaining chips in political deals. “The conflict in eastern…
September 7, 2019
Press Release
10 Years Since the Killing of Chechen Human Rights Defender Natalia Estemirova, No Justice in Sight
On the tenth anniversary of the murder of prominent Chechen human rights defender Natalia Estemirova, Amnesty International and 12 international and Russian human rights groups are calling on the Russian authorities to fulfill their long-overdue obligation to effectively investigate this horrendous crime and bring the perpetrators to justice in fair trials. “The courage and selflessness of Natalia Estemirova, who investigated abductions, extrajudicial executions and other grave violations of human rights in Chechnya, was unparalleled. There is no doubt that she paid with her life for this fearless work. Ten years on, the Russian authorities have manifestly failed to find the…
July 15, 2019