Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Supreme Court’s decision in Kyrgyzstan leaves Azimjan Askarov languishing in prison
The conviction of Azimjan Askarov, an ethnic Uzbek wrongly imprisoned for his work documenting tragic ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan in 2010, is a blatant example of the disproportionate prosecution of and unfair trials against Uzbeks after the violence.
May 13, 2020
Press Release
Basic Human Rights Should Be at the Center of COVID-19 Response, UN Report Shows
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has published a report on the need for a human rights centered response to COVID-19, warning that the pandemic risks becoming a human rights crisis. Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of Global Issues, said:
April 23, 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
Press Release
Prisoner of conscience in coma still detained in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 pandemic
The Saudi Arabian authorities must immediately release Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a prisoner of conscience who remains detained despite being in coma and in critical condition, Amnesty International said today. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a prominent human rights campaigner serving an 11-year sentence for his peaceful activism, suffered a stroke on April 9 and is currently in a coma in the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh. “It is heartbreakingly cruel that Dr Abdullah al-Hamid remains in detention, even while in a coma,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director. “Dr al-Hamid, and all other prisoners of conscience in…
April 17, 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
Release Jailed Human Rights Defenders and Activists in Myanmar
Aung San Suu Kyi and her government have overseen the continuing harassment, intimidation, arrest, prosecution and imprisonment of human rights defenders and activists since coming to power in Myanmar four years ago, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today.
April 13, 2020
Report
Amnesty International Highlights Human Rights Priorities for Country Responses to COVID-19
Amnesty International has published recommendations today for countries in Europe, urging them to ensure that their responses to COVID-19 are in line with their international and regional human rights obligations.
April 1, 2020
Press Release
COVID-19 Response in Canada Needs Human Rights Oversight
Amnesty International is urging governments across Canada to establish oversight committees tasked with monitoring the human rights impact of decisions, policies and laws adopted to address the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 1, 2020
Press Release
Imprisoned Journalists, Human Rights Defenders and Others in Turkey at Risk of COVID-19 Must be Urgently Released
Amid growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, the Turkish government is accelerating the preparation of a draft law that will reportedly release up to 100,000 prisoners. This is a welcome step.
March 30, 2020
Press Release
Measures against COVID-19 in Colombia must not be an excuse for neglecting the protection of human rights defenders
The Colombian state must not use measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to weaken or withdraw protection for human rights defenders and social leaders, Amnesty International said today. “Colombia is one of the world’s most lethal countries for human rights defenders and social leaders and, in the context of COVID-19, they now face even greater risks. Due to the restrictions imposed to contain the pandemic, state protection measures have been weakened, they can no longer keep moving from one location to another for their safety, and their attackers know that public security forces are focusing on…
March 27, 2020
Press Release
State Department’s Human Rights Report Highlights Trump Administration’s Anti-Human Rights Policies
In response to the U.S. State Department releasing its third human rights report compiled under the Trump administration, Joanne Lin, national director of advocacy and governmental relations at Amnesty International USA, said:
March 11, 2020
Press Release
Free Senator de Lima and End Attacks on Rights Defenders in the Philippines
Philippine authorities should immediately release Senator Leila de Lima, who has been detained for three years, and drop the politically motivated charges against her, Amnesty International, FORUM-ASIA, and Human Rights Watch said today.
February 24, 2020