Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Fresh Evidence of Police Misuse of Tear Gas Leading to Protesters’ Deaths and Injuries – Updated Investigative Website
Amnesty International today published new evidence of the misuse of tear gas by security forces in several countries in the second half of 2020, including during protests around the election in Uganda, the Black Lives Matter movement in the USA, and in the repression of protesters in Lebanon.
February 1, 2021
Press Release
Authorities Must Lift Social Media Block Amid Crackdown Ahead of Election in Uganda  Â
Responding to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) shutting down access to social media services in the run up to the January 14 general election, Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, said:
January 13, 2021
Press Release
Climate activists Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement honored with top Amnesty International award
Climate change activist Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement of school-children have been honored with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019, the human rights organization announced today. “The Ambassador of Conscience Award is Amnesty International’s highest honor, celebrating people who have shown unique leadership and courage in standing up for human rights. I can think of no better recipients this year than Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future climate strike movement,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are…
June 7, 2019
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
Israel: Deportation of African asylum-seekers is a cruel and misguided abandonment of responsibility
Israel’s policy of deporting African asylum-seekers to two unnamed African countries is an abdication of its responsibility to refugees and an example of the vicious political measures feeding the “global refugee crisis”, Amnesty International said today as the Israeli Supreme Court considers new evidence on the legality of the policy. Israel has allegedly reached agreements with two countries – widely understood to be Uganda and Rwanda. The terms of the agreements are classified. Under the government’s new “Procedure for Deportation to Third Countries”, launched in January, those who agree to leave are given US$3,500 and a ticket to either their…
March 26, 2018
Report
Conform or flee: Repression and insecurity pushing Burundians into exile
Thousands of Burundian refugees are under mounting pressure to return to their country where they would be at risk of death, rape and torture, said Amnesty International in a report out today.
September 28, 2017
Press Release
Uganda: Denounce unlawful killings and ensure accountability in aftermath of deadly clashes
The Ugandan security forces must not jettison human rights in their handling of the clashes in Kasese, which resulted in at least 62 deaths and hundreds of arrests over the weekend, Amnesty International said. Police say at least 46 of the local king’s guards were killed and 139 others arrested during clashes at his palace in the western Uganda town of Kasese. The king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, was also arrested. According to police, the clashes followed attacks by the king’s guards on multiple police stations on 26 November, killing at least 14 police officers. “The full picture…
November 28, 2016
Press Release
Uganda minister’s remarks against LGBTI people amount to advocacy of hatred
Reacting to threats by Uganda’s Minister of Ethics and Integrity Simon Lokodo that he will suppress the activities of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights activists and “rehabilitate” LGBTI people, Amnesty International said the following
August 8, 2016
Press Release
Sudanese President Al-Bashir must be arrested in Uganda and surrendered to the ICC
Uganda must immediately arrest Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and hand him over to the International Criminal Court (ICC), said Amnesty International today. Al-Bashir, who is on the court’s wanted list, arrived in Kampala this morning to attend the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni.
May 12, 2016
Press Release
Rights violations loom large over Museveni inauguration in Uganda
The Ugandan authorities must halt the shameful assault on human rights that has cast a stain on the country’s electoral and post-electoral period, said Amnesty International today, on the eve of President Yoweri Museveni inauguration for a fifth five-year term.
May 11, 2016
Press Release
Amnesty International’s Annual State of the World Report Slams Governments, Including the U.S., for Global Assault on Freedoms
On the launch of its 2015 State of the World report, Amnesty International USA urged President Obama to use his last year in office to bring U.S. laws and policies in line with international human rights standards.
February 22, 2016
Press Release
Your rights in jeopardy, global assault on freedoms, warns Amnesty International
International protection of human rights is in danger of unravelling as short-term national self-interest and draconian security crackdowns have led to a wholesale assault on basic freedoms and rights, warned Amnesty International as it launched its annual assessment of human rights around the world. “Your rights are in jeopardy: they are being treated with utter contempt by many governments around the world,” said Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International.
February 18, 2016