Human Rights Defenders

Human rights defenders expose violations and campaign for redress for victims. They are the people who on their own or with others take action to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights for all. The important thing is not who they are, but what they do. Human rights defenders take peaceful action and believe everybody has equal rights.

More on human rights defenders

 

News and Updates

Travel restrictions stop Algerian activists from attending World Social Forum

26 March 2013

Algerian authorities stop a delegation of 96 civil society activists and trade unionists from crossing the border into Tunisia.

Sultan of Oman pardons activists

22 March 2013

All activists and writers held for insulting the ruler, IT crimes and taking part in unauthorized protests are said to have been released.

Amnesty International marks 40 years of Urgent Actions

19 March 2013

Forty years ago today, the first ever ‘urgent action’ was issued to help secure the release of a professor imprisoned in Brazil.

Cuban activists talk about lack of basic freedoms, 10 years on from mass crackdown

18 March 2013

Activists talk to Amnesty International about the lack of basic freedoms in Cuba, 10 years on from mass crackdown.

Amnesty International marks 40 years of Urgent Actions

18 March 2013

Forty years ago today, the first ever ‘urgent action’ was issued to help secure the release of a professor imprisoned in Brazil.

Appeals for action

Reopen investigation into enforced disappearance in Ingushetia!

On 8 August 2007, Ibragim Gazdiev was reportedly seized by armed men and has never been seen since. No effective steps have been taken to trace him.

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Video and Audio

"They found bulldozers crushing their houses” – Kenyan activist on forced evictions

22 March 2012

Teargas in Egypt's Tahrir Square

29 June 2011

Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui reports from demonstrations in Tahrir Square, Cairo.

Video: The role of Western countries in the Egypt crisis

Senior Director of Amnesty International Widney Brown gives an international political analysis and human rights update on the Egypt demonstrations.

Salil Shetty on Egypt protests

Amnesty International's Secretary General disappointed by military failure to protect protesters

Amnesty International staff member reports from a raid on a Cairo law centre

3 February 2011

The Hisham Mubarak Law Centre has been raided by security forces and surrounded by army and police.

Tunisian government must respect rights amid protests

18 January 2011

Tunisian government must respect rights amid protests

Networking for change

Amnesty International analyses the role of social media in unrest across the Middle East and North Africa.

Gambia Global Day of Action

22 July 2010

Government urged to end its widespread use of arbitrary detentions and torture as activists worldwide stage protests against the authorities' appalling human rights record.

Mexican activist jailed for defending human rights

Interview with Raúl Hernández, a Mexican human rights defender who has been wrongfully imprisoned for his work with an Indigenous community.

Video: Thousands get Fired Up for human rights

22 December 2008

Thousands of people around the world took part in actions to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December.