Two Iranian refugees who were refused access to the asylum system in Turkey and unlawfully detained for more than a year have been released.

Russian and Kabardino-Balkarian authorities must find and bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Maksharip Aushev, a leading civil society activist from Ingushetia.

The 2009 Sakharov prize for human rights has been awarded to Russian activists Oleg Orlov, Sergei Kovalev and Ludmila Alekseeva.

Ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, Amnesty International has urged the President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenka, to grant clemency to a man who may be facing imminent execution.

Human rights activists in Russia and the North Caucasus face increasing violence and intimidation three years after the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya.

Any move by the Lithuanian parliament to criminalize the promotion of homosexuality would  violate the country's international obligations to uphold freedom of expression and fight discrimination.

US Attorney General Eric Holder has ordered a "preliminary review" into the secret detention programme operated by the CIA after the attacks of 11 September 2001. It's a welcome first step but it's not enough, says Amnesty International.

Zarema Sadulayeva, head of the Russian charity, Let's Save the Children, is the latest human rights activist to be murdered in Chechnya.