Amnesty’s podcast about courageous human rights defenders living and working around the globe.
On 15 January 2026 rescue volunteer Seán Binder and 23 of his co-defendants celebrated a big victory in Greece. Seán was arrested on Lesvos in 2018 when he worked as a volunteer for a search and rescue NGO and spent over 100 days in detention. It took seven long years to achieve justice.
Listen to Sean’s full story in the first season of Amnesty’s podcast ‘On the Side of Humanity’.
In this episode Amnesty International shares the story of Fatema Uzgun Nusrat, a woman human rights defender who is running a secret online school for girls and women in Afghanistan. Fatema was inspired to create the Behdukht Online Academy after living through years of Taliban rule as a child. Today she supports girls and women to access education in Afghanistan, the only country in the world that bans secondary education for girls and women.
This special episode marks the 29 November, International Day for Women Human Rights Defenders. To find out more on the plight of women and girls in Afghanistan and take action, see Afghanistan: The Taliban’s war on women
Credits
- Presented by Lisa Maracani, Advisor and Researcher at Amnesty International
- Produced by Amnesty International and Joshan Chana
- Composition of some of the music is by Joshan Chana
- Edited by Guadalupe Marengo, Head of the Global Human Rights Defenders Programme at Amnesty International
In our second season Tatyana Movshevich meets abortion rights defenders from across the world – from Venezuela to Morocco, from Malta to Namibia. Amid all the disinformation and hostility, abortion rights defenders have found themselves in the blinding spotlight – against their will and expectation. In this podcast we hear their stories and find out how they work against the backdrop of violence and stigma. And how they are also driving one of the most significant social shifts in recent years.
Credits
- Written and presented by Tatyana Movshevich
- Produced by Joshan Chana
- Composition of the theme music is by Joshan Chana
- Editors are Guadalupe Marengo, Head of the Global Human Rights Defenders Programme at Amnesty International and Lisa Maracani, Advisor at Amnesty International
- Vanessa’s voiceover in Episode 1 is done by Selina Nelte
- Veronica’s voiceover in Episode 3 is done by Anna Blus
In our first season Tatyana Movshevich meets courageous activists from Chile, the U.S., Nepal, Ireland and Ghana who are fighting for the rights of the marginalised and risking their lives because of it. She discovers the story behind the watershed UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and explores how the human rights movement is changing.
Credits
- Written and presented by Tatyana Movshevich
- Produced by Eli Block
- Composition of much of the original music is by Eli Block
- Editor is Guadalupe Marengo, Head of Global Human Rights Defenders Programme at Amnesty International
- Lorena’s voiceover in Episode 1 is done by Selina Nelte
- Monica Raye Simpson’s ‘Freedom Song’ in episode 2 is from her album ‘Revolutionary Love’