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  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Detention

Morocco: Critically ill hunger-striking journalist must be granted adequate medical care

Moroccan authorities must urgently end the solitary confinement of a detained journalist whose health is at risk after 51 days on hunger strike and ensure he is granted the specialized medical care he requires, said Amnesty International. Sulieman Raissouni has been on hunger strike since 8 April in protest at his detention and prolonged solitary confinement. Since his arrest on sexual assault charges in May 2020 he has been held for a year in a single cell with no meaningful contact with anyone else for more than 22 hours a day.

Date:
28 May 2021
  • News

60 years of humanity in action

Since it was founded in 1961, Amnesty International has been empowering people like you to take action for a better world. This is a snapshot of what you have made possible. “Open your newspaper - any day of the week - and you will find a report from somewhere in the world of someone being imprisoned, tortured or executed because his opinions or religion are unacceptable to his government. The newspaper reader feels a sickening sense of impotence.

Date:
28 May 2021
  • News
  • Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Nigeria: Authorities not doing enough to protect lives 

No part of the country is safe now  Gunmen on rampage across the country  Failure to ensure accountability is fueling impunity  At 60 Amnesty International poised to do more in Nigeria  Alarming escalation of attacks, abductions for ransom and frequent killings across Nigeria have left people feeling more unsafe, showing utter failure of the Nigerian authorities to protect lives and properties, said Amnesty International today marking the 60th anniversary of the organization.

Date:
28 May 2021
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Discrimination

Russia: Open Russia movement forced to dissolve while its members face severe reprisals

Reacting to the news that Otkrytaya Rossiya (Open Russia) has taken the decision to completely cease its activities and dissolve, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director, said: “The end of Open Russia means less pluralism across Russia’s civic space, and the loss of another valuable member of the human rights community. Open Russia has shown its dedication and effectiveness against crushing state pressure to silence dissent.

Date:
27 May 2021
  • News
  • Myanmar
  • Press Freedom

Myanmar: Cease persecution of journalists

The Myanmar military authorities should immediately drop charges against journalists, said Amnesty International today. This includes those in pre-trial detention, on bail, or those with warrants outstanding on them solely for carrying out their work and the peaceful exercise of their human rights. “Journalists are at the frontline of the struggle to expose the truth on what is happening in Myanmar today,” said Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research.

Date:
27 May 2021
  • News
  • Yemen
  • Unlawful Detention

Yemen: Detainees tortured and arbitrarily detained for years then forced into exile upon release

The Huthi de facto authorities in Yemen must not use arbitrarily detained prisoners as pawns in ongoing political negotiations, a new report by Amnesty International said today. The report, Released and Exiled: Torture, unfair trials and forcible exile of Yemenis under Huthi rule, is an in-depth investigation into the experiences of a minority of non-fighters, including journalists, political opponents and Baha’i religious minority members, who were released as part of political deals in 2020 after being unlawfully detained and tortured for up to seven years.

Date:
27 May 2021
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Discrimination

Russia/Ukraine: Crimean Tatar human rights defender’s sentence upheld in mockery of international law

Responding to news that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has rejected the appeal by the imprisoned Crimean Tatar human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Emir-Usein Kuku, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director who attended the court hearing, said: “The decision to keep Emir-Usein Kuku behind bars demonstrates the Russian state’s disdain for the rule of law and its international human rights obligations, and speaks volumes about its desire to eradicate dissent in annexed Crimea.

Date:
26 May 2021
  • News
  • China

China: Australian-Chinese writer held on baseless ‘spying’ charges must get fair trial

Ahead of the trial in Beijing of Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun on charges of espionage, the head of Amnesty International’s China Team, Joshua Rosenzweig, said: “Yang Hengjun has been detained on totally baseless allegations that he is a spy, and the Chinese authorities must ensure that his trial meets international fair trial standards. “The charges against Yang appear to be a politically motivated prosecution for articles he wrote that were critical of the Chinese government.

Date:
26 May 2021
  • News
  • France
  • Refugees

France: Convictions against peaceful protesters who marched against xenophobic group must be quashed 

Ahead of tomorrow's appeal hearing of seven activists convicted for the “facilitation of irregular entry of foreign nationals” when they participated in a march at the French-Italian border against the actions of the group Generation Identitaire in the Alps, Nils Muižnieks, Amnesty International's Regional Director for Europe, said: “Misusing anti-smuggling laws to convict courageous activists who marched against the illegal activities of the racist and xenophobic group Generation Identitaire is not only an outrage but a breach of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.

Date:
26 May 2021
  • News
  • Belarus
  • Detention

Belarus: Free journalist detained following forced emergency landing in Minsk

Amnesty International is launching an Urgent Action following the televised self-incriminating statement by Raman Pratasevich, co-founder and former editor of the NEXTA Telegram-channel, in which he appears distraught and injured. He was detained in Minsk airport together with his partner Sofia Sapega, after the Belarusian authorities forced their flight from Athens to Vilnius to land, for the apparent sole purpose of his arrest.

Date:
25 May 2021
  • News
  • Israel and Occupied Palestinian Territories
  • Discrimination

Israel/OPT: Scrap plans to forcibly evict Palestinian families in Silwan

Ahead of an appeal hearing at the Jerusalem District Court on 26 May over the forced eviction of two Palestinian families in the Batn al-Hawa area of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Saleh Higazi said: “This is yet another illustration of Israel’s criminal policy of forced displacement of Palestinians in motion. “By continuing to pursue this court case - after the outcry over the planned forced evictions in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem – Israel is fanning the flames of the latest upsurge in violence and perpetuating the same systematic human rights violations against Palestinians that are at the root of the latest violence.

Date:
25 May 2021
  • News
  • United Kingdom
  • Technology and Human Rights

UK: Europe's top court rules UK mass surveillance regime violated human rights

In a landmark judgment, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) today ruled that the UK government’s bulk interception of communications powers  “did not contain sufficient ‘end-to-end’ safeguards to provide adequate and effective guarantees against arbitrariness and the risk of abuse”, thus violating the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. The case was brought by Amnesty International, Liberty, Privacy International and several other rights organizations, following whistleblower Edward Snowden’s 2013 revelation that the UK intelligence agency GCHQ was secretly intercepting and processing the private communications of millions of people on a daily basis.

Date:
25 May 2021
  • News
  • Benin
  • Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Amnesty International announces awardees of human rights bursary in honour of late Gaëtan Mootoo

Amnesty International today announces the name of four awardees of a bursary in honour of its late employee Gaëtan Mootoo, Researcher for West Africa, who had been with the organization for more than 30 years. This announcement is made public as the organization remembers him with great fondness on the anniversary of his passing on 25 May 2018. Following a call for applications issued two months ago, the selection committee received a total of 274 applications.

Date:
25 May 2021
  • News
  • Sierra Leone
  • Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Sierra Leone: Government and donors must prioritize mental health to address legacy of war and Ebola epidemic – new report

Survivors of traumatic experiences and others in need of support in Sierra Leone are being failed by the severe lack of available mental health services years after the country’s brutal civil war and devastating Ebola epidemic, Amnesty International warned in a new report published today. In ‘They Are Forgetting About Us’: The long-term mental health impact of war and Ebola in Sierra Leone, survivors reveal how they continue to struggle with a range of symptoms of distress, including lasting grief.

Date:
25 May 2021
  • News
  • Afghanistan
  • Women and Girls

Afghanistan: Unravelling of women and girls’ rights looms as peace talks falter

Two decades of hard-won progress by Afghanistan’s women and girls is at serious risk of being unravelled, said Amnesty International, in a statement highlighting the limited involvement of women in the peace talks and the major strides on women's rights that are now under threat. As international troops continue to leave the country ahead of a full withdrawal on 11 September, and with talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban at an impasse, the prospects for Afghanistan’s women and girls are at a critical juncture.

Date:
24 May 2021
  • News
  • Belarus
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Belarus: University students expelled from universities and imprisoned for peaceful protest

Belarusian students are being arrested on criminal charges, prosecuted for peaceful activism and expelled from educational institutions, in retribution for their involvement in the continuing protest movement against the widely-contested official presidential election results of August 2020, Amnesty International said today. In a new publication the organization describes brutal reprisals against students and reveals the disruptive impact of the state’s repression of academic life in Belarus.

Date:
24 May 2021