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  • News
  • Belarus
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Belarus: Authorities target independent trade unions to root out dissent

The Belarusian authorities are ruthlessly targeting independent trade unions and trampling on labour rights as part of their brutal crackdown on the protest movement, Amnesty International said today. In a new briefing, the organization highlights the reprisals against independent trade unions and their members. These include unlawful dismissals, arrests and criminal prosecution of labour rights activists breaching the government’s international treaty obligations to respect freedom of association and the rights of workers to freely form and join trade unions.

Date:
29 April 2021
  • News
  • Chad
  • Unlawful Detention

Chad: Deaths following violent crackdown on protests must be investigated 

Following the deaths yesterday of at least five protesters and the announcement by Chad’s opposition and civil society organizations of new protests today, Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s West and Central Africa Deputy Director, said: “Yesterday’s protests in Chad have led to the death of at least five people, according to the authorities. Many more people were also injured and arrested. “We urge authorities to launch impartial and independent investigations into the circumstances of these deaths and bring to justice anyone suspected to be responsible of unlawful killing.

Date:
28 April 2021
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Russia: Navalny supporter faces three years in jail over sharing of Rammstein video

A Russian court will tomorrow deliver its verdict in the case against activist Andrei Borovikov, who faces three years in prison if convicted of “distributing pornography” for sharing a video by the German rock band Rammstein. Andrei Borovikov was formerly the coordinator of Aleksei Navalny’s regional headquarters in Arkhangelsk, northwestern Russia. In 2014, he shared the music video for Rammstein’s song Pussy on the Russian social network VKontakte.

Date:
28 April 2021
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Russia: Police target peaceful protesters identified using facial recognition technology

Responding to the news that Moscow police have detained several activists and journalists identified using facial recognition technology as attendees of the peaceful rally in support of Aleksei Navalny on 21 April, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Moscow Office Director, said: “This is a new and extremely disturbing turn of events. Never before have the police been able to cast their net so widely to identify and target peaceful protesters using facial recognition technology.

Date:
27 April 2021
  • News
  • Europe and Central Asia
  • Refugees

Denmark: Hundreds of refugees must not be illegally forced back to Syrian warzone

Hundreds of Syrian refugees whose residency permits have been revoked by the Danish authorities could face torture, enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention if forced back, said Amnesty International. At least 380 refugees, including children, have been informed by the Danish Immigration Service that they will have to return to Syria after Denmark deemed Damascus and its surrounding area safe for return.

Date:
26 April 2021
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Death Penalty

Egypt: Nine people put to death in chilling Ramadan executions

Responding to the news that the Egyptian authorities executed nine people today, including an 82-year-old man, after a grossly unfair trial, in relation to the killing of 13 police officers during an attack on Kerdasa police station in August 2013, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director, Philip Luther said: “Today’s execution of nine people is a chilling demonstration of the Egyptian authorities’ disregard for the right to life and their obligations under international law.

Date:
26 April 2021
  • News
  • Africa
  • COVID-19

Tanzania: President’s new COVID-19 taskforce a positive move but the work starts now

On 6 March 2021, in a welcome move, Tanzania’s new president Samia Suluhu announced plans to set up a national COVID-19 taskforce to inform a new state response to the pandemic. Using national-level data and guidance from world health authorities, the taskforce will, among other things, advise the government on public health measures and how to communicate them to the public. The move, which marks an apparent about-turn in the country’s approach to COVID-19, is the first time Samia Suluhu’s new administration has spoken publicly about new measures on the pandemic since she was sworn-in as Tanzanian president on 19 March 2021, following the death of her predecessor John Pombe Magufuli.

Date:
26 April 2021
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Russia: Authorities move to outlaw Aleksei Navalny’s organizations as “extremist”

Responding to the news that the Moscow City Prosecutor’s Office has suspended the activities of Aleksei Navalny’s regional offices until the court rules whether they should be banned as “extremist” alongside two other organizations created by Navalny, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “The audacity and scale of this cynical attack are unprecedented, effectively suppressing the rights to freedom of expression and association of thousands.

Date:
26 April 2021
  • News
  • Philippines
  • Right to Health

Philippines: Country faces health and human rights crisis one year into the COVID-19 pandemic

The Philippine government must urgently address the country’s COVID-19 crisis with reports of thousands having struggled to access adequate healthcare, said Amnesty International today. Hospitals remain at risk of being overwhelmed, following a sharp surge in hospitalizations and new cases since March. “Over a year into the pandemic, the Philippine government’s continued failure to ensure an adequate response is a serious human rights issue,” said Emerlynne Gil, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director.

Date:
26 April 2021
  • News
  • Americas
  • Youth and Human Rights

Americas: Guaranteeing the right to comprehensive sexuality education saves lives

Amnesty International and other civil society organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean are launching the ESIgualdad campaign today to link up efforts to make the right of children and adolescents to comprehensive sexuality education a reality. “Today we are joining with organizations throughout the region with a simple message for states in Latin America and the Caribbean: the time has come for you to stop turning your backs on the demands for sexuality education that is comprehensive, secular, scientific and gender-focused,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Date:
26 April 2021
  • News
  • Myanmar
  • War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity

Myanmar: Human rights must be top priority for emergency ASEAN summit

Summit is “existential crisis” for regional bloc as it faces major challenge to its credibility  Indonesia must investigate coup leader Min Aung Hlaing expected to attend summit  The catastrophic aftermath of the Myanmar coup is the biggest test in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) history, said Amnesty International today, calling on the regional bloc to prioritise protecting the human rights of people in Myanmar and prevent the situation deteriorating into a human rights and humanitarian crisis.

Date:
23 April 2021
  • News
  • Mali
  • Justice Systems

Mali: One year on, justice still needs to be done for victims of protests and coup

New report highlights fatal shootings of 18 people Amnesty findings contradict leaders’ statement of a bloodless coup Despite progress, accountability remains an expectation Malian authorities must deliver truth and bring to justice all those suspected of criminal responsibility for the killings of at least 18 protesters and bystanders, and acknowledge and investigate the casualties during the day of the coup d’état, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.

Date:
23 April 2021
  • News
  • Belarus
  • Children

Belarus: Release minor pending appeal of five-year prison sentence

Ahead of the appeal hearing of Mikita Zalatarou, a 17-year-old Belarusian protester who was sentenced to five years in a corrective colony in a trial marred with irregularities, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Mikita Zalatarou’s case is another stark reminder of the violence that awaits people in Belarus, including minors, when they come face to face with this repressive state.

Date:
22 April 2021
  • News
  • Americas
  • Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Colombia: Amnesty International publishes a ‘letter from the world’ demanding protection for defender Jani Silva

Today, on Earth Day, Amnesty International launched its “A Letter from the World” campaign to demand that Colombian authorities immediately take effective measures to guarantee the safety of environmental defender Jani Silva. Last year, as part of Amnesty’s global campaign Write for Rights, the planet’s largest human rights event, more than 415,363 people from dozens of countries around the world took action calling for the protection of Jani Silva, who is at risk of being killed for defending the Amazon and the rights of more than 1,200 people living in the Perla Amazonian Farming Reserve Area in Putumayo.

Date:
22 April 2021
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Algeria: Islamic scholar sentenced to three-year prison term for “offending Islam"

Today’s sentencing of Said Djabelkheir, a well-known Islamic expert, to three years in prison for “offending” Islam in comments he posted on Facebook, is a chilling setback for freedom of expression in Algeria, said Amnesty International. In three online posts on Facebook in January 2020, Said Djabelkheir drew comparisons between Eid al-Adha and the Berber New Year celebrations; referred to some stories in the Qur’an as ‘myths; and said he considered some hadiths ‘apocryphal’.

Date:
22 April 2021
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Detention

Russia: Human rights crisis deepens as Navalny supporters arrested en masse

Russian authorities unleashed a crackdown on peaceful protesters demanding the release of Aleksei Navalny, arresting at least 1,700 and using excessive force, including tasers, at demonstrations around the country. Amnesty International calls for the immediate release of all those who have been detained for exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and for the immediate release of Aleksei Navalny who is being arbitrarily detained and denied access to independent healthcare.

Date:
22 April 2021