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  • Refugees

Chios chronicle: Here’s how Europe welcomed a young Afghan man who fled the Taliban

You can’t stop a ship dead in its tracks, but sometimes you can change its course. And that’s what happened recently in the Aegean Sea in a new twist in the evolving refugee crisis my colleagues from Amnesty International and I were researching on the Greek islands of Lesvos and Chios. On 5 April, we were on board a night-time ferry from Mytilene, Lesvos, to Chios, when we were informed that our destination had changed because of “the refugee situation”.

Date:
22 April 2016
  • News
  • Turkey
  • Refugees

EU-Turkey: Merkel, Tusk and Timmermans must not close their eyes to catalogue of human rights abuses against refugees

The high-level European delegation travelling to Turkey on Saturday must address the catalogue of human rights abuses faced by refugees in the country, not sweep them under the carpet, said Amnesty International today. Chancellor Angela Merkel, along with European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans, will visit Gaziantep in southern Turkey. In the weeks since the EU-Turkey migration deal was signed, Amnesty International and other organizations have documented refugees being denied entry to Turkey at the Syrian border, being shot at by security forces and being forcibly returned to their country of origin.

Date:
22 April 2016
  • News
  • Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Nigeria: Military cover-up of mass slaughter at Zaria exposed

Mass slaughter of hundreds of men, women and children by soldiers in Zaria and the attempted cover-up of this crime demonstrates an utter contempt for human life and accountability, said Amnesty International as it publishes evidence gathered on the ground revealing how the Nigerian military burned people alive, razed buildings and dumped victims’ bodies in mass graves. The report, Unearthing the truth: Unlawful killings and mass cover-up in Zaria, contains shocking eyewitness testimony of large-scale unlawful killings by the Nigerian military and exposes a crude attempt by the authorities to destroy and conceal evidence.

Date:
22 April 2016
  • News
  • Central African Republic
  • Armed Groups

Central African Republic: Make Justice a Priority

21 Central African and international human rights organizations issued a statement today calling on the new president of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, to make justice for grave international crimes a top priority for his government. President Touadéra was sworn in on March 30, 2016, and his new government took office on April 11. “The people of the Central African Republic have suffered unspeakable abuses and have made clear that they want to turn the page on a past where impunity ruled,” the human rights groups said.

Date:
21 April 2016
  • News
  • Turkey
  • Censorship and Free Speech

Turkey: Release detained academics and uphold freedom of expression

Esra Mungan, Muzaffer Kaya, Kıvanç Ersoy and Meral Camcı at an Istanbul press conference on 10 March 2016 Turkish authorities must immediately and unconditionally release four academics detained for signing a petition critical of the government’s security operations in southeast Turkey and for speaking out at a press conference, said Amnesty International on the eve of their trial hearing. “These four academics have been held in pre-trial detention for almost a month on baseless charges of making propaganda for a terrorist organization, when in actual fact all they did was express their concern for human rights abuses in their country, as it is their right to do so,” said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s researcher on Turkey.

Date:
21 April 2016
  • News
  • Uzbekistan
  • Torture and other ill-treatment

Uzbekistan: Russian authorities complicit in forcibly returning hundreds of asylum-seekers and migrants to face torture

Mirsobir Khamidkariev, an Uzbekistani film producer and businessman, was forcibly returned from Russia, tortured and sent to a prison camp Hundreds of asylum-seekers, refugees and migrant workers have been deported and even abducted in forced returns from Russia to Uzbekistan, where they have been subjected to torture, said Amnesty International in a briefing released today. The briefing, Fast-track to Torture: Abductions and Forcible Returns from Russia to Uzbekistan, examines how the Russian authorities have cooperated with Uzbekistan in hundreds of deportation cases despite clear risks that individuals could be tortured upon return.

Date:
21 April 2016
  • News
  • Sudan
  • Unlawful Killings

Sudan: Government must investigate brutal killing of 18-year-old university student by intelligence agents

The brutal killing of an 18-year-old Sudanese university student by intelligence agents yesterday must be urgently and impartially investigated, Amnesty International said today, as repression of students in the country intensifies. Abubakar Hassan Mohamed Taha, a first year engineering student at the University of Kordofan in Al-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan State, died of a gunshot wound to the head.

Date:
20 April 2016
  • News
  • Mauritania
  • Prisoners of Conscience

Mauritania must quash the death sentence against blogger

Mauritania must quash the death sentence handed down to a blogger for apostasy and release him unconditionally, Amnesty International said today, ahead of his appeal court hearing in the south-western city of Nouadhibou tomorrow. Mohamed Mkhaïtir, 33, was sentenced to death in December 2014, after a year in pre-trial detention, for writing a blog that criticized those who use Islam to discriminate against certain groups in the society.

Date:
20 April 2016
  • News
  • Zimbabwe
  • Torture and other ill-treatment

Zimbabwe: Deplorable attack on brother of missing activist must be urgently investigated

The brutal assault by Zimbabwe's state security agents on the brother of the abducted pro-democracy activist Itai Dzamara must be urgently and impartially investigated and those responsible brought to justice, Amnesty International said today. State security agents punched and beat Patson Dzamara with batons and later forced him to drink about four litres of water after he staged a peaceful demonstration at Independence Day celebrations attended by President Robert Mugabe on 18 April at Harare's National Sports Stadium.

Date:
19 April 2016
  • News
  • Qatar
  • Business and Human Rights

FIFA President Gianni Infantino must end silence on Qatar human rights abuses

Gianni Infantino must use his meetings with Qatari officials to press for reform of laws that leave migrant workers at risk of exploitation and abuse, sometimes even forced labour, said Amnesty International before the FIFA President visits Qatar from 20-22 April. “Gianni Infantino has a golden opportunity to show that under his Presidency FIFA will promote human rights. Without robust engagement starting right now, every football fan who visits Qatar in 2022 is likely to directly encounter migrant workers – in hotels, sports venues, shops – whose human rights have been abused,” said Mustafa Qadri, Amnesty International’s Gulf Migrants Rights Researcher.

Date:
19 April 2016
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Syria: Terrifying eyewitness video of life under siege and barrel bombs must spur humanitarian lifeline

The terrifying reality of the Syrian government’s relentless barrel bombing of the besieged city of Daraya, outside Damascus, is made brutally clear in a new video released by Amnesty International today amid the latest round of peace talks in Geneva. The organization hopes the harrowing eyewitness footage will spur the international community to re-double its demands on the Syrian government to grant immediate lifesaving humanitarian access to Daraya and all areas still under siege.

Date:
19 April 2016
  • News
  • Gambia
  • Unlawful Detention

Gambia: Investigate Death in Custody, Free Protesters

The suspicious death in custody of opposition political leader Solo Sandeng and the arrest of his party leader, Ousainu Darboe, and other party members in recent days underscore the repressive nature of the Gambia’s government, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and ARTICLE 19 said today. The groups said the government of President Yahya Jammeh should ensure an independent and impartial investigation into Sandeng’s death, immediately release all peaceful protesters and free Alhagie Ceesay, a journalist arbitrarily detained since July 2015 and currently gravely ill in hospital.

Date:
18 April 2016
  • News
  • Congo
  • Armed Groups

Republic of Congo: Air strikes hit residential areas including schools

Air strikes on residential areas in the south eastern Pool region of Congo that have reportedly resulted in deaths, casualties and the destruction of properties, including churches, schools and medical facilities represent an unlawful use of lethal force by the security forces, Amnesty International said today. They are a clear violation of the country’s international human rights obligations, including the right to life and should be subject to a thorough, independent and impartial investigation.

Date:
18 April 2016
  • News
  • Greece
  • Refugees

Greece: Europe must shoulder the burden for 46,000 refugees and migrants trapped in squalor

With all eyes focused on the implementation of the recently agreed EU-Turkey deal, the plight of more than 46,000 refugees and migrants stuck in squalid conditions across mainland Greece, is in danger of being forgotten, said Amnesty International in a report released today. The report, Trapped in Greece: an avoidable refugee crisis, examines the situation of refugees and migrants – the majority women and children –trapped on mainland Greece, following the complete closure of the Macedonian border on 7 March.

Date:
18 April 2016
  • News
  • Gambia
  • Unlawful Detention

Gambia: Death in detention of key political activist

Authorities in Gambia must immediately investigate the death in detention of a well-known political activist and release all other peaceful protestors who have been detained, Amnesty International said today. According to information received by Amnesty International, Solo Sandeng, the National Organizing Secretary of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), died in detention shortly after his arrest for participating in a peaceful protest.

Date:
16 April 2016
  • News
  • Malawi
  • Killings and Disappearances

Malawi: Murder of baby with albinism highlights failure to protect vulnerable group

The horrific murder of a two-year-old girl with albinism highlights the failure by the Malawi’s authorities to adequately protect this vulnerable group, said Amnesty International following the discovery of her skull, teeth and the clothes she was wearing in Balantha Hill in Kasungu district. The child, Whitney Chilumpha,had been missing since being abducted from her home whilst sleeping beside her mother in Chiziya village, Kasungu district, on 3 April.

Date:
15 April 2016