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  • News
  • Thailand
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Thailand: Release peaceful critics and de-escalate tensions amid fresh wave of protests

Nearly one year after emergency decree, more than 380 protesters including 13 children face criminal charges while alleged protest leaders remain in detention 61 people face charges for defamatory comments about the monarchy More large-scale protests expected today As protests in Thailand begin to intensify again, authorities must urgently de-escalate their current heavy-handed approach and stop trampling the human rights of peaceful protesters, said Amnesty International today.

Date:
6 March 2021
  • News
  • Moldova
  • Unlawful Detention

Moldova: Authorities must comply with ECHR ruling and deliver justice in case of seven secretly transferred Turkish nationals

The Moldovan authorities must urgently rectify their failure to identify and bring to justice those involved in the shocking unlawful rendition of seven Turkish nationals in September 2018, at the request of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s increasingly repressive government, said Amnesty International. On 8 March the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe will consider implementation of the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling on the case.

Date:
5 March 2021
  • News
  • COVID-19

Mapping health worker deaths from COVID-19

Since the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health workers who keep us safe have been losing their lives. Doctors, nurses, social care workers, cleaning staff, ambulance drivers, and administrators are among the brave individuals who have died after contracting the virus. There is currently no systematic global tracking of how many health workers have died after contracting COVID-19. However, Amnesty International has collated and analysed a wide range of available data to monitor the number of deaths in 70+ countries.

Date:
3 September 2020
  • News
  • COVID-19

COVID-19: Health worker death toll rises to at least 17000 as organizations call for rapid vaccine rollout

At least 17,000 health workers have died from COVID-19 over the last year, said Amnesty International, Public Services International (PSI) and UNI Global Union in a new analysis, as the organizations called for urgent action to speed up the vaccination of millions of frontline health workers around the world. The grave warning came as global inequalities in vaccine access continued to widen. More than half the world’s doses have so far been administered in just 10 rich countries, making up less than 10% of the world’s population, while over 100 countries are yet to vaccinate a single person.

Date:
5 March 2021
  • News
  • China

Hong Kong: Prosecution of opposition figures an unprecedented attack on human rights    

Responding to a Hong Kong court’s decision to deny bail to 32 of 47 pro-democracy lawmakers and activists charged with “conspiracy to subversion” under Hong Kong’s national security and criminal laws, Amnesty International Hong Kong’s Programme Manager Lam Cho Ming said:  “These prosecutions are an unprecedented attack on freedom of expression and association in Hong Kong, and the four-day hearing in gruelling conditions casts grave doubts over the fairness of this trial from the start.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Unlawful Killings

Saudi Arabia: Latest findings reinforce need for accountability over Khashoggi killing

Pressure is mounting to hold Saudi Arabia’s authorities to account over the extrajudicial execution of Jamal Khashoggi and other long-standing human rights violations against journalists, critics and human rights defenders, said Amnesty International today. This week’s publication of a US intelligence report which concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation to capture or kill Jamal Khashoggi led the US government to issue sanctions against a number of Saudi officials.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Asia and The Pacific
  • Demonstrations

Myanmar: Signs of ‘shoot to kill’ strategy to quell opposition

Responding to reports of killings by Myanmar armed forces on 3 March 2021, the deadliest day since the 1 February coup, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Research, Emerlynne Gil, said:  “Everything points to troops adopting shoot to kill tactics to suppress the protests, and with silence from the military administration, there is a growing consensus that this has been authorized by the government.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Qatar
  • Business and Human Rights

Is Qatar planning a u-turn on reforms?

By May Romanos, Gulf Researcher, Migrants Rights Qatar’s efforts to reform laws on workers’ rights could be facing a major setback. On 22 February, the Shura Council issued a series of recommendations aimed at stripping workers of their newly-found rights. This includes removing the right of migrant workers to change jobs during their contract; limiting the number of times they can change jobs during their stay in Qatar to three; restricting the number of workers in a company that can change jobs to 15% unless agreed otherwise by the company; and increasing the percentage of workers who require exit permits to leave Qatar from 5% to 10%.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Switzerland
  • Women and Girls

Switzerland: Face veil ban is discriminatory and violates women’s rights

Switzerland: Face veil ban is discriminatory and violates women’s rights Ahead Sunday’s popular vote on banning the face veil in Switzerland, Cyrielle Huguenot, Head of Women's Rights at Amnesty International Switzerland said: “The proposed face veil ban cannot in any way be viewed as measure for the liberation of women. Rather, it is a dangerous policy that violates women’s rights, including to freedom of expression and religion.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Africa
  • Armed Conflict

Ethiopia: UN human rights chief underscores urgency of impartial, international investigation into Tigray atrocities

The United Nations must immediately launch an investigation into ongoing allegations of grave violations in the conflict in Tigray, including potential war crimes and crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said following a statement this morning by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The statement came just before the UN Security Council’s scheduled informal discussion of the crisis in Tigray.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News

Egypt End and redress shocking crimes against toddler and family forcibly disappeared for 23 months

Egyptian authorities must conduct prompt, effective and independent investigations into the enforced disappearance for almost two years of a young mother, and her toddler, as well as the ongoing enforced disappearance of her husband, the child’s father, said Amnesty International today. The organization also urges the authorities to immediately release the mother from abusive pre-trial detention and ensure the family’s right to adequate remedy and reparation proportional to the severity of violations and harm suffered.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Niger
  • Internet and Social Media

Niger: Post-election period marred by violence, mass arrests and internet disruption

Authorities in Niger must launch an investigation into the death of two individuals, put an end to mass arrests and restore the access to internet, Amnesty International said today. Protests, at times violent, erupted on 23 February in the capital Niamey and several other towns following the announcement of the provisional results of the 21 February presidential election runoff. Protesters also set up barricades in Niamey’s streets which were then removed by security forces.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Americas
  • Censorship and Freedom of Expression

USA: Iowa prosecutors must drop criminal charges against journalist Andrea Sahouri

The Polk County attorney in Iowa, USA, should immediately drop the spurious criminal charges against Des Moines Register journalist Andrea Sahouri, who was arrested at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 simply for doing her job as a reporter, Amnesty International said today. “The charges against Andrea Sahouri represent a clear violation of press freedom and fit a disturbing pattern of abuses against journalists by police in the USA.

Date:
4 March 2021
  • News
  • Americas
  • Detention

Mexico: Authorities used illegal force and sexual violence to silence women protesting against gender-based violence

Mexican authorities repressed women who were peacefully protesting against gender-based violence in 2020, violating their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly by using unnecessary and excessive force, arbitrary detentions and even sexual violence, Amnesty International said in a new report published today. The (r)age of women: Stigma and violence against women protesters analyzes five protests that women and feminist groups carried out against gender-based violence last year in the states of Guanajuato, Sinaloa, Quintana Roo, the State of Mexico and Mexico City.

Date:
3 March 2021
  • News
  • Middle East and North Africa
  • International Justice

Israel/ OPT: Historic breakthrough as Prosecutor confirms initiation of ICC investigation in Occupied Palestinian Territories

Responding to the news that Fatou Bensouda, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), has opened a formal investigation into the “Situation in Palestine”, Matthew Cannock, Head of Amnesty International’s Centre for International Justice said: “Today’s confirmation by the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court that she has opened an investigation into crimes under international law committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is a momentous breakthrough for justice after decades of non-accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Date:
3 March 2021
  • News
  • Iraq
  • Armed Conflict

States should curb urban slaughter of civilians from explosive weapons

Virtual consultations this week move closer to a diplomatic agreement to protect civilians Amnesty International has documented disastrous impact of explosive weapons on civilians in multiple conflicts Global civil society network outlines key changes needed Dozens of states convening this week must forge a strong new political agreement that will help to minimize civilian casualties from explosive weapons that cause widespread destruction in cities and towns during armed conflicts, Amnesty International said today.

Date:
3 March 2021