More than 100 internationally renowned musicians have joined a worldwide call for the release of the two jailed members of the Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot ahead of their parole appeal hearings this week. One of the signatories to an open letter, Yoko Ono, says: “I thank Pussy Riot...

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by Jameen Kaur, Amnesty International Campaign Co-ordinator Music has been used to inspire, to reflect the world around us, to celebrate life and to articulate the struggle for human dignity. So when Amnesty International Netherlands decided with Romani musicians to make the Listen to Roma...

Amnesty International added its voice to tributes paid to influential US rock musician Levon Helm, 71, who passed away on Thursday in his home in Woodstock, New York after a battle with throat cancer. Levon Helm was an active supporter of human rights. “Toast to Freedom”, a commemorative song...

Claims Azerbaijani police “savagely” beat performers at a protest must be independently investigated by the authorities, Amnesty International said as Jamal Ali, 24, and his band’s bass player, Natig Kamilov, 24, continued to be held in custody.After Ali insulted President Ilham Aliyev’s late...

The Bahraini authorities must release the first woman activist to be convicted over her involvement in last year’s pro-reform demonstrations, Amnesty International said today after a court rejected her appeal and upheld her prison sentence.Fadhila Mubarak’s 18-month prison sentence for...

The Bahraini authorities must release the first woman activist to be convicted over her involvement in last year’s pro-reform demonstrations, Amnesty International said today after a court rejected her appeal and upheld her prison sentence. Fadhila Mubarak’s 18-month prison sentence for...

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Behrang Tonekaboni, a male music journalist, and his mother Lily Farhadpour, along with Behrang Tonekaboni’s male colleague Kayvan Farzin, have been detained at an unknown location since their arrests in Iran’s capital, Tehran, earlier this month. They appear to have been subjected to enforced...

Amnesty International has urged the Ukrainian authorities to comply with a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling calling for the release of Belarusian opposition activist and musician Igor Koktysh. Igor Koktysh has been detained in Ukraine since June 2007, when Belarus requested his...

Igor Koktysh, a 29-year-old male social activist, supporter of the opposition and musician in Belarus, could be forcibly returned at any time from Ukraine, where he is at risk of the death penalty for fabricated charges. He is a prisoner of conscience, held for the peaceful expression of his...