1931 – 2021 Amnesty International paid tribute today to one of the world’s dedicated human rights champions, Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Tutu passed away on 26 December 2021 at the age of 90. The death of Archbishop Desmond Mpilo Tutu leaves a big void in the struggle for human rights and...

Ahead of a Thai Cabinet meeting on 28 December, Amnesty International urges the government to immediately withdraw the proposed Operation of Not-for-Profit Organizations Act, after reviewing a copy of the latest draft.  “In its current form the...

We, the undersigned Thai and international organizations, write to express our deep concern regarding the Draft Act on the Operations of Not-for Profit Organizations B.E… (‘Draft Act’) dated 21 December 2021. We are civil society groups working on a wide range of social,...

Javier Tarazona, Director of local NGO FundaREDES, was arbitrarily detained on 2 July 2021 after attempting to report harassment from security officers at the Attorney General’s Office in the city of Coro (Western Venezuela), and charged with inciting hatred, treason and “terrorism”. His pre-trial...

Reacting on the news that Tofig Yagublu, an Azerbaijani opposition politician, was re-arrested today after being arbitrarily detained and severely beaten by police on 1 December, Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s Researcher on South Caucasus, said: “This latest detention of Tofig Yagublu...

The Azerbaijani authorities are continuing their crackdown on political opposition, and heavy-handed approach in response to peaceful protests, in violation of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Arbitrary and violent arrests, torture and other ill-treatment of peaceful...

On 9 December, Steven Donziger, a human rights lawyer and environmental rights defender, was released from jail to spend the rest of his sentence under house arrest. On 1 October, he was sentenced to six months in prison on a politically motivated ‘contempt of court’ charge. He reported to prison...

Responding to the sentencing of human rights defender and journalist Pham Doan Trang to nine years in prison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns Ming Yu Hah said:   “It is outrageous that the Vietnamese authorities are convicting...

Latin America and the Caribbean suffer from high levels of gender-based violence that are rarely investigated effectively. For those who engage in sex work, the large number of abuses, particularly at the hands of state officials, is compounded by profound discrimination that makes it almost...

Responding to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov collecting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said: “For the first time in almost a century, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists, highlighting the bravery and outstanding...

Responding to the High Court’s decision to accept the US’s appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange Amnesty International’s Europe Director Nils Muižnieks said: “This is a travesty of justice. By allowing this appeal, the High Court has chosen to accept the deeply flawed...

Memorial, a cornerstone of Russian civil society, is under threat of liquidation by the Russian authorities on baseless charges. Memorial’s two entities – Memorial Human Rights Centre and International Memorial Society – were labeled “foreign agents” in 2014 and 2016, respectively. In...