Reacting to the arbitrary arrest and detention of two activists from the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (Front National pour la Défense de la Constitution – FNDC) on 9 July, Samira Daoud, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa, said: “Oumar Sylla...

Responding to the announcement on Wednesday that the Government of Pakistan has agreed to a one-year extension to more than 1.45 million Afghan refugees who held UNHCR-issued Proof of Registration (PoR) cards in the country, Thyagi Ruwanpathirana, Regional Researcher for South Asia, Amnesty...

Amnesty International and four other organizations are alarmed by the recent publication by the Chinese authorities of new judicial guidelines providing directives to prosecute and harshly punish, including by the death penalty, those advocating and acting for Taiwan’s independence. The guidance...

Amnesty International urges South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir to send the National Security Service Act 2014 (Amendment) Bill 2024 back to parliament for review and significant amendment. The bill that passed parliament on 3 July 2024 risks undermining human rights and strengthening the National...

This paper presents Amnesty International’s concerns on Azerbaijan’s human rights record and corresponding implications for Azerbaijan as a host country which aims to ensure effective discussions at COP29 and meaningful outcomes. These concerns include violations of the rights to freedom of...

On 21 June 2024, the Huthi de facto authorities released Baha’i human rights activist Abdullah al-Olofi from over a year in arbitrary detention, yet are continuing to arbitrarily detain four other Baha’is. According to credible sources, the Huthis forced al-Olofi to sign a pledge that he would...

Guided by its research and campaigns to advance the rights of the Roma, in 2019 Amnesty International filed a collective complaint to the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights. The complaint sought accountability and redress for the precarious living conditions and persisting...

Amnesty International wishes to express its grave concern about a bill approved by the Paraguayan Senate today which violates the right to freedom of association and could put the country’s civil society organisations at risk, jeopardising their autonomy and their ability to obtain the necessary...

Following the judgment issued today against Virginia Laparra Rivas, former prosecutor of the Special Prosecutor’s Office against Impunity (FECI), Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, said: “This is a mixed verdict.  While the judge did not impose the maximum sentence, which would...

Responding to a new report by the United Nations Assistance Mission (UNAMA) in Afghanistan on the sweeping gross violations of human rights by the Taliban’s so-called de-facto Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (MPVPV), Zaman Sultani, regional researcher for South Asia at...

**Update: In the evening, local time on 10 July, the UAE’s government news agency issued information on the trial revealing that six of the defendants were companies and that 43 of the defendants were given life sentences. Five more were given 15-year sentences, and another five were given 10-year...

By Sikula Oniala  There were scenes of jubilation and euphoria when South Sudan gained independence 13 years ago today. But hope and optimism quickly vanished as conflict, corruption and human rights violations have become entrenched in the world’s newest country.  In a pattern that has become...