7 mins read

Australia: Excessive Force Used Against Herzog Protesters

Click to expand Image New South Wales police confront demonstrators in Sydney protesting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, February 9, 2026. © 2026 Andrew Quilty (Sydney) New South Wales police used apparent excessive force against people protesting Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, Human Rights Watch said today. Video footage verified by […]

2 mins read

Azerbaijan Expands Crackdown on Activists in Exile

Click to expand Image Baku City Court Complex, Baku, Azerbaijan, January 2025. © 2025 Aziz Karimov/Reuters Courts in Azerbaijan have handed down further politically motivated in-absentia convictions against journalists, bloggers, and other critics of the government living abroad, expanding the authorities’ campaign of transnational repression. In January, a Baku court convicted several government critics residing […]

4 mins read

Ukraine: New testimonies document brutal conditions for civilians amid Russian attacks on energy infrastructure

Amnesty International has documented the devastating impact of Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy system in a new series of testimonials from survivors enduring a freezing winter without heat, electricity or running water. Based on the testimonies of dozens of people from across the country, the research tells the stories of Ukrainian civilians living with […]

4 mins read

Mali: Authorities must immediately quash unjust conviction and sentence of former prime minister Moussa Mara

The upholding of the sentencing of Mali’s former prime minister Moussa Mara on appeal after his unjust conviction on baseless charges is an affront to justice, Amnesty International said today. Moussa Mara, leader of the opposition Yéléma party, was arrested on 1 August 2025. He was charged with ‘discrediting the state’, ‘inciting to disturb public […]

5 mins read

Cuba: Increasing harassment of prisoners of conscience and their families 

Increasing harassment and deterioration in the health of individuals detained for exercising human rights reveals a persistent pattern of repression and authoritarian practices. Amnesty International is deeply concerned about a further escalation of arbitrary detention, illegal surveillance and harassment against relatives of prisoners of conscience and persons involved in prominent cases of state repression in […]

5 mins read

Yemen: Houthis Arbitrarily Detain, Disappear Christians

Click to expand Image Houthi police soldiers patrol during a protest in Sana’a, Yemen, on February 16, 2024. © 2024 Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images (Beirut) – Houthi authorities have arbitrarily arrested over 20 Christians in Yemen over the last three months, Human Rights Watch said today. The Houthis should immediately release them, along with the hundreds […]

2 mins read

Georgia Initiates Laws Severely Curtailing Civil and Political Rights

Click to expand Image The Parliament Building in Tbilisi, Georgia. © 2025 Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via AP Photo Georgia’s ruling party proposed on January 28 a new package of legislation that would criminalize core civic activity and erect sweeping barriers to political participation. If adopted, the draft laws would make it a criminal offense to receive foreign […]

2 mins read

Press Freedom Under Fire in Mali

Mali’s junta has jailed a prominent journalist, sparking renewed concerns over media freedom in the country. Malian journalists confirmed national and international media reports that police arrested Youssouf Sissoko, editor-in-chief of the weekly newspaper L’Alternance, at his home in Bamako, Mali’s capital, on February 5. Click to expand Image Youssouf Sissoko, Bamako, Mali, 2025. © […]

6 mins read

Hong Kong: Publisher Jimmy Lai Sentenced to 20 Years

Click to expand Image A correctional services department vehicle believed to be carrying Hong Kong publisher and activist Jimmy Lai leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts following Lai’s sentencing, Hong Kong, February 9, 2026. © 2026 Chan Long Hei/AP Photo (New York) – The Hong Kong High Court’s sentencing of Jimmy Lai, Apple Daily founder and […]