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Russia: Authorities continue to crackdown on dissent with harsh prison sentence for opposition politician Maksim Kruglov

Reacting to news that Maksim Kruglov, deputy chair of the Russian opposition Yabloko party and former Moscow City Duma deputy, has been sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for social media posts about civilian casualties in Bucha, Mariupol and elsewhere in Ukraine, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “Maksim Kruglov has […]

5 mins read

VENEZUELA: HUMAN RIGHTS MUST GUIDE EARTHQUAKE RESPONSE AMID DEVASTATING CRISIS 

In the context of the earthquakes that struck Venezuela on the afternoon of 24 June and the relief efforts that are following, Amnesty International raises the alarm over the potentially devastating effects this disaster may have on the Venezuelan population and calls on Venezuelan authorities and international community to do all they can to provide […]

11 mins read

Algeria: 22 years after pledge to establish national shelters authorities still failing survivors of gender-based violence

Twenty-two years after a government commitment to establish a nationwide system of shelters to protect women from violence in Algeria, only three have formally opened, leaving survivors across the country without sufficient access to protection amid concerns over exclusionary admission criteria and undue restrictions on freedom of movement for those seeking safety, Amnesty International said […]

3 mins read

Global: UN drug control bodies must take urgent action towards ending unlawful use of the death penalty for drug-related offences

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) must take urgent action to condemn the unlawful use of the death penalty for drug-related offences and work with UN member states towards abolishing this cruel punishment once and for all, Amnesty International and Harm Reduction International said ahead of […]

3 mins read

Pakistan: Authorities must immediately release Baloch activists handed life sentences following secret trial

Reacting to the life sentences given by Quetta’s Anti-Terrorism court to Baloch activists Mahrang Baloch and Sibghat Ullah Shah Jee on 22 June over their involvement in a 2024 protest during which a security officer was killed, Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia, said: “This verdict, which is an affront to […]

3 mins read

Uganda: Authorities must investigate unlawful detention and deportation of Kenyan human rights lawyer

Martha Karua, a Kenyan human rights lawyer who is part of the legal team for Uganda’s opposition politician Kizza Besigye, was on 22 June 2026, arbitrarily arrested and held in incommunicado detention at Entebbe International Airport before being forcefully deported. In response to these developments, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Tigere […]

5 mins read

The Courage of Swazi LGBTI Activists Facing Repression

By Khanyo Farisè In Eswatini’s second biggest city of Manzini, Sisanda Mavimbela is once again preparing for court. As the Co-Director of Programmes and Advocacy for Eswatini Sexual and Gender Minorities (ESGM), a group which works to advance LGBTI rights, Sisanda has become all too familiar with the ritual of gathering documents, revisiting judgments, speaking […]

10 mins read

Libya/EU: Rival authorities intensify xenophobic and racist crackdown on refugees and migrants in Libya as EU seeks to deepen ties

Rival Libyan authorities are escalating a racist crackdown involving thousands of arrests, arbitrary detention and collective expulsions of refugees and migrants  Xenophobic rhetoric from officials is fueling abuses and rising anti-migrant protests and vigilantism  EU is seeking to deepen migration cooperation with these actors despite a record of grave abuses  The European Union is seeking to expand its migration cooperation with rival Libyan authorities and allied armed groups just as they have been escalating their campaign of racially discriminatory mass arrests, arbitrary detention, […]

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Cuba: Four years after an unjust conviction, Afro-Cuban artists remain imprisoned for expressing themselves

On the fourth anniversary of the sentencing of Maykel Castillo Pérez “Osorbo” and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Amnesty International said: “The conviction of rapper Maykel Castillo Pérez ‘Osorbo’ and visual artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara starkly exposed how the Cuban authorities use the criminal justice system to punish dissident artists and silence their right to […]

3 mins read

Saudi Arabia: Almost 100 people executed so far this year as dozens more remain on death row for drug-related offences

Saudi Arabian authorities have executed nearly 100 people so far this year, including at least 61 for drug-related offences, the latest of which was on 18 June. In response, Dana Ahmed, Middle East Researcher at Amnesty International, said today: “It is halfway through the year and Saudi Arabia has executed nearly 100 people, a grim […]