8 mins read

Sri Lanka: Proposed Counterterrorism Law Risks More Abuses

Click to expand Image A police anti-riot unit in Colombo, Sri Lanka, January 30, 2024. © 2024 Thilina Kaluthotage/NurPhoto via AP Photo (Bangkok) – The Sri Lanka government’s proposed counterterrorism legislation includes numerous provisions similar to the current abusive law and risks facilitating the same kind of repression, Human Rights Watch said today. The bill does […]

2 mins read

Pakistan: Authorities must end judicial harassment of lawyers Imaan Mazari and Hadi Chatta 

Responding to the cancellation of bail of lawyers and human rights defenders Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha and an order to immediately arrest them in a bogus case relating to “anti-state” tweets, Babu Ram Pant, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, said:  “This baseless trial of Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha is a blatant abuse of the justice system. Pakistani authorities must end the judicial harassment and coercive tactics used to silence dissent and intimidate those who defend human rights.  “The ‘cyber terrorism’ and […]

3 mins read

Cambodia: Victims must be protected as thousands ‘leave scamming compounds’

Responding to emerging videos that appear to show the release and escape attempts of victims from scamming compounds across Cambodia, Amnesty International’s Regional Research Director Montse Ferrer said: “Footage appearing to show the mass release and escape attempts from scamming compounds of individuals who are possibly victims of human trafficking and torture raises concerns that […]

6 mins read

Vietnam: Arrests Escalate Ahead of Party Congress

Click to expand Image Hoang Thi Hong Thai outside the police interrogation room in Hanoi, April 2025. © Private (Bangkok) – The Vietnamese government has escalated arrests of perceived dissidents in the weeks before Vietnam’s 14th Communist Party Congress, which is scheduled to begin on January 19, 2026, Human Rights Watch said today. The government should […]

2 mins read

Greece: Seán Binder acquitted of all charges

Reacting to the decision to acquit rescue volunteer Seán Binder of all criminal charges including membership of a criminal organization, fraud, money laundering, and smuggling (facilitation of irregular entry) Eve Geddie the Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office said: “Today’s decision is a welcome relief for Seán and his friends, family and supporters, but also […]

3 mins read

Davos: Meaningful dialogue requires a collective stand against military, economic and diplomatic bullying

Ahead of attending the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, which begins on 19 January, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said: “The ‘spirit of dialogue’, the theme for this year’s meeting in Davos, has been painfully and increasingly absent from international affairs of late. President Trump’s first year back in office has seen the United States withdraw […]