Human Rights and Social Justice

After a year of opaque selective releases in Cuba, Amnesty International said: “The Cuban authorities have an obligation to guarantee the full and unconditional freedom of all prisoners of conscience. Sayli Navarro Álvarez, Félix Navarro, Loreto Hernández García, Donaida Pérez Paseiro, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel ‘Osorbo’), and Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara must not […]

Click to expand Image Top row: Lok Bahadur Ghaley; Rinzin Wangdi; Chandra Raj Rai; Kumar Gautam. Bottom row: San Man Gurung; Birkha Bdr Chhetri; Omnath Adhikari; Chaturman Tamang.   © Private The recent death of Sha Bahadur Gurung, one of Bhutan’s longest serving political prisoners, is a tragic reminder of the injustice and needless suffering […]

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 […]

Click to expand Image Internally displaced people fetch water inside a camp in the outskirts of Juba, South Sudan, February 13, 2025. © 2025 Brian Inganga/AP Photo The African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council should use its January 19 ambassadorial-level meeting to address the urgent protection needs and escalating abuses in South Sudan.  The […]

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 […]

Click to expand Image Fires are lit as protesters demonstrate in Tehran, Iran, on January 8, 2026. © 2026 Anonymous via Getty Images Iran’s security forces have carried out mass killings of protesters after nationwide protests escalated on January 8, 2026.The mass killings by Iranian security forces are a stark reminder that rulers who massacre […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Click to expand Image Protesters, lawyers, and aid workers outside a court in Mytilene, on the northeastern Aegean island of Lesbos, Greece, January 13, 2023. © 2023 Panagiotis Balaskas/AP Photo After a seven-year legal ordeal, humanitarian workers wept with relief today when a court on the Greek island of Lesbos acquitted all 24 defendants who […]