Every year, Amnesty supporters across the globe write millions of letters on behalf of people whose basic human rights are being attacked. During late 2015 and early 2016, our supporters around the world wrote an astonishing 3.7 million letters, messages, emails and tweets as part of our global letter-writing marathon, Write for Rights. Success In …
Author Archives: Amnesty International
Bali Process: A small step for human rights
Amnesty International welcomes Australia’s commitment to a joint regional approach to creating safe and legal pathways for people seeking asylum. However, Australia must do more to support the region through a more targeted approach to resettlement. Safety of refugees must be a priority Amnesty International had called on all 45 countries taking part in the high …
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Eight things you need to know about the Syrian war
Five years ago, Bashar al-Assad’s government brutally suppressed mass protests which began on 15 March 2011. The violent response sparked the region’s most severe armed conflict. On the fifth anniversary of the start of the Syrian war, we look at eight key facts about the conflict and its devastating effects on the people of Syria. 1. …
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States must halt all arms flows to the Yemen conflict to stop serious violations
Escalating violations, including possible war crimes, that have sparked a humanitarian crisis amid Yemen’s armed conflict will only worsen unless all states immediately impose a comprehensive embargo on arms transfers that could be used by any of the warring parties, Amnesty International warned today as a meeting on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) got under …
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Albert Woodfox free after 43 years in solitary confinement
Albert Woodfox, the last imprisoned member of the ‘Angola Three’, has been released after more than four decades in solitary confinement. What happened? Albert Woodfox was initially jailed alongside Herman Wallace and Robert King in 1971 following a conviction for armed robbery. In 1973 Wallace and Woodfox were confined to solitary in Louisiana State Penitentiary, …
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Hopes for justice and reform fading in Bahrain
Five years after a wave of protests demanding widespread reform rocked Bahrain, hopes for progress on human rights and accountability for past and present abuses have faded. The mass protests, which began on 14 February 2011, were met with violence by the security forces, who shot dead and injured protesters. Others died in custody after …
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Mexico: Crime reporter’s brutal murder highlights need for protection
The discovery of the dead body of a Mexican crime reporter, Anabel Flores Salazar, who had been kidnapped on Monday is a tragic reminder of the harrowing reality faced by thousands of journalists across Mexico, one of the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers. The body of Anabel Flores Salazar, 32, was found in the …
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Malaysian authorities must release Anwar Ibrahim and end crackdown on dissent
The Malaysian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, who has now spent a year in prison on politically motivated charges. Arbitrary detention Amnesty International regards Anwar Ibrahim as a prisoner of conscience, who has been targeted solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression. The ‘sodomy’ case against …
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Evidence of cash payments and abuse by Operation Sovereign Borders cannot be swept under the carpet
Amnesty International has appeared before a Senate Committee today to shed further light on Australia’s secretive Operation Sovereign Borders, following last year’s explosive reports Australian officials paid off a crew to smuggle a boat back to Indonesia in May 2015. The Senate Inquiry, being undertaken by the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee, will hear …
High Court decision prolongs agony faced by asylum seekers in offshore detention
Amnesty International is disappointed that the Australian High Court has ruled that offshore detention is lawful. This decision will result in around 260 vulnerable people, including over 80 children, being forcibly sent back to Nauru. Amnesty International believes that these people seeking asylum would be at real risk of serious human rights violations if returned …
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