Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
Almost 70,000 people from across the world have urged China’s President to lift all restrictions and end the harassment against poet and artist Liu Xia, one month after the death of her husband, Nobel Peace laureate, Liu Xiaobo. Liu Xia has not been heard of since her husband’s hastily arranged funeral ceremony and sea burial …
Continue reading “China: Tens of thousands demand President Xi frees Liu Xia”
Following today’s execution of Alireza Tajiki, a young Iranian man who was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death as a child, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Magdalena Mughrabi said: “By going ahead with this execution in defiance of their obligations under international law, and despite huge public and international …
Continue reading “Iran: shameful execution of man arrested at 15”
Amnesty International is deeply concerned about reports that the Indonesian security forces are disrupting public events and closed-door discussions about the Communist purge of 1965, in which 500,000 to one million people were unlawfully killed and hundreds of thousands held without trial According to local human rights organisations, there have been at least 39 cases …
Information gathered by Amnesty International suggests that Egyptian security forces forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed a schoolteacher who went missing after his arrest on 9 April, in the latest evidence of a chilling pattern of unlawful killings in the country. Testimony from eyewitnesses, colleagues and family members, as well as documentary evidence, indicates that Mohamed …
In response to the announcement by Israel’s communications minister, Ayoub Kara, that the Israeli government has decided to close Al Jazeera’ s office in Jerusalem and take the channel off air, Amnesty International’s Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director, Magdalena Mughrabi said: “This is a brazen attack on media freedom in Israel and the …
Continue reading “Israel: Plans to shut down Al Jazeera an attack on media freedom”
Responding to the news that the Coalition has decided to move forward with a second attempt at a plebiscite on marriage equality, Lizzi Price, LGBTQI NSW Network Convenor at Amnesty International, said: “Allowing a person access to all of their human rights is not something that should be up for public vote. On top of …
Continue reading “Any plebiscite a pointless exercise that denies human rights”
Responding to the news of the tragic death of an Iranian refugee on Manus Island, Graham Thom, Refugee Coordinator at Amnesty International Australia, said: “This is extremely sad and heartbreaking news. Amnesty International is extending our sincere condolences to the man’s family and friends.” “It is not yet clear if his death was a result …
Continue reading “Tragic death of refugee on Manus Island should have been prevented”
Responding to reports of protests on Manus Island, where Papua New Guinea (PNG) immigration officials, implementing a policy set by the government of Australia, are attempting to force refugees and asylum seekers out of an immigration detention centre, Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s Deputy Campaigns Director for Southeast Asia & Pacific, said: “Until there is a …
In response to the leaked transcripts of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s call with US President Trump in January 2017, Amnesty International Australia’s Refugee Coordinator Graham Thom said: “The conversation makes it clear that Prime Minister Turnbull is rolling the dice with people’s lives and mental health. “Even more shameful is Turnbull’s admission that the US …
The undersigned organisations urge the government of Indonesia to establish an official moratorium on all executions and review all death penalty cases with a view to the commutation of their sentences as immediate first steps towards abolition of the death penalty. The call follows the publication of the findings by the Ombudsman of Indonesia, confirming …