The end of July brought some amazing good new stories about human rights defenders across the globe. Check out the latest wins and updates that you helped make happen.
Three great wins!
Sadat I. was released from detention in Texas. His case for asylum has been reopened and he now has a chance to live in safety.
Sadat fled Ghana in November 2015 after being beaten by members of the vigilante group ‘Safety Empire’. Sadat was identified as gay by the group after they beat and interrogated his partner and posted a video of the beating on Facebook. This publicly exposed Sadat as a gay man in a country where homosexuality is illegal. Sadat was detained when he arrived at the US-Mexico border and claimed asylum in January 2016.
Seventeen year old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi was released following her wrongful imprisonment in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Ahed Tamimi and her family faced frequent violence from the Israeli army for protesting against the theft of their land and loss of water as result of Israeli settlement – a war crime stemming from Israel’s 50-year occupation of Palestinian land in the West Bank. Ahed was arrested on 19 December 2017 after her mother posted a video showing Ahed slapping and kicking two Israeli soldiers in her home village of Nabi Saleh on 15 December.
Political cartoonist Zunar and lawyer N. Surendran have been acquitted of all changes under Malaysia’s Sedition Act. Zunar was charged with nine sedition charges in 2015 for allegedly insulting the judiciary in tweets relating to then opposition leader.
Hope for more good news soon.
After more than 1,000 days since lawyer Wang Quanzhang went missing in China, his family received confirmation that he is still alive. He has been able to see his lawyer. These developments happened in July because you took action – please keep up the good work and continue to take action.
Tibetan language rights activist Tashi Wangchuck reports feeling supported, knowing that people are working with him to end his imprisonment. He has been reading lots of Buddhist scriptures, continues to study Chinese, and has started learning English. Tashi and his lawyer are working on a request for appeal against his five year sentence for “inciting subversion”. Please let authorities know that we want Tashi out of prison by taking action.
Learn more, and take action.
You can keep up to date with case updates, and take action for brave human rights defenders like these here.
