Zhao Liping was executed on 26 May 2017 following the approval by the Supreme People’s Court of his death sentence with immediate execution. The decision was made despite serious concerns about whether he had received a fair trial and allegations that his “confession” was made after being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.

Bangladesh’s elite security forces arrested 28 young men on 19 May 2017 at a social event where more than 150 people were gathered and which is known to be frequented by members of the LGBTI community.

Puntland authorities have executed five boys found guilty of murder. They were subjected to various forms of torture before “confessing” to the crime. Two other boys found guilty are at imminent risk of execution.

Salvadorian legislators will soon debate a proposed change to the Criminal Code that, if passed, would end the total criminalization of abortion in the country. It is the first time in almost 20 years that there is a real opportunity to change this law.

Marcel Williams was executed on 24 April for a murder committed in 1994. He was one of two men put to death in Arkansas on 24 April, the first time that a state in the USA has carried out two executions on the same day since 2000.

You and your group can use the time from now until the election to raise your voice for human rights.

On 3 April, the Court of Cassation in Bahrain reduced the prison sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in prison for the second time. He is a prisoner of conscience.

Human rights defenders David Boniface and Juders Ysemé fear for their lives following the sudden death of their colleague, Nissage Martyr, one day after service of a lawsuit filed by the three men in the US for grave human rights violations against Jean Morose Viliena, the former mayor of their hometown in Haiti. The men have reported repeated death threats and attacks from the former mayor since 2007, and must be provided adequate protection.

Three political opposition activists are being held in prolonged detention without charge following their arrests in Khartoum by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) between January and February 2017. They are being detained because they supported protests in November 2016 against economic austerity measures. They are at risk of torture and other ill-treatment.

On 7 April, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals issued a stay of execution in the case of Paul Storey, who was scheduled to be put to death on 12 April. The case has been remanded to a lower court for further review of the claim that the prosecution presented false evidence at the trial.