Human rights lawyer Emil Kurbedinov was released on 5 February in Simferopol, Crimea, having served 10 days in administrative detention to which he was sentenced as reprisal for his human rights work. Kurbedinov vowed to continue his work.

This Refugee Action Week, Amnesty International UK and Student Action for Refugees have joined forces to tell the government to stop separating child refugees from their families!

Saudi Arabian human rights defender Essam Koshak has been detained since 8 January 2017 for his online activism. He is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately and unconditionally.

Prominent human rights lawyer in Crimea Emil Kurbedinov was sentenced to 10 days’ administrative detention on 26 January. He is being targeted for his human rights work and should be immediately released.

Hamid Ahmadi, an Iranian man arrested as a juvenile, is at imminent risk of execution. He has been transferred to solitary confinement in Lakan prison in Rasht, northern Iran, in preparation for his execution on 4 February. He was 17 years old when he was arrested for the fatal stabbing of a young man during a fight between him and four others in 2008.

With less than a week left in his term, former President Barack Obama commuted Chelsea Manning’s sentence on 17 January. While this welcome move was long overdue, the US government must now investigate the potential human rights violations that she exposed.

Jailed Iranian filmmaker Keywan Karimi is in urgent need of specialized medical care. After multiple episodes of coughing up blood, doctors at Tehran’s Evin prison have said that he has bronchitis and a lung infection, and needs immediate medical treatment outside prison. Despite this, prison authorities have refused to transfer him to hospital.

Five indigenous (Orang Asli) human rights defenders and two journalists were arbitrarily detained by the Department of Forestry on 23 January following peaceful protests against logging licences granted by local authorities. They have all been released, but fears of a continuing crackdown remain.

Issa al-Nukheifi, a Saudi Arabian human rights activist, was detained again and remains in detention since 18 December. He is a prisoner of conscience and should be released immediately.

Cuban graffiti artist Danilo Maldonado Machado (‘El Sexto’) was released over the weekend. Amnesty International had cons