Urgent action update: Drop charges against activist in Turkey and protect him
The prosecution of fashion designer and LGBTI activist Barbaros Şansal for exercising his right to freedom of expression continues. The next hearing will take place on 1 June. In the meantime, a travel ban prevents him from carrying out his professional activities and the authorities are failing to provide him with protection from attacks.
Urgent Action: Health concerns for prisoner of conscience in Myanmar
Lahpai Gam, an elderly ethnic Kachin man, is suffering from serious health problems which may be due to the torture he endured at the time of his arrest in 2012. He must be immediately and unconditionally released, and in the meantime, provided with access to necessary health care and treatment.
Youth Fundraising Update: March 2017
A youth fundraising update for March 2017 featuring news of some Give it Up for Human Rights Events and of an exciting idea that came out of the recent Amnesty Youth Conference
Urgent Action: Men suspected gay abducted, tortured or killed in Russian Federation
Men believed to be gay are being abducted, tortured or even killed in Chechnya as part of a coordinated campaign with impunity.
Urgent Action update: UN says respect Ali Aarrass's rights in Moroccan prison
The UN Committee against Torture requested the Moroccan authorities to improve detention conditions for Belgian-Moroccan Ali Aarrass, who has been held in solitary confinement for nearly six months. Appeal proceedings in his case are also underway.
Urgent Action update: Emirati academic sentenced to 10 years
On 29 March, the Federal Appeal Court in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) sentenced prominent Emirati economist and academic, Dr Nasser bin Ghaith to ten years in prison. He was convicted on various charges including “insulting the UAE”.
Urgent Action Good News: Prisoner of conscience siblings released in Cuba
A family of four human rights defenders were arrested in Holguín, south-east Cuba, following the death of Fidel Castro. T
Urgent Action: Execution for crime committed at age 20 in USA
Kenneth Williams, aged 38, is due to be executed in Arkansas on 27 April for a murder committed during a prison escape in 1999.
Urgent Action: Human rights lawyer receiving death threats in Myanmar
Human rights lawyer Robert Sann Aung has been receiving death threats and insulting messages since the assassination of another prominent lawyer in Myanmar.
Urgent Action: Prisoners of conscience on hunger strike in Cuba
Two days after Fidel Castro’s death, a family of four human rights defenders were arrested in Holguín, south-east Cuba. They received a one-year sentence, and the three siblings are currently on hunger strike.