All Cases | Amnesty International Canada - Protecting Individuals at Risk

Individuals at Risk cases

Abuzar Al Amin: Respected journalist jailed, silenced for criticizing the government

2012-04-26

Norma Andrade: Viciously attacked for pursuing justice for the killers of women and children

2012-02-23

Troy Davis: Executed in Georgia despite serious doubts in his case

2011-09-08
Troy Anthony Davis was executed at approximately 11:00 pm EST on Wednesday, September 21, 2011. The state of Georgia has proven what we already know, that governments cannot be trusted with the awful power over life and death. Join Amnesty supporters in re-affirming our commitment to abolishing the death penalty worldwide.

Bashir Makhtal: Canadian citizen faces life in prison after unfair trial in Ethiopia

2011-08-25
Canadian citizen Bashir Makthal sits in a prison cell in Ethiopia hoping that someday he will be able to go home. As far as the Ethiopian government is concerned, he will spend the rest of his life there. It’s up to the Canadian government to pursue justice in this case, and reunite Bashir with his wife and family.

Kimy Pernia: "Disappeared" in Colombia for defending his people's rights

2011-05-27
Kimy Pernía Domicó is a highly respected leader of the Embera Katío Indigenous People in northern Colombia, who spoke out against the construction of a huge hydroelectric dam, financed in part by Canada’s Export Development Corporation. On 2 June 2001, on his way to a meeting, Kimy was abducted in broad daylight by armed men. He was never seen again. Ten years later, no one has been brought to justice for this crime, sending a green light for more human rights abuses that put Kimy’s people in grave danger.

Chen Zhenping: Imprisoned and tortured for her religious belief

2011-04-14
Chen Zhenping is an architect and Falun Gong practitioner. Authorities detained her without any warrant on 9 July 2008 at her home in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. The charge against her of “using a heretical organization to subvert the law” resulted in an 8-year prison term. In Henan Provincial Women’s prison, she has endured regular beatings, electric shocks and forced injections of drugs.

Father Solalinde: Threatened for protecting vulnerable migrants

2010-11-25
Father Alejandro Solalinde Guerra is a Catholic priest in Ciudad Ixtepec, Mexico. His life’s work has been to provide a place of safety for migrants. He protects them from criminal gangs who exploit and abuse them. Because of this work, gangs, officials and intolerant community members threaten Father Solalinde continuously. His life is at risk.

Carmen Mejía: Threatened with death for defending her community

2010-10-19
Carmen Mejía is from a Mayan community in Guatemala. Carmen works for a development organization that represents members of Indigenous communities seeking to protect their right to water, land, housing, freedom of expression and cultural identity. Her life is at risk because she is campaigning against impacts of mining on her community's human rights.

Obtilia Eugenio Manuel: Threatened for defending her community

2009-10-06
Obtilia Eugenio Manuel is small in stature but her voice is large and strong. She doesn’t hesitate to raise it in defence of the inhabitants of Me’ phaa Indigenous communities in Mexico’s Guerrero State who continue to suffer persecution and injustice. But Obtilia’s outspoken leadership has put her in danger.

Justine Masika Bihamba: Threatened for protecting victims of rape

2009-02-20
Justine is the director of the women’s organization Synergie des femmes contre les violences sexuelles (SFVS) which seeks to help women who have been targeted for sexual violence in the conflict in the DRC. In 2007, a group of soldiers forced their way into Justine’s home in the city of Goma, eastern DRC and violently abused her family. No one has been arrested or brought to trial, and Justine fears for the safety of herself and her family if she continues her work to protect victims of sexual violence in DRC.

Stolen Sisters: No more Indigenous women lost to violence

2008-10-02
Long-standing and deep-rooted patterns of discrimination and impoverishment put so many Indigenous women and girls in harm’s way. According to a government statistic, young Indigenous women are five times more likely than other women of the same age to die as the result of violence.

Ding Zilin: A mother's right to mourn her lost son

2008-05-28
Ding Zilin is a retired university professor and the mother of one of the first students killed during the Tiananmen Square demonstrations in June 1989. Ding created the group the Tiananmen Mothers to provide support for bereaving families and demand that the government apologize for the deaths. The Tiananmen Mothers have been at the forefront of the campaign to defend the rights of the relatives of people who were killed and people who were injured by the military 19 years ago. These women face great personal risk every time they speak out. They’ve suffered detentions, repeated interrogations, and prolonged house arrest.