Defend the Defenders of Human Rights
Latest news
Thailand: Angkhana Neelapaijit must be given immediate protection
ASA 39/016/2006
1 November 2006
Philippines: Growing number of political killings risks retaliatory spiral
ASA 35/008/2006
15 August 2006
Iran: Human Rights Defenders under attack- Amnesty International calls for the ban on leading independent human rights organization to be over-turned
MDE 13/090/2006
9 August 2006
Bahrain: Human rights defenders under threat
MDE 11/002/2006
17 July 2006
East Africa and the Horn of Africa: Human rights defenders form network of support for colleagues at risk
AFR 04/003/2006
6 July 2006
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Recent reports
PHILIPPINES: Political Killings, Human Rights and
the Peace Process
Over recent years reports of an increased number of killings of political activists, predominately those associated with leftist or left-orientated groups,(1) have caused increasing concern in the Philippines(2) and internationally.(3)
ASA 35/006/2006
15 August 2006
East Africa and the Horn of Africa:"Defending the Defenders":a Human Rights Defenders Conference
30 October- 4 November 2005, Entebbe, Uganda
Amnesty International (AI) and the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defender Project (EHAHRDP)(1) organised a Human Rights Defenders Conference in Entebbe, Uganda, from 30 October to 4 November 2005. The conference brought together 43 human rights defenders, including 19 women defenders, from East Africa and the Horn of Africa. Participants at the conference represented organizations or coalitions of human rights defenders from Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Somaliland, Sudan (including South Sudan), Tanzania (mainland and Zanzibar), and Uganda.
AFR 04/001/2006
6 July 2006
Turkey: Article 301: How the law on "denigrating Turkishness" is an insult to free expression
The prosecution of the internationally acclaimed novelist, Orhan Pamuk, for "denigrating Turkishness" has been instrumental in bringing public attention to a restrictive law which muzzles peaceful dissenting opinion in Turkey. Amnesty International has called for the repeal of Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code on the grounds that it poses a direct threat to the fundamental right to freedom of expression. This right is enshrined in the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ECHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Turkey is a State Party. The Turkish authorities are therefore obligated to ensure that freedom of expression is upheld and observed for all those under their jurisdiction. Yet Amnesty International remains concerned about the steady flow of prosecutions that continue to be brought against a number of individuals in Turkey across the political spectrum. They include writers, journalists, publishers and human rights defenders. What characterizes all of them is that they have peacefully expressed opinions that are deemed to "denigrate" Turkishness, the Republic, parliament, the government, the judiciary or the security services. If imprisoned under Article 301, Amnesty International would consider them to be prisoners of conscience.
EUR 44/003/2006
1 March 2006
Myanmar
Travesties of Justice – Continued Misuse of the legal system
Despite releases of political prisoners in July 2005, Amnesty International remains concerned that the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) have continued to abuse the justice system to silence peaceful dissent. This misuse denies the rule of law and the enjoyment of basic political freedoms in the country, and human rights in Myanmar generally. People continue to be arrested and imprisoned in Myanmar solely on account of their peaceful exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement.
ASA 16/029/2005
12 December 2005
Serbia and Montenegro
The Writing on the Wall: Serbian Human Rights Defenders at Risk
Amnesty International is concerned at the apparent increase in the incidence of threats and attacks on individual human rights defenders and human rights non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Serbia. The right of both individuals and NGOs to work for the protection and promotion of human rights is recognized as legitimate in international standards. Such standards also oblige states, as part of their own responsibilities with regard to human rights, to ensure that human rights defenders are protected in their work. Amnesty International believes that the Serbian authorities have failed to exercise these responsibilities, leaving threats and attacks unchallenged and therefore human rights defenders at risk. Indeed, in some cases it appears that the authorities themselves may have been behind such threats and attacks.
EUR 70/016/2005
29 November 2005
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International Library
A complete index of Amnesty International reports and news releases can be found on the website of Amnesty's International Secretariat. Click here for the index for reports and news releases on Human Rights Defenders.