Below is a list of success stories...
Indonesia: Prisoner of conscience released, thanks Amnesty members
Posted: July 12, 2010
Yusak Pakage was released from prison in Indonesia in June 2009 after receiving a presidential pardon...more
Freed: Cuban prisoner of conscience Darsi Ferrer
Posted: June 30, 2010
Darsi Ferrer, a Cuban human rights defender, was released on June 22, 2010, after a year in a maximum security prison...more
Myanmar: Prisoner of conscience U Tin Oo freed
Posted: February 20, 2010
Amnesty International welcomes the release on February 13 of Myanmar prisoner of conscience U Tin Oo...more
Ukraine frees Belarusian prisoner of conscience
Posted: February 18, 2010
Amnesty International members will welcome the February 1 release of the Belarusian opposition activist and musician Igor Koktysh (pictured above with his wife Iryna), who had been detained in Ukraine for two and a half years...more
Burkina Faso: President promises maternal health care will be available to more women
Posted: February 17, 2010
The President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaoré, has met with Amnesty International delegates, and committed to making maternal health care more widely available...more
Mongolia: Moratorium on executions announced
Posted: January 18, 2010
Amnesty International has welcomed the announcement made by the government of Mongolia declaring an official moratorium on executions...more
Hamdi al-Ta'mari freed, thanks Amnesty members
Posted: January 14, 2010
On December 14, 2009, 17 year-old Palestinian student Hamdi al-Ta'mari was was released from prison after nearly one year...more
Sri Lanka: Journalist and wife freed after 18 months in detention
Posted: November 20, 2009
The Sri Lankan authorities freed journalist Vettivel Jasikaran and his wife Valarmathi Jasikaran on October 26, 2009...more
Tunisia releases prisoners of conscience
Posted: November 12, 2009
The Tunisian authorities have released trade union leader Adnan Hajji and 67 other prisoners who had been held for over a year.
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Syria: Freedom for Kurdish prisoner of conscience
Posted: October 29, 2009
Prisoner of conscience Jakarkhon Sheikho ‘Ali was released without charge on October 3, 2009, after nearly three-and-a-half months' detention ...more
Free from prosecution: Zimbabwe human rights activist Jestina Mukoko
Posted: September 29, 2009
The Zimbabwe Supreme Court has ordered an end to the prosecution of human rights activist Jestina Mukoko after hearing that she was tortured in custody...more
Mexico: Freedom for Indigenous woman wrongly imprisoned for 3 years
Posted: September 17, 2009
Amnesty members will be happy to hear that Mexican prisoner of conscience Jacinta Francisco Marcial has been freed after three years in jail...more
Gambia: Six prisoners of conscience released
Posted: September 8, 2009
Six Gambian journalists who had been falsely imprisoned were freed on September 3, 2009...more
Argentina: Former general found guilty of human rights abuses
Posted: August 17, 2009
A former general who ran a notorious detention centre during Argentina's military dictatorship has been sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in murder, torture and abduction...more
Togo: Another victory for Death Penalty abolition worldwide
Posted: June 25, 2009
Togo today decided to abolish the death penalty following a unanimous vote by the national assembly. In doing so, Togo has become the 15th member of the African Union and the 94th country in the world to abolish the death penalty for all crimes...more
Zimbabwe: Remaining political prisoners freed
Posted: May 14, 2009
The remaining three of 18 political and human rights activists who were re-detained in Zimbabwe last week have all been released on bail.
Kisimusi Emmanuel (Chris) Dhlamini, Andrison Shadreck Manyere and Gandi Mudzingwa were freed by the High Court of Zimbabwe on Wednesday...more
Malaysia: Freedom for human rights activists
Posted: May 12, 2009
“Freedom is incredible,” Uthayakumar Ponnusamy told a crowd in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that greeted him as he came out of prison. “The feeling overwhelms.”
Uthayakumar Ponnusamy was one of three human rights activists released on May 9, 2009...more
Azerbaijan: Journalist freed after three years
Posted: April 23, 2009
The Azerbaijan authorities pardoned and freed an opposition journalist on April 9, 2009. Sakit Zakhidov is a well-known writer for the opposition newspaper Azadliq (Freedom). He was arrested on June 23, 2006, and accused of drug dealing...more
Myanmar: Political prisoners set free
Posted: April 1, 2009
Prisoner of conscience Ma Khin Khin Leh was one of 24 political prisoners set free in Myanmar on February 21, 2009. Amnesty International members had been campaigning for her freedom for almost ten years...more
Iran: Prisoner of conscience Hana Abdi released
Posted: March 31, 2009
Hana Abdi, a 22-year-old student and women’s human rights activist, was released from prison in Iran on February 26, 2009. She had been arrested at her grandfather’s house in 2007, accused among other things of “enmity against God”, and sentenced to five years in jail...more
Cambodia: Freedom for men wrongly jailed
Posted: March 30, 2009
Two Cambodian men falsely imprisoned for murder were finally released on December 31, 2008...more
China: Three prisoners of conscience released
Posted: March 20, 2009
Three prisoners of conscience – Ye Guozhu, Mao Hengfeng and Bu Dongwei, whose freedom Amnesty members had campaigned for – have been released. ...more
Crucial UN agreement promises greater protection of human rights
Posted: December 12, 2008
Governments chose December 10, 2008 - International Human Rights Day and the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - to adopt an important new human rights instrument. ...more
Malaysia: Irene Fernandez triumphs in her 12-year struggle for justice
Posted: November 27, 2008
One of the longest-running court cases in Malaysian legal history ended on November 24, 2008, when human rights defender Irene Fernandez was acquitted. ...more
Former prisoner of conscience wins Maldives election
Posted: November 20, 2008
Mohamed Nasheed, a former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, was elected president of the Maldives on October 29, 2008, ending Abdul Gayoom's 30-year rule ...more
Belarus: Prisoner of Conscience freed
Posted: November 20, 2008
Alyaksandr Kazulin, prisoner of conscience and former opposition presidential candidate, was freed on August 16, 2008, after receiving a presidential pardon. ...more
Uzbekistan: Women's human rights defender released
Posted: November 20, 2008
Uzbekistani prisoner of conscience and women's human rights defender Mutabar Tadzhibaeva was unexpectedly released from prison on June 2, 2008. ...more
Libya: Prisoner of conscience released
Posted: October 27, 2008
Libyan prisoner of conscience Idriss Boufayed was released by the Libyan authorities on Wednesday October 8, 2008. He was released on humanitarian grounds after being diagnosed with lung cancer. ...more
European Parliament honours jailed Chinese activist
Posted: October 27, 2008
The European Parliament has awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to imprisoned Chinese activist Hu Jia, one of China’s best-known environment and human rights activists. ...more
Myanmar: Freedom for U Win Tin after 19 years
Posted: September 23, 2008
U Win Tin, Myanmar's longest-serving prisoner of conscience, was released today from Insein Prison. The 78-year-old journalist had been arrested on July 4, 1989, during a crackdown on opposition political party member.s ...more
Morocco: human rights defender Brahim Sabbar released
Posted: September 2, 2008
Jailed in 2006 after an unfair trial, human rights defender Brahim Sabbar was released in Morocco on June 17, 2008. He thanked Amnesty members for the messages of solidarity he received. ...more
Argentina: Human rights abusers jailed for life
Posted: September 2, 2008
On August 29, 2008, a court in Buenos Aires sentenced two former Argentinean military officers to life imprisonment for the April 1976 kidnapping, torture and disappearance of senator Guillermo Vargas Aignasse. ...more
Syria: Prisoner of conscience released, thanks Amnesty members
Posted: August 12, 2008
The Syrian authorities unexpectedly released Dr Aref Dalilah on August 7, 2008, following a presidential amnesty. After his release, Dalilah thanked Amnesty International members and others who took action on his behalf. ...more
Equatorial Guinea: “I want to congratulate you for the work you do and for getting me free”
Posted: August 12, 2008
Prisoner of conscience Reverend Bienvenido Samba Momesori was released after Amnesty members campaigned on his behalf. He had been imprisoned for almost five years without charge or trial. ...more
Uzbekistan: “Dear friends from across the world!”
Posted: July 21, 2008
After his release from prison in Uzbekistan earlier this year, human rights defender Saidzhakhon Zainabitdinov wrote a moving letter thanking everyone in the world who had stood by him while he was in jail. ...more
Guantánamo: Sami al-Hajj freed from detention
Posted: May 15, 2008
Sami al-Hajj, a Sudanese television cameraman, has been released from Guantánamo Bay after more than six years in detention. Amnesty International members had long been calling on the United States to give Sami al-Hajj a fair trial or release him. ...more
Cuba: Prisoners of Conscience released
Posted: May 13, 2008
Cuba released four prisoners of conscience on February 16, 2008. The four men then travelled to Spain with family members. ...more
Iran: Mokarrameh Ebrahimi saved from stoning
Posted: May 15, 2008
Mokarrameh Ebrahimi was freed from prison in northwestern Iran on March 17, 2008. In 2007, she had been sentenced to death by stoning after being convicted of adultery, along with Ja'far Kiani with whom she had two children. ...more
Saudi Arabia: Rape victim pardoned
Posted: May 15, 2008
The sentences of flogging and imprisonment imposed on a 20-year-old woman rape victim, known only as the “Girl from al-Qatif”, and her male companion are reported to have been dropped under a pardon granted in December 2007 by Saudi Arabia's Head of State, King Abdullah. ...more
Ethiopia: Freed journalist donates prize to Amnesty International
Posted: October 26, 2007
Former prisoner of conscience Serkalem Fasil has thanked Amnesty International for helping secure her release from jail by donating a journalism award to the organization. ...more
Cuba: Longest-serving prisoner of conscience released
Posted: October 24, 2007
Francisco Chaviano González is the fourth prisoner of conscience to be released in Cuba this year. In April 1995 he was sentenced by a military tribunal to 15 years in prison. Amnesty International believed his trial was unfair and declared him a prisoner of conscience. ...more
Iran: Prisoner of conscience freed, allowed to leave for the US
Posted: October 24, 2007
On August 21 2007, came the good news that Dr Haleh Esfandiari had been released and allowed to leave Iran for her home in the US. In May, she had been taken to Tehran's Evin Prison, accused of furthering “the interests of foreign powers”. ...more
Ethiopia: How your support has made a difference
Posted: October 24, 2007
In spring and summer 2007, the authorities in Ethiopia released dozens of prisoners of conscience. The releases bring encouragement to other prisoners of conscience who remain in prison in Ethiopia and to their supporters worldwide. ...more
Libya frees foreign health workers
Posted: October 24, 2007
The release of six foreign health workers in Libya on July 24, 2007, was very welcome news, and followed extensive campaigning by Amnesty International members from the beginning of the case in 1999. ...more
Sri Lanka: Journalist freed
Posted: October 24, 2007
On March 22, 2007, journalist Munusamy Parameshawary walked free from a courtroom in Colombo, Sri Lanka, after the Supreme Court ordered her release. Security forces had arrested Munusamy Parameshawary in November 2006 after she had written newspaper articles about “disappearances” in Sri Lanka. ...more
Serbia: Maja Stojanović saved from imprisonment
Posted: September 14, 2007
A Serbian human rights activist will not now face imprisonment, following action by Amnesty International and a coalition of Serbian non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Maja Stojanović was convicted by a Serbian court for displaying posters in an unauthorized place. ...more
Prisoner of conscience released in Uzbekistan
Posted: September 14, 2007
Prisoner of conscience Umida Niazova was released in Uzbekistan on May 8, 2007, after she appealed a seven-year prison sentence given to her a week earlier. Amnesty members around the world had sent cards of encouragement and support to her. ...more
Internet dissident released in Viet Nam
Posted: July 13, 2007
Internet dissident Nguyen Vu Binh was released from prison in Viet Nam on June 9, 2007, after spending almost five years behind bars. He had been arrested in September 2002 and convicted for "spying" after he wrote and posted articles about democracy on the internet. Amnesty members had campaigned extensively for his release. ...more
Human Rights lawyer acquitted in Algeria
Posted: July 6, 2007
Hassiba Boumerdesi had been charged in Algeria with breaking laws regarding prison security. Amnesty International believed that the charges were trumped up, that she was being targeted because she had documented and opposed torture and unfair trials. The good news of her acquittal came on April 25, 2007. ...more
Prisoners of conscience freed in Somaliland
Posted: May 25, 2007
On March 29, 2007, the President of Somaliland pardoned journalists Yusuf Abdi Gabobe, Ali Abdi Dini and Mohamed Omar Sheikh Ibrahim. The three men were released from Mandera prison and greeted by a crowd of supporters who had gathered in front of the prison on hearing the news of the presidential pardon....more
Iranian human rights defender thanks those who campaigned for his release
Posted: May 25, 2007
Iranian lawyer and human rights defender Nasser Zarafshan was released from Evin Prison, Tehran, on March 15, 2007. He had been in jailed in 2002 after a secret trial before a military court. He was tried because of his role in representing the families of two murdered political activists. Amnesty International believes that Nasser Zarafshan was a prisoner of conscience...more
Turkmenistan: Environmental defender freed
Posted: February 28, 2007
“We won! Andrei is free!” - Yevgenia Zatoka, speaking after her husband, environmental activist Andrei Zatoka, was released from jail on January 31, 2007. He had been detained on December 17 by local police at the airport in his home town of Dashoguz...more
Guatemalan mayor moved by support of Amnesty members
Posted: February 28, 2007
"After the Urgent Action, there were no more threatening phone calls," Guatemalan mayor Dominga Vásquez told Amnesty International members and staff while on a recent visit to Amnesty's International Secretariat in London, UK. She had received death threats after speaking out against the impact of mining activity on her community...more
Nelson Mandela expresses joy at receiving award from Amnesty members
Posted: November 24, 2006
On November 1, 2006, Nelson Mandela received Amnesty International's Ambassador of Conscience Award." The award recognizes Nelson Mandela for his fearless leadership," said Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary general. "Amnesty International draws strength from Mandela's example to renew our own commitment to human dignity, human rights and justice." ...more
Eritrea: Christian evangelical singer Helen Berhane released
Posted: November 22, 2006
In October 2006, Helen Berhane, a well-known Christian evangelical singer, was released in Eritrea. Kept in terrible conditions, the authorities had reportedly tortured her many times to make her give up her faith. Many international musicians had joined Amnesty International in speaking out for Helen Berhane's freedom - including Gwen Stefani, Coldplay, and Sting...more
Amnesty International warmly congratulates Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner
Posted: December 1, 2006
On October 13, the Nobel Committee decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize 2006 to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank "for their efforts to create economic and social development from below". The same day, Irene Khan, Amnesty's Secretary General, said, "Amnesty International believes that this Award has given hope to millions of ordinary people around the world..." more
Canada: Arar report - a victory for human rights
Posted: October 3, 2006
On September 18, 2006, Justice Dennis O'Connor released a report into Canada's role in the case of Maher Arar. The report vindicates Maher Arar, making it clear that there is no evidence that he has committed any offence or posed any kind of security threat to Canada. The report is also a stunning catalogue of wrongdoing across various agencies and governments...more
Guantànamo detainee Murat Kurnaz released
Posted: December 1, 2006
On August 24, 2006, Murat Kurnaz was released from Guantánamo Bay and allowed to return home to Germany. Held for over four years, he had only ever been allowed to have contact with his loved ones through letters. After his release, his lawyer said, "He is now again in the circle of his family. Their joy at embracing their lost is is indescribable." ...more
Haiti: Political prisoner Annette Auguste finally released following 26 months of detention
Posted: August 31, 2006
Having spent 826 days in custody folk singer and community leader, Annette Auguste was finally acquitted of the charges against her and released on August 15, 2006. Prosecutors [Commisaires du Gouvernement ] in the trial deemed that there was no evidence against Annette Auguste and the presiding judge accordingly found her not guilty ...more
Maldives: Jennifer Latheef thanks Amnesty members after release from prison
Posted: December 1, 2006
“I believe that Amnesty and friends from Maldives and all over the world have put tremendous effort into securing my freedom,” said Jennifer Latheef in a message sent to Amnesty International after her release from prison on August 16, 2006. "I would like to thank each and every person who has believed in my innocence...more
Control Arms: Julius Arile hands Million Faces petition to Kofi Annan
Posted: December 1, 2006
On July 26, 2006, Julius Arile, a survivor of armed violence from Kenya, handed the Million Faces petition to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. The visual petition demands that governments take effective action to control the global arms trade...more
Honduras: Indigenous leaders Marcelino and Leonardo Miranda released
Posted: October 3, 2006
Indigenous leaders and prisoners of conscience Marcelino and Leonardo Miranda have been freed from prison in Honduras. The Supreme Court acquitted them in July 2006 of the 2001 killing of a man named Juan Reyes Gómez, overturning 25-year prison sentences imposed by lower courts...more
Equatorial Guinea: Freed prisoner of conscience thanks Amnesty supporters
Posted: December 1, 2006
A presidential pardon in Equatorial Guinea on June 4, 2006, led to the release of politician and prisoner of conscience Weja Chicampo. Chicampo had been held at the notorious Black Beach prison in the country's capital, Malabo. Speaking to Amnesty International after his release, Weja Chicampo said that he had been overwhelmed by all the letters he had received from Amnesty members...more
Turkmenistan: Prisoner of conscience released
Posted: December 1, 2006
Prisoner of conscience Gurbandurdy Durdykuliev was released in Turkmenistan and returned home to his family on April 14, 2006. His case was featured in Amnesty's 2005 Write-a-thon, and Amnesty supporters in Canada and around the world wrote him messages of support...more
Belarus: Mikita Sasim freed after young Amnesty supporters take action
Posted: October 3, 2006
Young Canadian Amnesty International supporters have helped free a student in Belarus. Mikita Sasim was jailed in March 2006 after his involvement in the pro-democracy movement. Shortly after Mikita was arrested, his case was made the focus of a Lifesaver action (Lifesaver actions are for young Amnesty activists aged 10-15)...more
Morocco: Prisoner of conscience Ali-Salem Tamek released
Posted: October 3, 2006
Good news was received from Morocco on April 22, 2006, when human rights defender and prisoner of conscience Ali-Salem Tamek was released following a royal pardon. Ali-Salem Tamek is part of the Western Sahara branch of the Forum for Truth and Justice, an organization that campaigns for the rights of victims and families of victims of human rights violations...more
Freed from a world of secret abductions, illegal imprisonment and torture
Posted: October 3, 2006
Muhammad al-Assad was released in March 2006. Al-Assad had been held in secret detention, apparently at the request of the USA, for more than 18 months before being returned to Yemen in May 2005, where he was held until his release...
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Cambodia: Human rights leaders freed
Posted: October 3, 2006
In January 2006, the Cambodian authorities released and dropped all charges against human rights leaders Kem Sokha and Pa Nguon Teang. The authorities had jailed the two men after they had criticised the government's controversial border agreement with Viet Nam... more