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We campaign. We write. We advocate. And news like this is what we work for: 18-year-old Magai Matiop Ngong has been removed from South Sudan’s death row! 

Before his life changed forever, Magai was a 15-year-old high school student. He loved running and singing, and had ambitions to be the president of South Sudan so that he could help people when he grew up.  

But his dreams came to a sudden end in 2017 when he was convicted of murder. Magai's cousin had argued with a neighbour. When the neighbour got a gun, Magai did too. Magai fired warning shots into the ground, but one of the shots ricocheted and injured Magai's cousin who later died. Magai faced trial without a lawyer and told the judge that he was only 15 and tried to explain that the killing was an accident. But the judge sentenced him to death by hanging. "The feeling is not good at all," said Magai. "To be informed that you are going to die, I am not happy for that..." 

“It is especially disturbing to see that some governments are punishing workers who voice their concerns about working conditions that may threaten their lives. Health workers on the frontline are the first to know if government policy is not working, and authorities who silence them cannot seriously claim to be prioritising public health.”
Sanhita Ambast, Amnesty International’s Researcher and Advisor on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic in March 2020, health and essential workers have played an extraordinary role in the response to it. Across the world, they have put their health and well-being at risk, working in very difficult circumstances and often with very little support, to ensure that we are able to access the essential services we need, including health care, food and other nutritional supplies, and emergency services.

Can you imagine risking your life to defend land, water and oxygen? That is an everyday reality for courageous community leaders in Colombia who protect natural resources from the economic interests that threaten them. 

Campesino, Afro-descendent and Indigenous defenders of territory and the environment in Colombia are facing a terrifying increase in threats, attacks and assassinations. Hundreds have been killed in the last two years alone. According to the latest report by Front Line Defenders, Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries in the world to defend land, Indigenous territory and the environment.

As the bloodshed continues, women defenders face the additional threat of sexual violence against them or their daughters. 

Colombian authorities promise programs to protect defenders and their communities yet fail to implement them. Meanwhile, companies are allowed to proceed with projects that damage the environment, violate rights and fuel violence.

In 2019 the Canadian government appointed an Ombudsperson to ensure justice and remedy for individuals and communities harmed by Canadian mining, oil, gas and garment companies operating overseas. However, the Canadian government failed to give the Ombudsperson the powers needed to conduct effective investigations (for example, the Ombudsperson cannot compel corporate disclosure). Without an effective Ombudsperson, the individuals and communities who seek justice for allegations of murder, sexual violence, dispossession from their land, dangerous and exploitative working conditions, poisoning of land and water, and other human rights abuses, will continue to be unable to have their voices heard in Canada.