News releases

Posted at 0001hrs GMT  14 April 2016

All those abducted by Boko Haram must be released and those whose lives have been devastated by the armed group must receive support and justice, said Amnesty International on the second anniversary of the armed group’s abduction of more than 270 Chibok schoolgirls.

Activists from the organization will join #BringBackOurGirls demonstrations in Abuja and campaigners around the world to mark the anniversary and remember all those abducted, killed and displaced by the armed group.

“Few of us can begin to comprehend the suffering of parents who have not seen their daughters for two years,” said Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, M.K. Ibrahim.

“In addition to the Chibok schoolgirls, today we also remember all those abducted, killed and displaced. Two years on, the Chibok girls have come to symbolize all the civilians whose lives have been devastated by Boko Haram.”

Amnesty International USA Release

JACKSON, Ga. – The state of Georgia is scheduled to execute Kenneth Fults this evening at 7:00 p.m. despite concerns

about Fults’ mental state, racial bias, and lack of adequate representation during his trial. Fults has an IQ of 74 and several jurors have said that his lawyer was sleeping during the proceedings.

One juror signed a sworn statement eight years after the fact saying: 

“I don’t know if he ever killed anybody, but that nigger got just what should have happened.

Once he pled guilty, I knew I would vote for the death penalty because that’s what the nigger deserved.”

“Mr. Fults’ death sentence is tainted by undeniable racism,” said James Clark, senior death penalty campaigner with Amnesty.

“This case shows the fundamental flaws in the death penalty system. Georgia authorities must halt this execution immediately and end the death penalty once and for all.”

Fults was convicted of murdering Cathy Bonds in her home in May 1997.

Releaed 08:00 BST 8 April 2016

The scheduled execution of a 36-year-old man convicted on drug offences tomorrow, Saturday 9 April, demonstrates the Iranian authorities’ utter disregard for the right to life and their determination to continue with a staggering execution spree that saw nearly 1000 people put to death last year, said Amnesty International.

Family members of Rashid Kouhi received a call from prison authorities yesterday informing them that they should go to Rasht’s Lakan Prison in Gilan Province, Northern Iran, to have a final meeting with him today before his execution tomorrow.

The vicious killing of another secular activist in Bangladesh is a grave reminder that the authorities are failing to protect people exercising their right to freedom of expression, Amnesty International said.

Four masked men attacked Nazimuddin Samad, 28, with a machete in Dhaka late last night before shooting him dead. No one has claimed responsibility, but the killing fits the pattern of other similar attacks on secular activists by radical Islamist groups over the past year.

“There can be no justification for the brutal killing of Nazimuddin Samad, who has apparently paid with his life for nothing but being brave enough to speak his mind. This is not just a senseless murder, it is a blatant attack on the right to freedom of expression,” said Champa Patel, South Asia Director from Amnesty International.

Nazimuddin Samad was a student activist who had organised campaigns for secularism on social media. He was named on a “hit list” of 84 bloggers published by a group of radical Islamists in 2013.

Today’s decision to drop charges against Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Arap Sang must not derail efforts to ensure justice for victims of the 2007/8 post-election violence, said Amnesty International. The two had faced charges of crimes against humanity.

In its decision, a Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) declared the charges vacated. However, it held that the charges were dropped “without prejudice to the Prosecutor’s right to re-prosecute the case in the future.” The decision may also be the subject of an appeal by the Office of the Prosecutor.

“This decision could be seen as a major setback by thousands of victims who have waited so long for justice,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.

A historic ruling by a Philippines court this week in which a police officer was convicted of torturing bus driver Jerryme Corre plants a seed of hope that the tide may be turning against impunity for perpetrators of torture, Amnesty International said today.

It is first under the country’s 2009 Anti-Torture Act, and follows a three-year campaign by Amnesty International. The organization took up Jerryme Corre’s case in December 2013 – one year after his arrest – in its global Stop Torture campaign.

“Jerryme has spent more than four years in prison while under trial on trumped-up charges against him, after suffering horrific torture at the hands of the police. The conviction of the officer involved sends a clear message that the torture must stop and that the perpetrators will be brought to book,” said Champa Patel, Director at Amnesty International’s South East Asia Regional Office.

Released 00.01 BST (01:01 GMT) 31 March 2016

First evidence of migrant exploitation on 2022 World Cup site

Migrant workers building Khalifa International Stadium in Doha for the 2022 World Cup have suffered systematic abuses, in some cases forced labour, Amnesty International reveals in a new report published today.

The report, “The ugly side of the beautiful game: Labour exploitation on a Qatar 2022 World Cup venue”, blasts FIFA’s shocking indifference to appalling treatment of migrant workers. The number of people working on World Cup sites is set to surge almost ten-fold to around 36,000 in the next two years.

“The abuse of migrant workers is a stain on the conscience of world football. For players and fans, a World Cup stadium is a place of dreams. For some of the workers who spoke to us, it can feel like a living nightmare,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty.

“Despite five years of promises, FIFA has failed almost completely to stop the World Cup being built on human rights abuses.”