The heavy prison sentences imposed on Rached Ghannouchi and four other Ennahda party leaders mark is the latest blow in the Tunisian authorities’ campaign to crush the opposition party ousted from power by President Kais Said in 2021 as part of their broader crackdown on dissent, Amnesty International said today.    On 2 February, a Tunis appeals court convicted at least 20 individuals including opposition figures handing down prison sentences ranging from three to 35...

Reacting to the Russian Ministry of Justice’s move to seek to ban as “extremist” the leading LGBTI organizations in Russia – Russian LGBT Network and the Saint Petersburg-based group Vykhod (Exit) – Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “The Russian authorities are once again abusing vague ‘extremism’ laws to criminalize...

Escapees tell of brutal system of arbitrary punishments for watching South Korean TV Wealthy can escape harshest penalties by bribing corrupt officials Children ‘forced to watch’ public executions as warning not to consume foreign media North Koreans caught watching South Korean television shows face public humiliation, years in labour camps or even execution – with...

The 3 January US attack on Venezuela was an unlawful use of force under the UN Charter, further threatening the rules-based international order. Meanwhile, the crimes against humanity perpetrated by the Maduro government against the Venezuelan people remain without justice or guarantees of non-repetition, warned Amnesty International today. “The US military operation in Venezuela constitutes...

In response to the 1 Feb ruling by the Court of Appeal in Oum El Bouaghi to uphold the conviction of trade unionist and human rights defender Ali Mammeri, and reduce his prison sentence from 15 to 10 years, Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said:   The court’s deeply unjust decision to uphold Ali Mammeri’s conviction on baseless charges is another clear assault on peaceful dissent and independent union activity in Algeria. Diana...

Israeli Knesset members must vote against a series of bills introducing controversial amendments that would allow Israeli courts to expand their use of death sentences with discriminatory application against Palestinians, said Amnesty International, ahead of an expected vote on one of the main bills by the Knesset’s National Security Committee. The death penalty would apply...