Residents wait to receive UNRWA food aid at the besieged al-Yarmouk camp on January 31, 2014.© unrwa.org

A group of artisanal miners sift through ores found in a stream close to Congo International Mining Corporation (CIMCO)’s plant in Luisha. © Amnesty International

The defendants in this trial were confronted by abusive use of force by police. Some of them sought to prevent violence, others to protect themselves. A few were just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. All are victims of a politically motivated show trial.

This senseless loss of human life is deeply disturbing. The Ukrainian authorities must take all measures in their power to stop and prevent the unlawful use of force and firearms, both by police officers and any vigilante groups who are colluding with them. All those responsible must be brought to justice.

21/02/2014 – Amnesty International has welcomed the decision of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General to open an investigation into the alleged rendition to Lithuania of Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The decision comes after the Vilnius Regional Court ruled on 28 January that al-Hawsawi had a right to an investigation of his claims.

21/02/2014 – Amnesty International has documented numerous cases of excessive use of force by law enforcement officers in policing the demonstrations in Ukraine since November 2013 and calls on the authorities to take the following measures:

Assurances of humane treatment from governments that routinely torture are useless.The Spanish government cannot and should not trust such empty promises from the Kazakhstani authorities, who have relentlessly pursued Aleksandr Pavlov and other associates of Mukhtar Ablyazov.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ADVISORY

This loss of life is appalling, and the Spanish authorities must come clean on what happened – particularly as the Minister’s version of events contradicts earlier official statements. They must determine what went wrong and bring those responsible to account as a matter of urgency. 

Burning/looting of Muslim property and a mosque in PK 26 area, north of the capital Bangui in late January.© Amnesty International

12/02/2014 – “Ethnic cleansing” of Muslims has been carried out in the western part of the Central African Republic, the most populous part of the country, since early January 2014. 1 Entire Muslim communities have been forced to flee, and hundreds of Muslim civilians who have not managed to escape have been killed by the loosely organised militias known as anti-balaka.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics.© ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images