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
Josh Bryan is an American living in Copenhagen, where he helped to launch a recent Amnesty International report on discrimination against transgender people in the European Union. He describes how strict Danish legislation has left him trapped in a system that doesn’t recognise his true identity while demanding that he surgically change his body.
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.
12/02/2014 – As a group of international and European human rights and development organisations, we the undersigned are concerned about the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in the occupied Gaza Strip. In the context of ongoing discussions on European Union (EU) joint policy towards Gaza, we call on the European Union to urge Israel to lift the unlawful closure of the Gaza Strip, and demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law.
Missile debris from drone strike that killed 68 year old grandmother Mamana Bibi in Ghundi Kala, North Waziristan, Pakistan, on 24 October 2012.© Rafeequl Rehman