Responding to news that police in Georgia violently dispersed an overwhelmingly peaceful demonstration in Tbilisi, where protestors rallied against the controversial “foreign influence” bill, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “What...

Responding to news that the Georgian Parliament made the first steps to approve the contentious bill “On transparency of foreign influence,” which is similar to last year’s widely contested and ultimately withdrawn “foreign agents” bill, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director in...

As the two-week deadline for the enactment of the law on “foreign representatives,” adopted by the Kyrgyzstani Parliament, approaches, Agnès Callamard, Secretary General at Amnesty International, said: “It is imperative that President Sadyr Japarov vetoes a law which will have far-reaching...

Reacting to the news that Georgia’s ruling party has proposed a discriminatory constitutional bill that, among other restrictions, bans any public expression of opinion or public gatherings that could be regarded as “promoting same-sex relationships,” Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s...

Reacting to an armed group’s attack on 22 March on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow’s outskirts, which left at least 137 people dead and hundreds injured, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “We offer our deepest condolences to the...

Responding to news that Russian authorities have launched the first-ever criminal investigation targeting LGBTI persons under “anti-extremism” laws after raiding a drag show in Orenburg, Natalia Zviagina, Amnesty International’s Russia Director, said: “What LGBTI persons and human rights activists...

Ahead of the European Union’s (EU) leaders meeting with the Egyptian president in Cairo (17 March 2024), Amnesty International called for all leaders to ensure that respect for human rights is at the centre of all ties between the EU and Egypt. “As EU leaders seek to strengthen their ties with...

Reacting to the news of Kyrgyzstan’s parliament passing a highly restrictive “Foreign Representatives” legislation to regulate civil society, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “The passing of this legislation by parliament is deeply troubling....

By Lisa Maracani and Josefina Salomón* There is rarely a dull day at work for Dr. Laura Gil, a Colombian gynecologist. But even for her, certain days stand out from the rest. One morning in 2022, as she walked down the main hall of one of the clinics where she works in the Colombian capital...

Reacting to the news that police raided the offices of the independent Toplum TV in Baku and detained its journalists, Natalia Nozadze, Amnesty International’s South Caucasus Researcher, said: “This latest crackdown on independent media is a direct assault on the right to freedom of expression and...

Reacting to the news that a court in Russia sentenced RusNews journalist Roman Ivanov to seven years in a penal colony for spreading “knowingly false information” about the Russian Armed Forces, Natalia Prilutskaya, Amnesty International’s Russia Researcher, said: “This sentence is a blatant...

By Duncan Tucker and Jan-Albert Hootsen* Wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers, the journalist Rubén Pat Cauich left Arre, a bar and live music venue in downtown Playa del Carmen, with a female companion shortly before 6 a.m. on 24 July 2018. According to state investigators, a slim man in his...