Authorities in the small southern African kingdom of Lesotho have come under scrutiny from human rights advocates who say excessive force is part of a pattern when security forces arrest and detain suspects. Ahead of general elections planned for next week, the Amnesty International appeal calls on political candidates in…
The Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius recently touted the success of a COVID-19 vaccination program that, as of Monday, had reached 60% of all adults. The tourism board welcomed the news, calling it a milestone in the effort to reach herd immunity and “allowing the country to reopen to international…
Weapons from Serbia and other European nations are being used by extremists in the Sahel and supporting armed conflict, according to a new Amnesty International report. The global NGO said it reviewed more than 400 pieces of digital media from Burkina Faso and Mali, including verified photos and videos posted…
Morocco, Egypt and Rwanda are just three of the nations where governments and their leaders are named in an ongoing investigation into the use of Pegasus spyware supplied by Israeli tech company NSO Group. The Pegasus Project, coordinated by the Paris-based NGO Forbidden Stories, looks at how the technology is…
Amnesty International is calling for a thorough investigation into the death of a Rwandan musician who was arrested last week and was in police custody. Kizito Mihigo, 38, was a popular gospel singer who police confirmed on Friday was stopped near the border with Burundi. Rwandan authorities say he stood…
A Somali broadcast journalist was gunned down Sunday night in the town of Afgoye, some 30 kilometers south of Mogadishu, according to the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS). Abdiwali Ali Hassan was returning home shortly after 6 p.m. when unidentified gunmen shot him more than five times in the head and…
Nearly 8,000 people face displacement because of a dam under construction in the southern African kingdom of Lesotho, and the Amnesty International organization is calling on authorities to stop the work until the affected Mokhotlong district is properly compensated. “As the construction of the Polihali Dam begins with work on…
Amnesty International has stepped up on behalf of women human rights activists, who disproportionately face discrimination and attacks across the globe for their work – including Malak al-Kashef, a 19-year-old Egyptian transgender activist who was arrested in March 2019 during protests in Cairo. Her case, in which she was charged…
Algerians have protested every week for more than six months now, demanding economic reforms and an embrace of democratic principles. Thousands continued to protest even after former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika resigned in April, and they haven’t stopped as the North African nation works its way toward a December 12 presidential…
In Malawi, a second firebomb has been launched at the property of Timothy Mtambo, the leader of a human rights organization that has organized protests against the outcome of the disputed May presidential election and Malawi’s electoral commission. Mtambo, who heads up the Human Rights Defenders Coalition (HRDC), said this…
Amnesty International has joined the Committee to Protect Journalists and other advocacy groups in calling on the Tanzanian government to fully investigate what happened to missing freelance journalist Azory Gwanda – gone since November 2017, and now reported dead this week by the foreign minister. Palamagamba Kabudi told the BBC…
Young climate change activists from across the globe have received Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019, for their work in the Fridays for Future movement spearheaded by Greta Thunberg of Sweden. “We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are challenging…
Zimbabwe is cracking down on its human rights activists, with two new arrests reported on Monday, according to Amnesty International. Stabile Dewah, 35, and 61-year-old Rita Nyamupinga were arrested at Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare as they returned from the Maldives, where they attended a training workshop on holding…
The conditions in Democratic Republic of Congo’s artisanal mines were front and center on Thursday, as Nordic Electric Vehicle (EV) Summit in Oslo focused on the future of clean-energy vehicles that rely on lithium-ion batteries. That’s because Amnesty International highlighted concern over the ever-increasing demand for cobalt and other minerals…
Senegal’s electoral commission has until Friday to release the former results of Sunday’s election, but the early results suggest that President Macky Sall is headed toward a second term. That said, the Commission Electorale Nationale Autonome (CENA) is asking candidates and their supporters to refrain from announcing victory or prematurely…