Amnesty International

Martha O'Donovan, who was arrested over alleged subversive tweets about Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Twitter, arrives at Harare Magistrate's Court in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Nov. 4.

World News

American Woman Faces Charges In Zimbabwe Over Tweets About Mugabe

2:05pm November 10, 2017

by Camila Domonoske

Martha O'Donovan is accused of tweeting that Robert Mugabe, the 93-year-old longtime president, is "selfish and sick." O'Donovan, who denies the charge, has been released on bail.

Airstrikes target Islamic State positions on the edge of the Old City on Tuesday, a day after Iraq's prime minister declared "total victory" in Mosul, Iraq.

Amnesty Says U.S.-Led Coalition May Have Committed War Crimes In Mosul

5:44pm July 12, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The forces aligned with Iraq's government allegedly used crude, imprecise weapons that caused an unnecessary level of civilian casualties in the fight against ISIS, the U.K.-based rights group says.

Amnesty International's Turkey director Idil Eser (left) was detained on Wednesday, and its Turkey chair Taner Kiliç was taken into custody last month.

World News

Amnesty International Says Turkey Detained Its Country Director

2:58pm July 06, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The rights group's Turkey chair was taken into custody last month, and Amnesty says it is the first time in its history that a country has detained its chair and director at the same time.

Pakistan's captain, Sarfraz Ahmed, gives a teammate a leaping hug defeating India in the ICC Champions Trophy final in London on Sunday.

Fans Of Pakistan's Cricket Team Arrested For Sedition In India

4:10pm June 21, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Last weekend's victory over India marked a seminal moment for the Pakistani national team. For some of the team's fans in India, however, celebrating the win spelled deep legal trouble.

Taner Kiliç, Chair of Amnesty International Turkey, was taken into custody by Turkish security forces on Tuesday.

World News

Turkey Detains Chair Of Amnesty International Turkey

5:35pm June 07, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

Taner Kiliç's detention is part of a crackdown following last July's failed coup attempt. Thousands have been arrested since then. Amnesty says 22 other lawyers were detained in the city of Izmir.

Waad was one of the opposition groups that participated in a Sept. 2013 demonstration. Before a court ordered it to dissolve today, it was the only major opposition group still operating in the country.

World News

Bahrain Court Orders Dissolution Of Country's Last Major Opposition Group

5:51pm May 31, 2017

by Merrit Kennedy

The court order targets the secular National Democratic Action Society. Human rights groups are decrying the court order, saying it amounts to a de facto ban on all opposition in the country.

This image — taken via satellite in January 2015 — depicts what the State Department says is the crematorium at Saydnaya prison, including snowmelt on the facility's roof that acting Assistant Secretary of State Stuart Jones says is proof of the build

Syria Has Been Burning Bodies To Hide Prison Executions For Years, U.S. Says

7:21pm May 15, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

"We believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place" in a military prison outside Damascus, a State Department official said Monday.

Syria President Bashar al-Assad in Paris in 2010.

World News

Amnesty International Identifies Assad's 'Policy Of Extermination'

8:45am February 11, 2017

by Scott Simon

Amnesty International says as many as 13,000 opponents of Bashar Assad have been hanged outside Damascus. NPR's Scott Simon wonders why any Syrian refugee who opposes the regime would return home.

Omar al-Shogre says he spent 10 months in Sednaya prison. He says he was arrested at age 17 and was in various Syrian prisons for more than two years before he was sent to Sednaya.

World News

Former Detainee Describes Atrocities Inside Syrian Prison

6:11pm February 09, 2017

A report by Amnesty International says the Syrian government committed mass murder in a prison outside Damascus. Omar al-Shogre, a former prisoner who appears in the report, describes what he endured.

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World News

Amnesty International Says Russian Officials Have Sealed Off Its Moscow Office

4:42pm November 02, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

When staffers arrived for work, they found a seal over the door declaring that they were not allowed to enter without a city official. Amnesty calls it "an unwelcome surprise."