It is easy sometimes to think that the rights of prisoners have little to do with us – that they have somehow exchanged their rights for a life of crime. This is wrong on two counts. Firstly, everyone has the same rights and they can never be taken away, no matter where you are, or what you may have done. Secondly, just because you are in prison, it does not mean you are guilty of a crime – if you were lucky enough to have a trial, it may not have been a fair one.

As COVID-19 continues to spread across Southern Africa, governments are targeting journalists and media houses that are critical of their handling of the pandemic, Amnesty International warned today marking World Press Freedom Day.

By Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International Campaigner for Southern Africa

By Oluwatosin Popoola, Legal Adviser at Amnesty International

We know that, together, we can end the death penalty everywhere.

Millions of people are already suffering from the catastrophic effects of extreme disasters exacerbated by climate change – from prolonged drought in sub-Saharan Africa to devastating tropical storms sweeping across Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. During the summer months for the northern hemisphere in 2018, communities from the Arctic Circle to Greece, Japan, Pakistan and the USA experienced devastating heatwaves and wildfires that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.

Reckless arms trading devastates lives. Weapons and ammunition are produced and sold in shockingly large quantities.

Armed conflicts – wars – continue to cause death, displacement and suffering on a massive scale.

Malawian authorities have mounted a crackdown on dissent ahead of the general election rerun on 19 May by arresting two prominent human rights activists, Amnesty International said today.

Through our detailed research and determined campaigning, we help fight abuses of human rights worldwide. We bring torturers to justice. Change oppressive laws. And free people jailed just for voicing their opinion.

Five years after journalist and pro-democracy activist, Itai Dzamara went missing in Zimbabwe, his whereabouts remains a mystery and his family are stuck in agonizing limbo, Amnesty International said today. Itai Dzamara is a well-known activist and had been a vocal critic of Robert Mugabe before he was abducted from a barbershop on 9 March 2015. He has not been heard from since.

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