IRAN: Appalling Conditions in Shahr-e Rey Prison - PRESS RELEASE

Amnesty International, USA, March 10, 2018.

Two women human rights defenders jailed for defending women’s rights and opposing the death penalty are being subjected to escalating ill-treatment in Shahr-e Rey Prison...Amnesty International revealed. The organization is calling for the women’s immediate and unconditional release.

Atena Daemi and Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee are being held in unsanitary conditions in the quarantine section of the prison and their access to the outside world is being severely restricted. People detained in this section are given inadequate food and provided with salty water to drink. 

Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, who has been on hunger strike for 35 days, is in very poor health. In the past week, she was placed on IV fluids without her consent, and at times has been unable to move. 

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EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Cartoonist Freed - GOOD NEWS

Amnesty International, USA; March 9, 2018.

On 7 March, Equatorial Guinean cartoonist and activist, Ramón Esono Ebalé was released from Malabo Black Beach prison eight days after the charge against him had been dropped.

Ramón went on trial on 27 February in Malabo after he had spent more than five months in pre-trial detention.  After the trial, the state dropped the charge of ‘counterfeiting money’ against Ramón. Ramón had formally been informed of the charge against him on 7 December 2017. The charge was dropped after the state’s main witness retracted his testimony against Ramón and admitted that he had been asked to accuse Ramón of counterfeiting activities.

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BELARUS: Health Concerns for Jailed Activist - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 8, 2018

In October 2016, activist Dzmitry Paliyenka was found guilty of “violence or threat of violence against an employee of law enforcement agencies” and “production and distribution of pornographic materials or items of pornographic character” and given a two-year prison sentence. 

The charges, trumped-up, were related to a cycling event which took place in Minsk, the Belarusian capital, on 29 April 2016 to peacefully protest against restrictions on cyclists.

Since his arrival in prison in April 2017, Amnesty International has received consistent reports that Dzmitry Paliyenka has been singled out by the prison authorities and subject to harsh treatment. He is spending 10 days each month in solitary confinement...Mail posted to him is being withheld and letters are not being sent. His friends held a solidarity card-writing campaign for him at the end of December 2017, over the New Year period, but he has not received a single card. 

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SYRIA: Stop the Killing in Eastern Ghouta - ONLINE ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 7, 2018

The Syrian government, backed by Russia, is bombing its own people in Eastern Ghouta. Scores of people have been killed and hundreds injured in the past month.

This is not new for the people of Eastern Ghouta: people who’ve been trapped in a cruel siege for nearly six years are now being attacked daily, killed and maimed by their government. Children and elderly people are dying of malnutrition and lack of medication.

Tell the Syrian and Russian governments to end the attacks and lift the siege on Eastern Ghouta immediately.

The attacks must be stopped. Humanitarian aid must be allowed into Eastern Ghouta.

We succeeded in creating pressure and noise around the world for Aleppo – and we can succeed in helping the people under attack in Eastern Ghouta.

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CHINA: Uighur Relatives at Risk of Torture - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 1, 2018.

Approximately 20 relatives of Gulchehra Hoja, a Uighur journalist living abroad, have been detained and are at risk of torture. Based in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China, her family members are all thought to have been targeted due to Gulchehra Hoja’s work.

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OHIO: Halt Execution of Wm Montgomery - URGENT ACTION

Amnesty International, USA, March 2, 2018.

William Montgomery is due to be executed in Ohio on 11 April for a 1986 murder he says he did not commit. Six federal judges argued he should have had a new trial because a police report contradicting the state’s theory of the case was withheld from the defence.

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AUSTRALIA: Support Community Sponsorship for Refugees - ONLINE EMAIL

Amnesty International, Australia, Mar. 1, 2018.

Community sponsorship – where everyday people in a community choose to contribute towards the costs of resettling a refugee – has worked in Canada for over 280,000 refugees. It can work in Australia as well.

We’re a decent country, and our communities are well-equipped to offer solutions like community sponsorship. We can harness the strength and compassion behind almost 150 self-declared refugee welcome zones across the country, that are already home to refugees with incredible stories of sacrifice, courage and contribution.

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