Human Rights Defenders

Human rights defenders expose violations and campaign for redress for victims. They are the people who on their own or with others take action to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights for all. The important thing is not who they are, but what they do. Human rights defenders take peaceful action and believe everybody has equal rights.

More on human rights defenders

 

News and Updates

Syria: Brutal assault on Homs must end

8 February 2012

Amnesty International has called on Russia to make it clear to the Syrian government that the assault on the city of Homs must end immediately.

Syria: Brutal assault on Homs must end

8 February 2012

Amnesty International has called on Russia to make it clear to the Syrian government that the assault on the city of Homs must end immediately.

Panama: Protester deaths need proper investigation

8 February 2012

Two activists in Panama have been killed in clashes between security forces and the Ngäbe-Buglé people during anti-mining protests.

Egypt: Stop holding NGOs hostage

7 February 2012

The Egyptian authorities are using a Mubarak-era law to prosecute civil society.

Uganda: Anti-homosexuality bill ‘a grave assault on human rights’

7 February 2012

Uganda's Parliament is urged to scrap the draconian Anti-Homosexuality Bill that has been re-introduced.

Appeals for action

Reopen investigation into enforced disappearance in Ingushetia!

On 8 August 2007, Ibragim Gazdiev was reportedly seized by armed men and has never been seen since. No effective steps have been taken to trace him.

Video and Audio

Teargas in Egypt's Tahrir Square

29 June 2011

Amnesty International's Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui reports from demonstrations in Tahrir Square, Cairo.

Video: The role of Western countries in the Egypt crisis

Senior Director of Amnesty International Widney Brown gives an international political analysis and human rights update on the Egypt demonstrations.

Salil Shetty on Egypt protests

Amnesty International's Secretary General disappointed by military failure to protect protesters

Amnesty International staff member reports from a raid on a Cairo law centre

3 February 2011

The Hisham Mubarak Law Centre has been raided by security forces and surrounded by army and police.

Tunisian government must respect rights amid protests

18 January 2011

Tunisian government must respect rights amid protests

Networking for change

Amnesty International analyses the role of social media in unrest across the Middle East and North Africa.

Gambia Global Day of Action

22 July 2010

Government urged to end its widespread use of arbitrary detentions and torture as activists worldwide stage protests against the authorities' appalling human rights record.

Mexican activist jailed for defending human rights

Interview with Raúl Hernández, a Mexican human rights defender who has been wrongfully imprisoned for his work with an Indigenous community.

Video: Thousands get Fired Up for human rights

22 December 2008

Thousands of people around the world took part in actions to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December.

Video: The Price of Silence global musical mosaic

10 December 2008

The Price of Silence is a global musical mosaic that powerfully delivers on the message that human rights begin at home and that people world-wide are united in figh