Amnesty International has renewed its call on the government to pass the Anti-Witchcraft Accusations Bill, six years after the lynching of 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba in the Savannah Region. …
… Nyarko participated in a panel on “Atrocity Prevention and Response: Evaluating the Successes, Failures, and Hard-Earned Lessons of the Past Decade,” alongside Japhet Biegon, Deputy Regional Director at Amnesty International, and Janah Ncube, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Cri …
… You leave your house as if you will never return,” the doctor said, trying to hold back tears. “We are really suffering from the drones – no-one knows how and when they will die.” Amnesty International secretary-general Agnès Callamard has warned that al-Obeid could face violence …
Authorities in eastern and western Libya have intensified a crackdown on migrants and refugees in the last month with mass arrests, detentions and expulsions, Amnesty International said on Tuesday, accusing the EU of complicity in abuse. …
… Human rights group Amnesty International has “strongly” condemned the arrests of “peaceful protesters” following what it called a “violent dispersal”. …
… the UK and in global supply chains to ensure UK businesses are not complicit in forced labour and human rights violations. “We continue to engage regularly with the US administration as part of our negotiations, and have made clear the actions we’re taking.” Amnesty International …
… Tanzanian police at the time dismissed the torture allegations, describing the activists’ accounts as “opinions” and “hearsay.” Media and Rights Groups Document State Fear Amnesty International previously called for an urgent investigation into what it described as the arbitrary …
… Amnesty International, citing witnesses, said on Tuesday that at least 100 civilians had been killed in a Nigerian military airstrike on a crowded market in remote northwest Zamfara state last weekend, the third reported incident since April. …
Three Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils commemorating Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison under the city's national security law. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung were convicted of inciting subversion of state power, while Albert Ho pleaded guilty; the UN human rights office has called for the sentences to be quashed.
Three Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils commemorating Beijing's 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown have been sentenced to up to seven years in prison under the city's national security law. Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung were convicted of inciting subversion of state power, while Albert Ho pleaded guilty; the UN human rights office has called for the sentences to be quashed.
Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 others were sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of drug-related charges, including importing ingredients to make drugs and possessing illegal firearms. Khalifa has denied the charges and plans to appeal.
The US Africa envoy has called on the UN Security Council to extend its arms embargo to all of Sudan to halt external military and financial support, citing escalating drone attacks by both the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. Russia and China oppose the move, saying it would weaken Sudan's army's effectiveness, and a wider embargo would require a Security Council vote.
A hospital in southern Tunisia received at least 19 bodies of migrants recovered from the sea following a weekend boat sinking that carried members of the same family. The incident triggered violent protests in Ben Guerdane as residents demanded better living conditions and economic development, citing dangerous sea crossings to Europe as a result of years of marginalisation and lack of opportunities.
Court premises in Lusaka and elsewhere have been shut as the deadline for filing a petition against the presidential election result approaches. Opposition candidate Brian Mundubile, who came second with 38% of the vote, has said he would challenge the outcome citing irregularities, while incumbent Hakainde Hichilema won with 60%.
Tunisia's coastguard recovered eleven bodies after a boat carrying Tunisian migrants sank en route to Italy over the weekend, with three people still missing and one survivor. The boat departed Thursday with 15 people on board, including seven family members and a pregnant woman, and rescue efforts continued with military and civil protection teams backed by helicopters.
As campaigns for January's Nigerian elections begin, President Bola Tinubu's re-election bid faces scrutiny over whether the APC's nearly 12 years in power have improved conditions; his challengers Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi argue the party has left the country poorer and less secure, while voter surveys show nearly 80% of Nigerians say the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Zambia's electoral commission has resumed counting votes from Thursday's presidential, parliamentary and local elections after pausing nationwide due to alleged attacks on polling staff and theft of marked ballot papers. President Hakainde Hichilema is seeking a second term against 13 challengers led by opposition candidate Brian Mundubile, with results targeted for announcement by the end of Sunday.
Zambia's electoral commission has halted nationwide vote counting from Thursday's presidential, parliamentary and local elections over alleged attacks on polling staff and theft of marked ballot papers. The commission said it would review the suspension within 24 hours, while opposition candidate Brian Mundubile raised concerns about delays and alleged irregularities.
Dmitry Muratov, 2021 joint Nobel Peace Prize winner and co-founder of Russian independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, told the BBC that his publication has been shut down following Putin's decree to nationalise its printing presses and revoke its registration. Muratov says the newspaper's closure reflects a broader crackdown on free speech in Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, during which most opinion leaders have been declared "foreign agents," "extremists," or "terrorists."
The UN human rights chief said he is alarmed by a rise in executions in Iran, with at least 56 people executed on national security-related charges since 19 March, including 27 linked to January's anti-government protests. Iran is the world's second-most prolific executioner after China, putting to death at least 2,159 people last year according to Amnesty International.
Death row inmates held in Saudi Arabian prisons, mostly Ethiopians facing execution for drug-smuggling, have contacted the BBC from their cells seeking assistance. In the first seven months of this year, 17 Ethiopians have been executed—the highest number among non-Saudis.
Amnesty International has renewed its call on the government to pass the Anti-Witchcraft Accusations Bill, six years after the 2020 lynching of 90-year-old Akua Denteh at Kafaba in the Savannah Region. The organisation said the continued delay in passing the bill meant authorities had failed to protect hundreds of victims of witchcraft accusations across the country.
William Nyarko, Executive Director of the Africa Center for International Law and Accountability, has called for Africa's early warning systems to be matched by timely political action, arguing that failure to act on credible warnings continues to cost lives across the continent. Speaking at a conference on mass atrocity prevention, Nyarko noted that while progress has been made in detecting risks of mass atrocities over the past decade, preventive action has too often lagged behind early warning.
El-Obeid, a city of 500,000 on the front line of Sudan's three-year civil war, endured 27 drone strikes in June and has been under siege-like conditions for 18 months, with UN human rights chief Volker Turk reporting at least 45 people killed and 41 injured in 15 strikes between 6 and 28 June, alongside summary executions, abductions, torture, and sexual violence affecting those fleeing the conflict.
Amnesty International reported that authorities in eastern and western Libya have intensified a crackdown on migrants and refugees in the last month with mass arrests, detentions and expulsions. The organization accused the EU of complicity, citing its long-standing support and training of the Libyan coastguard and recent engagement with rival eastern authorities.
Kenya's former Chief Justice David Maraga was arrested while protesting plans to build on protected land at Nairobi National Park, including an expanded animal orphanage that the Kenya Wildlife Service says will occupy 0.31% of the 117-square-kilometre site. Maraga, arrested along with nine others, was released but refused to leave the police station until the other activists were freed.
The US announced new tariffs of 10-12.5% on dozens of countries, accounting for almost all its imports, over concerns they are not doing enough to tackle forced labour. The 60 trading partners listed—including the UK, the EU, Canada, India and Japan—face the duties because of their failure to address the importation of goods made with forced labour.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Tanzanian senior assistant commissioner of police Faustine Jackson Mafwele over his alleged involvement in torture and sexual assault of East African rights activists, including the detention and abuse of Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire in May last year.
Nigeria's National Human Rights Commission called on the military to launch a thorough investigation into recurring civilian casualties from military airstrikes. Amnesty International cited witnesses reporting at least 100 civilians killed in a Nigerian military airstrike on a market in Zamfara state last weekend, the third reported incident since April, though the military said there was no evidence of civilian casualties.
Vice-Chairman of Parliament's Human Rights Committee Dr. Kingsley Agyemang has called on African countries to strengthen human rights education to reduce violations across the continent. He argued that human rights education should encompass not only political freedoms but also access to healthcare, safe infrastructure, and basic living conditions.
Nigeria's military said Wednesday it has found no evidence of civilian casualties from a May 10 airstrike on a market in Zamfara state's Tumfa village, dismissing reports of large death tolls as unverified. Amnesty International and local media reported that at least 100 civilians, many of them women and children, were killed in the strike, which the military said targeted a militant gathering.
President Yoweri Museveni, 81, has been sworn in for a seventh consecutive term following his January election victory with more than 70% of the vote. His main rival Bobi Wine rejected the result, alleging ballot-stuffing and fleeing the country, while Museveni pledged to focus on creating wealth and jobs over his term expected to end in 2031.
A coordinated assault by the CODECO militia in late April killed at least 69 people in northeastern DR Congo's Ituri province, reportedly in retaliation for an earlier attack by the Hema-affiliated CRP group. The violence reflects an ongoing ethnic conflict between the Lendu and Hema communities in the mineral-rich region.
Amnesty International called on Nigeria to investigate reports that at least 150 people, mostly children, died in an army-run camp in Kwara state housing about 1,500 Fulani community members facing attacks by armed groups. The military denied the allegations, with a Defence Ministry spokesman saying there was no verifiable evidence, while Amnesty said researchers who visited in April documented starvation, disease, and mass burials.