In January 2013, filmmaker Laura Poitras was several years into the making of a film about abuses of national security in post-9/11 America. She started receiving encrypted e-mails from someone identifying himself as ‘citizen four’...

The streets of Hong Kong are hard to recognize these days. The exhilarating energy filling the city’s main roads, crowded with hopeful protesters, is something I have not seen since I was a young student back in 1989, when we took to...

The next few months will determine whether Chinwe’s life is changed forever. Accused of murder by a corrupt and brutal police force, he faces spending his remaining years behind bars. He is at risk of being convicted by a Nigerian...

In May horrific floods plagued Serbia. At least 57 people died and more than 30,000 people were evacuated from their homes. At the same time, Belgrade Pride was due to take place and the organisers’ decision to postpone the celebration...

As the UN General Assembly begins its meeting today in New York City, Amnesty International is delivering 187,563 signatures to the White House in a global call to cut off weapons fuelling abuses in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian...

My name is Claudia Medina. Two years ago, in the middle of the night, marines entered my home in Veracruz, Mexico. They didn’t show me a court order, but blindfolded me and took me away. For 36 long hours they kept me in solitary at a...

To the mother of James Foley, I want to express my sincerest condolences for the loss of your son, James Foley. It was with shock and sorrow to know what had happened to him by those vicious killers. My thoughts are with you and your...

How does it feel when someone you actually know is put in prison? Perhaps as a campaigner for justice for individuals, groups and communities it shouldn’t feel different – after all, their position is just as bad – but somehow knowing...

On 7 August, Gao Zhisheng, a prominent human rights lawyer often referred to as the ‘conscience of China’ was released from prison. Released, but not yet free, his future remains uncertain: his political rights continue to be withheld...

For over 150 years between its independence from Spain and the mid-1980s, Bolivia was characterised by a history of coups, counter-coups and the occasional revolution. Since 1985, however, despite various outbreaks of social unrest...

After a harrowing escape, first from their hometown of Qahtanya and then from Sinjar Mountain – where they were stuck for eight days with very little food or water – Suleiman Shaibo Sido, his wife and their eight children, all members...

On Saturday I listened while survivors of the Gatumba massacre recounted the horrors they witnessed on the night of August 13th 2004, when more than 160 Congolese Banyamulenge Tutsis were hunted down and killed at a refugee camp in...

One of the highlights of our fundraising calendar, the London to Brighton cycle ride is just a few weeks away! Good luck to all in @amnestyuk ride on 7 Sept. Cycling for a great cause! Sign up on http://t.co/PG4OHuv2JS #teamamnesty...

My brother and I are experiencing the current Israel-Gaza conflict quite differently. He is 20, serving out his military service and has been fighting in Gaza. I, on the other hand, am the Executive Director of Amnesty International...

Iran’s hardline judiciary is getting very good at silencing its critics. Over the last decade, but especially following the 2009 presidential election when the authorities tightened restrictions on free speech and access to information...

Last Monday and Tuesday were the scariest days and nights since the current conflict began. The violence finally reached the area where I live. The area where I, my children and neighbours, had thought it was safe. After I finished my...

Across the city of Ramallah in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) hang billboards and banners showing images of bloodshed and destruction alongside the words: “Here now, we are all Gaza”. Many of these posters, which I also saw...

This morning as I brushed my teeth I could hear the familiar buzzing of a drone circling above our building. I ignored the sound. Drones circle overhead all the time; you never know whether it’s just for surveillance or an impending...

14 years ago I took a call I never expected to get. I was at work, in a graduate IT job I’d drifted into after university. It was half past five. I was getting ready to go home when my phone rang. It was my Mum. She told me that my...

I’ve just spoken to a human rights activist working in Gambia. Just publishing his name would be enough to get him arrested. His powerful testimony shows why we urgently need to act to stop the intimidation of people working to uphold...