The Fight for Human Rights in 2023
Although 2023 has felt, at times, to be a bleak year for human rights, there have been many inspiring moments of hope. Here's a snapshot of just some of the ways humanity won in 2023:
1. ✊🌺 Woman, Life, Freedom
Yasaman & Monireh were released after nearly 4 years in prison in Iran. They were unjustly behind bars for handing out flowers on a train in peaceful protest against forced veiling laws. As they left prison they chanted #WomanLifeFreedom #زن_زندگی_ازادی
2. ⚖️ Justice prevailed for Türkiye human rights defenders
After an inpsiring global campaign, Amnesty Türkiye staff, including Taner Kılıç and Idil Eser, finally had their baseless and politically motivated convictions quashed in June.
Özlem Dalkıran, one of those who had been convicted, said:
“Trying to silence human rights defenders through judicial harassment never works anywhere in the world. Because we are right, not them! We have massive resilience that is powered by our struggle to defend justice and the rights of everyone and everything that we share this planet with.”
🎉GOOD NEWS🎉: Human rights defenders - Taner, İdil, Özlem and Günal - have had their unfair convictions overturned in Türkiye!
The ruling finally puts an end to their ordeal, which has lasted over 6 years. pic.twitter.com/EUzpn0kY32
— Amnesty UK (@AmnestyUK) June 6, 2023
3. 🔍 Hope for Syria's missing and forcibly disappeared people
The United Nations General Assembly established an institution to clarify the fate and whereabouts of tens of thousands of missing and forcibly disappeared people in Syria since 2011. A crucial advancement that wouldn't have been possible without the tireless campaigning of Syrian human rights activists and organisations. We at Amnesty International UK are proud to have supported some of these organisations on this important initiative and will continue to do so.
4. 📣 Refugees welcome, always
The UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the government's Rwanda scheme – under which asylum seekers would be sent to Rwanda to have their claims settled there – is unlawful.
During 2023, our work has included exposing human rights violations in Ukraine, Iran, Afghanistan, and Israel and Israeli Occupied Palestinian Territories. In 2024, we will continue to investigate and expose human rights abuses, call for the release of those wrongfully imprisoned, and defend the rights of those whose rights have been taken away. We couldn’t do all this and more without you.
Our blogs are written by Amnesty International staff, volunteers and other interested individuals, to encourage debate around human rights issues. They do not necessarily represent the views of Amnesty International.
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