Urgent Action: Defender at risk of continued detention in Egypt
The South Banha prosecutor renewed on 18 June the detention for human rights defender Hanan Badr el-Din for 15 more days.
Urgent Action: Minority rights journalist attacked and injured in Pakistan
Pakistani minority rights journalist Rana Tanweer faced an assassination attempt on 9 June. He was attacked in a hit and run accident and fractured his leg. Days before, his home was vandalised and he was threatened for his writing. The authorities have not provided him and his family with adequate protection nor held the perpetrators to account.
Urgent Action update: Circus performer detained for 554 days in Israel
On 12 June, Ofer Military Court, in the occupied West Bank near Ramallah, renewed the administrative detention order of Mohammad Faisal Abu Sakha for three months.
Urgent Action update: Opposition politician released in Maldives
Opposition politician Adam Azim has been released after spending nearly a week in detention in Maldives. He was arrested and faced trumped up charges after criticizing the government in a TV interview.
Urgent Action update: Sentence confirmed on Saudi Arabian writer
Saudi Arabian writer Nazeer al-Majed was informed on 15 May that the Court of Appeal of the Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) in Riyadh has upheld his seven-year prison sentence. Nazeer al-Majed has been detained since 18 January solely for having peacefully exercised his right to freedom of expression. He is a prisoner of conscience.
Urgent Action update: 23 men granted bail but fear for safety remains in Bangladesh
Twenty-three of the 28 men arrested at a social event outside of Dhaka on 19 May have been granted bail. Though initially apparently held on suspicion of breaching the prohibition of ‘carnal intercourse against the order of nature’ in the Penal Code, the 28 were charged under the Narcotics Control Act 1990.
Urgent Action: Palestinian university professor in detention
An Israeli military judge confirmed a three-month administrative detention order against Ahmad Qatamesh on 13 June. The Palestinian academic was arbitrarily detained under an administrative order issued on 17 May.
Urgent Action: Health fears for imprisoned Canadian pastor in North Korea
Lim Hyeon-soo, sentenced to life in prison in hard labour in North Korea, has developed a host of health problems including malnutrition, high blood pressure, arthritis, and stomach problems as a side effect of medicine that was not properly administered.
Urgent Action: University students arrested in India after protest
Eight university students and three members of a political party’s student wing in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh have been in detention since 7 June.