Urgent Action: Activist in solitary confinement for 1234 days in Egypt
On 4 February, the Cairo Administrative Court postponed activist Ahmed Douma's appeal against his prolonged solitary confinement to 16 May. He has been held in poor detention conditions since his arrest on 3 December 2013.
Urgent Action good news: Virginia governor commutes death sentence in USA
On 20 April, the Governor of Virginia commuted the death sentence of Ivan Teleguz, a Ukrainian national who was scheduled to be executed on 25 April and who has continued to maintain his innocence.
Urgent Action good news: Court blocks execution and remands for hearing in USA
The Arkansas Supreme Court has issued a stay of execution for Stacey Johnson, who was due to be put to death in Arkansas on 20 April for a murder committed in 1993.
Urgent Action update: Arkansas conducts first execution since 2005
Ledell Lee was executed in Arkansas on 20 April shortly before the death warrant in his case expired at midnight. He was sentenced to death for a murder committed in 1993.
Urgent Action update: Iranian human rights defender on hunger strike
Iranian human rights defender Atena Daemi has been on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin prison since 8 April. She is protesting the suspended prison sentences imposed on two of her sisters, Hanieh and Ensieh, for “insulting public officers on duty”.
Urgent Action good news: Stay of execution for Bruce Ward in Arkansas
Bruce Ward, who was due to be put to death on 17 April in Arkansas, received a stay of execution. His lawyers maintain that his mental disability deprives him of a rational understanding of his punishment, rendering his execution unconstitutional.
Urgent Action: Three Chadian activists held incommunicado
Three Chadian activists have been arrested by agents of the National Security Agency in N’Djamena. Nadjo Kaina Palmer, Bertrand Sollo and Dingamnayal Nely Versinis are being held in secret and incommunicado. They are prisoners of conscience.
Urgent Action: University lecturer in Uganda must be released
Dr Stella Nyanzi, a Ugandan university lecturer, was arrested on 7 April and subsequently charged with insulting the president and violating his right to privacy.
Urgent Action update: Continued paramilitary presence in Chocó, Colombia
Residents of Puerto Lleras, Jiguamiandó collective territory in the department of Chocó, report threats and raids from paramilitaries near the Humanitarian Zone of Pueblo Nuevo, putting all the inhabitants at risk.
Urgent Action update: Prisoner of conscience held incommunicado in Venezuela
Venezuelan prisoner of conscience, Leopoldo López, has been kept incommunicado since 8 April. He has been placed in solitary confinement for reasons that have not been disclosed by the authorities.