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.
Urgent Action good news: Stay of execution for Don Davis in Arkansas
The execution of Don Davis, scheduled for 17 April in Arkansas, did not go ahead. Minutes before midnight, when the death warrant was set to expire, the US Supreme Court refused to lift the stay issued by the Arkansas Supreme Court that afternoon.
Urgent Action update: Newspaper threatened for reports on abductions in Russia
The staff of Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta and journalists supporting them have been threatened following the newspaper’s publication of reports about the abduction and torture of gay men in Chechnya.
Urgent Action: Detained opposition leader accused of treason in Zambia
Leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), Mr Hakainde Hichilema was arrested on 10 April.
Urgent Action update: Bahrain's opposition leader's sentence reduced again
On 3 April, the Court of Cassation in Bahrain reduced the prison sentence against opposition leader Sheikh Ali Salman to four years in prison for the second time. He is a prisoner of conscience.