In the first week of January, over 90 men were killed (shot dead, beheaded or quartered) in prisons in Amazonas and Roraima states in northern Brazil, as a result of riots and conflicts between criminal gangs.

The speaker of the Chechen parliament used his Instagram account to threaten prominent journalist Grigory Shvedov on 6 January.

Since the beginning of January activists Salman Haider, Waqas Goraya, Asim Saeed, and Ahmed Raza Naseer have gone missing in a suspected enforced disappearance by state security forces in Pakistan.

Jabir Zain, an activist residing in Libya, continues to be detained in an unknown location over 100 days following his enforced disappearance by a militia in Tripoli.

Iranian prisoner of conscience Ali Shariati is in poor health in Evin Prison, 67 days into an ongoing hunger strike against his imprisonment.

Bahraini activist Dr Sa’eed Mothaher Habib al-Samahiji has been released after completing his one-year prison sentence. He was a prisoner of conscience.

Authorities confirm that Beijing human rights lawyer Jiang Tianyong, last heard from on 21 November 2016, has been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location” on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”.

A youth fundraising update for January. Contains news of a Syria themed fundraising event and some ideas for fundraisers to kick off the new year

Fashion designer and LGBTI activist Barbaros Şansal is being held in pre-trial detention, accused of ‘inciting the public to hatred or hostility’ for a video message and tweet he shared on social media on New Year’s Eve.

70-year-old retired professor Dr Zafar Arif was arrested on 22 October and remains without access to a lawyer or medical care. He is a heart patient and there are grave concerns for his health.