Death Penalty News

The change of government in the Maldives presents a huge opportunity to break with the repression and human rights violations of the past and chart a fresh course where human rights are at the heart of the policies and action of the new government, Amnesty International said today. The 23 September 2018 presidential election saw the defeat of President Abdulla Yameen to the Joint Opposition candidate Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. Abdulla Yameen’s rule was marked by attacks on civil society, media workers, the political opposition and the judiciary. “This is a golden opportunity for the Maldives. The new government must break with the country’s repressive past and put the protection of human rights at the heart of its policies and action,” said Dinushika Dissanayake, Deputy South Asia Director at Amnesty International. “The joint opposition made several pledges when it comes to the human rights situation in the Maldives. Now, it is time to begin to translate those words into act...

The trial of an Algerian blogger who faces the death penalty on trumped-up espionage charges based on online posts is yet another stain on the country's human rights record, Amnesty International said today ahead of the opening hearing on 24 May. Merzoug Touati faces charges relating to a Facebook post and YouTube video that authorities claim encouraged civil unrest. He has been in detention since January 2017. Amnesty International has reviewed the court documents which list as "evidence" the posts published by Touati before his Facebook account and website were deleted, and found that there was no incitement to violence or advocacy of hatred, rather his posts were covered by freedom of expression in relation to his work as a citizen-journalist. Amnesty International therefore considers Merzoug Touati a prisoner of conscience held solely for expressing his peaceful opinions. "Every day Merzoug Touati spends in prison is one day too many, and is a furt...

Amnesty International has decried a repressive human rights climate in Indonesia and a worrying lack of progress in addressing past abuses, in a report that is also the third in as many weeks to criticize rising religious intolerance in the country. The 2013 report on “The State of the World’s Human Rights,” released today, cited problems in six areas, including “persistent allegations” of rights violations by police, repressive legislation invoked against peaceful political activists and the continued criminalization of freedom of religion. Other problem areas were women’s rights, where Amnesty identified various setbacks and obstacles, as well as scant progress in delivering justice for past rights violations and the continued practice of handing down the death penalty — although no executions were carried out in 2012, the year in review in the report. On the issue of rights violations by police and security forces, the report cited “excessive use of force and firearms...