Schlagwort: human rights

One month after the Cuban authorities announced the imminent release of 51 detainees and following the recent announcement of a pardon for 2,010 people on 2 April 2026, Amnesty International warns that the measures remain marked by a lack of transparency and discretion, with no guarantee of full release or genuine respect for human rights. The organization reiterates its call for the immediate and unconditional release of all people detained for political reasons and an end to the repression of those who are simply exercising their human rights.

To date, the Cuban authorities have not published a complete official list of the people granted releases or pardons. Experience from previous processes shows that opaque and discretionary measures can leave people under arbitrary restrictions, constant surveillance, bans on leaving the country and the permanent threat of being sent back to prison, perpetuating a climate of control and fear.

“The Cuban authorities continue to administer freedom as if it were a discretionary concession and not an obligation of the state. It is time to replace partial, opaque, revocable and unwarranted announcements with the immediate and unconditional release of all people imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights, and the definitive cessation of the use of freedom as a political bargaining chip”, said Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

The Cuban authorities continue to administer freedom as if it were a discretionary concession and not an obligation of the state.”

Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

Amnesty International recalls that the processes of release or pardon do not replace the state’s obligation to end arbitrary detention, overturn unjust sentences or fully compensate victims. In particular, it stresses that no person should be deprived of their liberty, or have their rights restricted, for expressing critical opinions, demonstrating peacefully or reporting on the reality of the country.

To date, none of the people recognized by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience in Cuba – Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara, Maykel Castillo Pérez (Osorbo), Félix Navarro Rodríguez, Saily Navarro Álvarez, Roberto Pérez Fonseca, Loreto Hernández García and Donaida Pérez Paseiro – have been released.

Following the announcement of pardons, human rights organizations monitoring the situation in the country have been unable to verify the release of any person detained for political reasons.

These new announcements come against a backdrop of intensifying state repression. In March 2026, social protests broke out in the city of Morón, province of Ciego de Ávila, amid prolonged blackouts, fuel shortages and the sustained deterioration of living conditions. According to information documented by the human rights organization Cubalex, at least 85 people were arrested after protests during the month of March, including at least two teenagers.

The crackdown has also intensified against digital content creators, as well as their families. In recent weeks, Amnesty International has documented threats, surveillance, arbitrary detentions and pressure against young people who use social media to question the authorities from within the island.

For example, content creators from the digital media channel El4tico, who were subjected to warrantless searches of the house where they produced their content, remain arbitrarily detained

and face criminal proceedings for reporting; young people from the Fuera de la Caja project, whose relatives reported intimidation by state security; and the reprisals and criminalization reported by Ana Bensi and her mother, in a context of harassment linked to their social media activity.

“The repression in Cuba is not only directed against those who protest or against historical figures of dissent. It also targets young people who report, comment or create content, and deliberately punishes their mothers, fathers and relatives as a form of coercion. This use of the family environment to sow fear reveals the extent of the closure of civic space in Cuba”, said Ana Piquer.

The repression in Cuba is not only directed against those who protest or against historical figures of dissent. It also targets young people who report, comment or create content, and deliberately punishes their mothers, fathers and relatives as a form of coercion.”

Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

All this occurs in the midst of a crisis due to the deterioration of living conditions that continue to affect access to basic rights and services such as electricity, food, medicine, transport and other essential goods, deepening the daily suffering of the population.

Amnesty International reiterates that no measure, internal or external, should aggravate the suffering of the Cuban people. In this regard, the organization maintains its rejection of unilateral external coercive measures that worsen living conditions on the island, while stressing that they do not exempt the Cuban state from its obligation to respect, protect and guarantee human rights.

The announcement of contact and conversations between officials from Cuba and the United States adds a new political dimension to the current context. On 13 March, Miguel Díaz-Canel publicly confirmed that representatives of both governments had held exchanges to address bilateral differences and identify possible areas of cooperation, without detailing their content. For Amnesty International, any dialogue process must centre around the human rights and humanitarian needs of all people in Cuba, without discrimination.

“Human rights are non-negotiable: the future of Cuba must be agreed and determined with full accountability, justice and reparations to those who live under repression, scarcity and a lack of freedoms”, concluded Ana Piquer.

Human rights are non-negotiable: the future of Cuba must be agreed and determined with full accountability, justice and reparations to those who live under repression, scarcity and a lack of freedoms.”

Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact press@amnesty.org

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Responding to the Italian government’s long-overdue decision to suspend the Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and Israel on defence cooperation, Riccardo Noury, spokesperson for Amnesty International Italy, said:  

“Israel continues to act in defiance of international law and human rights: the genocide in the Gaza Strip is ongoing, the expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank proceeds alongside an unprecedented escalation of violence, and attacks and mass displacement in Lebanon continue. Any military cooperation between the Italian government and Israel risks making Italy complicit in violations of international humanitarian law and crimes under international law.

“Now we need consistency. The Italian government must support the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement – a demand backed by over one million European citizens who have signed the European Citizens’ Initiative in just three months. 

“The time has come for states to move beyond mere expressions of regret or dismay. They must take decisive action to pressure Israel to end its genocide in Gaza and the systematic violation of human rights across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and neighbouring countries.” 

Background 

The Memorandum was set to expire on 13 April 2026 and would have otherwise been renewed automatically for five years. This move follows sustained pressure from Italian civil society calling for a change in direction and represents an initial breakthrough. 

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Reacting to the conviction and sentences of 19 activists in Kazakhstan for participating in a peaceful protest against human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The Kazakhstani authorities must immediately release the 19 activists as they are imprisoned solely for peacefully exercising their human rights. Authorities must quash their convictions and sentences. Criminalizing peaceful protest under the vague pretext of ‘inciting discord’ is a travesty of justice and an affront to international human rights standards.  

Criminalizing peaceful protest under the vague pretext of ‘inciting discord’ is a travesty of justice and an affront to international human rights standards

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central AsiaKazakhstan: Sentencing of 19 activists over peaceful Xinjiang protest a travesty of justice

“Amnesty International has received information indicating that several of those convicted and sentenced have serious health conditions. We call on the authorities to provide immediate access to appropriate medical care while they remain in detention.”

“Authorities should ensure and uphold the human rights of everyone in the country including the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly.”

Background

On 13 April 2026, a court in Taldykorgan convicted 19 activists linked to the Atajurt movement over a peaceful protest held in November 2025 near the city of Almaty. Eleven activists were handed five-year prison sentences on charges of “inciting interethnic or social discord” (Article 174 of the Criminal Code), including two women defendants given suspended prison sentences due to having young children. Eight others were given non-custodial “restrictions of freedom” sentences. All defendants were additionally banned from public or political activities for three years.

During the demonstration the participants, ethnic Kazakhs from Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR), criticized human rights violations by Chinese authorities in Xinjiang and called for the release of Kazakhstani citizen Alimnur Turganbay, detained in China since July 2025. Protesters burned Chinese flags and a portrait of China’s  President Xi Jinping. Following a diplomatic complaint from the Chinese consulate, Kazakhstani authorities escalated initial administrative charges to criminal prosecution.

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The three-year-long brutal conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and their respective allies continues to intensify and to inflict devastating harm on civilians, Amnesty International said today, ahead of the anniversary of the outbreak of the war on 15 April.

Each shift of the frontlines has left behind a trail of death and destruction characterized by direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilians, looting and destruction of civilian infrastructure, widespread sexual violence, restriction of humanitarian aid delivery and reprisal attacks.

The Sudan conflict is not forgotten; it is being deliberately ignored and neglected. Behind this neglect are countless human beings undergoing untold suffering as the world looks the other way. This has to stop.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

“Time and again, the parties to the conflict have deliberately and indiscriminately targeted civilians, notably during and after their takeover of towns and cities throughout the country. They continue to block humanitarian aid from reaching those desperately in need,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Minimal, half-hearted and lacklustre responses from the African Union, the UN Security Council and other international and regional actors have only emboldened the perpetrators to continue carrying out these attacks. The world must now urgently prioritize the protection of civilians in Sudan.”

Amnesty International further calls for the international community, including the African Union, the European Union and the UN to prioritize accountability for ongoing crimes under international law and other serious human rights violations and abuses in Sudan. The UN Security Council must expand the Darfur conflict referral to the ICC to also include investigation and prosecution of crimes committed in the rest of Sudan.

The international community must also secure increased funding and pressure the parties to the conflict to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to allow lifesaving healthcare services to be delivered to civilians, including survivors of sexual violence.

“The Sudan conflict is not forgotten; it is being deliberately ignored and neglected. Behind this neglect are countless human beings undergoing untold suffering as the world looks the other way. This has to stop,” said Agnès Callamard.

A war on civilians

Since the armed conflict erupted, Amnesty International has documented systemic attacks on civilians by both the RSF and the SAF.

The violations against civilians include deliberate and unlawful killings, rape, gang-rape, sexual slavery and other forms of sexual violence, torture, enforced disappearances and widespread looting, all of which amount to war crimes and some of which may also amount to crimes against humanity.

During and in the aftermath of a large-scale attack on Zamzam in April 2025, the largest camp for internally displaced persons in Sudan’s North Darfur, the RSF and its allied forces deliberately killed civilians, pillaged and destroyed civilian objects, and took hostages. RSF fighters also deliberately set fire to homes, businesses and damaged critical civilian infrastructure and displaced over 400,000 people in the process.

Amnesty International has also documented widespread atrocities committed by the RSF in El Fasher after the fighters took control of the city in October, following an 18-month siege.

©Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

The SAF has conducted air strikes against civilian areas, including on a crowded market in the town of Kabkabiya in North Darfur, killing dozens of civilians. The SAF and its allies have also carried out reprisal attacks against civilians and human rights defenders labelled as RSF collaborators.

Since the conflict erupted, there has been no respite for civilians, they find themselves trapped in a relentless cycle of death, displacement and hunger.

Agnès Callamard

Members of the grassroot Sudanese network Emergency Response Rooms, activists, journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian workers, human rights defenders, civilians opposing the war and those perceived to be aligned with opposing forces have faced attacks, harassment, arbitrary detention and killings. The ongoing fighting in the Kordofan region between SAF and RSF is also taking a heavy toll on civilians. El Obeid in North Kordofan is currently under RSF siege.

“The window for avoiding a repeat of El Fasher in El Obeid and in other parts of the Kordofan region is fast closing. Unless fast and coordinated diplomatic pressure is applied on both parties, then a repeat of the mass atrocities committed in El Fasher is inevitable,” said Agnès Callamard.

“Since the conflict erupted, there has been no respite for civilians, they find themselves trapped in a relentless cycle of death, displacement and hunger.”

The conflict also risks expanding to other areas including the White Nile State.

Arms embargo

Amnesty International has previously documented how recently manufactured weapons had been transferred into and around Sudan, in flagrant breach of the existing arms embargo towards all parties to the conflict that applies in Darfur.

Unless the flow and supply of arms to Sudan is cut, civilians will continue to suffer under daily bombardments. It is time for the UN Security Council to extend the Darfur arms embargo to the rest of Sudan, and to hold to account all countries and entities that have violated it.

Agnès Callamard

The organisation provided evidence showing extensive military support from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to the RSF, in violation of international law. Amnesty International also revealed how French-manufactured weapons systems were being used on the battlefield in Sudan, along with weapons from China, Russia, and Türkiye.

Amnesty International reiterates its calls to the UAE to halt its arms transfers to the RSF immediately. Until they do, all international arms transfer to the UAE must also stop.

© Giles Clarke/Avaaz via Getty Images

Amnesty International also urges the UN Security Council to extend the existing arms embargo beyond Darfur to the rest of Sudan.

“Unless the flow and supply of arms to Sudan is cut, civilians will continue to suffer under daily bombardments. It is time for the UN Security Council to extend the Darfur arms embargo to the rest of Sudan, and to hold to account all countries and entities that have violated it,” said Agnès Callamard.

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Responding to news that Péter Magyar’s opposition party won the Hungarian national election in a landslide victory, Amnesty International Hungary’s director, Dávid Vig said:

“This is a historic moment for Hungary. After 16 years of a government intent on ignoring human rights and dismantling the rule of law, the majority of Hungarians voted for change. This represents a momentous opportunity for Hungary to reverse the human rights rollback the country has experienced and return to a path where human rights are at the centre of all government policies.”

After 16 years of a government intent on ignoring human rights and dismantling the rule of law, the majority of Hungarians voted for change

“The new government should immediately reinstate and strengthen the independence of institutions that protect Hungarians from abuse of power, stop all government-organized hate campaigns against vulnerable groups and repeal or amend all laws, policies and practices that violate human rights. It is also crucial that they engage in a meaningful dialogue with independent civil society organizations to make sure that human rights and rule of law are at the heart of policy-making.”

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