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On 14 November 2019, the Nicaraguan police detained and imprisoned at least 13 activists while leaving the San Miguel Parish Church in Masaya (Nicaragua). The activists were giving water to a group of people on hunger strike to demand the release of their relatives, who were detained for participating in the protests of 18 April 2018. The protests broke out following the government’s attempt to implement unpopular and non-consulted social security reforms and were met with violent repression. We urge the Nicaraguan authorities to drop all charges and immediately release all those detained solely on the grounds of exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
Iranian women’s rights defender Saba Kordafshari, 21, has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for her peaceful human rights work, including campaigning against Iran’s discriminatory forced veiling laws. If her verdict is upheld on appeal, she would be required to serve 15 years of her prison sentence. She is a prisoner of conscience who must be immediately and unconditionally released.
Transgender rights activists in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv are planning to hold a march on 23 November to mark Transgender Day of Remembrance. In 2018, the police failed to protect those participating in a similar march from attacks by violent groups advocating hatred and discrimination. This year, there is a serious risk of new attacks and the police must ensure people can safely exercise their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression without discrimination.
On 13 November 2019, activist and medic Saba Mahdawi was released. Saba went missing after being abducted by an unknown group on 2 November 2019. Her family confirmed to Amnesty that Saba was in good health and had not been ill-treated.
Kurdish civil society activist Zahra Mohammadi, aged 29, has been arbitrarily detained since her arrest in Sanandaj, Kurdistan province, Iran, on 23 May 2019. She is charged with national security offenses in relation to her civil society work empowering marginalized members of Iran’s Kurdish minority.
On 12 November, a Russian military court found Crimean Tatar human rights defender Emir-Usein Kuku and his five co-defendants guilty of trumped-up charges. After a protracted unfair trial, they have been given prison sentences of between seven and 19 years in jail. Emir-Usein Kuku and his co-defendants are prisoners of conscience and they should be released immediately and unconditionally.
José Daniel Ferrer García, Cuban opposition leader and former Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, has been in detention for 40 days, since Oct 1, for reasons still unknown. As far as we can ascertain, he has not been informed of the charges against him or brought before a judge. In addition, recent alarming reports suggest he may have been tortured or ill-treated while in detention, something Amnesty International has not been able to independently verify in a context where lawyers and the judiciary are largely controlled by the Executive. Mass mobilization is needed to ensure that the Cuban government presents charges against him or releases him, and refrains from potentially taking actions that may amount to ill-treatment against him.
The trial against Yana Antonova, a human rights defender from Krasnodar, southern Russia, started on 7 November. She has been targeted for her peaceful activism and charged under the “undesirable organizations” legislation. If convicted, she will face up to six years in prison.
Four Iwacu journalists and their driver were arbitrarily arrested on 22 October in north-western Burundi, as they arrived to investigate reports of clashes between the security forces and an armed group in Bubanza province. Charged with undermining state security, the five remain in prison after the Council Chamber of the Bubanza Tribunal decided to keep them in detention on 31 October. They have appealed this decision.
Kasymberdi Garaev was summoned by police and went missing on 24 October after the publication of an online article in which he was cited describing the problems he faced as a gay man in Turkmenistan. On the evening of 6 November, he contacted Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to say he had been able to return home.