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Đoàn Thị Hồng was unlawfully arrested in September 2018 and has been detained without trial. Held incommunicado for eleven months, her family were finally able to meet with her on 4 September 2019 and noticed a significant deterioration in her health. A prisoner of conscience, we call on the government to immediately and unconditionally release Đoàn Thị Hồng as she has been detained solely for peacefully exercising her human right to freedom of expression.
Alejandra fled physical and sexual attacks based on her transgender identity in El Salvador and requested asylum in the US in November 2017. She has been detained since December 2017 at the Cibola County Correctional Center in New Mexico, reporting inadequate and unresponsive medical care. Authorities denied her parole five times, but after international advocacy efforts, a court ordered to stay her deportation and the US government has agreed that her appeal merits additional review. Authorities will imminently decide whether to release her on parole while she’s awaiting the court decision. We urge them to immediately free Alejandra.
Senegalese activist Guy Marius Sagna was released on bail on 16 August, one month after he was first detained for posting comments on Facebook. Charged with ‘false alert of terrorism’’ under the Senegalese Criminal Code, if he is found guilty, he faces a maximum of five years in prison. Amnesty International continues to call on the authorities to immediately drop all charges against Guy Marius Sagna as they relate solely for peacefully exercising his right to freedom expression.
Vanessa Gómez Cueva, a Peruvian mother of three who was deported seven months ago from Argentina with her 2-year-old son and forced to leave her other two children behind, received permission to return to Argentina following a landmark decision from the Director of the National Migrations Office.
Shakthika Sathkumara, an award-winning Sri Lankan writer, was arrested on 1 April 2019 for writing a short story and sharing it on his Facebook profile. While he was released on bail by the High Court on 5 August, after spending four months in prison, the charges against him are still pending and he could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty. Detained for peacefully exercising his right to freedom of expression, Shakthika Sathkumara is a prisoner of conscience and all charges against him should be immediately and unconditionally dropped.
On 18 August 2019, the family of two Qatari men, Ali Nasser Ali Jarallah (70) and his son Abdulhadi Ali Nasser Ali Jarallah (17) lost all contact with them as the two men travelled through Saudi Arabia to visit relatives. The father and son entered Saudi Arabia on 15 August on family visas and were on their way to Dammam. Amnesty International is concerned that they may have been forcibly disappeared.
Osama al-Tamimi, a former MP who has suffered continued harassment together with his family by security forces, suffered a stroke following his arrest on 6 August 2019, leading to his hospitalization. Following his release by the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID) on 11 August 2019, Osama al-Tamimi attempted to leave Bahrain to Oman to seek medical care on 16 August 2019. The airport authorities did not allow him to board the plane, citing a travel ban. The police later summoned him to appear at the al-Hoora police station on 18 August 2019; as his health deteriorated further, he was immediately transferred to hospital where he was diagnosed with renal failure.
Scores of people continue detained in Nicaragua after more than one year from the beginning of the human rights crisis. We urge the Nicaraguan authorities to immediately release and drop all charges against all those detained solely on the grounds of exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
On 22 July 2019, 70-year-old human rights defender and prominent Bedouin leader Sheikh Sayyah Abu Mdeighim al-Turi was released from Maasiyahu Prison, in the city of Ramle in central Israel. He was granted an early release by the Israeli Prison Service. Sheikh Sayyah had spent seven months in detention for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. He is the head of al-‘Araqib, a Bedouin village in the Negev/Naqab that is unrecognized by the Israeli authorities.
Lawrence Swearingen, who has been on death row in Texas, USA since 2000, was executed on 21 August 2019. He was convicted on circumstantial evidence in connection with the murder of a young woman; he maintained that he did not kill her, and several forensic experts provided expert opinion supportive of Lawrence Swearingen’s claim of innocence. We will continue to urge authorities to place a moratorium on all executions as a first step towards full abolition of the death penalty.