Stop Torture

A judge´s decision to acquit mother of two Yecenia Armenta Graciano and release her from prison in northern Mexico brings an end to four long years of injustice, said Amnesty International.

The European Union (EU) must immediately crack down on the unhindered commercial advertisement within its member states of security equipment potentially used to inflict cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment on people, said Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation in a new report published today.

The confirmation of the use of torture by Indonesia’s security forces by Indonesia’s chief of police is an unprecedented turnaround after more than a decade of stubborn denial of this practice, said Amnesty International today.

In a rare admission, General Badrodin Haiti, the chief of Indonesia’s police, confirmed that members of the elite Detachment-88 counter-terrorism unit kicked an alleged terrorism suspect in the chest, breaking his ribs, and causing his heart to fail.

A UN Working Group has determined that the Saudi Arabian authorities have arbitrarily detained nine peaceful activists in blatant violation of international law, in an Opinion that sets out damning evidence of Saudi Arabia’s utter disregard for human rights, said Amnesty International today.

China’s criminal justice system is still heavily reliant on forced confessions obtained through torture and ill-treatment, with lawyers who persist in raising claims of abuse often threatened, harassed, or even detained and tortured themselves, Amnesty International said in a new report released today.

The acquittal of a young woman who was tortured into confessing to the crime of extortion is long awaited good news but Mexico must ensure those responsible for the abuse she suffered face justice and that she receives reparation, said Amnesty International.

Nineteen-year-old Mahmoud Hussein was arrested in Cairo on 25 January 2014 for wearing a t-shirt with the words and logo of the “Nation Without Torture Campaign”, as well as a scarf with the logo of the “25 January Revolution”. He has been tortured and ill-treated in detention, and his pre-trial detention order has been renewed ever since.

Fears are mounting that prominent academic Dr Nasser bin Ghaith could be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment in secret detention since his arrest by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) authorities on 18 August, Amnesty International said.

By Ensaf Haidar, wife of jailed Saudi Arabian blogger Raif Badawi

Today in Dublin, Amnesty International and the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) activists gathered outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy to demand the immediate release of Raif Badawi. Today is the 3^rd anniversary of Raif’s arrest.