Our Voices

This Week’s Spotlight on Human Rights

Americas: On World Refugee Day, states must prioritize the human rights of those seeking protection in the Americas

On the occasion of World Refugee Day, Amnesty International has issued an open letter to the States parties to the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, who are currently meeting in Bogotá, urging them to put human rights at the heart of their new regional plan of action for the coming decade.


Civil Society Unveils New Supplement to UN Declaration Protecting Human Rights Defenders

Following a year-long project involving consultations with human rights defenders, a coalition of 18 international (full list below) and regional human rights organisations released the Declaration +25, a landmark document systematising relevant developments in regional and international human rights law and standards of the last 25 years.

Developed with the pro bono support of the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer law firm, this new document is designed to complement the 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.


N.Y. Prisons Have Ignored Limits on Solitary Confinement, Judge Finds

New York State prisons have been illegally holding prisoners too long in solitary confinement, despite a law that limited the practice.

The decision this week from Justice Kevin R. Bryant came a year after the New York Civil Liberties Union filed the class-action case against the State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, charging that prison officials had an internal policy to circumvent limits on time that prisoners can be held alone.


‘A Big Step Back’: In Ukraine, Concerns Mount Over Narrowing Press Freedoms

A Ukrainian reporter who revealed that a state news agency tried to bar interviews with opposition politicians said he received a draft notification the next day.

Ukraine’s domestic spy agency spied on staff members of an investigative news outlet through peepholes in their hotel rooms.