Arbitrary Detention
-
Four-Year Sentence of Anti-Corruption Leader Deals a Blow to Guatemalan Democracy
Tags Share At 10 p.m. on April 19, we received a text message from Claudia González —the leading attorney representing Virginia Laparra— confirming that we had been authorized to visit Virginia at the Matamoros military prison the following day. Her text included a warning: “Don’t forget to wear a skirt or you won’t be allowed…
-
A call to strengthen protect mechanisms for environmental defenders on International Earth Day
Tags Share Being an environmental human rights defender is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Every day, government authorities, companies and other non-state actors seek to silence environmental defenders on the frontlines of the global climate and environmental movement through unwarranted persecution, harassment, detention and even murder. As we commemorate International Earth…
-
US abuses human rights with solitary confinement: request for thematic hearing at the IACHR
In April 2023, RFK Human Rights and nine partners requested a thematic hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights concerning the United States’ tortuous use of solitary confinement. The request exposes how the United States’ persistent use of solitary confinement violates international human rights law, threatening the rights to life, health and safety, liberty,…
-
RFK Human Rights Welcomes the Release of “Hotel Rwanda” Hero Paul Rusesabagina
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights welcomes the release of “Hotel Rwanda” hero Paul Rusesabagina after 969 days of arbitrary detention in Rwanda. We congratulate Mr. Rusesesabagina’s family, friends, colleagues and #FreeRusesabagina campaign supporters for the spirited efforts towards his release and wish him a speedy recovery. At the same time, we urge the…
-
Rights Groups Call on Bangladesh to Cease Harassment of Rozina Islam in Public Letter
Tags Share Sent by email Mr. Asaduzzaman Khan, MPMinister of Home AffairsPeople’s Republic of Bangladeshminister@mha.gov.bd Mr. Zahid Maleque, MPMinister of Health and Family WelfarePeople’s Republic of Bangladeshminister@mohfw.gov.bd Dear Ministers Khan and Maleque, We, the undersigned press freedom and human rights groups, write to seek your leadership in ensuring an immediate end to the harassment of…
-
RFK Human Rights and other leading international organizations call on Somali government officials to drop charges against Abdalle Ahmed Mumin
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights joins six other international organizations in a letter to Somali government officials calling for all charges against journalist, press freedom advocate, and Secretary General of Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS), Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, to be dropped. The letter details the arbitrary arrests, detention, and persecution that Mr. Mumin has…
-
Justice Action Center: Immigrant Rights Organizations File FOIA Lawsuit Seeking Information on “Batavia” NY Detention Center
Tags Share A coalition of legal and advocacy groups, including Justice for Migrant Families WNY, Prisoners’ Legal Services of NY, and Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, has filed a FOIA lawsuit against ICE for failing to release records on policies at the Buffalo Service Processing Center, known as Batavia. The lawsuit follows eight months of…
-
RFK Human Rights Submits Communication to UN Human Rights Committee for Ugandan Novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights has submitted a complaint to the UN Human Rights Committee for the case of exiled Ugandan award-winning novelist, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija. Rukirabashaija is a renowned novelist who was thrice arbitrarily arrested, detained, and tortured by Ugandan state security forces for his writings criticizing President Yoweri Museveni, his son, and…
-
Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights demands immediate release of Somali journalist and human rights defender Abdalle Ahmed Mumin
Tags Share Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights strongly condemns the arbitrary arrest and detention of Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, Somali journalist, human rights activist, and Secretary General of the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and urges Somali authorities to immediately release him and end all harassment, intimidation, threats, and violence against journalists and civil society activists in…
-
Modern Decolonization: The Role of the UN and the Responsibility of All of Us
Tags Share In December 1960, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a landmark resolution, Resolution 1514 XV, better known as the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. Resolution 1514 proclaims “the necessity of bringing to a speedy and unconditional end colonialism in all its forms and manifestations” and asserts that…
-
Haitian Bridge Alliance v. DHS: Exposing anti-Black discrimination at the border
This case under the Freedom of Information Act seeks documents explaining why the US engaged military-grade force for the mass detention and expulsion of more than 15,000 people at the southern border in Del Rio, Texas in September 2021. The majority of those expelled were Haitian and other Black immigrants.
-
Bangladesh: UN Rights Chief Should Raise Concerns
Tags Share UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michele Bachelet should publicly call for an immediate end to serious abuses including extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances during her upcoming visit to Bangladesh, nine human rights organizations said today. Bachelet will visit Bangladesh from August 14-18, 2022. During the trip, she will meet with government…
Share