Shamina Begum’s baby, Jarrah, died on Thursday 7th March in a Syrian refugee camp from pneumonia, according to a medical certificate. He was under three weeks old. Ms. Begum, who left East London aged just 15 in 2015 with two friends to join ISIS in Syria, recently had her British citizenship
Interim President of Venezuela, Juan Guaido, has said that the efforts of Nicolas Maduro to block U.S. aid from coming into the country are a ‘crime against humanity.’ Guaido said this last week in an address to military officials as part of an offer of Amnesty to those who now choose
A car laden with 80kg of explosive pentolite was detonated at the General Santander Police Academy in south Bogota, Colombia, this past Thursday. The bombing took place during a police cadet promotion ceremony, killing twenty-one and injuring a further sixty-eight. The attack has been blamed on the left-wing guerrilla group, the
In December, three Venezuelans were arrested in the northern Colombian towns of Barranquilla and Valledupar and were found to be carrying ‘weapons of war,’ including an assault rifle, a 9mm mini-Uzi, ammunition, and a stun grenade. On 29th December, Colombia’s Foreign Minister, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, announced that this arrest had been
Last week it was announced that on Thursday, December 6 a seven-year-old girl from Guatemala died after spending eight hours in U.S. border control custody. The young girl and her father had crossed the border illegally the previous week but the two handed themselves over to authorities on December 6. Border
British PhD student, Matthew Hedges, has now safely returned to the United Kingdom after being sentenced to life in prison in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), before being pardoned on November 26th. Despite the fact that Hedges was issued a presidential pardon, the UAE should still be facing these ‘repercussions’ for their unacceptable treatment of him and other wrongly accused academics. Academics across the world should be able to carry out research safely. They should have access to clear guidelines from their country of interest as to what academic research is permitted, and they should be confident that, if they follow these guidelines, they will not be arrested for gathering open-source information.
This weekend, from Friday, November 30th to Sunday, December 2nd, the annual G20 summit has been taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The summit marked the Saudi Crown Prince’s first major international diplomatic test since the murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, on October 2nd. Mohammed bin Salman, or MbS as he
Sunday, November 25 marked the annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which saw people protest across the world against sexual violence, female genital mutilation (FGM) and transphobia, amongst other important and prevalent issues. On the eve of the day, a report by Amnesty International was released,
Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Public Prosecutor, Shaalan al-Shaalan, announced on Thursday, November 15th that eleven Saudis are on trial for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The prosecution is seeking the death penalty for five of them. However, Al-Shaalan maintained that the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had no knowledge of the killing that took
Venezuela has political problems which are causing many governments and economists from outside of the continent to withhold support in resolving the economic and migrant crises being faced in the country. However, now is the time to put these judgements aside and stop ignoring Venezuela.
On Friday 26th October Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, announced that Mexico would be offering temporary work permits to those travelling in the migrant caravan to the United States. The deal, known as ‘Estas En Tu Casa’ (You Are in Your Home) includes temporary education and medical arrangements for those who
On Monday 15thNovember the BBC released a report documenting and condemning President Bashar al-Assad’s extensive use of chemical weapons in Syria. This report comes as Assad’s government comes close to victory after 7 years of civil war leaving 350,000 dead. The BBC examined 164 chemical weapon attacks that have been
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the fight against Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo is being threatened by a ‘perfect storm’ of hindrances. Dr. Peter Salama, WHO’s Deputy Director-General for Emergency Preparedness and Response, has expressed concern about the effects of increasing violence in DRC on
Zeinab Sekaanvand, a 24-year-old Kurdish national, was executed in Iran’s Urumieh Central Prison on Tuesday, October the 2nd. Accused of murdering her husband in 2012 at the mere age of 17, Zeinab had not received a fair trial. Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and
