In 2012 the global community witnessed a range of human rights emergencies that forced large numbers of people to seek safety, within states or across borders.

Amnesty International is calling on the new government in the Central African Republic (CAR) to end the scourge of human rights violations and the humanitarian crises currently affecting the country.
The African Union together with the United Nations and foreign governments must use their influence to ensure that the administration in Bangui takes immediate measures to protect civilians from human rights abuses and bring an end to impunity.

Des dizaines de parlementaires, de journalistes, de responsables de l’armée et de civils arrêtés depuis le début du mois de mai par les autorités tchadiennes doivent être libérés immédiatement ou inculpés d’infractions reconnues par la loi, a déclaré Amnesty International jeudi 9 mai 2013.

Heavy monsoon rains and a tropical cyclone threaten the lives of tens of thousands of displaced persons in western Myanmar unless the authorities immediately step up efforts to protect them, Amnesty International said.

More than 140,000 individuals – mostly from the Rohingya Muslim minority – are currently displaced across Rakhine state and have been living in temporary shelters since violence erupted between the Buddhist and Muslim communities in Rakhine state in June 2012. Around half are located in low-lying areas prone to flooding.

Twenty years after its independence, Eritrea’s prisons are filled with thousands of political prisoners, locked up without ever being charged with a crime, many of whom are never heard from again, Amnesty International said in a report released today.

The Syrian authorities must immediately reveal the whereabouts of a 16-year-old boy who has been missing since November, Amnesty International has urged.

Ahmed Ismael al-‘Akkad’s family have not been told anything about his fate or whereabouts since his arrest on 20 November 2012.

His family received a smuggled note from the teenager 40 days later, in which he said his health was deteriorating due to cramped and humid prison conditions and a lack of medication for his asthma.

Somalia is at a crucial juncture. In August 2012, the eight year ‘transitional’ period in Somalia ended with the appointment of a new Somali administration in September 2012. While this has led to a wave of optimism and hope for a new era, the new Somali government faces many challenges. Since the beginning of the conflict in 1991, civilians have been killed, beaten and otherwise abused in southern and central Somalia. Members of government forces and affiliated militias, as well as the Islamist armed group al-Shabab and affiliated militias, have carried out such abuses.

More than 1.3 million refugees from Syria in dire need of increased international support

It is vital that the international community does more to help the increasing number of refugees pouring across borders as they flee the violence in Syria, said Amnesty International in a briefing published today.

To escape the ongoing bloodshed and violence at home, those fleeing have sought safety in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq. Many live in extremely difficult conditions.

Les expulsions forcées pratiquées à Haïti aggravent la situation déjà désespérée de milliers de gens qui vivent toujours dans des camps pour personnes déplacées, plus de trois ans après le séisme dévastateur de janvier 2010, a déclaré Amnesty International à l’occasion du lancement d’un nouveau rapport, « Nulle part où aller » – Expulsions forcées dans les camps pour personnes déplacées d’Haïti.