Ben Linden

Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia @amnestyusa

[Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office @amnestysasia]

PAKISTAN: Today marks the twelfth consecutive day of the internet shutdown in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, with mobile network services intermittently disrupted.

The internet shutdown, imposed since 5 June, in response to a call for protest by the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee, has resulted in an information blackout, disrupting people’s access to information and essential services and preventing documentation of human rights violations in the region. Amnesty International urges the authorities to immediately restore all communication services. Blanket or total internet cuts are inherently disproportionate under international human rights law and must never be imposed.

Further, there are reports of a physical blockade, also imposed in response to the call for protest, of key entry points into the region that have disrupted the delivery of essential goods, including food supplies and medicine. Such restrictions are disproportionate and severely impact people’s rights to life, access to healthcare, and freedom of movement. Pakistani authorities must immediately lift the restrictions on movement and communication and restore unhindered access to the region.

[Ben Linden @BenMLinden]

A new @amnesty report documents how the Georgian Dream-led government has effectively criminalized peaceful dissent in Georgia https://t.co/BTi6hm8nNO

[U.S. Helsinki Commission @HelsinkiComm]

In a new report, Freedom House highlights Georgian Dream’s unjust imprisonment of journalists, activists, and other dissenters and what this crackdown means for the future of U.S.-Georgia relations.🧵(1/5)

[CPJ Europe and Central Asia @CPJ_Eurasia]

On Azerbaijani prosecutors seeking up to 15-year prison sentences for Toplum TV journalists, @pressfreedom's Europe and Central Asia program coordinator Gulnoza Said @gulnozas told @OCCRP: "The severity of these proposed sentences underscores just how threatened Azerbaijani authorities are by reporting that exposes high-level corruption."
https://t.co/IqCXgDRAsj

[Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project @OCCRP]

Press freedom organizations say the lengthy sentences demanded for Toplum TV journalists are designed to stifle independent media exposing high-level corruption.

https://t.co/INM4x7jpGY

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

Pakistani authorities must take immediate steps to deescalate the situation and practice restraint and strict adherence to international standards on the use of force.

https://t.co/Dwlq5CAKbi

[Ben Linden @BenMLinden]

The jailing of Erdogan's top opponent and the latest targeting of CHP leadership is part of a broader, ongoing crackdown on the institutions that protect human rights in Türkiye. Read @amnestyusa's submission to @TLHumanRights 👇

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

As the Turkish government’s repression of political opponents, protesters, human rights lawyers, and journalists deepens, it is imperative that the U.S. government call on Türkiye to uphold its obligations under international human rights law.

Congress and the Trump administration must not allow Türkiye’s government to use its geopolitical position to distract from President Erdoğan’s assault on the rule of law and civic space. It must be made clear that the violation of human rights and crackdown on civil society are unacceptable.

Read our statement on the human rights conditions in Türkiye, as submitted to @TLHumanRights.

https://t.co/Wq3ZZFRdBV

[Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office @amnestysasia]

Pakistan: Responding to the authorities’ violent and sweeping crackdown on protests in Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Amnesty International said ⬇️

“Branding a grassroots organization as ‘terrorist’ on vague grounds, while simultaneously cutting the region off from the outside world, raises serious concerns regarding the Pakistani authorities’ conduct and their disregard for human rights. The proscription of JKJAAC under anti-terror laws is disproportionate, unlawful and a violation of the right to freedom of association.”

Read more here: https://t.co/jf88rpv57S

[Amnesty International South Asia, Regional Office @amnestysasia]

Afghanistan: Media reports showing videos of the Taliban soldiers opening fire on demonstrators protesting the arbitrary arrests of women and the abusive enforcement of the Taliban’s dress code in Herat province are deeply alarming. The Taliban’s reported use of live fire against protesters is shocking escalation of their ongoing assault on the rights to peaceful protest, freedom of expression, and women’s rights in Afghanistan. Those protesting peacefully should never be met with bullets and violence.

The Taliban must immediately end the use of unlawful force against peaceful protesters, release those arbitrarily detained, and respect the rights of women and girls, including their rights to freedom of movement, expression, and peaceful assembly.

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

Thank you for raising awareness of this issue @TLHumanRights. Congress should tell Pakistan's government that practicing law is not a crime. Enough with the delays - release Imaan Mazari & Hadi Ali Chattha now.

Read more here: https://t.co/2uVFnadOVh

[Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission @TLHumanRights]

Convicted in a secret, one-day trial that denied them due process, human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari & Hadi Ali Chattha face more delays. Last week, the Islamabad High Court postponed their hearing because the prosecution failed to show up. Pakistan must release them now.

[Metra Mehran @Metra_Mehran]

در سه سال گذشته، تیم کمپین «به آپارتاید جنسیتی پایان دهید» و شرکای ما به‌طور خستگی‌ناپذیر با کشورهای مختلف برای گنجانیدنِ «آپارتاید جنسیتی» در معاهدهٔ «جرایم علیه بشریت» دادخواهی کرده‌اند.

امروز، هفت کشور، به‌شمول افغانستان، استرالیا، ایسلند، مکزیک، اسپانیا، تیمور شرقی و اروگوئه، به‌طور رسمی از دبیرکل سازمان ملل متحد خواسته‌اند که «آپارتاید جنسیتی» در معاهدهٔ «جرایم علیه بشریت» گنجانیده شود. این بدان معناست که «آپارتاید جنسیتی» رسماً وارد دستور کار مذاکرات مربوط به این معاهده شده است.

[The HALO Trust USA @HALOTrustUSA]

In communities across #Ukraine🇺🇦, humanitarian demining is helping families return home, restore livelihoods, and rebuild local economies.

In Lypivka, Oksana’s land was once contaminated with mines and explosive ordnance left behind after the Russian occupation. Today, she is planting hazelnut bushes again — a powerful reminder that recovery depends on safe access to land.

#Demining is not only a security priority. It is foundational to economic resilience, education, food production, and long-term community recovery.

Thank you to #FMC Corporation for supporting HALO’s work to help families reclaim their land and rebuild their futures.

Discover Oksana’s story: https://t.co/v6Kl4PpYQv

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

Significant cuts in U.S. aid are already obstructing the road to justice for Ukraine, despite the suffering that Ukrainian civilians endure every day. With Russia’s latest indiscriminate attacks on Ukrainian cities and civilian objects, we witness daily how impunity emboldens Russian forces to commit war crimes and breeds further suffering in Ukraine.

We have long called for the Trump administration to prioritize justice and accountability for any peace agreement to be meaningful and sustainable. If President Trump and Secretary of State Rubio are serious about stopping the war, then they must make a genuine commitment to justice for the Ukrainian people. We call on the Trump administration to restore all previous funding in support of justice and accountability in Ukraine.

https://t.co/lszz2yueYL

[Agnes Callamard @AgnesCallamard]

The Russian authorities are denying children their right to quality education by using propaganda-filled textbooks and lectures to indoctrinate children and justify Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, while suppressing free expression, independent thinking and access to information.

Russian schools are being converted from temples of knowledge into factories of compliance. It is the Russian state itself which defines what children must learn about Russia, its neighbours, and the rest of the world. While using schools for political propaganda is not unique to Russia, the intensity and scale of the Kremlin’s efforts to put indoctrination at the centre of the education system are systemic,

Read more: https://t.co/D4iEy7nHBV

[Strategic Litigation Project @SLPJustice]

JUNE 5 | 10:00am ET

Join @SLPJustice and @ACEurasia for a virtual discussion on Russia’s predatory recruitment of foreign fighters in its war in Ukraine, featuring the authors of a new @fidh_en and @truth_hounds report.

Register:
https://t.co/6WRoAL4xMK

[Gönül Tol @gonultol]

In a powerful essay for @Newsweek , Turkey’s main opposition leader Özgür Özel argues that Turkey’s democratic crisis can no longer be dismissed as an internal political matter. The systematic dismantling of democratic institutions has become a broader security challenge, with consequences extending far beyond Turkey’s borders.https://t.co/9ZJ1TyBHkB

[Amnesty International USA @amnestyusa]

Russian authorities have shown no limit to the lengths they will go to impose their deeply politicized, ideological narrative on the next generation, and to ensure those who do not comply are detected and disciplined.

Read our new report on indoctrination in the Russian education system.

https://t.co/535hXdTULh

[amnestypress @amnestypress]

Afghanistan remains the only country in the world that bans secondary education for girls and women.

To ensure girls still have the opportunity to learn, Fatema Uzgun Nusrat now runs an online school called The Behdukht Academy.

Find out more:

https://t.co/SCgADAhIih

[Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission @TLHumanRights]

May 30 marks two years since @RFERL journalist Farid Mehralizada was unjustly detained in Azerbaijan. Journalism is not a crime. The TLHRC calls on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release Farid and allow him to return to his family. #FreeFarid #PressFreedom