On 22 May 2018, fifteen pro-democracy human rights defenders, including Anon Nampa, Rangsiman Rome, Sirawith Seritiwat, Chonticha Jaengrew and Piyarat Chongthep, were arrested and charged with sedition, with violating the junta’s ban on political gatherings of five people or more, and under the Road Traffic Act for participating in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations in Bangkok.
On 13 May 2024, independent journalist and woman human rights defender Zhang Zhan completed her four-year sentence and left the Shanghai Women’s Prison.
Imprisoned woman human rights defender and citizen journalist Zhang Zhan was hospitalised in July 2023 at a hospital in Shanghai managed by prison authorities. Prior to her hospitalisation, she weighed only 37kg, half of her weight prior to her arrest.
On 11 December 2022, a bail order of 6 billion IRR was issued for a new case opened against Mustafa Nili following his arrest in November 2022. The first court session was adjourned on 9 January 2023 at 28 Branch of Tehran Revolutionary Court when the human rights defender refused to be present in protest against the violation of due processes for the detainees of the recent protests taking place in Iran sparked by the killing of Mahsa Amini. Therefore, the new charges against the defender are yet to be known.
On 11 May 2021, family members of jailed human rights defender Hany Babu appealed to Indian authorities to provide him with immediate access to medical treatment. In early May 2021, the human rights defender developed a severe eye infection, which has already impaired his vision in his left eye, and has now spread to his cheek, ear and forehead. The human rights defender is in extreme pain, and continues to be denied access to basic facilities including clean water and treatment. Family members fear that the infection, given the rate it has already spread, may impact his vital organs.
On 17 June 2021, Narges Mohammadi, Mustafa Nili and two other human rights defenders were stopped, physically assaulted, detained for a few hours and had their devices confiscated temporarily by intelligence agents in Shazand, Markazi province in central Iran. The group of human rights defenders were denied entrance to Arkak city, in order to visit the family of a human rights defender who is detained in Arak prison.
On 10 June 2021, unknown men together with police officers raided a women's shelter for gender-based violence survivors in Makhachkala in order to forcibly return Сhechen woman Khalimat Taramova, who had been staying at the shelter, to her family in the Chechen Republic. Women human rights defenders Svetlana Anokhina and Maysarat Kilyaskhanova, who were present at the time of the raid, were reportedly beaten and detained together with 3 other women. The women were subsequently released and Khalimat Taramova was forcibly returned to her family in the Chechen Republic.
El 30 de diciembre de 2019, Amaya Coppens fue liberada junto a otros 90 presos y presas.
El 14 noviembre de 2019 Amaya Eva Coppens fue detenida junto con otras 15 personas defensoras de derechos humanos cuando llevaban agua a las madres de presos políticos en la iglesia San Miguel Arcángel, en Masaya, Nicaragua.
On 4 March 2017, human rights defender Li Xiaoling was illegally taken into custody by a force of over thirty police and placed under forced residential surveillance in the 2000 Year’s Hotel in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province. Li Xiaoling had fled to her daughter’s home in the city of Zhongshan, after escaping an earlier surveillance detention initiated on 27 February 2017. Soon after reaching her daughter’s house, local police arrived with a force of thirty or more officers to take Li Xiaoling back to the 2000 Year’s Hotel.
On 20 January 2017, Israeli occupation forces arrested human rights defenders Ms Lema Nazeeh and Mr Mohammed Khatib – along with four other peaceful protesters - near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israeli forces then went on to ill-treat Lema Nazeeh throughout her four days in detention at Al-Maskubiyyah prison in Jerusalem. On 23 January 2017, Israeli occupation forces also arrested human rights defender Mr Abdallah Abu Rahma as he attended the court hearing of the two aforementioned defenders.
On 18 August 2022, Sri Lankan police used disproportionate force against peaceful protesters in Colombo including tear gas, water cannons and batons. 20 protesters, including human rights defender Chinthaka Rajapaksa and student leader and education rights defender Wasantha Mudalige were arrested from the protest. 16 of those arrested, were released on bail by the Magistrates Court the following day (19 August). Chinthaka Rajapakse was denied bail and remanded until 26 August.
On 29 June 2019, Carola Rackete was arrested for docking in the port of Lampedusa, Sicily, to disembark 42 migrants who had been rescued two weeks earlier off the Libyan coast, defying a ban by the Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini. The human rights defender was initially put under house arrest, on charges of breaking an Italian naval blockade (under the recently approved decree known as Salvini bis) and for accidentally ramming a police boat that was trying to block her manoeuvrers.
On 28 November 2017, the Yueyang Intermediate Court in China’s Hunan Province declared Taiwanese human rights defender Lee Ming-che (李明哲) guilty on charges of “subverting state power”. He was sentenced to five years’ incarceration, with a two-year deprivation of political rights in China. During the verdict hearing, he waived his right of appeal. Chinese national Peng Yuhua (彭宇华), tried alongside the human rights defender, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment on the same charges.
On 17 November 2021, human rights defender Liu Feiyue completed his five-year sentence and was released from prison in Hubei province. In addition to the completed prison term, he now faces three years of "deprivation of political rights," which was included in his original sentence, and which in practice often entails on-going surveillance and restrictions on freedom of movement and freedom of expression.
On 12 July 2019, Liu Feiyue's family received the appellate decision from the Hubei Provincial High Court rejecting his appeal and upholding the original sentence.
On 14 October 2021, a group of between 20 and 25 unknown individuals broke into the office of the International Historical and Human Rights Society Memorial (International Memorial) in Moscow, interrupting a movie screening. When police officers arrived at the scene, they claimed that the screening was “unsanctioned” and blocked the office, leaving dozens of people unlawfully detained inside the building for hours.
On 27 April 2021, the Meshchansky District Court of Moscow charged human rights defender Sergey Davidis to 10 days administrative arrest for “organization or holding of a public event without filing, in accordance with the established procedure, a notification of the holding of a public event”. The charges are based on a retweet by Sergey Davidis on 18 April 2021, of a tweet about a rally in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny planned for 21 April 2021.
On 25 March 2021, migrant rights defender Izzat Amon was abducted in Moscow and forcibly transferred to Tajikistan. The human rights defender’s whereabouts were unknown for two days before the Tajikistan Ministry of Interior reported that he was being held in pre-trial detention in Tajikistan and facing charges of fraud, in connection to his human rights work in Russia.
On 13 February 2021, woman human rights defender Sultana Khaya was subjected to severe physical assault which resulted in a serious eye injury. While Sultana Khaya was documenting the siege of her house and the continual surveillance by the Moroccan police, a police officer attacked her and hit her with a rock.
On 12 March 2020, Ran Chongbi was released from prison after completing her sentence.
On 1 February 2018, Ran Chongbi went on trial at the Yunyang County People’s Court in Chongqing City. On 20 June 2018, the court sentenced Ran Chongbi to three years and six months in prison on charges of “picking quarrel and provoking trouble”. On 7 September 2018, the No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court in Chongqing rejected Ran Chongbi’s appeal and upheld the verdict.
On 27 January 2020, woman land rights defender Li Yanxiang was released from prison after completing her sentence.
On 8 November 2019, Zhen Jianghua was released from a prison in Yingde city, Guangdong province, after serving his sentence.
On 28 December 2018, the Zhuhai City Intermediate People's Court found Zhen Jianghua guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" and sentenced him to two years' imprisonment.
On 3 December 2018, Li Xiaoling was released from the Zhuhai No. 1 Detention Center. Li Xiaoling has reportedly been placed under soft detention; while she has been allowed to return home, she remains under surveillance and control of Zhuhai City authorities, and she is not allowed to leave the city.
On 15 September 2017, petitioner rights advocate Li Xiaoling’s (李小玲) lawyer revealed that she had been formally arrested on the charge of “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”. The human rights defender has been detained since 4 June 2017.
On Tuesday 21 November 2017, Ashraf Abu Rahma was sentenced by Ofer Military Court to three months in prison, a 5000 NIS fine, and an 18-month suspended sentence.
On 22 September 2016, the original sentences against blogger Nguyen Huu Vinh, better known as Ba Sam, and his assistant, Nguyen Thi Minh Thuy, were upheld at an appeal hearing at the Hanoi-based Supreme People’s Court in Yen Hoa ward, Cau Giay district.
On 23 March 2016 the People's Court of Hanoi sentenced the human rights defender to five years in prison. His assistant was sentenced to three years.
