23 May 2025 | Afghanistan, Africa, Americas, Asia and Pacific, El Salvador, Europe and Central Asia, Kenya, News and features, Palestine, Russia, Tanzania, Uganda, United States
In the age of online information, it can feel harder than ever to stay informed. As we get bombarded with news from all angles, important stories can easily pass us by. To help you cut through the noise, every Friday Index publishes a weekly news roundup of some of the key stories covering censorship and free expression. This week, we look at the arrest of a human rights lawyer and how Russia has banned Amnesty International.
Detained for her work: Leading human rights lawyer arrested for supporting immigrants
Cristosal is one of the most prominent groups working to defend human rights in Central America. Over recent months, it has supported those wrongfully deported to El Salvador from the USA, and now one of its most prominent figures is paying the price for this work. Ruth López, chief legal officer in anti-corruption for Cristosal, has been arrested in El Salvador over a decade-old embezzlement accusation from when she worked in electoral courts.
Arrested late on Sunday 18 May, her family and legal team have no knowledge as to her whereabouts and are concerned about her safety. Numerous human rights organisations have come out in her defence, condemning her arrest as a violation of due process, and outlining the “environment of fear” that is prevalent in the country.
Cristosal wrote on Bluesky that Lopez is “likely the victim of short-term enforced disappearance”, constituting a “serious human rights violation under international law”. López has led multiple legal cases against the Salvadoran government, and Cristosal claims that she has been the target of smear campaigns and social media attacks coordinated by Nayib Bukele’s government, and that this is its latest attempt to silence her for her work.
No amnesty for Amnesty: Prominent human rights group banned in Russia
On Monday 19 May, Russia officially announced that it would ban the prominent human rights organisation Amnesty International from operating within the country, designating it “undesirable”. The Kremlin claims that Amnesty is the “centre of preparation of global Russophobic projects”, and that it “[justifies] the crimes of Ukrainian neo-Nazis”.
Amnesty has continually documented Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, and the organisation has long been on Russia’s blacklist, with its website blocked and its Moscow office closed since the early days of the war. The group is far from the first to be banned by the Kremlin; since 2015 the register of “undesirable organisations” has been used to ostracise hundreds of human rights groups and media outlets. Amnesty International’s secretary general Agnès Callamard said that “you must be doing something right if the Kremlin bans you”, and outlined the organisation’s intentions to keep exposing Russia’s human rights violations in both Ukraine and Russia.
University protests: Student has degree revoked for pro-Palestine speech
Since Donald Trump was inaugurated in January, university campuses have become key battlegrounds in the fight for free expression in the USA. Some pro-Palestine protesters have been arrested on campus, others have been punished through suspension, and the Trump administration has threatened to withdraw funding from schools and universities that allow what it deems “illegal protests”. International students are at particular risk, as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have detained and attempted deportations of student protesters who are in the USA on visas or green cards.
Despite the threats facing them, it appears that students are not being deterred from protesting. New York University (NYU) undergraduate Logan Rozos gave a pro-Palestine speech at his graduation ceremony last week, condemning the war in Gaza. “The genocide currently occurring is supported politically and military by the United States, is paid for by our tax dollars and has been live-streamed to our phones,” he said. NYU quickly announced that the university is withholding his diploma while it pursues disciplinary action against him.
Similarly, this week, George Washington University (GWU) student Cecilia Culver criticised her university’s ties to Israel and called for students to withhold donations to GWU in a graduation speech that went viral on social media. She has since been banned from campus, with some groups calling for the withdrawal of her diploma until she apologises.
In February it was announced that a federal government taskforce set up to tackle antisemitism would be investigating events that have occurred at 10 universities, and both NYU and GWU are on this list.
Media shutdown: Taliban fires 300 from national broadcaster in mass budget cuts
As part of an initiative to cut government spending, the Taliban has fired more than 300 members of staff from the prominent national broadcaster Radio Television of Afghanistan (RTA), 91 of whom are women. Many were journalists and editors who had worked for the organisation for decades. The Afghanistan Journalists Support Organization (AJSO) believes that this is more than just a cost-cutting exercise.
In a statement on X, AJSO outlined how this continues a theme of media suppression by the Taliban, and that the decision is part of “the systematic exclusion of women from the public sphere, especially in the media”. The drive to remove women from the workplace has intensified since the Taliban regained control of the country in 2021; state-run nurseries in Kabul have reportedly seen more than 100 female staff dismissed, while hundreds of women professors have been fired from public universities across the country. At the end of last year, women were banned from training as midwives and nurses.
A 2024 UN report also outlined how the Taliban has devastated the country’s independent media landscape, with the latest cuts appearing to be a continuation of these efforts.
Freed on demand: Two activists released from detention in Tanzania following government requests
Boniface Mwangi, a prominent Kenyan activist and journalist, and Ugandan activist Agather Atuhaire have reportedly been returned to their home countries following a three-day detention in Tanzania. Mwangi and Atuhaire were in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on Monday 19 May for the court case of Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu when they were arrested. They were taken into custody, with their whereabouts unknown, and allegedly denied access or contact with either their lawyers or families.
The Kenyan government publicly protested the detention, calling on Tanzania to release Mwangi in an open letter on Thursday 22 May – later that day, Mwangi was dumped on the border of Kenya and Tanzania. Mwangi has recounted his experiences in detention, claiming that he and Atuhaire were tortured while in custody. Atuhaire was also found at the border of Tanzania and Uganda, after the Ugandan High Commission wrote to Tanzania seeking information about her whereabouts. Amnesty Kenya has condemned their detentions, and has called for an independent investigation into the allegations of torture and human rights abuses by Tanzanian officials.
21 May 2025 | Europe and Central Asia, Israel, Middle East and North Africa, News and features, Palestine, United Kingdom
On Saturday 17 May, veteran human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell was arrested. Tatchell is no stranger to arrest. When he celebrated his 70th birthday in January 2022, his post marking the occasion said he’d been arrested 100 times. At the end of that year he added another one to the list, this time in Qatar, where he was protesting the country’s criminalisation of LGBTQ+ people ahead of the World Cup. That arrest wasn’t exactly surprising. Qatar doesn’t tolerate protest, much as it doesn’t tolerate gay people.
But Saturday’s arrest was different. Tatchell was detained in central London while peacefully partaking in a large-scale pro-Palestine march. Another twist: Tatchell believes he was reported to the police by the protest organisers themselves because his message called out Hamas, as well as the Israeli government. He was carrying a placard that read: “STOP Israel genocide! STOP Hamas executions! Odai Al-Rubai, aged 22, executed by Hamas! RIP!” The police also said Palestine march stewards told them he shouted “Hamas are terrorists”, which he firmly denies.
Let’s pause here for a moment. For the past two months protests have been taking place in Gaza against Hamas. In response, Hamas has reportedly issued orders via one of its Telegram channels for the execution of all “traitors and troublemakers”. Odai Al-Rubai was one of them. According to his family he was brutally beaten and his lifeless body dumped outside his home with the message: “This is what happens to people who criticise Hamas.” According to Tatchell, who wrote a blog post on his website in response to Saturday’s arrest, others have suffered a similar fate.
Tatchell’s point was simple: if you care about Palestinian lives, you should care about all the forces threatening them – including Hamas. For that, he says, he was told by a small minority of protesters at the start of the march to “fuck off”, “get out of here” and called “Zionist scum” (the police incidentally did nothing) before being reported on and taken away.
The idea that calling out Hamas somehow makes you an enemy of the Palestinian cause is bonkers, frankly. And yet this idea has taken hold. I’ve experienced this myself. In the past 19 months I’ve frequently criticised Israel for its attacks on freedom of expression (and human rights more broadly). But the moment I mention Hamas, the tone shifts. Eyes roll. The atmosphere chills. It’s not just that people seem uncomfortable with the idea of pulling up anyone from Gaza, there’s a suggestion there too: “well, you would say that – you’re Jewish”.
For me the response has been frustrating – if we’re talking about freedom of expression violations we have to be consistent. Hamas isn’t exempt. Eye roll all you want; for others though, the treatment has been far worse. Add to the Tatchell example these: A recent report looking at the state of freedom of expression in the UK arts sector detailed how an artist was bullied out of a collective for criticising Hamas; Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Gazan peace activist living in the USA, is relentlessly targeted online — including with death threats — for condemning the group.
Such division, and the inconsistency in approach, is deeply unhelpful. At Index on Censorship we frequently defend the right of peaceful pro-Palestinian voices to be heard because they absolutely have experienced significant silencing – around the world, including in the UK – and that is wrong. Now some within those same spaces are turning on others. It’s a textbook case of free speech for me, not for thee – and it too is wrong.
That the police complied might also look like an anomaly. In truth, it was the result of several disturbing patterns converging. Tatchell was arrested at a protest, and whilst standing in a designated area, something he was forced to point out to the police. Stories like this are fairly par for the course with UK demonstrations these days since the last government pushed through sweeping anti-protest laws. In one of the most stark signs of police overreach, 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos was questioned earlier this year under caution by police in connection to his peaceful involvement in a pro-Palestine demonstration in January.
In many of these cases, the police don’t seem to be exercising much judgment. With Tatchell, they acted on a report and arrested a protester whose placard was critical, not hateful. He was accused of “racially and religiously aggravated breach of the peace”, and of being part of a counter-protest movement. Perhaps they saw the word Hamas and jumped to the conclusion that he was promoting the group? Perhaps they didn’t read his words before it accusing Israel of genocide? Perhaps they didn’t see his “Free Palestine” badge?
Whatever the reason, it’s lazy work. The police appear to be acting more like blunt algorithms than sentient beings, and it’s not unique to Tatchell. As The Economist warned in its latest issue, police in Britain are arresting 30 people per day for speech online, double the 2017 rate. Some are for serious crimes, while others are for posts that people have found offensive, which fall short of the threshold of being a crime.
So his arrest wasn’t surprising. But it was, and is, deeply worrying. And it was a reminder of several important things, one being that the UK’s draconian protest laws need to go. Several organisations are fighting the new legislation and others need to join in. Beyond these laws the police need to be better trained on the nuances around speech. Their job is to keep the public safe, not to reach for handcuffs every time someone gets reported on.
Finally, those in the protest movement who treat Hamas as beyond reproach should pause to reflect on the name Odai Al-Rubai – a young protester silenced by the very group claiming to defend his people. Great movements can come undone by the authoritarianism within them that they fail to confront, as much as by their enemies. To protect the cause, protesters must stop defending those who would never defend them.
21 May 2025 | Belarus, Europe and Central Asia, News and features
The International Day of Solidarity with Political Prisoners in Belarus is marked on 21 May. There are currently more than 1,180 political prisoners in the country, and more than 6,940 people have been sentenced in politically-motivated criminal cases.
Behind bars, people who have shown resistance to Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s regime face inhumane conditions designed to break their spirit and ruin their health. Some are denied or cannot receive necessary medical care. Others are deliberately left to deteriorate. Just yesterday, rights campaigners found out that political prisoner Valentin Shtermer has died behind bars in unclear circumstances.
The date to show solidarity is dedicated to political prisoner and activist Vitold Ashurak, who died in prison in 2021 under unclear circumstances. His body was reportedly returned to his family with his head bandaged, raising serious suspicions about the cause of death.
Another tragic case occurred in July 2023, when political prisoner, famous Belarusian artist Ales Pushkin, died in intensive care after being transferred there directly from prison. According to Belarusian independent media, Pushkin had an ulcer that was not treated in time and developed sepsis, leading to multiple organ failure.
According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, political prisoners Mikalai Klimovich, Aliaksandr Kulinich, Ihar Lednik, Vadzim Khrasko and Dzmitry Shlethauer also died in detention. Recently, Hanna Kandratsenka and Tamara Karavai died soon after their release from unjust sentences – their health deteriorated in prison.
Clearly, lack of proper medical care is a tool to pressure political prisoners. One disturbing example is the case of Maryia Kalesnikava, one of the leaders of the democratic movement, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison. After spending several days in a punishment cell, she was eventually hospitalised with a perforated ulcer and peritonitis. She underwent surgery and lost a lot of weight, but was later returned to forced labour and denied proper aftercare.
The way Lukashenka’s regime holds people hostage and allows the system to operate with such lawlessness and inhumanity is chilling – especially when it comes to people who have been kept completely incommunicado for more than two years. The politician considered by many as the president-elect of Belarus, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, often says that she doesn’t even know if her husband Siarhei (an opposition politician who was arrested) is alive.
According to Viasna, at least 206 political prisoners are at increased risk, with 77 of those having physical health issues and others facing disabilities, mental illnesses or advanced age. These numbers show just how widespread the issue is – and how urgently healthcare is needed.
Leanid Sudalenka, a Belarusian human rights defender and chairman of the Gomel branch of Viasna, was himself a political prisoner and was released in 2023 after serving his sentence (he’s now been sentenced to a further five years in absentia). In his mind, this failure or inadequate provision of medical care is a form of cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment.
“First of all, courts in Belarus do not consider the health conditions of those convicted under so-called extremist or terrorist articles of the criminal code,” he said.
He went on to describe how he suffers from diabetes. “The person in judicial robes did not ‘find’ even a single day of leniency for my illness, although they had every legal right to consider it a mitigating factor. As a result, I served the full term without ever being able to measure my blood sugar levels,” he said.
Inside prison, he witnessed a terrible situation for people in critical conditions: “Even when cancer is diagnosed there, prisoners are not released from their sentences – they die right there in their prison beds.”
Kseniya Lutskina, a journalist and released political prisoner, has a brain tumour. The regime took her pro-democratic activism very personally – Lutskina was a state TV journalist who joined the media workers’ strike in 2020 after the fraudulent election. She was sentenced to eight years, but in August 2024, she was “pardoned”. While in pre-trial detention under criminal charges and already suffering from her condition, she was told directly: “You will die in prison.”
Lutskina shared her experience with Index, describing how access to medical care in pre-trial detention is extremely limited, and that no proper diagnostics can be carried out at this point.
“The doctors there – often just general practitioners – simply don’t have the tools, resources, or authority to provide proper treatment. Their role is mostly limited to emergency care,” she said.
“In some cases, if medical documents can be provided from outside, the detainee may be allowed to receive specific medications. But this requires confirmed diagnoses; otherwise, even getting basic treatment becomes a bureaucratic impossibility.”
She said that for detainees with serious health conditions, it can be nearly impossible to get what they need.
“When political prisoners begin to deteriorate – and many inevitably develop health problems – they are often only treated for symptoms, to the extent possible,” she explained. “It’s not entirely accurate to say there is no medical care, but it is extremely limited and deeply inadequate for serious conditions”.
Lutskina told Index about the harsh environment of prison labour, especially for women. With her formal diagnosis, rather than being exempted from work, she was reassigned to a different type of labour where she didn’t operate heavy machinery.
“But if I fail to meet the daily quota, I’ll be sent back there, to the machines. So, regardless of how you feel – sick or well – you’re still expected to work,” she said.
Even with a medical exemption against carrying heavy weight, this was never guaranteed.
In colonies, prisoners are forced to work, and that labour is physical and often very hard. Health issues are not acknowledged until they become critical. Sudalenka described how the prison administration only pays attention to a prisoner’s health once they faint.
“In that case, they’re wrapped in a blanket and carried to the medical unit. This is especially true for political prisoners, who are not excused from work even with a fever,” he said.
He told Index about the attitude of medical staff towards inmates.
“When I was thrown into a cold punishment cell, where it was impossible to sleep at night due to the cold, I voiced my complaints during a medical personnel round. ‘If you get sick, we’ll treat you,’ they replied – and walked away.”
He said he witnessed a middle-aged man fall ill at the workshop and ask to go to the medical unit. He was told that visits to the doctor are only allowed outside working hours. The prisoner collapsed, and it turned out to be a stroke.
“One of the gravest problems in the Belarusian penitentiary system is the lack of proper diagnostics. This results in frequent – very frequent – deaths,” he said. “And while cancer deaths are somewhat explainable, how do you explain what happened in our colony when a 35-year-old man went to bed after lights out and never woke up? By morning, his body was already cold.”
Healthcare is a basic human right. But in Lukashenka’s Belarus – where the crackdown on pro-democracy resistance has led to a massive increase in human rights violations since 2020 – it has become another means of punishment against dissent.
To find out more about how health is weaponised against political prisoners, explore our Spring 2025 magazine: The forgotten patients: Lost voices in the global healthcare system.
19 May 2025 | Middle East and North Africa, News and features, Newsletters, Saudi Arabia
“Saudi Arabia criticised for ignoring the USA’s appalling human rights record” – that was the headline on satirical website News Thump, spoofing this week’s arms deal between the two countries. In these bleak times, I’ll take laughter where I can get it. But behind the joke is a darker truth: the USA’s steady backslide on human rights and Saudi Arabia’s ongoing abuses. This week, it’s Saudi Arabia that demands our attention.
Make no mistake – the petrostate is having a great week (at the top, that is). As is often the case, the good news for the elite rests on suffering at the bottom – and stories the government would rather you didn’t hear. On Wednesday, both Human Rights Watch and FairSquare sounded the alarm over a “surge” in migrant construction worker deaths, as Saudi Arabia ramps up preparations to host the 2034 World Cup. The reports are grim. There have already been fatalities, but pinning down exact numbers is nearly impossible: independent media are muzzled and labour unions banned.
We’ve been here before, with Qatar in 2022. This time we can only hope that speaking up early actually prompts change. We won’t hold our breath though. As our own investigation Oiling the Wheels of Injustice made clear, Saudi Arabia has very successfully thrown money at its image while its human rights record has tumbled.
But perhaps the most pressing story for Index this week is that of British father of four, Ahmed al-Doush. He’s just been sentenced to 10 years in a Riyadh court, allegedly for a tweet he posted seven years ago related to Sudan, which provided military support for Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and for his association with a Saudi critic in exile. He reportedly later deleted the tweet.
He was arrested last August when on holiday with his family. Saudi Arabia has form here: in 2021 Leeds University student Salma al-Shehab was detained during a visit to Saudi Arabia because of social media activity. She was handed a 34-year sentence in 2022 before being released earlier this year, following pressure from several advocacy groups, including Index.
We’ve now written to UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy, urging him to intervene in al-Doush’s case. Al-Doush has already missed the birth of his fourth child. His wife, Nour, says he’s in poor health due to a thyroid condition, raising serious concerns about his access to medical care.’
“The night times are the hardest for me when I’m alone and it’s quiet,” Nour told the Sunday Times ahead of her husband’s trial. Our message to her: Index is here to counter the quiet, and we will try as hard as we can to help get your husband released.
