Amnesty International Rapid Response Letters – April 2020

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Pakistan: Letter sent 22nd April 2020 to chief minister, Punjab.

Expressing concern for prisoners in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions, especially in a time of COVID.

Bangldesh: Letter sent to 18th April to Mr. Asaduzzaman Khan, MP, Minister of Home Affairs.

Concerning Shaifqul Islam Kajol, a Bangladeshi newspaper editor and photographer, who has not been seen or heard from since the day police registered a case against him and 31 others, under the highly repressive Digital Security Act. He was last seen leaving his newspaper off ice on the evening of 10 March 2020, and his family has not heard of nor seen him since then. The police have denied having him in custody, and his family fears that he could be a victim of enforced disappearance.

Russia: Letter sent 16th April 2020 to the Military Prosecutor.

Concerning Server Mustafayev, a human rights defender from Crimea, who is currently standing trial before the Southern Region Military Court and facing up to 25 years in jail if convicted. He and two of his co-defendants, Memet Belyalov and Seyran Saliyev, have recently developed the symptoms of a viral respiratory infection (VRI). Despite this, they were brought to the court and forced to spend there several hours, suffering from their medical condition and without food or water, while their hearing was ongoing. They are being denied adequate medical care.