Advocacy Director for Europe and Central Asia @amnestyusa
Washington, DC
Joined January 2023
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Ben Linden retweeted
🇵🇰 23 human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, working on the protection of lawyers, human rights defenders and freedom of expression, strongly condemn the recent sentencing of prominent Pakistani human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha to ten years’ imprisonment under anti-terrorism legislation and three years’ imprisonment under the Pakistan Penal Code.
The convictions mark a significant escalation in the extensive misuse of the criminal justice system against the two lawyers and raise serious concerns about the anti-terrorism legislation used to criminally punish and intimidate lawyers undertaking permissible human rights work.
Read here: amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA…
Ben Linden retweeted
10 years ago today, Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş was arrested in Turkey. He remains in prison despite rulings by the European Court of Human Rights calling for his release. Turkey must free him. @RepRaskin is his Defending Freedoms advocate.
Ben Linden retweeted
🚨Today is the day!🚨
There's still time to vote to defend human rights and for a future of dignity, equality, and justice for all.
Every eligible voter deserves to participate freely, safely, and without intimidation, violence, or discrimination at the polls.
Tell your member of Congress that you will stand for nothing less. #VOTE
ALT The image is a protest scene with people holding signs advocating for immigrant rights. Prominent text in the center reads, "HUMAN RIGHTS ARE ON THE BALLOT." The Amnesty International logo is visible at the bottom.
Ben Linden retweeted
Our Afghan allies fought and died with American troops.
Now the Trump admin is preparing to send them and their families back to be persecuted or killed by the Taliban.
This is disgraceful and goes against everything America stands for.
Breaking News: The Trump administration has detained dozens of Afghan immigrants in Louisiana — including relatives of those who helped the U.S. military — and plans to deport them to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials. nyti.ms/4jPVvrw
Ben Linden retweeted
66 members of Congress, from both chambers, to Secretaries Rubio and Mullin: cancel the deportation flight.
Don’t hand the people who stood with our troops to the Taliban, directly or through Pakistan.
Thank you, @RepScottPeters, for leading. #StopTheFlight
Ben Linden retweeted
Honored to speak at the @HarvardIOP John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum on gender apartheid in Afghanistan.
A highlight for me was the thoughtful and incisive questions from students, and the heartwarming reminder that the next generation of policy leaders is committed to accountability, human rights, and building a more just international order.
Link: iop.harvard.edu/events/gende…
Ben Linden retweeted
Russia's attacks on essential infrastructure are creating a deadly situation for Ukrainian civilians, who directly suffer the consequences.
amnestyusa.org/press-release…
Ben Linden retweeted
Russia’s increased targeted attacks on energy and heating infrastructure risks creating a new humanitarian catastrophe for civilians ahead of winter.
amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2…
Ben Linden retweeted
On Monday, the U.S. could put more than 150 Afghans on a charter flight out of Louisiana. ICE has told a federal court the plane will land in Pakistan, with “onward transport” to Afghanistan.
Pakistan isn’t on these men’s removal orders. It’s the handoff point. An #AfghanEvac 🧵
Ben Linden retweeted
Russian authorities must immediately end their persecution of independent media, including Novaya Gazeta, and abolish laws stifling freedom of expression and imposing censorship.
bit.ly/4zfu2UP
Ben Linden retweeted
On the International Day of Political Prisoners, we stand with families like @taliakhattak's, whose father, human rights defender Idris Khattak, has been detained in Pakistan since 2019.
Read how families worldwide are affected by political imprisonment: freedomhouse.org/article/fam…
#FreeThemAll
Ben Linden retweeted
HRCP is deeply disappointed by the ten-year prison sentences handed down to human rights lawyers @ImaanZHazir and Hadi Ali Chattha by an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad. The use of anti-terrorism provisions, coupled with a trial inside Adiala jail and state-appointed counsel, raises serious concerns about proportionality and the right to a fair trial. We call for the verdict to be set aside on appeal and for the couple to be released immediately.
Ben Linden retweeted
Human rights lawyers Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha deserve justice. Today they were sentenced to ten years in prison on counts of “terrorism.” Their crime? Defending activists, lawyers and marginalized communities that were subjected to enforced disappearances and unjust charges.
They underwent an unfair trial for this fearless human rights work. Authorities must immediately release Imaan and Hadi and drop all charges against them.
Ben Linden retweeted
Imaan and Hadi are being targeted solely because of their refusal to stop their fearless human rights work and for exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
bit.ly/4idWbFW
Ben Linden retweeted
PAKISTAN: Responding to the conviction and ten-year imprisonment of Imaan Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha today by the Anti-Terrorism Court in Islamabad, Yasmine Ahmed, Senior Director for Regional Human Rights Impact at Amnesty International, said:
“These convictions are an indictment of Pakistan’s justice system. This was not just Imaan and Hadi on trial, it was a test of the judiciary’s ability to uphold the principles of justice and the right to fair trial. It has failed that test miserably. It is clear that these ‘anti-terrorism’ charges are being used to punish Imaan and Hadi for their human rights advocacy.”
Read more here: amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2…
Ben Linden retweeted
“I am a prisoner of conscience who has been at the receiving end of state persecution,” the statements by Imaan and Hadi read.
dawn.com/news/2040437/imaan-…
Ben Linden retweeted
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines–Cluster Munitions Coalition (USCBL-CMC) strongly condemns the @WhiteHouse's decision to divert over 70% of the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund to "to support exigent energy security needs for partners"
Full statement👇 fcnl.org/sites/default/files…
Ben Linden retweeted
The U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines–Cluster Munitions Coalition (USCBL-CMC) strongly condemns the @WhiteHouse's decision to divert over 70% of the Patrick J. Leahy War Victims Fund to "to support exigent energy security needs for partners"
Full statement👇
fcnl.org/sites/default/files…
Ben Linden retweeted
BRIEFING: The Plight of Ukrainian Civilians Detained Illegally by Russia
📅Oct. 29
🕕3pm
🏛️Rayburn 2212
Join us for a conversation about the 16,000 Ukrainian civilian detainees in Russian captivity, featuring Margaryta Shabanova, wife of detained @OSCE official Dmytro Shabanov.
Ben Linden retweeted
The Russian authorities must drop these charges against Anna Karetnikova, close this case and stop abusing absurdly broad and vague ‘extremism’ legislation against their critics.
bit.ly/4ssu4pY
