Campaign Digest: MAY 2026

In light of the growing global trend of criminalizing dissent, Amnesty International, African Policing Civil Oversight Forum (APCOF), and SUARAM launched the briefing ‘Dissent on Trial’, with a particular focus on civil disobedience and the use of criminal law to crackdown on human rights defenders, activists, and journalists. Drawing on case studies from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Peru, South Africa, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the briefing analyzes the threats faced by human rights defenders and outlines concrete strategies to resist and counter criminalization at different stages of the legal process.

Our campaign partner, Women Beyond Walls released a report on ‘Ending Strip Searching in Australian Prisons’ launched in collaboration with FIGJAM, Flat Out, and the Human Rights Law Centre, demonstrates strip searching as an entrenched and routine practice across Australian prisons that inflicts deep humiliation and trauma while rarely uncovering dangerous items.

In March, the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) issued a groundbreaking UN Resolution, backed by UN experts, that called on members states to ensure and strengthen access to justice for all women and girls, including by promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices, and addressing structural barriers.

‘The Death Penalty for Drug Offences: Global Overview 2025’ published by Harm Reduction International, highlights that 2025 was an exceptionally brutal year for global drug control, documenting at least 1,212 executions for drug offences—the highest number ever recorded since reporting began in 2007—carried out by a small but resolute group of countries.  

‘From Home to Hostile Host: Structural Violence Against LBQ Women Across African Contexts’

Drawing on the African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC)’s long-standing documentation, this report exposes patterns of sexualized violence, forced marriage, and State-enabled harm against LBQ women that are frequently excluded from protection frameworks.

In Malawi, the Centre for Human Rights Education Advice and Assistance (CHREAA) concluded a groundbreaking legal study that documented how the poor are routinely jailed for failing to pay fines while the wealthy walk free. This evidence is critical for building future constitutional challenges against discriminatory sentencing practices. 

OpinioJuris and the ICJ published a report on protecting activists on the increasing criminalization of civil disobedience worldwide. It outlines key legal strategies to counter these punitive state responses including invoking the necessity defence, asserting freedom of expression, and leveraging protections stemming from the right to a healthy environment.

Investigation by Prison Insider into Gabon’s exceptionally high incarceration rates revealed rampant overcrowding and a vast majority of detainees held without trial. An interview with SOS Prisonniers further exposes this prison crisis, showing that one-third of Gabon’s population lives below the poverty line and highlighting the alarming living conditions faced by prisoners.

In Mexico, an investigative report on CEFERESO No. 16—the country’s only federal women’s prison—highlighted the dire conditions in what is described as the “cemetery of the living.” Civil society groups are urgently demanding institutional reform following a tragic wave of more than 20 inmate deaths and widespread self-harm driven by prolonged isolation and a lack of medical care.

Invisible People released reports clarifying the terminology of exclusion in the UK, such as “rough sleeping,” and warned that “quality-of-life” ordinances in the US fuel violence by pushing unhoused people into dangerous, isolated areas. By demystifying this language, the organization empowers the public to move past harmful misconceptions and advocate more effectively for data-driven housing solutions.