Amnesty International

When I look back at that visit and see now how it has been remembered, I think about myself at age 13. I was going to Catholic school, I was an altar boy, the youth group I went to took place in a convent. Everything I did, my whole life, the Church was at the center of it, and I think about how Pope John Paul II said Pope John Paul II loved me well, Pope John Paul II didn't.

Atena is a prisoner of conscience – she has committed no real crime, she is being unfairly punished simply for exercising her right to free speech, association and assembly. We've been calling on Iran's Supreme Leader and Head of the Judiciary to release Atena immediately. If not, we'll continue to fight for her freedom.

The proposed counter terrorism law vastly expands the Egyptian authorities’ powers and threatens the most fundamental rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association, if approved, it is set to become yet another tool for the authorities to crush all forms of dissent.

Dozens of people suffered a slow and agonizing death at the hands of government forces that should have been protecting them, these unlawful killings must be investigated and all those responsible brought to justice.