(CNN) -- A report from Amnesty International says the wave of popular unrest sweeping North Africa and the Middle East makes this a critical time for the human rights movement -- one that could result in historic gains by freedom-loving, tech-savvy people or distressing setbacks if oppressive regimes clamp down on activists and stay in power.

The report, which coincides with the advocacy group's 50th anniversary, documents what it claims are cases of torture, unwarranted imprisonment, restrictions on freedom of expression and other alleged abuses around the world.

France, for example, is among those countries called out for its restrictions on predominantly Muslim women wearing veils. Amnesty also challenges China over its alleged repression of free expression, notes the dire conditions for pregnant women in Afghanistan and points to difficulties wrought by violence in parts of Africa.

Yet the so-called "Arab Spring" is front-and-center in the report, with its authors singling out the popular movements against generally long-entrenched administrations as a time of great promise and danger. Throngs of mostly young people helped to peacefully oust heads of state in Egypt and Tunisia, while governments in countries such as Syria, Yemen, Bahrain and Libya have thus far resisted similar attempts -- killing civilians in the process, according to Amnesty.

"Not since the end of the Cold War have so many oppressive governments faced such a challenge to their stranglehold of power," Salil Shetty, Amnesty's leader, said in a press release. "The demand for political and economic rights spreading across the Middle East and North Africa is dramatic proof that all rights are equally important and a universal demand." MORE>>>

"Amnesty International Report 2011 documents specific restrictions on free speech in at least 89 countries, highlights cases of prisoners of conscience in at least 48 countries, documents torture and other ill-treatment in at least 98 countries, and reports on unfair trials in at least 54 countries."

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report-2011-amnesty-inte...