Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
If you are a member of the press, please reach out to [email protected]
Press Release
Armed Dozo Militia Fighters Are Seen as Threat to Civilians Who Fear Leaving Temporary Camps
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) - Ivory Coast security forces and a state-backed militia are creating a climate of fear that is preventing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by post-election violence from returning to their homes, Amnesty International said in a report released today. Amnesty International's report details how government security forces (FCRI) and a militia composed of Dozos (traditional hunters) continue to kill and otherwise target people solely because of their ethnic group even after the inauguration of President Alassane Ouattara. The report, titled "We Want to Go Home, But We Can't," documents the continuing crisis…
July 28, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Welcomes Release of Human Rights Defender Aleksei Sokolov
Contact: AIUSA media relations office, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) -- Today, a court in Krasnoyarsk decided to release Aleksei Sokolov on parole. He was arrested in May 2009 and sentenced for theft and robbery a year later, on charges that many believed to have been fabricated in response to his human rights work in defense of prisoners' rights. He was allowed to leave the prison colony shortly after the court hearing and is now traveling back home to his family in Yekaterinburg. "Amnesty International welcomes the release of Aleksei Sokolov, the founder and chairman of Legal Basis, an organization dedicated to…
July 28, 2011
Update
10 Books for Your 2011 Summer Reading List
10 great books to add to your summer reading list that also help you learn about human rights.
July 27, 2011
Report
Côte d’Ivoire: Climate of fear stopping return of displaced people
Côte d'Ivoire security forces and a state-backed militia are creating a climate of fear that is preventing hundreds of thousands of people displaced by post-election violence from returning to their homes, Amnesty International said in a report released today. "We want to go home, but we can't" Côte d'Ivoire's continuing crisis of displacement and insecurity describes how ethnically targeted killings and attacks by the government security forces (FCRI) and a militia composed of Dozos (traditional hunters) have left the population unable to leave the relative safety of temporary camps. "The stalemate that is keeping more than half a million people…
July 27, 2011
Update
Norway: Democratic Defiance Amid Devastation
Amid the devastating massacre, Norway is making sure its soul of tolerance is not stained with blood. Read five inspiring quotes by Norwegian officials.
July 26, 2011
Update
Ailing Father Ly Arrested Again
Father Ly is one of dozens of activists serving long jail terms for their peaceful criticism of the Vietnamese authorities.
July 26, 2011
Update
Haiti's Women Face New Struggles to Survive
Before the 2010 earthquake, Haitian women faced high levels of violence. New research shows that lack of food and transactional sex are adding to their burden.
July 25, 2011
Update
How to Help Somalia
The Amnesty report on Somalia's Children under Attack released last week reflects the despair already engulfing what is being called a Failed State.
July 25, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Website ‘Blocked in Saudi Arabia’
Contact: AIUSA media relations office, 202-509-8194 Access to Amnesty International's website has been blocked in Saudi Arabia today following the organization's criticism of a draft anti-terror law that would stifle peaceful protest in the kingdom. Amnesty International published its analysis of a leaked copy of the draft law on Friday. The organization condemned the proposed law's treatment of peaceful dissent as "terrorist crimes," as well as the wide-ranging powers the Minister of Interior would hold, free from judicial authorization or oversight. Several journalists and human rights activists based in Saudi Arabia independently confirmed that they were unable to access the…
July 25, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty Condemns Vedanta Resources and Affiliates for Attempting to Overturn Mining Bans
(Washington, D.C.) -- Ongoing attempts by U.K. based mining company Vedanta Resources to overturn an Indian government decision blocking a proposed bauxite mine and expansion of an aluminum refinery in Orissa should not be allowed to succeed, says a new report by Amnesty International. The report, Generalizations, Omissions, Assumptions, reveals that Vedanta Resources has failed to adequately consider the human impact of its proposed projects, which have a US investment of $ 1.7 billion in Orissa. "Vedanta's mine and refinery expansion projects must not be allowed to go ahead. The company is trying to overturn the Indian Environment Ministry's decision…
July 25, 2011
Update
Victory for a Clean Environment in India
A High Court in India upheld a decision to reject Vedanta's plan to expand a refinery that had potential of destroying the environment of poor people living nearby.
July 23, 2011
Update
In Istanbul, Forced Evictions of City's Most Vulnerable
Dozens of families in Istanbul are facing forced eviction as a result of an urban regeneration project.
July 22, 2011