Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Report
Annual Report: Thailand 2011
Head of state: King Bhumibol Adulyadej Head of government: Abhisit Vejjajiva Death penalty: retentionist Population: 68.1 million Life expectancy: 69.3 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 13/8 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 93.5 per cent Official censorship of websites, radio and television stations, and print publications was tightened as freedom of expression remained restricted. Violence continued in the internal armed conflict in southern Thailand, with security forces subjecting suspects to torture and other ill-treatment, and members of Muslim armed groups attacking civilians, particularly teachers. Anti-government protests in Bangkok and several other provinces were characterized by excessive use of force by security forces, violent…
July 7, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Australia 2011
Head of state: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Quentin Bryce Head of government: Julia Gillard (replaced Kevin Rudd in June) Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 21.5 million Life expectancy: 81.9 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 6/5 per 1,000 The government reinstated the Racial Discrimination Act but only partially restored protection of human rights. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD Committee) criticized the government for the continued discrimination against Indigenous Peoples and the high level of disadvantage they faced. The government temporarily suspended processing asylum claims for Sri Lankans and Afghans, but committed to releasing a…
July 7, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Maldives 2011
Head of state and government: Mohamed Nasheed Death penalty: abolitionist in practice Population: 0.3 million Life expectancy: 72.3 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 31/26 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 98.4 per cent The political divide between the President and the opposition-dominated parliament reached crisis proportions in June, and at least four members of parliament were detained in July. After intense negotiations, parliament approved the establishment of a permanent Supreme Court in August. The International Commission of Jurists visited the Maldives in September to assess how the judicial system should be reformed. Background The government claimed that the opposition was using their majority…
July 7, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Cambodia 2011
Head of state: King Norodom Sihamoni Head of government: Hun Sen Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 15.1 million Life expectancy: 62.2 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 92/85 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 77 per cent Forced evictions, land grabs and land disputes remained among the most serious human rights issues. Protests by affected families and communities increased. Activists and human rights defenders protecting the right to adequate housing faced legal action and imprisonment on spurious charges. The judiciary and the courts continued to lack independence and were used to stifle freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly; journalists, trade unionists…
July 7, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Philippines 2011
Head of state and government: Benigno S. Aquino III (replaced Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in June) Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 93.6 million Life expectancy: 72.3 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 32/21 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 93.6 per cent More than 200 cases of enforced disappearances recorded in the last decade remained unresolved, as did at least 305 cases of extrajudicial execution (with some estimates ranging as high as 1,200). Almost no perpetrators of these crimes have been brought to justice. Private armed groups continued to operate throughout the country, despite government commitments to disband and disarm them. Despite its 2010…
July 7, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Laos 2011
Head of state: Choummaly Sayasone Head of government: Thongsing Thammavong (replaced Bouasone Bouphavanh in December) Death penalty: abolitionist in practice Population: 6.4 million Life expectancy: 65.9 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 68/61 per 1,000 Adult literacy: 72.7 per cent Lao authorities denied independent monitors unfettered access to more than 4,500 Lao Hmong asylum-seekers and refugees, who had been forcibly returned from Thailand in 2009 and placed in resettlement sites. Restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly continued. Prisoners of conscience and political prisoners remained imprisoned. At least four people were sentenced to death for drug trafficking, despite a de facto…
July 7, 2011
Report
Annual Report: Germany 2011
Head of state: Christian Wulff (replaced Horst Köhler in July) Head of government: Angela Merkel Death penalty: abolitionist for all crimes Population: 82.1 million Life expectancy: 80.2 years Under-5 mortality (m/f): 5/5 per 1,000 Responses to allegations of ill-treatment remained inadequate. Several federal states continued to forcibly return Roma to Kosovo despite their need for international protection. International scrutiny In February, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism recommended strengthening the mandate and increasing the resources of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency; including an explicit reference to racism as an aggravating circumstance in the criminal code; developing specific training for police officers,…
July 7, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges India to Implement Court Ban of Anti-Maoist Militias
Authorities in India's Chhattisgarh state must immediately comply with a decision by the country's Supreme Court to disband and disarm anti-Maoist state-sponsored civil militias, Amnesty International said today.
July 7, 2011
Update
Using Border Agents as Translators Has Tragic Consequences
Many local police across the US rely on federal immigration agents to provide translation services, a practice that is not only inappropriate, but can have deadly repercussions.
July 6, 2011
Update
Casey Anthony, Media Frenzy, and the Death Penalty
Casey Anthony has been acquitted of murder after a three-year media frenzy during which her guilt was more or less presumed. She could have faced execution.
July 6, 2011
Update
Amnesty Report Reveals Crimes Against Humanity in Syria
Amnesty's new report finds that security forces committed atrocities against Syrian civilians by rounding up men and boys, arresting them and torturing them in detention for weeks.
July 6, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Welcomes Obama’s Decision to Hold Civilian Trial for Somali Terrorism Suspect but Very Concerned about Detention Aboard Ship
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, DC) Tom Parker, policy director for terrorism, (counter) and human rights for Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement in response to news reports that Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, a Somali terrorism suspect, was captured in the Gulf of Aden by the U.S. military and interrogated for two months aboard a U.S. Navy ship: "Amnesty International welcomes the Obama administration's decision to charge and prosecute Warsame's case in U.S. federal court. The United States' criminal justice system is the most appropriate and best equipped venue to adjudicate such cases. "However, the organization is greatly concerned…
July 6, 2011