Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Update
Liu Xiaobo’s Empty Chair Holds More Than China Realizes
There is going to be one empty place at this year’s Nobel Peace Prize awards ceremony. Amongst the pomp and circumstance, before a packed house of a thousand invited guests and dignitaries gathered for the century-old event, the chair of this year’s recipient, Liu Xiaobo, will be vacant.
December 8, 2010
Update
Iranian Authorities Irresponsibly Endanger Lives of Human Rights Activists in Squalid Prison
Two seriously ailing human rights defenders—Emadeddin Baghi and Ebrahim Yazdi—are both back in Evin Prison, suffering from the squalid conditions there and not receiving proper medical care.
December 8, 2010
Update
Chinese Government Pressuring Chinese in Norway Into Anti-Nobel Protests
Chinese diplomats in Norway have been systematically pressurizing Chinese residents into joining anti-Nobel demonstrations, which are planned to take place in Oslo on Friday. Amnesty International has been informed by reliable sources in the Chinese diaspora that mainland Chinese residents in Norway have been repeatedly visited and called to meetings over the last two months by representatives of the Chinese government. The pressure exerted by these representatives is perceived by those visited or attending the meetings as threats, with concrete and serious consequences for the future livelihood of Chinese residents who fail to show up for these demonstrations. “We are…
December 8, 2010
Update
Writing for the Right to a Safe Childbirth in Burkina Faso
This post is part of our Write for Rights series. “I did what I could to save my sister-in-law but it cost too much for a poor man like me.” Each year, some 4,000 women in Burkina Faso die from pregnancy-related complications. Women face a one-in-28 lifetime risk of dying in childbirth. Most of those deaths could be prevented with timely access to quality maternal health care. Albertine, a 25-year-old mother of two, died giving birth in January 2007. She passed away at a regional hospital in Burkina Faso after delivering a stillborn child. Her brother-in-law, a farmer and mine…
December 7, 2010
Update
Nineteen Countries Decline to Attend Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony
The Nobel Committee has confirmed that nineteen countries have declined invitations to attend the Peace Price ceremony in Norway on December 10. The Nobel Peace Prize is being awarded to Chinese prisoner of conscience Liu Xiaobo.
December 7, 2010
Update
Unforgettable Family Reunions
Our new holiday e-card is sure to leave you choked up. Celebrate bringing home mothers, fathers, sons and daughters by sharing it with someone you love. Click on the image below to watch and share.
December 7, 2010
Update
Texas Prosecutors Giving Death Penalty Hearing the Silent Treatment
As a hearing to determine whether the Texas death penalty is unconstitutional began yesterday, prosecutors announced that they will remain silent throughout the process. They have attempted to appeal to a higher court to shut down the hearing.
December 7, 2010
Update
Crank It Up – We are Calling on All Crows to help end violence against women around the world!
Earlier this morning, Chad Stokes – lead singer of State Radio and co-founder of women’s empowerment organization Calling All Crows – stopped by the Amnesty DC office along with co-founder and Chairwoman Sybil Gallagher and Co-Executive Director Matt, for a quick visit as they prepped for a sold-out acoustic set tonight in Vienna, VA. Calling All Crows and State Radio has been working closely with AIUSA to support and pass the International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) in Congress this year. On their recent tour, State Radio and Calling All Crows has been highlighting IVAWA and the impact that passage…
December 7, 2010
Update
Four Years, Seven Months, and Three Days
This post is part of our Write for Rights series. One woman was on her way to buy a birthday gift for her son, another was a volunteer who worked with children and was worried about reports of a youth being killed, another was a student activist, and another was a health worker who wanted to show solidarity and provide health support. The women had many different reasons for coming to San Salvador Atenco, Mexico, on May 3rd and 4th, 2006, but none of them had any idea of the horror they were about to experience. During a police operation…
December 7, 2010
Update
Ivory Coast On The Brink
A week after the Ivory Coast's presidential election, both candidates have declared victory, sworn themselves in and appointed cabinets. Unfortunately, this means a return to violence and instability for the country's civilians, many of whom hoped this election would mark an end to the conflict, which split the country in 2002. Instead, clashes between supporters of both parties and the security forces have led to 20 people being shot dead. Among the dead are Bayo Alassane, a man who was shot while on his way to buy cigarettes, and Kaboré Moumouni, a butcher who was shot en route to work.…
December 7, 2010
Update
An (Im)perfect DREAM
Thousands of students, families and activists across the country have been waiting nine years for the passage of The DREAM Act, a bill that would help thousands of committed students and military officers legalize their status. Last week the Senate introduced a bill that could make it reality. Here is our analysis of the bill.
December 6, 2010
Update
Displaced Roma Families Head into Brutal Winter without Adequate Housing
This post is part of our Write for Rights series. Around 100 children, women and men, forcibly evicted from their homes by the Romanian government six years ago, continue to live in dirty, inhumane conditions. With nowhere else to go, they are stuck in small, overcrowded metal shacks that stand next to a large sewage plant. A sign outside the plant warns of “toxic danger”, yet the authorities have failed to heed this warning and the Roma families are suffering. The Roma families are from the Romanian town of Miercurea Ciuc, and despite the fact that authorities told them the…
December 3, 2010