Newsroom

Update

The U.S. is appearing before the UN Human Rights Council today for it's Universal Periodic Review - a process through which the human rights record of all 192 UN member states is reviewed every four years. Click here to watch the LIVE webcast of the U.S.'s Universal Periodic Review NOW!

November 5, 2010

Update

On October 2, a tabloid called the ‘Rolling Stone’ published an incendiary article claiming that homosexuals were going to raid the schools and “recruit 100,000 innocent kids by 2012”. The article publicized the identities of 117 alleged homosexuals, 100 of which had accompanying photos. As if the absurd and completely baseless claims weren’t enough, the tabloid decided to include the caption "Hang them" to incite the people of Uganda to attack these individuals.

November 5, 2010

Update

Update (November 5): Government attacks on freedoms compromises elections (AI Press Release) This Sunday, Myanmar will hold its first national election in twenty years. Considering the authorities ongoing restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association and assembly, its outcome is expected to be deeply flawed. Many people, including political prisoners, have been banned from voting. The UN and international human rights groups have called on Myanmar to release over 2,100 political prisoners. Ethnic tensions have also risen. The junta has barred voting in about 3,400 villages and some ethnic candidates or parties have been barred from participation. Additionally, no foreign…

November 4, 2010

Update

As an Indian-American, anytime the US President visits India, I get excited about the possibilities of a stronger relationship between the two gigantic countries.  And, tomorrow, US President Barack Obama is off to India, stopping in Mumbai and Delhi, among other places.  It also happens to coincide with Diwali, the closest equivalent to Christmas in the Hindu calendar. The Indian media as usual is going completely bonkers about the trip highlighting every aspect of the trip from the security issues related to a US presidential visit to whether a visit to the Sikh holy site in Amritar might be bad for…

November 4, 2010

Update

Voices of dissent are routinely silenced in oppressive regimes around the world. However, some of the same tactics are used in the United States to suppress information about the death penalty.

November 4, 2010

Update

A new report from Amnesty International, Left Without a Choice, highlights the frightening and almost insurmountable task women and girls in Indonesia face in achieving reproductive health in the face of discriminatory laws, policies and practices.

November 4, 2010

Update

Knowing one’s own rights and advocating on behalf of others is perhaps the sanest thing one could do, but Andrei Bondarenko could be forced to undergo possibly dangerous psychiatric treatment for doing exactly that.

November 4, 2010

Update

Last night I attended the debut of the US Human Rights Network’s Testify! Project, a collection of videos and written testimonies exploring stories of injustice from throughout the United States. The top 10 videos and stories are being screened for United Nations delegates in Geneva, Switzerland, in preparation for the United States’ Universal Periodic Review (“UPR”) which takes place tomorrow. The UPR is a process through which the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States are reviewed once every four years. A huge shout-out to Amnesty’s very own Local Group 463 in Las Vegas, NM, whose video submission was…

November 4, 2010

Update

Linda Coale died of a blood clot a week after giving birth to her son, Ben, by c-section. The infant welcome packet included extensive information about acclimatizing pets to a new baby, but had failed to adequately alert her to warning signs of complications, despite the heightened risk due to her surgery. On Friday, the United States will appear before the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) for its “Universal Periodic Review” (UPR).  The UPR is a process through which the human rights records of all 192 UN Member States are reviewed once every four years. I have come to Geneva…

November 3, 2010

Update

As reports surfaced this week of the imminent execution of Iran’s Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, we are also grew increasingly concerned with the fate of her lawyer and son.  We fear they are being held solely for trying to pass on information about her case. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is the 43-year-old mother of two at risk of execution by stoning, held on death row in Iran since her conviction in 2006 on charges of “adultery while married”. The Iranian State Prosecutor, in his role as spokesperson for the judiciary, confirmed on Monday that Javid Houtan Kiyan, Sakineh Ashtiani’s lawyer, had been…

November 3, 2010

Update

President Obama will visit his childhood home of Indonesia in early November in his first official visit since taking office. While his visit may bring back fond memories of his youth, there is nothing fond about the years of rampant human rights abuses carried out by Indonesia’s Special Forces that are about to receive renewed support from the US.

October 29, 2010

Update

NPR revealed that Arizona's draconian immigration law, SB1090, was written in collusion with for-profit prisons and their lobbyists. The massive growth in immigration detention may be terrific for business, but it's not good immigration policy.

October 28, 2010