Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Update
Homophobic Hate Crimes Spreading Throughout Brazil
Although Sao Paulo hosted in 2010 the biggest gay parade in the world, with over 3.3 million people, Brazil suffers from one of the highest numbers of hate crimes in Latin America.
October 28, 2010
Update
Prison Lobby's Ties to Arizona Anti-Immigration Law
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
Update
Scent Lineup Not Necessary as Texas Prosecutors Declare Anthony Graves Innocent
Last year, Texas prosecutors wanted to use a “scent lineup” in a desperate attempt to generate new evidence against Anthony Graves, whose death sentence had been overturned in 2006. “Scent lineups” are a ridiculous form of junk science where dogs match a scent from a crime scene with a scent from a suspect (in this case the evidence from the crime scene was 17 years old, had been stored – actually lost – for years in an old unused jail cell, and came from a house that was burned to the ground). Fortunately this year, Bill Parham, the new DA…
October 28, 2010
Update
Arizona Ignores Trial Judge, Kills Prisoner
"The death penalty in this case is not appropriate and never has been." That’s what former judge Cheryl Hendrix told Arizona’s Board of Executive Clemency in support of Jeffrey Landrigan’s effort to have his death sentence commuted. What’s important about judge Hendrix is that she is the one who sentenced him to death. New information that Landrigan’s lawyer failed to present at the trial convinced her that the death sentence she issued had been wrong. Unfortunately, the US Supreme Court, by a 5-4 vote, had already ruled that this new information would NOT have made a difference. That turned out to…
October 27, 2010
Update
Help a student from Gaza not miss another day of school
Want to help a student who has worked hard both academically and in his community? Someone who has gone through the madness of applying and being accepted at a university in the United States even earning a partial scholarship? (Not an easy task.) Want to help someone that has already had to miss fall semester and is in danger of missing spring semester and losing his scholarship? Abed Al Hadi Basheer is 24 years old and trying to better himself so he can continue to help children in his community and better care for his blind father and family. He…
October 27, 2010
Update
With All Eyes on the "Market," Health Reform Overlooked Human Rights
Neither people of color, immigrants, or women will find their human right to health care realized under the new health care law. Its failure to meet the key human rights standards of universality, equity, and accountability has concrete repercussions for these already disadvantaged groups. It is disheartening that many reform advocates have accepted this failure and moved on to become staunch defenders of this law, instead of supporting the growing movement for health care as a human right and public good for all.
October 27, 2010
Update
High Stakes Poker at GTMO
This morning Omar Khadr pled guilty, at a Military Commission hearing held in Guantanamo Bay, to five charges: murder in violation of the law of war, attempted murder in violation of the law of war, providing material support to Al Qaeda, espionage and conspiracy. Omar Khadr was only fifteen at the time of the incident out of which the charges derived. By the terms of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child he was, at worst, a child soldier. The crime of material support was not even on the statute books. The charge of espionage makes him the…
October 26, 2010
Update
Failed accountability, WikiLeaks show true cost of war
The release by WikiLeaks late last week of 391,832 secret documents on the Iraq War has been said to be "…the most comprehensive and detailed account of any war ever to have entered the public record." The revelations emerging from these documents showcase the culture of impunity that has plagued this war effort, including the U.S. government’s failure to adequately address rights violations linked to the corporations and contractors used to fight our wars. As an August 22, 2006 report released by WikiLeaks stated AFTER THE IED STRIKE A WITNESS REPORTS THE BLACKWATER EMPLOYEES FIRED INDISCRIMINATELY AT THE SCENE. More…
October 26, 2010
Update
Join Us at the Stewart/Colbert Rally in DC!
Join Amnesty International at the Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert rally on Saturday, October 30th! Our contingent will be making noise to close Guantanamo and ensure accountability for U.S. torture--we need your voice! We'll be handing out free buttons, holding signs and chanting slogans. You'll get a free t-shirt and have a ton of fun with us! It will be a great way to meet new friends who share your passion for making the world a better place. How to Find Us Location: Archives- Navy Memorial- Penn Quarter Metro Station (yellow/ green line) Time: We will be there starting at 10:00am Let…
October 26, 2010
Update
Arizona: Execution Drugs Came From Great Britain
Arizona’s Attorney General Terry Goddard has reportedly confirmed that his state’s stash of non-FDA approved sodium thiopental came from Great Britain. The state continues to try to kill Jeffrey Landrigan with this drug, and continues to try to keep details of their supplier a secret, using a law that shields the Arizona’s execution team from public scrutiny. So an as yet unnamed British pharmaceutical company is now a member of Arizona’s execution team. As our allies in Europe are dragged into this sordid execution mess, Arizona soldiers on with its attempt to carry out this execution (in defiance of the…
October 26, 2010
Update
Sign of an Egyptian Election: Mass Arrests
"If the forthcoming elections are to be fair and credible, the Egyptian government must ensure that they are conducted on a ‘level playing field'"
October 26, 2010
Update
Iraq's Apt Pupils
The publication yesterday by Wikileaks of almost 400,000 classified documents relating to US operations in Iraq has reinforced the claims made in Amnesty’s recent report “New Order Same Abuses: Unlawful detentions and Torture in Iraq”. The report, published last month, exposed the systemic mistreatment of detainees – often political rivals of Prime Minister al-Maliki’s United Iraqi Alliance coalition - in Iraqi prisons. It also charged that in its unseemly rush for the exit the United States had turned a blind eye to these abuses. The usual denials followed. The Wikileaks documents contain hundreds of reports of detainee abuse by Iraqi…
October 24, 2010