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Update

By Fotis Filippou, EU Team Campaigner for Amnesty International Amnesty International recently visited Romania, where we met with a Romani community living behind a sewage treatment plant in Miercurea Ciuc, central Romania. More than six years after they were forcibly evicted from their homes, around 75 Roma people, including families with children, are living in unsanitary conditions in metal cabins and shacks. Back then they were told that the move would be temporary but it has started to feel very permanent. Many have said how unbearable it is to live there and how afraid they are for their and their…

October 18, 2010

Update

What makes a punishment "unusual?" The 8th Amendment to the Constitution bans "cruel and unusual" punishments, and the Supreme Court in recent years has suggested that a punishment becomes unusual when few states have it in their laws, or, if laws are still on the books, when few jurisdictions choose to actually use the punishment.  So what do we make of the fact that since 2004, only 10% of US counties have actually passed a death sentence?  That’s the bottom line of a new set of maps (presented on the Second Class Justice blog) which illustrate US death sentences by…

October 18, 2010

Update

Omar Khadr's military commission trial was pushed back a week to October 25th. The delay comes amidst reports of a possible plea agreement for the young Canadian who has been in US custody since age 15.

October 15, 2010

Update

States may be illegally procuring the drugs needed to continue to kill prisoners among a nationwide shortage of sodium thiopental.

October 15, 2010

Update

The international community and specifically the United States must play a lead role in demanding an end to impunity for the horrific sexual violence that reoccurs in Congo. We are calling for an urgent investigation of government soldiers who failed to protect civilians or perpetraited crimes themselves.

October 15, 2010

Update

Almost 10 years ago, on October 31, 2000, the United Nations Security Council adopted resolution 1325, calling for women’s equal participation in peace building. Security Council Resolution (SCR) 1325 was a response to the disturbing trend that women and girls often suffer most during conflicts, including as displaced civilians or as the targets of sexual violence.  A recent horrific example of widespread sexual violence was the reported mass rapes in the Democratic Republic of Congo in August of this year.  Despite women deeply suffering the consequences of conflict, they have few opportunities to contribute to peacebuidling - women account for only 10% of the people who negotiate peace after…

October 14, 2010

Update

“Bizarre.” This was the answer given by Former Detective Superintendent Bob Denmark of Lancashire, England when asked what people in the UK thought about the execution of Teresa Lewis. “[People] are no safer now than we were before her death,” added Ronald Hampton, a former D.C. Metropolitan Police Department Community Relations Officer and past Executive Director of the National Black Police Association. Denmark, who has investigated over 100 homicides in the U.K. as well as genocide in Africa, and Hampton were joined by Police Chief James Abbott of West Orange, New Jersey and Senior Portuguese Public Prosecutor Antonio Cluny at the…

October 14, 2010

Update

By Steve Hendricks In 2003 the police of Milan were closing in on a network of Islamic terrorists that recruited suicide bombers—until the radical imam at the heart of their investigation, Abu Omar, inexplicably disappeared. He was, it would turn out, snatched off the street by the CIA, roughed up, and eventually flown to Egypt, where he was savagely tortured. The full story is told in my new book, A Kidnapping in Milan: The CIA on Trial,  published yesterday by W. W. Norton. I started working on A Kidnapping in Milan four years ago because I was frustrated that there were…

October 12, 2010

Update

Get the latest human rights news, spread the word about Amnesty, and earn $1 for human rights. Simply by clicking!

October 12, 2010

Update

Twenty-year-old Zaruhi Petrosyan of Masis, Armenia, was beaten to death by her husband and mother-in-law last month. Armenia must pass domestic violence legislation NOW!

October 11, 2010

Update

WHEN: Thursday, October 14, 10am - 11am Eastern US Time (19:30 in India/Kashmir) WHERE: Follow Govind on Twitter @acharya_dude HOW: Submit questions on Twitter any time from now through October 14 using hashtag #AskAI (adding @acharya_dude is helpful but not necessary).  See below for other ways of getting in touch.  Example: Is there a consensus in the Indian political spectrum about what's happening in Kashmir? #askai Kashmir has been convulsed by violent clashes between protesters and security forces.  The current violence has left over 100 people dead and has raised concerns over the widespread human rights violations committed by Indian security forces…

October 11, 2010

Update

25 years after the end of its military dictatorship, on Oct 3rd 2010 Brazil carried out peaceful and legitimate democratic elections nationwide. Over 135 million Brazilians voted to elect the country’s president, the governors of Brasilia and 27 states, 54 senators, all 513 members of the House of Representatives and the assembly delegates of all states. Although elections were carried out without controversy, the final outcome remains unknown.  None of the presidential candidates gathered enough votes (50% plus one vote) to be named president elect; therefore, the two top contenders will face each other again in a run-off election to…

October 10, 2010