Newsroom

Update

A man faces execution despite a strong claim of innocence.  With a conviction based on deeply flawed witness testimony, and emerging evidence pointing to an alternative suspect, doubts about his guilt continue to grow.   Yet Kevin Keith is scheduled to be put to death by the state of Ohio on September 15.  He has a clemency hearing on August 11, and he is still hoping for a court to grant him a new trial, but time is slipping away.   It is important to ACT NOW!  Amnesty International opposes all executions, but even death penalty supporters should be concerned when serious…

July 6, 2010

Update

This morning the new Conservative government in Great Britain announced that it will hold a “judge-led” inquiry into the role played by British officials in human rights abuses committed as part of the Global War on Terror. The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, pledged that the inquiry would also have the power to direct the payment of financial compensation to the victims of proven abuses – as required by the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights. The inquiry will go forward once pre-existing criminal investigations into the alleged actions of at least two British intelligence officers have been completed.…

July 6, 2010

Update

After over four years of detention based on unjust convictions, twelve Mexican activists were ordered released last week following a ruling by Mexico's Supreme Court that admitted that the activists had never been granted a fair trial.  They had been arrested for allegedly kidnapping police officers during protests in San Salvador Atenco in May 2006 during which police officers violently abused both men and women for their activism.  While it is wonderful that Mexico's judiciary has freed these twelve activists, much more still needs to be done for justice to be served in the events surrounding the Atenco protests. "This welcome…

July 6, 2010

Update

The same week the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Azerbaijan, a court in the post-Soviet country gave another two years of sentence to Eynulla Fatullayev - the most prominent journalist behind bars.

July 6, 2010

Update

Today the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution creating a new entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, otherwise known as UN Women. Amnesty has been campaigning for a stronger UN agency for women's issues for some years and today our goal became a reality. On June 17th, 2010 Amnesty joined a delegation representing the GEAR Campaign, a global network of over 300 organizations, to deliver 34,555 signatures from 165 countries to the President of the UN General Assembly urging him to prioritize the establishment of a new UN agency for women (over 4,000 of those signatures were collected by AIUSA - so…

July 3, 2010

Update

When I returned home this evening, I saw the gruesome pictures showing yet more innocent people killed while preparing to worship in Lahore, Pakistan.  The Data Ganj Baksh is one of the most prominent mosques in Pakistan's second largest city.  As a human rights activist, these attacks on innocent civilians provoke the most outrage.  Given that it comes just days after the last despicable terrorist attack in Lahore, I'm left asking, when will the horror end?  Raza Rumi, a prominent writer on Sufism says it better than I can: This is a barbaric attack and should serve as a wake…

July 2, 2010

Update

According to a new study form Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, since the beginning of the “war on terror” the nation’s four widest circulated newspapers, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today, have had a “significant and sudden shift in how [they have] characterized waterboarding.”

July 2, 2010

Update

Formaldehyde-tainted FEMA trailers are back. This time housing workers cleaning up the growing Gulf Oil Spill.

July 2, 2010

Update

I had written last week on this blog about the Midwifery Modernization Act that was pending before the New York State Legislature.  Well, despite a really hard core lobbying campaign by the American College of OB/GYNs, a group of midwives have prevailed!  The New York State Senate just voted unanimously to support the right of midwives to practice their trade in New York State, providing a huge boost to maternal health in the state.  Congratulations especially goes to organizations of midwives and maternal health advocates that worked tirelessly to FREE OUR MIDWIVES! The struggle for the rights of expectant mothers…

July 1, 2010

Update

Amnesty International representatives attended Yahoo's shareholder meeting to keep the pressure on Yahoo to push for the release of Shi Tao, imprisoned in China for sending an email.

July 1, 2010

Update

A  HUGE VICTORY for human rights happened this past Wednesday when the Senate passed H.R. 725, the Indian Arts and Crafts Amendment Act of 2010, which included the majority of the provisions in the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009! The Tribal Law and Order Act of 2009 is a historic, bi-partisan effort to tackle the complex jurisdictional maze that allows violent crime against Indigenous women, and in particular, sexual assault and violence against Native American and Alaska Native women, to go unpunished and unabated. Championed by Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) in the Senate and Representative Stephanie Herseth-Sandlin (D-SD)…

July 1, 2010

Update

California is broke and California’s capital punishment system is broken. To try and help out, the ACLU of Northern California has launched their “Cut This” campaign – advocating for cutting the death penalty to save the state money. How much money? Approximately $1 billion over the next five years. This money could be used for much needed social services such as healthcare, education, or for more resources for law enforcement. It is well documented that in California, as elsewhere, it costs more to sentence someone to death than to give them life without the possibility of parole.  Information compiled by…

June 30, 2010