Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
If you are a member of the press, please reach out to [email protected]
Update
Not all fun and games in South Africa
As the first World Cup match between Mexico and South Africa kicks off today, it is not all fun and games for the homeless, refugees, migrants and street hawkers who have faced harassment and displacement by the South African government. This harassment has included police raids, arbitrary arrests, ill-treatment and extortion, as well as destruction of informal housing. Regulations created to comply with FIFA World Cup requirements in host cities are being used by police to expel homeless people and street traders from "controlled access sites" and exclusion zones around World Cup venues. Penalties for offences under the regulations include…
June 11, 2010
Update
Four days to more deportations from Europe to Iraq
On Wednesday 60 Iraqis were forcibly returned to Baghdad from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. Next Wednesday more asylum seekers will be flown back to a city where, according to the UNHCR, their lives will be in danger. Please take action now to stop these deportations! Displaced Iraqis, whether inside or outside Iraq, are continuing to face great difficulties. The following short documentaries, created by Refugees International, show the dire circumstances under which Iraqi refugees live. Khaled's Story Dispossessed: Iraq's Squatter Settlements Iraqi Refugees: The View from Syria
June 11, 2010
Update
US Must not Turn Blind Eye to Human Rights Crisis in Northwest Pakistan
It is civilians who suffer most from the fighting between the Taleban and Pakistani government forces in northwest Pakistan. Many of these residents live in a human rights free zone where they have no legal protection by the government and are subject to horrific abuses by the Taleban.
June 10, 2010
Update
Tissa's pardon – we're still waiting
On May 4, I wrote on this site about the Sri Lankan government's announced pardon of the journalist J.S. Tissainayagam (often referred to as "Tissa"), who'd been unjustly convicted and sentenced to 20 years' hard labor just for criticizing the government's conduct of the war against the Tamil Tiger rebels. Amnesty International has adopted Tissa as a "prisoner of conscience" since we believe that he was imprisoned solely for his journalistic activities. I was reluctant to start celebrating until details of the pardon had been clarified. Well, it's now been 37 days since the announcement of the pardon, and the…
June 10, 2010
Update
A Birthday in Evin Prison – an opportunity to remember Iran's prisoners
To coincide with the 12 June anniversary of the disputed election last year in Iran, Amnesty International has prepared a campaign to highlight the situation of political prisoners, many of whom are prisoners of conscience, who are still held in Iran.
June 10, 2010
Update
European governments forcibly return asylum seekers to Iraq
Today 60 Iraqis were forcibly removed from the United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. They had applied for asylum and were denied. Ten Iraqis who were in the UK, 28 in Sweden and the rest of the Iraqis were flown today to Baghdad, and more are scheduled to be returned to Iraq next Wednesday. The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said that the Iraqis who are forcibly returned to Iraq are at grave risk, but Matthew Coats, head of immigration at the UK Border Agency, said "We are determined to remove those with no right to be in the…
June 9, 2010
Update
Were US missile and cluster munitions used in a fatal attack in Yemen?
Based on the evidence provided by these photographs, the US government must disclose what role it played in the al-Ma'jalah attack, and all governments involved must show what steps they took to prevent unnecessary deaths and injuries.
June 8, 2010
Update
I Am Neda
By Mikel Jollett and Nazanin Boniadi for The Neda Project The tragic death of Neda Agha-Soltan on June 20th, 2009, sent a shiver down the cumulative spine of all freedom-loving people across the world. She quickly became the face of the human rights movement in Iran and has given a voice to the voiceless around the world. In honor of her and in solidarity with the people of Iran, The Airborne Toxic Event and Amnesty have teamed up for the Neda Project. The song "Neda" is released on iTunes today (Tuesday, June 8th) with ALL proceeds from sales to benefit…
June 8, 2010
Update
Celebrate Pride Month
June is Pride Awareness Month. Join us as we shine a light on LGBT cases around the world and further the cause of equality and human rights for all.
June 8, 2010
Update
Torture Awareness Month
Speaking in Grand Rapids, Michigan, last Wednesday former President George W. Bush appeared to take personal responsibility for the decision to waterboard Khalid Sheikh Mohammed: “Yeah, we waterboarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. I'd do it again to save lives.” The former President’s comments remove any lingering doubt that may have remained that torture was sanctioned at the highest level of his administration. The lack of public outcry at his remarks demonstrates all too clearly how for most Americans torture has become an acceptable tool in America’s counter-terrorism arsenal. Prior to September 11th waterboarding was unequivocally regarded as torture in American jurisprudence.…
June 4, 2010
Update
People can change. Will Texas?
That’s the title of Amnesty International’s short report on David Lee Powell, a man who is scheduled to be executed in Texas on June 15 despite demonstrating great remorse and having been a model inmate for the 32 years he has been in prison. David Powell was sent to Texas death row for killing Austin police office Ralph Ablanedo in May 1978. In the midst of a methamphetamine addiction when the crime occurred, Powell cleaned up in prison. Included in Powell’s clemency petition is a statement from an Austin police officer who states:  "… the man who will be put to…
June 3, 2010
Update
Tiananmen Square: 21 Years Later Still No Justice or Freedom
Twenty-one years after the massacre in and around Tiananmen Square in Beijing on June 3rd and 4th, 1989 - which killed scores of students and peaceful protesters - justice still has yet to be served for its victims, and citizens of China are still being denied their rights to freedom of expression. Any sort of commemoration and criticism of the events are strictly prohibited by Chinese authorities, as they continue to accuse citizens of "inciting subversion," and imposing lengthy imprisonment after unfair trials. Human rights defenders in China know these obstacles all too well, and continue to risk severe punishment…
June 3, 2010