Newsroom

Update

It's been a year since the war ended in Sri Lanka, with the government's defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels.  In the final months of the war, Amnesty International received credible reports of violations of human rights and war crimes being committed by both sides.  The Tigers kept civilians trapped in the war zone and shot those trying to flee.  The government shelled areas heavily populated by the trapped civilians.  Thousands of civilians were killed or injured.  A State Department report issued last year recounted these crimes in detail. The Sri Lankan government promised the UN in May 2009 that…

May 19, 2010

Update

In the rankings for the most executions per state, Ohio is starting to give Texas a run for its money.  But it appears there may be a whiff of change in the air. This weekend, Ohio Supreme Court Justice Paul E. Pfeifer, the “father of Ohio’s death penalty,” told the Columbus Dispatch that all current death row cases should be reviewed to see who truly deserves an execution.  He would like the less severe cases commuted to sentences of life without parole. "There are probably few people in Ohio that are proud of the fact we are executing people at the…

May 18, 2010

Update

5 years ago today, the Zimbabwean government set out on a project dubbed "Operation Murambatsvina" (Restore Order). More than 700,000 people were left without a home or livelihood, or both, after the government of Zimbabwe began to destroy informal settlements all across the country. These forced evictions only exacerbated a situation already dire due to Zimbabwe’s economic crisis. Today, hundreds of thousands of people still struggle to survive in plastic shacks since their eviction from these settlements, while the government does little, if anything, to help them. Efforts to provide some shelters to victims have been complete failures and seem…

May 18, 2010

Update

A new study by the United Nations has found that Pakistan has the highest number of newly internally displaced people (IDP). According to the report, in 2009, approximately 3 million people were newly displaced. Of course, Pakistan isn’t the only country with such depressing statistics. Pakistan’s internally displaced are only 3 million of 27 million IDPs worldwide. The country with the most internally displaced people continues to be Sudan with nearly 5 million. But what these numbers really show us is that the victims of war and conflict are always civilians and that the callous disregard of human rights on the…

May 17, 2010

Update

The year 2009 saw a shift in New Hampshire, when the state legislature voted to form a Commission to Study the Death Penalty in order to look further into the pros and cons of continuing capital punishment.  New Hampshire has not had an execution since 1939 and has only issued one death sentence in the past 50 years.  The Commission has been meeting in Concord on the second Friday of every month, opening its doors to the public, and the topic for the today was "Whether the Death Penalty Comports with Evolving Moral Standards." The Commission will publish its findings…

May 14, 2010

Update

Just a few months ago, the New York Times ranked Sri Lanka as the top place to visit as a tourist in 2010. While Sri Lanka is a beautiful country, the article failed to mention the outstanding issues that remain one year after the end of the conflict. Issues such as the failure by the Sri Lanka government to investigate violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law by both Sri Lankan armed forces and the LTTE. So join us on Tuesday, May 18th, to rally outside the Sri Lanka embassy in DC. The rally will kick off…

May 14, 2010

Update

On May 6, the Thursday before Mother's Day, Amnesty International, Childbirth Connection, the NAACP and the White Ribbon Alliance, in cooperation with Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and Reps. Gwen Moore (D-WI) and Lois Capps (D-CA), organized a congressional briefing on the maternal health crisis in the United States and around the world. In this post, four DC-area Amnesty members and activists reflect on the event. Becky Farrar: Last week’s congressional briefing on maternal health was a fantastic event – with fabulous speakers and a standing-room-only crowd. And after this week's introduction of the Global MOMS Act, last week’s panel feels…

May 13, 2010

Update

On Tuesday, Rep. Lois Capps (D-CA) introduced the Improving Global Maternal and Child Health Outcomes While Maximizing Successes Act -- or the Global MOMS Act -- which would take steps to fulfill U.S. commitments to improving maternal health around the world. In 2000, the United States -- along with the whole of the international community -- pledged to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. President Obama has said he will make the MDGs "America's Goals". But MDG 5, which targets a 75% cut in maternal mortality, is the farthest off-track of all the goals. Hundreds of thousands of women…

May 13, 2010

Update

Last week, Congressman Kirk (R-IL) and Congresswoman Baldwin (D-WI) introduced a Resolution before the US House Foreign Affairs Committee calling on the Malawi government to release Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, a gay couple imprisoned since December. They were arrested following an engagement ceremony and have been denied bail by the court. The Resolution calls for their release on humanitarian grounds and bring Malawi into compliance with international law treaties to which it is a party. Amnesty International has declared Tiwonge and Monjeza to be Prisoners of Conscience and are also urging their immediate release. Contact your Representatives and Senators and…

May 13, 2010

Update

MINURCAT’s future still hangs in the balance. Yesterday, the UN Security Council unanimously decided to postpone making a decision on whether or not MINURCAT, the UN peacekeeping mission in eastern Chad and northern Central African Republic, should be renewed. All 15 members of the UNSC felt they needed more time to think about the recommendations put forward by the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, and to determine Chad’s capacity to protect civilians without the help of the peacekeeping mission. We’ve been pushing for the UN Security Council to continue protecting civilians in the region by renewing MINURCAT’s mandate. At least…

May 13, 2010

Update

I recently heard the sad news that Professor Rhonda Copelon died on May 6th 2010.  Professor Copelon's work was critical to defining women's rights as human rights.  It was her dedication to gender justice, combined with her tireless work  as founding faculty member of the CUNY Law School's International Women's Human Rights Clinic, that contibuted to the recognition in international law of rape as a crime of genocide and torture. It is thanks to her that domestic violence and other forms of gender violence can constitute torture under the United Nation's Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. …

May 11, 2010

Update

No physical evidence. Just two (white) witnesses, one who initially confessed to the crime, the other implicated the three (black) youths in exchange for a lesser sentence. Reggie Clemons today sits on death row in Missouri.

May 11, 2010