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Update

The first charter on human rights was authored by Cyrus the Great over 2500 years ago. As Iranians we are heirs to a proud tradition of human rights and tolerance. Sadly, the Iranian authorities have not lived up to this legacy, as can be seen by the mock trials, false imprisonments, torture, child executions, and lack of equality for women in Iran today. For the past 30 years the Iranian government has barred Amnesty International from entering the country, affording us no transparency in regards to its human rights record. However, advances in technology and the internet are allowing brave…

February 6, 2010

Update

Iranian authorities have committed horrific abuses in the aftermath of the disputed presidential elections last June. Several months later, human rights in Iran remain under attack and the level of repression reaches a breaking point. Several important events in the Iranian political calendar from the end of January through late March make this threat imminent, most notably the "Victory of the Revolution" day on February 11, 2010, marking the 31st anniversary of the fall of the Iranian monarchy and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini from exile in France in 1979. Given the importance of February 11th for Iranians, we are…

February 5, 2010

Update

At the end of December, the human rights movement had some disappointing news. Federal Judge Ricardo Urbina dismissed the charges against the five Xe (Blackwater) guards accused in the shooting death of at least 14 innocent Iraqi civilians in Nisour Square in September 2007. While his decision indicates the need to examine more closely the conduct of the Justice Department's prosecutors as well as the State Department's practice of immunizing contractors' statements given in the course of investigations, there is now reason for hope. On Tuesday, Rep. David Price and Sen. Patrick Leahy introduced companion bills under the short title…

February 5, 2010

Update

More disappointing news emerged on Monday for those who believe that US law and professional ethics should actually mean something. The long awaited Justice Department Office of Professional Responsibility report into the quality and probity of the work produced on coercive interrogation by John Yoo and Jay Bybee while working in the Office of General Counsel has reportedly undergone internal revisions neutering its findings. David Margolis, a career civil servant who served in the Justice Department throughout the Bush administration, has reportedly downgraded criticism that Yoo and Bybee violated their professional obligations concluding rather that they merely exercised poor judgment.…

February 4, 2010

Update

Originally posted on Politico.com By Sen. John F. Kerry, Rep. Bill Delahunt, Kerry Kennedy & Larry Cox Rita Mahato, a mother of three, works as a health adviser for the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC) in Nepal, counseling rape victims and registering cases of domestic violence routinely dismissed by the local police. In June 2007, a mob of more than 60 men surrounded her offices, threatening to rape and kill Rita and her colleagues – demanding that they end their work. Three years later, Rita and her team continue to be threatened, harassed and physically abused, yet the police have failed…

February 4, 2010

Update

Henry "Hank" Skinner is scheduled for execution in Texas on February 24.  A two-part review of the case was recently published by the Texas Tribune.  He is asking for DNA testing of evidence that was found at the crime scene but never tested.  He claims these tests would establish that someone else committed the crime for which he is slated to be put to death.  The state, of course, is opposing the tests.  But, why?  The cost of allowing the testing would be a few extra months for a man who has already been on death row for almost 15…

February 4, 2010

Update

At a time of significant international interest in the region, Amnesty International hopes that it will lead to a renewed focus on human rights issues as the best way to achieve a lasting peace.

February 3, 2010

Update

Thousands of news articles, scholarly articles and panel discussions debate Zimbabwe's land reform program. Almost without fail, stark lines are drawn between black and white: colonial authority and indigenous population, owner and occupier, right and wrong. The problem with such a stark conclusion is it ignores all shades of gray. The Commercial Farmers Union and elite political power players in Zimbabwe both play the martyr. President Mugabe's former ruling political party, ZANU-PF, contends Zimbabwe suffered because the white minority owned the most fertile farmland and excluded the indigenous population from ownership. The Commercial Farmers Union argues ownership by valid land title and the violent land dispossessions contravene Zimbabwe and international…

February 2, 2010

Update

Everyone has been blessed in their life with at least one strong, female role model that showed grace under pressure, kindness when facing adversity, strength when challenged. Whether a grandmother, sister, teacher, supervisor or friend, she was someone who inspired and guided you. Personally, I think my mom is pretty fantastic; but I have also been lucky enough to know many other strong, passionate women I consider role models and among those are the leaders of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA).  WOZA is a grassroots activist movement in Zimbabwe started by women, led by women and grown by women into a membership of more than 70,000 across…

February 2, 2010

Update

Safiatou (not her real name), 26 years old, married her cousin Hamidou when she was 14. They lived in a village in Burkina Faso, about 100 km south of Ouagadougou, where they farmed livestock. Safiatou had already had four children when she got pregnant again in 2007. Safiatou's husband told Amnesty International: "The day of her delivery, she was in good health and worked all afternoon as usual without any problem. She prepared tô [a local dish made from maize flour] for her children and went to get the hay for the animals. In the evening, when her labor began,…

January 28, 2010

Update

Today we are deeply saddened by the news of historian and political activist Howard Zinn's death. William Cordery, Senior Development Officer of Amnesty International's Southern Region, shares a few words about Howard Zinn: "Larry [Cox] and I had the great privilege of having dinner with Howard Zinn just over a year ago before an event in Atlanta to screen early clips of his 2009 film, The People Speak--inspired by Howard Zinn's book A People's History of the United States. Even though Howard is famous for documenting stories and histories of peoples in the struggle that often go untold, his own…

January 28, 2010

Update

Remarks made by Bono , New York Times columnist Nicholas D. Kristof and President Barack Obama stating they hoped Palestinians would find their Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) or Gandhi completely ignore Palestinian nonviolent resistance to brutal oppression. The presumption that the Palestinian struggle is mainly violent is disturbing. And the dismissal of the people who have sacrificed time, money and even their lives to fight injustice with nonviolence is callous. Although Palestinian nonviolent resistance dates back to the early 1900’s, the image of armed and violent Palestinians still prevails.   In the 1970’s and 80’s, Palestinian refugees from camps in…

January 28, 2010