Newsroom

Update

(Originally posted on Jurist) The Obama administration's announcement that it intends to move "War on Terror" detainees not cleared for release to the Thomson Correctional Facility changes very little beyond enabling President Obama to honor the letter, if not the spirit, of his pledge to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. What this decision in fact demonstrates is a lasting commitment to two ideas that President Obama rejected as a candidate: Military Commissions and indefinite detention without charge. Military Commissions amount to little more than a cynical attempt to create a trial format with a sufficiently low burden of proof…

December 17, 2009

Update

A satirical YouTube video showing a press conference by a blogger in a donkey costume was meant to make a point in ex-Soviet Azerbaijan. Instead, it got the activist and his associate behind bars. Now in jail and convicted of “hooliganism,” youth activists Emin Abdullayev and Adnan Hajizade hope that an appeals court will overturn their sentence next week. Both men (adopted by Amnesty International as prisoners of conscience) can really use your help. Take action now! A Voice of America editorial summarizes the case: Human rights monitors and many members of the international community are concerned over an Azerbaijan…

December 16, 2009

Update

Iraqi authorities announced last Thursday that they will forcibly relocate about 3,400 members of the Iranian opposition group People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI) from Camp Ashraf where they have lived since the mid 1980's. Reports about where residents will be relocated are conflicting.

December 16, 2009

Update

That’s some bad timing U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey had last week.  Speaking at a public conference in Egypt, Scobey declared that “Egyptians are very free to speak out. The press debates so many things.” She then implied human rights organizations are free to investigate human rights abuses. It didn’t take long for the Egyptian government to undercut the ambassador’s comments.  Today, Egyptian human rights activists announced their support for one of their own, blogger Hani Nazeer Aziz, when the government refused to implement for the fourth time a court order demanding his release from jail.  Aziz has been…

December 16, 2009

Update

It’s always nice to hear good news about the decline of the death penalty, and even nicer when that news is coming out of Texas. According to a recent report, while Texas officials continue to carry out executions at a high rate, the number of Texas juries that opt for the death penalty has dropped remarkably in recent years. In 1999, Texas sentenced 48 prisoners to death, but over the last decade that number has plummeted; so far in 2009, only 9 death sentences have been meted out. The drop has come about partly because a life-without-parole option has reassured juries…

December 16, 2009

Update

Thousands of residents of the Gulf Coast are unable to exercise their right to return more than four years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall because of a lack of affordable housing. In Mississippi, however, hundreds of federally funded modular homes like those pictured here sit unused because local jurisdictions are employing zoning ordinances that have a discriminatory impact on displaced residents. After Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designed a program to build cottages that would initially be used as emergency housing, but could eventually be used as modular homes when placed on a permanent foundation.…

December 15, 2009

Update

On December 3, 2009, Chrysler launched a major new television ad dedicated to human rights, democracy champion and Nobel Laureate, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, a prisoner of conscience imprisoned in Myanmar for the last 14 of 20 years. While most see it as a brand new era in Chrysler's image, others either applaud its efforts in highlighting the inspirational message connoted with her image, or they seem to resent the ad's choice of hero, arguing that it does not seem to resonate with the average American television viewer - perhaps true.  However, for Amnesty International activists and others concerned…

December 14, 2009

Update

 The Restore Fairness Campaign  recently posted a video describing the horrific plight of Esmeralda. Esmeralda: A Transgender Detainee Speaks Out from Breakthrough on Vimeo. Esmeralda, a transgender asylum seeker from Mexico who came to the United States seeking protection and liberty found herself in immigration detention, in conditions as terrifying as those she was attempting to flee.   Upon arrival at the US border, Esmeralda applied for asylum on the basis of persecution because of her identity as a transgendered person.  Like all asylum seekers seeking protection at US borders, Esmeralda was put into immigration detention.  There was no reason to…

December 14, 2009

Update

Now is the time for Members of Parliament (called the Lok Sabha) to act to repeal the 1958 Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (aka: AFSPA) and its Jammu and Kashmir counterpart.  This law allows the Indian security forces to operate in the northeastern part of the country as well as Jammu and Kashmir by declaring an area “disturbed.”  This “disturbed” designation has been in effect for upwards of five decades in some parts of the northeast (Assam and Manipur in particular).  This law gives security forces a licence to operate with virtual impunity with no fear of prosecution except in the rarest…

December 13, 2009

Update

Since the deadly attack on civilians by Guinea's security forces on September 28th, 2009, Guinea is showing many signs of slowly unraveling, leading many to wonder what Guinea’s future will look like. Between interest in Guinea’s rich mineral resources, to concerns about rising ethnic and regional divisions, to theories about France’s involvement, media outlets have been rife with stories about Guinea’s political turmoil. Of course, the failed assassination attempt on December 3rd on the leader of Guinea’s ruling military junta, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, who is still in Morocco recovering in a hospital, has dominated the headlines. And with good reason…

December 13, 2009

Update

As a general rule, Americans don't play rugby.  We are too litigious of a nation to allow grown men to bash into each other without being covered head to toe in protective gear. (Consequently, rugby playing nations think American football is for pansies.) So when I lived in South Africa, it was determined by newly found friends the need to educate me in the finer points of the game. This, of course, occurred over many pints of beer as they screamed at the television. Maybe American football and rugby aren't so different after all... Anyway, part of my education concerned…

December 12, 2009

Update

Last month, Magodonga Mahlangu was awarded the RFK Human Rights Award for the work she does as co-leader of Women of Zimbabwe  Arise (WOZA). Since her return to Zimbabwe, however, she and co-leader Jenni Williams are reporting increased harassment levels by police and Central Intelligence officers. Both Magodonga and Jenni have faced heightened intimidation efforts following past international recognition, but it was hoped that since this award was presented by President Barack Obama along with Ethel Kennedy, it might buy them a little breathing space since even Mugabe has hailed Obama as a pretty cool dude. Clearly Obama's street cred…

December 12, 2009