Newsroom

Update

Earlier this month, prisoner of conscience Fathi el-Jahmi turned another year older inside prison walls in Libya. He was arrested in 2002 after calling for political reform and free speech at a conference in Tripoli, and sentenced to five years' imprisonment. Due to international support, he was released early in March 2004. Unfortunately, only weeks later, after repeating his call for democracy and political reform, he was detained yet again and has been in prison ever since. He suffers from heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes, and his health continues to deteriorate. There's a letter circulating in Congress right…

April 22, 2009

Update

In a few hours (2:30 A.M. New York time), the 24-hour ultimatum issued by the Sri Lankan military on Monday to the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (also known as the LTTE or Tamil Tigers) expires.  The Tigers have been told to surrender or, according to a military spokesman, "Thereafter will be a military course of action.  That is the best option."  I'm deeply worried, not for the Tigers but for the civilians trapped with them. The Tigers are confined by the military in a small pocket of land in northeastern Sri Lanka.  It's about twice the size of…

April 21, 2009

Update

In a press statement released today, Amnesty International condemned the eight-year eight-year prison sentence imposed by an Iranian Revolutionary Court on Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi who was convicted of "espionage" following a brief closed door trial in Tehran. Saberi had been arrested on January 31 and held in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison since then. Legal proceedings in Iran's Revolutionary Courts are severely flawed and fail to meet international standards for fair trials. The evidence against Saberi has not been made public. The American born, 31-year-old Saberi is the daughter of an Iranian father and Japanese mother and worked for NPR…

April 20, 2009

Update

Image source (edited) After three years of prison, famous Azerbaijani satirist and poet Sakit Zahidov (aka Mirza Sakit) is free. In the words of an Amnesty International USA press release: …Sakit Zahidov was pardoned under an amnesty act passed in March by the country’s parliament, the Milli Mejlis. Serious doubt had been cast on Sakit Zahidov’s conviction and imprisonment after the authorities’ failed to clarify ambiguities in the evidence and irregularities in trial procedures. Amnesty International considered him to be a prisoner of conscience. […] Reporters Without Borders has hailed the release: “This is great news. It is a significant…

April 18, 2009

Update

It's clear to us that the torture memos released yesterday, as gruesome and repugnant the details are within, are only the tip of the iceberg. As far as we currently know, the interrogation regime spelled out in the Bybee memo is the best case scenario for how detainees were treated. Amnesty International has been interviewing the victims of torture for almost fifty years and our experience teaches us that abuse nearly always escalates over time. It starts with roughing people up at 3am and ends with naked people piled up in pyramids. All that we know is based on leaked…

April 17, 2009

Update

It's been a long time since I've had access to the internet.  As it turns out, internet, let alone wireless internet, and even regular cell services are minimal when you're working in a rural area like Standing Rock Sioux Nation.  Signals come in as you reach the tips of the buttes, but fade away as you continue driving. The other day we were traveling along a stretch of highway in route to Fort Yates, North Dakota, where the tribal offices are located.  This building stands majestically atop a hill and looks out over a large body of water.  We came…

April 17, 2009

Update

The two-day truce called by the Sri Lankan government ended on Wednesday, with a Sri Lankan military spokesman saying military operations against the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (known as the LTTE or Tamil Tigers) had resumed.  But how do you carry out an offensive against an area of about 5 square miles (about twice the size of Central Park in New York) and containing at least 100,000 civilians, without causing massive civilian casualties?  John Holmes, the U.N. Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said in a press conference on Wednesday that the danger of a bloodbath was of great concern. …

April 16, 2009

Update

The last ten days have seen massive protests in several countries, including Moldova, where the government is now accusing the organizers of peaceful demonstration on April 6 of inciting the use of extreme violence the following day. On April 6, protestors participated in a “peaceful day of mourning” in Chisinau, in order to demonstrate against the outcome of the recent parliamentary elections. The next day, in a separate event, the protests turned into violent riots as the crowds attempted to overtake government buildings. It is unclear who started the violence, with witness accounts stating that objects were being thrown at…

April 16, 2009

Update

Today, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals denied Troy Davis' petition to file a second habeas petition in Federal district court.  The decision is here.  The vote of the three-judge panel was 2-1.  The Court did extend Davis' stay of execution for 30 days to give him a chance to file a habeas corpus petition with the US Supreme Court. As always, take action at: www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis ... More later ...

April 16, 2009

Update

Last Sunday, President Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka announced a two-day pause in offensive operations against the opposition Tamil Tigers, in observance of the Sinhala/Tamil New Year.  Over 150,000 Tamil civilians are trapped with the Tigers in a government-declared "safe zone" - a small pocket of coastal land in northeastern Sri Lanka which is the only remaining territory controlled by the Tigers.  The Tigers won't let the civilians leave and have shot and killed those trying to flee the area.  Both the Sri Lankan army and the Tigers have shelled the civilians; hundreds have died since the start of this year. …

April 14, 2009

Update

At one point in My Cousin Vinny, Vinny Gambini  (Joe Pesci, down in Alabama from Brooklyn to defend his cousins in a capital murder case) decides to go hunting with the prosecutor, in the hopes of maybe sweet talking him into getting a peek at his files.  When Vinny returns from the trip, he proudly tells his girlfried (Marisa Tomei) that the prosecutor agreed to Xerox and send over every single file he had on the case.  Marisa Tomei is not impressed; the prosecutor has to give him the files … “It’s called discovery, #$%^&^$%!” she concludes.  (She won an…

April 14, 2009

Update

By Cheney that is. Last Friday, the Obama administration turned to the "dark-side" yet again, and appealed a district court ruling that would give detainees in Afghanistan a chance to challenge their detention before a judge. The Justice Department also went on to ask the judge to halt proceedings on three other habeas corpus cases. This wasn't the first time we'd seen this from the Obama administration. Back in February, the Justice Department announced it would no longer use the term "enemy combatant", which sounds great!, until you hear the part about them saying that despite this change, they still…

April 14, 2009