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Amnesty International today urged Canadian authorities to arrest and either prosecute or extradite former US President George W. Bush for his role in torture, ahead of his expected visit to Canada on 20 October. “Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former President Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture,” said Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International. “As the US authorities have, so far, failed to bring former President Bush to justice, the international community must step in.  A failure by Canada to take action during his visit would violate the…

October 12, 2011

Report

Militia fighting against Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi have detained about 2,500 people in the capital Tripoli and surrounding areas since taking control of these areas in late August 2011. Most have been held without legal orders and many have been beaten and otherwise ill-treated. The new Libyan authorities – the National Transitional Council (NTC) – have promised to respect international human rights law. In this report Amnesty International urges the NTC to investigate abuses by its supporters as well as by al-Gaddafi forces, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

October 12, 2011

Report

Ten years after a US-led military invasion removed the Taleban from Afghanistan, the Afghan government and its international supporters have failed to keep many of the promises they made to the Afghan people, Amnesty International said today. “Hopes were high in Afghanistan in 2001 following the international intervention but since then human rights gains have been put at risk by corruption, mismanagement and attacks by insurgent groups who have shown systematic contempt for human rights and the laws of war,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific director. “Today, many Afghans dare to hope for improvements in human rights in…

October 6, 2011

Press Release

In reaction to the news that gunmen have attacked a bus carrying Shia Muslims in southwestern Pakistan, killing 13 people and injuring six others, Amnesty International said: "Sadly this is only the latest in a long line of brazen attacks against Quetta’s Shi’a population. Sectarian violence has been a feature of the general breakdown in law and order in Pakistan, but these recent attacks seem to indicate a new targeting of the ethnic Hazara community," said Mustafa Qadri, Pakistan researcher at Amnesty International.

October 4, 2011

Press Release

Egypt’s military rulers are responsible for the life of a jailed blogger on the 43rd day of a hunger strike, Amnesty International warned today after a Cairo military court adjourned his appeal hearing until October 11.

October 4, 2011

Press Release

Amnesty International USA welcomes the decision yesterday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid not to accept a provision in the draft National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require terrorism suspects arrested inside the United States to be transferred to military custody.

October 4, 2011

Report

Syrian protesters in Europe and the Americas have been systematically monitored and harassed by embassy officials and others believed to be acting on behalf of the Syrian regime, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing paper.The Long Reach of the Mukhabaraat includes cases of more than 30 activists in eight countries - Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the USA – who say that they have faced intimidation from embassy officials and others and that their relatives in Syria have as a result, in some cases, apparently been exposed to harassment, detention and even torture. "Expatriate Syrians…

October 3, 2011

Report

The Lithuanian government has admitted its involvement in the US-led rendition and secret detention programmes. An investigation opened into two secret CIA detention sites that had already been acknowledged was abruptly terminated in January 2011 on highly dubious grounds. In this report, Amnesty International suggests critical lines of enquiry that have not been pursued, and calls on the authorities to re-open the investigations into both its own involvement in these operations and that of the USA and its agents on Lithuanian territory.

September 29, 2011

Report

Thailand’s three southern-most provinces are host to a non-international armed conflict, based on the intensity and duration of hostilities there, as well as the existence of organized groups of insurgents. Amnesty International believes that the insurgents, through widespread killings of civilians from both Buddhist and Muslim communities, are committing acts aimed at spreading terror among the civilian population. This report examines the circumstances surrounding 82 deaths that resulted from attacks by insurgents. Fifty-five of those killed were Muslims, while 27 were Buddhists. Individual cases are illustrative.

September 26, 2011

Press Release

Amnesty International today revealed new evidence of the extreme brutality being meted out to Syrian protesters and their families. The organization said the mutilated body of an 18-year-old woman who was abducted by security forces was discovered by her family in a morgue in Homs Sept. 13. Zainab al-Hosni would become the first woman known to have died in custody during the unrest.

September 23, 2011

Press Release

On Tuesday, 26 Shi'a pilgrims on their way to Iran were lined up in front of their bus and shot dead in Mastung, Balochistan. Another three people were killed as they tried to bring victims of this attack to a hospital in Quetta, the provincial capital. An anti-Shi'a extremist group called Lashkar-e Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the killings.

September 21, 2011

Press Release

The Colombian authorities have failed to tackle the lack of justice for female survivors during the country's long-running armed conflict, Amnesty International said in a new report today.

September 21, 2011