Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Report
Haiti urged to bring Jean-Claude Duvalier to justice
After 25 years in exile, former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Haiti in January 2011. Within days, survivors of serious human rights violations and families of victims of his regime filed complaints of such abuses between 1971 and 1986. An investigation was opened and Jean-Claude Duvalier was indicted for crimes against humanity. This report makes public the testimonies and other evidence gathered by Amnesty International during that time, demonstrating that these violations were widespread and systematic.
September 21, 2011
Report
Concerns Over Allegations of Illegal CIA Activities in Somalia
In this letter to President Barack Obama, Amnesty International and other human rights NGOs express serious concerns about alleged illegal CIA conduct in Somalia.
September 20, 2011
Report
Colombian authorities fail survivors of sexual violence
Sexual violence is endemic to Colombia's long-running armed conflict. Members of all the warring parties have sexually abused and exploited women and girls. This document focuses on the deeply-entrenched impunity that has for so long shielded from justice human rights abusers of all kinds in Colombia. This report examines what, if any, progress has been made by the authorities, particularly since 2008, in addressing sexual violence and impunity.
September 20, 2011
Report
Libya: The battle for Libya: Killings, disappearances and torture
In mid-February 2011 Libyans called for a "Day of Rage" against the iron-fist rule of Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi, in power since 1969. This report documents serious and widespread human rights violations by al-Gaddafi forces and also abuses committed by the opposition.
September 16, 2011
Report
Libya: NTC must take control to prevent spiral of abuses
In mid-February 2011 Libyans called for a "Day of Rage" against the iron-fist rule of Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi, in power since 1969. The protests were met with lethal force. By early March the uprising had evolved into an armed conflict between forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi and armed protesters coalesced into a loosely structured force led by the newly established National Transitional Council. This report documents serious and widespread human rights violations by al-Gaddafi forces and also abuses committed by the opposition.
September 12, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Reveals Detainees in Libya Left to Suffocate in Blazing Hot, Cramped Metal Containers
Libyan forces loyal to Colonel al-Gaddafi forces left 19 detainees to die of suffocation while locked inside metal containers in the sweltering June heat in northwestern Libya.
September 1, 2011
Report
Syria: Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria
At least 88 people are believed to have died in detention in Syria during five months of bloody repression of pro-reform protests, a new Amnesty International report reveals today. Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria documents reported deaths in custody between April and mid-August in the wake of sweeping arrests. The 88 deaths represented a significant escalation in the number of deaths following arrest in Syria. In recent years Amnesty International has typically recorded around five deaths in custody per year in Syria. "These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to be an…
August 31, 2011
Report
Sudan: Possible war crimes in Southern Kordofan
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have collected evidence indicating that the Sudanese Armed Forces may have committed war crimes in Southern Kordofan, the organizations said today. In a rare trip to the Nuba Mountains region of Southern Kordofan, researchers from the two human rights groups found that an indiscriminate bombing campaign carried out by Sudan since early-June is killing and maiming men, women and children. The slideshow requires JavaScript and the Flash Player. Get Flash here.// var flashvars = {data:"https://adam.amnesty.org/asset-bank/assetfile/140243.xml", displayTime:"8", onExternalSite:"on", type:"photoEssay", modules:"AssetBank", modulePath:"https://adam.amnesty.org/images/slideshows/common/modules/"}; if (flashvars.type=="photoEssay") { flashvars.controlMenuOptions = "AssetBank_viewAsset,AssetBank_addToLightbox,AssetBank_addAllToLightbox,thumbnailBar,titleBar,infoBar,autoResize,embiggen"; flashvars.title = "IN PICTURES: The human face of…
August 30, 2011
Press Release
Detainees Killed by al-Gaddafi Loyalists in Libya, Says Amnesty International
Amnesty International has uncovered evidence that forces loyal to Colonel Mu'ammar al-Gaddafi have killed numerous detainees being held at two military camps in Tripoli on August 23 and 24.
August 26, 2011
Press Release
Cheney’s National Security Claims Were Long Ago Rebutted, Says Amnesty International as former VP’s Memoir is Released
Tom Parker, policy director for terrorism and human rights for Amnesty International USA, issued the following statement in advance of the release of former VP Dick Cheney’s memoir.
August 25, 2011
Press Release
Syrian Journalist at Risk of Torture, Says Amnesty International
Journalists and activists in Syria who pass on information about the country's unrest to the media face torture and other ill-treatment, Amnesty International said today, as one journalist started his second week in incommunicado detention.
August 24, 2011
Press Release
Syrian Authorities Target Prominent Dissident and Teenage Son, Says Amnesty International
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - Syrian authorities are feared to be torturing a prominent dissident and his teenage son, his lawyer has told Amnesty International. Walid al-Bunni has been detained incommunicado since he was arrested from his Damascus hiding place on August 6 along with his 18-year-old son Mu'ayad, who is not believed to have taken part in the demonstrations. "I'm very worried that they may be keeping Mu'ayad in prison with his dad just to cause Walid pain by watching his son being tortured," Walid's lawyer told Amnesty International. Walid al-Bunni, aged 46, is one of…
August 23, 2011