Posts Tagged ‘Amnesty International’

SAVE THE DATE: MEA 2013 CEREMONY ON 8 OCTOBER IN GENEVA

June 29, 2013

The City of Geneva and the Martin Ennals Foundation announce the 2013 edition of Martin Ennals Award, which will take place on Tuesday 8 October 2013 at 18h00 at the Uni-Dufour, Geneva. The Laureate will be announced Read the rest of this entry »

Edward Snowden portrayed as a Human Rights Defender by US groups

June 28, 2013

In a post on 4 June under the title “Bradley Manning not a Prisoner of Conscience for Amnesty International ?” I related the controversy surrounding the status of human rights defender for Breadly Manning. On 13 June, under title “Snowden a human rights defender?  – Russia seems to think so” I referred to a similar issue with regard Read the rest of this entry »

Impressive coalition of NGOs urges action for arbitrarily detained human rights lawyer Khalil Ma’touq in Syria

June 5, 2013

Khalil Marouiq Noor

New information obtained by human rights organizations has heightened concerns about the secret detention and failing health of a prominent Syrian human rights lawyer who has not been heard from since his arrest eight months ago! Read the rest of this entry »

Bradley Manning not a Prisoner of Conscience for Amnesty International ?

June 4, 2013


480px-bradley_manning_us_army_0

(Bradley Manning – (c) US Army)

With the trial of Bradley Manning coming up, there is a wide-ranging and not always educating discussion raging on LinkedIn and other fora about why he is not a ‘prisoner of conscience’ for AI. Two of the few more substantive but not very flattering statements – in the absence of a formal reply by AI of course – are reported here, but I should point out that the authors are even more scathing about HRW or other large NGOs: Read the rest of this entry »

AI 2013 report comes with short video

May 29, 2013

Amnesty International’s 2013 report comes with an introductory video which shows governments are using the excuse of ‘internal affairs’ in shameful attempts to block concerted international action to resolve human rights emergencies.

Related articles

Double Bind: what to do if perpetrators are themselves being persecuted?

May 25, 2013
Meredith Tax, a writer and political activist, has recently addressed in a book a most important and tricky subject: Double Bind: The Muslim Right, the Anglo-American Left, and Universal Human Rights, published by the Centre for Secular Space. Human rights defenders are supposed to protect the rights of those oppressed by the state or by non-state actors.   Read the rest of this entry »

Amnesty International says new Greek legislation fuels asylum-seeker abuse

May 24, 2013


Undocumented immigrants in the courtyard of a detention centre in Fylakio, by the Evros Riber in northern Greece (Reuters)

(Undocumented immigrants in the courtyard of a detention centre near the Evros River in northern Greece – (c) Reuters)

I would be amiss in not reporting the criticism by Amnesty International of  my adopted home country: Read the rest of this entry »

Amnesty International publishes State of the World 2013, which covers 2012

May 23, 2013
Yesterday, 22 May, Amnesty International published its annual Report 2013 which documents the state of human rights during 2012. In five regional overviews and a country-by-country survey of 155 individual countries and territories, the report shows how the demand for human rights continued to resound in every corner of the globe… Resistance to injustice and repression took many forms, often inspiring acts of courage and determination from the communities and individuals facing seemingly insuperable obstacles. In the face of indifference, threats and attacks, human rights defenders pursued legal challenges at the national and international level to long-standing impunity and endemic discrimination.

 

Vote for development of AI’s PANIC BUTTON

May 22, 2013

I reported earlier in this blog on the Panic Button idea of Amnesty International. Now I have learned that it has been chosen as a finalist in Google’s Global Impact Challenge for work on a mobile alert system that enables human rights activists to trigger rapid response from their network in an emergency. Four out of ten projects will win £500,000. Public voting is open until 31 May! You can watch the video and vote here: g.co/impactchallenge/amnesty

If AI wins this Challenge, the work could be scaled up substantially. Amnesty and partners would launch the mobile alert system and directly train and support activist networks globally to set-up and use the system safely as part of their security protocols. 

via Danna Ingleton, Research and Policy Adviser, Individuals at Risk.

 

Canadian Lawyers write for detained Human Rights Defender Asma Ahmed in Sudan

May 21, 2013

Canada LRWC is a committee of Canadian lawyers and law professors who campaign internationally for advocacy rights and advocates in danger and on rule of law issues. The following is both an illustration of professional solidarity and giving information on a Sudanese woman human rights lawyer, Asma Ahmed: Read the rest of this entry »