Press release me, let me go

No doubt most of us will be looking forward to spending time with friends and family at some stage over this weekend, especially as it’s the last bank holiday weekend of the year before Christmas. But for thousands of men, women and...

Some time ago I did an interview for Amnesty about how China reportedly harvests the organs of executed prisoners. I remember it well because the pre-recorded interview was for the BBC 10 O Clock News – much coveted – and because when...

Strange interview by the Israeli ambassador on the radio this morning. In his 8.10am Today programme slot not only did Ron Prosor, Tel Aviv’s man in London, have a dig at Arab leaders who in his view buy football clubs like Manchester...

A confession, dear reader. The shockingly juvenile rock-metal band AC/DC were part of the soundtrack to my youth. They were always blasting away on mum and dad’s “stereogramme” when they (mum and dad) were up the pub on a Friday night...

Earlier this week Human Rights Watch reported that hundreds of gay men have been murdered in Iraq since 2004, and that the attacks appear to be organised. Across Eastern Europe gay people are increasingly out and proud but are facing...

Amnesty’s new report on how Tunisia is rounding up, torturing and imprisoning alleged Islamic terrorists is the sort of thing that any Amnesty blog reader will have heard before. Right, big surprise, you may think. I kind of thought...

The UK Government really needs to tighten its arms exports controls. That’s the message which rang out loud and clear from today’s report by the four Parliamentary Select Committees. And it’s something which Amnesty would definitely...

The media team’s been particularly busy in responding to today’s news surrounding the changing events in Afghanistan in the run up to Thursday’s elections and also the Home Office’s disclosure on the number of Tasers. Amnesty’s...

It would be little exaggeration to say there’s only one story in town right now: Afghanistan. Well OK, there’s the business of the insanely fast “Lightning Bolt” (forget that old joke about languorous Jamaicans dahn at the beach ), and...

Are you enjoying the US debate about whether a universal healthcare system guaranteeing basic cover for everyone is a good thing or socialism gone mad? Some of us whinge about the NHS from time to time but it’s glorious to watch...

A senior US diplomat has urged the Sri Lankan government to allow more freedom to the more than a quarter of a million Tamil people detained in camps in the north of the country. The military conflict has ended and Sri Lanka is making...

Well that wasn’t very unexpected, was it. After a lovely piece of political theatre, the Burmese authorities this morning sentenced Aung San Suu Kyi to 18 months of house arrest – all because an American swam over a mile across a lake...

The man was completely immersed in the water. When he emerged he gasped for air. He looked frightened. Was I watching waterboarding that method of torture in which a detainee is made to think they are drowning? Actually no, this was...

This time last year I wasn’t in a sweaty Amnesty office in London, I was … in a sweaty Amnesty office in Edinburgh . It comes to mind today because last August I was beavering away PR-ing Amnesty’s presence at the Edinburgh Festival...

If you’re heading to the Big Chill this weekend you may want to pack a pair of flip flops along with your wellies! Not only is the weather forecast looking much more favourable for festival-goers, Amnesty will be at the Big Chill for...

What relief the two US journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who had been facing 12 years imprisonment with hard labour, must be feeling after their sudden and dramatic ‘rescue’ by Bill Clinton . The two have been used as pawns by the...

Listen to Ivan Lewis stonewalling on the Today programme (8.10 interview) and you get the distinct impression that the government has … how can I put this, got something to hide . There, I’ve said it. I know, shocking isn’t it? A...

By which I mean … are the mass trials in Iran ‘political’ and are people being set up by the Iranian authorities? OK, the authorities are certainly putting a lot of politicians – past and present – on trial, so they’re literally...