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2009 (241)
Mar 30 2009 4:13PM
Beware Greeks bearing truncheons

As our office is situated just up the road from Liverpool Street, I’ve been following reports predicting that it’s going to ‘kick off’ in the City during this week’s G20 meeting with considerable (self) interest. And if the Met really...

Mar 27 2009 1:45PM
No-one in security circles can ever remember anything like this ever happening before

…. said reporter Andy Davies on Channel 4 News, last night. Why? Because, he reckons, the Binyam Mohamed investigation will put to the test the intelligence service’s commitment to the rule of law. “This is a very important moment for...

Mar 26 2009 1:01PM
Bashir footloose while thousands perish in Darfur

It’s not even been a month and yet President Omar El-Bashir is blatantly defying the international arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court. In the space of a few days the President of Sudan has visited Egypt and Eritrea, and...

Mar 24 2009 7:53AM
Crucifixion? (Not) good

IMHO, there are four funny moments in Monty Python’s “Life Of Brian”. Namely – the famous “What have the Romans ever done for us?” scene (though it’s not as funny as you probably remember!), Brian’s mother (the excellent Terry Jones)...

Mar 23 2009 4:22PM
How not to spend Mothers Day?

How to spend Mothers’ Day? Breakfast in bed for your wife, lovingly attended to by your own little ones, or lunch out for your own Mum? Not big questions and certainly not as big as those posed by the big BBC 1 programme, The Big...

Mar 20 2009 2:58PM
Suck it and see: the ice lolly of military impunity in Israel

To me it’s one of those annoying – almost childish – examples of political bluster beloved by political leaders the world over – we’re the best, that’s it. Best army, best legal system, best food, best climate. Best, superior...

Mar 20 2009 2:51PM
Get out now

Can you imagine being told you have a few minutes to leave your home before it is bulldozed and destroyed forever? This has happened to thousands of people in Cambodia – as the latest documentary in the brilliant Channel 4 series...

Mar 19 2009 1:03PM
Looking through Hakamada Iwaos eyes?

Back in 1977 when the punk band The Adverts did their snotty (and excellent) “Gary Gilmore’s Eyes” they were obviously going for a bit of (then very vogue-ish) post-Ramones/Sex Pistols shock value. Strangely enough, thinking about what...

Mar 18 2009 4:23PM
A witch-hunt in the truest sense of the word

It's not everyday that we here in the Amnesty press office come across bizarre stories, but today is definitely one of those days. As highlighted on BBC News Online today, we've discovered that there is a witch-hunt in Gambia, which is...

Mar 17 2009 2:34PM
Hang em by the score: executions in Iraq

It was going to get better when they invaded Iraq – and in one way, for a while, it did. Say what you like about the US-led invasion of Iraq (and it certainly wreaked havoc in many, many ways), but at least the Coalition Provisional...

Mar 16 2009 12:24PM
People left destitute on the streets of the UK can this be true?

A new exhibition launching this week lifts the lid on a world that few of us know about. Thousands of people in the UK are living a hand-to-mouth existence – sleeping rough or on people’s floors, begging for food and turning to...

Mar 13 2009 12:40PM
Binyam on the BBC: publicity and betrayal

Well, he hasn’t exactly got Max Clifford working for him, but after his big Mail On Sunday interview at the weekend we’ve now got his first broadcast interview today: Binyam on the BBC. Several other big human rights cases I’ve worked...

Mar 12 2009 5:07PM
Trial and error: the case of Perwiz Kambakhsh

It’s almost a blast from the past with the Independent front-paging a powerful human rights story – but this one certainly deserves to be highlighted. Perwiz Kambakhsh, the 23-year-old student journalist from Afghanistan who was...

Mar 11 2009 3:28PM
Marnie Pearce - a mother's pain laid bare

It’s not often that we get to link to the Sun but today they carry a harrowing video of Marnie Pearce, a British woman jailed in Dubai for adultery, handing over her children to her estranged husband, perhaps for ever. She denies the...

Mar 10 2009 4:49PM
Tibet 50 years on: will China face more uprisings?

It’s fifty years today since a failed uprising in Tibet led to widespread repression and the Dalai Lama fleeing the country to India. Protests have continued throughout the year, with the Chinese authorities on high alert for a repeat...

Mar 9 2009 4:26PM
Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

Great news coming out from the Government this morning. For years we’ve been calling for a new integrated strategy to tackle violence against women – and now it appears it could well happen. Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, has...

Mar 6 2009 11:58AM
Hidden fact. One in 10 women face violence every year

This Sunday marks International Women’s Day. I know 8 March isn’t a date which many mark off on their calendar, and I doubt Clinton Cards will be selling cards celebrating Women’s Day. But this anniversary definitely deserves greater...

Mar 5 2009 4:16PM
When unhelpful is the strongest word

It’s interesting that saying somebody’s behaviour is “unhelpful” amounts to hard-hitting condemnation in some people’s books. (Stop stabbing me, that’s unhelpful …). But, in the highly charged atmosphere of the Israel-Palestine...

Mar 4 2009 3:15PM
No-ones above the law.  Not even you, Mr President.

Momentous news from The International Criminal Court today. For the first time a sitting head of state has been issued with an international arrest warrant . But how long it will take before the President of Sudan is arrested is quite...

Mar 3 2009 2:25PM
12 women burned to death every hour in India

Yule E’s blog yesterday flagged up the shocking story of the Afghani equivalent of Angelina Jolie being forced into hiding because of the Taleban’s increasing dominance in the region, and the shocking story of girls in Mauritania being...

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