Press release me, let me go

Anyone who’s kept up with every twist and turn of the Binyam Mohamed saga probably needs to get out more, but most people are now familiar with the broad thrust. A man is picked up in Pakistan during the US “war on terror”. Like scores...

The death, after a prolonged hunger strike, of Orlando Zapata Tamayo, a prisoner of conscience in Cuba, has been widely reported in the media today . Orlando Zapata Tamayo was one of 55 prisoners of conscience in Cuba to have been...

Guinea is one African country which is rarely reported on. So last September’s bloody protests took much of the international media by surprise as they witnessed how scores of people were killed and hundreds were attacked by security...

I’ve been trying to wade through around 1,500 tweets about last night’s “Is technology really good for human rights?” event, while nursing a slightly-foggy head after the post-doo drinks at the Book Club. The consensus seems to be very...

With one media report around today entitled “ Google will pave the way to freedom in China, says Dalai Lama ” and a front page splash in the FT saying “US analysts believe they have identified the Chinese author of the critical...

Yesterday the Times columnist Melanie Reid gushed that the killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai was like the film Ocean's 11. (I think, by the way, she meant an exciting Hollywood crime caper … as opposed to a useless star-vehicle...

Three women (& four men) in Malaysia were flogged earlier this month – meaning whipped with a cane – after a Shariah court found them guilty of extramarital sex. The news came in a press conference from the Malaysian Home Minister...

It seems as though the government of Burkina Faso has been the bearer of good news twice in the last 10 days or so. It’s not often we say that about any country’s government. But their decision to ratify the international cluster...

When it comes to Burma, the world and his dog tends to think about one thing: Aung San Suu Kyi . Now, I’m not one to say she isn’t important – far from it – but the plight of the iconic Burmese leader is just the tip of the iceberg...

It’s probably a generational thing, but a lot of conversations I have with my parents these days consist of whether “things are getting better … or worse”. Not exactly an easy topic to pin down! There’s always a danger that these...

Today marks the anniversary of the foundation of the Islamic Republic of Iran 31 years ago, traditionally a day of mass rallies in Tehran and other Iranian cities. Most Iran-watchers have predicted that it will be a flash-point between...

I’ve railed against the secrecy reflex of the UK state before, but today, for once, I’m pleased that knee-jerk secrecy has been set aside in today’s Court of Appeal ruling on the Binyam Mohamed case. The supposedly US relationship...

I thought I was going to meet Clint Eastwood yesterday. I was outside the offices of Vedanta Resources in Berkeley Street, London, at Amnesty’s protest about human rights abuses linked to their refinery in India. Noticing that there...

Never work with children or animals, my mother always used to tell me, and in the main I’ve tended to follow her advice. However, here at Amnesty, we like to stage the odd demonstration and it’s a proven fact that if you want to do...

The arrest of 21-year-old gay rights campaigner in Malawi described by the BBC as ‘gay-poster man’ is just one more step in the targeting of the LGBT community in that southern African country. The reason for Peter Sawali’s arrest...

…. at least according to my fellow Warwickshire man William Shakespeare, it is, and that’s good because there are several theatrical things getting a mention in this post. First off, there’s “Mums” at the Soho Theatre in … er, Soho...

The UK’s Home Affairs Select Committee , made up of MPs, are the latest to put the boot into the UK government’s Control Orders regime. I could hardly have put it better myself: “The legality of the control order regime is in serious...

You’ll have noticed that Iran is once again in the headlines today, with US-Iran tensions reportedly ‘raised’ again after the US sold anti-missile systems to its middle-eastern allies. It’s also the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini’s...