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July 2010 (21)
Jul 30 2010 5:42PM
Water you playing at?

Everyone should have access to clean, safe drinking water. Seems fairly obvious, you might be thinking. That is a fundamental human right, right? Well no, not according to all of the countries represented at the UN General Assembly...

Jul 29 2010 6:03PM
Control Orders - telling the government why we don't want them

The UK’s control order regime, which Amnesty has opposed since its inception, took another kicking in the courts yesterday. The Court of Appeal rejected a Government challenge to a landmark High Court ruling allowing compensation...

Jul 28 2010 10:26AM
Vedanta: listen to the locals

My family’s lived in Leamington Spa (in Warwickshire) for at least five or six generations, maybe more. My forebears built some of the streets there and, glamorously, were involved in building the sewers. I don’t live there any more...

Jul 27 2010 4:56PM
Afghanistan: Wikileaks change the game

Like quite a few people, I suspect, I found the 14-page onslaught of the Guardian’s Wikileaks coverage yesterday almost too much (how was I ever going to get through it all …?) Today they’ve calmed right down and only given it a front...

Jul 26 2010 2:27PM
A sniff of justice for Cambodia

It’s been a while, well OK more like 31 years, but at last the citizens of Cambodia have a sniff of justice. This morning, Kaing Guek Eav was sentenced for 35 years for crimes against humanity and war crimes. For those of you who don’t...

Jul 23 2010 5:08PM
If it aint broke: Ken Clarkes unwarranted war crimes fix

The other day I called a plumber to plug a leak in the kitchen we didn’t have. Before that I took my car to the garage to get them to check out an engine noise I couldn’t hear. Yes, and today I read that Justice Secretary Ken Clarke...

Jul 22 2010 2:28PM
Is Chad hanging its head in shame in refusing to arrest Bashir?

President Bashir was oozing with confidence as he stepped off the plane in N’djamena yesterday. This, to me, suggests that he knew he would be pretty safe from arrest during his trip to Chad. If he did have any concerns then clearly...

Jul 21 2010 3:16PM
Tasers: painful and potentially lethal

“Officers should not be armed with Tasers if they cannot use them properly,” said Peter Cox from Bridgwater to the Mirror after accidentally being shot in the groin with a Taser as a police officer was lowering the weapon. With that...

Jul 20 2010 4:12PM
Afghanistan: looking for a fix

You don’t set ‘artificial’ deadlines on troop withdrawal because that will let the Taliban know how long they have to keep fighting . For years this has been the mantra from Hoon, Reid, Browne, Hutton and co, but now that seems to have...

Jul 19 2010 2:39PM
Dont let the gunrunners win the arms control race

Having worked at Amnesty for a few years now, I’ve got used to the fact that the train of ‘international human rights treaty-formation’ chugs at what I think is a rather slow pace. I recall when I first joined Amnesty the excitement...

Jul 16 2010 6:03PM
Sakineh: neither stoning, or hanging ...

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, a woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran for adultery, is still at risk of execution. We’ve just launched a web appeal on her behalf, asking people to write to Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah...

Jul 15 2010 3:39PM
North Korea: Appalling health care failures costing lives on massive scale

“The government has resolutely maintained that it is committed to, and capable of, providing for the basic needs of its people and satisfying their right to food and a proper standard of health. The testimonies presented in this report...

Jul 14 2010 1:11PM
Control Orders to be scrapped?

“ Control orders could be scrapped ”, reads the Telegraph’s p2 headline today, putting them in strong contention for the Amnesty press office’s ‘bearers of good news’ award of the day – particularly as they also report that China is...

Jul 13 2010 1:28PM
A partition in the clouds of Cuban repression?

The BBC and the Telegraph today report that the first seven of the 52 Cuban political prisoners recently released are on their way to a life in exile in Spain . The Guardian reports that one journalist – Omar Ruiz – doesn’t consider...

Jul 12 2010 4:38PM
Sport's failing legacy

It’s often said that sport has the unique ability to unite. Well at least that’s the theory… At first glance the World Cup seems to have delivered exactly that. The media has been glowing about events in South Africa. The Independent –...

Jul 9 2010 2:45PM
I spy with my little eye something prohibited under international law

Everyone, me included, loves a spy story whether the fictional sort, including the exploits of James Bond and George Smiley, or the real-like variety, including Blake, Philby and Burgess. I can think of lots of reasons for this popular...

Jul 8 2010 6:53PM
Woman facing execution by stoning for adultery in Iran

Those (few?) of you who are willing to pay for online content will have noticed that the Times has gone really big today on the case of S akineh Mohammadi Ashtianai , a woman facing execution by stoning in Iran. In May 2006 she was...

Jul 6 2010 1:55PM
I never promised you a rose garden: Obama and Netanyahu

At the time of writing it’s not clear whether today’s Obama-Netanyahu meeting in Washington will see a joint statement and photo-opportunity in the White House’s Rose Garden . Last time, of course, there wasn’t. Instead Netanyahu was...

Jul 5 2010 1:49PM
UK abuse during asylum removals must stop

The Independent carries a powerful front-page “special investigation” today exposing the abuse of asylum seekers while they are being forcibly removed from the UK. Sadly it’s not news to Amnesty. Back in 2005, our report on the...

Jul 2 2010 6:15PM
New testimonies put spotlight back on Uighurs

Why can’t we get a little bit of openness from the Chinese authorities? I know it’s a bit of a Groundhog Day -type question, but it is Friday afternoon and surely I’m allowed to show a bit of frustration! Anyway, why am I asking this...

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