Press release me, let me go

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

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...

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...

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...

“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...

“ 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...

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...

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 –...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...