Press release me, let me go

If a week is a long time in politics, then six months must be close to an eternity. It should (one would think) be enough time for Israel’s much-trumpeted “easing” of its blockade on Gaza to have brought some real improvements to the...

I’ve just seen this news report saying that the UK government has decided to put export controls in place on sodium thiopental, a drug that is used in executions by lethal injection in the United States. About time too: up until now...

The other day a volunteer in the Amnesty media office where I work said “there’s always violence” in Egypt when they have elections. She was in the country for the 2005 elections, she said, and “We didn’t go out of the house. It was...

It’s heartening to see the news agenda give space to the issue of violence against women but it’s just a shame that it has to take an International Day for that to happen. As well as the Government’s announcement to allocate more than...

Khadijeh Jahed, also known as Shahla, is set to be executed in Iran next Wednesday, the 1st of December, according to Iranian media. She is the ‘temporary wife’ of Nasser Mohammad-Khani, a former striker for the Iranian national...

The UK government has announced that it will continue removing refused asylum seekers to Baghdad, despite the European Court of Human Rights “effectively calling for a freeze on the practice”, as the BBC puts it . You may have heard...

It’s been a strange few days on Guantánamo (even for seasoned Guantánamo watchers like me, and I’ve been bashing out Amnesty press releases on this miserable place since the first boiler-suited inmates were dumped there in 2002). First...

There has been a lot of debate around about the justification of blasphemy laws in the media this week as a result of the news of the death sentence passed on the Pakistani Christian woman, Aasia Bibi. Our Pakistan expert was...

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words posted on what is well known to be a social forum where satire, sarcasm and flippancy are staple features of any utterance, can never lead to a criminal conviction. So goes a new take on...

Over the past few days Amnesty’s press phones have been hot. Calls for interviews and comment about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi came thick and fast on Friday and Saturday. The release of the Chandlers sparked a few calls for us on...

Ghost prisoners. Enhanced interrogations. Stress and duress techniques. Black sites. Enemy combatants. Spot the connection? Yes, as readers of this blog will certainly know, they’re all new – or rediscovered – phrases associated with...

I’ll be honest, I was caught up in the euphoria as Aung San Suu Kyi took her first steps of freedom in over seven years just before 11am on Saturday morning UK time. But 48 hours later and what does the pro-democracy leader of Burma’s...

Aung San Suu Kyi, is arguably the most famous prisoner in the world. She is one of Amnesty International’s longest running prisoners of conscience and an iconic inspiration to people across the world, who has come to symbolise the...

I don’t know if you noticed, but David Cameron popped over to China this week. His stated mission was to improve trade links between the two countries and garner profitable business deals for UK companies. Whilst he was at it though...

There was some welcome publicity today for the much-neglected scandal of discrimination against Roma people across Europe, as the BBC Today Programme picked up on a new Amnesty report on Hungary . (You can listen to the piece here –it...

It’s a blast from the past, and not a very pleasant one at that. George W Bush’s remarks justifying waterboarding in interviews to promote his memoir are … frankly, appalling. Here’s a bit from today’s Times: Asked if he authorised the...

There are some things in life you expect as a given. Night follows day, rain on Bonfire Night, and the Liberal Democrats supporting human rights. But wait a minute, what was this on the Today programme this morning , none other than...

As regular readers of this blog no doubt you will, but lest we forget, this coming Sunday Burma will hold its first election in 20 years. It doesn’t take a psychic octopus (which is just as well ) to predict the outcome of this race...

There was plenty of media attention today on Indonesia. It focused on the erupting volcano , the displacement of up to 50,000 people, deaths from flash flooding and landslides , and an emergency landing for a Quantas aircraft. This did...

Fears are once again mounting that Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani in Iran is about to be executed. As readers of this blog will know, this 43-year-old mother has been in grave danger of execution for months. Indeed she has become the world...