Belfast and Beyond

You can read a work-in-progress version of the Northern Ireland Bill of Rights Forum's proposals over at Mark Devenport's BBC politics blog . There is a lot more work still to happen before close of business on Saturday afternoon /...

I hope to get along to the launch of the programme later this week of a series of commemorative events to mark the 40th anniversary of the Northern Ireland civil rights movement . Of course, the local civil rights movement neither...

In the interests of transparent and accountable policing, I am publishing here the PSNI's operational policy and guidance on the use of Tasers , which I have obtained through a Freedom of Information enquiry. You can follow my blog...

Privacy International listed the UK as the leading surveillance society in the EU in 2007 in its survey of 47 countries. The UK is the only country within the EU to be classified as ‘an endemic surveillance society’. It finds itself in...

I previously blogged about the two big peace rallies held five years ago in Belfast in response to the preparations for and the onset of the war in Iraq. Here, as a follow-up, I thought I'd post the text of the speech I gave in front...

No, not that presidency! Congratulations to Ciarnán Helferty who has recently been elected new President of Queen's University Belfast Students Union . Ciarnán is currently the Welfare Officer at the students' union and also has...

Amnesty International has revealed that a Gulfstream V jet – nicknamed the 'torture taxi' – used in the 'rendition' of a Yemeni man, was refuelled at Shannon Airport the day before it was used to move him from Baghdad to Kabul. Khaled...

The Belfast AI office did some media work around the launch of Amnesty and Southall Black Sisters' new report, 'No Recourse' No Safety , this week. The report highlights the difficulties faced by women with insecure immigration status...

Belfast-born writer Ronan Bennett has created a series of ten-minute films for the BBC about the countdown to the invasion of Iraq, which took place five years ago. Ten days to war is currently being broadcast on BBC2 just before...

TheHome Secretary yesterdayset out her plans for a “triple ring of security aroundBritain”. This “triple ring” entails the funding of new SpecialBranch police to patrol UK borders; tougher checks at borders and ID cards forforeign...

So apparently not content with bombing their country into the stone-age, the Government wants to send 1400 "failed" asylum seekers back to Iraq; this is despite the UNHCR consider it unsafe to return refugees to central or Southern...

Northern Ireland's very own Irene Khan is featured in a fascinating profile in today's Guardian (well if the Belfast media has the cheek to claim Katie Melua, then I think we are well within our rights to claim Amnesty's Secretary...

Three reports which have been launched in the last week into the human rights of girls have left me feeling slightly depressed: Safer schools: Every Girls Right is an Amnesty International report exploring the experience of girls from...

There’s a debate under way (I’ve joined in myself) over at the BBC NI-hosted blog, Will and Testament , about torture, the CIA and why “good people turn evil”. The debate is prompted by a book , interview and slideshow (horrific...

So a busy week last week in the Amnesty Office I have just cherry picked a few of the activities to give you a flavour. Monday saw the launch of Making the Grade Northern Ireland , Amnesty working as part of the End Violence Against...

I remember the heady days of 1997 and the ushering in of a new Labour government, in fact I think there are still pictures somewhere of me casting my vote ( I lived in England then). The mood of optimism that there really could be a...

Irish President Mary McAleese was at Belfast’s Stranmillis Primary School on Friday. She was there to meet the children and staff and see them take part in the Lift Off human rights education initiative, a cross-border project led by...

The issue of how Northern Ireland deals with the past is currently occupying a lot of minds and a lot of media column inches here. While Amnesty has been pretty active in pushing for public inquiries into some particularly egregious...

Our reliance on fossil fuels and in particular oil defies any sort of foreign policy rationale. Oil is sourced from one of the most volatile regions, the Middle East, natural Gas from Iran and Russia. None of these are exactly paragons...

Not long back from Northern Ireland's Holocaust Memorial Day event, which was held this evening in the Great Hall of Parliament Buildings at Stormont. This was the seventh such annual event of commemoration and dedication to prevent a...