Campaigning for human rights in the age of the internet

I have been trying to understand why the government of China tries so hard to suppress Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa. It is a practice involving slow gentle movements and meditation. Three of its key values are truth, compassion...

Amnesty invites you to take action for Ahraf Kalhori , a mother of four children, who faces death by stoning for adultery. A death sentence is in itself cruel and inhumane but then to choose a method that makes the dying slow and...

Writers suffer persecution in many countries of the world. English PEN is part of an international organisation campaigning against this persecution. Other creative people also can fall foul of the authorities, for instance comedians...

In an appendix to his novel 1984, Orwell gives a description of Newspeak. It is a language based on English but it makes discussion or even thought of freedom or rebellion impossible by the removal of words and phrases. The book 1984...

Openness allows everyone to see that things are being done properly and fairly, in accordance with laws. Amnesty International sometimes sends observers to trials but in other cases they may not be allowed. I wonder whether there is...

A peaceful protest ended up with hundreds dead. Amnesty International pressed for an investigation of the fatal violence. The government of Uzbekistan rejected all calls for an independent, international investigation into what...

I am pleased to see that the counter is still going up for the number of people who have joined the Million Faces petition.

MPs highlight loopholes in UK arms legislation:"The MPs have asked the Government to explain why exports of weapons are granted to destinations listed as 'countries of concern' in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Annual Report on...

Trawling through history that should not be forgotten I have come up with an event in August 1819, in St Peter's Field, Manchester, England. It started with a peaceful gathering of about 50 000 people, radical protesters. One...

The Control Arms campaign in a statement dated 24 July, 2006 welcomes Arms Trade Treaty proposal. Ambassadors of seven countries, including the United Kingdom, have written to all governments to try to keep going towards the goal of an...

The film gave a picture of the life of a teenage girl in Iran who fell foul of the "moral police" several times and eventually was hanged at the age of 16. Atefah Salaaleh was killed on 15 August 2004 in the small Iranian town of Neka...

I am often frustrated that I only very rarely receive any reply when I write or e-mail in support of Amnesty appeals. The Uzbekistan embassy in London on its website has at least given a reply in the form of an open letter, dated 22/07...

It is worth remembering history, especially the parts that some would like us to forget. Ten days before the start of the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968 there was a massacre in Tlatelolco Square in Mexico City. The demonstrations were...

The Foreign Office of the UK government provided a useful list of embassies in London but that part of the website has gone. I have found another source listing foreign embassies in the UK .

Muhammad Osama Sayes, 30, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison in Syria, after being denied asylum in the UK. This was reported on page 6 in the latest issue of Amnesty Magazine. It cannot always be easy to decide who genuinely...

No Deal on Illegal Gun TradeUNITED NATIONS, Jul 7 (IPS) - A major United Nations conference ended here Friday without agreeing on a document to push for stronger international efforts to curb the illegal trade in guns and other small...

In campaigning for human rights we unfortunately have to learn of some terrible things that are done or threatened to be done to people. I recently heard of a threat of execution in Saudi Arabia with the first part of the process being...

I found out about RSS feeds on a page of the Amnesty UK website:Home > News & events > Media unit > RSS feeds To quote that page, "RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an information-sharing tool designed to give you immediate access to...

I heard a song sung by Roy Bailey some years ago and now with the aid of the internet I have found out more about it. The song is called I Ain't Afraid and it was written by Holly Near in 2000. I Ain't Afraid is a song standing up...

I have been clicking the links from irrepressible info to look at some of the web sites that have been censored in certain countries. I found it quite amusing that when I looked at the BBC website it came to the page with a weather...