I took a call this week from a reporter saying that her magazine had been investigating baby selling in Europe and found that you could buy a baby for as little as £1,200. Nice. This is the sort of stuff you hear about at Amnesty – ie...

So well done to Brixton Electric Radio. Winning four Sony radio awards is no mean achievement and amazing for a prison radio station. PopSugar might think it’s all about Chris Evans getting two awards or Vanessa Feltz getting hers, but...

The civilian death toll in northern Sri Lanka soared even higher over the weekend, with reports (from a doctor in the field) that a staggering 378 people had been killed in just one day and at least another 1,212 injured. The real...

The Telegraph carries two stories about China today that raise some interesting questions. The first is about a video, posted on a Chinese government website, showing a government official being executed. The story goes on to say that...

The Telegraph carries two stories about China today that raise some interesting questions. The first is about a video, posted on a Chinese government website, showing a government official being executed. The story goes on to say that...

Fancy buying a rare piece of 16th-century torture equipment? Something like a “shame mask” originally used to enforce silence? Or a “tongue-tearer” which was used to punish blasphemers and heretics. Or a three-metre-long “rack” for...

Writing this only metres from the historical site of the theatre where the first Shakespeare plays were performed ( really! ) I think I can be forgiven for bastardising the Bard. Because today the question in this post is: “to inquire...

A natural disaster hits. The good citizen’s instant response is to help. And as a reward you’d expect a nice pat on the back, perhaps even a bit of positive publicity. Well not, it appears, if you happen to reside in Burma or China...

Working at Amnesty you’re supposed to be kind of unshockable . But you know what … it ain’t so! For example … I got to my desk this morning and took a call even before I’d sat down properly. It wasn’t good news . In fact it was...

Chaos would be one word to describe the situation in Pakistan at the moment. More than 65,000 people in the country’s North West Frontier Province have been caught up in the fighting between the Taleban and Pakistan’s government forces...

Stealing an idea from the BBC’s Justin Webb , today I’m doing exactly 100 words on Obama’s first 100 days! So here’s my (super-brief!) evaluation. Good things: promising Guantánamo's termination within a year, announcing the closure of...

Great news this morning, that Marnie Pearce, a British woman jailed in Dubai for adultery, has been released. Amnesty has supported Marnie Pearce’s case from the outset and repeatedly called for her unconditional release. The Sunday...

Heavy claims have been laid at the feet of the Pakistani government over the past few days as the Taleban have increased their hold on towns across the country. Senator Hilary Clinton described the Pakistan government as ‘ abdicating...

I had one of those strange Amnesty moments today when you’re a bit fed up for all the wrong reasons. I was meant to be accompanying our Campaigns Director down to the embassy of the United Arab Emirates to hand in a petition for Marnie...

Good discussion on the Today programme this morning on what is likely to happen next in Sri Lanka. Even if the Tamil Tigers are militarily defeated in the next few days or so, the conflict will not be ended because no political...

I’ve had a soft spot for Fiji ever since my dad took me to see my first rugby international at Twickenham when I was about 10 – England versus this island that I’d never heard of. They played a really exciting, open passing game, they...

It’s Monday morning, I’m just back from holiday – and sadly some things just seem to show no sign of getting any better. What am I talking about? Sri Lanka of course. The humanitarian disaster there has once more brought London’s Tamil...

President Obama has his foot firmly on the brake. In fact, he's already been footling around with the reverse gear. Famously fast out of the traps with his second-day-in-office “executive orders” against torture and Guantánamo Bay...

The Iranian media is reporting that Delara Darabi, an Iranian girl facing execution whom Amnesty’s been been campaigning for since 2007, could be executed as soon as Monday 20th April. We’re asking people to take urgent action to try...

So there you are – facing Chris Tarrant, you’re one correct answer off the big one (a cool million) and you don’t know the answer to the question. You know what you’re going to do, don’t you? Yes – phone a friend. Instead, try this one...