After much delay and a period of supposed consultation, the Home Secretary today published the Counter-Terrorism Bill, accompanied by a media blitz. (Though she was soon upstaged by Peter Hain). I say supposed consultation because, as...

The police are definitely in the news today! I dont know about more bobbies on the beat, but theres definitely quite a lot of the boys and girls in blue on their give us more pay demo: over 18,000 theyre saying . Cant resist repeating...

A new Amnesty report has put Darfur back on the news agenda this morning. The report highlights how the security level is worsening for people now living in camps in the region. As the BBC reports, Amnestys concerned that the new UN...

Things are looking up in Kenya as the former UN-Secretary General Kofi Annan arrives to try to help to resolve the political crisis unfolding in that country. But if this weekends events are anything to go by, a lot needs to be done in...

“If you survive death, big fortune will follow,” one of the passengers on board the plane that crashed at Heathrow yesterday was quoted in the Daily Mail as saying. There were several Chinese faces among the passengers as the plane had...

Stop the violence, cure the sick. Well its an aspiration. Tragically, for the last 24 hours theres been media report after media report of terrible violence in several spots around the globe - from Sri Lanka (mentioned in yesterdays...

The bomb which blew up a bus in north-central Sri Lanka proves that the cease fire between the government and the Tamil Tigers is well and truly over. Todays bomb which has killed at least 25 people, including school children has also...

We have a new report out today on Iran, about the horrific practice of stoning people to death. The death penalty is wrong in all cases weve just been crowded round the TV watching Kenny Richey being interviewed by This Morning after...

The waterboarding row rumbles on. Theres a lot of coverage of remarks from the US Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, whos been giving his take on the issue. Waterboarding would be excruciating," hes quoted as saying in...

I'm standing outside the US embassy in Grosvenor Square, London W1 and infront of me is my colleague Dougald, looking cold and miserable in a tiny cell with iron bars , wearing an orange boiler suit. We're here as part of Amnesty's all...

The papers have been full of news of Kenny Richeys return to the UK. Kenny, who has spent 20 years on death row in the American state of Ohio after he was dubiously convicted for starting a fire that killed his ex-girlfriends two year...

The news is full of surprises today. Hillary beats Obama to second place in the New Hampshire primary, the BBC reports that Kenny Richeys flight from Chicago to Edinburgh has been delayed due to bad weather, and people can now sing...

Well be welcoming Kenny Richey back to the UK from Ohios death row tomorrow, but for me today is devoted to preparing for the anniversary of illegal US detentions at Guantanamo Bay. So todays blog is a plea for your help. This Friday...

Kenny Richey , the Scottish man who was on death row for nearly 21 years is due to be released tonight! Hed already won his main appeal and in a typical American legal deal, he is now pleading no contest to reduced charges of...

Amnesty has been at the forefront of campaigning against violence against women over recent years and its through this work that some of the most harrowing tales of human rights abuses reach our desks. This week its been the issue of...

Some bad news today for freedom of expression Saudi Arabia has confirmed the arrest of Fouad al-Farhan , one of the countrys most respected bloggers. Like many countries where the offline media is tightly controlled, blogging has...

One of my brothers once described New Year as a triumph of hope over expectation. And so it is as we bid farewell to 2007 with bloodshed on the streets of Pakistan and welcome 2008 with horrific killings in Kenya. We hope for peace and...

So the Omagh bombing trial has collapsed and nearly a decade on theres still no justice for the 29 victims of the worst terrorist atrocity in Northern Ireland. Its a sad pattern across the world that far too few mass killers are ever...

You wait ages for a bus and then two come along at the same time, goes the expression. Yesterday the equivalent happened with a couple of significant successes for our campaigning and were still busy handling all the media follow-up...

So Fidel Castro has hinted that he may soon step down from the leadership in Cuba to make room for the younger generation. Should that happen, lets hope that a new leadership would guarantee the full respect of human rights for the...