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Jan 4 2011 4:28PM
Scrapping control orders: it's about justice, not politics

Judging by the increasing media noise in the UK about control orders, it sounds like something is finally about to happen regarding UK counter-terrorism policy. Speculation about the political battles going on behind the scenes should...

Dec 24 2010 11:55AM
2010: the years top ten human rights stories (part 2)

Yesterday I tore myself away from the Lib Dems tapes story and updates on "weather chaos" and people's last-minute Christmas shopping long enough to post the first five of my top ten human rights stories of 2010. Here are the next five...

Dec 23 2010 12:54PM
2010: the years top ten human rights stories (part 1)

Blimey, what a year. And here’s my take on it. In this two-part post – one today, one tomorrow – I’m giving you my top ten human rights stories from 2010. In no particular order – only rough chronology – here then are the first five...

Dec 22 2010 1:22PM
Is war really on the horizon for Ivory Coast?

With the UN calling for reinforcements to support its troops in Ivory Coast while saying there’s a “real risk” of civil war , and as France tells its citizens to get out of the country as soon as possible, it looks increasingly...

Dec 21 2010 1:33PM
Do they know its Christmas in Iraq, Egypt, India, the DRC?

After that mightily big Assange interview on the Today programme this morning they rounded off the programme with one of those “light” items at 8.55 where a couple of semi-regular guests chat about something topical. Today it was The...

Dec 20 2010 4:39PM
Belarus: theres no such thing as a dictatorship, just human rights abuse

There’s no such thing as bad weather, the Russians say , just bad clothing. I take the point. Wear leaky leather-soled shoes (like me!) and you’ll slither around in the snow with freezing cold feet. We Brits cling on to our skimpy...

Dec 17 2010 5:16PM
civil unrest in Ivory Coast

The unrest across the Ivory Coast following the elections shows no sign of abating. As Amnesty reported at least nine unarmed protestors were shot dead by security forces. The Guardian reports how Alassane Ouattara’s supporters intend...

Dec 16 2010 11:35AM
Back in June: football failure, violence in Kyrgyzstan

Back in the days before England were thrashed by Germany and dumped out of the World Cup – and obviously back before Sepp Blatter was making “jokes” about abstinent gay football fans in Qatar in 2022 – I remember being in a pub in east...

Dec 15 2010 4:57PM
Greetings from Bethlehem

Here in the Amnesty press team we posted our greetings cards yesterday. Just in time to arrive just before Christmas I think. Yet as I was signing them, I realised just how little I’d done so far to prepare for the festive season. As...

Dec 14 2010 6:28PM
The laughing Sudanese policeman

As even the occasional reader of my posts may have noticed, I like to slip in the odd musical reference. It’s a foible of mine. Anyway, here it is. When I was young (long, long ago) I always seemed to be hearing so-called “novelty...

Dec 10 2010 2:58PM
Iran Sakineh stoning - another TV 'confession' hampers justice yet further

A confusing night last night for those of us following the case of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the woman still facing execution by stoning (or hanging) in Iran for the ‘crime’ of adultery. Reports first said that she may have been...

Dec 9 2010 1:57PM
The UN must investigate urgently

Revelation, exposition, naming and shaming, turfing up the past- this is the stuff that has dominated the news over the last weeks since WikiLeaks started to gradually and systematically haemorrhage its latest haul of content. Yet...

Dec 8 2010 5:01PM
Oslo no show

At first it sounds like the sort of administrative disaster that most party hosts dread. Having elected to give an award to someone, as the day approaches it transpires that they can’t come, and neither can any member of their...

Dec 7 2010 12:23PM
Ramze Shihab Ahmed: lost in Iraqs chaotic justice system

Here’s a question for you. What were you doing on 7 December 2009? Come on, I’ll have to hurry you. (Have a think about it and let me know later). OK, silly question, but I’m asking because exactly one year ago the UK-Iraqi dual...

Dec 6 2010 11:53AM
Wake up to the reality of caning

How can anyone anywhere justify torture? It just absolutely baffles me. This morning, we launched a report into caning in Malaysia with an accompanying video. Caning may be a legacy of British rule, but the UK ditched the practice...

Dec 3 2010 1:34PM
The World Cup. Falling foul of the rules (and we're not talking offside)

I have been known to complain bitterly to my colleagues when we look at what’s in the media each day about the prominence of what I describe as “sport purporting to be news”. The one that really got to me was Pakistan cricket in the...

Dec 2 2010 3:31PM
Mr President, we dont have a warrant for your arrest: the UK goes soft on war crimes

On a busy news day yesterday (snow chaos, more WikiLeaks bombshells, mounting anticipation over the Fifa world cup decision: congrats Russia, by the way) the government slipped out a very important item on the procedures for issuing...

Dec 1 2010 2:29PM
WAGs: not a laughing matter in Iran

I must confess I never got to see the sensational ITV series Footballers’ Wives and therefore I missed out on the story of “ordinary women, struggling to keep their marriages intact while their husbands dazzle the crowds on the pitch”...

Nov 30 2010 4:13PM
From here to eternity: the Gaza blockade

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...

Nov 29 2010 4:50PM
Lethal injection drug exports will be controlled but its all going to happen again soon

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...

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