Human Rights

As Judge Orders Release Of Tortured Guantanamo Prisoner, Government Refuses To Concede Defeat

On Thursday, in a long-anticipated ruling (PDF), Judge Ellen Segan Huvelle granted the habeas corpus petition of Mohamed Jawad, an Afghan teenager seized after a grenade attack on a jeep containing two U.S. soldiers and an Afghan translator in December 2002, and ordered the government to transfer him to the custody of the Afghan authorities, who have already stated that he will be released on arrival.

Posted in guantanamo, Human Rights, preventive detention, rule of law

Helping the Victims of Guantánamo

During the years of incarceration and abuse in Guantánamo it seemed inconceivable that the notorious US military prison facility would close any time soon. And yet, within a day of his inauguration the new US president, Barack Obama, promised the world, in no uncertain terms, that the world's most infamous prison's days were numbered. As of today, that's 190 days – and counting.

Posted in guantanamo, Human Rights

Migrants to Italy Face 'A Kind of Slavery': OIM

ROME - Thousands of migrants are being lured to Italy with false promises of work and forced to live in conditions akin to slavery, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday.

In a study of a migrant camp near the town of San Nicola Varco, 100 km (63 miles) south of Naples, IOM officials found some 1,200 migrants squatting in abandoned buildings without water and electricity, eking a living among piles of rubbish.

Posted in Human Rights

And We Call This Progress?

Bauxite mountains are part of a very delicate ecosystem. The mining of bauxite and the process by which it is turned into aluminum is among the most toxic, environmentally devastating processes imaginable.

Posted in climate change, Human Rights, mining

'Regulating' Mountaintop Removal or Sanctioning Human Rights Abuses?

Mired in the acrobatics of regulatory doublespeak, the Obama administration's increasing oversight of the unbearable daily toll on Appalachian coalfield residents from mountaintop removal begs the question: Are Obama's well-meaning but irresolute environmental administrators abetting the crimes of human rights violations and historicide?

Posted in coal, Environment, Human Rights, mountaintop removal

Hundreds May Have Died in Iranian Clashes After Poll, Say Human Rights Campaigners

Hundreds more people may have died in Iran's post-election unrest than the authorities have admitted, amid allegations that the death toll has been obscured by hiding victims' bodies in secret morgues.

Human rights campaigners say anecdotal evidence suggests the number of demonstrators killed in clashes with government forces after last month's poll was far higher than the official death toll of 20 and may amount to a "massacre".

Posted in Human Rights, Iran

Bhopal: The Hiroshima of the Chemical Industry

BHOPAL - Unable to steer safely in the mud, the driver of our rickshaw pulls into the side of the road to allow us to take shelter from torrential rain. There, under a shop's awning, a small crowd of people are standing together waiting for the weather to break. They include Sapna Sharma and her brother-in-law, Sanjay. Sanjay is holding his 18-month-old nephew, Anshul, who has kohl-rimmed eyes and silver bracelets on his ankles. As we stand talking, some of the people start pointing to the child's hands and feet while speaking animatedly to us in Hindi.

Posted in bhopal, Environment, Health, Human Rights, pollution, India

From Climate Science to Climate Justice: Climate Change a Symptom of Man's Inhumanity to Man

G-8 leaders agreed yesterday to the "'aspirational' goal of preventing global temperatures from rising more than 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit," according to the New York Times.

Which reinforces the fact that we persist in speaking about climate change as if it were just a technical problem related to CO2 emissions and temperature rises.

Not only is that dry, it's true only to a point.

Posted in climate change, Human Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 10, 2009
10:34 AM

CONTACT: Amnesty International
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7413 5566
After hours: +44 7778 472 126
Email: press@amnesty.org

Authorities Widen Crackdown After Xinjiang Riots in China, Says Amnesty International

WASHINGTON - July 10 - Chinese president Hu Jintao's threats of severe punishment for those who took part in the recent unrest in Xinjiang failed to address the serious human rights violations at the root of Uighur grievances, Amnesty International said.

At a meeting last night, President Hu and other state leaders called for stability and unity in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), and blamed the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism for masterminding and organizing the riots.

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Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.

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Posted in Human Rights, China

Niger Delta Standoff

Behind fighter-planes and gunboats, Nigerian forces launched a full-scale offensive in the Niger Delta on May 13, displacing 30,000 people and sparking a humanitarian crisis. Thousands of civilians fleeing destroyed villages are now trapped between armed resistance groups and the Nigerian military. These civilians are hiding in the bush without food, water, or medical supplies, let alone Internet access to alert the world of their plight, as Iranians are doing via Twitter.

Posted in Human Rights, oil, nigeria