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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: Amnesty International

Amnesty International stories: 23 news summaries

1 - 20 of 23 Stories | 1 2 Next >>

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Amnesty: Israel Is Denying Palestinians Water

Report slams Israel's 'total domination' of water supplies

Oct 27, 09 3:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Israel is guzzling the region's water supply to keep its farmland lush and its lawns green while many Palestinians struggle to get the bare minimum for life, according to an Amnesty International report. The report accuses Israel of using its "total control" over water supplies to discriminate against Palestinians... More »

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Israel • water • Gaza • Amnesty International • West Bank • Israel and Palestinians • water restrictions • Jewish settlers

China Says It Will Slash Executions

With 72% of the world's capital punishment, they've got a ways to go

Jul 29, 09 10:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - China holds more executions yearly than any other country—but this week, state media announced China will be more forgiving, the New York Times reports. Only “an extremely small number” should be executed, said the vice president of the Supreme People’s Court. In 2008, Amnesty International claims, China... More »

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China • death penalty • execution • Amnesty International • criminal justice

 Torture Tools For Sale 
 to Nicest Bidder 

Collection of medieval flesh-rippers to be sold to aid human rights organizations

May 16, 09 12:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - A huge collection of medieval tongue tearers, thumbscrews, and assorted flesh-rippers is hitting the auction block soon, but ghouls and dictators won't be welcome bidders, the Los Angeles Times reports. The owner—moved to sell the inherited collection by the debate on Bush-era harsh interrogation—is keen to ensure it... More »

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torture • Amnesty International • auction • antique

 UN: Sri Lanka 
 Conflict a 
 'Bloodbath' 

Aid groups urge Japan to push for Security Council action

May 11, 09 10:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - After intense weekend fighting, the UN says the battle between rebels and the government in Sri Lanka has become a “bloodbath,” the New York Times reports. A government doctor estimates 1,000 civilians died in the heavy shelling of the small coastal area occupied by a few hundred... More »

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United Nations • Japan • Sri Lanka • Tamil Tigers • Amnesty International • Human Rights Watch • rebels • UN Security Council • Sri Lankan Army • Tamils

Amnesty Moves to Stop 128
Iraqi Executions

Says international standards may have been ignored in trials

Mar 13, 09 10:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Amnesty International has called for Iraq not to execute 128 prisoners sentenced to death, saying their trials may not have conformed with international rules, Reuters reports. Amnesty says Iraq should release the names of and charges against the prisoners, noting that capital punishment is an ineffective threat when suicide bombing... More »

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Iraq • death penalty • execution • Amnesty International • capital punishment • international law

 Gambian Missionaries 
 Imprisoned for Insult 

Couple called ruler  'a madman'

Dec 31, 08 3:19 AM CST
(Newser) - A British missionary couple has been sentenced to a year's hard labor in one of Africa's toughest prisons for calling the despotic president of Gambia "a madman" in an email, reports the Times of London. The parents of three apologized for the insult, hoping for leniency. More »

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Amnesty International • Christian missionaries • The Gambia • David Fulton • Fiona Fulton • Yahya Jammeh • Banjul • Westhoughton Pentecostal Church

Britain Buzzes Over Plan to Give Bobbies Tasers

Opponents fret over potential misuse, loss of gentle image

Dec 11, 08 1:45 PM CST
(Newser) - A plan to outfit London’s iconic, and traditionally unarmed, bobbies with Tasers has lawmakers and police worrying about potential misuse and tarnishing the UK’s gentle image—which has included arms-free policing since 1829, the Christian Science Monitor notes. Over the past 20 years, 37 officers have been killed... More »

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London • police • Amnesty International • Taser • police brutality

Amnesty: China Broke Promises of Free Speech

Olympic committee
has hushed dissent despite 2001 vow

Jul 29, 08 11:13 AM CDT
(Newser) - Ten days ahead of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony, Amnesty International charged that China hasn’t welched on promises of freedom for activists and journalists it made when it was awarded the Games. “The Chinese authorities are tarnishing the legacy of the Games,” said a rep who called... More »

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China • Beijing • Amnesty International • 2008 Beijing Olympics • journalism • International Olympic Committee • freedom of speech • activists

Dissonant Ads Put Agency in Olympic Bind

Pitches for Adidas, Amnesty conflict—and inflame China opinion

Jul 14, 08 10:18 AM CDT
(Newser) - A major advertising firm finds itself in an awkward predicament, the Wall Street Journal reports, after realizing it produced ads to drum up patriotic support for Chinese athletes in the Beijing Olympics as well as graphic spots criticizing China's human-rights record for Amnesty International. New York-based TBWA Worldwide has renounced... More »

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human rights • advertising • Amnesty International • 2008 Beijing Olympics • Adidas • TBWA • ad campaign

 Rowling Casts Spell at Harvard 

Fight the monsters, she urges

Jun 6, 08 7:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - Harry Potter birth mom JK Rowling yesterday urged Harvard graduates at their commencement to use their imaginations on more than wizards and muggles to envision—and create—a better world. She recalled the rewarding time she spent when she was younger working for prisoners of totalitarian regimes for Amnesty International.... More »

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Harry Potter • JK Rowling • Amnesty International • wizard • political prisoner • Harvard • Albus Dumbledore • commencement speech

 Amnesty Again Demands
 Gitmo Closure 

'World leaders are in a state of denial' on human-rights abuses, group charges

May 28, 08 11:46 AM CDT
(Newser) - The US has “distinguished itself in recent years through defiance of international law,”  says human-rights advocate Amnesty International in its annual reports, released today. The group called for the closure of Guantanamo Bay and other secret detention centers , the New York Times reports, and the prosecution of... More »

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Darfur • human rights • Amnesty International • 2008 Beijing Olympics • Guantanamo Bay • Chechnya • human rights violations • human rights activists

China Gets
'Gold Medal'
for Executions

World leader doesn't report thousands more, Amnesty says

Apr 15, 08 8:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - China's 470 executions in 2007 make it the world's leader, according to Amnesty International's annual report on the worldwide state of capital punishment. But even that number is likely low, the group says, with the real number probably in the thousands. "China gets the 'gold medal' for global executions,... More »

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China • death penalty • lethal injection • execution • Amnesty International • capital punishment

 Zimbabwe Opposition 
 Claims Victory 

Early pronouncement will be dealt with as a  'coup'

Mar 30, 08 6:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Zimbabwe opposition is claiming victory in national elections to unseat long-time leader Robert Mugabe—but government authorities quickly warned that premature pronouncements would be dealt with harshly. "It is called a coup d'etat and we all know how coups are handled," warned a government spokesman. Authorities plan... More »

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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Amnesty International • Harare • HIV/AIDS • Zimbabwe elections

 Abuse Charges Dog Zimbabwe  

Intimidation of opposition alleged ahead of Saturday elections

Mar 26, 08 7:23 PM CDT
(Newser) - Robert Mugabe's government is harassing and intimidating opposition groups in the run-up to Zimbabwe's Saturday elections, human-rights organizations charge. Three members of an opposition party were forced by intelligence officers to take down their election posters and eat them, complains Amnesty International. The US has also raised concerns about the... More »

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Zimbabwe • Robert Mugabe • Morgan Tsvangirai • Amnesty International • Movement for Democratic Change • Zimbabwe elections • Zanu-PF

US 'Buried' Tortured Yemeni in Jail for Years: Rights Group

Prisoner finally freed without charge was hung upside down, beaten

Mar 14, 08 5:10 AM CDT
(Newser) - A Yemeni man was held by the US in secret prisons for nearly three years and subjected to torture after his capture in Iraq, a human rights group has charged in a condemnation of America's "cruel" defiance of international law. The man, Khaled al-Maqtari, was held in Baghdad's notorious... More »

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Iraq • War on Terror • CIA • torture • Abu Ghraib • secret prisons • Amnesty International • Yemen • George W. Bush

 China Off US Rights Blacklist 

State Dept. report drops China from top 10 worst abusers despite poor record

Mar 12, 08 10:26 AM CDT
(Newser) - The State Department has taken China off its list of the world's 10 worst human rights abusers, the New York Times reports. China's human rights record "remained poor," the department's annual report said, with abuses including "extrajudicial killings, torture, and coerced confessions of prisoners." Officials declined... More »

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China • Iran • Russia • North Korea • torture • Zimbabwe • Syria • human rights • Sudan • State Department • Cuba • Amnesty International • 2008 Beijing Olympics • Belarus • Burma • human rights abuse • Eritrea • human rights violations • Uzbekistan

US Makes Canadian Torture List

'Torture awareness' manual for diplomats includes US, Syria, Israel, Iran

Jan 18, 08 6:40 AM CST
(Newser) - The US, along with China, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, and Israel, is listed in an official Canadian foreign ministry document of countries where prisoners are at risk of torture, the BBC reports. The "torture awareness" training manual classifies as torture some US interrogation techniques, including forced nudity, isolation, and sleep... More »

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Afghanistan • China • Iran • Israel • torture • Syria • Canada • United States • Amnesty International • Guantanamo Bay • sleep deprivation • interrogation techniques • Canadian foreign ministry • isolation • torture list

The Taser Party: Chicks Dig It

Self-defense-minded women seek something a little more shocking

Jan 6, 08 2:41 PM CST
(Newser) - At-home female entrepreneurs are ditching Mary Kay for Tasers, but they're keeping the pink. Taser International is marketing its user-friendly C2 "personal protector" to the public, and women with an interest in self-defense are holding independent Taser parties in states where the stun gun is legal. "It's a... More »

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feminism • Amnesty International • Taser • stun gun • sexual violence • self defense • Tupperware • Taser C2 • Mary Kay

Britain Frees Guantanamo Four

After months of negotiations, four of five prisoners will be freed

Dec 8, 07 5:54 AM CST
(Newser) - Four British residents imprisoned for years at Guantanamo Bay will be released, the BBC reports. US and UK officials involved in negotiations since August came to a compromise on the fates of five men the US claimed were connected to al-Qaeda. Of the four released, three will return to the... More »

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Amnesty International • Britain • Guantanamo prisoners

Report Details Botched US Executions

Amnesty: Injection doesn't yield painless death as advertised

Oct 4, 07 12:50 PM CDT
(Newser) - Despite advocates' claims, lethal injection isn’t humane or painless, and it should be stopped in the US, Amnesty International asserts in a new report. Since the practice was instituted in 37 states in 2000, at least nine lethal injections have been bungled, including one in which the condemned took... More »

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death penalty • Texas • lethal injection • Amnesty International • capital punishment

1 - 20 of 23 Stories | 1 2 Next >>


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