Amnesty International

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China Gets 'Gold Medal' for Executions

World leader doesn't report thousands more, Amnesty says

(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,...

Zimbabwe Opposition Claims Victory

Early pronouncement will be dealt with as a 'coup'

(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...

Abuse Charges Dog Zimbabwe
 Abuse Charges Dog Zimbabwe  

Abuse Charges Dog Zimbabwe

Intimidation of opposition alleged ahead of Saturday elections

(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...

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

Prisoner finally freed without charge was hung upside down, beaten

(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...

China Off US Rights Blacklist
 China Off US Rights Blacklist 

China Off US Rights Blacklist

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

(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...

US Makes Canadian Torture List
US Makes Canadian Torture List

US Makes Canadian Torture List

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

(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...

The Taser Party: Chicks Dig It
The Taser Party: Chicks Dig It

The Taser Party: Chicks Dig It

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

(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...

Britain Frees Guantanamo Four
Britain Frees Guantanamo Four

Britain Frees Guantanamo Four

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

(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...

Report Details Botched US Executions

Amnesty: Injection doesn't yield painless death as advertised

(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...

Vatican Shuns Amnesty International
Vatican Shuns Amnesty International

Vatican Shuns Amnesty International

Church urges Catholics to withhold support after shift on abortion

(Newser) - The Vatican is calling on Catholics to stop contributing to Amnesty International, a reaction to the human rights group's new stance on abortion. "AI has betrayed its mission," a prominent cardinal said this week, referring to the April announcement that the organization supports access to abortion services in...

Rights Groups Pressure US
Rights Groups Pressure US

Rights Groups Pressure US

Report urges release of info on "disappeared" terror suspects

(Newser) - Six prominent human rights groups want the US to disclose the whereabouts of 39 terrorism suspects, or "ghost prisoners," believed to have been in government custody. The organizations released a report today charging that children as young as 7 have been detained, invoking the loaded term "disappeared,...

Amnesty Faults Sudan for Arming Darfur

Planes disguised as U.N. aircraft to foil arms embargo

(Newser) - Amnesty International accuses Sudan of violating the UN arms embargo with the help of  Security Council members Russia and China. The human rights group claims the Khartoum government is using planes disguised as all-white UN aircraft to move military equipment into the embattled region where 200,000 people have already...

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