tagged w/ Amnesty International
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After more than two and a half months of being detained, the world-famous artist and political activist Ai Weiwei has finally been released, according to Chinese state media.
The Chinese police said they released Ai on bail after he confessed to tax evasion and also because he suffers from a chronic disease.
Ai was the most high-profile dissident arrested during a widespread crackdown on rights lawyers, bloggers and activists in China this spring, drawing international attention and condemnation.
China's state Xinhua news agency reported that Ai was willing to repay the taxes he reportedly owed.
Ai's relatives said they did not know where the artist was being held after he was taken into custody at Beijing's airport.
"He has not come back yet. The police haven't told us he has been released. Journalists called us and told us about the Xinhua report," Ai's sister Gao Ge told AFP late on Wednesday. Ai's mobile is still switched off and his wife and lawyer could not be immediately reached by the news agency.
The burly, bearded avant-garde artist has angered authorities with his involvement in a number of sensitive activist campaigns and his criticism of the ruling Communist Party.
Britain, the United States, Australia, France and Germany joined Amnesty International and other rights groups in calling for the release of Ai, born in 1957, whose work was shown in London's Tate Modern gallery earlier this year.
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/23/3251040.htmAfter more than two and a half months of being detained, the world-famous artist and... more
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http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/amnesty-says-vedantas-orissa-unit-poses-health-risk-co-refutes/137340/on
Rights group Amnesty International today said red mud pond, containing toxic residue, at Vedanta's aluminium refinery in Orissa poses "serious health risks" to local people, a contention denied by the mining major.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedanta_Resources#Criticism
The NGO Amnesty International has also come to criticize the company's record on human rights. It has stated, "[I]t is clear that Vedanta Resources and its subsidiaries […] have failed to respect the human rights of the people of Lanjigarh and the Niyamgiri Hills." They add, "The proposed bauxite mine […] threatens the survival of a protected Indigenous community […] However, these risks have been largely ignored and consultation with and disclosure of information to affected communities have been almost non-existent."
Cartoon by Khalil Bendib.http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/amnesty-says-vedantas-orissa-unit-poses-hea... more
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Elmer 'Geronimo' Pratt, a former Black Panther leader, dies in Tanzania
June 2, 2011 | 7:36 pm
Elmer G. "Geronimo" Pratt, a former Los Angeles Black Panther Party leader who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he says he did not commit and whose case became a symbol of racial injustice during the turbulent 1960s, has died. He was 63.
Pratt died at his home in a small village in Tanzania, where he had been living with his wife and child, according to Stuart Hanlon, a San Francisco attorney who helped overturn Pratt's murder conviction. Hanlon said he was informed of the death by Pratt's sister.
Pratt's case became a cause celebre for elected officials, Amnesty International, clergy and celebrities who believed he was framed by the government because he was African American and a member of the Black Panthers.
"Geronimo was a powerful leader," Hanlon told The Times. "For that reason he was targeted."
Pratt was convicted in 1972 and sentenced to life in prison for the 1968 fatal shooting of Caroline Olsen and the serious wounding of her husband, Kenneth, in a robbery that netted $18. The case was overturned in 1997 by an Orange County Superior Court judge who ruled that prosecutors at Pratt's murder trial had concealed evidence that could have led to his acquittal.
Pratt maintained that the FBI knew he was innocent because the agency had him under surveillance in Oakland when the murder was committed in Santa Monica.
Photo: Elmer G. Pratt (left)
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Elmer 'Geronimo' Pratt, a former Black Panther leader, dies in Tanzania... more
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http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/30/egypt.virginity.tests/index.html?hpt=T1
Egyptian general admits 'virginity checks' conducted on protesters
From Shahira Amin, For CNN
May 30, 2011 9:46 p.m. EDT
Cairo (CNN) -- A senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.
The allegations arose in an Amnesty International report, published weeks after the March 9 protest. It claimed female demonstrators were beaten, given electric shocks, strip-searched, threatened with prostitution charges and forced to submit to virginity checks.
At that time, Maj. Amr Imam said 17 women had been arrested but denied allegations of torture or "virginity tests."
But now a senior general who asked not to be identified said the virginity tests were conducted and defended the practice.
"The girls who were detained were not like your daughter or mine," the general said. "These were girls who had camped out in tents with male protesters in Tahrir Square, and we found in the tents Molotov cocktails and (drugs)."
The general said the virginity checks were done so that the women wouldn't later claim they had been raped by Egyptian authorities.
"We didn't want them to say we had sexually assaulted or raped them, so we wanted to prove that they weren't virgins in the first place," the general said. "None of them were (virgins)."
This demonstration occurred nearly a month after Egypt's longtime President Hosni Mubarak stepped down amid a wave of popular and mostly peaceful unrest aimed at his ouster and the institution of democratic reforms.
Afterward, Egypt's military -- which had largely stayed on the sidelines of the revolution -- officially took control of the nation's political apparatus as well, until an agreed-upon constitution and elections.
The March 9 protest occurred in Tahrir Square, which became famous over 18 historic and sometimes bloody days and nights of protests that led to Mubarak's resignation.
But unlike in those previous demonstrations, the Egyptian military targeted the protesters. Soldiers dragged dozens of demonstrators from the square and through the gates of the landmark Egyptian Museum.
Salwa Hosseini, a 20-year-old hairdresser and one of the women named in the Amnesty report, described to CNN how uniformed soldiers tied her up on the museum's grounds, forced her to the ground and slapped her, then shocked her with a stun gun while calling her a prostitute.
"They wanted to teach us a lesson," Hosseini said soon after the Amnesty report came out. "They wanted to make us feel that we do not have dignity."
The treatment got worse, Hosseini said, when she and the 16 other female prisoners were taken to a military detention center in Heikstep.
There, she said, she and several of other female detainees were subjected to a "virginity test."
"We did not agree for a male doctor to perform the test," she said. But Hosseini said her captors forced her to comply by threatening her with more stun-gun shocks.
"I was going through a nervous breakdown at that moment," she recalled. "There was no one standing during the test, except for a woman and the male doctor. But several soldiers were standing behind us watching the backside of the bed. I think they had them standing there as witnesses."
The senior Egyptian general said the 149 people detained after the March 9 protest were subsequently tried in military courts, and most have been sentenced to a year in prison.
Authorities later revoked those sentences "when we discovered that some of the detainees had university degrees, so we decided to give them a second chance," he said.
The senior general reaffirmed that the military council was determined to make Egypt's democratic transition a success.
"The date for handover to a civil government can't come soon enough for the ruling military council," he said. "The army can't wait to return to its barracks and do what it does best -- protect the nation's borders."http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/05/30/egypt.virginity.tests/index.html?hpt=T1... more
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Egyptians held incommunicado in military detention, denied access to legal representation and failure to investigate torture claims raises questions about the Egyptian military’s – whose currently ruling the country by decree – commitment to upholding the rule of law in the revolutions’ aftermath, says Amnesty International in a new report.
http://simbarusseau.com/amnesty-egyptians-want-real-change-justice-and-human-rights/Egyptians held incommunicado in military detention, denied access to legal... more
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A year ago, during the Labor Day free concert in Rome on May 1st, the song "Genoa is burning", sang by Simone Cristicchi, on the events of Genoa 2001 excited the public but the police unions said it was a rubbish. Today, a year after, the same song wins the Amnesty Italy Award.
http://www.inaltreparole.net/en/music/genovabruciaamnestyitalia100411.htmlA year ago, during the Labor Day free concert in Rome on May 1st, the song "Genoa... more
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Countries which continue to use the death penalty are being left increasingly isolated following a decade of progress towards abolition, Amnesty International has said today in its new report Death Sentences and Executions in 2010.
A total of 31 countries abolished the death penalty in law or in practice during the last 10 years but China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the USA and Yemen remain amongst the most frequent executioners, some in direct contradiction of international human rights law.
The total number of executions officially recorded by Amnesty International in 2010 went down from at least 714 people in 2009 to at least 527 in 2010, excluding China.
China is believed to have executed thousands in 2010 but continues to maintain its secrecy over its use of the death penalty.
"The minority of states that continue to systematically use the death penalty were responsible for thousands of executions in 2010, defying the global anti-death penalty trend," said Salil Shetty, Amnesty International's Secretary General.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7F-PCDopKBkCountries which continue to use the death penalty are being left increasingly isolated... more
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Dr Manoharan has been fighting for 5 years to bring his son's murderers to court. This film follows the 70 year old doctor from Sri Lanka to London and the UN building in New York with a 50,000 strong petition for Amnesty International members. They demand Justice for the thousands of victims lost or killed in Sri Lanka, as a UN report is written on accountability for war crimes committed in the Sri Lankan armed conflict.
It must be made public, Amnesty International said as a panel of experts submitted their findings to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Thanks to Joi for providing music for the soundtrack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElNAsxuLQpIDr Manoharan has been fighting for 5 years to bring his son's murderers to court.... more
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Amnesty International today unveiled the latest tool to take action for human rights, the AiCandle. The iPhone application is the fastest way for people to join in campaigns to end human rights abuses.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bBCHab9PpoAmnesty International today unveiled the latest tool to take action for human rights,... more
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China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen and the US carried out the most executions last year according to Amnesty International's annual death penalty report.
The five countries bucked the global trends towards abolition of the death penalty.
China: The main kulprit
China was (again) by far the world's most prolific executioner killing thousands but Amnesty can not provide a precise figure of executions in China as Beijing keeps these figures secret.
There is some movement in China to cut the number of crimes that carry the death penalty, which applies to no less than 68 crimes. If the changes are passed the death penalty would be removed for such non-violent crimes as tax fraud, and for smuggling valuables and cultural relics. Amendments to the criminal code may also remove it as a punishment for those over 75. In all, the changes would affect 13 death penalty offences.
Iran, North Korea, Yemen, U.S.
If you take China out of the equation Anesty said at least 527 executions were carried out last year. Almost half of those took place in Iran (252). North Korea executed 60, Yemen 53 and the US 46. The minimum number of executions was down from at least 714 in 2009.
Methods of execution included beheading, electrocution, hanging, lethal injection and various kinds of shooting (by firing squad, and at close range to the heart or the head).
No stonings were recorded in 2010, but stoning sentences were reported in Nigeria, Pakistan and Iran, where at least 10 women and four men remain under stoning sentences.
At least 2,024 new death sentences were imposed during 2010 in 67 countries, including 365 in Pakistan alone, meaning it has some 8,000 people currently on death row.
Amnesty expressed particular alarm that a significant proportion of executions or death sentences recorded in 2010 were for drug-related offences. They accounted for more than half of 114 sentences in Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates ignored international prohibitions and imposed death sentences on child offenders -people aged 17 or less when alleged crimes were committed, with Iran executing one such offender named as Mohammad A.
The underlying trend on the death penalty, however, is strongly toward abolition, Amnesty said, with 31 countries removing the punishment in law or in practice in the last 10 years. Last year, Gabon became the 139th country to either abolish the penalty outright or to cease to use it in practice.
Source: Amnesty International and The Guardian.
China, Iran, North Korea, Yemen and the US carried out the most executions... more
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International human rights group Amnesty International is still waiting for a report from the Egyptian armed forces regarding the status of detainees not found guilty of having committed any crimes. On February 10, 2011, it alleged that at least 119 people were detained by the army and at least five people were tortured. By other estimates those numbers are well into the hundreds. Today, an Egyptian military source has denied Amnesty's allegations regarding unlawful arrest and torture. At the same time on Thursday, Amnesty declared that it had received 'reports from a number of demonstrators who claimed they had been arrested and tortured by elements of the armed forces in the last few days of the protests.'
The same military source indicated that current detainees were being investigated, and that those found innocent during the recent demonstrations would be released.
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Egyptian army still detaining protesters; denies torture claims - National Foreign Policy | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/foreign-policy-in-national/egyptian-army-still-detaining-protesters-denies-torture-claims#ixzz1EGS6Gga1International human rights group Amnesty International is still waiting for a report... more
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Appeal for release of Amnesty International representative detained by Egyptian government.Appeal for release of Amnesty International representative detained by Egyptian... more
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Imagine the leader of a European country said this ... Oh they did!!
"That’s enough of that. There won’t be any more silly democracy, muddle-headed democracy in the country.”
President Lukashenka of Belarus on 20 December 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0esWwxjiHCoImagine the leader of a European country said this ... Oh they did!!... more
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There is no security for the women and girls in the camps. They feel abandoned and vulnerable to being attacked. Armed gangs attack at will; safe in the knowledge that there is still little prospect that they will be brought to justice. Watch our video here and help us raise international awareness to end violence against women in Haiti. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8xb94sfIEQThere is no security for the women and girls in the camps. They feel abandoned and... more
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Human rights group slams life sentence for Indian doctor
By Moni Basu, CNN
December 25, 2010 1:56 p.m. EST
Photo: Binayak Sen waves as he's taken to court in Raipur, India, in 2008.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* Dr. Binayak Sen is accused of helping Maoist rebels in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh
* Sen, an award-winning public health specialist, denies the charges
* Amnesty International said the charges of sedition and conspiracy were politically motivated
(CNN) -- A life sentence handed down to a rural pediatrician in the world's largest democracy had human rights activists screaming a mockery of justice Saturday.
A court in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh found Dr. Binayak Sen and two others guilty of sedition and conspiracy Friday for helping India's Maoist Naxalite movement. They were sentenced to life in jail.
Amnesty International blasted the court's actions as a violation of international fair trial standards and said Binayak's sentence was likely to enflame tensions in an area already clouded by conflict.
Amnesty said the charges were politically motivated because Sen reported the unlawful killings of tribal people by police and a private militia believed to be sponsored by the government to fight Maoist rebels.
"Life in prison is an unusually harsh sentence for anyone, much less for an internationally recognized human rights defender who has never been charged with any act of violence," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific director.
"State and federal authorities in India should immediately drop these politically motivated charges against Dr. Sen and release him."
Soli Sorabjee, a former attorney general of India, also criticized the Sen verdict on CNN's sister network, CNN-IBN.
"It is a shocking judgement," he said. "There has been a complete misinterpretation of what sedition means. At this rate no human rights activist will be safe in the country."
Binayak's lawyers intend to appeal the sentence and Sorabjee said they have a good chance at succeeding in a higher court.
Three decades ago, Sen and his wife, Ilina, went to live and work in Chhattisgarh, where he was considered a pioneer of public health in one of India's poorest areas.
He gained international recognition as a human rights defender and won several accolades including the Jonathan Mann Award for Global Health and Human Rights. Twenty-two Nobel laureates from around the world appealed for his release to the Indian authorities, including the prime minister and president.
Sen was detained in 2007 for colluding with Maoist rebels and has been behind bars since then.
He denies the charges and said he has never condoned the kind of violence perpetrated by the guerrillas, called Naxalites after Naxalbari, a village in neighboring West Bengal state where they originated in the late 1960s.
Since then, the Naxalites have been waging a violent campaign to secure better living and working conditions for the working class and poor tribal people.
Over the years, Naxal groups have targeted Indian security forces in several impoverished eastern Indian states that have become known as the "Red Corridor." The slow-churning war has killed about 2,000 people, including civilians.
In the past two days, four political activists were killed in West Bengal, said state police. Two were abducted and slain by suspected Naxals. Police arrested two rebels.
The Indian government outlawed the Naxals as terrorists and considers the movement the greatest internal security threat to the nation.
Sen was convicted of being a conduit between Naxals. The government said he had met Naxalite leader Narayan Sanyal in jail, CNN-IBN said.
Sanyal and Piyush Guha, a businessman from Kolkata, were also sentenced to life in prison.
Sen has acknowledged that the Naxals have voiced legitimate concerns of ordinary Indians but told told India's Tehelka magazine that they are an "invalid and unsustainable movement."
The magazine described Sen's case this way:
"The story of Binayak Sen is the story of the dangerously thin ice India's democratic rights skim on. The story of every dangerous schism in India today: State versus people. Urban versus rural. Unbridled development versus human need. Blind law versus natural justice.
"It is the story of an India unraveling at the seams," Tehelka said. "The story of unjust things that happen -- unreported -- to thousands of innocent people, the story of unjust things waiting to happen to you and me, if we ever step off the rails of shining India to investigate what's happening in the rest of the country. Most of all, it is the story of what can be done to ordinary individuals when the State dons the garb of being under siege."
Sen's wife said she was disappointed and saddened by Indian justice.
"I can say with certainty that the evidence does not warrant this verdict and this conviction," Ilina Sen told CNN-IBN.
"One of the charges against Dr. Sen is conspiracy but I believe that conspiracy was really to frame him," she said. "I am sure if this case goes to any court that looks into the law, looks into the evidence and looks into the legal position, I am sure that the conviction will not hold."
CNN's Harmeet Shah Singh contributed to this report.Human rights group slams life sentence for Indian doctor
By Moni Basu, CNN
December... more
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Campaign by Amnesty International for rlease of jailed Iranian union activist Reza Shahabi.Campaign by Amnesty International for rlease of jailed Iranian union activist Reza... more
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