How Many Different Ways Can the World Fail the Syrian People?

May 23, 2014 at 5:11 PM

The U.N. now numbers the total of displaced persons in Syria at 6.5 million. 2.8 million more have have fled the country and are now in refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan and elsewhere, overwhelming authorities in those countries (Photo Credit: Khalil Mazraawi/AFP/Getty Images).

How many different times can Russia and China stand against justice for human rights abuses in Syria?

Yesterday, Russia and China vetoed a French resolution before the United Nations Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigation of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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One Year After Factory Disaster, What Have We Learned?

By Simon Billenness

April 24, 2014 at 12:15 PM

The Rana Plaza catastrophe on the outskirts of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on April 24, 2013, that left 1,138 dead and more than 2,000 injured (Photo Credit: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images).

Today is the one-year anniversary of the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory building in Bangladesh, which left more than 1,100 workers dead and many more injured. The disaster has become the most shocking recent example of business-related human rights abuse, and the images of dead workers in the debris of the collapsed factory have become powerful symbols of the pursuit of profit at the expense of people.

The Rana Plaza building housed numerous garment factories supplying international clothing companies. Over the past year, there have been various initiatives to provide compensation to the victims, involving government, global brands, and the International Labor Organization (ILO). However, these efforts have so far proved insufficient, and survivors continue to suffer and struggle to support themselves and their families.

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How the Taliban Marked the New Year in Afghanistan

By Guest Writer

March 26, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Afghan independent civil society activists pay tribute to the victims of Taliban suicide attack on a restaurant in Kabul (Photo Credit: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images).

By Horia Mosadiq, Amnesty International Afghanistan Researcher

As soon as I told my family I was planning to return to Afghanistan at this time of year, they started to worry. Every year around now – Nowruz, when Afghans celebrate the New Year – the Taliban spring offensive starts.

This year, the added element of upcoming presidential elections on April 5 has heightened fears of attacks. My husband tried to convince me to postpone my visit, but I had already made my decision to return to finish the research I started last year with my colleague Joanne Mariner.

When I landed in Kabul, I heard from different people how the security situation has deteriorated – the driver on the way to my hotel, the shopkeepers, civil society workers and human rights defenders. The biggest worry was that the Taliban are increasingly targeting civilians.

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How Nigerians Are Fighting Back Against Oil Companies

By Guest Writer

March 14, 2014 at 12:00 PM

By Joe Westby, Amnesty International Corporate Campaigner and Onyekachi Okoro, Media for Justice Program, Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD)

“People are dying silently. The oil companies bring sickness to our communities,” a man from a polluted community in Nigeria’s Bayelsa state told us.

But when it comes to oil spills in the Niger Delta, it’s not what you’ve suffered or what you know; it’s what you can prove.

This simple fact has hampered communities from obtaining justice, even when their lives have been turned upside down by pollution. Because the oil companies have significant control over determining vital data about oil spills, the affected communities lack reliable and impartial information, meaning they can’t effectively tell their side of the story.

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The Word Secretary Kerry and Israel’s Prime Minister Couldn’t Bring Themselves to Say

By Sunjeev Bery

March 13, 2014 at 12:49 PM

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This post was originally published in The Hill under the title: “Call An Occupation An Occupation.”

In his speech on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said much of what one might have expected at the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. But what was most telling was the one word he didn’t utter: occupation.

It wasn’t just Netanyahu who steered clear of the word. So too did U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in his comments the night before. It is this act of repeated omission that adds so much confusion to the simple question of what concerned Americans must do to advance human rights in the region.

As a major supplier of arms and military aid to Israel, the U.S. government is not just a convener of “peace talks” and negotiations. It is also a major investor in the status quo, a state of affairs in which millions of Palestinian civilians face the risk of brutal violence from Israeli security forces simply for peacefully exercising their human rights. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Tech and Human Rights at #SXSW

By Christoph Koettl

March 10, 2014 at 10:46 AM

A cellphone can be both a powerful tool and a huge risk for human rights activists. Images and videos captured through mobile phones can reveal police brutality or even war crimes, as the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa have shown.

However, information saved on activists’ cell phones can also expose dissident networks or other sensitive data. During the recent protests in Ukraine, police reportedly used locations revealed through cell phones to track protestors.

The “digital arms race” between activists and repressive governments is the main focus of our SXSW panel Caught in the Act: Mobile Tech and Human Rights on Tuesday, March 11.

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ACT NOW: Take Action to Fight Back Against Nigeria’s Anti-LGBT Law

By Ian Lekus

March 7, 2014 at 12:45 PM

With the stroke of a pen, the President has essentially turned Nigeria into one of the world’s least tolerant societies (Photo Credit: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images).

In January, Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Jonathan, signed the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act into law. This act imposes a 14-year prison sentence for attempting to marry a partner of the same sex.

Nigerians convicted of same-sex public displays of affection, or of participating in organizations or meetings related to LGBT issues face ten years of jail time.

In the weeks since President Jonathan signed the law, Nigeria has seen a sharp increase in anti-LGBT mob violence and the arrest of dozens of LGBT people.

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Love is a Right, Hate is a Crime

By Adotei Akwei

February 28, 2014 at 9:44 AM

This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post and Amnesty International USA in the theme of “Bringing Human Rights Home.” Read all posts in the series here.

Over the weekend, Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni signed into law a bill that criminalizes being gay. Moreover, it criminalizes the “promotion of homosexuality,” which will directly impact human rights defenders, healthcare providers or others providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

These additional restrictions on top of already discriminatory policies directly undermine the human rights to privacy, health and freedom of expression and association – as the way the laws in Uganda and Nigeria have been written, conducting sex education or trainings on HIV and AIDS could be interpreted as promoting homosexuality and result in jail time of several years.

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Ethnic Cleansing: What We Learned in the Central African Republic

By Guest Writer

February 27, 2014 at 2:40 PM

The Central African Republic has been torn by bloody sectarian clashes since Muslim rebels ousted president Francois Bozize in March 2013 and replaced him with their leader Michel Djotodia, who was himself forced out last month (Photo Credit: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images).

The Central African Republic has been torn apart by bloody sectarian clashes since Muslim rebels ousted president Francois Bozize in March 2013 and replaced him with their leader Michel Djotodia, who was himself forced out last month (Photo Credit: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images).

By Natalia Taylor Bowdoin, Central African Republic Country Specialist

Last week, Amnesty met with the President of the Central African Republic – a country where clashes between the Christian majority and Muslim minority have resulted in war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Christian militias are carrying out violent attacks in an effort to drive Muslims from the country. In response, Amnesty is demanding that international peacekeeping forces stop the violence and station troops in towns where Muslims are threatened.

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What Everyone Ought to Know About Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law

By Adotei Akwei

February 27, 2014 at 10:34 AM

NOTE: This text is from a New York Times Letter to the Editor in response to the article “Ugandan President Signs Anti-Gay Bill.”

The new antigay law in Uganda is alarming and, sadly, not shocking. You note that it follows the passage of similar legislation in Nigeria and fits within a growing trend that Amnesty International reported on last July.

The developments in Uganda and Nigeria underscore the depth to which many African leaders are determined to go, not only to discriminate against a segment of their populations, but also to incite hatred and potentially acts of violence. It is a failure of their obligations, internationally and regionally, to protect the rights of people living within their borders and a failure of governance.

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Human Rights Now Blog

Tag Archives: communities at risk

How Many Different Ways Can the World Fail the Syrian People?

One Year After Factory Disaster, What Have We Learned?

How Nigerians Are Fighting Back Against Oil Companies

Tech and Human Rights at #SXSW

What Everyone Ought to Know About Uganda’s Anti-Gay Law