Human Rights

As I begin to compose this, I hear what sounds like artillery and rocket fire in the distance, mixed with occasional small arms and possible explosions. Most of their targets must be far away, because I don’t hear them hit.…

On May 12, 2013, Nathan Blanc was sentenced to a tenth term, of 28 days in prison. He had been released from military prison on Sunday, May 5, 2013, after serving a 20-day term for refusing to serve in the…

By Frank Arnold(1). Burnt with metal rods and cigarette butts? Maybe so, says the Border Agency, but you paid someone to do this to you. A surgeon with expertise in torture scars argues that ‘self-torture by proxy’ is a dangerous…

The Zambian authorities must immediately release two young men who have been denied bail after being arrested on charges of having sex “against the order of nature”, Amnesty International said. According to state media, police in Kapiri Mposhi in central…

A United Nations expert group today urged global clothing brands to work with Bangladesh, international organizations and civil society to improve working conditions in the country’s garment sector, following the collapse last month of a factory that left hundreds dead…

The upholding of a sentence against a blogger jailed for “insulting Islam” is yet another blow to freedom of expression in Tunisia, Amnesty International said. Jabeur Mejri’s conviction was today upheld by the Court of Cassation. The blogger was sentenced…

The US authorities must urgently end indefinite detention at Guantánamo Bay, Amnesty International said today after it was confirmed that more than half the detainees are now on hunger strike. As of 21 April, 84 of the 166 detainees held…

A majority of the NYC Council now supports legislation that would restore the rights of all documented residents to vote in municipal elections. With 28 co-sponsors, the bill is just six signatures shy of a veto-proof majority in the City…

In Hong Kong at the end of March, 2013,the Court of Final Appeal dismissed an appeal by Filipino domestic workers seeking permanent residency in the city. It also denied the HKSAR government’s request for referring the right of abode issue…

The United Nations human rights chief today urged all branches of the United States Government to work together to close the Guantánamo detention centre, stressing that the indefinite incarceration of detainees is a clear breach of international law. “I am…