Amnesty International

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.

At least 55 people are believed to have been killed during a week of unrest in and around the Syrian town of Dera’a, Amnesty International said today as protests spread across the country.
Security forces opened fire on protesters in al-Sanamayn and carried out arrests in Damascus, according to reports on Friday, a day after the authorities pledged to investigate the violence

Amnesty International today revealed evidence of the Bahraini security forces’ systematic use of excessive force in cracking down against protesters, as fresh violence left as many as 8 people dead.
The organization documents how security forces used live ammunition and extreme force against protesters and impeded and assaulted medical staff trying to help the wounded.

The dramatic events in Egypt, Middle East & North Africa have seen millions taking to the streets to demand real change.
Women are standing beside men, demanding end to repression and calling for root and branch reform. Both women and men have suffered under repressive governments. But women have also coped with discriminatory laws and deeply entrenched gender inequality.

Amnesty International has called on the Saudi Arabian authorities to reverse the ban on peaceful protest, amid fears of a violent crackdown on mass demonstrations planned for Friday’s “Day of Rage”. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the foreign minister, said that “reform cannot be achieved through protests”, while the protest ban was backed by religious and security bodies.

Amnesty International has urged the Yemeni authorities to end its crackdown on anti-government demonstrations after two protesters were reported to have been killed in Sana’a.
They would be the first fatalities in the capital since the outbreak of unrest earlier this month and bring the total killed to 16, including 13 in the southern city of Aden.

Thousands of people rallied in cities across the world to demand respect for human rights in the Middle East and North Africa as part of a global day of action organized by Amnesty International.
Activists, trade unionists and students created a sea of red, black and white – the colours of the Egyptian flag – in countries from Switzerland to South Korea.

In response to dramatic developments in Egypt, Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said: “I congratulate the protesters for their extraordinary courage and commitment to achieve fundamental change.”
“Persistent attempts to put down peaceful protests have not only failed but redoubled the determination of those demanding change.”

-What is Amnesty International doing about the protests in Egypt and elsewhere in the region?
We’ve sent a delegation to Egypt to help witness, record and expose human rights abuses being committed during the uprising, as we did during the unrest in Tunisia earlier in the year. We’re doing this in close cooperation with local human rights activists.

Amnesty International is urging the Egyptian military to respect the rights of protesters as demonstrators held their biggest protest.
Media reports said hundreds of thousands of people had gathered for what organisers dubbed a ‘Million Man’ protest calling for President Hosni Mubarak to step down and corruption, poverty and police abuses to end.