Press releases

Malaysia: Internal Security Act used to punish human rights activists - 4 September 2008

New information about the arbitrary detention of five Malaysian government critics obtained by Amnesty International researchers highlights the need for the Malaysian parliament to immediately abolish the country’s Internal Security Act, Amnesty International said today.

Thailand: State of Emergency should not infringe on human rights - 2 September 2008

The Thai government should remove restrictions on free speech contained in today’s emergency decree, Amnesty International said.

UK: Government must provide information about rendition, disappearance and torture - 29 August 2008

Amnesty International calls on the government of the UK to give the lawyers for Binyam Mohamed, a former UK resident imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay, information which might help him to show that he has been a victim of torture and other ill-treatment in the US-led programme of renditions and secret detention

Cambodia: Lake filling must not lead to forced evictions - 27 August 2008

The filling of Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh should immediately stop until a proper process that ensures human rights protection is in place, said Amnesty International and the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) today.

Olympics: China and IOC must learn from mistakes and uphold human rights values - 24 August 2008

As the Beijing Olympics ended, Amnesty International today accused the Chinese authorities of prioritizing image over substance as it continued to persecute and punish activists and journalists during the Games.

Philippines: Mindanao civilians under threat from MILF units and militias - 21 August 2008

Tens of thousands of civilians who have already suffered from the renewal of violence in Mindanao could be at even greater risk if the Philippine government supports the creation of untrained and unaccountable civilian militias, Amnesty International said today.

Sudan: Hundreds unaccounted for and 109 to face sham courts over May attacks - 18 August 2008

Amnesty International today accused the Sudanese government of holding hundreds of people – including women and a nine-month-old  – without charge or access to lawyers as they prepare to try another 109 in sham courts over the armed attacks by the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) on 10 May in the outskirts of Khartoum.

Sri Lanka: LTTE, government endangering lives of tens of thousands of newly displaced around Wanni - 14 August 2008

Thousands of families who fled the recent fighting between Sri Lankan forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) must be allowed to move to safer areas and to receive necessary humanitarian assistance, Amnesty International said today.

India: Repeal shoot on sight orders - 13 August 2008

The government of the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir should rescind the order issued today to authorize security forces to “shoot on sight” in response to communal clashes in the town of Kishtwar, Doda district, Amnesty International said.

South Ossetia: Observation of international humanitarian law and protection of civilians essential - 11 August 2008

Amnesty International calls on all sides in the conflict in South Ossetia to fully respect international humanitarian law and as such, to ensure that civilians are protected from hostilities. The same standards must also be respected in other related hostilities reported to be breaking out in the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia, another disputed region of Georgia.