Press releases
Honduras: Intimidation of media workers and protestors rising - 3 July 2009
Amnesty International denounced an escalation in human rights abuses in Honduras and urged the security forces to respect the rule of law and human rights when the President returns to Honduras at the weekend.Italy: Napolitano should reject the “security package” - 3 July 2009
Amnesty International calls on the President of the Italian Republic to send the so called ‘security package’ - approved by the Senate yesterday - back to the Parilament.African Union: Non-co-operation with Bashir Arrest Warrant an insult for victims - 3 July 2009
In response to reports on the decision by the African Union (AU) not to cooperate with a war crimes warrant of arrest, issued by the International Criminal Court against Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, Erwin van der Borght, Amnesty International Africa Director said:Pakistan: More than two million people living outside displacement camps face appalling conditions - 2 July 2009
Pakistan’s central and regional governments must urgently do more to assist the more than two million people who have fled escalating fighting in northwestern Pakistan but do not have access to aid distributed in official displacement camps, Amnesty International said today. In particular, the Pakistani government must ensure that ethnic Pashtuns fleeing the fighting do not face discrimination in receiving assistance.
“As the fighting expands to North and South Waziristan, a displacement crisis that the government had said would last only for weeks looks set to go on for months, with no relief in sight for the millions of displaced people,” said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director. “To make matters worse, the vast majority of displaced people are living outside the registered camps where aid agencies are distributing shelter, food and water to those in need.”
Israel/Occupied PalestinianTerritories:Impunity for war crimes in Gaza and southern Israel recipe for further civilian suffering - 2 July 2009
Israeli forces killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians and destroyed thousands of homes in Gaza in attacks which breached the laws of war, Amnesty International concluded in a new 117-page report published today - the first comprehensive report to be published on the 22-day conflict earlier this year.India: Historic ruling against “sodomy” laws, the first step to equality - 2 July 2009
Amnesty International welcomes the historical decision by the high court in Delhi to decriminalize homosexuality. The decision is a significant step toward ensuring that people in India can express their sexual orientation or gender identity without fear or discrimination, said Amnesty International.
“The decision is a significant step toward ensuring that people in India can express their sexual orientation and gender identity without fear or discrimination. This British colonial legacy has done untold harm to generations of individuals in India and across the Commonwealth” said Madhu Malhotra, Deputy Director, Asia Pacific, Amnesty International.
Russian Federation: Accountability is key to normalization in North Caucasus - 1 July 2009
Only full accountability for the human rights violations that have been taking place over the past decade and more can bring real normalization to Chechnya and the North Caucasus, Amnesty InternationaNigeria: Amnesty International says pollution has created human rights tragedy in the Niger Delta - 30 June 2009
(Abuja) Amnesty International today called the situation in the Niger Delta a “human rights tragedy,” saying that the people of the Niger Delta have seen their human rights abused by oil companies that their government cannot or will not hold to account.Cambodia: Jailing of newspaper editor setback to free expression - 30 June 2009
Cambodian judicial authorities should squash last week’s conviction of newspaper editor Hang Chakra for spreading “disinformation” and order an immediate retrial, Amnesty International said today.
“This case demonstrates the absence of an independent judiciary in Cambodia, and the increasing intolerance of dissent and criticism within Cambodia’s top echelons of power,” said Brittis Edman, Amnesty International’s Cambodia researcher.
The Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Hang Chakra, editor-in-chief of the opposition Khmer Machas Srok newspaper, to a one-year prison term and a fine of nine million riel (approx. 2,250 USD) for “disinformation” on 26 June 2009. He was arrested later that day in Battambang Province and taken to Prey Sar Prison in Phnom Penh.
