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Mali: ICC trial over destruction of cultural property in Timbuktu shows need for broader accountability

In response to the opening today of the trial of Ahmad Al-Fadi Al-Mahdi, an alleged senior member of the Ansar Eddine armed group, for attacks on mosques and mausoleums in Timbuktu in 2012, Amnesty International’s Senior Legal Advisor Erica Bussey said: “Attacks against religious and historical monuments violate cultural rights and can cause significant harm to the local and sometimes broader communities.

Date:
22 August 2016
  • News
  • Armed Conflict

Killer Facts: The scale of the global arms trade

Transfers of heavy conventional weapons The top 10 exporters of conventional arms (excluding small arms/ light weapons – SALW) 2010-15 USA                     US$55. 006 billion Russia                  US$42. 404 billion China                   US$9. 943 billion Germany              US$ 9. 467 billion France                 US$ 8. 932 billion UK                       US$ 7. 627 billion Spain                   US$ 5.

Date:
22 August 2016
  • News
  • Armed Conflict

UN: Zero tolerance for states who flout Arms Trade Treaty obligations

States Parties still engaging in unscrupulous arms transfers, putting lives and human rights at risk More than a quarter of States Parties are yet to meet the treaty’s reporting obligations Some States Parties opting to reject public scrutiny of their arms transfers States must ensure the global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) lives up to its promise to save lives and protect human rights from the devastating effects of the international arms trade by taking concrete, transparent steps towards more effective implementation, Amnesty International said today.

Date:
22 August 2016
  • News
  • Cote d'Ivoire
  • Business and Human Rights

Ten years after toxic waste dumping, victims in the dark

A small health centre sits at the edge of Djibi, a village of 4,500 people on the outskirts of the bustling city of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Through the open-ended corridor that runs down the middle of the building you can see two of the many sites around Abidjan where, exactly ten years ago, truck after truck dumped over 540,000 litres of toxic waste unloaded from a ship at the nearby port. The toxic waste was made by multinational oil trader Trafigura.

Date:
19 August 2016
  • News
  • Cote d'Ivoire
  • Business and Human Rights

Côte d’Ivoire: Trafigura unrepentant 10 years after toxic waste dump

Commodities giant Trafigura must come clean over the contents of toxic waste dumped in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire ten years ago, said Amnesty International today. Trafigura has never disclosed exactly what was in the 540,000 plus litres of toxic waste dumped at 18 sites in Abidjan on 19 August 2006. More than 100,000 people sought medical attention after the dumping for a whole range of symptoms including dizziness, vomiting and breathing problems, and authorities reported 15 deaths.

Date:
19 August 2016
  • News
  • Iraq
  • Armed Conflict

Iraqis who fled IS rule face harrowing future

The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is described as “one of the largest, most complex and volatile” in the world by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Yet even this description doesn’t capture the magnitude of suffering endured by civilians caught-up in the cycle of violence and impunity. Over the past two weeks, a research team from Amnesty International on the ground in Iraq has spoken to hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs), who are among some 3.

Date:
19 August 2016
  • News
  • India
  • Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Space for civil society and dissent is shrinking: Amnesty International India Executive Director

This is a Q&A that the Hindustan Times conducted with Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India's Executive Director Police filed an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including section 124A - sedition, against Amnesty International India on Monday for alleged raising of “anti-India” slogans at an event held by the organisation in Bengaluru. The alleged sloganeering at the event --- held to highlight human rights abuses in Jammu and Kashmir – earned the ire of right-wing students group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).

Date:
19 August 2016
  • News
  • Syria
  • Armed Conflict

Harrowing accounts of torture, inhuman conditions and mass deaths in Syria's prisons

For journalists seeking broadcast quality AV material including B-roll please click here The horrifying experiences of detainees subjected to rampant torture and other ill-treatment in Syrian prisons are laid bare in a damning new report published by Amnesty International today which estimates that 17,723 people have died in custody in Syria since the crisis began in March 2011 – an average rate of more than 300 deaths each month.

Date:
18 August 2016
  • News
  • Russian Federation
  • Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Russia declares two more non-profits as undesirable

The Russian General Prosecutor’s Office Thursday designated two more US–based organizations as “undesirable” under a draconian law adopted last year, as it continued to turn the screw on Russian civil society and cut off potential avenues of foreign funding. The International Republican Institute (IRI), a Washington-based non-profit group funded by the US Congress, and the New York-based Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) are just the latest in a list of organizations to be blacklisted in this way.

Date:
18 August 2016
  • News
  • Asia and The Pacific
  • Refugees

Australia: Official documents reveal serious incidents of abuse in Queensland juvenile detention centres

Australia must establish independent bodies to investigate child abuse in its detention facilities across the country, Amnesty International said today after it obtained more than 1,000 pages of government documents revealing abuses in two more centres. The documents -- obtained by Amnesty International through a Freedom of Information request – showed a number of serious incidents, including where staff at the centres in the state of Queensland put child detainees in solitary confinement, deployed a security dog where a child was threatening suicide, caused bone fractures as a result of restraint and control techniques, and conducted partial strip searches using humiliating methods.

Date:
18 August 2016
  • News
  • South Sudan
  • Armed Conflict

South Sudan: One year since peace deal, justice still elusive for victims

Renewed violence underscores the urgency of bringing to account those responsible for crimes under international law committed during South Sudan’s armed conflict, said Amnesty International and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) today, a year on from a faltering peace agreement. The peace accord was signed on 17 August 2015 in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. It requires the African Union (AU) to set up a hybrid court for South Sudan to investigate and prosecute individuals suspected of committing genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity since the conflict began in December 2013.

Date:
17 August 2016
  • News
  • Americas
  • Women and Girls

Argentina: Ruling to release woman jailed after miscarriage, a step forward for human rights

A ruling to release a woman sentenced to eight years in prison after having a miscarriage in Argentina is a step forward for human rights in the country, Amnesty International said. Last night the Supreme Court of Tucumán, a state in north Argentina, said there were not enough reasons to keep Belén, 27, in pre-trial detention. The Supreme Court of Tucumán is yet to issue a final ruling on the eight-year sentence imposed on Belén by the lower court.

Date:
17 August 2016
  • News
  • Asia and The Pacific
  • Refugees

Australia/PNG: Closure of Manus Island detention only first step to ending offshore nightmare for refugees

Responding to today’s reports that the Australian Government-run refugee detention centre on Manus Island will close Anna Neistat, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, said: “While welcoming the news that the centre will close Amnesty International urges the Australian Government to bring those currently held there to Australia. We must not forget that the Government set up a system of deliberate abuse of and cruelty towards almost two thousand people in two detention centres who are simply looking for a safe place to rebuild their lives.

Date:
17 August 2016
  • News
  • Yemen
  • Armed Conflict

Yemen: Huthi authorities must release detained Bahá’ís, end crackdown on minorities

The Huthi armed group in control of parts of Yemen must immediately ensure the release of all 27 members of the Bahá’í religion who have been detained in the capital, Sana’a, for a week without charge, in a blatant case of persecution of a minority faith, Amnesty International said today. Armed officers in balaclavas from Yemen’s National Security Bureau (NSB) intelligence agency, which works hand in hand with the armed Huthi authorities, stormed a Bahá’í youth workshop in Sana’a on 10 August and arrested 65 people, including 14 women and six people under 18 without an arrest warrant.

Date:
17 August 2016
  • News
  • Singapore
  • Censorship and Free Speech

Singapore: Contempt of court bill is a threat to freedom of expression

Singapore’s Administration of Justice (Protection) Bill is a broad and vaguely worded law that will impose yet another undue restriction on freedom of expression, Amnesty International said today. “Under the guise of protecting the judicial system, the new law threatens to criminalise people for criticising the courts or the administration of justice in Singapore,” said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for South East Asia and the Pacific.

Date:
16 August 2016
  • News
  • Australia
  • Refugees

Australia: Don't smear Nauru refugees

Responding to the Nauru Government and Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton’s claim that the refugees on Nauru had “fabricated” their claims, Anna Neistat, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, said: “Instead of smearing vulnerable refugees, the Nauru and Australian governments should be investigating human rights violations and putting an end to them. The leaked reports conclusively show who was fabricating their claims - and it wasn’t the refugees.

Date:
16 August 2016