Working to Protect Human Rights worldwide
By the Asia-Pacific programme at the International Secretariat
We would like to give you a brief overview of our work on the issue of the Taleban and their human rights abuses.
We hope this will show that any suggestion that cooperation with any group or individuals has influenced our work on behalf of victims of religiously inspired abuses and violations is simply false.
Continue reading ‘A brief overview of Amnesty’s research on the Taleban’
By Pauline Dionisi, from Amnesty International’s West Africa team.
Tougan is the second last stop on the caravan. It is significant, as it is the place where the Swiss NGO Terre des Hommes (TDH) is leading a pilot project on the exemption of user-fees for pregnant women.
The atmosphere on arrival in Tougan was very festive thanks to the local working group on maternal health, which TDH is a member of. Young boys and girls joined in traditional dances, which included hunters firing shot in the air with their rifles. After moving through the village, where banners announcing the caravan were displayed, we arrived in the main square where the village chief welcomed us.
Continue reading ‘Traditional dancing in Tougan’
By Pauline Dionisi, from Amnesty International’s West Africa team.
After some car trouble, which included engine failure, we finally made it to Bobo-Dioulasso this morning. It is the second largest city in the country and 400 km from the capital Ouagadougou.
We arrived to meet one hundred women wearing our campaign T-shirts, standing 500 yards away from the Governor’s office. We joined the women who staged a march to the entrance of the building. One of them faked giving birth, saying that if she was not listened to, she would give birth in front of the Governor’s house.
Continue reading ‘Marching on the Governor’s office in Bobo-Dioulasso’
By Pauline Dionisi, from Amnesty International’s West Africa team.
The caravan stop in Gaoua was very interesting, due to the energy and hard work of civil society in the city. Organisations including Vie Solidaire, APGF (Gaoua Association for the Promotion of Women), the African network for Youth and Solidarity, l’ABBEF (Burkinavè Association for Family Welfare) and the Red Cross, are all members of the local working group for the campaign and are carrying out substantial work in the region.
Marcellin Kambiesie, a Red Cross representative, told me about a project that exempts women from the cost of deliveries in 24 villages around Gaoua. This has led to more women giving birth in health centres. “However, we are worried about how this project will be able to continue due to limited funding,” he said.
Continue reading ‘Gaoua : poster competition raises awareness of maternal mortality’
Amnesty International is being accused in a media article today of putting the human rights of some people above those of others. This is not, and has never been, true. Implicit in the accusation, is the view that we should choose those whose rights we promote. We reject this view utterly. Amnesty International campaigns for all internationally recognised human rights for all people – it is not about their views, their political opinions, their actions – it’s about upholding the universality of human rights: these are the inalienable rights of all human beings. As part and parcel of promoting human rights, we also have a long history of demanding that those who perpetrate human rights abuses be brought to justice – whoever they may be. We make this call because victims deserve to see justice done, to know that the harm done to them has been exposed and to seek reparations.
