A lifeline for activists

Posted on 22 May 2013 by Shiromi Pinto

Amnesty’s mobile alert system for activists nominated for Google’s Global Impact Award.
VOTE NOW – before 31 May – and make this big idea a reality.

Nighat Dad of the Digital Rights Foundation on Amnesty’s Panic Button app, shortlisted for Google’s Global Impact Award

I first came into contact with the Amnesty Panic Button project in November last year. I’d joined a group of human rights activists from around the world at an Amnesty event in Nairobi, Kenya, focused on the impact of technology for human rights. I had never seen anything like it before in my work. I immediately saw what a powerful tool it could be. Continue reading →

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Egypt’s opposition activists in the dock

Posted on 14 May 2013 by Conor Fortune

Riot police outside Cairo’s Fifth Settlement district court on 13 May © Amnesty International

By Amnesty International’s delegation in Egypt

Arriving at court in Cairo’s Fifth Settlement district court on 13 May, we saw supporters of political detainees and members of the riot police.

Opposition activists, human rights lawyers, and friends and supporters had gathered in front of the court to show their solidarity with Ahmed Douma, an activist facing trial for “insulting the President”. They had also gathered in support of six others whose cases were up for appeal. They had been convicted of engaging in violent behaviour following protests in front of the same court on 30 April. Continue reading →

Posted in Censorship and Free Speech, Demonstrations, Egypt, Human Rights Defenders and Activists, Middle East And North Africa, Prisoners of Conscience | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

UN ramps up scrutiny of North Korea’s catastrophic human rights record

Posted on 14 May 2013 by Conor Fortune

The United Nations has launched a Commission of Inquiry into the human rights situation in North Korea © AP Photo/Jon Chol Jin

By Evan Ritli of Amnesty International Australia

Given North Korea’s catastrophic human rights record it is hardly surprising that the United Nations has established a Commission of Inquiry whilst a Special Rapporteur continues to analyse the country’s human rights situation.

The UN Human Rights Council has established the Commission to investigate “the systematic, widespread and grave violations of human rights in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” . Amnesty International, as a member of the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK) lobbied governments hard to achieve this Commission. Continue reading →

Posted in Detention, North Korea, Penal Institutions | Tagged , | 1 Comment

El Salvador’s officials are playing Russian roulette with young woman’s life

Posted on 13 May 2013 by Ben Davies

By Esther Major, Central America researcher at Amnesty International

Less than a month ago, few people knew who Beatriz was.

But over the last few days and weeks the horrific plight of this 22-year-old woman in El Salvador has inundated social media networks and travelled across the globe.

Mother-of-one Beatriz is pregnant and severely ill. She is currently in hospital with lupus and kidney problems. Her health situation is so severe that doctors say she could die if she continues with the pregnancy. The doctors have also diagnosed the foetus as anencephalic (lacking a large part of its brain and skull), which in almost all cases results in the baby’s death before or within a few hours or days of birth.

However, Beatriz’s doctors haven’t provided her with the life-saving abortion she needs and is asking for, because they fear they may be prosecuted under Salvadoran laws which impose prison sentences on anyone who performs or has an abortion.

Continue reading →

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