Livewire – Amnesty International blogging for human rights

Amnesty International's Secretary General Salil Shetty is on an official visit to Spain this week. © Amnesty International Spain

By Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

There are many elements to my role as Secretary General of Amnesty International and a vital one is to meet with senior public figures around the world.

So from the UN’s Ban Ki-moon to government ministers around the world – my trips overseas are often about pushing a human rights issue at a high level.

This week I’m in Spain and it’s a privilege in this job to be able on the one hand to talk to a victim of a human rights violation during the Franco era, then move on to raise that very issue with the people now in charge. Continuar leyendo ‘Diary of a high-level mission: the Secretary General visits Spain’ »

A women's centre lawyer supports Connie, a young victim of sexual violence between the ages of nine and 14, as she tells her story to AI delegates. © Amnesty International

Por Esteban Beltrán, Director de Amnistía Internacional España

Una niña de cuatro años bailaba con su traje de princesa, una adolescente te enseñaba como se había pintado las uñas de color morado fantasía, otra te recitaba en voz alta, orgullosa, un poema sobre la libertad que había escrito en su diario. Todas ellas, al final de la reunión de Amnistía Internacional con sobrevivientes de violencia sexual en Nicaragua, habían regresado a lo que siempre debieron ser; niñas.

Y eran niñas de nuevo porque ya no se sentían, al menos en ese preciso instante, solas para siempre ni estigmatizadas de por vida por funcionarios públicos o familiares o amigas por haber sido violadas.

Empezamos a hablar nosotros, les contamos que miles y miles de personas, sin conocerlas, conmovidas por su indefensión, por su coraje para emprender una vida sin miedo, les mandaban miles de mensajes para que se supieran acompañadas, miles de firmas para conseguir que el Presidente de la República, Daniel Ortega, permitiera que ellas eligieran, sin coacción, si querían o no tener un niño después de ser violadas. Continuar leyendo ‘Con niñas víctimas de violencia sexual en Nicaragua’ »

A video posted on Youtube this week graphically brings home the often degrading nature of forced expulsions of irregular migrants. The footage of a man lying on his stomach on the airport tarmac, his arms and legs tied together behind his back and apparently being gagged was shot by a passenger waiting for flight IB3722 to Dakar at Madrid airport on 15 June.

Finally, he is picked up off the ground by two police officers, still tied up, and put in the back of the police van, more like a piece of luggage than a human being. It appears that the pilot of the plane refused to transport a man in such conditions, and other passengers refused to travel with him.

Continuar leyendo ‘Reaction to youtube video of expulsion’ »