Tag Archive for 'obama'

Plus de 160 000 personnes appellent le président Obama à fermer Guantánamo

Des manifestations contre le centre pénitentiaire ont été organisées partout dans le monde. © Amnesty International

Des manifestations contre le centre pénitentiaire ont été organisées partout dans le monde. © Amnesty International

Par Zeke Johnson, responsable de la campagne Pas de sécurité sans droits humains à Amnesty International-États-Unis

Tous les matins, je regarde par la fenêtre de mon salon pour voir le temps qu’il fait et contempler l’espace vide entre les gratte-ciel et autres immeubles où s’élevaient autrefois les tours jumelles du World Trade Center.

Je me souviens alors de la peur, du doute et du chagrin que j’ai ressentis ce jour-là, et les images des tours s’embrasant, puis s’écroulant me reviennent en mémoire. Les attentats perpétrés ici à New York, à Washington D.C. et en Pennsylvanie ont constitué un crime contre l’humanité et, depuis dix ans maintenant, j’attends que tous les auteurs de ce crime soient traduits en justice.

Au lieu de cela, les autorités américaines se sont rendues coupables d’actes de torture, de placements en détention sans inculpation, de détentions secrètes, de procès pour l’exemple iniques, d’exécutions extrajudiciaires, de « disparitions », d’une guerre mondiale sans fin et d’autres violations des droits humains commises – sans ironie – au nom de la justice et de la sécurité.
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More than 160,000 voices call on Obama to close Guantánamo

There have been global protests about the camp © Amnesty International

There have been global protests about the camp © Amnesty International

By  Zeke Johnson, Security with Human Rights campaign director at Amnesty International USA.

Every morning I look out my living room window to check the weather and see the empty space between skyscrapers and apartment buildings where the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center once stood.

My memories of the fear, uncertainty and grief I felt that day, and of the images of the towers burning and falling, all come back. The attacks here in New York, in Washington DC and in Pennsylvania were a crime against humanity, and for ten years now I’ve been waiting for all those responsible to be brought to justice.

Instead, the US government has given us torture, detention without charge, secret prisons, unfair show trials, extra-judicial killings, “disappearances,” global war without end and other human rights violations committed – without irony – in the name of justice and security.

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Obama's first 100 days in Croatia

Amnesty International Croatia

Amnesty International Croatia

Several activities were scheduled in Croatia to mark the first 100 days of President Obama’s administration and the report launch of  USA: Mixed messages: Counter Terror and Human Rights: President Obama’s first 100 days.

We had originally planned to collect 2,000 signatures on specially designed postcards for President Obama and via our online petition, but we managed to collect more than 2,100 after which we sent them to the US authorities.

We had been planning to organize five public actions in several Croatian cities, but we managed to carry out 13. Two public statements were sent out as planned, and several electronic and print media published our statements. We gave a short interview for Radio 101, one of the most popular radio in Zagreb.

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100 days march in Washington D.C.

In a joint action with Witness Against Torture on 30 April, approximately 200 people marched from the US Capitol to the White House to mark President Obama’s first 100 days in office.
The march was organized for the day after the launch of Amnesty International’s assessment of President Obama’s first 100 days in office in the report USA: Mixed messages: Counter Terror and Human Rights: President Obama’s first 100 days.

Questions for the Polish Prime Minister

Amnesty International activists in the front of the Prime Minister office in Warsaw (Poland) © Tomasz Grygorowicz

©Tomasz Grygorowicz

Several dozen activists from Amnesty International demonstrated in the front of the Prime Minister office in Warsaw on April 4. They urged Polish authorities to conduct a transparent investigation the secret CIA detention centres in Poland.

Participants at Saturday’s event wore white masks and yellow question and presented short statements on behalf of individuals that had been arrested and tortured during the “war on terror”.

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