Demonstrating against the abortion ban in Nicaragua, 28 September 2011 (c) Fondo Centro Americano de Mujeres
By Stephanie Schlitt, Amnesty International’s Researcher and Policy Advisor on Gender
Today, at the United Nations General Assembly, the UN’s expert on the right to health, Anand Grover, will present a ground-breaking report. The report exposes how states are putting women’s and girls’ lives and health at risk through criminal laws and other misguided legal restrictions that deny girls and women access to sexual and reproductive health information and services and the ability to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive lives.
The report concludes that restrictions on abortion and contraception, the criminalization of pregnant women’s conduct (such as making drug use when pregnant a criminal offence), as well as restrictions on access to information on sexual and reproductive health violate girls’ and women’s rights to sexual and reproductive health. This report supports earlier UN expert findings that such laws place states in breach of their international human rights obligations. Continue reading ‘Rights – not criminalization – for girls and women, says UN health expert’
By Nicki Lees International youth advisory and action body,
Over the course of two days at the end of last month, numerous governments stood up in the UN General Assembly in New York and proclaimed their lasting commitment to furthering the development of young people in their countries. They did this in celebration of 2011 – International Year of Youth, coming together for a United Nations High-Level Meeting on Youth in New York from 25-26 July.
It is commendable that governments are expressing a desire to ensure the active participation and engagement of young people in their societies. However, these words must be followed up with actions!
As Amnesty International, we were there to ensure that deliberations included a rights-based approach and to hold governments accountable for their undertakings.
Continue reading ‘High level meeting on youth’
By Alaphia Zoyab, Online Communities Officer at Amnesty International
At a meeting with NGOs on the side-lines of the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) negotiations in New York, China made the claim that it does not transfer arms to conflict states in Africa.
That claim is simply not true and China has clearly forgotten about the notorious “Ship of Shame”. We are happy to remind them.
Continue reading ‘No more ‘ships of shame’ to Africa’
Few governments are willing to act to stop the flow of illicit arms UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran
By Alaphia Zoyab, an Online Communications Officer from Amnesty’s International Secretariat.
All governments say they want to stop the flow of illicit arms, but listening to many of them at the UN today, it became clear that not many are willing to do anything about it.
This is because it will involve much greater transparency on how they report on arms transfers and this immediately makes governments uncomfortable.
Continue reading ‘Arms transfers: States love secrets, but we want the facts’
Gilad Shalit lleva cinco años retenido por Hamás. © Particular
Por Rachel Campbell, del Programa Regional de Oriente Medio y el Norte de África de Amnistía Internacional.
“A medida que pasan los días, comenzamos a perder la esperanza de volver a ver a nuestro hijo algún día. No sabemos dónde lo mantienen recluido ni cómo se encuentra […] ni tan siquiera si sigue vivo.”
(Noam Shalit, padre de Gilad Shalit, dirigiéndose a la Misión de Investigación de la ONU sobre el conflicto de Gaza, 6 de julio de 2009)
Mañana se cumplen cinco años del cautiverio del soldado israelí Gilad Shalit. El brazo armado de Hamás, que lo mantiene retenido en un lugar secreto en la Franja de Gaza, lo está utilizando como rehén en la negociación política que pretende llevar a cabo con Israel. Desde que grupos armados palestinos lo capturaran el 25 de junio de 2006 en una base del ejército situada al sur de Israel, se le ha negado todo contacto con el mundo exterior.
Continue reading ‘Su cautiverio dura ya 1.825 días. Apoya la campaña de Amnistía para poner fin al sufrimiento de Gilad Shalit y su familia’
