Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s aerial bombardment of a hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Yemen is an atrocious attack that could amount to a war crime. The Abs Rural Hospital which was hit at around 3:30pm local time, has treated 4,611 patients since MSF began to support it in July 2015. “The bombardment …
Continue reading “Yemen: Bombardment of MSF hospital a deplorable attack”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said that addressing the over-representation of Indigenous children in Australia’s detention centres nation-wide is a “top priority” as he finalises the terms of the Royal Commission into the abuse of children in detention in the Northern Territory. He has also committed to making sure that issues of youth detention child …
Continue reading “PM puts detention of Indigenous children on the national agenda”
The Margaret River local group just had their council unanimously pledge their support for the ‘No Business in Abuse’ campaign. Read more about their inspiring organising! So what happened? On 7 May, the Amnesty Margaret River group set up a pop-up internet stall outside Settlers Tavern in Margaret River. Over the next seven Saturdays, they …
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Amnesty has published new research that shines a light on kids in Queensland’s justice system. Campaigner Roxanne Moore lays down seven things you may not know about kids, courts and prisons in Queensland. 1. There’s evidence of abuse in Queensland children’s prisons Amnesty’s research report details how keeping kids in communities gives them the best …
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Australian Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste along with his colleagues, Egyptian Baher Mohamed and Canadian Mohamed Fahmy, were imprisoned in Cairo amid false allegations of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood. In his book Freeing Peter, Greste recounts the 400 days he spent in prison just for doing his job and the events that led to his …
Continue reading “‘It was normal journalism’: Peter Greste explains how it all began”
A new Amnesty International report, to be launched today at Queensland Parliament House, has found that, while the Queensland Government has recognised the need for reforming its youth justice system, serious concerns remain. Queensland leads the country in locking up 10- and 11-year-olds and detaining children on remand, the majority of them Aboriginal and Torres …
Continue reading “Queensland youth justice system needs Indigenous-led solutions”
More than 17,000 people are estimated to have died in Syrian prisons and detention centres since 2011. Those who survived were forced to take unimaginable measures to come out alive. All the quotes below are taken from interviews with former detainees in early 2016. Not disclosing medical conditions “In the ‘welcome party’, they were asking …
Continue reading “The desperate survival methods used by prisoners in Syria”
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe Director resposded to the decision of France’s highest administrative court to overturn the ban on the burkini on a French beach. “By overturning a discriminatory ban that is fuelled by and is fuelling prejudice and intolerance, today’s decision has drawn an important line in the sand,” he said. “By overturning …
Continue reading “France: Reaction to court decision to overturn burkini ban”
A series of apparently coordinated blasts at tourist spots in southern Thailand overnight are reprehensible acts of violence that must be thoroughly investigated, with those responsible brought to justice. At least four people were killed in the blasts and dozens more were injured as a series of bombs exploded in the resort town of Hua …
Continue reading “Thailand: Fatal bomb attacks disregard basic right to life”
The Syrian city of Aleppo has been hit by a suspected chlorine attack, which would amount to a war crime if confirmed, and constitutes an alarming sign that Syrian government forces are intensifying their use of chemical weapons against civilians. The attack on a residential neighbourhood in a part of Aleppo controlled by armed groups …
Continue reading “Syria: Fresh chemical attack on Aleppo a war crime”