January 11, 2017 marks 15 years since detainees were first transported to Guantánamo Bay detention centre – the symbol of torture and indefinite detention without charge or trial. We’re calling on Obama to close its doors for good. Throughout these 15 years, the USA has proclaimed itself to be a global human rights champion – …
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Two years after Raif’s flogging, there remains no justice
January 9, 2017 marks two years since the Saudi Arabian authorities publicly flogged the blogger and activist Raif Badawi. He was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison for “insulting Islam” online. Mr Badawi founded the (now-closed) online forum Free Saudi Liberals, which facilitated debate about politics and religion. His charges relate to articles he …
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Will 2017 be the year we finally get marriage equality?
The fight for marriage equality in Australia rages on. But now that the plebiscite is (mercifully) defunct, what’s next? Cass Mezups, 36, and Lara Hotz, 30, tied the knot in September 2015, after four years together. “We felt it was far more important to celebrate our love and commitment to each other when it suited …
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The most powerful images of 2016
As 2016 finally comes to an end, we can all let out a collective sigh of relief. This year we’ve seen heartbreaking scenes – from the utter devastation of the city of Aleppo, to the millions of refugees and displaced people stranded without a home, to the distraught faces of children in Yemen, their lives …
Thought 2016 wasn’t worth celebrating?
While 2016 had more than its fair share of setbacks, thanks to you, we’ve found a lot to be positive about. This year, you helped us free more than 650 people from unfair imprisonment. We helped change laws in 40 countries. We helped convict war criminals. We helped teens stay out of adult prisons and we saw …
‘I left Syria thinking that I would return in two weeks. That was four years ago’
On the morning that Zain Alabdin Ali, a young 23-year-old Syrian, left the makeshift house he shared with his parents and four brothers and sisters in a small town near his native Aleppo, he thought that the adventure would be nothing more than a temporary escape. It was 2012, and only a few weeks earlier …
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A tiny country town’s unlikely refugee success story
In the remote township of Nhill in western Victoria, Karen-Burmese refugees now make up 10 per cent per cent of the town’s population and 18 per cent of the workforce – boosting the town’s economy and receiving a warm welcome from the local residents. The Karen people in Myanmar (Burma) make up seven per cent …
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‘I refuse to surrender my hope on Manus’
Imran Mohammad is Amnesty International Australia’s Blogging Competition 2016 winner. Imran, now 22, fled Myanmar at age 16 and taught himself to read and write English while being held on Manus Island. Here is his powerful winning entry. I’m a passionate young writer incarcerated by the Australian Government for over three years on Manus Island, PNG. …
Fidel Castro: the good, the bad and the ugly
On 25 November 2016, Fidel Castro died at the age of 90. The former Cuban leader was revered and loathed by the people he reigned over for 47 years. Fidel Castro, who seized power in 1959 following the Cuban Revolution, will be remembered as an iconic, yet deeply-polarising, figure of the 20th Century. Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas …
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Fremantle’s culturally-inclusive Australia Day a positive step for Indigenous people
In a bold move which has received both praise and cries of being ‘unAustralian’, the The City of Fremantle has cancelled its Australia Day festivities, instead celebrating its National Day on 28 January. Its new family-friendly event, labelled “One Day” will replace the traditional fireworks display and include an impressive list of performances from artists …