Paramilitary militias and government forces in Iraq have committed serious human rights violations, including war crimes, by torturing, arbitrarily detaining, forcibly disappearing and extrajudicially executing thousands of civilians who have escaped areas controlled by the armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS). Paramilitary militias and government forces in Iraq have committed serious human rights …
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Transfer of Guantánamo Detainee Slahi Long Overdue
Mohamedou Ould Slahi, who has been held in the Guantanamo detention camp without charge or trial since 2002, has been transferred back to his home country of Mauritania. After voluntarily submitting himself for questioning in his home country in 2001, he was detained in Jordan and the Bagram prison in Afghanistan before being sent to Guantanamo. He was …
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Australia’s regime of cruelty has turned Nauru into an open-air prison
The Australian Government is choosing to subject women, men and children to an elaborate and cruel system of abuse with a policy that is intentionally designed to harm people, as highlighted in our new report: ‘Island of Despair’: Australia’s “processing” of refugees on Nauru. Read the report “On Nauru, the Australian Government runs an open-air …
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Indonesia: Halt chemical castration and expansion of death penalty
Indonesia’s authorities must immediately repeal provisions that allow sex offenders to be punished by forced chemical castration and even the death penalty. “The sexual abuse of children is indescribably horrific. But subjecting offenders to chemical castration or executions is not justice, it is adding one cruelty to another,” said Papang Hidayat, Amnesty International’s Researcher on …
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A culture of gender inequality thrives
Imagine, if you can … You’re a 15-year-old girl. You’re married – you saw it as your way out of poverty, a chance for a better life. Instead, you’re beaten. Time and time again. You implore your husband to free you, to agree to a divorce. But instead he’s more abusive. And his brother takes …
South Sudan: Continued fighting must not derail hybrid court
Continued fighting in South Sudan must not derail justice for crimes committed during the deadly conflict that began in December 2013, said Amnesty International and FIDH in a joint briefing published today. The organisations are calling on the African Union (AU) Commission and the South Sudan government to urgently establish the proposed Hybrid Court …
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Iranian-Kurdish woman faces execution after grossly unfair trial
The Iranian authorities must urgently halt their plans to execute Zeinab Sekaanvand, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman who was arrested when she was just 17 years old and convicted of the murder of her husband after a grossly unfair trial. She is due to be executed by hanging as soon as 13 October. “This is an …
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Congratulations to 2016 Media Awards finalists
Finalists have been selected for the 2016 Amnesty International Australia Media Awards by six independent panels of judges. The awards celebrate excellence in human rights reporting by journalists whose work exposes the injustice of abuse, both in Australia and abroad. The shortlisted finalists across the six categories are: Indigenous Reporting ‘Bowraville’: Dan Box, Stephen Fitzpatrick, …
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Jordan: Aid deliveries to refugees trapped in desert ‘no-man’s land’ must be followed by long-term solutio
Reports about the resumption of humanitarian aid to 75,000 refugees stranded in a remote, arid area along the Jordanian-Syrian border called “the berm” are a long-awaited glimmer of hope that should be followed by a sustainable, long-term solution. The news comes as the UN and the Jordanian authorities continue negotiations to open a humanitarian lifeline …
This is the biggest challenge facing the next U.N. leader
Opening his last General Assembly debate on Sept. 20, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon bemoaned the blocking of essential action in the Security Council that has marred his time in office: “Is it fair for any one country to wield such disproportionate power and hold the world hostage on so many important issues?” This will be …
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