Newsroom

Update

I do not know what is more interesting--the fact that U2 leader singer Bono mentioned the word "Palestine" in front of a crowd of a half a million--including President-elect-Barack Obama--or the fact that this very incident is being heralded a major unscripted, even newsworthy part of the concert. Rolling Stone magazine wrote in its blog about the incident: The only other seemingly unscripted moment came during U2’s rendition of “Pride (In the Name of Love),” during which Bono suggested Dr. King’s dream is also an Irish, European, African and Israeli dream, adding, with special emphasis, “It is also a Palestinian…

January 19, 2009

Update

News reports indicate that President-elect Barack Obama is planning to end harsh interrogations of detainees by directing the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to adhere to the U.S. Army Field Manual for interviewing suspects.  If today’s reports are correct, Obama believes that returning the United States to the rule of law is paramount for his administration. It is vital that there be a single standard for all interrogations for all agents and forces of the U.S. government. But there are also worrying signs that the administration is thinking of leaving a loophole for special techniques for the CIA. The military is on…

January 17, 2009

Update

Some weekend reading ahead of the inauguration: Washington Post (January 16, 2009): "Inquiry Into Interrogations Unlikely. Hayden: Obama Does Not Wish to Investigate Waterboarding" Amnesty International (December 4, 2008): "Investigation. Prosecution, Remedy: Accountability for Human Rights Violations in the "war on terror."" All best, Zeke

January 17, 2009

Update

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has announced, via a Washington Post article among other places, that he intends to personally sponsor a death penalty repeal bill and will “do ‘everything in [his] power’ to abolish capital punishment in Maryland.” This doesn’t mean ending the death penalty in Maryland will be easy, but a serious investment of that kind of political capital into an issue can only be helpful.  And the Governor’s personal support comes after the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment issued its final report last month, which also recommended abolition.  In the General Assembly, by most accounts, the votes are…

January 16, 2009

Update

On my way to work this morning, I noticed a brief mention in the paper that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni will meet with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today. After doing some more research, I realized that Secretary Rice was again not intending to address Israel’s disproportionate attacks on civilians. We sent her a letter today to reiterate our concerns about ongoing human rights violations by both Israel and armed Palestinian groups.   While Amnesty International recognizes Israel's right to defend itself and has also called on Hamas and other Palestinian groups to immediately cease all unlawful attacks,…

January 16, 2009

Update

It's not surprising that with the Olympics come and gone, reports are surfacing of China's cracking down of the Internet, again, and with the help, of course, of Chinese and US companies, including Microsoft and Google. Unfortunately, Amnesty's website is again one of the victims. But when widespread censorship occurs, the "victims" are even more widespread -- it's much more than the author of a site or the person who can't access it which is harmed. According to media reports, Chinese authorities have clamped down on child pornography and vulgur content. (And, who wants to argue the pro-child pornography point?) But, such…

January 15, 2009

Update

You may not have heard about it, but there’s a humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka right now – over 250,000 civilians are trapped in the war zone between the Sri Lankan Army and the rebel Tamil Tigers and can’t escape.  The army has been steadily encroaching on the Tigers’ territory over recent months.  The civilians caught in the area are running out of safe space.  They can’t simply leave the war zone due to restrictions imposed by the Tigers, who are also using them as an involuntary pool of recruits and laborers.  The civilians are also facing tremendous shortages of…

January 15, 2009

Update

AI's Philip Luther updates the situation in Gaza and Southern Israel from on the ground reports by an Amnesty International delegation.

January 15, 2009

Update

In the next few weeks, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is expected to hand down its decision about indicting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.  Organizations such as the African Union and the Arab League are lobbying the UN Security Council to implement Article 16 of the Rome Statute, which would suspend any deliberations on the case against Bashir for a year with the possibility of an annual renewal.   We need to be wary of using the possibility of International Criminal Court indictments as a carrot and stick in seeking to…

January 15, 2009

Update

Barack Obama has announced that he will close Guantanamo. Throughout the world, this announcement will be understood as an introduction to a new kind of American leadership, a repudiation of the unilateralism of the Bush administration, and a return to diplomacy and the rule of law. Closing Guantanamo will be a complicated process, which must be accomplished in phases. But the first step clearly is the settlement of the 50 or 60 detainees who have been cleared for release but have nowhere to go. These men have been called the "Guantanamo refugees." Some of these men are stateless, but most…

January 13, 2009

Update

Again and again we're told that closing Guantanamo is "complicated." I don't see what's complicated about it. Flying a chunk of metal with people in it to the moon? That's complicated. Following U.S. and international law? Not so much. Try the detainees in federal courts or release them. If they are tried and found guilty, then incarcerate them in the US. I'll help build a special prison in my neighborhood. If they are found not guilty, then release them. I have a room for rent. The "complicated" rhetoric serves as a stalling tactic and a justification for the whole mess.…

January 13, 2009

Update

Starting tomorrow (Jan. 14), Texas will embark on a three-month spree of executions in which 14 men (one of them white) will be put to death.  Later this year, perhaps as early as late April, Texas will probably carry out the 200th execution under Governor Rick Perry.  This is an appalling number, particularly given what we have learned about the flawed nature of our criminal justice and capital punishment systems.  Texas accounts for 9 of the 130 death row exonerees, the third highest total of any state, and another 5 men have been executed in Texas despite compelling evidence that…

January 13, 2009