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Update

"'In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable cease-fire,' a White House spokesman, Gordon D. Johndroe, told reporters in Texas. 'Hamas has once again shown its true colors as a terrorist organization.'" From "Gaza Toll Passes 350 in 3rd Day of Israel Strikes" in the New York Times. Again and again we see states try to justify murder with murder, torture with torture, barbarism with barbarism, genocide with genocide. The words "terror," "terrorism" and "terrorist" obscure this hypocrisy. What is it that states want to counter by…

December 30, 2008

Update

A snapshot of Gaza by the numbers: Humanitarian Assistance Movement in and out of Gaza is all but impossible and supplies of food, water, sewage treatment, basic health care have been drastically affected by the blockade of aid. Food prices are rising and wheat, flour, baby milk, and rose 34%, 30%, and 20.5% respectively during the period May-June 2007 alone. Prior to the blockade (implemented after Hamas took over total adminstration over Gaza in June 2007), around 250 trucks carrying aid entered Gaza each day. As of March 2008, that number was reduced to 45. According to UN figures reported…

December 30, 2008

Update

As the third day of deadly airstrikes by Israeli forces in Gaza comes to a close, civilians are paying a high price.  More than 1,400 Palestinians have been injured and more than 315 killed, many of whom are civilians.  In addition, Hamas attacks on Southern Israel have left two civilians dead. This is the highest level of Palestinian fatalities and casualties in four decades of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.  The escalation of violence comes at a time when the civilian population already faces a daily struggle for survival due to the Israeli blockade which has…

December 29, 2008

Update

Today, Time wonders if Texas is "Changing its Mind About the Death Penalty." There is ample evidence that something is happening.  According to the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty (TCADP) year-end report, there were only 11 death sentences in the Lone Star state in 2008, and a grand total of Zero in Harris County (which by itself is responsible for over 100 executions in the last 26 years).  To a certain extent, this apparent shift in attitude (at least in the jury room) mirrors broader national (and even international) trends, but the idea of Texans going along with…

December 23, 2008

Update

Thank you Amnesty International activists for all of your important work this year! Your activism has led to some major advances in human rights in our battles against torture, violence against women, the conflict in Darfur, ending the death penalty and protecting prisoners of conscience and other individuals and at risk around the world. Check out our top 10 wins below and watch our year-in-review video Top 10 Words of 2008. Here are just a few wins you can take credit for: 1.5 million letters: online and hand written letters delivered to governments worldwide and Congress here at home. 116…

December 19, 2008

Update

(A) A white millionaire and (B) an indigent black man … Same state … Both convicted of capital murder … Which one do you think gets the death penalty?  If you answered (B) - and I know you did - then, of course, you’re right. In the state of New Hampshire, which hasn’t carried out an execution since 1939 and has no death row or execution chamber, Michael Addison, an indigent black man convicted of killing a white police officer, today received the first death sentence in New Hampshire in almost 50 years.  In early November, John “Jay” Brooks, a…

December 18, 2008

Update

One year ago today, Dec. 17, 2007, New Jersey Gov. John Corzine signed into law the bill abolishing the death penalty in New Jersey.  It was the first time in 42 years that a state had legislatively ended capital punishment (Iowa and West Virginia did it in 1965), and made the Garden State the 14th abolitionist state in the U.S.  New Jersey politicians showed real leadership on this issue, and should be thanked. What has been the result in New Jersey's first year without the death penalty?  Has violent crime sky-rocketed?  Are wild dogs roaming the streets?  Are murderous zombies now regularly…

December 17, 2008

Update

“Now I don’t have a house. The weather is nice and I can sleep in the garden, but I don’t know what to do when the rain comes. Nobody is helping me.” A former teacher, Kazbek Djiloev, shared his hardship with us a few months ago as he stood before the ruins of his home in Tskhinvali. His house was one of many that were shelled during the recent Georgia-Russia conflict.   We captured this man’s story as an example of how such a military clash impacts civilians. He echoes the voices of thousands more civilian victims, many of whom…

December 17, 2008

Update

One of Amnesty International's most important responsibilities is to support the human rights activists doing the difficult work on the ground in the countries around the world.  Increasingly, particularly in the Middle East, it's become the opinion of Amnesty International country specialists that our ability to change the world depends on our ability to create space for these grass-root activists to exist. One such activist is Ahmed Seif El-Islam Hamad, a 57 year old Egyptian lawyer and one of the founders of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, named after another Egyptian human rights lawyer.  He has been an engine driving…

December 16, 2008

Update

Change.org wants you to change our government.  Inspired by President-elect Obama’s commitment to “open the doors of government,” Change.org is offering people an opportunity to send ideas to the incoming administration that will bring real, tangible solutions for our country.  They will then present the “Top 10 Ideas for America” to the Obama administration on Inauguration Day and work with partner organizations to turn those ideas into specific policies. At Amnesty, we know that one of the most important changes our nation can make is to restore its respect for human rights and the rule of law.  A crucial first…

December 16, 2008

Update

Last week Portugal offered to accept some Guantanamo detainees who have been cleared for release by the Pentagon but who cannot return to their home countries. In a letter to his counterparts in other European Union countries, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado urged them to do the same. Portugal’s commendable initiative is based on a recognition that it is no longer acceptable for European governments to sit back and carp from the sidelines. Closing Guantanamo simply cannot be accomplished without other governments’ assistance in resettling some of the detainees.  According to the New York Times, Luis Serradas Tavares, a legal…

December 15, 2008

Update

According to a UN Panel of Expert’s report released last Friday, government security forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are providing arms and ammunition to the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) in violation of the UN arms embargo on DRC.  In addition, the DRC government continues to be a major source of weapons for other armed groups in the DRC. Mainly a Rwandan Hutu armed insurgent group that contains remnants of forces allegedly responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide, FDLR has been responsible for mass atrocities, including the unlawful killings of civilians, abductions, and rape, and continues…

December 15, 2008