Newsroom

Update

So it ain’t breaking news that the Bush administration concocted a legal flip-flam to justify the kidnapping, capture, detention and torture of hundreds of people from around the world, under the guise of national security. But to witness how and exactly what they did in meticulous detail – legal memos, public statements (ie, lies) by administration officials, accurate re-enactments of torture, and testimony from a few extraordinarily strong men who survived death-defying treatment – was beyond maddening. This happened last night as my husband pulled me away from Facebook to watch Torturing Democracy, an excellent new documentary produced by National…

January 7, 2009

Update

When a good friend left for Iraq, I noticed I began to pay even closer attention to the daily news reports coming out of Baghdad. I emailed, but didn’t hear back. Then reports of more suicide bombings, killing dozens. Then the outbreak of extreme levels of violence in Israel/Palestine. And finally, a thought entered my mind: if I had the money, I’d hire a Blackwater guard and fly over there, see for myself, find those I care about and make sure they’re ok. Wait, what did I just say? I'd hire Blackwater? As soon as I entertained the thought, I…

January 6, 2009

Update

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c Strip Maul *Requires flash player version 10 Check out last night's The Daily Show segment on how the current Gaza crisis is being covered in the US media. It shows the one-sided US response to the conflict that Zahir outlined in his post yesterday. Amnesty is calling for the US to condemn both sides with equal vigor — including Israel for its vastly disproportionate response. Please take a moment to take action to stop the violence if you haven't already!

January 6, 2009

Update

I just got off the phone with a colleague in Mexico who has been working with the women of Atenco, and she told me she had come into her office after vacation to see that it was nearly filled with huge bags of mail. The bags were all stuffed with holiday cards bearing messages of solidarity and support for the women, sent by participants in AIUSA's 2008 Holiday Card Action. "There must be over 10,000 of them," she said, "the women will be so happy." Although New Year's and the other holidays have passed, it's not too late to take part…

January 6, 2009

Update

Last Friday, January 2, Amnesty International USA released its first major action of the year, calling on all Amnesty members and concerned citizens to write to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about the current violence in Gaza and southern Israel.  In that action, we called on four things: All parties to the conflict—ie Israel and Palestinian armed groups such as Hamas—should cease attacks on civilians. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza should be ameliorated. The US should cease military transfers to Israel and should investigate if any US weapons were used in attacks against civilians. The US should condemn all sides…

January 5, 2009

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