Newsroom

Update

Yesterday someone emailed me a link to a mock NYT article, National Health Insurance Act Passes.  I'm embarrassed to confess: I fell for it, hook, line and sinker. I believe that universal health care is one of the most important issues of our time, so, for a minute, as I read the first few paragraphs, I was elated. And then I noticed the date: July 4, 2009. The United States National Health Insurance Act really does exist. Representative John Conyers first introduced the bill (H.R. 676) in 2003. Today there are 93 cosponsors. The bill would create a publicly financed, privately delivered health care system…

November 14, 2008

Update

Commenting on Vienna's post on universal health care, J writes: Health Care for America Now (HCAN) does not support single-payer healthcare. They support Obama’s mixed public/private insurance plan. It's true that HCAN supports a choice of private or public plans. Which means they don't support single-payer right away. That doesn't mean that what they're proposing won't lead to single-payer eventually. Look at HCAN's list of congressional supporters. It includes Barack Obama (and Joe Biden). But it also includes ... John Conyers (who introduced H. R. 676, the single-payer bill Vienna was writing about). Single-payer advocates who sign on to Obama/HCAN-style…

November 14, 2008

Update

Taser International is busy promoting a new product.  It's called Taser Shockwave, meant to cast something of an electroshock net over an area.  It belongs in my "You've Got to Be Kidding" file along with Taser International's leopard-print MP3 player that doubles as a taser and their employment of Playboy Bunnies for promotion- but those are stories for another day. This week, Taser International showcased their latest in potential human rights violations to your local police chief at the International Association of the Chiefs of Police annual gathering.  I wish I could have been there to talk to those officers about our latest statistics.  Since the summer of 2001, Amnesty…

November 13, 2008

Update

On Wednesday, the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment voted to recommend repealing the death penalty in Maryland. The Commission was created by the Maryland General Assembly to conduct a thorough study of capital punishment in that state. After five public hearings and hours of testimony from both experts and the general public, the Commission determined that Maryland's death penalty is: Racially and geographically biased More expensive Harmful to victims' families Not a deterrent. The Commission also concluded that there is a “real possibility of wrongly executing an innocent person” in Maryland.  The Commission’s final report is due on December 15,…

November 13, 2008

Update

In the fake July 4, 2009 edition of the New York Times distributed yesterday, pages were filled with stories many hope will one day be true – ending of war, healthcare for all, and accountability for past transgressions of the US administration. It also included “ads” for real companies that spoke tellingly about the often capricious, opportunistic corporate approach to social responsibility and respect for human rights. An “ad” for ExxonMobil states “Peace can also be lucrative”; a De Beers “ad” explains how purchases of diamonds will go towards prosthetics for Africans whose hands were lost in the brutal diamond conflicts.…

November 13, 2008

Update

The worth of a law is in its enforcement; if a law is not enforced, then it has no more value than a platitude, aspiration, or preference.  Because of this reason, one of AIUSA’s CTWJ campaign goals 100 days goals for the new administration is “accountability.”  Or in other words, AIUSA will demand that the government account for illegal or wrongful conduct of its employees or agents in the “war on terror.” At first glace, a general presidential pardon (which seems likely in some form) threatens the accountability process.  But as I explain below, a pardon will likely only have…

November 12, 2008

Update

OK, I just ate lunch (yes at 4:39 PM) and I need a few minutes to digest before I dive into emails, so I thought I'd post this, off the top of my head. Please excuse any burrito-coma induced spelling and/or grammatical and/or policy mistakes. Anyway, there's been a lot of talk in the last week about when and how President-elect Obama will close GTMO, and while it's good that he's said he will close it, it needs to be done the right way. In part, that means no: "National Security Courts." As a New Yorker who saw the towers fall, I…

November 12, 2008

Update

Earlier today, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Bell v. Kelly, a Virginia case that has important implications for death penalty litigation. The issue in the case is complex.  Under federal law, federal courts are required to give great deference to state court rulings on claims raised in a federal  habeas petition that have already been adjudicated in state courts.  So, a federal court will NOT consider whether the state court’s decision was right or wrong, but only whether it was “unreasonable”.  But what if the petitioner brings new evidence on a claim to the federal court, evidence the state…

November 12, 2008

Update

Excavating human remains, using forensic techniques to identify them, hoping the evidence will help bring the killers to justice--it may sound fascinating and even glamorous to some, but this is no "CSI Miami". These investigators have been threatened, followed, watched, and shot at on many occasions because of their work to combat impunity. The Guatemalan Foundation of Forensic Anthropology (Fundación Guatemalteca de Antropología Forense - FAFG) carries out forensic investigations and exhumations of mass graves dating from the time of Guatemala's internal armed conflict (1960-1996). The uncovering of mass graves and the identification of human remains is a key contribution…

November 11, 2008

Update

Isn't it a little unrealistic to think writing a letter asking a world leader to free one prisoner will really make a difference? Maybe. But it's not just one letter--it's thousands that arrive on an official's desk. It's experts speaking out to the press. It's individuals supporting the family of those wrongly imprisoned.  It's researchers knowing the facts that can lead to accountability. It's lobbyists urging officials to use their influence with other leaders to promote justice. That's Amnesty International. That's the human rights movement. Case in point: Amnesty International USA's Iran Country Specialist Elise Auerbach filled in CNN today  about Iran's recent release of American-born graduate…

November 11, 2008

Update

Please be sure to take our new "100 Days Action," urging President-elect Obama to take three essential steps in the first 100 days of his term to close Guantanamo, eradicate torture and end impunity for human rights abuses: > Announce a plan and date to close Guantanamo; >Issue an executive order to ban torture and other ill-treatment, as defined under international law; >Ensure that an independent commission to investigate abuses committed by the U.S. government in its "war on terror" is set up. These three steps are part of a "checklist" of actions Amnesty International is asking the new U.S. President to take…

November 11, 2008

Update

On November 21, Kentucky is set to execute Marco Allen Chapman, who was sentenced to death for the murder of two children in 2002.  He rejected efforts to defend him at trial, and has refused to pursue any appeals.  Since the moment of his arrest, when he asked police to shoot him in the head, Chapman has been trying to commit “state-assisted suicide”, or “suicide by Court”.  Next Friday, Kentucky may well grant him his wish. Such voluntary executions are not a rare occurrence.  About 130, or more than 10% of all executions since 1977, have been “volunteers”.  In some…

November 11, 2008