Amnesty Alive with Tommy Roche

Amnesty

Japan must stop executing mentally ill prisoners

JAPAN'S continued practice of executing prisoners with mental health problems is inhuman and must come to an end, Amnesty International said today as it published a new report on the treatment of the mentally ill sentenced to death in Japan. The report identified cases where such prisoners had been executed and others where they are at risk of execution. Report summary attached – full version available on request.

 

Cabinet must deliver renditions review

AMNESTY International Ireland has renewed its call on the Irish Government
to review the law applying to suspected renditions flight following
yesterday’s publication of a CIA Inspector General’s report. This showed
that CIA agents carried out mock executions and used threats of violence
during interrogations.

"The fresh revelations that CIA agents carried out mock executions and made
threats of violent torture shows just how much the world did not know about
the Bush administration’s illegal actions,” said Amnesty International
Ireland Executive Director Colm O’Gorman.

“For Ireland this raises again the policy of the Irish Government to rely
on denials from the US Government that Shannon was used to transport

Ireland's human rights record under the spotlight

AMNESTY International has launched a unique new book on the reality of human rights in Ireland featuring 30 leading social commentators.

60 years, 30 perspectives: Ireland and the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights – launched by broadcaster and columnist Claire Byrne, features among others Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Emily O’Reilly, Niall Crowley, Justin Kilcullen and Fr Peter McVerry (Full list of contributors
below).

Amnesty's urgent appeal for missing Iranians

AMNESTY International has issued a global Urgent Action appeal for eight
Iranian political leaders. They were arrested in Tehran in connection with
their perceived views on Iran’s disputed presidential election or their
links with former president, Mohammad Khatami.

Ebrahim Yazdi was arrested on Wednesday,  June 17 and the other seven were
arrested on Tuesday, June 16. It is not known where they are held and
Amnesty International fears for their safety.

They are prisoners of conscience who should be released immediately and

Human rights progress in Zimbabwe 'woefully slow'

“PROGRESS on human rights in Zimbabwe has been woefully slow,” said Amnesty
International Secretary General Irene Khan today, Thursday. “The people of Zimbabwe can no longer continue to be held hostage to the ambitions of their
leaders.”

She was speaking in the country’s capital, Harare, at the end of a six-day
high level mission to Zimbabwe, during which she met with senior government
ministers, human rights activists and victims of human rights violations.
This was the first ever visit by an Amnesty International Secretary General
to Zimbabwe.

Iran must investigate police violence – Amnesty

THE Iranian authorities must start an immediate investigation into the security forces’ violent handling of thousands of demonstrators in cities across the country over the weekend. The protestors took to the streets on Saturday objecting to the announcement of the victory of incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Friday’s presidential elections.

Amnesty International has received reports from Iran that plain-clothes security forces unnecessarily used batons to beat and disperse non-violent protestors, injuring many people. 

Serbia/Kosovo: No end to impunity 10 years after end of war

IN A report published to mark the 10th anniversary of the end of the war in Kosovo, Amnesty International highlights the continued failure of the authorities in Serbia and Kosovo to investigate and prosecute enforced disappearances and abductions and bring the perpetrators to justice.

A decade after the war ended, around 1,900 families across Kosovo and Serbia still have no details about the fate or whereabouts of their missing relatives.

Underlying the economic crisis is a human rights time bomb

Freedom of expression restricted in 81 countries

78% of executions take place in the G-20 countries

Fifty countries hold prisoners of conscience

People subjected to forcible evictions in 24 countries

Half of all countries inflict torture or ill-treatment on people during interrogation

Sri Lanka: Urgent need for human rights protection

As the war between the Sri Lankan Government and the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) comes to an end and the humanitarian crisis unfolds, Amnesty International is calling for key steps to be adopted to ensure civilians and captured fighters are protected.

"The Sri Lankan government must ensure that its forces fully respect international law, including all provisions relating to protecting civilians from the effect of hostilities," said Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia Pacific Director.

Child abuse report underlines need for children’s rights referendum

"THE report is a catalogue of the greatest human rights abuses in the history of the State," said Amnesty International Ireland Executive Director Colm O'Gorman.

"The responses that need to be heard above all are the responses of those who lived it.

"We cannot allow ourselves to dismiss this report's implications for Ireland today. Along with a whole raft of other measures, the Government must fulfilL its obligations and commitments to introduce constitutional reform in this area.

World’s top health expert calls on the Irish Government to prioritise mental health

THE UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Anand Grover, has expressed concern over the lack of legislation to implement government policy.

Speaking at the Irish Mental Health Coalition (IMHC) conference on Monday Mr Grover said: "A Vision for Change is an excellent document, really radical in terms of policy, but unfortunately it simply has not been implemented."

Amnesty renews pressure on renditions

A MOTION calling for increased pressure on the Government to take action on 'extraordinary renditions' was carried unanimously at the Annual General Meeting of Amnesty International members in Ireland over the weekend.

The Irish Government had last November committed to review policy and law relating to suspected 'extraordinary rendition' flights.

Amnesty members called on the Irish Government to:

Outrage at Iran’s execution of Delara Darabi

LAST FRIDAY, Iranian authorities executed Delara Darabi in Rasht Central Prison. She is the second person to be executed this year after being convicted of a crime she was alleged to have committed while still under 18.

GAELFORCE WEST 2009 Get active for Amnesty

AMNESTY International is delighted to partner with Gaelforce West for Ireland's Largest Adventure Races on 22nd and 23rd August in Westport, County Mayo.

With over 800 competitors in 2008, Gaelforce 6 has become the largest multi sport event in Europe in just three years. Numbers are expected to double in 2009 to 1600!

 

US offers ‘get of out jail free’ card to CIA officials

Calls on US and Ireland to investigate torture and renditions allegations

 

RESPONDING to the release by the US Justice Department of memos that provided the legal basis for the CIA's use of waterboarding and other interrogation methods that violate domestic and international law, Amnesty International Ireland's Executive Director Colm O'Gorman said:

Peru: Conviction of Fujimori – a milestone in the fight for justice

THE conviction of former President Alberto Fujimori is a crucial milestone in the struggle for justice in Peru and shows that nobody is above the law, Amnesty International said last week.

"Justice has been done in Peru," said Javier Zúñiga, Amnesty International's observer at the trial.

Urgent investigation of injuries in Clonmel needed

THE IRISH Mental Health Coalition (IMHC) has called on the Government to establish urgently an independent investigation into the individual cases of patients who experienced fracture injuries in uncertain circumstances in St Luke's Hospital, Clonmel and St Michael's Unit, South Tipperary General Hospital, Clonmel.

2,390 people executed worldwide during 2008

Seven people were executed everyday around the world in 2008

AMNESTY International has revealed that between January and December 2008 at least 2,390 people were executed in 25 countries around the world with at least 8,864 sentenced to death in 52 states.

"The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. Beheadings, electrocutions, hangings, lethal injections, shootings and stonings have no place in the 21st century," said Irene Khan, Secretary General of Amnesty International.

Amnesty welcomes Taoiseach’s statement on Guantánamo prisoners

AMNESTY International Ireland has welcomed reports that the Taoiseach told journalists during his visit to the US that Ireland would take, 'a proportionate amount, a small number' of cleared Guantánamo prisoners. Between fifty and sixty of the remaining 250 prisoners have been cleared for release but cannot be sent home because of fears for their safety.

"By making this commitment the Taoiseach is showing a great deal of courage," said Amnesty International Ireland Programmes Director Noeleen Hartigan.

Iraq: 128 to face execution in batches of 20

AMNESTY International has called for the immediate intervention of Iraq's Justice Minister to stop the execution of 128 prisoners on death row, amid reports that the authorities are planning to start executing them in batches of up to 20 starting this week.

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