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Founded in 1961, Amnesty International works to protect human rights and people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. Amnesty investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and helps transform societies to create a safer, more just world. Amnesty International received the Nobel Peace Prize for their life-saving work.

With more than 2.2 million supporters, activists and volunteers in over 150 countries, they work with complete independence from government, corporate or national interests.

Blog Entries by Amnesty International

Not a Billion More

(2) Comments | Posted February 13, 2013 | 3:15 PM

I was in Delhi on December 17 when tens of thousands marched in solidarity to support a young victim of rape.

On the evening of December 16, this young woman and her friend boarded a bus to return home after watching a movie. Her friend was attacked, while she was...

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Why Martin O'Malley Needs to Lead Maryland to Death Penalty Abolition

(9) Comments | Posted December 11, 2012 | 4:32 PM

By Brian Evans, Interim Director of Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign

Opposing the death penalty is not the political third rail it used to be (or at least was considered to be). It has become a mainstream choice. Especially now, and especially in a state like Maryland, with...

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To Stop Violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Look to Rwanda

(2) Comments | Posted November 29, 2012 | 9:37 AM

By Sarah Milburn and Ken Harrow

The last time armed militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo unleashed a campaign of violence, five million people were killed and 2.5 million people were driven from their homes. Governments in the region and the United Nations failed to hold anyone accountable. And...

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President Obama Must Carry a Human Rights Message to Myanmar or Risk Setting Back Momentum for Reform

(3) Comments | Posted November 16, 2012 | 5:00 PM

By Suzanne Nossel

Some human rights organizations and Burmese activist groups have derided President Obama's decision to travel to Myanmar next week and become the first U.S. president to set foot in the nation long known as a pariah regime.

The concern isn't idle. The few hours...

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Revelations That Iran Is Arming Syria Is One More Example of Why the World Needs an Arms Trade Treaty

(44) Comments | Posted September 11, 2012 | 8:35 PM

By Suzanne Nossel

The Obama administration is understandably concerned after this week's revelations that Iran is arming Syrian troops and is flying through Iraqi airspace to do it. While the slaughter in Syria has claimed well over 16,000 lives, efforts by the United States, the United Nations and...

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Fact vs. Fiction: Arms Trade Treaty and Gun Ownership in the U.S.

(13) Comments | Posted July 19, 2012 | 4:16 PM

As world leaders meet in New York this month to negotiate the first ever global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), the Internet has been buzzing with conspiracy theories that such a treaty would infringe on Second Amendment gun ownership rights in the U.S.

The National Rifle Association...

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What Comes Next for the Blind Chinese Dissident and US-Chinese Relations?

(0) Comments | Posted May 2, 2012 | 11:18 AM

By Frank Jannuzi

A week ago, no one would have predicted that the future of U.S.-China relations could lie in the hands of a blind Chinese human rights defender. But for the moment, U.S.-China ties will be shaped less by currency machinations or Security Council votes than by...

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Families of Murder Victims Key to Victory in Repeal of Death Penalty in Connecticut

(3) Comments | Posted April 23, 2012 | 12:41 PM

By Robert Nave

One of the false premises often cited to support the death penalty is that it delivers "justice" to the victims of violent crimes and their families. Yet, many families of murder victims disagree with this argument. In Connecticut, nearly 200 relatives of victims of violent crime told...

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Radical Changes Needed in Israel Approach

(265) Comments | Posted February 3, 2012 | 2:29 PM

As the Quartet celebrates the resumption of bilateral negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians in Jordan this month, a record number of Palestinians find themselves out in the cold this winter due to illegal home demolitions by Israeli authorities in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Scores more remain...

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What Twitter's New Censorship Policy Means for Human Rights

(5) Comments | Posted February 1, 2012 | 3:39 PM

Twitter dropped quite the shocker last week when it declared its new policy to remove tweets in certain countries to abide by specific national laws. While a tweet will remain visible to the rest of the world, specific messages will disappear in the target country (e.g., following requests by governments).

...
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Anniversary of Shame

(3) Comments | Posted January 12, 2012 | 11:26 AM

January 11, 2012, marks a grim milestone: the tenth anniversary of the date that the U.S. government transferred its first detainees from Afghanistan to the detention facility in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and imprisoned them there without charge or trial.

It was one of the first fateful steps...

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Clinton's Visit to Burma: Is Obama Administration Slipping on Human Rights?

(1) Comments | Posted November 30, 2011 | 11:03 AM

Tomorrow Secretary Clinton will become the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Burma (Myanmar) in 50 years. She was dispatched by President Obama to engage the regime that still holds over 1,500 political prisoners and commits serious human rights abuses against ethnic minorities, including rape.  She arrives on...

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Senate Introduces Disastrous New Detention Bill

(8) Comments | Posted November 18, 2011 | 4:27 PM

The new National Defense Authorization Bill (S1867) presented to the Senate by the Armed Services Committee is such a disaster for civil liberties and human rights it is difficult to know where to begin.

Section 1031 of the bill extends the Congressional Authorization...

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Cheney's New Memoir: Fact vs. Fiction

(56) Comments | Posted September 2, 2011 | 11:41 AM

By Tom Parker

On Tuesday, Aug. 30 former Vice President Richard "Dick" Cheney published his memoirs, "In My Time," and, as widely expected, he has used this new platform to restate his wholehearted support for some of the most egregious human rights abuses committed by the Bush administration.

...
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Close Gitmo and Help Solve the Debt Crisis

(3) Comments | Posted August 24, 2011 | 11:26 AM

(JTF Guantanamo photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Gino Reyes)
(JTF Guantanamo photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Gino Reyes)
It is not news to any taxpayer in the country that the United States is facing a debt crisis...
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Immigration Detention: The Golden Goose for Private Prisons

(4) Comments | Posted June 20, 2011 | 12:14 PM

By Sarnata Reynolds, Advocacy and Policy Director for Refugee and Migrants' Rights.

An immigrant stands in a holding cell at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Florence, Arizona. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
An immigrant stands in a...
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Will Georgia Execute a Man Despite Doubts About His Guilt?

(2) Comments | Posted April 28, 2011 | 11:15 AM

By Brian Evans, Death Penalty Campaigner.

When it issued a temporary stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis in 2007, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles wrote that they would "not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members...

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Denmark Company Supplies Major U.S. Executioners

(0) Comments | Posted March 31, 2011 | 11:24 AM

By Brian Evans, Campaigner for Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign.

The European nation of Denmark is about to embark on executions in a big way. Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck has sold pentobarbital to four of the most prolific executing states in the U.S.: Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Texas....

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U.S. in Top 5 For Executions Worldwide

(6) Comments | Posted March 28, 2011 | 2:21 PM

By Brian Evans, Campaigner for Amnesty International USA's Death Penalty Abolition Campaign.

Interactive Map
Click image to open interactive map.

First, the good news. In 1961, the year Amnesty International was founded, only 9...

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Known and Forgotten: Rumsfeld's Memoir

(9) Comments | Posted March 7, 2011 | 1:06 PM

By Matthew Alexander, Former Senior Military Interrogator and Amnesty Volunteer

Simulated waterboarding © Amnesty International.
Simulated waterboarding © Amnesty International

It would have been a better title for former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's recently released memoir. There are things...

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