Why should we care about the human rights of people who themselves don't appear to respect them? Statements made this week by a former member of an armed Islamic group suggest that it is the best way to change hearts and minds.

In an interview in the British newspaper...

A dramatic disconnect between principles and policies has hampered current U.S. health care reform efforts. This became obvious when candidate Obama declared health care to be a right and then proceeded to treat it as a commodity when negotiating with insurance companies a requirement for individuals to buy a...

When I was around 10-years-old, I somehow caught a few minutes of Christine, the film based on Stephen King's novel about a killer car. And it freaked me out. To this day, I've...

By Edith Garwood, Country Specialist for Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and the Palestinian Authority at Amnesty International USA

Amnesty International said that the recommendations of the United Nations Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict, if implemented, offer the best hope for justice and...

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights recently reported that President Mugabe did not sign the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Well, he signed half of it. The entire 36-page document was ratified into law by Parliament as Constitutional Amendment 19. President Mugabe, however, only signed an 18-page document. The result...

by Lillian Tan, Corporate Action Network

The bad media which surrounded the Nisour Square shootings on September 16, 2007 galvanized the U.S. Government to take some steps towards ensuring that the Department of Defense (DOD) and Department of State (DOS) better regulate Private military and security companies' (PMSC) operations in...

By Christoph Koettl, Crisis Prevention and Response Campaigner at Amnesty International USA

A final analysis of satellite images -- requested by Amnesty International USA's Science for Human Rights project -- was released by the American Association for the Advancement of Science today. It provides rare...

By Brian Evans, Death Penalty Abolition Campaigner at Amnesty International USA

UPDATE: On Aug. 11th, North Carolina Governor Beverly Perdue signed the Racial Justice Act into law, making North Carolina only the second state in the country to allow death row prisoners to meaningfully challenge their...

Prominent US and multinational companies such as Apple, Dell, Motorola, Nokia, and Hewlett-Packard are among the businesses pinpointed as culprits in an unflinching, new report released by Global Witness that details the often noxious connections between the illegal mining trade, widespread human rights abuses and tech and mining...

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) demonstrated in a more than impressive way this week how science and technology can advance the cause of human rights. Using forensic analysis and satellite imagery, they did an excellent job in documenting a war crime -- and the subsequent U.S. supported cover-up...

By Tony Cruz, Amnesty International USA's Business & Economic Relations Group

Yahoo! held its annual shareholder meeting on June 25th -- the first meeting with the company's new CEO, Carol Bartz. In the meeting, Ms. Bartz attempted to show a new face of Yahoo; a bolder and progressive "no-nonsense"...

By Brian Evans, Death Penalty Abolition Campaigner at Amnesty International USA

Last month, Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani became the first Guantanamo Bay detainee to be brought to the United States for trial outside of the military commission system. His trial is set to begin in September 2010 in a...

By Elise Auerbach, Iran Specialist for Amnesty International USA

Ordinarily, human rights activists would be pleased when the rare major motion picture shining a light on human rights violations comes along. In fact, aside from documentaries, it is very unusual to see issues that Amnesty International has worked...

Abdolfattah Soltani was arrested at his office in central Tehran, at around four in the afternoon, on 16 June by four plainclothes security officials. The officials, who did not have a search warrant, a summons or arrest warrant, carried out a...

By Tom Parker, Policy Director, (Counter) Terrorism and Human Rights

Four Uighur former Guantanamo inmates are now in Bermuda, other detainees have been released to France, Chad, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Hungary, Italy and Palau appear to have joined the ranks of countries prepared to accept detainees cleared...

By Elise Auerbach, Iran Specialist for Amnesty International USA

Enormous crowds throng the streets of Tehran and great excitement is in the air. Commentators note that the June 12 presidential elections in Iran could be the most important election in thirty years. In the previous presidential election of...

By Larry Cox, Executive Director, Amnesty International USA

Amid the global economic crisis, who stole the spotlight? The Big Three car makers? The bigwigs and their bonuses? The big banks that caused all the trouble? That's where all of the attention has been focused. But what about the little...

By Brian Evans, Death Penalty Abolition Campaigner at Amnesty International USA.

Imagine a case where someone is sent to death row solely on the testimony of nine witnesses, and then, some years after the conviction, seven of those witnesses recant (many alleging they were coerced by police to testify...