August 2007

Amnesty International today (31 August) expressed grave concern at the wider deployment of Taser electro-shock weapons to police officers in ten forces across the UK which are taking part in a pilot 12-month trial expected to start on Saturday 1 September. Posted: 31 Aug 2007

Amnesty International is calling for clemency for a man in Texas who is facing execution on Thursday (30 August) for a crime he did not commit. Posted: 28 Aug 2007

Amnesty International today (24 August 2007) released new photographs showing that the Sudanese government is continuing to deploy offensive military equipment in Darfur despite the UN arms embargo and peace agreements. Posted: 24 Aug 2007

Amnesty International and the Big Issue in Scotland tonight (23rd August) announced the winner of the 2007 Freedom of Expression Award. The award acknowledges a company whose performance at the Edinburgh Festivals makes a significant contribution to public awareness and understanding of human rights issues. Posted: 23 Aug 2007

Amnesty International will be asking Belfast film-goers this week to help stop the use of torture by governments in the global 'war on terror'. Posted: 22 Aug 2007

Amnesty International and the Big Issue in Scotland today (20 August) announced the shortlist for the Freedom of Expression Award, which rewards a company whose performance at the Edinburgh Festivals makes a significant contribution to public awareness and understanding of human rights issues. Posted: 20 Aug 2007

Many inmates left for years in filthy overcrowded cells. Amnesty International researchers, recently returned from Nigeria, have expressed shock at the prison conditions they witnessed and the protracted delays in Nigeria's justice system. Posted: 15 Aug 2007

Amnesty International UK and other anti-death penalty campaigners have welcomed the decision of a court in the USA to overturn - for a second time - the conviction of Kenny Richey, a Scottish man on death row in Ohio. The organisation is now calling for Mr Richey to be allowed a proper re-trial or be released as soon as possible. Posted: 10 Aug 2007

Amnesty International has today issued an urgent appeal to Yemen's President Saleh to halt the execution of a child offender in Yemen, due be carried out on Saturday. Posted: 9 Aug 2007

Amnesty International today (9 August) joined in solidarity with approximately 168 million trade unionists globally to call for the immediate and unconditional release of two Iranian trade union activists currently being held in Iran. The global Day of Action is organised by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF). Posted: 9 Aug 2007

The UK government's decision to reconsider its refusal to grant special asylum arrangements for Iraqi interpreters serving with British forces in Iraq is welcome, but does not go far enough, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the UK's Refugee Council said today. Posted: 8 Aug 2007

The level of threats, intimidation, attacks and killings of activists in Honduras and Guatemala who campaign to defend the rights of marginalised communities is reaching 'worrying proportions' said Amnesty International today (8 August) as it published its new report. Posted: 8 Aug 2007

Amnesty International Scotland today (7 August) stepped up its campaign for imprisoned Chinese journalist and poet Shi Tao, as it published a new China report marking 'one year to go' until the Beijing Olympics. Posted: 7 Aug 2007

Amnesty International has today (7 August) warned that human rights abuses in China are blighting the countdown to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as it published a new China report on the eve of the 'one year to go' mark. Posted: 7 Aug 2007

The UK Working Group on Arms (1) today welcomes the Quadripartite Committee's report which warns that UK legislation is struggling to deal with an increasingly globalised defence industry (2). Posted: 7 Aug 2007

Responding to today's news that the UK government will make representations for the return to Britain of five UK residents imprisoned at the US detention centre at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, Amnesty International has this morning welcomed the decision and called for early action to achieve the men's freedom. Posted: 7 Aug 2007

Amnesty International has made an appeal for all Taleban-held hostages in Afghanistan to be immediately and unconditionally released after the organisation made direct contact with members of the Taleban. Posted: 2 Aug 2007

Amnesty International has today called for death sentences against two Kurdish cousins in Iran to be commuted as it issued an 'urgent action' appeal on their behalf. Posted: 1 Aug 2007

Amnesty International today (1 August) welcomed last night's unanimous vote by the UN Security Council to send a newly strengthened African Union-United Nations force to Darfur in Sudan but warned that the force must be deployed urgently, resourced effectively and be given the full support of the Sudanese Government. Posted: 1 Aug 2007