Skip to main content
Amnesty International UK
Log in
June 2008 (22)
Jun 30 2008 4:58PM
New China viral and appeal for detained cyber-dissident

We released the second of our viral animations on the China Olympics today, highlighting the repression of peaceful protesters (using the medium of cute animated animals). You can see and download the films, and get the code to embed...

Jun 27 2008 4:29PM
La vita italiana: integrazione, o no?

Just bought a car recently. (I’ve already mentioned my car in an earlier post – apologies bike-lovers!). Anyway, we’re getting rid of the clapped out left-hand drive Italian one (pictured) that we’ve been knocking about in for the last...

Jun 26 2008 6:28PM
A good day for the Maori people

The Maori people have had a bit of good news recently as the New Zealand government agreed to an historic land deal that would give the Maoris almost £161 million in forestry assets. This deal comes after a long-running history of...

Jun 25 2008 12:59PM
A question of Heinz, and one for Jacqui Smith

So what exactly does Heinz meanz these days? Gone it appears are the halcyon days of simple messages about warming cups of soup and the beauty of Tomato Ketchup. Instead the global brand has gone and got itself embroiled in a saucy row...

Jun 24 2008 2:53PM
Guantánamo: still waiting ....

You wait ages for one … and then two come together. There’s overnight news that a US appeals court has ruled that an “enemy combatant” at Guantánamo is wrongly held and should be either freed, transferred or brought before a court to...

Jun 23 2008 2:23PM
Behind the headlines

Once again the turbulence in Zimbabwe is making agenda-topping news. What a weekend it’s been. The violence that broke out between Zanu-PF and MDC supporters at yesterday’s rally was enough for Morgan Tsvangirai to declare that he...

Jun 20 2008 6:48PM
How much longer will this go on?

For weeks now Amnesty has been saying that the state-sponsored violence in Zimbabwe is reaching crisis point. Last night’s news that 12 people had been found tortured to death has taken this situation to a whole new level. As we’ve...

Jun 19 2008 5:54PM
Good Souls of Sichuan, poor souls of Lhasa

I saw a fantastic play last night at the Young Vic, 'The Good Soul of Sichuan’ by Bertold Brecht, starring Jane Horrocks (she of Little Voice and Ab Fab fame). Go and see it if you can. It’s set in Sichuan (of earthquake fame, entirely...

Jun 18 2008 4:26PM
Lost in translation?

It’s early afternoon and I’m still suffering from the “I’m really sleepy after going out on a school night” effect. Thankfully, I’m not the only one in the office feeling that way as we were all at Amnesty’s Annual Media Awards...

Jun 17 2008 12:45PM
Youre going to write what? Rip it up and start again

Last night the BBC lit up the central London sky with a tower of light as a tribute to journalists killed doing their job. Your trusty blog correspondent was in the area (Portland Place) armed with his projector pencil and canny Canon...

Jun 16 2008 5:32PM
Going back to Iraq

Following some great coverage of our report yesterday on the situation for Iraqi refugees – most of whom are in Syria and Jordan, forced into increasingly-desperate measures from poverty – it’s good to see that the Times is carrying a...

Jun 13 2008 12:48PM
And on that bombshell...

Blimey! Yesterday’s high political drama has left me shakin all over. The David Davis bombshell! The Guantánamo court ruling shocker! Well, while the Davis resignation is obviously the really BIG news on the UK media scene, the US...

Jun 12 2008 7:00PM
Democracy please...

Today the BBC has reported the unearthing of documents which detail the involvement of Zimbabwe’s military in the running of Mugabe’s re-election campaign as he fights to retain a stranglehold on the leadership. Then there’s the arrest...

Jun 11 2008 7:49PM
Bad news on 42 days

Bit of breaking (bad) news – the government's proposal to increase the pre-charge detention limit to 42 days – six weeks – has scraped through parliament by a majority of nine. Not that the politics is important to Amnesty, but it...

Jun 11 2008 7:26PM
And now for some good news

The news headlines seem pretty gloomy at the moment: cost of food is on the increase, the price of petrol set to double, more and more homeowners likely to go into negative equity, and the vote for 42-day detention without charge is...

Jun 10 2008 1:04PM
Six Weeks High and Rising

MPs will make a crucial decision tomorrow that could undermine the basic human rights of everyone in the UK. The debate on the Counter-Terrorism Bill starts in parliament today, but as far as the media’s concerned it’s all about...

Jun 9 2008 2:45PM
Publish and be damned (or locked up, or killed)

Total British military deaths reaching 100 since 2001 is dominating the news today – one of those sad milestones that pretty much speak for themselves. In the office we also noticed that an Afghan journalist working for the BBC was...

Jun 6 2008 3:05PM
Under pressure the people of Zimbabwe certainly are

Pressure is definitely mounting within Zimbabwe as the countdown begins towards the second round of elections scheduled for 27 June. Sadly this pressure is manifesting itself in a terrible catalogue of human rights abuses: intimidation...

Jun 5 2008 1:46PM
A thousand red roses and a jailed comedian

It’s been all go in the press office these last few days. Last night saw a fantastic gathering of hundreds of Amnesty supporters outside the Chinese embassy to mark the 19th anniversary of the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in...

Jun 4 2008 4:08PM
Tanks for the memory - join us today at the Chinese embassy on the Tiananmen Square anniversary

I found myself stood in front of a twelve-ton tank yesterday, with the barrel pointing squarely in my face. And yet my only fear was about the people shooting me from behind. Worry not, the armed wing of Amnesty has not yet become...

1/2
1/2