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2010 (32)
Dec 27 2010 11:04PM
Obituary: Professor Kevin Boyle

Many in Northern Ireland and much further afield will be deeply saddened to hear news of the the death of Professor Kevin Boyle, who passed away yesterday. Prof. Boyle was one of the UK and Ireland’s leading human rights academics, as...

Dec 14 2010 9:03PM
Derry couple's human rights court victory today

The right to marry is protected by Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights . In today’s Chamber judgment in the case O’Donoghue and Others v. the United Kingdom the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that...

Jul 27 2010 1:02PM
Belfast Pride 2010: what we learned last night

A great evening in the Europa Hotel. Senator David Norris delivering the Amnesty International Belfast Pride Lecture , followed by Pride Talks Back , when Norris joined local politicians and the Rev David McIlveen of the Free...

Jul 26 2010 2:03PM
Gay rights champion Senator David Norris at Belfast Pride

Really looking forward to meeting Senator David Norris later. I'm meeting him off the Dublin train this afternoon, in anticipation of the Amnesty International Belfast Pride Lecture later in the Europa Hotel. Senator Norris at the...

Jul 6 2010 12:24PM
Amartya Sen on The Idea of Justice

Nobel Prize-winning economist Prof Amartya Sen is in Belfast to pick up an honorary degree from Queen's University Belfast. The university was kind enough to extend invitations to me and about 20 other Amnesty members to attend a small...

Jun 4 2010 12:40PM
Rescuing Gaza: why world must stand up for justice

A version of thie piece appears in today's Belfast Telegraph . It's not currently in the online edition so am posting below instead: One of my friend Mairead Maguire's favourite items of clothing is an old t-shirt. It bears the image...

May 28 2010 5:31PM
Northern Ireland: truth comes dropping slow

Depressing news in Belfast this afternoon as a man is shot dead in broad daylight by two masked men on the Shankill Road, while a pipe-bomb explodes outside a Sinn Fein office in Castlewellan. You would think that some people don't...

May 26 2010 10:52AM
Peace processes and the role of national human rights institutions

Peace processes and the role of national human rights institutions – that's the theme of a lecture to be delivered next month by Northern Ireland's Chief Commissioner for Human Rights, Prof Monica McWilliams. The lecture will explore...

May 20 2010 5:14PM
Let Me See Your Pretty Face

“Citizenship should be experienced with an uncovered face.” So said French President Nicholas Sarkozy, addressing theFrench cabinet on Wednesday, when it approved a draft law banning the wearingof full-face veils in public places. The...

May 19 2010 1:07AM
Going... Going... Gone.

“A commission is to be set up to review the Human RightsAct, as two terror suspects are allowed to stay in the UK ” reads the misleadingheadline on the BBC’s homepage. Two suspected al-Qaeda terrorists appealed againstextradition to...

May 18 2010 12:52PM
Legislating Your Rights Away

On 20 April 2010 the First and Deputy First Ministers publisheddraft legislation for the ‘Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill(Northern Ireland). The Bill is tortrayed as a tool to find solutions to contentiousparades through...

May 18 2010 12:43PM
Back to the Future

Some disturbing allegations are coming out of Maghaberry prison these days. In my opinion, they're just as disturbing if they're not true as if they are true – due purely to the condescending response by authorities, particularly the...

May 17 2010 5:46PM
Celebrating Africa Day - in Belfast

Live in or near Belfast and looking for something different to do this Saturday? How about celebrating Africa Day with some authentic African food, music and dancing, courtesy of local charity Camara , colleagues of Amnesty in CADA...

May 14 2010 5:55PM
International Day Against Homophobia - Belfast

International Day Against Homophobia is on Monday. Changing Attitude Ireland are holding an event in Belfast to mark the occasion this Sunday. It's a service on on the theme "OPEN DOORS" on Sunday 16th May 2010 at 3pm in St. George’s...

May 14 2010 1:14PM
The Belfast Slave Ship Company

In 1786, a meeting was organised by a merchant called Waddell Cunningham just returned to Belfast from New York where he’d made his fortune in trade. The meeting was held in the Assembly rooms (the old Northern Bank building) on...

May 13 2010 2:19PM
Re-conceptualising Fair Trial Rights for the 21st Century

The QUB Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice Annual Lecture will take place on Thursday 20th May at 5.30pm, in Room 121, Lanyon Building. This year the theme is: “ Re-conceptualising Fair Trial Rights for the 21st Century ”...

May 9 2010 12:26PM
An American Supermax cell - our human future?

"He will be confined in a cell 7 feet by 12 feet, with a moulded concrete bunk; his food will be delivered through a slot in the door; external communication, even with a doctor, will come via a closed-circuit television in his cell...

May 6 2010 10:29AM
Voting for human rights

This General Election matters for human rights around the world. It's true that no-one’s going to force any of us to vote one way or another, or lock us up for speaking out on behalf of our particular political favourite. But human...

Apr 23 2010 5:55PM
Love thy neighbour as thyself? Rights & religion.

Are rights and religion natural partners with an overlapping worldview, or arch-enemies with conflicting interpretations of how we live with our neighbours near and far. Two-and-a-half years ago, I couldn't spare the two days to attend...

Apr 21 2010 1:02PM
Corporate accountability and human rights abuses

Is it only States which have a responsibility to uphold human rights? What about companies – especially these days when some multinationals have annual turnovers larger than the Gross Domestic Product of some countries? That's the...

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