With the UN calling for reinforcements to support its troops in Ivory Coast while saying there’s a “real risk” of civil war , and as France tells its citizens to get out of the country as soon as possible, it looks increasingly...

The unrest across the Ivory Coast following the elections shows no sign of abating. As Amnesty reported at least nine unarmed protestors were shot dead by security forces. The Guardian reports how Alassane Ouattara’s supporters intend...

Here in the Amnesty press team we posted our greetings cards yesterday. Just in time to arrive just before Christmas I think. Yet as I was signing them, I realised just how little I’d done so far to prepare for the festive season. As...

It’s heartening to see the news agenda give space to the issue of violence against women but it’s just a shame that it has to take an International Day for that to happen. As well as the Government’s announcement to allocate more than...

Over the past few days Amnesty’s press phones have been hot. Calls for interviews and comment about the release of Aung San Suu Kyi came thick and fast on Friday and Saturday. The release of the Chandlers sparked a few calls for us on...

Its hard to imagine being woken up in the middle of the night by bulldozers which are literally tearing down your house while youre still in it. But this is a reality for nearly 200,000 people living in Nigerias town of Port Harcourt...

Cheryl’s decision to not give Gamu a shot at the live shows was clearly a bad one. Putting through two wannabe pop stars – in fact the only two of the eight contestants who fluffed their lines – at the expense of excellent singers such...

Today's UN report detailing war crimes committed in the DRC between 1993 and 2003 has been beset with controversy and defensive rebuttals from first Rwanda and today Uganda. The much debated and well-leaked Mapping report details the...

Attention? Resources? Commitment? Finances? Or perhaps all of the above and of course, Greater focus on human rights. Today’s media is abuzz with the opening of the United Nations Summit in New York where world leaders will meet to...

That seems true for the Democratic Republic of Congo at the moment. Papers, blogs and broadcasts have been awash with a variety of news stories from the DRC in recent days. And they've not been particularly positive. Over the weekend...

I’m sure I’m not the only one who has at times blurted out an inappropriate remark or two. Never intended to be harmful or malicious, but sometimes it’s just the wrong thing. For example when meeting the brother of one of my friends...

In a bid to expose its execution practice, Japan will allow journalists to visit its Tokyo chamber of death for the first time. Richard Lloyd Parry in The Times reports that ‘executions are a mixture of the chilling and the...

As a wee young thing my mum used to send me to ballet lessons. A bittersweet pill I recall because while I disliked immensely ballet, I used to love the tap dance and jazz dance classes which followed. One of the reasons why I hated...

For several years any thought of Rwanda immediately invoked memories of the scenes of the brutal massacre of nearly 800,000 people in the space of 100 days. Cognisant of the imprint which the genocide has left on the country, Rwanda’s...

… Or so they say. I’m not too sure that Naomi Campbell – this morning at least – was thinking that as she stood to testify at Charles Taylor’s trial at The Hague about rough diamonds which the former Liberian President was alleged to...

President Bashir was oozing with confidence as he stepped off the plane in N’djamena yesterday. This, to me, suggests that he knew he would be pretty safe from arrest during his trip to Chad. If he did have any concerns then clearly...

“Officers should not be armed with Tasers if they cannot use them properly,” said Peter Cox from Bridgwater to the Mirror after accidentally being shot in the groin with a Taser as a police officer was lowering the weapon. With that...

Having worked at Amnesty for a few years now, I’ve got used to the fact that the train of ‘international human rights treaty-formation’ chugs at what I think is a rather slow pace. I recall when I first joined Amnesty the excitement...

The BBC and the Telegraph today report that the first seven of the 52 Cuban political prisoners recently released are on their way to a life in exile in Spain . The Guardian reports that one journalist – Omar Ruiz – doesn’t consider...

Open any newspaper on any day and you will almost certainly read an article thats criticising the government in one way or another. Whether it be the governments stance on immigration, on the economy or even on the human rights of...