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Amnesty International UK
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2009 (34)
Dec 15 2009 11:26PM
Human rights at work and British business

Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (MPs and Lords) has published a report today (Wednesday 16 December) which looks at how human rights can be improved at the workplace, home and abroad. The Committee criticises the...

Dec 11 2009 7:23PM
Violence in Guatemala continues

Tragically the little reported violence in Guatemala continues unabated. Following the recent killing of MSICG activist Victor Galvez two more leaders of the labour, indigenous and campesino movement have been killed - Miguel Chacaj...

Dec 11 2009 7:11PM
More teachers killed in Colombia

The number of trade unionists killed in Colombia this year is now just short of 40. Teaching union activists Zorayda Cortes Lopez and Leny Yanube Rengifo Gomeza were killed this month, bringing the total number of teachers killed...

Dec 10 2009 6:37PM
Union rights for human rights day

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) represents 175 million workers in 155 countries and territories and has 311 national affiliates. It is celebrating International Human Rights Day by paying tribute to all human rights...

Nov 17 2009 6:49PM
Guatemalan trade unionists face appalling situation

The murder of Victor Galvez at the end of last month was yet another tragic example of the appalling situation facing trade unionists in Guatemala. Sr. Galvez was not just a trade union leader, he was a community leader and a member of...

Nov 13 2009 5:01PM
It's not ok to shoot striking workers in Bangladesh

On 31 October, the Bangladesh Police shot dead three workers from the Nippon Garments Factory in Ershad Nagar in the Tongi Industrial Belt in Bangladesh during a protest over the non-payment of the salaries and other benefits due to...

Nov 3 2009 10:51PM
Jailed in Iran for being trade unionists

Six Iranian trade unionists representing sugar workers at the Haft Tapeh company have been jailed for their trade union activities. Worldwide food workers' union the IUF say “the regime is clearly determined to crush the union by...

Oct 16 2009 10:07PM
More trade union deaths in Colombia

The murder of Alberto Luis Pastrana and the attempted murder of teachers union leader Mario Montes de Oca Anaya outside the San Jeroimo hospital in Monteria, Cordoba province, Colombia on 1 October, following closely on the killings of...

Oct 11 2009 4:42PM
Teachers arrested in Iran for celebrating World Teachers' Day

Anyone who still thinks that Iran is a progressive country whose only crime is to oppose western imperialism should look at the way it treats its workers. On 5 October, teachers all over the world celebrated World Teachers' Day, and...

Oct 8 2009 3:15PM
Bloody brutality in Guinea

The General Council of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) heard this afternoon from an incredibly brave trade unionist from Guinea, where last week the army brutally broke up a peaceful demonstration for democracy which...

Oct 3 2009 1:45AM
Trade unionists shot in Zimbabwe

Striking miners at Shabanie Mines near Bulawayo have been demonstrating since 7 September to get back pay dating as far back as January. On Friday 25 September, police opened fire on the strikers and hit several people. Three were...

Sep 26 2009 5:11PM
Why an EU free trade deal with Colombia would be bad for human rights

The EU is negotiating a free trade agreement (FTA) with Colombia, the most dangerous place in the world to be a trade unionist. Signing that deal would hand the Colombian Government a propaganda coup, suggesting that its human rights...

Sep 26 2009 10:49AM
Iranian trade unionists face lengthy jail sentences - protest now!

Two Iranian trade unionists from the sugar industry are still facing jail, although three of their colleagues have had their sentences overturned on appeal after an international solidarity campaign. The IUF – the global union for food...

Sep 21 2009 6:06PM
The right to peace

The right to life is of course at the heart of human rights, so today, on International Day of Peace , the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) is highlighting the importance of real action for the abolition of nuclear...

Sep 6 2009 11:11AM
Gambian trade unionists pardoned!

I've blogged before about the campaign to free the leaders of the Gambia Press Union – their NUJ – and on Friday we got the good news that they had been freed by Presidential pardon. This was the result of a worldwide campaign in...

Aug 28 2009 9:07PM
For unions, Zimbabwe is still not (quite) free

I'm just returning from a three day TUC delegation to Zimbabwe where we found a mixture of optimism and caution. Ben, the editor of The Worker, paper of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told us he was recently arrested when he...

Aug 18 2009 11:39PM
Colombian Government shows nothing has changed

The Colombian Government hasn't changed one jot. It is still picking on trade unionists who oppose its policies and the activities of its friends in business and in the paramilitaries. The latest example is the arrest – on trumped up...

Aug 3 2009 2:14PM
Attacking workers occupying factories hurts us all.

Strikes are about more than train delays. As two on-going factory occupations show, they can be courageous acts pointing the way towards a better society. They deserve our support, and their fundamental human rights.In Korea, 800...

Jul 19 2009 7:17AM
Union freedom in the USA

It's usually developing countries where union rights violations take place. But one of the worst records around the world for ratifying the core conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) is held by the USA. In...

Jul 5 2009 2:58AM
Press for union freedom in the Gambia

Criticise Gordon Brown and you get lost in the crush. Criticise Professor Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, President of the Gambia, and you, your colleagues and your union leadership get charged with sedition and slung in jail. That's what's...

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