Press release me, let me go

There’s a lively debate about free speech going on at the moment, spearheaded it seems by the unlikely bedfellows of the Independent and the Daily Mail. The Indie’s beef is about new proposals that could give the government greater...

"…a grin without a cat! It's the most curious thing I ever saw in all my life!" Lewis Carroll might have revelled in the bizarre, through the looking glass world that is modern-day Burma. After all, how many other topsy-turvy places...

So there you have it, Student Conference over for another year. And well, what can I say? It was a blast. It was one of those times when you remember why you belong to Amnesty International. Firstly there was the unrepentant enthusiasm...

Ever wondered where your cotton buds come from? (that’s Q-tips for American readers – the things you clean your ears out with but aren’t really meant to). No, me neither. Maybe we should. Amnesty’s just heard about the case of Chen...

Stories from Somalia seem to be the hot topic for Amnesty this week. We began the week by flagging up the tragic story of the 13-year-old girl who was stoned to death, and today’s blog once again throws the escalating crisis in Somalia...

So it’s Barack! Resisting the (slightly obsessive?) need-to-know-as-it-happens-ness of staying up all night, I only heard the result at 7.30 this morning on the news. (Though well done to ChrisChris for posting at 2.49am!) In times...

Some people have got it into their heads that youth activism is on the decline and the days of the young changing the world have passed. Over the last few days I’ve witnessed first hand what complete nonsense that is. Yesterday I was...

Although I work on human rights issues every day at Amnesty, there are some cases which leave me with pure sadness. And this latest story from Somalia is one such incident. You may have seen reports last week that a woman was stoned to...

As anyone who’s visited our office in east London will know, Amnesty UK HQ is located in an untidy area of Shoreditch. But I like it. It’s hip, it’s happening and it’s got a lot of messy – and sometimes quite attractive – graffiti all...

The conflict bubbling across the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo between rebel groups and the government’s armed forces is dominating much of the international news agenda. Channel Four News opened last night's...

No, it’s not one of the lesser-known stories from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, but a Radio 4 programme from last night. I don’t catch as much R4 evening radio as I’d like to (whenever I tune into this 8pm slot I nearly always stumble...

Now this year is a little bit special for us at Amnesty International. Why? I hear you ask. Well, it’s the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (try saying that in a snappy way). And tonight sees the launch of...

Our new “Blogger Swap” with the Telegraph got off to a flying start yesterday with a slightly-inflammatory blog about the death penalty by yours truly, which (predictably) stirred things up a bit. Comments were still coming as of this...

I’ve written about it a couple of times already so won’t go through all the ins and outs, but just pose this question? Is the US state of Georgia really going to execute Troy Davis ? Yes, I know a trial jury found him guilty, a judge...

My first day back at work after a year’s maternity leave – with a horrible feeling of being back at school and not having done my homework! I might foolishly have hoped that after a whole year away from Amnesty I’d come back to find...

Although I’ve worked at Amnesty for nearly three years, I never stop being shocked at some of the reports we receive about the dreadfully cruel and inhumane way people are treated around the world. And today’s report about life for men...

You can almost pass over the seemingly endless reports of yet more Taliban killings in Afghanistan or Pakistan. That, sadly, is how it seems to go with a bleak “fixed” situation. “Oh, more Taliban killings. Right”. You almost need to...

Ever had that moment when you suddenly realise you’re getting old? Alexander Chancellor writes in the Guardian of how he refuses offers of a seat on the tube because he doesn’t want to be thought of as old. The people offering their...

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of General Pinochet? Dictator? Military junta? Chile? Well for us at Amnesty, we would probably agree with most of that, but we would defnitely have to add one other element: the...

There’s very worrying news around about the possible poisoning of leading Russian human rights lawyer Karinna Moskalenko. The French police have started an investigation after she and her family became ill on Monday. It seems the...