Category Archives: Security and Human Rights

News and updates on security and human rights including the war on terror.

ACT NOW: Don’t Let the U.S. Hide Shocking Details About CIA Torture

February 21, 2014 at 2:22 PM
Khaled al-Maqtari (Photo Credit: Private).

Khaled al-Maqtari (Photo Credit: Private).

There are some things we do know about U.S. torture practices.

What we don’t yet know is whether the U.S. Government will ever come clean about the torture of detainees since 9/11.

In the next 7 days, we have an opportunity to win a major, historic victory against torture.

Our sources tell us that shocking, unreported details about CIA torture after 9/11 are in danger of being marked “classified” forever – when we know that it is only by shedding light on the darkest periods of our history that we are able to move forward with integrity.

Lawmakers are deciding as early as next week whether to make these details public. We have 7 days to flood the switchboards.

Help ensure that the U.S. Government does not use torture – in our names and with our tax dollars – ever again. Call your Senator now.

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Solving the ‘Big Brother Problem’ of Mass Surveillance

January 23, 2014 at 5:09 PM
A demonstrator wearing tape over her mouth takes part in a protest against government in Washington, D.C. (Photo Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images).

A demonstrator wearing tape over her mouth takes part in a protest against government in Washington, D.C. (Photo Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images).

By Salil Shetty, Secretary General of Amnesty International

The ‘Big Brother Problem’ has helped to kick off this year’s discussions of the most pressing problems facing the world today as the World Economic Forum meeting gets under way in Davos, Switzerland.

This is an important recognition of the urgency of the issue. It is one that affects every single one of us and is an area of law that needs to be resolved.

Some of the most memorable headlines of 2013 involved personal privacy, data security and intelligence gathering issues from all corners of the globe – from the U.S. to Brazil, from Australia to India.

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5 Years: Time For Obama to Keep His Promise

January 22, 2014 at 12:29 PM
A protester calling for the closing of Guantanamo in front of the White House in Washington on January 11, 2014 to mark the 12th anniversary of the arrival of the first detainees. Today, January 22, 2014, marks the 5th anniversary after President Obama signed an executive order to close the facility (Photo Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images).

A protester calling for the closing of Guantanamo in front of the White House in Washington on January 11, 2014 to mark the 12th anniversary of the arrival of the first detainees. Today, January 22, 2014, marks the 5th anniversary after President Obama signed an executive order to close the facility (Photo Credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images).

By Rob Freer, Amnesty International USA Researcher. This post originally appeared on Al Jazeera under the title, “Guantanamo: 260 weeks and counting.”

A week, it has been said, is a long time in politics.

It is even longer for someone imprisoned thousands of miles from home with no indication of when, if ever, he will be released or brought to trial.

And if a week is a long time, what about five years?

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4 Ways to Tell if President Obama is Bluffing on Surveillance Reform

January 16, 2014 at 10:47 AM
President Obama needs to reboot the surveillance program (Photo Credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images).

President Obama needs to reboot the surveillance program (Photo Credit: Sara D. Davis/Getty Images).

By Naureen Shah, Advocacy Advisor at Amnesty International USA

On Friday, January 17, President Obama will announce the results of his review of National Security Agency surveillance programs. Will he renounce mass surveillance and put human rights at the heart of reform? Or will he perpetuate a global spying program that puts free speech and privacy rights of people around the world at risk?

It’s tough to sort rhetoric from reality on an issue as complicated and contested as surveillance, so we’ve put together a cheat sheet to evaluate the President’s speech:

1) He pays lip service to the 95%, but doesn’t scrap global warrantless surveillance. 

Ninety-five percent of the world’s people live outside the U.S. and are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents. But under U.S. law they count as “non-U.S. persons” – who get few protections under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Under section 702 of that law, the government claims authority to surveill countless people outside the U.S. – including the content of their emails – without notice, independent judicial review of individual cases, a warrant, probable cause or access to a remedy for privacy violations.

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Authorities Starting to Target Hospitals and Medical Personnel in Turkey

January 15, 2014 at 12:29 PM
A bill passed by the Turkish parliament last week could give authorities new powers to prosecute doctors for giving unauthorized care (Photo Credit: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images).

A bill passed by the Turkish parliament last week could give authorities new powers to prosecute doctors for giving unauthorized care (Photo Credit: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images).

One of the most shocking aspects of Turkey’s violent crackdown on peaceful protest has been the willingness of authorities to target medical personnel. Since then, not only have authorities not been held responsible, but the government has moved to increase legal pressure on medical personnel.

Amnesty has played a central role in researching this abuse. In its report on the Gezi Protests, Amnesty researchers describe in detail the extent to which those caring for the injured were themselves subject to police abuse.

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Guantánamo: 12 Years Too Many, No More Excuses, Shut It Down

January 11, 2014 at 8:00 AM

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“In retrospect, the entire detention and interrogation strategy was wrong. We squandered the goodwill of the world after we were attacked by our actions in Guantánamo.”

– Major General Michael Lehnert (ret.), first commander of detentions at Guantánamo (2002), December 2013

By Natalie Butz, Communications Specialist at Amnesty International USA

As U.S. detentions at Guantánamo enter their 13th year, we need to take President Obama and Congress to task for their delay in closing the detention facility.

It’s been twelve years too many. The time for action is now. President Obama must transfer cleared detainees, including Shaker Aamer. There are no excuses, especially now that he has greater flexibility from Congress to do just that.

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15 Human Rights Success Stories of 2013

January 6, 2014 at 3:55 PM

By Natalie Butz, Communications Specialist at Amnesty International USA

It’s rare Amnesty activists get a moment to stop and take a breath. But with the start of a new year comes the opportunity to take stock of the progress we’ve made and the successes we helped accomplish in 2013. There’s still much to be done, but we hope the list below will help inspire all of us in the year to come:

Yorm Bopha was 29 when she was arrested on September 4, 2012 on spurious charges. She is a prominent activist from the Boeung Kak Lake community who is facing up to five years' imprisonment if found guilty at her trial. She is a prisoner of conscience (Photo Credit: Jenny Holligan).

Yorm Bopha was 29 when she was arrested on September 4, 2012 on spurious charges. She is a prominent activist from the Boeung Kak Lake community who is facing up to five years’ imprisonment if found guilty at her trial. She is a prisoner of conscience (Photo Credit: Jenny Holligan).

1. In 52 years, Amnesty International activists have helped free tens of thousands of Prisoners of Conscience around the world. In 2013, we continued that trend. Human rights activists freed this year included Yorm Bopha in Cambodia, Kartam Joga in India, Filipino poet Ericson Acosta, Yemeni journalist Abdul Ilah Haydar Shayi’ and Iranian human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh.

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