Amnesty International report “In the name of security - Routine abuses in Tunisia” was internationally launched in Paris on June 23rd.

The report details Amnesty International’s concerns regarding serious human rights violations being committed in connection with the government’s security and counter-terrorism policies. In their efforts to prevent the formation of what they call “terrorist cells” inside Tunisia, the authorities have been responsible for arbitrary arrests and detentions which breach Tunisian law, and have forcibly disappeared detainees, used torture and other ill-treatment and tried, convicted and sentenced people using unfair proceedings. In addition, they have tried civilians before military courts and produced little evidence to substantiate the charges.

Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui - Deputy Director Middle East and North Africa Programme - and Said Haddadi - Researcher - represented Amnesty’s International secretariat.

Denys Robiliard - former President of Amnesty International France - also presented Amnesty’s concerns, linked to his trial observations in Tunisia.

Anouar Kousri and Samir Dilou - lawyers and Human Rights Defenders from Tunisia - shared their testimonies and brought perspective from tunisian civil society.

On 10 June 2008, the Daily Show featured Amnesty International on TV. John Oliver visited the replica cell in Philadelphia and spoke to Larry Cox, the director of Amnesty International in the USA.

Footage includes a comedic renovation of the Guantánamo replica cell now travelling to various locations across the USA.

Op 30 april daverde de Antwerpse Groenplaats weer op haar grondvesten. De vzw Recht tegen Onrecht organiseerde er naar jaarlijkse gewoonte het benefietconcert ten voordele van Amnesty International. Dit jaar zetten onder anderen Tom Helsen, Delavega, Laïs, Neeka, Geena Lisa, Axl Peleman en Nicole & Hugo hun beste beentje voor voor de mensenrechten. Het concert stond dit jaar in het teken van de ‘Stop Terreur met Recht’.
Axl Peleman schreef en zong er een lied geïnspireerd op een gedicht van Osama Abu Kabir, een Jordaanse truckchauffeur die vast zit in Guantánamo. Het gedicht is opgenomen in de bundel ‘Poems from Guantanamo’.

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AI Chile celebrated a night of video screenings, art exhibition, poetry reading, and music at the Utopia Cafe on 15 May.

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Marking the 60th anniversary of the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and six years since the the attacks of 11 September 2001, Amnesty International is bringing a life size replica of a maximum security cell at Guantánamo Bay to several cities across the US.

On 30 May, the cell arrived in Philadelphia where it stayed for two days, until the 1 June. (more…)

Since it’s official release on 22 April 2008, The Stuff of life film has been showcased on some 50 UK theatre screens, and has been viewed on YouTube over 1 million times.

Produced by Amnesty International UK, this 90 second video exposes the horrors of the interrogation technique known as “waterboarding”. This technique was used by the CIA and authorised by US President, George W. Bush.

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On May 8, 2008 AI Northern Ireland celebrated the book launch of Murat Kurnaz’s best-seller Five years of my life: A report from Guantánamo at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival in Belfast at a sold-out Black Box.

Murat Kuraz is a Turkish national who was born in Germany in 1982. His prolonged detention in Guantánamo had been complicated by his status – lacking German citizenship, the German authorities had refused his return to Germany. The Turkish authorities had shown little interest in his case. It was only after intense lobbying from his family, lawyers and AI members around the world, including in his home town of Bremen, that the German authorities began to act on his behalf, finally paving the way for his return.

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