Category Archives: Amnesty International

Jordan urged to stop imprisoning women for defying the wishes of men

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Amnesty calls for end to detentions under male ‘guardianship’ system

Amnesty International has called on Jordan to end what it has described as an abusive system that jails women if they disobey their male “guardians” or have relationships deemed inappropriate.

Despite recent efforts to give women better protections, Amnesty said in a new report published on Wednesday that Jordan still allows the arbitrary detention of women, including when male family members – usually fathers or brothers – complain to the authorities that they have been absent without permission.

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Amnesty International staff to vote on strike action over redundancies

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Employees urge charity to consider using donations to fund jobs as management say job losses are unavoidable

Staff at Amnesty International are to vote on whether to strike over a dispute about redundancies.

The trade union Unite will ballot its 300 members at the human rights organisation next week.

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Bahrain urged to halt imminent execution of two men

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UN official issues last-minute appeal amid reports pair may be executed in next 24 hours

A last-minute appeal to stop the imminent execution of two men in Bahrain has been issued by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnès Callamard, as pressure mounts on the country’s king to revoke the death sentences.

Ali Mohamed Hakeem al-Arab and Ahmed Isa Ahmed Isa al-Malali may be executed in the next 24 hours, according to human rights groups.

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Greece U-turns over draft law redefining rape after fierce criticism

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Government caves in after protests from rights groups and senior judicial officials

Greece’s government has rushed to revise legislation that redefines rape after unprecedented criticism from activists, human rights groups and senior judicial officials.

The law, part of a new penal code submitted to parliament by Alexis Tsipras’ administration only weeks before snap elections, had raised fears of convicted rapists being treated more leniently.

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Amnesty International to make almost 100 staff redundant

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‘Overspending by organisation’s senior leadership team’ blamed for £17m budget deficit

Amnesty International is to cut almost 100 jobs as part of urgent restructuring to tackle a “serious budget deficit”, the human rights organisation has confirmed.

Amnesty, labelled a “toxic” workplace in a February review, said in a statement that it expected to make 93 “painful and difficult” redundancies. Last week, it emerged that five members of the charity’s senior leadership team, all of whom offered their resignations following the damning review, will be made redundant by October.

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Fraud allegations lead to closure of Amnesty International in Zimbabwe

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Police are investigating suspected misconduct involving millions of dollars of funds from donors

Amnesty International has shut down its Zimbabwe branch over alleged abuse of donor funds and fraud by staff.

The human rights group says it has launched further investigations with the help of police into suspected graft and misconduct involving millions of dollars and Amnesty Zimbabwe has indefinitely been placed under administration.

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European elections: UK regulator urged to count late postal votes

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Group of MEPs writes to Electoral Commission over reports of ballot paper delays

The Electoral Commission has been asked to permit late postal votes for the European parliament elections to be counted as reports continue of many British nationals living abroad receiving their ballot papers too late to return on time.

A group of 10 MEPs has written to the regulator to say that it should consider any postal vote that arrives by Sunday when the polls close across Europe. “We cannot permit lousy disenfranchisement like this,” said the Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder, who wrote the letter to the commission.

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Israeli firm linked to WhatsApp spyware attack faces lawsuit

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Amnesty International fears its staff may be ‘surveilled via NSO Pegasus software’

The Israeli firm linked to this week’s WhatsApp hack is facing a lawsuit backed by Amnesty International, which says it fears its staff may be under surveillance from spyware installed via the messaging service.

Related: WhatsApp urges users to update app after discovering spyware vulnerability

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Amnesty International staff braced for redundancies

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Up to 70 jobs will go amid concerns that cuts will marginalise Amnesty causes such as torture and the arms trade

Human rights workers at Amnesty International are braced for scores of redundancies after the management admitted to a hole in its budget of up to £17m to the end of 2020.

Up to 70 jobs will go in voluntary and compulsory layoffs amid a slump in donations and a multi-million pound increase in spending on fundraising, the Guardian has learned. Staff have been told the organisation will be reshaped in line with the vision of recently appointed secretary general, Kumi Naidoo, who wants to increase Amnesty’s work on climate change and economic rights. There are concerns that cuts will marginalise in depth research on totemic Amnesty causes such as the death penalty, torture and the arms trade.

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Facebook criticised after women complain of inaction over abuse

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Amnesty says social media firm must do more to support users who report harassment

Human rights campaigners have called for action after a survey revealed that more than half of the reports that women lodge about harassment on Facebook are met with no action from the social media company.

The Survation poll, commissioned by the feminist campaign group Level Up, found that 29% of the 1,000 women who took part had been harassed on Facebook.

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Amnesty International leaders offer to resign over bullying culture

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Letter from seven staff admits mistakes after report warns of ‘toxic’ work environment

Amnesty International’s seven-member senior leadership team has offered to resign after a damning report warned of a “toxic” working environment and widespread bullying.

A letter, signed jointly by the human rights group’s leadership team, acknowledged mistakes had been made, adding that the seven senior leaders took shared responsibility for the “climate of tension and mistrust” across the organisation.

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Amnesty India staff complain of harassment and discrimination

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Campaigners demand external investigation after human rights organisation dismisses their claims

Prominent Indian rights activists have withdrawn their support for Amnesty India amid allegations of caste discrimination and harassment within the organisation, the Guardian has learned.

The allegations include claims that staff were humiliated, ill-treated and discriminated against because of their caste, a system of social hierarchy among Hindus.

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Iran arrested 7,000 dissidents in ‘year of shame’, says Amnesty

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Journalists, lawyers, minority rights activists and anti-hijab protesters among those held

Iranian authorities arrested more than 7,000 dissidents last year in a sweeping crackdown that led to hundreds being jailed or flogged, at least 26 protesters being killed, and nine people dying in custody amid suspicious circumstances, according to Amnesty International.

Those rounded up during violent dispersals of peaceful protests in what Amnesty called “a year of shame for Iran” included journalists, lawyers, minority rights activists and women who protested against being forced to wear headscarves.

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Guantánamo Bay branded a ‘stain on US human rights record’

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Amnesty International calls US naval prison a symbol of Islamophobia and xenophobia

Guantánamo Bay remains a “stain on the human rights record” of the US and the scene of ongoing human rights violations, said Amnesty International in advance of a rally in Washington to mark the 17th anniversary of its opening.

The US naval prison at Guantánamo in Cuba – opened on 11 January 2002 – still holds 40 Muslim men, many of whom have been tortured. Many of the detainees have been cleared for transfer for years.

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How Hurricane Maria exposed long ignored human rights concerns in Puerto Rico

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Driving around San Juan, the sight of blue tarpaulins is almost inescapable. Nailed over people's roofs, the tarps continue to provide the only shelter for tens of thousands of Puerto Ricans one year after Hurricane Maria tore through the island, causing extensive damage to homes, hospitals and schools.

Is Kavanaugh a War Criminal?

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The group states : "Amnesty International believes that the vetting of Brett Kavanaugh's record on human rights has been insufficient and calls for the vote on his nomination for Supreme Court of the United States to be further postponed unless and until any information relevant to Kavanaugh's possible involvement in human rights violations - including in relation to the U.S. government's use of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, such as during the CIA detention program - is declassified and made public."

Amnesty International takes up case of Leyva family hunger strikers

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Three siblings sentenced to one-year of prison for allegedly leaving their house during the state morning following Fidel Castro s death, are on hunger strike after being harassed and intimidated in Cuba since their conditional release in April. Their sentences should be quashed and their release made unconditional.