Keep those Cards and Letters Coming

Read all about it:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=677776&l=14435

The Nepalese Government has held student activist Krishna K.C. incommunicado for almost two years.

Read all about it:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=677776&l=14434

Help Us Turn Up the Heat on Congress!

Tell Congress to immediately establish a fully independent commission to publicly investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in U.S. detention centers around the world. Apply to be a delegation leader for a Congressional district lobby office visit or join an existing delegation in your area.

Thanks to the work of Denounce Torture activists and others, Members of Congress have received a wakeup call - people living in the United States are strongly opposed to torture and ill-treatment and believe that those who commit these crimes, regardless of their rank in the military and civilian chain of command, must be held accountable.

We need your help to turn up the heat on Congress! During the week of September 26th - 30th, the Denounce Torture Initiative is joining forces with other organizations to sponsor a special week of Congressional district office lobbying. Our message in the district offices of Members of Congress will be simple and clear: Congress should immediately establish a fully independent commission to publicly investigate all allegations of torture and ill-treatment in U.S. detention centers around the world.

Two ways you can get involved Apply to be a delegation leader for a Congressional district lobby office visit! You do not need to be an experienced lobbyist to be a delegation leader - we will provide plenty of resources and online training in preparation. You just need to have a passion for ending torture and ill-treatment once and for all. If you don't want to lead a delegation, you can also join an existing delegation in your area. » Become a delegation leader » Join a delegation

Your help is crucial Amnesty International has learned from its decades of advocating on human rights issues in the halls of Congress that there is no stronger sign of support for an issue than having constituents lobby their Members of Congress about it. That is why your involvement is more important than ever. » Learn more


Sincerely,

Eric Sears Project Manager, Denounce Torture Initiative Amnesty International USA


From InfoNature.Org

Women in Guatemala live in fear. Between 2001 and 2005 more than 1,188 women and girls were brutally murdered. Some of the murdered women's bodies showed signs of rape, torture, mutilation and even dismemberment. But the Guatemalan authorities have done little to investigate these crimes.

Read all about it:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=677776&l=13654

Your help is needed more urgently than ever.

In its 40-odd years speaking truth to power, Amnesty International has incurred the wrath of many despotic governments -- whose human rights violations, political prisoners and other abuses came to light through Amnesty's painstaking field research.

But few assaults by governments have been more disturbing than Washington's attacks on our recent Annual Report findings about widespread use of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by U.S. troops and federal officers. This reaction is especially troubling considering our nation's long-standing history as a champion of human rights.

Recent revelations of abuse by our own government of detainees in Iraq and Guantanamo are simply shocking.

They violate bedrock American values.

They violate the Geneva Convention.

These actions are destroying U.S. credibility in the world.

When the United States helped draft the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the U.S. was a beacon of hope and justice for millions struggling against tyranny. Our leadership - in word and deed - is no less important today.

Amnesty is in the final stages of launching one of the most ambitious mass mobilizations in our history - to demand, as American citizens, an end to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by our own government.

This mobilization is taxing our already stretched resources. Please consider making a substantial donation right now using our secure Web page.

DONATE NOW:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=677776&l=13511

And this month only, your donation will go twice as far. Thanks to generous anonymous donors, all gifts to this emergency mobilization will be matched dollar-for-dollar.

The facts are ugly. Witnesses to abuse of detainees in Iraq and Guantanamo report hooding, beatings, placement of lit cigarettes into prisoners' ear canals, and sleep deprivation. Amnesty has compiled a list of 60 techniques authorized or used by the U.S. during the "war on terror."

Eyewitness reports from FBI agents read like the stuff of horror films. One agent described coming into an "unventilated room probably well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his own hair out throughout the night."

And these are not the acts of a few bad apples, as U.S. officials have claimed. Evidence is mounting that officials at the highest level of the U.S. government approved brutal interrogation techniques.

Under the Geneva Convention and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, torture and cruel inhuman and degrading treatment is NEVER permissible. We need to send the Administration an unmistakable message - that Americans did not give the government a mandate last November to violate international law by engaging in acts of barbarism. Nobody voted for that.

Amnesty USA is determined to mobilize a vocal, diverse and massive constituency throughout this country that will stand with our 320,000-strong U.S. membership in demanding an end to the use of torture by all agencies at all levels of government in the United States.

Thanks to years of grassroots activism, Amnesty has a corps of volunteers ready to carry out this urgently needed mobilization. And it's the most motivated and inspired citizen force you could hope to find.

But mobilizing people also takes money. And that's why I'm asking you for your help. Please donate now using our secure Web page and have your gift matched dollar-for-dollar through June 30th.

DONATE NOW:
http://takeaction.amnestyusa.org/ctt.asp?u=677776&l=13511

If we're to rescue our country from the taint of being branded a practitioner of torture, then we must confront the Bush Administration head-on with this issue. With your help, I believe justice will prevail.

Thanks for all your help.

Sincerely,

Bill Schulz
Amnesty International USA

http://www.hindu.com/2005/06/21/stories/2005062104451600.htm


Informant: Charles Bremer

Internationale Rüstungskontrolle gefordert: Rüstungsexporte der G8 führen zu mehr Armut und weniger Menschenrechten (22.06.05)

84 Prozent aller weltweit gehandelten Waffen, Munition und militärischen Ausrüstungen stammen nach Informationen der Menschenrechtsorganisation amnesty international (ai) aus den Staaten der G8 (Deutschland, Frankreich, Großbritannien, Italien, Japan, Kanada, USA und Russland). Die Staaten der G8 trügen mit ihren Rüstungsexporten "nach wie vor massiv" zu Menschenrechtsverletzungen und Armut bei, schrieben ai, Oxfam, und das Internationalen Aktionsnetznetzwerk zu Kleinwaffen (IANSA) in einem Bericht. Wer aber von Armutsbekämpfung und Menschenrechten rede, müsse mit der Kontrolle von Rüstungstransfers Ernst machen. Auch Deutschland sei einer der fünf größten Waffenexporteure der Welt. Die Kriterien für Exportgenehmigungen seien hierzulande zwar theoretisch streng, aber in der Praxis fehle häufig der politische Wille zur konsequenten Anwendung. Die Aufgabe, die vor den Regierungen der G8-Staaten liege, sei unmissverständlich. Sie müssten bei der Rüstungskontrolle kooperieren und die Zahl der in den Umlauf gebrachten Waffen begrenzen. Als weltweit mächtigste Regierungen sei es ihre Pflicht, ein globales System der Kontrolle des internationalen Waffenhandels einzurichten. Am Donnerstag treffen sich die G8-Außenminister in London.

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11279

amnesty international: Deutschem Menschenrechtsbericht fehlt kritische Selbstbetrachtung (20.06.05)

Die Bundesregierung hat es in ihrem jüngsten Menschenrechtsbericht versäumt, sich mit den eigenen Erfolgen und Misserfolgen selbstkritisch auseinander zu setzen. Zu dieser Ansicht kommt die internationale Menschenrechtsorganisation amnesty international (ai) am Montag. Der "7. Bericht der Bundesregierung über ihre Menschenrechtspolitik in den Auswärtigen Beziehungen und in anderen Politikbereichen" verliere sich stattdessen in Beschreibungen nationaler und internationaler Strukturen und Ereignisse. amnesty begrüßte dagegen den erstmalig enthaltenen "Aktionsplan Menschenrechte".

Die ganze Nachricht im Internet:
http://www.ngo-online.de/ganze_nachricht.php?Nr=11266