For every two children released, five are taken and forced to be child soldiers, said Amnesty International, in a new report released today on the ongoing conflict in the province of North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Many of those recruited had already been reunited with their families after having been freed from armed [...]

Tags: Congo

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Rich and powerful individuals and groups involved in land disputes in Cambodia are increasingly using their power to silence opponents through the criminal justice system, said Amnesty International today, as it called for greater protection for human rights defenders.
In the briefing paper ‘A risky business – defending the right to housing’, Amnesty International provides examples [...]

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UN Should Press Military Leaders to Keep Their Promises
The international community should demand accountability from the Burmese military government for the brutal crackdown in September 2007 on monks, activists, and other civilians, Human Rights Watch said today. Repression in Burma has increased and the military government has failed to deliver on promises it made a [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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The authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina must provide adequate security for the participants in the first “Sarajevo Queer Festival”, said Amnesty International after several people were attacked at the end of the first day of the festival. The authorities must also promptly and thoroughly investigate the attacks and bring those responsible to justice.
Eight people, policemen [...]

Tags: Bosnia and Herzegovina, LGBT

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More than 1,000 government representatives, experts and human rights defenders are set to meet in Warsaw beginning on Monday to review progress made by the OSCE’s 56 participating States in fulfilling their human rights and democracy commitments.
The OSCE’s 13th Human Dimension Implementation Meeting, held from 29 September to 10 October, is organized by the OSCE [...]

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Renewed Fighting Displaces 100,000 More Civilians in Eastern Congo
Renewed combat in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has caused a drastic deterioration in the humanitarian situation and immense suffering for civilians, the Congo Advocacy Coalition, a group of 83 aid agencies and human rights groups, said today. The coalition called for urgent action to improve protection [...]

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The total number of trade unionists assassinated this year in Colombia has now reached 41 following three further murders this month. The figure is now already higher than the total number killed during the whole of 2007 and ensures that Colombian will retain the macabre title of being the most dangerous country in the world [...]

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Amnesty International welcomes the release of at least seven prisoners of conscience in Myanmar, including U Win Tin who had been imprisoned for 19 years and was one of the longest-serving prisoners of conscience in the country. The fate of the other estimated 2,100 political prisoners who are still behind bars in Myanmar remains, however, [...]

Tags: Burma, Myanmar

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USA Has Mixed Record on Victims’ Rights
The United States has not incorporated into its domestic criminal justice systems many of the recommended standards for the treatment of crime victims set out under international law, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. While US jurisdictions, both federal and state, have made significant progress in [...]

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Amnesty International today called on the US government to re-issue a visa to Pakistani human rights defender Amina Masood, after an earlier visa was revoked on “security and related grounds”.
The organization also asked the US authorities to clarify why the previous visa was revoked. Despite Amnesty International’s request to them to explain the precise grounds [...]

Tags: USA

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