Amnesty International Australia

Human rights lawyers under attack

Two renowned Chinese lawyers could lose their licences after offering to act for some of the Tibetans involved in the country's recent turmoil.

World headlines – 30 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

Obstacles for the Global Online Freedom Act which is aimed at companies doing business in Internet-restricting countries, a delay in the trial of activists who unfurled a campaign flag at the Olympic torch-lighting in Greece, and a New York Times columnist visits the Xinjiang region, the home of alleged separatist terrorists, plus …

Beijing by air

Take a whistle-stop tour over Beijing from the air. Soar over some of the city’s significant human rights' landmarks – Tiananmen Square, the Supreme People’s Court, the Petitioner's Village ....

Got a spare minute, hour or day?

If you have 30 seconds, 2 minutes or a day spare - no matter how little or how much time you have - you can get involved with our campaign to end internet repression in China. Check out some of the ways you can get involved and take action to stand up for human rights in China.

Unravelling “Anti-China”

Following the torch relay events and condemnation of the latest crackdown in Tibet; human rights activists and organisations are being accused of being "anti-China". Not a term any of these human rights defenders would use themselves, Chin Jin looks deeper at the term.

World headlines – 29 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

The Tiananmen Mothers’ website is blocked in China just hours after its launch, the family of a formerly jailed journalist is stopped from traveling to Sweden to collect an award, and why actor Sharon Stone has upset China plus …

Activist crackdown ahead of US talks

A group of rights activists say they came under heightened surveillance, as human rights talks between the US and China resumed in Beijing this week.

Tiananmen Square anniversary memorial - Join us

Amnesty International will be holding memorials across Australia to remember those killed and to stand in solidarity with those who are still demanding official government recognition, to allow public debate and mourning, and to release those still imprisoned in relation to the protests.

Flawed logic and broken promises

It was China, not the US, that the world looked to as the country with the economic and political clout needed to move things forward in Myanmar and Darfur - and not without good cause. China is Sudan's largest trading partner and Myanmar's second largest.

The state of human rights in China

Last year Chinese authorities executed at least 470 people, thousands more were sent to re-education through labour camps, while scores of others were held in jails or detention for practicising non-approved religions.

That’s just a few of the findings in Amnesty International’s Report 2008 ‘The State of the World’s Human Rights, which was released today.

Behind the numbers

In China the reality is that lawyers and human rights activists are placed under police surveillance, ethnic minorities are jailed for political crimes and the followers of unofficial religions are arrested. Here are just a few of the people who suffered from China’s lack of respect for human rights last year:

Weekly report: Trouble in the Communist “paradise”

The suffering of earthquake victims should not mask the authoritarian tendencies of the ruling elite, writes Antony Loewenstein.

World headlines – 28 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

US officials have been in China for the first human rights talks in six years, the Sichuan quake has inspired a powerful, and unpredictable, movement among China's youth, and instructions for Tor, software which allows users to communicate anonymously on the Internet plus …

World headlines – 27 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

Some fear authorities might forcibly expel more and more North Korean defectors ahead of the Olympics, a prominent AIDS activist is harassed by police and state run media agency Xinhua says China’s openness in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake is not forced plus …

Government critic detained

Police lay in wait until democracy activist and academic Guo Quan was taking his son to school – that's when they decided to pounce.

World headlines – 26 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

How Internet technology is being used to challenge government censors, one of China’s first and most prominent bloggers says censorship has gotten tougher in the last few years, and a translation of jailed dissident Hu Jia’s original indictment plus …

Disaster brings media concessions

China's devastating earthquake seems to have pressed authorities into conceding a degree of freedom – though perhaps short-lived – to a normally tightly-controlled media. But will it actually bring lasting change?

World headlines – 23 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

A look at the Cisco's actions in China in the wake of a US Senate hearing on the Internet and human rights, allegations Guantanamo Bay military staff softened up Uighur detainees at the request of Chinese intelligence officers, and has the aftermath of the Sichuan earthquake shown a more open future for China plus …

US Senate spotlight on censorship

Internet companies Google, Yahoo! and Cisco Systems were grilled about their role in Internet censorship around the world, at a US Senate Judiciary hearing this week.

World headlines – 22 May 2008

In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:

A US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee grills Google, Yahoo! and Cisco on aiding Chinese censorship, two North Koreans sisters who lived clandestinely in China for 10 years, and two leading academics analyse both sides of the Tibet-China dispute plus …