spotlight
Show your support to end internet censorship in China
During the lead-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, some websites previously inaccessible in China have become wholly or partly accessible. We've developed a method to test these and other websites until the end of 2008, to monitor and report on changes in order to pressure the Chinese Government not to revert to old ways once the Games are over.
You can easily become a Chinese Internet Censorship Index (CICI) tester by displaying our CICI badge on your Facebook, blog or website.
Internet Censorship Day of Protest countdown
30 July 2008 is Internet Censorship Day of Protest. We're calling on all website administrators and bloggers to display this Day of Protest Countdown badge, and to add a censorship simulation and banner to their websites, to demonstrate solidarity with netizens in China.
Use your website to take a stand for human rights
© Vickers Ruwolt
The Wolfgang Sievers Human Rights Forum Series
Come see Mary Kostakidis in conversation with Australia's leading thinkers about Human Rights issues that affect us all on 21 July, 28 July and 17 September.
Find out more and book tickets
© Reuters
Joint survey ranks China lowest in human rights
A joint survey between Amnesty International Australia and Choice has found that Australians are mindful of the ethical implications of products they purchase, but factors which affect them more directly are most important in determining what we buy.
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Campaign blogs
Dissident’s wife appeals to China’s Hu Jintao
The wife of a blind, jailed Chinese activist has appealed to China's President to put a stop to the official harassment of her family.
Continue reading Dissident’s wife appeals to China’s Hu Jintao
What do Beijingers reckon about the Olympics?
How have the Olympics affected Beijingers? Jocelyn Ford, a Beijing-based journalist, has put together the insider's view in the form of a video series; this is the promo for it.
Continue reading What do Beijingers reckon about the Olympics?
China in the headlines – 24 July 2008
In the latest wrap-up from news outlets and bloggers across the globe:
Chinese people will know better than to demonstrate in Beijing's specially set up protest zones during the Olympics, says a human rights researcher.
China looks like it's preparing for a military encounter not the Olympics, reckon the Los Angeles Times.
A Tibetan activist is suing the Chinese Government for refusing to give her a passport.
Plus …
AOC, athlete freedom of speech, and the Olympics
ABC 730 Report: John Coates, President of the Australian Olympic Committee, discusses the Beijing Olympics, the torch relay, and clears up some confusion regarding freedom of speech for Australian Olympic athletes
Continue reading AOC, athlete freedom of speech, and the Olympics
MILITARY COMMISSIONS: A SKEWED SENSE OF JUSTICE
This is a summarized look at the U.S. military commission system and how it operates, which was set up by the Bush administration to function as a judicial review of detainees labeled as “enemy combatants” against the U.S. Perhaps the principal argument human rights groups raise against this system is its lack of judicial impartiality.
Continue reading MILITARY COMMISSIONS: A SKEWED SENSE OF JUSTICE
Act now
Indian Government must clean up Bhopal
More than 7,000 people died within a matter of days when toxic gases leaked from a chemical plant in Bhopal, India, in December 1984. Since then, exposure to the toxins has resulted in the deaths of a further 16,000 people, as well as chronic and debilitating illnesses for thousands of others. Call on the Indian Government to take immediate action to remedy the situation.
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News
Internet censorship in China put to the test
Amnesty International is calling on Australians to help monitor access to key websites in China over the coming months, to test the extent of Government control over the internet.
Ye Guozhu must be immediately released
Amnesty International demanded the immediate release of Beijing housing activist Ye Guozhu on 23 July. He was due to be released on Saturday 26 July, but will now remain imprisoned until 1 October, after the end of the 2008 Olympic Games.
Arrest of Radovan Karadžic
As Radovan Karadžic is about to be handed over to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Amnesty International calls for the Tribunal to be given enough time and resources to establish the truth and to secure justice for the victims of war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Judge clears way for first military commission
In its offshore prison camp in Guantánamo Bay, the US is about to open a new chapter in its unlawful treatment of detainees in the "war on terror".
Call on League to take a stand on Darfur
On the eve of the special summit to the League of Arab States that was due to be held on 19 July 2008, Amnesty International issued a call to the members of the League of Arab States requesting them to take a stand towards the protection of civilians in Darfur and the achievement of justice in Sudan.