Posts Tagged amnesty international

loring-amnesty-international-logo
By Katie Halper • 9 years ago

Melissa Gira Grant on Amnesty International’s vote to decriminalize sex work

The Human Rights NGO Amnesty International cast a historic vote to decriminalize sex work on Tuesday. I spoke to Melissa Gira Grant, author of the book Playing the Whore,  about what this really means and the connection between Black Lives Matter and sex work.

The Human Rights NGO Amnesty International cast a historic vote to decriminalize sex work on Tuesday. I spoke to Melissa Gira Grant, author of the book Playing the Whore,  about what this really means ...
By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

Pussy Riot sentencing sparks international protest

On Friday,  Judge Marina Syrova convicted three members of Pussy Riot the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,  sentencing them to “two years deprivation of liberty in a penal colony.” This is one year less than the three-year sentence sought by prosecutors. Syrova said the punk prayer Pussy Riot had performed in a Moscow cathedral had “crudely undermined social order.” She stated that  “These three plus others… plotted together to undermine civil order, motivated by religious hatred.” Syrova justified her sentence, saying, “Considering the nature and degree of the danger posed by what was done, the defendants’ correction is possible only through an actual punishment.”

Lawyers representing Pussy Riot anticipated the guilty verdict and plan to appeal the ...

On Friday,  Judge Marina Syrova convicted three members of Pussy Riot the women of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred,  sentencing them to “two years deprivation of liberty in a penal colony.” This is one year ...
By Katie Halper • 12 years ago

Military court clears military doctor of forced virginity tests

In a report issued on Friday, Amnesty International’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director, spoke about the “unacceptable episode” in which Egyptian women were arrested for attending a demonstration at Tahrir Square, and forced to undergo “virginity tests*,” which “is nothing less than torture.” Since that day, Sahraoui said, “women protesters have repeatedly faced beatings, torture and other ill-treatment at the hands of Egypt’s army and security forces… The ‘virginity tests’ trial is a rare opportunity for Egypt’s military to signal that torture by the army does not go unpunished and that perpetrators of human rights violations among its ranks will be held to account.”

The verdict handed down Sunday means that torture will go unpunished and ...

In a report issued on Friday, Amnesty International’s Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Middle East and North Africa Director, spoke about the “unacceptable episode” in which Egyptian women were arrested for attending a demonstration at Tahrir Square, and ...