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	China’s booming torture trade revealed by Amnesty International   16 October 2014   Pakistan: Upholding blasphemy death sentence against Christian woman "a grave injustice".   A Pakistani court’s decision to uphold the death sentence against a Christian woman convicted on blasphemy charges is a grave injustice, Amnesty International said.   The Lahore High Court today rejected the appeal against the death sentence imposed on Asia Bibi, who was sentenced to death in 2010 for allegedly making derogatory remarks about the Prophet Muhammad during an argument with a Muslim woman.   “This is a grave injustice. Asia Bibi should never have been convicted in the first place – still less sentenced to death – and the fact that she could pay with her life for an argument is sickening,” said David Griffiths, Amnesty International’s Deputy Asia Pacific Director.   “There were serious concerns about the fairness of Asia Bibi’s trial, and her mental and physical health has reportedly deteriorated badly during the years she has spent in almost total isolation on death row. She should be released immediately and the conviction should be quashed.”   Asia Bibi’s lawyer said after today’s verdict that he will file an appeal to the Supreme Court.   On 4 January 2011, Punjab Governor Salmaan Taseer was killed by one of his security guards after campaigning for Asia Bibi and criticizing Pakistan’s blasphemy laws. Minorities Minister Shahbaz Bhatti, an outspoken critic of the blasphemy laws, was killed by the Pakistani Taliban on 2 March 2011.   “The laws are often used to settle personal vendettas – both against members of minority religious groups and Muslims – while individuals facing charges are frequently targeted in mob violence. Those who speak out against the laws face terrible reprisals. However, the blasphemy laws violate international law and must be repealed or reformed immediately to meet international standards,” said David Griffiths.   http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/pakistan-upholding-blasphemy-death-sentence-against-christian-woman-grave-injustice-2014-10-16   23 September 2014   China’s booming torture trade revealed   The flourishing trade, manufacture and export of tools of torture by Chinese companies is fuelling human rights violations across Africa and Asia, new research by Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation reveals.   The new report shows there are now more than 130 Chinese companies involved in the production and trade of potentially dangerous law enforcement equipment – compared to only 28 Chinese companies a decade ago.   Some of the devices openly marketed by these companies – including electric shock stun batons, metal spiked batons, and weighted leg cuffs – are intrinsically cruel and inhumane and therefore should immediately be banned.   Other equipment - that can have legitimate use in policing - such as tear gas and plastic projectiles or riot control vehicles – is being exported from China even when there is a substantial risk of serious human rights violations by the receiving law enforcement agencies.   “Increasing numbers of Chinese companies are profiting from the trade in tools of torture and repression, fuelling human rights abuses across the world,” said Patrick Wilcken, security trade and human rights researcher at Amnesty International.   “This trade – which causes immense suffering – is flourishing because the Chinese authorities have done nothing to stop companies supplying these sickening devices for export or to prevent policing equipment falling into the hands of known human rights abusers.”   Chinese companies – most of which are state-owned – have an increasingly strong presence in the global market for law enforcement equipment.   China is the only country known to manufacture spiked batons – which have metal spikes along the entire length of the baton or are plastic batons with a spiked metal head. These are specifically designed as implements of torture and can cause significant pain and suffering.   Seven Chinese companies openly advertise these inhumane sticks for export. Chinese-manufactured spiked batons have reportedly been used by police in Cambodia and exported to security forces in Nepal and Thailand.   The research found 29 Chinese companies involved in the export trade were advertising inherently cruel electric stun batons. These devices make it easy for security officials to apply extremely painful multiple shocks by hand to sensitive areas of the body including the genitals, throat, groin or ears without long-lasting physical traces.   Scores of Chinese companies manufacture and trade abusive restraint devices including heavy weighted leg cuffs and rigid restraint chairs; one company manufactures neck combination cuffs. These neck devices can endanger an individual’s life by restricting breathing, blood circulation and nerve communication between the body and the brain.   A review of several of the companies’ marketing materials reveals this equipment is being sold to various law enforcement agencies across the world, including agencies that persistently abuse human rights.   “There is no excuse whatsoever for allowing the manufacture and trade in equipment for which the primary purpose is to torture or inflict cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment on people. These heinous acts are totally banned under international law and Chinese authorities should immediately place a ban on the production and trade in such cruel and inhumane devices,” said Patrick Wilcken.   * Access the report via the link below: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/china-s-booming-torture-trade-revealed-2014-09-23 http://www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/cat/pages/catindex.aspx http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Torture/SRTorture/Pages/SRTortureIndex.aspx http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CAT.aspx http://www.omct.org/ Visit the related web page
	Can the Internet Save Itself? by Laleh Ispahani & Chancellar Williams Agencies   The open internet is an essential condition of full and equal participation in the public sphere.   Today is the day the internet could determine its future. Because today, September 10, is the day digital-rights groups, internet companies, and activists unite to protect net neutrality by demonstrating what the web would look like if broadband providers favored some kinds of content over others.   Net neutrality is the principle that ensures all internet content is treated the same. This means internet service providers (ISPs)—companies like Comcast or Verizon—must treat all data on the internet equally, and not discriminate or charge differentially by user, content, site, platform, application, or mode of communication.   The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit struck down net neutrality rules earlier this year. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler took the opportunity to propose rules that would create an internet fast lane—allowing ISPs to charge some companies higher fees for faster access to consumers, effectively slowing all other internet traffic. Creating such a tiered system is the opposite of net neutrality, which is favored by the vast majority of internet users.   Advocates have been pressuring the FCC to abandon Chairman Wheeler’s flawed proposal for months, and their efforts are bearing fruit. The FCC has to date received over one million comments on the open internet, the vast majority of them in support of strong net neutrality rules. On Last Week Tonight, John Oliver lampooned Chairman Wheeler’s proposal, a segment that generated so much interest in the issue that the FCC’s web site crashed twice.   And Washington, D.C., is beginning to sit up and take note. Over 60 members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, have spoken out in support of strong net neutrality rules. President Obama has also addressed the issue, explaining that “the position of my administration … is you don’t want to start getting a differentiation in how accessible the internet is for various users.”   Advocates are turning up the heat with the September 10 online protest. They are staging an “internet slowdown,” a symbolic protest where participating web sites will display an “infinitely loading site icon,” to demonstrate what the web would look like without net neutrality. The loading icon won’t actually slow internet access, but it will include a prompt to contact Congress and the FCC in support of net neutrality.   The leading organizers—groups like Demand Progress, Fight for the Future, and Free Press—are veterans of the successful online action to stop SOPA (the Stop Online Privacy Act) and PIPA (the Protect IP Act), legislation that would have allowed internet censorship.   The open internet is an essential condition of full and equal participation in the public sphere. It facilitates information flow, transforming institutions and communities themselves along the way. That is why organizations ranging from the American Civil Liberties Union to Color of Change will be participating in the protest, and it is why major internet companies like Etsy and Netflix have decided to join the fight.   September 10 represents an opportunity for advocates of net neutrality that promises to bring new energy and attention to the issue. It is also the result of many years of work by a dedicated and diverse field that is collaborating smartly to realize this common, critical goal.   http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices/can-internet-save-itself http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/voices http://www.battleforthenet.com/ http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/united-states-of-secrets/ http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/15/internet-surveillance-report-edward-snowden-leaks http://www.ohchr.org/EN/issues/Terrorism/Pages/SRTerrorismIndex.aspx Visit the related web page
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