amnesty international

Supreme Court throws out NSA surveillance case

In a narrow, 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lawsuit challenging a secretive National Security Agency surveillance program.

A majority of the justices ruled (PDF) that the lawsuit, brought by human rights advocates and journalists who believed their electronic communications sent abroad would be intercepted, was "too speculative" to proceed based on fears of "hypothetical future harm."

The plaintiffs, which included Amnesty International and The Nation magazine, had argued that the 2008 amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- giving the government virtually unregulated authority to perform bulk surveillance on the international … Read more

Saudi blogger's tweets could cost him his life

Saudi Arabian blogger Hamza Kashgari tweeted last week about an imaginary conversation with the Prophet Mohammad, writing he "loved the rebel in you" and that he "loved some aspects of you, hated others."

Little did Kashgari know that these tweets could culminate in his possible death sentence.

Shortly after his tweets, tens of thousands of angry commenters denounced Kashgari and demanded his punishment.

"The only choice is for Kashgari to be killed and crucified in order to be a lesson to other secularists," commented an online reader of al-Madina newspaper Abu Abdulrahman, according to … Read more

Cuban activist blogger forced to stay on the island

Cuban blogger and activist Yoani Sanchez was told last week for the 19th time in four years that she was not allowed to leave Cuba, according to Amnesty International.

"My cell is not surrounded by concrete and metal, but rather water," Sanchez tweeted last week.

She was hoping to travel to a film premiere in Brazil where she had been invited to speak, but Cuba's migration authorities denied her an exit permit. As with all the other times she requested permission to leave, she wasn't given a reason why.

However, the reason why is clear to … Read more

Iranian court upholds Web programmer's death sentence

The execution of Iranian Web programmer Saeed Malekpour may be imminent.

The death sentence of Malekpour, who was convicted of "insulting and desecrating Islam" for developing software used by porn sites, was confirmed this week by Iran's Supreme Court. The software that Malekpour developed enables photos to be uploaded online and, according to Amnesty International, was used by a porn site without his knowledge.

Malekpour, 35, was a permanent resident of Canada when he was arrested during a visit to Iran in October 2008. According to The Guardian, after spending more than a year in solitary confinement … Read more