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Democracy Now! stories, posts and pages that relate to our coverage of human rights.

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  • Syria_web2_ok

    Arab League Suspends Syria, Concern Grows over Foreign Intervention to End Crisis

    Today the European Union decided to impose sanctions on 18 Syrians in response to the killings of protesters by Syrian forces under President Bashar al-Assad. The move comes after the Arab League formally suspended the Syrian delegation on Saturday over its violent crackdown on eight months of protests. In a new report, Human Rights Watch accused the Assad government of "crimes against humanity" for alleged killings of protesters dating...
    Nov 14, 2011 | Story
  • Sunny_pringle_play

    Sonia Jacobs and Peter Pringle on Their Journey from Death Row to the Wedding Altar

    Sonia Jacobs and Peter Pringle each served years on death row—Jacobs here in the United States and Pringle in Ireland. Both were exonerated after their convictions were overturned for murders that they steadfastly maintained they did not commit. They began dating shortly after meeting while both publicly campaigning against the death penalty. Their wedding earlier this month was perhaps the first of its kind: the union of two exonerated death...
    Nov 23, 2011 | Story
  • Bahrain_activist_button

    Wife of Bahraini Political Prisoner Condemns U.S.-Backed Regime for Killing, Torturing Protesters

    Bahrain has announced a commission to steer reforms after an inquiry found systematic rights abuse during a government crackdown on pro-democracy protests this year, but opposition parties say they will not participate in the commission. Published last week, the 500-page report outlines various abuses committed by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s government. According to the commission, nearly 3,000 people were detained during the protests,...
    Nov 28, 2011 | Story
  • Ndombutton

    Native Americans Mark Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving: "We are not Vanishing, We Are Not Conquered"

    The United American Indians of New England marked the 42nd National Day of Mourning in Plymouth, Mass. on Nov. 24 as others celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. Democracy Now! was there, as Native speakers described the "suppressed" history of the holiday, the massacre of the Wampanoag and other indigenous peoples, and their continuing discrimination. They also expressed solidarity with struggles around the world, from Palestine to the...
    Nov 30, 2011 | Web Exclusive

  • As Syria Toll Tops 5,000, Activist in Hiding Urges Global Action to Stop Assad Regime Crackdown

    International pressure on the Syrian regime is increasing as the death toll there continues to rise. This week the United Nations estimated the death toll in Syria since March has surpassed 5,000, including hundreds of children. "The regime is given time after time to kill more people and more civilians," says Razan Zaitouneh, a human rights lawyer in Damascus who is living underground for her safety. "Every time, there is a new...
    Dec 15, 2011 | Story

  • Martina Correia, 1967-2011: NAACP's Ben Jealous on the Life of Troy Davis' Sister, Public Champion

    The funeral of Georgia activist Martina Correia, the older sister of former death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis, was held earlier this month in her home town of Savannah, Georgia. She passed away December 1 after a more than decade-long battle with breast cancer at the age of 44. At the same time as she fought to save her own life, Correia struggled valiantly to save that of her brother’s. Davis was executed by the state of Georgia on...
    Dec 15, 2011 | Story

  • Obama Prepares to Authorize Indefinite Detention of U.S. Citizens for First Time Since McCarthy Era - Glenn Greenwald on NDAA

    The $662 billion National Defense Authorization Act passed by Congress last week includes controversial provisions that could usher in a radical expansion of indefinite detention under the U.S. government by authorizing the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial. "Congress, with the Democrats in control of the Senate and a Democratic president, is about to enact into law the...
    Dec 19, 2011 | Story
  • Lori_web

    Lori Berenson Allowed To Come to U.S. For Holidays With Her Son; Hear 1999 Interview with Democracy Now!

    The once-imprisoned U.S. activist Lori Berenson will be allowed to travel to New York City from Peru to spend the holidays with her toddler son for the first time since her arrest in 1995. Click here to listen to Amy Goodman’s exclusive interview in 1999 with Berenson in the Socabaya Prison.
    Dec 19, 2011 | Web Exclusive
  • Poverty_north_korea

    North Korea's Human Rights Record Assailed as Nation Prepares for Transition of Power

    We look at the human rights legacy of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and what may lie ahead as his 29-year-old son, Kim Jong-un, prepares to take power. "There are tens of thousands of North Koreans who are in labor camps, often working for around 12 hours a day, if not more," says T. Kumar, Amnesty International USA’s advocacy director for Asia and the Pacific. He notes more than one million people have died from starvation,...
    Dec 20, 2011 | Story
  • Play_haditha-2

    In Exiting Iraq, U.S. Military Discards Trove of Found Documents on 2005 Haditha Massacre of Iraqis

    As the U.S. military leaves Iraq, the New York Times has recovered hundreds of pages of documents detailing internal interrogations of U.S. marines over the 2005 Haditha massacre of Iraqi civilians. The documents, many marked "secret," were found among scores of other classified material at a junkyard outside Baghdad as an attendant used them as fuel to cook his dinner. The documents reveal testimony of marines describing killing civilians...
    Dec 21, 2011 | Story