from Asia and the pacific
The proposed new law allows for violations of human rights such as freedom from arbitrary detention, torture and other ill-treatment.
Prominent Chinese housing activist Ni Yulan and her husband Dong Jiqin were jailed today on spurious charges.
US forces are set to transfer detainees from Bagram prison to the Afghan government, prompting fears that they may be at risk of torture.
Thailand is considering an amnesty law which could grant impunity for grave human rights violations.
Japan has hanged three men in the country's first executions in almost two years, joining the minority of countries worldwide that are still executing.
Police beat and sexually harassed four women detained during an anti-government rally, according to testimony gathered by Amnesty International.
After four decades awaiting execution, a recent court development offers hope of retrial for death row prisoner Masaru Okunishi.
A new Amnesty International report documents how arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances have become routine in Sri Lanka.
Amnesty International has called for greater accountability for civilian casualties, after a US soldier killed 16 people in Kandahar province.
At least six people injured, some seriously, as combined forces of police and military attack around 300 demonstrators in the capital.
Pakistan's government has failed to protect religious minorities from systematic campaigns of violence and vilification.
Women in the Maldives describe how security forces violently suppressed their protest against the new president.
Border-crossers who are sent back are at grave risk of torture, forced labour, imprisonment in political prison camps and execution.
Afghan authorities have failed to help some 500,000 displaced people who are struggling to survive in Kabul slums, a new Amnesty report says.
Asylum seekers placed in long-term detention in Australia have told Amnesty International how the practice traumatizes them and harms their mental health.
The organizers of the London 2012 Olympics have rejected a call to terminate Dow Chemicals' sponsorship of the Games.
Some 21 North Koreans in China face expulsion to North Korea after being caught illegally in the country.
China has sentenced a veteran activist to seven years in prison for writing a poem urging people to support freedom.
A new report by Amnesty International highlights how arms sales from China and Russia fuel human rights violations in Sudan's Darfur region.
Police in the Maldives have reportedly attacked outgoing president Mohammed Nasheed and his supporters during a peaceful protest.