Death Sentences and Executions in 2005

This document details the countries and territories that carried out executions, and the countries and territories that imposed death sentences, in 2005. During 2005, at least 2,148 people were executed in 20 countries. At least 5,186 people were sentenced to death in 54 countries. These were only minimum figures; the true figures were certainly higher.UT Librarie

Amnesty International report 2014/15: the state of the world’s human rights

The Amnesty International Report 2014/15 documents the state of the world’s human rights during 2014. Some key events from 2013 are also reported. The foreword, five regional overviews and survey of 160 countries and territories bear witness to the suffering endured by many, whether it be through conflict, displacement, discrimination or repression. The Report also highlights the strength of the human rights movement, and shows that, in some areas, significant progress has been made in the safeguarding and securing of human rights. While every attempt is made to ensure accuracy of information, information may be subject to change without notice

On the brink of death: violence against women and the abortion ban in El Salvador

Cada año, la prohibición total del aborto y su penalización niegan a miles de mujeres y niñas de El Salvador sus derechos y decisiones. Las mujeres y niñas que tienen un embarazo no deseado se enfrentan a dos opciones: cometer un delito abortando o seguir adelante con el embarazo no deseado.http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR29/003/2014/e

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act: time for a renewed debate in India on human rights and national security

"For decades, The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has enabled serious human rights violations to be committed by soldiers in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) and parts of northeast India, and shielded those responsible. Attempts to challenge the AFSPA have been met with weak responses from authorities, and little apparent commitment to tackle impunity. In 2013, two high-level official committees released damning reports1 highly critical of the way the AFSPA facilitated sexual violence and extrajudicial executions. The reports of the Justice Verma Committee and the Justice Hegde Commission supported calls made to authorities by the UN and Indian bodies to address the abuses committed under the AFSPA and end the effective impunity enjoyed by security forces. These two reports have renewed debates on the special powers granted to security forces in India and their impact on human rights. This briefing examines recent developments and outlines the ongoing rights violations being committed in areas where the AFSPA is in force. Amnesty International India urges the Government of India to repeal the Armed Forces Special Powers Acts, 1958 and 1990.

Overcoming Liberal Democracy: “Threat Governmentality” and the Empowerment of Intelligence in the UK Investigatory Powers Act

The sudden rise of the socio-political importance of security that has marked the twenty-first century entails a commensurate empowerment of the intelligence apparatus. This chapter takes the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 as a vantage point from where to address the political significance of this development. It provides an account of the powers the Act grants intelligence agencies, concluding that it effectively legalizes their operational paradigm. Further, the socio-legal dynamics that informed the Act lead the chapter to conclude that Intelligence has become a dominant apparatus within the state. This chapter pivots at this point. It seeks to identify, first, the reasons of this empowerment; and, second, its effects on liberal-democratic forms, including the rule of law. The key reason for intelligence empowerment is the adoption of a pre-emptive security strategy, geared toward neutralizing threats that are yet unformed. Regarding its effects on liberal democracy, the chapter notes the incompatibility of the logic of intelligence with the rule of law. It further argues that the empowerment of intelligence pertains to the rise of a new threat-based governmental logic. It outlines the core premises of this logic to argue that they strengthen the anti-democratic elements in liberalism, but in a manner that liberalism is overcome

Examining the accounts of oil spills crises in Nigeria through sensegiving and defensive behaviours

Purpose: The paper examines how oil multinational companies (MNCs) in Nigeria framed accounts to dissociate themselves from causing oil spills. Design/methodology/approach: We utilised data from relevant corporate reports, external accounts and interviews, and used sensegiving with defensive behaviours theoretical framing to explore corporate narratives aimed at altering stakeholders’ perceptions. Findings: The corporations gave sense to their audience by invoking scapegoating blame avoidance narrative in attributing the cause of most oil spills in Nigeria to outsiders (sabotage), despite potentially misclassifying the sabotage-corrosion dichotomy. Corporate stance was reinforced through justifying narrative, which suggested that multi-stakeholders jointly determined the causes of oil spills, thus portraying corporate accounts as transparent, credible and objective. Practical implications: With compensation to oil spills’ victims only legally permitted for non-sabotage-induced spills alongside the burden of proof on the victims, the MNCs are incentivised to attribute most oil spills to sabotage. On policy implication, accountability would be best served when the MNCs are tasked both with the burden of proof and a responsibility to demonstrate their transparency in preventing oil spills, including those caused by sabotage. Research implications: The socio-political dynamics in an empirical setting affect corporate accounts and how those accounts appear persuasive, implying that such contextual factors merit consideration when evaluating corporate accounts. For example, despite contradictions in corporate accounts, corporate attribution of oil spills to external factors appeared persuasive due to the inherently complicated socio-political dynamics. Originality/value: Crisis situations generate multiple and competing perspectives, but sensegiving and defensive behaviours lenses enrich our understanding of how crisis-ridden companies frame narratives to alter stakeholders’ perceptions. Accounts-giving therefore partly satisfies accountability demands, and acts as sensegiving signals aimed at reframing/redefining existing perceptions

Extending the supply chain visibility boundary: utilizing stakeholders for identifying supply chain sustainability risks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how buying firms facing low supply chain visibility can utilize their stakeholder network to identify salient supply chain sustainability risks (SCSR). Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a design science approach to develop a procedural model for identifying SCSR as a new artifact. A small-scale field-testing study in a food supply chain of a Swiss retail firm demonstrates its applicability and pragmatic validity. Findings – When stakeholder knowledge external to the supply chain is regarded as a valuable resource, a generic understanding of a buying firm’s supply chain suffices to identify SCSR hotspots without creating complexity for the SCSR management. Research limitations/implications – The paper contributes to the study of SCSR by identifying mechanisms buying firms can employ to identify SCSR hotspots and fostering the nascent understanding of responsibility attribution by stakeholders. Moreover, the emerging theory of the supply chain is enriched by paving a way to extend the supply chain visibility boundary. The procedural model is presumably most useful in contexts of elevated stakeholder pressure and low supply chain visibility. Future research should seek to validate and improve the effectiveness of the newly designed artifact. Practical implications – The procedural model is directly applicable in corporate practice to the identification of SCSR. Moreover, its application fosters the understanding of a firm’s supply chain and its stakeholder network. Originality/value – SCSR is an increasingly important phenomenon in corporate practice that has received only scarce research attention. The design science approach represents a valuable means for generating theoretical insights and emergent solutions to the real-world problem of SCSR identification. Keywords Sustainability, Risk management, Stakeholder management, Design science, Supply chain visibilit