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When water is tortureYou are tied to a board, your ankles, wrists, chest and head strapped firmly down. Water pours onto your face, flows up your nose, into your mouth, down your throat and fills your lungs and stomach. You gag, choke and struggle for breath.
This is waterboarding.
The CIA uses waterboarding to try to extract information from detainees in the ‘war on terror’. President George Bush thinks it's a 'necessary tool'. We think it's torture.
Watch the film and decide for yourself:
Amnesty International presents The Stuff of Life..Stand up for Women's Rights
1 out of every 3 women has been raped, beaten or abused in her lifetime. One in three women . That seems quite a lot doesn't it?
Women around the world today face violence and discrimination on an unprecedented scale. International Women's Day celebrates the achievements and resilience of women. And it's a chance for people like us to change things for the better.
Want to get involved? International Women's day has come and gone for 2008, but you can still check out our THINGS YOU CAN DO section below for more!
..About Amnesty
Your door is broken down by police in the night after you share a story by email. Your father threatened for asking for fair wages for his colleagues. Your mother jailed for her political views. Your sister attacked for her sense of dress.
Around the world, hundreds of thousands of people stand ready to bring your case to light, to pressure their governments and yours. They will write letters, blog about injustice, march in the streets - whatever it takes.
So, join Amnesty on MySpace and tell governments to show a bit of respect for our rights.
Amnesty's interests
General
Terrorism and security - Stop internet repression - Stop Violence Against Women - Human Rights for China - Refugees and Asylum - Abolish the death penalty - Business and human rights - Control Arms
Music
Can a human rights organisation have a taste in music? A quick survey of the people near me suggests a love of reggae, indie, global punk a la Manu Chao err... and Simon (who's a grown up lawyer) likes the ballet .
Look, let's put it like this, if you are a band with 10,000+ mates, add us to your top friends and we'll do the same. Sorted.
Books
We flog these too! Seriously, we are launching a new book of Poems from Guantanamo but if that is not your bag, perhaps some great children's stories from the likes of Roddy Doyle could fill a hole in your stockings?
Heroes
Who said 'no more heroes anymore', certainly not us. Everyday our work puts us in touch with courageous people living extraordinary lives. Sometimes they and their families need our help and sometimes we draw on their strength to help others. And then there are the millions of little heroes who take a few minutes out of their day to mail their MP about something that strikes them as wrong or sign a petition .
Get enough ordinary people doing enough ordinary things and something extraordinary happens. It is the force that every tyrant on the planet fears and it is the force we channel when we work together. Join us .
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