• Press Release

Amnesty International USA on President Obama at West Point: Time to Follow Through

May 28, 2014

Media Contact: Gabe Cahn, [email protected], 202.776.7700, c: 202.412.1678
 
In response to President Obama's commencement speech today at West Point, Amnesty International USA issued the following statement:
 
"President Obama is right to say that ‘we cannot exempt ourselves from the rules that apply to everyone else,’ but for too long, the U.S. government has perpetuated a counter-terrorism strategy that has thrown the most basic human rights standards by the wayside.
 
“If this Administration truly believes that its justifications for actions abroad -such as the so-called targeted killings-must be more transparent, that the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay must be closed and that ‘respect for human rights is an antidote to instability,’ then it’s time to follow through with concrete measures.”
 

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with more than 3 million members in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied.