Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and others freed in prisoner swap
Reacting to the news that Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and dozens of other detainees have been released as a part of prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Oleg Sentsov and many others jailed following Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea are simply victims of politically-motivated prosecution and they should never have been imprisoned in the first place. While it is a relief that they are now free, it is a travesty to see them being used as human bargaining chips in political deals. “The conflict in eastern…
September 7, 2019
Update
Amnesty International USA Supports Challenge to Indefinite Detention of Children and Families
Following newly announced regulations that would provide for the indefinite detention of families and children and eviscerate basic protections contained in the 1997 Flores settlement, Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch filed a brief in support of a legal challenge to the regulations. In the brief, Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch argue that the regulations starkly violate established human rights standards, which recognize that detention of children is never in their best interests. The brief also outlines additional concerns about the regulations' eliminations of safeguards related to the detention of children. The brief can be accessed in full…
September 5, 2019
Press Release
Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Offenders in South Africa Must Face Justice
In response to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address to the nation and hundreds who had gathered in Cape Town to protest against soaring gender-based violence and femicide rates in the country, Shenilla Mohamed, Executive Director of Amnesty International South Africa, said:
September 5, 2019
Update
Amnesty International USA Joins Partner Organizations to Support Legal Challenge to Asylum Ban 2.0
On July 16, 2019, the Trump administration announced its latest attack on asylum: a rule stating that any person who had passed through another country on the way to the United States would be barred from seeking asylum here. The rule has been swiftly challenged by advocacy groups in court, and is currently enjoined in the Ninth Circuit - though it remains in effect elsewhere in the country. Along with several partner organizations, Amnesty International joined an amicus brief authored by the Center for Gender and Refugee Studies supporting the halting of the policy. The brief argues that the rule…
September 5, 2019
Press Release
Killing of Afghani Human Rights Defender Is A War Crime
Responding to the news that Abdul Samad Amiri, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission’s acting director in Ghor province, was kidnapped and killed by the Taliban, Amnesty International’s South Asia Campaigner, Samira Hamidi, said:
September 5, 2019
Press Release
Years of Impunity for Xenophobic Crimes Driving the Latest Attacks in South Africa
The ongoing and escalating attacks against refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, and looting of foreign owned shops in South Africa, is a direct consequence of years of impunity and failures in the criminal justice system that have left this vulnerable group exposed and unprotected, Amnesty International said today.
September 4, 2019
Press Release
Discriminatory Measures Undermine Palestinian Representation in Knesset
Palestinians elected to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, are being targeted by discriminatory regulations and legislation that undermine their ability to represent and defend the rights of the Palestinian minority population in Israel, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today, ahead of upcoming Israeli elections on September 17.
September 3, 2019
Press Release
Another Weekend, Another Carnage That Could Have Been Prevented
Responding to shootings in Midland and in Odessa, Texas tonight, Ernest Coverson the campaign manager of Amnesty International USA End Gun Violence campaign said: "On yet another weekend, this country is reeling from carnage that could have been prevented. Enough is enough. We need the government to take action in passing common sense gun safety reforms that make everyone safer. By prioritizing guns over people, the U.S. is putting entire communities at risk." Background Last month, Amnesty International published a report examining whether the U.S. has met its obligation under human rights law to provide effective remedies to survivors of…
August 31, 2019
Report
Bangladeshi Parents Fear for Lost Generation of Rohingya Children
Two years after a brutal ethnic cleansing campaign forced around 700,000 Rohingya to flee Myanmar for Bangladesh, refugees are still trapped in unbearable conditions in overcrowded camps, Amnesty International said in a new briefing.
August 29, 2019
Press Release
Human Rights Defenders in Afghanistan Under Attack From the Authorities and Armed Groups
Afghanistan’s human rights community is under intensifying attacks from both the authorities and armed groups as human rights defenders and activists face intimidation, harassment, threats and violence, Amnesty International said in a briefing released today.
August 29, 2019
Press Release
Syrian Families Left Alone to Find Answers About Disappeared Relatives
The families of tens of thousands of people who have been forcibly disappeared or abducted since the onset of the crisis in Syria in 2011have suffered years of agony in the face of government denials and insufficient support from the international community, Amnesty International said today.
August 29, 2019
Press Release
Filmmaker Sentenced To One Year In Prison In Myanmar For Facebook Post
Responding to the decision by the Insein Township Court to sentence filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi to one year in prison on charges of undermining the military, Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Director for East and South East Asia, said:
August 29, 2019