Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
If you are a member of the press, please reach out to [email protected]
Update
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre
Amnesty International is co-hosting on June 4th to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Tiananmen Square. Title : 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre Rally at the Capitol Date : Tuseday, June 4th, 2019 Time : 1:30 PM Place : United States Capitol West Lawn You can find a flyer here: June 4 Rally Flyer
May 14, 2019
Press Release
Viet Nam: Surge in number of prisoners of conscience, new research shows
The number of prisoners of conscience unjustly jailed across Viet Nam has surged by one third to 128 in signs of a growing crackdown on peaceful activism, new research by Amnesty International reveals today. The Vietnamese government holds at least 128 prisoners of conscience in prisons across the country, a sharp rise from the 97 identified last year. Detention conditions remain appalling, with evidence of prisoners being tortured and otherwise ill-treated, routinely held incommunicado and in solitary confinement, kept in squalid conditions, and denied medical care, clean water, and fresh air. Among these prisoners of conscience are an increasing number…
May 12, 2019
Press Release
Israel: Amnesty International engages in legal action to stop NSO Group’s web of surveillance
Amnesty International is supporting a legal action to take the Israeli Ministry of Defence (MoD) to court, to demand that it revokes the export license of NSO Group, an Israeli company whose spyware products have been used in chilling attacks on human rights defenders around the world.
May 12, 2019
Press Release
‘Appalling’ violence used against students holding Pride march in Turkey
Reacting to the news that a Pride march organized by students at the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara has been violently broken up by police and 25 students arrested, Fotis Filippou, Campaigns Director for Europe at Amnesty International, said: “It is heartbreaking to hear that today’s Pride march, which should have been a celebration of love and solidarity, was so violently broken up by police using pepper spray, plastic bullets and tear gas, and that at least 25 people have reportedly been unlawfully detained. Reports of excessive use of force by the police must be urgently investigated.” “Amnesty International condemns…
May 10, 2019
Report
Transgender people in China risk their lives with dangerous self – surgery
Transgender people in China are performing highly dangerous surgery on themselves and buying unsafe hormone treatments on the black market because it is almost impossible for them to access the health care they urgently need, Amnesty International said in a new report. “I need my parents’ consent to be myself- Barriers to gender-affirming treatments for transgender people in China” reveals that prevalent discrimination and stigma, restrictive eligibility requirements, and a lack of information, leave transgender people to seek unregulated and unsafe gender-affirming treatments. “China is failing transgender people. Discriminatory laws and policies have left many people feeling they have no…
May 9, 2019
Press Release
Venezuela: Amnesty International launches campaign to protect those fleeing the human rights crisis
The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean must not impose barriers that hinder the entry of people fleeing the human rights crisis in Venezuela, nor return anyone to that country given the risk they run of suffering human rights violations, said Amnesty International today on the launch of its Welcome Venezuela campaign.
May 8, 2019
Press Release
Remain in Mexico Plan Must Not Stand
Reacting to news that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has halted the district court’s injunction of the Remain in Mexico plan, Charanya Krishnaswami, advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, issued this statement:
May 7, 2019
Press Release
Brazil: Risk of bloodshed in the Amazon unless government protects Indigenous peoples from illegal land seizures and logging
There is an imminent risk of violent clashes in Brazil’s Amazon region unless the government protects Indigenous peoples’ traditional lands from increasing illegal land seizures and logging by armed intruders, Amnesty International warned today.
May 7, 2019
Press Release
Myanmar: Genuine press freedom must follow release of Reuters journalists
Responding to news of the amnesty and release of Reuters journalists Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo, Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s East and Southeast Asia Director said the following.
May 7, 2019
Press Release
Activist arrested in Poland and house raided after Amnesty International meeting
Responding to news that the Polish authorities detained an activist, Elżbieta Podlesna for several hours, on suspicion of offending religious beliefs, Amnesty International’s Regional Europe Researcher, Barbora Cernusakova, said: “We are extremely concerned to hear that Elżbieta Podlesna, a Polish human rights activist, was arrested and detained for several hours on spurious charges yesterday upon her return to Poland from a trip to Belgium and the Netherlands with Amnesty International. Elżbieta is suspected of "offending religious beliefs", after the police claimed that they found copies of a posters depicting the Virgin Mary with a halo around head and shoulders in the…
May 6, 2019
Press Release
Brunei Darussalam: Sultan’s speech a first step to repealing ‘heinous’ laws
Responding to news that the Brunei authorities have announced they will continue to refrain from implementing the death sentence, including under the newly enacted Syariah Penal Code Order, and would ratify the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International’s Brunei Researcher, said: “While the announcement that the death penalty will not be implemented is a welcome first step, the Brunei authorities are still defending the new penal code and its heinous laws. Even if death sentences are not going to be implemented, the death penalty and other cruel and inhuman punishments are still on the books and can…
May 6, 2019
Press Release
Venezuela: State steps up repression of protests in the midst of the crisis
At least four people have been killed, more than 200 injured and 205 arrested during state repression of protests across Venezuela since 30 April, Amnesty International has confirmed.
May 2, 2019