Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Saudi Arabia: International community cannot afford to remain silent about detained women’s rights activists
The international community and allies of the Saudi Arabian government must speak up to help secure the immediate and unconditional release of the women’s rights defenders currently detained in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International said today. More than two weeks have now passed since a number of prominent women’s rights activists, including Loujain al-Hathloul, Iman al-Nafjan and Aziza al-Youssef were arrested, and yet they remain detained without charge and incommunicado with no access to their families or lawyers. Yesterday, the European Parliament issued a resolution calling for their unconditional release and that of all human rights defenders. It also called for a more…
June 1, 2018
Press Release
Historic Ireland abortion referendum victory sends message of hope around the world
Reacting to news of the victory for the “Yes” campaign in Ireland’s referendum on abortion, Colm O Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland said the following.
May 26, 2018
Report
Nigeria: Starving women raped by soldiers and militia who claim to be rescuing them
Thousands of women and girls who survived the brutal rule of the Boko Haram armed group have since been further abused by the Nigerian security forces who claim to be rescuing them, said Amnesty International in a new report released today.  "They betrayed us" reveals how the Nigerian military and Civilian Joint Task Force (Civilian JTF) – a militia who work alongside them – have separated women from their husbands and confined them in remote “satellite camps” where they have been raped, sometimes in exchange for food. Amnesty International has collected evidence that thousands of people have starved to death in the camps in…
May 23, 2018
Press Release
Ireland: Abortion referendum is historic opportunity to vote for equality, compassion and dignity
Women and girls in Ireland finally have a once in a generation opportunity to have their right to decide what happens to their bodies recognized, said Amnesty International ahead of Friday’s referendum on abortion. The long fought-for referendum will give Irish people a chance to vote on removing a constitutional provision which bans abortion in all circumstances other than where there is a risk to the life of the pregnant woman. The provision, known as the Eighth Amendment, has meant that Ireland’s abortion law is amongst the most restrictive in the world. “On Friday, we have a historic opportunity to…
May 22, 2018
Press Release
Global Wikipedia edit-a-thon shines spotlight on the unsung women defending human rights around the world
Wikipedia enthusiasts from around the world are joining forces on 19 and 20 May 2018 to take part in a global edit-a-thon to shine a spotlight on extraordinary unsung women human rights defenders who have devoted their lives to fighting injustice. BRAVE:Edit, a collaboration between Amnesty International and Wikimedia (Wikipedia’s non-profit organization), will see hundreds of online activists from over 20 countries taking to the popular website to upload biographies of women human rights defenders. Women human rights defenders are women, in all of their diversity, working on any human rights issue, and defenders of all genders working on rights…
May 18, 2018
Press Release
Domestic Gag Rule is Deadly Says Amnesty International USA
Reacting to news that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services may adopt a "domestic gag rule" around Title X, the nation's program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, Tarah Demant, Director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity Program at Amnesty International USA stated: “The proposal is deadly, discriminatory, and a blatant attempt to restrict women’s reproductive rights. “Such a plan defies human rights standards and puts the lives of all people, especially women of color and low-income women, at risk. It restricts people’s sexual and reproductive rights placing all those who may be pregnant in danger.…
May 18, 2018
Press Release
Brazil: International solidarity is crucial to solving activist Marielle Franco’s killing
Increased global activism is crucial to pressuring Brazilian authorities into solving the killing of the human rights defender and city councilor Marielle Franco and her driver Anderson Gomes, said Amnesty International today, two months after they were shot dead in Rio de Janeiro. “Without international solidarity, we fear Marielle’s tragic killing will not be solved. Two months on, we must keep mobilizing to show the Brazilian authorities that people here and all over the world won’t rest until justice is done,” said Jurema Werneck, Executive Director of Amnesty International Brazil. “Every day that goes by without developments casts fresh doubt…
May 12, 2018
Press Release
Sudan: Death sentence for raped teenager is an intolerable cruelty
A Sudanese court’s sentencing today of a 19-year-old woman to death for killing her rapist husband in self-defence highlights the failure of the authorities to tackle child marriage, forced marriage and marital rape, Amnesty International said today. Noura Hussein Hamad has been held in the Omdurman Women’s Prison since May 2017, and was today handed the death sentence for killing the man her father forced her to marry when she was 16 years old. “Noura Hussein life-long wish was to become a teacher but she ended up being forced to marry an abusive man who raped and brutalized her. Now…
May 10, 2018
Press Release
Ending TPS for Honduras Could Put Lives in Danger
Today, the Department of Homeland Security announced the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation to Honduras, despite the country’s deep political instability since December 2017. Over 86,000 people from Honduras in the United States are protected by TPS, including mothers and fathers of more than 53,000 U.S. citizens. If forced to return, many of these people could face grave danger and persecution. Marselha Gonçalves Margerin, advocacy director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, issued this statement: “The Trump administration is turning its back on thousands of families who arrived from Honduras seeking safety. Many families, including children who…
May 4, 2018
Press Release
El Salvador: Failure to decriminalize abortion is a terrible blow to human rights
The failure to pass a reform to decriminalize abortion during El Salvador’s latest legislative cycle is a sickening step backwards for human rights, said Amnesty International today. “El Salvador’s lawmakers have blood on their hands after declining to even discuss the reform to decriminalize abortion. This desperately needed bill would have saved the lives of countless women and girls who are needlessly put at risk by the total ban on abortion. The wasted opportunity to end this injustice is a terrible blow to human rights in El Salvador,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly…
April 27, 2018
Report
Iraq: Women and children with perceived ties to IS denied aid, sexually exploited and trapped in camps
Iraq: Women and children with perceived ties to IS denied aid, sexually exploited and trapped in camps Iraqi women and children with perceived ties to the armed group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) are being denied humanitarian aid and prevented from returning to their homes, with an alarming number of women subjected to sexual violence, Amnesty International said in a new report published today. The Condemned: Women and Children Isolated, Trapped and Exploited in Iraq reveals widespread discrimination against women living in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) by security forces, members of camp administrations and local authorities, who believe…
April 16, 2018
Press Release
Nigeria: Government still failing victims of Boko Haram four years on from Chibok
Responding to the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the abduction of 276 school girls in Chibok, Osai Ojigho Director Amnesty International Nigeria said: “What happened in Chibok should have served as a wake-up call to the Nigerian government. Yet four years on, thousands more women and girls have been taken from their homes and forced to live in captivity, in events largely unnoticed and unreported by media. “The time is long overdue for the government to deliver meaningful action on behalf of all the victims of Boko Haram’s crimes. This starts by doing more to secure the release of…
April 13, 2018