Newsroom

Press Release

Unlawful US border policies are leaving thousands of asylum seekers stranded in Mexico, where they are facing threats of deportation to their countries of origin, where they potentially face serious harm, Amnesty International said today following a research mission last week. Conditions could only worsen under a reported deal between both countries that, if agreed, would force asylum-seekers to remain in Mexico while their claims are processed, rather than allow them to enter the United States. As a result of Amnesty International’s research focusing on the treatment of refugees and migrants in the caravans in Guatemala, the southern Mexican state…

November 26, 2018

Report

The misery of indefinite detention in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is pushing increasing numbers of refugees and people seeking asylum to suicide attempts and self-harm, a new report by the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA) and Amnesty International finds today. In the report, Until when? The forgotten men on Manus Island, RCOA and Amnesty International paint a stark picture of a traumatized refugee population which has been hit hard by Australia’s recent healthcare and counselling service cuts, as well as continued threats to their safety. “The worsening health and safety crisis on Manus Island demonstrates that Australia’s offshore processing system has failed.…

November 21, 2018

Press Release

Thousands of digital activists around the world will take part in an innovative new crowdsourcing data project Amnesty International is launching today, which uses satellite imagery to help plot how the US-led military coalition’s bombings destroyed almost 80% of the Syrian city of Raqqa. “Strike Tracker” is the next phase of an in-depth Amnesty International investigation, in partnership with Airwars, into the shocking scale of civilian casualties resulting from four months of US, UK and French bombardment to oust the armed group calling itself Islamic State (IS) from Raqqa. Amnesty International’s field investigations and analysis since the battle ended in…

November 20, 2018

Press Release

In an extraordinary move, twenty-nine families seeking a better life have been ordered released from the South Texas Family Residential Center in the town of Dilley, including Gloria and her daughter Devora, Julieta and her son Ezdras, Monica and her son Jafeth, and Britany and her children Gerry and Angela. The releases are especially significant in light of the Trump administration’s hostility toward asylum-seekers, including recent moves to bar asylum-seekers from entering the country between ports of entry.

November 20, 2018

Press Release

Several Saudi Arabian activists, including a number of women, who have been arbitrarily detained without charge since May 2018 in Saudi Arabia’s Dhahban Prison, have reportedly faced sexual harassment, torture and other forms of ill-treatment during interrogation, Amnesty International said today. According to three separate testimonies obtained by the organization, the activists were repeatedly tortured by electrocution and flogging, leaving some unable to walk or stand properly. In one reported instance, one of the activists was made to hang from the ceiling, and according to another testimony, one of the detained women was reportedly subjected to sexual harassment, by interrogators wearing…

November 20, 2018

Press Release

In response to a court decision temporarily blocking the Trump administration from denying asylum to people seeking protection arriving between ports of entry, Amnesty International USA executive director Margaret Huang issued this statement.

November 20, 2018

Press Release

Ahead of World Children’s Day on November 20, Amnesty International is calling for all children currently being held at the Dilley Detention Center to be freed with their families, and for the USA to end its plan of expanding family detention centers. The South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas, is currently the largest immigration detention center in the United States, holding hundreds of families. The capacity for the Center is now at 2,400 beds. Seven-year-old Mario is one of the children that remains behind bars at Dilley after being separated from his mother, Andrea, for 73 days for…

November 19, 2018

Press Release

Petrified civilians in Hodeidah face a likely onslaught unless the UN Security Council acts today to press the warring parties in Yemen to protect them and ensure full humanitarian access, Amnesty International said. The Security Council will discuss Yemen’s conflict and humanitarian crisis at 3PM EST. “Even with the lull in fighting in recent days, Hodeidah remains on a knife-edge, and the ominous fear of mortal danger looms large. Hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped near frontlines must be protected amid the fighting and granted safe passage out of the city,” said Sherine Tadros, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office…

November 16, 2018

Press Release

Responding to the guilty verdict handed to Khmer Rouge cadres Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) today, Nicholas Bequelin, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southeast Asia, said: “Today’s verdict hopefully brings some measure of justice to the victims, forty years after the unspeakable mass atrocities committed by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. “While this second trial of the Khmer Rouge’s last surviving senior leaders results in two convictions, and 14 reparation projects, this is bitter justice: the world has waited far too long for this moment. Decades after the…

November 16, 2018

Press Release

Libyan, European and Panamanian authorities must ensure that at least 79 refugees and migrants who are on board a merchant vessel at the port of Misratah are not forced to disembark to be taken to a Libyan detention centre where they could face torture and other abuse, said Amnesty International today. The refugees and migrants, including a number of children, were found as they attempted to reach Europe by boat across the Mediterranean. Amnesty International understands that Italian and Maltese maritime authorities were involved in the operation, carried out by the merchant ship Nivin. Flying a Panamanian flag, the Nivin…

November 16, 2018

Press Release

The latest leak of a dossier on Amnesty India by the Enforcement Directorate, a financial investigation agency under the Ministry of Finance, based on its ongoing investigations, indicates a deliberate attempt by the government to tarnish Amnesty India’s reputation. Amnesty India calls for an immediate end to this smear campaign and an independent inquiry into the selective leaks of information that are fueling this smear campaign. “In the three weeks since we were raided by the Enforcement Directorate, no formal charges have been filed against us. So, it is really shocking to see media coverage of what is alleged to be documents…

November 15, 2018

Press Release

House Bill 228, which has been dubbed the ‘Kill at Will’ bill for allowing a person to use a gun to shoot to kill in response to any perceived threat, in any place where the person has a lawful right to be, be it a movie theater, parking lot or a mall, has passed in the Ohio State House today. Reacting to the House passage, Victoria Coy, End Gun Violence Campaign Manager with Amnesty International USA, stated: “By passing the bill, the House has sanctioned an irresponsible proposition that would seriously endanger public safety by encouraging a shoot-first, ask questions…

November 14, 2018