Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Denmark: Face veil ban a discriminatory violation of women’s rights
As a new law banning the wearing of face coverings in public comes into force in Denmark, Amnesty International’s Deputy Europe Director Fotis Filippou said: “All women should be free to dress as they please and to wear clothing that expresses their identity or beliefs. This ban will have a particularly negative impact on Muslim women who choose to wear the niqab or burqa. “Whilst some specific restrictions on the wearing of full face veils for the purposes of public safety may be legitimate, this blanket ban is neither necessary nor proportionate and violates women's rights to freedom of expression…
August 1, 2018
Press Release
Malaysia: Acquittal of Zunar and others must lead to repeal of draconian sedition law
Responding to news that the Malaysian authorities have acquitted and dropped all sedition charges against political cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar "Zunar" Ulhaque, lawmaker R. Sivarasa and civil rights lawyer N. Surendran, Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Amnesty International’s Malaysia Researcher, said: "Zunar, Sivarasa and Surendran have shown great courage in shining a spotlight on injustices such as corruption and abuse of power. Their acquittal is a positive development but the Malaysian authorities must do more to protect people who dare to speak out. Zunar, Sivarasa and Surendran have shown great courage in shining a spotlight on injustices such as corruption and abuse of power.…
August 1, 2018
Press Release
Amnesty International staff targeted with malicious spyware
An Amnesty International staff member has been targeted by a sophisticated surveillance campaign, in what the organization suspects was a deliberate attempt to spy on its staff by a government hostile to its work. In early June 2018, an Amnesty International staff member received a suspicious WhatsApp message in Arabic. The text contained details about an alleged protest outside the Saudi embassy in Washington D.C., followed by a link to a website. Investigations by Amnesty International’s technology team revealed that clicking the link would have, according to prior knowledge, installed “Pegasus”, a sophisticated surveillance tool developed by the Israel-based company NSO Group. “NSO Group…
August 1, 2018
Update
SJC OVERSIGHT HEARING ON FAMILY REUNIFICATION
Amnesty International's statement submitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on "Oversight of Immigration Enforcement and Family Reunification Efforts": SJC Oversight Hearing on Family Reunification
July 31, 2018
Press Release
Mexico: Authorities’ claims of progress on disappearances in Nuevo Laredo ring hollow
Mexico’s federal authorities continue to overlook key lines of investigation into the disappearances of 36 people in the northern border city of Nuevo Laredo, while failing to protect the victims’ families who have alleged the Navy’s involvement in the disappearances, Amnesty International said today.
July 31, 2018
Press Release
Coroner’s findings on preventable death of Iranian asylum seeker on Manus Island must prompt government action
In response to today’s damning coronial inquest findings into the tragic death of Hamid Khazaei, an Iranian man who died in Australia in 2014 from an infection acquired in the Manus Island detention centre, Amnesty International’s Refugee Researcher Kate Schuetze, who was present at the Brisbane court today, said: “The Coroner today outlined a litany of errors that lead to Hamid Khazaei’s death in 2014 following his detention in an Australian-run detention centre in Papua New Guinea. The inquest’s finding that Hamid’s death was completely preventable cannot be ignored by the Australian government.” “The Australian government has failed to provide adequate health…
July 30, 2018
Press Release
Cuba: 100 days in, new administration has yet to dismantle repressive state machinery
On the 100th day of Miguel Díaz-Canel’s term as president of Cuba, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said: “The news that Cuba’s National Assembly has signed off on a new constitution that, among other things, opens the path to legalize same-sex marriage if approved by referendum in the coming months, is a potentially huge step forward for the rights of LGBTI people in Cuba and the Caribbean. We welcome this advance and urge the government to embrace dialogue with all sectors of society and allow plurality of voices as it makes further reforms. “However, during the first 100 days of the Díaz-Canel presidency,…
July 27, 2018
Press Release
US Coalition Efforts to Ensure Accountability for Civilian Deaths are a Welcome First Step, But More Clarity Necessary
The US-led coalition has today issued a press release accepting responsibility for all civilian deaths documented in Amnesty International’s June 5th report into the aerial bombardment of Raqqa. Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Adviser, said: “After weeks of obfuscation and denials, the US-led coalition has finally admitted responsibility for the deaths of approximately a hundred civilians in Raqqa. Raqqa’s residents have faced years of unimaginable suffering, first under the brutal rule of so-called Islamic State, and then under relentless bombardment from the coalition, whose operation to retake the city left it in ruins." Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USA’s…
July 26, 2018
Press Release
Trump Administration Brazenly Violates Human Rights of Separated Families
Today marks the court-ordered deadline for the Trump administration to reunite more than 2,500 children forcibly separated from their parents despite seeking protection. More than 900 parents remain separated from their families because the administration has deemed them “ineligible” or “not yet known to be eligible” for reunification. Ashley Houghton, tactical campaigns manager at Amnesty International USA, issued this statement:
July 26, 2018
Press Release
Chile: Life of imprisoned Indigenous leader is in imminent danger
In response to the dry hunger strike that Machi Celestino Córdova, a Mapuche spiritual leader who is currently imprisoned, convicted of homicide induced by arson, has begun in protest of the denial of his rights to health and religious freedom, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, sent an open letter to President Sebastián Piñera today stating: “Following several months of hunger strike in protest because the Chilean authorities have not let him go to his rewe, or ceremonial altar, a sacred place for his people, in order to carry out a renewal ceremony which all Indigenous religious leaders known as machis must undertake…
July 26, 2018
Update
Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission 07/25/18: Victims’ Rights in Burma
Please find below an attachment submitted as a Written Testimony for the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on Victims’ Rights in Burma on July 25, 2018 - 10:00 a.m. The statement was given by Francisco Bencosme, Asia Advocacy Manager at Amnesty International USA. The full hearing is available here.
July 26, 2018
Press Release
Nicaragua: Amnesty International condemns killing of Brazilian medical student
In response to the fatal shooting of the Brazilian medical student Raynéia Gabrielle Lima in Nicaragua on 23 July, Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil, said: “The repression of the civilian population and the violation of the right to protest in Nicaragua is unacceptable. The killing of the Brazilian national Raynéia Gabrielle Lima occurred at a time when violent repression is intensifying across the country. We condemn the human rights violations committed by the Nicaraguan police and pro-government armed groups.” “Around 300 people have been killed since the state repression began in April. Amnesty International recalls that all states are permitted to exercise jurisdiction over…
July 25, 2018