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Press Release

Reacting to news that U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has provided the White House updated guidance on criteria for transferring new individuals to the Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, Daphne Eviatar, Director of Security with Human Rights at Amnesty International USA stated: “Although so far the new policy is secret, the government’s statement suggests it will allow new detainees to be transferred to Guantanamo.  Given the history of torture, unlawful detention and complete lack of justice provided there, no new detainees should ever be transferred to Guantanamo.  The prison should be shut down, and the current 41 detainees still…

May 2, 2018

Update

AIUSA calls on Congress to support human rights in FY 2019 appropriations cycle As Congress considers appropriations for the Fiscal Year  2019 funding cycle, AIUSA sent the following request to all Members of Congress on May 1, 2018. The memorandum requests that the essential tools of diplomacy and the human rights functions within the Department of State (“DOS”) and the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (“USAID”) top-line accounts, be robustly funded. There has never been a more important time for the U.S. to maintain its essential contributions to the global effort to ensure that human rights are upheld, preserved, and…

May 1, 2018

Report

New evidence including satellite imagery, photo and video analysis show that the Iranian authorities are deliberately destroying suspected or confirmed mass grave sites associated with the 1988 massacre in which thousands of prisoners detained for political reasons were forcibly disappeared and extrajudicially executed, according to a report released by Amnesty International and Justice for Iran today. Criminal cover-up: Iran destroying mass graves of victims of 1988 killings reveals that the Iranian authorities are bulldozing, constructing buildings and roads, dumping rubbish or building new burial plots over mass grave sites. These tactics are destroying key evidence that could be used to establish the truth about the scale of the crimes and…

April 29, 2018

Press Release

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

Press Release

Israel is carrying out a murderous assault against protesting Palestinians, with its armed forces killing and maiming demonstrators who pose no imminent threat to them, Amnesty International revealed today, based on its latest research, as the “Great March of Return” protests continued in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has killed 35 Palestinians and injured more than 5,500 others – some with what appear to be deliberately inflicted life-changing injuries – during the weekly Friday protests that began on 30 March. Amnesty International has renewed its call on governments worldwide to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel following the…

April 27, 2018

Press Release

Responding to the joint declaration following talks between the leaders of North and South Korea at Panmunjeom, Amnesty International’s East Asia Researcher Arnold Fang said:  “The declaration should be viewed with cautious optimism, but the near-total absence of human rights from today’s agenda was a missed opportunity.” “These are unprecedented talks but governments must not shy away from raising the dire human rights situation in North Korea directly with Kim Jong-un and his government. It is imperative that human rights are not sidelined in any future talks, as their protection is intrinsically linked to peace and security.”  “The two Koreas…

April 27, 2018

Press Release

On Thursday 26 April, Amnesty International raised a billboard at the San Ysidro Port of Entry (POE) on the US–Mexico border in Tijuana, with a message reminding US and Mexican authorities of their obligations to facilitate asylum claims and to respect the universal human right of all people to seek asylum in other countries. The billboard also invites asylum seekers to report to Amnesty International if authorities turn them away or otherwise violate their human right to seek asylum. Click here for images of the billboard. As hundreds of people who have traveled in caravan from Central America prepare to claim asylum…

April 26, 2018

Press Release

Ahead of the April 30 deadline for the Defense Department to comment on President Trump’s January order to allow the prison at Guantanamo Bay to remain open, Daphne Eviatar, Director of Security with Human Rights at Amnesty International USA stated: “Each day that this administration keeps the prison at Guantanamo open is an affront to human life. The unlawful detentions of those currently there must not be permitted to continue. No more prisoners should be transferred there, all those cleared for transfer should be transferred out immediately, and those remaining should either have their day in federal court, or be…

April 26, 2018

Update

Since 2016, European governments implemented a series of measures designed to shut down the Mediterranean Sea routes used by refugees, and outsource their border controls to neighboring countries, most notably Turkey and Libya. These policies have made the EU complicit in refugee suffering. This statement details the severe human rights implications of the European Union ("EU")’s migration policies. It was submitted by Amnesty International USA to the House Foreign Affairs Committee (HFAC) - Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee for the April 26, 2018 hearing: Mass Migration in Europe: Assimilation, Integration, and Security. EU officials argue that their approach has led…

April 25, 2018

Press Release

US and Mexican authorities must stop demonizing participants of the caravan from Central America and respect their fundamental right to seek asylum, said Amnesty International today, ahead of their expected arrival at the border between both countries later this week. “Seeking asylum is not a crime in the USA or anywhere. The efforts of US officials to tarnish asylum seekers as criminals are cynical fabrications that ring hollow,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International. “Threatening to indefinitely detain, prosecute, and deport these asylum seekers is a cruel effort to stigmatize, terrify and push away traumatized people, many of…

April 24, 2018

Press Release

At least 2,000 Afghans who fled to Turkey to escape conflict and the worst excesses of the Taliban are in detention and at imminent risk of being forced back to danger, Amnesty International said today. The Turkish authorities appear to be ramping up a deportation spree that has seen 7,100 Afghans rounded up and returned to Afghanistan since early April. The Turkish authorities told Amnesty International that all these returns are voluntary, and that the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has periodic access to places of detention. However, in telephone interviews with detainees in the Düziçi container camp in southern Turkey, where…

April 24, 2018

Press Release

Malagasy authorities must ensure a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the killing of two demonstrators in Antananarivo and perpetrators must be brought to book, Amnesty International said today. The investigation’s report should be made public. Members of the security forces present at the scene and suspected to be responsible should be suspended pending the investigation and if there is relevant admissible evidence, brought to justice in proceedings that meet international standards of fairness. Victims and relatives must be provided with access to effective remedies and adequate reparations, including compensation. Malagasy security forces opened fire on protesters on 21 April…

April 24, 2018