Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Secret Policies on Lethal Strikes and Raids Puts Lives in Danger
According to reports, the U.S. government has adopted secret policies allowing lethal strikes and raids to be conducted away from the battlefield, even when there is no imminent threat to life. Daphne Eviatar, director of security with human rights at Amnesty International USA, sent a letter today to White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster raising deep concerns around the new policies.
December 6, 2017
Update
Board letter to McConnell re Rohingya
December 5, 2017 Senator Mitch McConnell Majority Leader S-230 Capitol Building Washington, DC 20510 Re: Amnesty International USA Urges Senate to Pass the Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act (S. 2060) to halt Myanmar military’s ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Dear Senator McConnell: On behalf of Amnesty International USA, part of a global movement of seven million people across 150 countries and territories, we urge you to bring the Burma Human Rights and Freedom Act (S. 2060) up for consideration and vote by the full Senate. As this devastating humanitarian crisis continues to worsen, urgent U.S. action is needed to…
December 5, 2017
Press Release
UN: China fails to scupper resolution on Myanmar’s persecution of Rohingya
Responding to the failed attempt by China, Philippines and Burundi to vote down a UN Human Rights Council resolution on the situation of the Rohingya and other minorities in Myanmar, Nicholas Bequelin, East Asia Director at Amnesty International, said:
December 5, 2017
Press Release
Philippines: Police reinstatement in “drug war” threatens catastrophic return to mass killing
Responding to the news that President Duterte has ordered the police to resume their role in supporting his administration’s so-called “war on drugs,” James Gomez, Amnesty International’s Director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said:
December 5, 2017
Report
Deadly but Preventable Attacks: Killings and Enforced Disappearances of Those who Defend Human Rights
States around the world are failing in their duty to effectively protect people who defend human rights, leading to an escalation in preventable killings and enforced disappearances, Amnesty International said today.
December 4, 2017
Press Release
Amnesty Responds to Supreme Court Travel Ban Decision
Following the Supreme Court’s decision to allow President Trump’s travel ban to go into full effect, Ashley Houghton, tactical campaigns manager at Amnesty International USA, released the following statement:
December 4, 2017
Press Release
USA: Pentagon cancels ban on deadliest cluster munitions
Responding to news that the US Pentagon will indefinitely postpone a ban on older models of cluster munitions, Patrick Wilcken, Researcher on Arms Control and Human Rights at Amnesty International, said:
December 1, 2017
Update
Human Rights on Capitol Hill: November 2017
In this edition of Human Rights on Capitol Hill: (1) Rohingya: Secretary Tillerson condemns Myanmar military’s atrocities against the Rohingya as ethnic cleansing, but Congress needs to pass legislation to ensure that military leaders are held accountable. (2)Philippines: President Trump concludes Asia trip with no criticism of President Duterte’s national campaign of extrajudicial killings against the poor. (3)Chechnya: Senate Passes Resolution Condemning Persecution of LGBT people (4)Africa: Amnesty International speaks out against the United States’ use of lethal force in Africa. (5)Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”): Ending the Trade in Conflict Minerals: AIUSA Urges Congress to Oppose HR 4248 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Rohingya…
December 1, 2017
Press Release
Pompeo and Cotton Must Disavow Torture and Other Rights Abuses As Nominees for State and CIA
According to media reports, the White House is planning to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with current CIA Director Mike Pompeo in the coming weeks. President Trump is expected to nominate Senator Tom Cotton from Arkansas to take on Pompeo’s role as director of the CIA. Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA, issued this statement:
November 30, 2017
Press Release
Syria: Banned Soviet-made cluster munitions fuel humanitarian catastrophe in Eastern Ghouta
Syrian government forces’ increasing use of banned Soviet-made cluster munitions to carry out indiscriminate attacks and direct attacks on civilians amid a tightening siege in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta has killed at least 10 civilians and brought the area’s humanitarian crisis to breaking point, Amnesty International can reveal today.
November 29, 2017
Press Release
Amnesty launches world’s biggest human rights campaign
The family of an LGBTI activist hacked to death in Bangladesh, the sister of a young man gunned down by Jamaican police, and 11 human rights defenders in Turkey are among those who will be receiving letters of support from Amnesty International supporters this December, as the organization launches its fifteenth global letter writing campaign, Write for Rights.
November 28, 2017
Press Release
Bangladesh: Rohingya refugees must not be relocated to uninhabitable island
The Bangladesh government must abandon all plans to relocate more than 100,000 Rohingya refugees on to an uninhabitable island, Amnesty International said today.
November 28, 2017