Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Report
Journalism is not a crime: Crackdown on media freedom in Turkey
Since the failed coup attempt in July 2016, at least 156 media outlets have been shut down and an estimated 2,500 journalists and other media workers have lost their jobs. Journalists have been arrested and charged with terrorism offences as a result of posts they have shared on Twitter, cartoons they have drawn or opinions they expressed. This is taking place within the context of a wider crackdown against perceived government critics which has seen 47,000 people remanded in prison and more than 100,000 public sector employees summarily dismissed.
May 2, 2017
Press Release
World Press Freedom Day: From Chilling Arrests in the U.S. to Prisons in Turkey, Freedom of the Press Must be Protected
While the White House considers reviewing libel laws and reporters face arrest both in the United States and around the world, Amnesty International is calling on governments around the world to respect the freedom of the press on World Press Freedom Day – observed on May 3.
May 2, 2017
Press Release
Alton Sterling Case Highlights Need for Criminal Justice Reform
Following reports that the DOJ will file no charges against Baton Rouge police officers in the death of Alton Sterling, Amnesty International USA executive director Margaret Huang made the following statement:
May 2, 2017
Press Release
Arkansas Executes Kenneth Williams, Fourth and Final Execution Over the Past 10 Days
The state of Arkansas executed Kenneth Williams tonight, ending a spate of eight scheduled executions that were set to take place over the past 10 days because the state’s supply of lethal injection drugs was set to expire. Four of the eight received stays of execution that extend beyond the drugs’ expiration date. Williams’ execution was preceded by those of Ledell Lee, Jack Jones and Marcel Williams.
April 28, 2017
Press Release
Philippines ‘war on drugs’: Credible and impartial investigations needed after ‘secret jail cell’ revealed
Following today’s suspension of more than a dozen police officers and the announcement of an internal investigation into revelations that 12 people were detained illegally in a cramped “secret jail cell” in Manila on drugs-related charges, Champa Patel, Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said: “This is an alarming reminder of the depth of the human rights crisis sparked by President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’. Prison overcrowding and secret jails with a risk of torture are just part of the wider problem, which has left up to 9,000 people dead in extrajudicial executions by police and vigilantes…
April 28, 2017
Press Release
Government Must Be Transparent in Assessing the Impact of the Dakota Access Pipeline
Responding to reports that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not release a report on the environmental effects of a possible leak in the Dakota Access Pipeline, Tarah Demant of Amnesty International USA made the following statement:
April 27, 2017
Press Release
Afghanistan: Civilian casualties show how unsafe it is for refugees to be returned
Attacks on civilians in the first three months of this year and the inability of the Afghan government to ensure their adequate protection show that Afghanistan remains an unsafe country for refugees to be returned to, Amnesty International said today. “At a time when civilian casualties remain high, with women and children suffering the worst of the violence, it is reckless of governments to claim that Afghanistan is safe for refugees to return,” said Horia Mosadiq, Amnesty International’s Afghanistan Researcher. Since the withdrawal of the international military forces from Afghanistan at the end of 2014 the security situation in the…
April 27, 2017
Press Release
Honduras: Historic opportunity to decriminalize abortion
Ahead of a debate in the Honduran congress today over the country’s criminalization of abortion, Amnesty International’s Americas Director Erika Guevara-Rosas said: “By criminalizing abortion, the Honduran Penal Code is incompatible with human rights standards and must be modified without delay.” “Preventing women from exercising their human rights by stopping them from being able to make decisions over their own bodies only puts their health and lives in danger.” As part of a wider debate on the country’s Penal Code, the Honduran Congress will debate proposed changes that would allow for abortions when the health of the pregnant woman is…
April 25, 2017
Update
The Value of Political Freedom: Russia and Belarus
Today, we must be reminded of the value of political freedom and the right to protest when it is repeatedly brutally offended by government authorities in Russia and Belarus.
April 25, 2017
Report
Silenced By Force: Politically-Motivated Arbitrary Detentions in Venezuela
Venezuelan authorities are using the justice system to illegally increase persecution and punishment of those who think differently, says Amnesty International in a new report published today amidst an increase in protests around the country which have resulted in several deaths and hundreds of people injured and imprisoned.
April 24, 2017
Press Release
100 Ways Trump Has Threatened Human Rights in First 100 Days
As the first 100 days of President Donald Trump’s administration come to a close, Amnesty International has compiled a list of 100 ways the Trump administration has tried to threaten human rights in the U.S. and around the world – sometimes succeeding, and sometimes being blocked by a powerful and growing resistance movement.
April 24, 2017
Press Release
Arkansas Scheduled Double Execution is Heinous and Shameful
Arkansas executed Jack Jones today, the second of four prisoners scheduled to be executed before the state’s supply of lethal injections expires at the end of the month. Jones was sentenced to death despite the fact that the jury was not told of his serious mental disabilities. The execution of Marcel Williams, also scheduled for tonight, remained under appeal at the time of Jones’ death.
April 24, 2017