Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Amnesty International USA: Don’t Leave Guantánamo to Trump
In response to the transfer of a Yemeni Guantánamo detainees to Cape Verde, Amnesty International USA’s Security & Human Rights Program Senior Campaigner Elizabeth Beavers issued the following statement.
December 4, 2016
Press Release
Halting DAPL Should Be Just the First Step in Full Consultation of Indigenous Voices
Following reports that the Army Corps of Engineers will halt construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline under the Missouri River near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, Amnesty International USA issued the following statement:
December 4, 2016
Update
Here’s why Disability Rights must be on the Forefront of the Human Rights Movement
Celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities should be accompanied by reflection for the global human rights movement.
December 3, 2016
Update
President Obama: Halt the Dakota Access Pipeline & Respect the Rights of Indigenous People
Non-violent Indigenous People opposed to the Dakota Access pipeline have been met with over-militarized policing and excessive, disproportionate and unnecessary military force.
December 3, 2016
Update
Education is a Human Right – That is, Unless you are Pregnant in Sierra Leone.
housands of pregnant girls are being excluded from school because of a rule issued by Sierra Leone’s government. In April of 2015, the Minister of Education, Science and Technology issued a statement banning all pregnant girls from school settings.
December 2, 2016
Update
Amnesty International supports Chelsea Manning’s application to President Obama to commute her sentence to #TimeServed
Thirty-five years. That is the length of prison time that Chelsea Manning was sentenced to back in 2013 for publically releasing classified information, in the hopes of starting a conversation regarding the true nature of asymmetric warfare, and the harm coming to both civilians and soldiers as a result of the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
December 2, 2016
Report
Displaced and dispossessed: Sur residents’ right to return home
Tens of thousands of residents of the UNESCO world heritage site of Sur are among an estimated half a million people forced out of their homes as a result of a brutal crackdown by Turkish authorities over the past year which may amount to collective punishment, said Amnesty International in a new report.
December 2, 2016
Report
Beating Justice: How Fiji’s Security Forces Get Away with Torture
Under the military’s dominance, the Pacific island nation of Fiji has seen an ingrained culture of torture take root among its security forces, a new Amnesty International report says today.
December 1, 2016
Press Release
UN: Inaction on Syria is not an option
Ahead of an urgent declaration being issued today by more than 200 civil society groups from around the world, urging the UN General Assembly to take action regarding the war in Syria, Sherine Tadros, Head of Amnesty International’s UN Office, said: “It is becoming clearer every day that the UN Security Council has failed the Syrian people. There have been almost half a million deaths, and each one is a stark rebuke of the Security Council, the supposed guardian of international peace and security, which has allowed a political deadlock to stand in the way of saving lives. …
December 1, 2016
Press Release
Gen. Mattis Must Clarify Human Rights Positions
Responding to reports that President-elect Donald Trump intends to nominate General James Mattis to serve as Secretary of Defense, Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International USA’s Security with Human Rights Program, released the following statement.
December 1, 2016
Press Release
Colombia: Peace agreement must open the door to justice
The ratification of the peace agreement marks the beginning of a new and hopeful chapter in Colombia’s history, but the real hard work starts now, Amnesty International said today. Last night, Congress ratified a revised version of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) after the original deal was rejected by a referendum on October 2. The ratification paves the way for the FARC to begin to demobilize and disarm in a process to be implemented over six months. The revised agreement offers more clarity on a number of issues, such as…
December 1, 2016
Press Release
Saudi Arabia increases ruthless sentence in unfair trial of human rights defender to 11 years
Saudi Arabian human rights defender, Issa al-Hamid, who received a nine year prison term for his work promoting human rights, had his sentence increased today to 11 years in prison, followed by a travel ban of equal duration as well as a fine of 100,000 Saudi Riyals (around 27,000 US Dollars) following an appeal. Responding to today’s court ruling by the counter-terror court in Riyadh, Samah Hadid, Deputy Director for Campaigns at Amnesty International’s Beirut regional office said: “Today’s ruling by the Saudi Arabian counter-terror court is yet another demonstration of the authorities’ continuous ruthless and relentless crackdown…
December 1, 2016