Newsroom

Press Release

Fresh protests in Ethiopia since dozens of protesters were killed in a stampede at a religious festival on 2 October underline the need for the Ethiopian government to ensure a full investigation into how the protest was handled, said Amnesty International today. Protests have broken out in the capital Addis Ababa, as well as in the Oromia and Amhara regions, since the deadly stampede at a large-scale traditional ceremony in the town of Bishoftu on Sunday. Protest groups blame the tragedy on security agents firing live bullets and tear gas into the massive crowd assembled in a confined space, a…

October 5, 2016

Press Release

Together, we can secure justice for people whose human rights are under threat, Amnesty International USA said today as it launched Write for Rights, the world’s largest annual, grassroots letter-writing campaign. Every year around Human Rights Day on December 10th, hundreds of thousands of people worldwide write letters, emails, text messages, faxes and tweets on behalf of prisoners of conscience, human rights defenders and others at risk of human rights violations. “We say, ‘write a letter, change a life,’ and that’s exactly what happens. By participating in Amnesty International’s Write for Rights campaign, ordinary people across the United States have…

October 5, 2016

Update

In a sign of growing concern regarding the U.S.-Saudi Arabia military alliance, 27 U.S. Senators recently backed legislation to stop a $1.15 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Al Franken (D-MN), and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced bill S.J.Res 39 to block the Obama Administration’s latest billion dollar tank sale. On a procedural vote, the bill failed, but to even have a vote was a major shift in the “business as usual” climate of US arms sales to Saudi Arabia. The bill itself represents the rising tide of dissent in Congress…

October 4, 2016

Press Release

"If true, this news will greatly undermine trust in the internet. For a company to secretly search all incoming emails of all its customers in response to a broad government directive would be a blow to privacy and a serious threat to freedom of expression,” said Sherif Elsayed-Ali, head of technology and human rights at Amnesty International. "Tech companies want us to believe that they are pushing back against intrusive government surveillance but these reports could cast their ability to do so - if not their willingness - into doubt." “If true, this would demonstrate the failure of US government reforms to curb NSA’s tendency to…

October 4, 2016

Press Release

Responding to reports that Prime Minister, Theresa May, and Defence Secretary, Michael Fallon, will today announce that the UK’s obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights will be suspended in any future international conflict, Amnesty International UK’s Head of Policy and Government Affairs Allan Hogarth said:  "No legal manoeuvring means the UK can avoid its obligations to make sure soldiers operating abroad don’t carry out human rights abuses such as torture. As the Government well knows, it has an obligation to ensure that credible allegations of serious abuse carried out by members of its own armed forces are properly investigated. …

October 4, 2016

Press Release

Authorities in Jammu and Kashmir must revoke an order to stop the printing and publication of Kashmir Reader, a Srinagar-based English daily, Amnesty International India said today.  The order, passed by the District Magistrate of Srinagar and served to the publication on 2 October, states that the newspaper “contains such material and content which tends to incite acts of violence and disturb public peace and tranquillity”.  The newspaper has extensively covered the violence in Kashmir in recent months, and reports of human rights violations by security forces. The Kashmir Editors Guild (KEG) has described the ban as “against the spirit of democracy…

October 4, 2016

Press Release

The alleged ill-treatment of five Syrian refugee children who say they were detained, beaten and forced to strip naked by Greek police for carrying plastic toy guns in the street is a deeply disturbing incident that must be properly investigated, Amnesty International said today. The children, boys aged between 12 and 16, were seized “on suspicion of being members of an armed group” while they carried the toys as props on their way to perform in a theatre play in central Athens this week. “The ridiculous elements of this case should not deflect attention from the extremely serious and deeply…

September 30, 2016

Report

Wealthy countries have shown a complete absence of leadership and responsibility, leaving just 10 countries, which account for less than 2.5 percent of world GDP, to take in 56 percent of the world’s refugees, said Amnesty International in a comprehensive assessment of the global refugee crisis published today.

September 30, 2016

Update

By Scott Edwards, Senior Adviser for Amnesty International’s Crisis Response  Today, Amnesty International is releasing an expansive report on violations of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in Jebel Mara, Darfur, committed this year by Sudanese government forces and allied militia. One of the most troubling findings in this report is the use of chemical weapons, and it is almost certainly the finding that will capture the most media headlines. In many ways, this is desirable: the use of these weapons is an affront to humanity itself and its aspiration to limit the cruelty and devastation of warfare. Their use…

September 29, 2016

Press Release

The UN Security Council must take action over the conflict in Darfur, Amnesty International, after the Sudanese government rejected evidence presented by the organization implicating their forces in the apparent use of chemical weapons against civilians. The Amnesty International investigation, Scorched Earth, Poisoned Air, points to the repeated use of chemical weapons in the remote Jebel Marra region of Darfur this year. Between 200 and 250 people may have died as a result of the attacks, many of them very young children. “Images of children suffering from horrific blisters and burns, reports of bombs emitting plumes of coloured smoke, and…

September 29, 2016

Press Release

The European Parliament should vote in favour of measures strengthening the European Union’s landmark regulation combatting the trade in equipment that can be used to torture, ill-treat or execute people, said Amnesty International and the Omega Research Foundation (Omega). Final amendments to the torture trade Regulation (EC) 1236/2005 accepted by the EU Council will be debated and voted on by the full European Parliament plenary on Tuesday 4 October. “The global market is rife with sinister equipment like leg chains and spike batons which can easily be turned into tools of torture. Introducing tighter EU restrictions on the sale, brokering…

September 29, 2016

Press Release

Fears are growing for hundreds of civilians who are trapped in a Benghazi neighbourhood which faces intensified fighting after several months under military blockade, Amnesty International said today. The organization has gathered testimony from some of the 130 Libyan families and hundreds of foreign nationals who have been trapped for months in the residential district of Ganfouda, in south-west Benghazi. All entry roads are blocked by the fighting or Libyan National Army forces, and food, water and electricity supplies have been cut off. “Time is running out for civilians in Ganfouda, who are being left to die trapped by the…

September 29, 2016