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Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state arrive near the Khanchon border crossing near the Bangaldeshi town of Teknaf on Septebmer 5, 2017. Nearly 125,000 mostly Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh since a fresh upsurge of violence in Myanmar on August 25, the United Nations said September 5, as fears grow of a humanitarian crisis in the overstretched camps. The UN said 123,600 had crossed the border in the past 11 days from Myanmar's violence-wracked Rakhine state. / AFP PHOTO / K M Asad (Photo credit should read K M ASAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Official response to Rakhine and Rohingya crisis in Myanmar ‘unconscionable’

The statement by Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s office, which claims that the government is defending all the people in Rakhine state “in the best possible way,” is unconscionable, Amnesty International said today.

September 6, 2017

Press Release

Boko Haram’s renewed campaign sparks sharp rise in civilian deaths

A major resurgence in Boko Haram attacks and suicide bombings in Cameroon and Nigeria has left at least 381 civilians dead in the five months since the start of April 2017, with casualties more than double the previous five months, Amnesty International said today.

September 5, 2017

Rohingya refugees from Myanmar's Rakhine state arrive near the Khanchon border crossing near the Bangaldeshi town of Teknaf on Septebmer 5, 2017. Nearly 125,000 mostly Rohingya refugees have entered Bangladesh since a fresh upsurge of violence in Myanmar on August 25, the United Nations said September 5, as fears grow of a humanitarian crisis in the overstretched camps. The UN said 123,600 had crossed the border in the past 11 days from Myanmar's violence-wracked Rakhine state. / AFP PHOTO / K M Asad (Photo credit should read K M ASAD/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Restrictions on international aid to Rohingya and Rakhine state putting thousands at risk  

The Myanmar authorities’ restrictions on international aid in Rakhine state is putting tens of thousands of lives at risk in a region where mainly Rohingya people are already suffering horrific abuses from a disproportionate military campaign, Amnesty International said today.

September 4, 2017

A member of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), made up of an alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters, looks at smoke rising in the al-Meshleb neighbourhood of Raqa as they try to advance further into the Islamic State (IS) group's Syrian bastion, on June 7, 2017 two days after finally entering the northern city. The SDF alliance began the battle for the city earlier this week after seven months of fighting to surround the key jihadist stronghold. / AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN (Photo credit should read DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheet of paper Report

Syria: ‘Deadly labyrinth’ traps civilians trying to flee Raqqa battle against Islamic State

Thousands of civilians trapped in Raqqa, northern Syria, are coming under fire from all sides as the battle for control of the city enters its final stage, Amnesty International said following an in-depth investigation on the ground. The warring parties must prioritize protecting them from hostilities and creating safe ways for them to flee the frontline.

August 23, 2017

Drug suspects are rounded up during an anti-illegal drugs operation at an informal settlers community at the Manila Islamic Center in Manila on October 7, 2016. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told all his critics to "go to hell" on October 6, as he renewed his threats to kill, after a poll showed Filipinos overwhelmingly endorsed his deadly war on crime. © NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images

Press Release

Philippines: 32 killed in a day as Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ hits new levels of barbarity

After Philippine police killed 32 people in what is believed to be the highest death toll in a single day in President Rodrigo Duterte's so-called "war on drugs", Amnesty International’s Director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez, said:

August 16, 2017

Palestinian worshippers demonstrate outside Jerusalem's Old City in front of the Al-Aqsa mosque compound after Israeli police barred men under 50 from entering the Old City for Friday Muslim prayers as tensions rose and protests erupted over new security measures at a highly sensitive holy site on July 21, 2017. The ban came after Israeli ministers decided not to order the removal of metal detectors erected at entrances to the Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, following an attack nearby a week ago that killed two policemen. / AFP PHOTO / Ahmad GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Israeli forces attack peaceful crowds at Jerusalem holy site

Israeli forces attacked peaceful crowds of Palestinians as they gathered at al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem this afternoon for the first time since Israel lifted recent security measures imposed at the site, according to Amnesty International staff at the scene.

July 27, 2017

A picture shows burned down houses in the backyard of Malakal Teaching Hospital on March 4, 2014, in Malakal, South Sudan. Almost 40,000 people may have been displaced by militia arson and looting in Sudan's Darfur region, according to new data obtained by AFP on March 4, 2014. More than 19,000 arrivals have been recorded at two camps for displaced people near the South Darfur state capital, Nyala, the International Organisation for Migration said. AFP PHOTO / ANDREI PUNGOVSCHI (Photo credit should read ANDREI PUNGOVSCHI/AFP/Getty Images)

Sheet of paper Report

Do not remain silent: Survivors of Sexual violence in South Sudan call for justice and reparations

Thousands of South Sudanese women and girls -- and some men -- who have been raped in ethnically-charged sexual attacks in the ongoing conflict are battling mental distress and stigma with nowhere to turn for help, Amnesty International revealed in a new report out today.

July 23, 2017

Press Release

Use of Federal Court for Terror Suspect Underlines Need to Close Guantánamo

  CONTACT: Mandy Simon, [email protected] WASHINGTON – Following reports that the Trump administration is using federal court system rather than the military commissions at Guantánamo to try Ali Charaf Damache, Elizabeth Beavers, Senior Campaigner for Amnesty International USA's Security and Human Rights program, issued the following statement: “The decision to try Damache in federal court underscores that Guantánamo has no purpose. The kangaroo court military commissions proceedings there have been a complete failure. “Guantánamo has been a cancer on the country’s human rights record for more than 15 years. The administration should shutter it, and either charge and fairly try…

July 21, 2017

Sheet of paper Report

Cameroon’s secret torture chambers: human rights violations and war crimes in the fight against Boko Haram’

Hundreds of people in Cameroon accused of supporting Boko Haram, often without evidence, are being brutally tortured by security forces, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.

July 19, 2017

An Iraqi man and a girl fleeing the Islamic State (IS) group controlled Rashidiyah neighbourhood arrive to the Arabi neighbourhood north of Mosul on January 22, 2017 as a military operation against the jihadists continues. Iraqi forces retook two areas from the Islamic State group in Mosul, sealing their control of the east bank three months into an offensive to reclaim the city. / AFP / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images)

Press Release

Iraq: Investigations, not denials needed over appalling civilian death toll in west Mosul

Responding to statements made by spokespeople for the US-led coalition and the Iraqi forces, Lynn Maalouf Head of Research for Amnesty International in the Middle-East said:

July 12, 2017

IRAQ.Outskirts of Mosul. May 2017. A food distribution

Sheet of paper Report

At any cost: The civilian catastrophe in West Mosul, Iraq

A new report by Amnesty International uncovers the horrifying scale of death, injury and suffering of civilians trapped in the battle for west Mosul. The report documents how the group calling itself the Islamic State (IS) moved civilians from neighboring villages into the zones of the battle in west Mosul, trapped them in their homes and prevented them from escaping, using them as human shields. Meanwhile Iraqi and coalition forces failed to take adequate measures to protect civilians, instead subjecting them to a terrifying barrage of fire from weapons that should never be used in densely populated civilian areas.

July 10, 2017

Syrian residents leave Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr neighbourhood after pro-government forces captured the area in the eastern part of the war torn city on December 13, 2016. After weeks of heavy fighting, regime forces were poised to take full control of Aleppo, dealing the biggest blow to Syria's rebellion in more than five years of civil war. Getty / AFP / George Ourfalian

Press Release

G20 summit: Trump-Putin meeting, a matter of life and death for the people of Syria

The lives of millions of Syrian civilians hang in the balance as the presidents of Russia and the U.S. prepare to meet on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Germany on July 7, to discuss counter-terrorism initiatives and a political resolution to Syria’s war, said Amnesty International.

July 6, 2017