Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Amnesty International Report Shows Obstacles to Medical Care for Pregnant Women in Sierra Leone, Despite Government’s Free Treatment Program
More than a year after the launch of Sierre Leone’s Free Health Care Initiative for pregnancy care, women continue to face serious challenges accessing treatment and drugs crucial for safe pregnancy.
September 6, 2011
Report
Sierra Leone: Pregnant women still denied lifesaving medical care
Pregnant women and girls in Sierra Leone face continuing challenges in gaining access to maternal health care services. Despite important reforms initiated over the last two years, including a free health care policy covering pregnancy and childbirth, the health care system is dysfunctional and much remains to be done. In this report, Amnesty International examines how gaps in monitoring and accountability are undermining the success of the recent health care reforms, in particular free access to essential drugs in pregnancy and childbirth.
September 5, 2011
Report
Syria: Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria
At least 88 people are believed to have died in detention in Syria during five months of bloody repression of pro-reform protests, a new Amnesty International report reveals today. Deadly detention: Deaths in custody amid popular protest in Syria documents reported deaths in custody between April and mid-August in the wake of sweeping arrests. The 88 deaths represented a significant escalation in the number of deaths following arrest in Syria. In recent years Amnesty International has typically recorded around five deaths in custody per year in Syria. "These deaths behind bars are reaching massive proportions, and appear to be an…
August 31, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Brazil to Improve Health Services for Women Following U.N. Ruling
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - Brazil must urgently improve the health services available to women during and after pregnancy, Amnesty International said today, after a United Nations body determined the country failed to prevent the death of a pregnant Afro-Brazilian woman. Alyne da Silva Pimentel Teixera, a 28-year-old Brazilian woman of African descent, was six months pregnant with her second child in late 2002 when she died following inadequate treatment at a local health center in one of Rio de Janeiro's poorest districts. Following a complaint filed by da Silva's mother, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination…
August 23, 2011
Press Release
Cuba’s ‘Ladies in White’ Targeted with Arbitrary Arrest and Intimidation, Says Amnesty International
Contact: Wende Gozan Brown, 212-633-4247 (New York) - The Cuban authorities must end their intimidation of a group of women campaigning for the release of political prisoners, Amnesty International said after 19 of the group's members were re-arrested yesterday. The latest detentions took place yesterday in and near the south-eastern city of Santiago de Cuba, where the women were due to march silently and pray for the end of political imprisonment. Over the last month, the "Ladies in White" (Damas de Blanco) and their supporters have repeatedly faced arbitrary arrest and physical attacks as they staged protests in several towns…
August 23, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Finds Forced Evictions, Discrimination Against Women in New Report on Egyptian Housing Crisis
Ahead of Elections, Human Rights Organization Calls on Egyptian Authorities, Political Parties to Consult Slum Dwellers, Review Cairo 2050 Resettlement Plan Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - Egyptian authorities and political parties must rapidly consider the rights of the country's 12 million slum-dwellers if they are to meet the demands for social justice and human dignity championed during the "January 25 Revolution," Amnesty International said today in a new report. We are not dirt: Forced evictions in Egypt’s informal settlements released ahead of the country’s first elections since the fall of former President Mubarak, documents cases of forced…
August 23, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Brazil to Improve Health Services for Women Following U.N. Ruling
Brazil must urgently improve the health services available to women during and after pregnancy, Amnesty International said today, after a United Nations body determined the country failed to prevent the death of a pregnant Afro-Brazilian woman.
August 19, 2011
Press Release
Indigenous Women Win First Step in Fight Over Military Rape Case in Mexico, Says Amnesty International
The decision to prosecute soldiers charged with the rape of two Indigenous women in a civilian court is a significant step for those seeking justice for human rights violations committed by the military in Mexico, Amnesty International said today.
August 17, 2011
Press Release
Amnesty International Urges Presidential Candidates in Guatemala to Address Human Rights Problems
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - Amnesty International today urged Guatemalan presidential candidates to prioritize tackling human rights violations affecting hundreds of thousands in the country. In an open letter sent to all presidential candidates, Amnesty International wrote that the new government should improve investigations into past human rights abuses, tackle the alarming rate of violent crime and killings of women, provide long term solutions to land conflicts and protect the work of human rights activists. "Human rights abuses are a common problem in Guatemala today. Those particularly affected tend to be the most vulnerable, the ones who…
August 16, 2011
Press Release
Killing of Brazilian Judge Exposes Police Corruption, says Amnesty International
Contact: AIUSA media relations, 202-509-8194 (Washington, D.C.) - The killing of a judge by gunmen near Rio de Janeiro highlights the city's profound problems with police corruption and organized crime, Amnesty International said today. Judge Patrícia Acioli was in her car outside her home in Niterói, across the bay from Rio de Janeiro on the night of Thursday, August 11, when hooded gunmen approached in several vehicles and shot her 21 times at close range, according to initial forensic reports. An investigation is under way to determine who was behind the attack, but Acioli had received threats from police officers…
August 16, 2011
Report
DRC: Neglected Congolese victims deserve justice now
Crimes under international law, including rape and murder, continue to be committed by the Congolese army and armed groups in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo following decades of similar crimes across the country, Amnesty International said today. A new Amnesty International report The time for justice is now; new strategy needed in the Democratic Republic of Congo calls for the reform and strengthening of the country's national justice system to combat impunity that has been fostering a cycle of violence and human rights violations for decades. "The people of the DRC have suffered war crimes and crimes…
August 9, 2011
Press Release
Bahraini Women Jailed and Tortured for Pro-Reform Protests Go On Hunger Strike, Amnesty International Says
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, [email protected] (New York) -- Two Bahraini women activists imprisoned and tortured for their involvement in pro-reform protests are on a hunger strike to demand their freedom, Amnesty International said today. Roula al-Saffar, head of the Bahrain Nursing Society, and Jalila al-Salman, vice-president of the Bahrain Teacher's Association (BTA), have been held for several months near the capital city, Manama. Both women allege they were tortured in detention. "Jalila al-Salman and Roula al-Saffar's decision to go on hunger strike is a desperate attempt to protest against their imprisonment and the way they have been treated," said Philip…
August 4, 2011