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 Statement on the US Secretary of State Trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda
In response to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announced trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Kate Hixon, Africa Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA, said:
August 2, 2022
Report
Detainees Tortured to Crush Opposition to Coup in Myanmar
Authorities in Myanmar’s prisons and interrogation centres routinely subject people detained for resisting the 2021 military coup to torture and other cruel or degrading treatment, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing, more than a year and a half after the power grab shattered the country’s halting transition to civilian rule.
August 1, 2022
Press Release
NYPD Ordered to Handover Documents Detailing Surveillance of Black Lives Matter Protests Following Lawsuit
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has been ordered to disclose thousands of records of how the force procured and used facial recognition technology against Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters, after the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of Amnesty International and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) on their joint Article 78 lawsuit.
August 1, 2022
Press Release
Amnesty International Statement on Senate Vote on Assault Weapons Ban of 2022
In response to today’s House of Representatives vote to ban assault weapons, Amnesty International USA submitted this statement urging approval of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 H.R. 1808:
July 29, 2022
Report
Taliban’s ‘Suffocating Crackdown’ Destroying Lives of Women and Girls in Afghanistan – New Report
The lives of women and girls in Afghanistan are being devastated by the Taliban’s crackdown on their human rights, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.
July 26, 2022
Press Release
First Executions in Myanmar in Decades Mark Atrocious Escalation in State Repression
Responding to reports that Myanmar’s military authorities have carried out executions for the first time since the late 1980s, Amnesty International’s Regional Director Erwin van der Borght said:
July 25, 2022
Press Release
Immediately Halt Forced Eviction of More Than 1,000 West Bank Residents and Stop Demolitions of Bedouin Homes in the Negev/Naqab
The Israeli authorities must immediately halt the forcible eviction of more than 1,000 residents from Masafer Yatta, a Palestinian community in the occupied West Bank, Amnesty International said today, following weeks in which the Israeli army has repeatedly harassed people in the area, demolished homes and placed restrictions on freedom of movement. Inside Israel, the authorities must recognize the housing rights of Palestinian Bedouin citizens in the Negev/Naqab desert, who saw their village, al-‘Araqib, demolished again this morning, Tuesday July 19. In recent weeks, Masafer Yatta communities have been hit by wave after wave of demolitions according to the UN…
July 21, 2022
Press Release
Authorities Must Investigate Massacre of Ethnic Amhara in Tole
The Ethiopian authorities must urgently launch an impartial investigation into the summary killing of over 400 Amhara residents of Tole Kebele in Oromia region on June 18, Amnesty International said today. Hundreds of people were killed and scores injured in an attack that survivors and victims’ family members say was committed by the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA). The organization interviewed 10 people, including five eyewitnesses as well as survivors, victims’ family members and a local official. Interviewees consistently recounted summary killings, burning of homes and looting. Satellite imagery analysis by the organization’s Crisis Evidence Lab also corroborates claims that fires…
July 21, 2022
Press Release
Military’s Use of Banned Landmines in Kayah State Amounts to War Crimes
The Myanmar military is committing war crimes by laying antipersonnel landmines on a massive scale in and around villages in Kayah (Karenni) State, Amnesty International said today after an on-the-ground investigation in conflict-affected parts of the state.
July 19, 2022
Press Release
Amnesty International Launches Global Campaign to Confront Unprecedented Worldwide Threat to the Right to Protest
The right to protest is under unprecedented and growing threat across all regions of the world, Amnesty International said today, as the organization launched a new global campaign to confront states’ widening and intensifying efforts to erode this fundamental human right.
July 18, 2022
Press Release
Pegasus Spyware Found on Phones of Dissidents Involved in Mass Protests in Thailand
Thailand must thoroughly investigate the use of the invasive Pegasus spyware found on the phones of dozens of activists, Amnesty International said today, after a new report identified 30 people who were targeted or infected with the harmful software, the first time its use in the country has been confirmed through technical analysis.
July 18, 2022
Update
Amnesty International USA Advocacy Asks for New US Special Horn Envoy
On July 15, 2022 Amnesty International USA wrote to Ambassador Hammer with our advocacy asks as he starts his new position as the US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa. Click here to read the letter Ambassador Hammer US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Department of State Dear Ambassador Hammer, Amnesty International USA congratulates you on your appointment as the new Envoy for the Horn of Africa at a critical time for the conflict in Ethiopia. Amnesty International believes that the humanitarian truce declared in March has been a positive step towards…
July 15, 2022