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Press Release

Amnesty International Rallies Behind Refugee Athletes Competing in Olympic Games

For the first time in the history of the Olympics, 10 refugees are competing without a national team. To stand in solidarity with them, a group of refugees and supporters came together to build “The Refugee Nation,” a project conceived to support the team and the 20 million refugees around the world they symbolize. Amnesty International is supporting this project and is also a partner in “Team Refugees,” an initiative of a broad coalition of groups to rally public support for the refugee athletes – and for refugees around the world. “By rallying behind the refugee athletes competing in the Olympics,…

August 4, 2016

Press Release

UN Refugee Summit talks end in abject failure

World leaders have wasted a critical opportunity to tackle the global refugee crisis, said Amnesty International today after talks for a new UN refugee deal ended falling far short of expectations.

August 3, 2016

Press Release

Turkey: Response to President Erdoğan’s speech challenging Amnesty International’s research findings

Responding to a speech today by Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in which he criticized Amnesty International’s findings that some people detained in connection with Turkey’s failed coup attempt had been beaten and tortured.

August 2, 2016

Press Release

Australia: Appalling abuse, neglect of refugees on Nauru

About 1,200 men, women, and children who sought refuge in Australia and were forcibly transferred to the remote Pacific island nation of Nauru suffer severe abuse, inhumane treatment, and neglect, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said today. The Australian government’s failure to address serious abuses appears to be a deliberate policy to deter further asylum seekers from arriving in the country by boat.

August 1, 2016

Press Release

Turkey crackdown by the numbers: Statistics on brutal backlash after failed coup

Human rights in Turkey are in peril following a bloody failed coup attempt on July 15. The Turkish authorities’ reaction was swift and brutal, unleashing a crackdown of exceptional proportions that has continued after a state of emergency declared five days later.

July 26, 2016

Press Release

Narrow national self-interest must not hinder Ban Ki-moon’s initiative to end refugee crisis

With just under a week to go, a group of unlikely bedfellows including Australia, China, Egypt, India, Russia, Pakistan and the UK, among others, risk bulldozing through the only worldwide effort under way to provide concrete action to deal with the global refugee crisis affecting 20 million people, warned Amnesty International today.

July 25, 2016

Press Release

State of emergency must not roll back human rights in Turkey

President Erdogan’s announcement of the imposition of a state of emergency must not pave the way for a roll-back in human rights or be used as a pretext to further clamp down on freedom of expression and protections against arbitrary detention and torture, said Amnesty International today.

July 21, 2016

Press Release

Libya: Lives of captives trapped under fire in Benghazi in danger

Airstrikes by the Libyan National Army are endangering the lives of scores of detainees who are being held captive in Benghazi, said Amnesty International.

July 21, 2016

Press Release

Ukraine: Torture and Secret Detention on Both Sides of the Conflict Line

Both the Ukrainian government authorities and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine are holding civilians in prolonged arbitrary, and sometimes secret detention and torturing them, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint report released today.

July 20, 2016

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Sheet of paper Report

You Don’t Exist: Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances, and Torture in Eastern Ukraine

Both the Ukrainian government authorities and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine are holding civilians in prolonged arbitrary, and sometimes secret detention and torturing them, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said in a joint report released today.

July 20, 2016

Press Release

Human rights in grave danger following coup attempt and subsequent crackdown in Turkey

Human rights in Turkey are in peril following a bloody coup attempt on July 15, which resulted in the deaths of at least 208 people and almost 8,000 arrests, Amnesty International said today. Several government officials have suggested reinstating the death penalty as punishment for those found responsible for the failed coup, and the organization is now investigating reports that detainees in Ankara and Istanbul have been subjected to a series of abuses, including ill-treatment in custody and being denied access to lawyers.

July 18, 2016

Press Release

European Commission proposals on resettlement and asylum a cynical attempt to strengthen the walls of fortress Europe

A package of new proposals published by the European Union today risks rolling back basic protections for refugees and asylum seekers, said Amnesty International.

July 13, 2016