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Press Release

International Women’s Day: Dramatic deterioration in respect for women’s rights and gender equality must be decisively reversed

Catastrophic attacks on human rights and gender equality over the past twelve months have lowered protection for and upped threats against women and girls across the globe, Amnesty International said today.  

March 7, 2022

Photo by DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Prisoners of War in the Russian Invasion of Ukraine Must Be Protected From Public Curiosity Under Geneva Convention

Prisoners of war in the Russian invasion of Ukraine must have their rights respected under the Third Geneva Convention, Amnesty International said today.

March 7, 2022

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Press Release

Organizations Welcome TPS for Ukraine and Urge TPS Designation for Other Countries in Extreme Conflict

We at Amnesty International USA, Cameroon Advocacy Network, Haitian Bridge Alliance, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, and UndocuBlack Network, welcome the Department of Homeland Security’s designation of Ukraine for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) This is a critical move to ensure that the estimated 75,000 nationals from Ukraine are free from the fear of being returned to the human rights catastrophe brought upon by Russia’s invasion. 

March 4, 2022

SerhiiHudak/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images

Press Release

Temporary Protection is Needed for Everyone Fleeing Ukraine

Reacting to the Council of the European Union’s activation of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD), which will grant immediate protection in EU countries to people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine, Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s EU office said:  “Everybody fleeing conflict must be provided with protection and help to establish themselves and we welcome that Ukrainians will be swiftly protected. But by restricting that assistance principally to Ukrainians fleeing conflict, the Council has also exposed the limitations of Europe’s solidarity.

March 3, 2022

ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine is an act of aggression and human rights catastrophe

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a manifest violation of the United Nations Charter and an act of aggression that is a crime under international law, said Amnesty International as it called for all those involved in this crime to be held accountable for those violations. Their personal, individual, and collective liability should be invoked for that, and for all the many crimes that have characterized their invasion of Ukraine thus far.

March 1, 2022

Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Kremlin censors media and disperses protesters opposed to Ukraine invasion in Russia

Responding to the news that the Kremlin has censored domestic media as it disperses anti-war protests and persecutes those who publicly oppose Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said: “As thousands of protesters take to the streets across Russia to denounce the war, the Kremlin remains hellbent on stifling state critics as it coerces domestic media into supporting its policies. By using force to disperse anti-war rallies and censoring the press, the Russian authorities are plunging deeper and deeper into repression as public sentiment against the war grows.”

February 28, 2022

Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Cluster munitions kill child and two other civilians taking shelter at a preschool in Ukraine 

A preschool in north-eastern Ukraine was hit on the morning of February 25 with widely-banned cluster munitions while civilians took shelter inside, killing three of them, including a child, and wounding another child, Amnesty International said today. The attack appears to have been carried out by Russian forces, which were operating nearby, and which have a shameful record of using cluster munitions in populated areas. 

February 27, 2022

Photo by ARIS MESSINIS/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Russian Military Commits Indiscriminate Attacks During the Invasion of Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been marked by indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas and strikes on protected objects such as hospitals, Amnesty International said today, after documenting three incidents that it believes to have killed at least six civilians and injured at least 12 more. Indiscriminate attacks violate international humanitarian law (the laws of war) and can constitute war crimes.   

February 25, 2022

Photo by LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images

Press Release

Reconstruction reveals how Colombian security forces intentionally attacked peaceful protesters in Cali on May 3

An event reconstruction by SITU Research and Amnesty International details how Colombian security forces assaulted peaceful protesters in the Siloé neighborhood of the city of Cali on May 3. In the midst of this violence, three young people were shot and killed.

February 25, 2022

Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

Press Release

Soaring Concern for Human Rights and Human Lives as Russia Invades Ukraine

Amnesty International calls for unerring respect for international human rights and humanitarian law, following Russia’s multi-pronged attack on Ukraine this morning.  

February 24, 2022

Press Release

Human Rights Must Be Protected in Ukraine as Risk of Further Conflict with Russia Escalates

Responding to news that President Vladimir Putin has ordered “peacekeeping operations” to the so called “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” in eastern Ukraine, Daniel Balson, Europe and Central Asia Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA said: “It is abundantly clear the human costs of a full-blown conflict will be devastating to the people of Ukraine. U.S. officials have already recognized this, and Amnesty International has repeatedly stressed the real and immediate threat that an escalation of violence entails for civilians in Ukraine.

February 23, 2022

TOPSHOT - Turkish anti-riot police officers try to disperse a rally marking the International Women's Day in Istanbul on March 8, 2019. - Istanbul police fired tear gas at thousands of women who took to the city's central avenue on International Women's Day on March 8 in defiance of a protest ban to demand greater rights and denounce violence. (Photo by Yasin AKGUL / AFP) (Photo credit should read YASIN AKGUL/AFP via Getty Images)

Update

Amnesty International USA Written Testimony on Human Rights in Turkey for Feb. 16 Helsinki Commission Briefing

On February 16, 2022, Amnesty International USA's Turkey Advocacy Specialist Deniz Yuksel addressed members of the U.S. Helsinki Commission during a briefing on "Conflict of Interest? Foreign Policy and Human Rights in Turkey." Her testimony detailed Turkey's worsening human rights crisis, including the government's weaponization of the judicial system, its crackdown on dissenting voices, and efforts to criminalize human rights defenders. Amnesty calls on the U.S. government to adopt a consistent, comprehensive, and whole-of-government approach to Turkey which centers human rights. Click here to read the statement Turkish anti-riot police officers try to disperse a rally marking the International Women's…

February 17, 2022