Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Update
Amnesty International USA urges the State Department to protect human rights in Ukraine as the risk of further conflict with Russia grows
On February 16, 2022, Amnesty International USA sent a letter to Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman urging the U.S. Department of State to take action in defense of human rights in Ukraine. As Russian troops mount on Ukraine's borders, Amnesty International has warned that a further escalation of violence risks severe consequences for human rights in Ukraine and across the broader region. Previous Russian military interventions, including in Georgia, Syria, and Crimea, have often resulted in severe violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes. Given the risk to human rights posed by another escalation of violence, Amnesty's letter…
February 16, 2022
Update
As millions in Afghanistan suffer from hunger, exposure, and a collapsing economy, the Biden Administration must act immediately to save lives. Here’s how.
Afghanistan’s economy is collapsing. Behind the statistics carefully tracking the rising price of food, the falling value of the currency, and the dwindling foreign aid lies a humanitarian and an economic catastrophe of enormous proportions. Afghans are going hungry and are dying for entirely preventable reasons. The UN has warned that poverty will be a universal condition in a matter of months, with 97% of the country living on less than $1.90 per day. One out of two children under five may be acutely malnourished before the end of the year. Eight out of ten Afghans drink contaminated water. Like…
February 16, 2022
Press Release
Amnesty Committed to Continuing its Work in Thailand Despite Calls for Expulsion
Amnesty International has had a longstanding presence in Thailand and is committed to continuing to promote and protect human rights for people in the country despite calls for it to be expelled, the organization said today.
February 16, 2022
Report
Tigrayan Forces Murder, Rape and Pillage in Attacks on Civilians in Amhara Towns in Ethiopia
Fighters affiliated with the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) deliberately killed dozens of people, gang-raped dozens of women and girls – some as young as 14 – and looted private and public property in two areas of northern Ethiopia’s Amhara region, Amnesty International said in a new report released today.
February 15, 2022
Press Release
Aleksei Navalny facing up to 15 years behind bars in new ‘sham’ prison trial
Responding to the news that jailed political opposition leader Aleksei Navalny will face a new criminal trial in prison on February 15 for alleged embezzlement and contempt of court, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Evidently unsatisfied with the prison sentences already handed down to Aleksei Navalny, the Russian authorities are trying him again behind the barbed wire walls of a prison in what they have cynically described as an ‘open court hearing’. This sham trial, attended by prison guards rather than the media, breaks international human rights law and clearly deprives Navalny of…
February 15, 2022
Press Release
New Research Finds Facial Recognition Technology Is Reinforcing Racist Stop-and-Frisk Policing in New York
New Yorkers living in areas at greater risk of stop-and-frisk by police are also more exposed to invasive facial recognition technology (FRT), new research by Amnesty International and partners has revealed.
February 14, 2022
Update
Amnesty International Statement for the Record for Feb. 15 Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Hearing on Northern Ireland
On February 14, 2022, Amnesty International USA and UK submitted a statement for the record ahead of a February 15 Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing on "Northern Ireland: Accountability at Risk." The statement expresses concern regarding the UK government's plans to deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict. The proposals amount to a de facto amnesty for security forces of the United Kingdom and other perpetrators of human rights violations and will close all paths to justice for victims. These plans have been unequivocally rejected by the Irish government, Northern Ireland political parties, human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, victims’ groups, and…
February 14, 2022
Report
Pharmaceutical companies’ failure on equal COVID-19 vaccine access contributed human rights catastrophe in 2021
Despite urgent calls to ensure the equal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines in 2021, pharmaceutical companies tragically failed to rise to the challenge of a once-in-a-century global health and human rights crisis. Instead, they monopolized technology, blocked and lobbied against the sharing of intellectual property, charged high prices for vaccines and prioritized supplies to wealthy countries, said Amnesty International today in a new assessment of the leading Covid-19 vaccine developers.
February 14, 2022
Press Release
Statement on “Freedom Convoy” Blockade
Amnesty International has been following with great concern the developments relating to the “Freedom Convoy” blockade in Ottawa.
February 11, 2022
Press Release
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA CALLS FOR QUICK PASSAGE OF THE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN ACT
In response to the news that today a bipartisan group of Senators introduced the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization Act of 2022 (VAWA), Amnesty International USA urges the Senate to support the bill and push for its quick passage, reaffirming the United States’ commitment to women’s right to live free from violence.
February 10, 2022
Report
New Research Shows How Calculated Repression by Maduro Government in Venezuela Could Constitute the Crime Against Humanity of Persecution
The policy of repression in Venezuela has been based on the coordination of attacks and stigmatizing messages broadcast by media with links to Nicolás Maduro’s government and politically motivated arbitrary arrests by the security forces under his command, with a marked pattern of political discrimination, concludes new research published today by Amnesty International in conjunction with the Foro Penal and the Centro para los Defensores y la Justicia (CDJ).
February 10, 2022
Update
Amnesty International USA Statement for the Record for February 9th hearing on “‘Targeted Killing’ and the Rule of Law: The Legal and Human Costs of 20 Years of U.S. Drone Strikes”
On behalf of Amnesty International USA and our members and supporters in the United States, we hereby submit this statement for the record to address our concerns that the United States has at times failed to abide by international humanitarian law and international human rights law in its use of air strikes that have harmed large numbers of civilians over the past 20 years.
February 9, 2022