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Press Release

U.S. CONTINUES TO VIOLATE INDIGENOUS AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER 

On the occasion of International Migrants Day this Saturday, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign and the International Mayan League call attention to the U.S. government’s continued human rights violations of Indigenous peoples seeking asylum in the United States. Last week marked the three-year anniversary of the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old Maya Q’eqchi’ Indigenous girl who died on the morning of December 8, 2018 under the custody of the U.S. government. Since 2018, there have been five documented cases of Indigenous children dying at the U.S./Mexico border. Last week more than 50 primarily indigenous migrants, including families and children, perished in…

December 17, 2021

(Photo by ASHRAF SHAZLY/AFP via Getty Images)

Press Release

New wave of atrocities in Ethiopia’s Western Tigray

Amhara security forces are responsible for a surge of mass detentions, killings and forced expulsions of ethnic Tigrayans in the Western Tigray territory of northern Ethiopia, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said today.

December 16, 2021

Press Release

After Coup, Myanmar Military Puts Chokehold on People’s Basic Needs

The Myanmar military has been carrying out indiscriminate attacks on its civilian populations and obstructing access to necessities critical to their survival since it seized power nearly a year ago on February 1, 2021, Amnesty International said today.

December 16, 2021

Update

Stop US deportations and abuse against Haitians on the move: An urgent step towards creating just policies for Haitians

Amnesty International, the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies, Haitian Bridge Alliance, the Global Justice Clinic at NYU School of Law, Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés (GARR), Refugees International, Rezo Fwotalye Jano Siksè  and Service Jésuite aux Migrants are proud to share a new factsheet that finds deportations to Haiti from the United States, including Title 42 flights, have violated Haitians’ human rights and triggered an increase in deportations of Haitians from across the Americas as Haiti continues to face a human rights and humanitarian crisis. Click here to view a copy of the factsheet     STOP US…

December 15, 2021

(MARCUS YAM / LOS ANGELES TIMES)

Sheet of paper Report

Government Collapse in Afghanistan Marked by ‘Repeated War Crimes and Relentless Bloodshed’ – New Report

The Taliban, United States military, and Afghan security forces were all responsible for attacks that resulted in extensive civilian suffering before the country’s government collapsed earlier this year, Amnesty International said in a new report today.

December 14, 2021

Press Release

End Persecution of Media as Journalists Collect ‘Momentous’ Nobel Peace Prize

Responding to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov collecting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard said:  “For the first time in almost a century, the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to journalists, highlighting the bravery and outstanding achievements of media in an increasingly polarized world where facts and truth are under relentless attack. 

December 10, 2021

A woman walks in front of a damaged house which was shelled as federal-aligned forces entered the city, in Wukro, north of Mekele, on March 1, 2021. - Every phase of the four-month-old conflict in Tigray has brought suffering to Wukro, a fast-growing transport hub once best-known for its religious and archaeological sites. Ahead of federal forces' arrival in late November 2020, heavy shelling levelled homes and businesses and sent plumes of dust and smoke rising above near-deserted streets. Since then the town has been heavily patrolled by soldiers, Eritreans at first, now mostly Ethiopians, whose abuses fuel a steady flow of civilian casualties and stoke anger with Nobel Peace Prize-winner Abiy. (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP) (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Update

Human Rights on Capitol Hill – December 2021 Newsletter

Since November 2020, Ethiopia has been mired in a brutal war between the central government of Prime Minister Ahmed and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (“TPLF”). The conflict has spread outside of the Tigray region and has resulted in the deaths of thousands, with over two million displaced.

December 9, 2021

Press Release

Survivors Describe Killings, Mass Displacement and Terror Amid Fighting in Western Equatoria, South Sudan

Dozens of civilians in South Sudan were killed and tens of thousands displaced amid fighting between armed groups in Western Equatoria state from June to October this year, Amnesty International said today, after carrying out an in-person investigation and interviewing dozens of survivors.

December 8, 2021

DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP via Getty Images

Sheet of paper Report

New Report Finds Twitter Continues to Fall Short on Protecting Women Online

Twitter is still not doing enough to protect women and non-binary users from online violence and abuse, new analysis from Amnesty International found.

December 7, 2021

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Press Release

Biden Administration’s Diplomatic Boycott of Winter Olympics a Blow to the Impunity of the Chinese Government

In response to today’s news that U.S. government officials would not attend the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, Joanne Lin, National Director for Advocacy and Government Relations at Amnesty International USA, said: "The Biden administration’s announcement of a diplomatic boycott of the Olympic games is a blow to the impunity of the Chinese authorities. The Chinese government’s perpetuation and condoning of human rights abuses, from the dismantling of free expression in Hong Kong to the repression of Uyghurs, Tibetans, and other minorities, to blatant attempts to silence survivors of sexual abuse, must be met with unequivocal condemnation and demands for justice.

December 6, 2021

(Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Update

Joint Letter: The U.S. Must Comply with the Convention against Torture

On December 1, 2021, Amnesty International USA and eight other human rights organizations wrote to the Biden administration to express deep concerns about reports that the U.S. government has submitted to human rights treaty monitoring bodies, and to urge the administration to take the steps necessary to comply fully with its international human rights treaty obligations. In 2021, the United States issued three reports regarding its compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment…

December 6, 2021

Press Release

Unbridled Destruction of Freedoms in Myanmar as Aung San Suu Kyi Sentenced 

In response to the sentencing of Aung San Suu Kyi to four years in prison, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Campaigns Ming Yu Hah said:  “The harsh sentences handed down to Aung San Suu Kyi on these bogus charges are the latest example of the military’s determination to eliminate all opposition and suffocate freedoms in Myanmar. The court’s farcical and corrupt decision is part of a devastating pattern of arbitrary punishment that has seen more than 1,300 people killed and thousands arrested since the military coup in February. 

December 6, 2021