Newsroom

Press Release

Amnesty International will participate in public hearings on protests and security in Honduras and on limits of access to asylum in the United States, as well as side events on institutional violence and discrimination against women engaged in sex work in the Americas, and on women’s sexual and reproductive rights in Venezuela, during the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights’ 173rd Period of Sessions from September 23 to October 2 in Washington DC.

September 20, 2019

Press Release

Alejandra Barrera, a transgender Salvadorian activist who had been held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention since November 2017, was released late Friday, September 6, 2019, as a result of international advocacy efforts, spearheaded by Amnesty International, the Translatin@ Coalition, National Immigrant Justice Center, and dozens of members of the United States Congress. "Through letters of support, people from around the world gave me the strength to continue in this struggle that was so hard for me. I’m here to keep fighting" said Alejandra in response to advocacy efforts on her behalf. Denise Bell, researcher for refugee and…

September 9, 2019

Press Release

“The Trump administration's restrictions on Title X trample on sexual and reproductive rights, putting the lives of all pregnant people at significant risk, especially low-income women. Over four million people in the United States who depend on health care will be impacted because of these cruel policies aimed at Planned Parenthood."

August 19, 2019

Press Release

Today marks huge progress for the rights of Northern Irish citizens, said Amnesty International, as MPs voted through amendments to the Northern Ireland Executive Formation Bill which will see same-sex marriage legalized, while the UK Government is forced to legislate for abortion reform, including decriminalization.

July 9, 2019

Press Release

Climate change activist Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement of school-children have been honored with Amnesty International’s Ambassador of Conscience Award for 2019, the human rights organization announced today. “The Ambassador of Conscience Award is Amnesty International’s highest honor, celebrating people who have shown unique leadership and courage in standing up for human rights. I can think of no better recipients this year than Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future climate strike movement,” said Kumi Naidoo, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “We are humbled and inspired by the determination with which youth activists across the world are…

June 7, 2019

Report

Transgender people in China are performing highly dangerous surgery on themselves and buying unsafe hormone treatments on the black market because it is almost impossible for them to access the health care they urgently need, Amnesty International said in a new report. “I need my parents’ consent to be myself- Barriers to gender-affirming treatments for transgender people in China” reveals that prevalent discrimination and stigma, restrictive eligibility requirements, and a lack of information, leave transgender people to seek unregulated and unsafe gender-affirming treatments. “China is failing transgender people. Discriminatory laws and policies have left many people feeling they have no…

May 9, 2019

Update

April 10, 2019 The Honorable James E. Risch                                   The Honorable Bob Menendez Chairman                                                                  Ranking Member Foreign Relations Committee                                      Foreign Relations Committee U.S. Senate                    …

April 9, 2019

Report

Police in the Dominican Republic routinely rape, beat, humiliate and verbally abuse women sex workers to exert social control over them and to punish them for transgressing social norms of acceptable femininity and sexuality, said Amnesty International in a new report released today. ‘If they can have her, why can’t we?’ chronicles the stories of 46 Dominican cisgender and transgender women sex workers, many of whom reported suffering various forms of violence, much of which amount to gender-based torture and other ill-treatment. The criminalized status of sex workers combined with profound machismo, fuels arbitrary detentions by police and enables these grave human…

March 28, 2019

Update

March 25, 2019 The Honorable Eliot Engel Chairman Foreign Affairs Committee U.S. House of Representatives 2170 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 The Honorable Michael McCaul Ranking Member Foreign Affairs Committee U.S. House of Representatives 2170 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 RE: Amnesty International USA Statement on State Department’s Foreign Policy Strategy and FY20 Budget Request Dear Chairman Engel, Ranking Member McCaul, and members of the Committee: On behalf of Amnesty International and our more than seven million members and supporters worldwide, we hereby submit this statement for the record. Amnesty International is an international human rights…

March 25, 2019

Press Release

Reacting to reports of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services “domestic gag rule” draft around Title X, the nation’s program for affordable birth control and reproductive health care, Tarah Demant, Director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity Program at Amnesty International USA stated: “This rule will be deadly. It will restrict reproductive and sexual rights, putting the lives of all people at significant risk, especially women of color and low-income women who are under-insured or uninsured. “It is clearly aimed at specific reproductive health institutions, like Planned Parenthood, that provide care to over four million people in the United States…

February 22, 2019

Press Release

Responding to news that the government of Nauru has passed a law severely restricting medical transfers to Australia for refugees and asylum seekers, Meghna Abraham, Director of Global Thematic Issues at Amnesty International, said: “This move by the Nauru government is a dangerous and callous act that could have deadly consequences for the women, men and children whom Australia has exiled there. “Nauru has failed to provide refugees with the health care they desperately need. Denying them medical transfers is yet another blow and demonstrates just how far the human rights of refugees have slipped down Nauru and Australia’s agendas.…

February 20, 2019

Press Release

Amnesty International released a ground-breaking study into abuse against women on Twitter today, conducted with Element AI, a global artificial intelligence software product company. The findings showed that although the abuse cut across the political spectrum, women of color were much more likely to be impacted, and black women are disproportionately targeted. More than 6,500 volunteers from 150 countries signed up to take part in Troll Patrol, a unique crowdsourcing project designed to process large-scale data about online abuse. Volunteers sorted through 228,000 tweets sent to 778 women politicians and journalists in the UK and the US in 2017. Amnesty…

December 18, 2018