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Press Release
Amnesty International USA Response to the State of the Union Address
During tonight’s State of the Union address, President Obama touched on issues of national security, criminal justice reform, immigration policy and women’s health, all of which involve human rights. Steven W. Hawkins, executive director of Amnesty International USA, had the following response:
January 21, 2015
Press Release
Amnesty International USA Reaction to Latest Guantanamo Detainee Transfers
In response to reports that five detainees were released from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay and resettled in Kazakhstan, Naureen Shah, director of Amnesty International USA’s Security and Human Rights Program, issued the following statement.
December 31, 2014
Press Release
Release of Torture Report Underscores Need for Accountability
In response to the release today of a declassified version of the summary and findings of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence report on CIA detention and interrogation, Amnesty International USA's executive director, Steven W. Hawkins, issued the following statement:
December 9, 2014
Report
Left Out in the Cold: Syrian Refugees Abandoned by the International Community
World leaders are failing to offer protection to Syria’s most vulnerable refugees with catastrophic consequences. "Left Out in the Cold: Syrian Refugees Abandoned by the International Community" highlights the pitiful numbers of resettlement places offered by the international community. Around 3.8 million refugees from are being hosted in five main countries within the region: Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Only 1.7 per cent of this number have been offered sanctuary by the rest of the world since the crisis began more than three years ago.
December 4, 2014
Press Release
Amnesty International Statement on President Obama’s Immigration Executive Order
In response to President Obama’s announcement of an executive order on immigration policy tonight, Amnesty International USA Executive Director Steven W. Hawkins issued the following statement.
November 21, 2014
Report
Struggling to Survive: Refugees from Syria in Turkey
The international community’s failure to deal with the growing number of Syrian refugees fleeing into Turkey has led to a crisis of unprecedented proportions with refugees facing push-backs and live fire at the border and hundreds of thousands living in destitution. "Struggling to Survive: Refugees from Syria in Turkey," documents serious human rights risks faced by the 1.6 million people who have sought refuge in the country over the last three and a half years. It also highlights the deplorable reluctance of the international community to take meaningful financial responsibility for the refugee crisis.
November 18, 2014
Press Release
Amnesty International and John Legend Launch Write for Rights Campaign
Amnesty International today released a new video from award winning artist John Legend as part of its Write for Rights campaign. The campaign is the world’s largest letter-writing event in which Amnesty International asks the public to write – or email, text, tweet or fax – in support of specific cases that are emblematic of its broader work on human rights both within the U.S. and around the world.
November 18, 2014
Press Release
Amnesty International Responds to USA’s Recognition that the Convention Against Torture Applies at Guantánamo
Amanda Simon, Amnesty International USA, 212-633-4162, [email protected] In response to the U.S. government's recognition today in Geneva before the UN that the Convention Against Torture applies at Guantánamo, Zeke Johnson, Director of Amnesty International USA's Individuals at Risk Program, issued the following statement: "Acknowledging at last the long established reality that UNCAT applies at Guantánamo is certainly a welcome move, however late in the day. That said, the USA has still to come a long way before meeting its obligations under the anti-torture Convention. We have seen what happens when a government fails in this regard – as with the…
November 12, 2014
Press Release
Protection of Syrian Civilians Must be World’s Priority, Humanitarian and Human Rights Groups Demand
Any further intervention in the Middle East must include plans to address the suffering of Syrian civilians, a global coalition of 39 leading human rights and humanitarian organizations said today.
September 23, 2014
Press Release
Amnesty USA Calls On President Obama and Central American Leaders to Protect Human Rights of Migrant Children
President Obama met with the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador today to discuss the ongoing crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border involving the mass influx of unaccompanied migrant children.
July 25, 2014
Press Release
USA: Notorious Super-Max Prison is Holding Prisoners in Extreme and Prolonged Solitary Confinement in Breach of International Law
The US government’s callous and dehumanizing practice of holding prisoners in prolonged solitary confinement in the country’s only federal super-maximum security prison amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and is in violation of international law.
July 17, 2014
Report
Entombed: Isolation in the US Federal Prison System
The USA stands virtually alone in the world in incarcerating thousands of prisoners in long term or indefinite solitary confinement, defined by the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment as "the physical and social isolation of individuals who are confined to their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day."
July 16, 2014