Newsroom

Update

On June 30, 2021, Amnesty International USA wrote to members of Congress to urge them to co-sponsor the Break the Cycle of Violence Act (S. 2275, H.R. 4118). Introduced on June 24 by Sen. Booker and Rep. Horsford, Break the Cycle of Violence Act would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to build safer thriving communities by investing in community-based violence reduction initiatives. Importantly the bill would include $5 billion funding (over eight years) to support community gun violence intervention programs, as requested by the President in the American Jobs Plan. Click here to read the letter ©…

June 30, 2021

Press Release

Today, 113 organizations from the United States and around the world sent a letter to President Biden calling for an end to the U.S. program of lethal strikes outside recognized battlefields, including through the use of drones. The groups’ focus varies from: human rights; civil rights and civil liberties; racial, social, and environmental justice; humanitarian approaches to foreign policy; faith-based initiatives; peacebuilding; government accountability; veterans’ issues; and the protection of civilians. “Successive presidents have now claimed the unilateral power to authorize secretive extrajudicial killing outside any recognized battlefield, with no meaningful accountability for wrongful deaths and civilians lives lost and…

June 30, 2021

Press Release

Hong Kong’s National Security Law (NSL) has decimated the city’s freedoms and created a landscape increasingly devoid of human rights protections, Amnesty International said in a new research briefing released today, exactly one year after the Beijing-imposed legislation took effect. ‘In the Name of National Security’ details how the law enacted on June 30, 2020 has given the authorities free rein to illegitimately criminalize dissent while stripping away the rights of those it targets.  “In one year, the National Security Law has put Hong Kong on a rapid path to becoming a police state and created a human rights emergency…

June 29, 2021

Update

ECONOMIC COLLAPSE, MASS PROTESTS, ARBITRARY ARRESTS, AND BRUTAL REPRESSION WITH IMPUNITY Government corruption and economic collapse, violent repression, and devastation of parts of Beirut from a historic explosion have left Lebanon in a spiraling humanitarian crisis with overwhelming poverty. 18 months ago in October 2019, mass protests erupted due to tax hikes and failures of the government. For years, public anger has grown with soaring inflation, unemployment, utility shortages, drastic food insecurity, and severe mismanagement of and inaction towards the country’s economic crisis by the ruling class. The lira’s value sank 85%, prices of basic necessities and food have risen…

June 24, 2021

Press Release

At a time when guns are killing more and more Americans, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Representative Steven Horsford (D-NV) took bold action today by reintroducing the Break the Cycle of Violence Act. Their leadership is a call-to-action for all Senators to join them in battling the United States’ decades-long gun violence epidemic. 

June 24, 2021

Update

On June 22, 2021, Amnesty International USA’s Middle East and North Africa advocacy director Philippe Nassif and Mustafa Kassem Fellow Amit Dadon submitted the following statement for the record to the House Foreign Affairs Committee's Middle East and North Africa Subcommittee June 23 hearing on “COVID-19 in the MENA Region: Addressing the Impacts of the Pandemic and the Road to Recovery”. In the statement, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) details our research on and human rights concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in the region, especially as pertaining to its compounding effect of existing devastating crises and armed crises on countries'…

June 24, 2021

Press Release

This week, the Biden administration announced that it would take steps to allow additional asylum seekers to come back to the U.S. to safety after they were subjected to the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP). This decision will help thousands of immigrants who were forced to remain in Mexico while waiting for their U.S. asylum cases to be heard. Members of the Welcome With Dignity Campaign applaud this step to unwind the Trump administration’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy but are advocating for the Biden administration to swiftly end other cruel policies of the former administration, including mass expulsions of asylum seekers…

June 23, 2021

Press Release

 A coalition of over 200 international civil society organizations, organized by Planned Parenthood Global and the International Planned Parenthood Federation, released a joint statement today calling for a permanent end to the U.S. global gag rule. The statement — released as part of a week of action to end the global gag rule — was released in Arabic, English, French, and Spanish, demonstrating the diversity of just some of the communities harmed by the rule over the past 37 years. In addition to the over 200 organizations from 88 countries across six continents that signed the statement today — and countless other people…

June 22, 2021

Press Release

Responding to the news that four executives of French surveillance companies Amesys and Nexa Technologies have been indicted for complicity in torture over the sale of surveillance technology to governments in Libya and Egypt, Amnesty Tech Director, Rasha Abdul Rahim, said: “The indictments are unprecedented. When left unchecked, the activities of surveillance companies can facilitate grave human rights violations and repression, including the crimes of torture and enforced disappearance. “These indictments send a clear message to surveillance companies that they are not above the law, and could face criminal accountability for their actions. “This case also shows the urgent need…

June 22, 2021

Report

According to a new report released today by Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), the Biden administration’s approach to people seeking safety not only falls short of expectations but is in urgent need of course correction as we approach World Refugee Day and reaffirm our commitment to supporting refugees worldwide.  

June 17, 2021

Update

On June 11, 2021, Amnesty International USA wrote to the Biden administration about the swiftly deteriorating human rights situation in Russia ahead of President Biden's meeting with President Putin on June 16. The letter urged President Biden to put human rights firmly on the agenda during the Geneva summit and express concern about the Russian government's suppression of peaceful protests, the efforts to silence civil society, the violation of the rights of LGBTI people, and more. Against the backdrop of a sweeping crackdown on dissent and deepening restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly in…

June 11, 2021

Report

The US and Mexican governments are forcibly returning tens of thousands of unaccompanied children seeking safety to the countries they just fled, without adequate screenings or protection from the harms they may face upon return, Amnesty International said in the new report published today, Pushed into Harm’s Way. As Mexican President López Obrador and US Vice President Harris met this week in Mexico City, they pledged to increase coordination on immigration enforcement across the region. In reality, that translates into expanding the interception and forced returns of thousands of unaccompanied children to potential harm in their countries of origin. Children…

June 11, 2021