Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Rainbow Halo Women’s Acquittal Shows Tactics of Intimidation Against Activists in Poland
Responding to the acquittal of three women human rights activists in Poland on charges of ‘offending religious beliefs’ for distributing posters of the Virgin Mary with a halo in the rainbow colors of the LGBTI pride flag, Catrinel Motoc, Senior Campaigner in Amnesty International’s Europe Regional Office said:
March 2, 2021
Press Release
Police Deployed Sub-Machine Guns Against Peaceful Protesters in Myanmar, Despite Denials
A young woman was shot in the head by Myanmar’s security forces during protests, Amnesty International has confirmed after investigating footage showing the attack. This evidence also contradicts Myanmar military claims that security forces were not carrying lethal weapons.
February 11, 2021
Press Release
Biden Rescinding the Global Gag Rule Welcome First Step, Congress Must Now Repeal It
Ahead of executive actions rescinding the Global Gag Rule by United States President Joe Biden, Tarah Demant, Director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity Program said: “The rescinding of the Global Gag Rule is a victory for human rights and for the health and lives of every woman, girl, or person who can become pregnant. “This disastrous policy undermines the human rights to health, equality, information, privacy, and expression. It’s ineffective and it is deadly: the Global Gag Rule decreases the availability of contraceptives, increases the rates of maternal death, increases the rate of closed health clinics and places poor…
January 26, 2021
Update
Amnesty International USA Board urges USG leadership on Tigray Crisis in Ethiopia
The Board of Amnesty International USA has written to the Trump administration and to the incoming Biden administration to urge the United States to prioritize political and diplomatic efforts to address the human rights and humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia following the conflict in the country's Tigray region. December 9, 2020 The Honorable Michael Pompeo Secretary of State U.S. State Department 2201 C Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20230 Dear Secretary of State Pompeo, On behalf of the 10 million members, supporters and activists of Amnesty International around the world, we write to you to urge you to prioritize addressing the…
December 18, 2020
Press Release
Argentina’s Congress must pass historic bill to legalize abortion
Ahead of a vote in the lower chamber of the Argentine Congress on December 10, on Human Rights Day, Tarah Demant, the director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity program at Amnesty International USA said: “Abortion is a human right that respects the dignity and autonomy of anyone who can become pregnant. Everyone must be able to access safe abortion, care, and information, and decriminalization is absolutely central. The Argentinian Congress has the opportunity now to recognize the rights of all women, girls and people who can become pregnant to make free decisions about their own bodies.” “It’s well past…
December 8, 2020
Press Release
G20 leaders, don’t buy the spin: Saudi Arabia’s real changemakers are in jail
G20 leaders attending this weekend’s virtual summit hosted by Saudi Arabia must take the Saudi authorities to task for their shameless hypocrisy on women’s rights, Amnesty International said today. Women’s empowerment features prominently on Saudi Arabia’s G20 Agenda, despite the fact the activists who spearheaded campaigns for women’s rights are languishing in jail or facing trial. Amnesty International is urging G20 leaders to join the call for the immediate and unconditional release of Loujain al-Hathloul, Nassima al-Sada, Samar Badawi, Nouf Abdulaziz and Maya’a al-Zahrani, who were arrested in 2018 for their human rights work. “For Saudi authorities the G20 Summit is critical: it is a moment for them to promote their reform agenda to the world, and show their country is open for business. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s real reformers are behind bars” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International's Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Instead of playing along with the Saudi government’s whitewashed narrative, G20 leaders should…
November 19, 2020
Press Release
Geneva Consensus Declaration Tramples on Every Person’s Right to Choose
Responding to the United States signing on to the Geneva Consensus Declaration, Tarah Demant, the Director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity program at Amnesty International USA said: “Today’s news marks another giant step backwards for the United States as it joins a list of countries willingly endangering people’s health and lives. The United States’ stance flies in the face of human rights and decades of health research. “Every woman, girl or person who can become pregnant has the human right to abortion. Full stop. This is about people living full lives that are their own - not the lives…
October 22, 2020
Press Release
Human Rights Organizations Urge Court to Safeguard Children’s Rights and Family Unity
As the United States District Court for the Central District of California prepares to hear arguments on September 4 in the case of Flores v. Barr on the enforcement of the Flores Settlement Agreement during COVID-19, international human rights organizations Amnesty International USA and Human Rights Watch have filed an amicus brief urging the Court to do everything within its power to safeguard the best interests of the children it its custody and mitigate the harms flowing from the government’s policies.
August 31, 2020
Press Release
Leading NGOs call on ICE to Stop Family Separation
120 NGOs advocating for immigrant and refugee rights called today for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to free all families being held at family detention centers by swiftly and safely releasing them. The organizations object to any actions that force parents into impossible choices between indefinite detention with their children in deadly conditions during a global pandemic or possibly permanent separations from them. "Detained families must now be afforded the fair chance to seek asylum they never received, and they should be paroled from detention during their asylum proceedings. These families are living with unthinkable fear and anxiety – not…
July 17, 2020
Press Release
State Department’s effort to cherry-pick rights is a dangerous stunt
Responding to a report issued today by the Commission on Unalienable Rights, Tarah Demant, the director of the Gender, Sexuality, and Identity Program at Amnesty International USA said: “The U.S. government cannot unilaterally redefine which human rights will be respected and which will be ignored. “The U.S. State Department’s effort to cherry-pick rights in order to deny some their human rights is a dangerous political stunt that could spark a race to the bottom by human rights-abusing governments around the world. "The administration is seeking to create a hierarchy of rights, where it gets to decide which rights are ‘unalienable’…
July 16, 2020
Press Release
Trump Administration Making Clearest Attempt Yet to Redefine Who Qualifies for Asylum Amid National Turmoil
Responding to a new Trump administration regulation that radically restricts who qualifies for asylum, Charanya Krishnaswami, the advocacy director for the Americas, said: “While a rash of recent policies has gutted the process of seeking asylum, this new rule is the Trump administration’s most dramatic attempt yet to redefine who qualifies for this vital protection. Even after the current asylum ban implemented under the guise of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic is lifted, the dozens of new changes these regulations make to asylum laws, which practically write the refugee definition out of existence, will be profound and potentially long-lasting. “The Trump…
June 10, 2020
Press Release
Anniversary marks two-year detention of women human rights defenders in Saudi Arabia
Amnesty International is calling on King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia to release several notable women’s rights defenders, two years after they were detained. On May 15, 2018, a number of prominent Saudi women’s human rights activists were arrested. They had been peacefully advocating for years for the right of women in the kingdom to drive, as well as broader reforms related to the repressive male guardianship system.
May 14, 2020