Newsroom

Report

The global pandemic has exposed the terrible legacy of deliberately divisive and destructive policies that have perpetuated inequality, discrimination and oppression and paved the way for the devastation wrought by COVID-19, Amnesty International said in its annual report published today. Amnesty International Report 2020/21: The State of the World’s Human Rights covers 149 countries and delivers a comprehensive analysis of human rights trends globally in 2020. In it, the organization describes those already most marginalized, including women and refugees, as bearing the devastating brunt of the pandemic, as a result of decades of discriminatory policy decisions by world leaders. Health workers,…

April 6, 2021

Update

On April 6, 2021, Amnesty International USA sent a letter to Ambassador Anatoly Antonov of the Russian Federation calling for the Kremlin to release political activist Alexsei Navalny and to provide him with access to a medical professional of his choosing. Navalny narrowly survived what has since been independently confirmed as poisoning by Novichok nerve agent on August 20, 2020. Following his medical treatment in Berlin, Navalny returned to Russia on January 17, 2021 and was immediately arrested by security services. Just weeks later, a Moscow judge ruled that he must go to prison for violating the terms of a…

April 6, 2021

Press Release

In response to a statement today by the Department of Defense reiterating that the United States would continue to develop and use landmines, Adotei Akwei, the advocacy director at Amnesty International USA said: “It is hard to imagine a policy more outdated and destructive than United States policy on antipersonnel landmines. The decision to continue the development and deployment of landmines is deadly and dangerous. The Biden administration must immediately reverse this decision and it should join the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. “Landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons that maim and kill long after conflicts end. They should not have a place…

April 6, 2021

Update

On March 31, 2021, Amnesty International USA and 126 organizations wrote to Congressional leaders in support of the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act. The Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act sets out a vision and framework for reform, shifting the current system towards humane, effective, and fiscally sound strategies that have been demonstrated to work. Amnesty International USA urges members of Congress to support this bill and move it forward for markup and a floor vote. Click here to read the letter Dear Members of Congress, We are 127 national, state, and local organizations dedicated to human rights, immigrant rights, civil…

April 5, 2021

Press Release

Responding to the Biden administration repealing the previous administration’s sanctions on International Criminal Court (ICC) staff, Daniel Balson, the advocacy director at Amnesty International USA said:

April 2, 2021

Press Release

Amnesty International USA released the following statement after reports emerged of a mass shooting in Orange, California, which reportedly left four people dead and two others injured. The shooting occurred just hours after President Joe Biden allocated $5 billion out of his $12 billion American Jobs Plan to support evidence-based community violence prevention programs. Ernest Coverson, the End Gun Violence Campaign Manager at Amnesty International USA, said: 

April 1, 2021

Press Release

Today, President Biden announced the American Jobs Plan, calling on Congress to pass a $12 billion investment in workers facing significant challenges. Part of this $12 billion investment includes $5 billion over eight years in support of evidence-based community violence prevention programs. In a statement, Ernest Coverson, the End Gun Violence Campaign Manager at Amnesty International USA, said: 

March 31, 2021

Press Release

Amnesty International announced today the appointment of Dr. Agnès Callamard, a leading international human rights expert, as its new Secretary General, effective immediately. Dr. Callamard joins the world’s largest non-governmental human rights organization, having recently been the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. In that role, she led ground-breaking investigations including into the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. As Secretary General, Dr. Callamard will be the Chief Executive of Amnesty’s International Secretariat and the principal spokesperson of the global Amnesty movement, which has some 10 million supporters, and offices in more than 70 countries. “At a…

March 28, 2021

Press Release

Yesterday afternoon, as President Biden gave the first press conference of his term where he touched on key immigration issues, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) held a virtual discussion on the reintroduction of the Dignity for Detained Immigrants Act with Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), a trans asylum-seeker and activist, and experts from the National Immigrant Justice Center, Detention Watch Network and the Women’s Refugee Commission.

March 26, 2021

Press Release

Ahead of the CEOs of Google, Facebook and Twitter testifying before Congress today, Joe Westby, Acting Deputy Director of Amnesty Tech, said: “Social media companies have failed to protect people from content on their platforms that incites violence or advocacy of hatred. And despite growing calls for action, users continue to be bombarded with highly targeted advertising, political messages and propaganda. “Big Tech’s promises of reform ring hollow when companies fail to acknowledge that the true cause of the problem is their data-hungry platforms themselves. “The business model of Big Tech firms like Google and Facebook depends on capturing people’s attention…

March 25, 2021

Press Release

Reacting to news that Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has signed a bill to abolish the death penalty in the Commonwealth, Kristina Roth, Senior Advocate for Criminal Justice Programs at Amnesty International USA, released the following statement:

March 24, 2021

Press Release

Following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on gun violence, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) released the following statement from End Gun Violence Manager Ernest Coverson. The hearing comes one day after 10 people were fatally shot in a Colorado supermarket, and one week after six Asian women were shot and killed by a white gunman in Georgia. 

March 23, 2021