Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Every Moment the Biden Administration Does Not Course Correct in Afghanistan Could Have Horrific Consequences
Responding to the Taliban’s push into Kabul over the weekend, Amnesty International joined Freedom House in calling on President Biden to ensure the safe evacuation of human rights defenders, women’s rights activists, media workers, and individuals who have provided assistance to foreign governments and for the White House to provide a lifeline to millions of internally displaced Afghans and Afghan refugees. The human rights organizations called on the Biden Administration to work with the United Nations to develop a functioning humanitarian infrastructure to assist the people of Afghanistan and to provide justice for victims of human rights abuses. Paul O’Brien,…
August 16, 2021
Press Release
International community must act decisively in Afghanistan to avert further tragedy
Responding to the collapse of the Afghan government following the seizure of power by the Taliban and the chaotic scenes at Kabul airport as thousands of people attempt to leave the country, Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said: “What we are witnessing in Afghanistan is a tragedy that should have been foreseen and averted. It will only be compounded further without swift and decisive action from the international community. Thousands of Afghans at serious risk of Taliban reprisals - from academics and journalists to civil society activists and women human rights defenders - are in danger of being abandoned…
August 16, 2021
Update
Amnesty International USA and 84 Civil Society Organizations call on Biden Administration to Designate New 18-month TPS For Ethiopia
Amnesty International USA joined over 80 organizations calling on Secretary of Homeland Security Mayorkas and Secretary of State Blinken to designate a new 18 month TPS for Ethiopia. - A woman carrying crops walks next to an abandoned tank belonging to Tigrayan forces south of the town of Mehoni, Ethiopia, on December 11, 2020. The town of Mehoni, located in Southern Tigray, experienced shelling resulting in civilian deaths and injured people. (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS / AFP) (Photo by EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP via Getty Images) August 4, 2021 The Honorable Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security Nebraska…
August 4, 2021
Update
Amnesty International Calls on President Biden to Address Repression, Human Rights Abuses in Iraq in Meeting with Iraqi Prime Minister Al-Kadhimi
On July 23, 2021, Amnesty International USA wrote to President Joe Biden urging him to raise unlawful repression and worrying human rights abuses in Iraq towards peaceful protesters, press, religious minorities, and internally displaced persons on Monday, July 26th's during Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi's scheduled White House visit. Click here to download a copy of the letter, or read below. July 23, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: Amnesty International urges President Biden to raise rights abuses against press, protesters, religious minorities, internally displaced persons (IDPs) in visit by Iraqi Prime Minister…
July 23, 2021
Press Release
‘Our government should not be in the business of detaining pregnant or nursing individuals’
Today, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign responded to Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s new memo pertaining to pregnant, postpartum, or nursing individuals. The memo limits the detention of nursing, postpartum, or pregnant people, but still allows ICE officials to detain them in exceptional circumstances. #WelcomeWithDignity campaign members--many of whom have previously spoken out against conditions pregnant people face in ICE custody--responded.
July 9, 2021
Press Release
Amnesty International USA Condemns Abortion Bill Passed by the Texas Governor
Responding to Texas Governor Greg Abbott signing into law TX SB8, which bans the right of people to seek an abortion at the six-week mark, before many are aware of their pregnancies, Tarah Demant, the director of the Gender, Sexuality and Identity Program at Amnesty International USA, said: “The attempt by the state of Texas to chip away at one of the most personal and intimate of human rights is absolutely shameful. The only person who should ever make decisions about a pregnancy is the person who is pregnant. Horrifyingly, this ban could yank away people’s decision to do so…
May 20, 2021
Press Release
Pattern of Israeli Attacks on Residential Homes in Gaza Must Be Investigated As War Crimes
Israeli forces have displayed a shocking disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians by carrying out a number of airstrikes targeting residential buildings in some cases killing entire families - including children - and causing wanton destruction to civilian property, in attacks that may amount to war crimes or crimes against humanity, said Amnesty International today.
May 17, 2021
Update
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA, CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS CALL ON BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO BAN LANDMINES AND ACCEDE TO THE 1997 MINE BAN TEATY
Amnesty International USA joined the U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines - U.S. Cluster Munition Coalition (USCBL-USCMC) in a letter to President Biden urging him to ban the use, production, acquisition, and transfer of anti personnel landmines and swiftly accede to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty. Building U.S. Landmines Policy Back and Better April 28, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden The White House Washington, D.C. cc: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan; Secretary of State Antony Blinken; Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin Dear Mr. President: We appreciate the statement by our UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on…
April 28, 2021
Press Release
Georgia Shooting Yet Another Cry for U.S. Government Action to End Gun Violence, Confront Misogyny, and Denounce Anti-AAPI Hate
“This morning, an entire community and nation are waking up traumatized because of yet another hate-fueled mass shooting. We are witnessing the results of what happens when racist and misogynistic ideologies collide in a society where there is also easy access to guns. This isn’t just trauma — it stands as a blatant assault of the human rights of women, of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI), and their allies.
March 17, 2021
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