Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Update
Amnesty International Statement for the Record on “Online Platforms and Market Power: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google”
For PDF, click here. July 23, 2020 Congressman David Cicilline Chair, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law Congressman F. James Sensenbrenner Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law House Judiciary Committee RE: Amnesty International Statement for the Record for July 27 Hearing on “Online Platforms and Market Power, Part 6: Examining the Dominance of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google” On behalf of Amnesty International USA and our members and supporters in the United States, we hereby submit this statement for the record to address how the dominant power of Big Tech…
July 24, 2020
Update
Amnesty urges State Department to call for release of Turkey’s Osman Kavala on 1,000th Day of Imprisonment
Turkish civil society activist Osman Kavala was arrested in October 2017 and continues to face politically-motivated charges. Kavala has been jailed solely for his nonviolent activism and philanthropy. Since his detention, he has spent more than 1,000 days in prison. On July 22nd, Amnesty International USA joined Freedom House, PEN America, and the Project on Middle East Democracy to call on the State Department to demand his immediate and unconditional release. To download a PDF copy of the letter, click here: Osman Kavala DoS Letter - Amnesty, PEN, POMED, Freedom House July 22, 2020 The Hon. Robert Destro Assistant Secretary,…
July 23, 2020
Press Release
NO BAN Act Passage a Critical Step to Undoing Muslim Ban and Years’ Worth of Discriminatory Immigration Policies
In response to the passage of the NO BAN Act (H.R. 2214) in the House of Representatives, Ryan Mace, Grassroots Advocacy and Refugee Specialist for Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), released the following statement:
July 22, 2020
Update
Vote Recommendation on the NO BAN Act and Access to Counsel Act (7.21.20)
In advance of the House of Representatives vote on July 22, AIUSA issued a VOTE YES RECOMMENDATION on the NO BAN Act and Access to Counsel Act (H.R. 2486) Dear Representative: On behalf of Amnesty International USA and our members and supporters in the United States, we recommend you VOTE YES on both the NO BAN Act and Access to Counsel Act (H.R. 2486). Nondiscrimination is a core provision in all international human rights instruments, and our research has demonstrated how every version of the Muslim ban has shown itself to be deadly, dangerous, and disastrous. Executive orders and policies…
July 21, 2020
Update
AIUSA Joins Over 400 Organizations in Support of the NO BAN Act (7.17.20)
On July 17, 2020 Amnesty International USA joined over 400 national, state, and local civil rights, faith-based, national security, and community organizations writing to express their strong support for the National Origin-Based Antidiscrimination for Nonimmigrants Act (NO BAN Act) (H.R. 2486, formerly H.R. 2214) introduced by Representative Judy Chu (D-CA) and Senator Chris Coons (D-DE). The NO BAN Act would end the harmful Muslim and African Bans and put in place vital protections against future discriminatory bans. We urge all Members of Congress to vote yes on the NO BAN Act to ensure the passage of this historic bill.
July 21, 2020
Press Release
Two Kurds in Iran executed amid increasing use of death penalty as weapon of repression
There has been an alarming escalation in use of the death penalty against protesters, dissidents and members of minority groups in Iran, Amnesty International said today, following the executions on 13 July of two Kurdish men in Urumieh prison in West Azerbaijan province. Diaku Rasoulzadeh and Saber Sheikh Abdollah had been convicted and sentenced to death in 2015 solely on the basis of torture-tainted “confessions” and amid overwhelming evidence pointing to their innocence. Hours later a judicial official announced that the death sentences of three young men imposed in connection with the anti-establishment protests in November 2019 had been upheld.…
July 20, 2020
Update
Amnesty International Calls On G20 To Ensure COVID-19 recovery measures tackle global poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE July 17, 2020 G20: Rich, powerful states must ensure COVID-19 recovery measures tackle global poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis Amnesty International is calling on G20 leaders meeting this week to take unprecedented steps towards tackling the global inequalities which are fueling the COVID-19 and climate crises – two of the greatest threats to human rights of our time. G20 Finance Ministers convening on 18-19 July should commit to cancelling the debt of the world’s poorest countries, scaling up investments in health and social protections, and phasing out fossil fuels, to ensure a just and sustainable recovery from the pandemic.…
July 17, 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
Update
Amnesty International USA and 100+ Organizations Call on ICE to Free Families Together
On July 17, Amnesty International USA, along with 100+ national, state, and local organizations, called on ICE to free detained families together. The letter is below and available in PDF form here. Honorable Chad Wolf Acting Secretary U.S. Department of Homeland Security 301 7th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20528 Honorable Matthew Albence Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement 500 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20536 Sent via email July 17, 2020 Dear Acting Secretary Wolf and Acting Director Albence: The undersigned organizations write to urge that families held at all three…
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
Update
Amnesty International Comment Opposing Sweeping Changes to the U.S. Asylum System
Amnesty International USA today submitted a comment to a sweeping new set of proposed changes to the asylum system which, if implemented, will slam the door to safety for nearly every person who seeks asylum in the United States. Amnesty International is the world’s largest grassroots human rights organization, comprising a global support base of millions of individual members, supporters, and activists in more than 150 countries and territories. For years, a top priority of the U.S. section of Amnesty International has been the protection of the right to seek asylum; the organization even helped provide input in the drafting…
July 15, 2020
Update
Human Rights on Capitol Hill – July 2020 Newsletter
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July 15, 2020