Below you’ll find breaking news as well as reports, updates on our campaigns, and victories.
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Press Release
Trump’s Proposal to “Halt Immigration” Is Fueled by Bigotry and Xenophobia
Responding to plans announced by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to sign an executive order “to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States”, Joanne Lin, the national advocacy director of Amnesty International USA, said: “While the scope of Trump’s new proposed policy is unclear, the message it sends is: the President is manipulating a pandemic to further the bigotry and xenophobia that have been hallmarks of his presidency from day one. "We are one country and there is no way we could address the spread of COVID-19 without the unending efforts of immigrants providing healthcare and home aid, staffing grocery stores,…
April 21, 2020
Update
Letter to Congressional Appropriators on WHO Funding Cuts (4-20-20)
To view PDF click here: Letter to Cong Appropriators on WHO Funding Cuts (4-20-20) April 20, 2020 Sen. Lindsey Graham Sen. Patrick Leahy Chairman Ranking Member Senate Committee on Appropriations Senate Committee on Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee State and Foreign Operations…
April 21, 2020
Press Release
Historic discrimination in Libya threatens right to health of minorities in the south amid COVID-19
The Libyan authorities and militias in control of southern cities and towns and international donors must ensure that those most marginalized are factored into their emergency public health response to the spread of COVID-19, Amnesty International said today. Libya’s public health system has been undermined by years of armed conflict and insecurity including attacks on medical facilities, the exodus of qualified medical personnel and frequent militia interference in the provision of medical services. In addition to these general risks, pre-existing discrimination against ethnic minority groups such as the Tabu and Tuareg create additional barriers to their access to healthcare. “Fears…
April 21, 2020
Report
Death penalty 2019: Global executions fell by 5%, hitting a 10-year low
Saudi Arabia executed a record number of people in 2019, despite an overall decline in executions worldwide, Amnesty International said in its 2019 global review of the death penalty published today. The Saudi authorities put 184 people to death last year, the highest number Amnesty has ever recorded in a single year in the country. Meanwhile the number of executions doubled in Iraq, and Iran retained its place as the world’s second most prolific executioner after China, where the exact number of people put to death remains a state secret. However these states are bucking a global trend which saw…
April 20, 2020
Press Release
Prisoner of conscience Konstantin Kotov will remain in jail in Russia
Following today’s decision by Moscow City Court to uphold the conviction of human rights defender Konstantin Kotov and sentence him to a year-and-a-half in a penal colony, Amnesty International Russia’s Director Natalia Zviagina said: “This decision is a profound injustice. Konstantin Kotov has spent more than eight months behind bars simply for taking part in peaceful protests, after being convicted under the notoriously repressive Article 212.1. “Although the court reduced his sentence from four years, the fact remains that he should never have been detained at all. Konstantin Kotov is a prisoner of conscience, he must be acquitted and freed.…
April 20, 2020
Press Release
Workshop for media to examine human rights and response to COVID-19 in Hungary and Russia
As part of a series of workshops exploring human rights concerns related to the COVID-19 response, Amnesty International USA will be holding a workshop titled "Europe At Risk: Human Rights and the Response to COVID-19 in Hungary and Russia". This workshop will break down the “who”, the “how” and the “why” of rights abuses in Russia and Hungary. WHAT: Europe At Risk: Human Rights and the Response to COVID-19 in Hungary and Russia WHO: Daniel Balson, advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty International USA David Vig, director of Amnesty International Hungary WHEN: Thursday, April 23, 1-1:30PM EST/10:00-10:30AM…
April 20, 2020
Press Release
Protect Detainees at Risk of COVID-19 in Sub-Saharan Africa, Unclog Prisons and Release Prisoners of Conscience
Authorities in Sub-Saharan Africa must take urgent action to protect people in detention from COVID-19, including releasing prisoners of conscience, reviewing cases of pre-trial detention, and guaranteeing access to healthcare and sanitation products in all facilities, Amnesty International said today.
April 20, 2020
Press Release
Prisoner of conscience in coma still detained in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19 pandemic
The Saudi Arabian authorities must immediately release Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a prisoner of conscience who remains detained despite being in coma and in critical condition, Amnesty International said today. Dr Abdullah al-Hamid, a prominent human rights campaigner serving an 11-year sentence for his peaceful activism, suffered a stroke on April 9 and is currently in a coma in the intensive care unit at al-Shumaisi Hospital in Riyadh. “It is heartbreakingly cruel that Dr Abdullah al-Hamid remains in detention, even while in a coma,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Research Director. “Dr al-Hamid, and all other prisoners of conscience in…
April 17, 2020
Report
Mass protests in Europe provide hope as rights and judicial independence eroded
People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking to erode the independence of the judiciary to avoid accountability, Amnesty International said today as it published its annual review of human rights in the region. The organization praised those brave people who took to the streets to defend their own and others’ rights but warned that governments continue to perpetrate human rights violations with impunity across the region. “In 2019, people in Europe and Central Asia were threatened, intimidated, prosecuted, subjected to excessive use of force by police, and…
April 16, 2020
Update
Teleconference Briefing on Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the Age of COVID-19
Join Amnesty International USA for a Teleconference Briefing on Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the Age of COVID-19 Refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people around the world are at heightened risk as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads: many live in overcrowded conditions, lack access to clean water and medical care, and have limited resources to address emergent needs. There are now confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cox’s Bazar, the town in Bangladesh closest to the world’s most populous refugee camp, home to almost 860,000 Rohingya. Meanwhile, at the U.S. border, the Trump administration has used the pandemic to achieve a long-sought policy objective:…
April 15, 2020
Update
On One-Year Anniversary of US Inaction, Amnesty International USA Demands TPS for Venezuelans Now
For PDF version, click here. In a Public Health Crisis, Protected Status for Venezuelans Is More Urgent Than Ever April 2020 Venezuela is undergoing a massive humanitarian and human rights crisis, one which has forced nearly five million Venezuelans to flee the country. An estimated 200,000 Venezuelan nationals in the United States are in need of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) – yet, inexcusably, the United States has failed to act to protect them. On April 15, 2019, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) stated that it was “continuing to monitor” conditions in Venezuela to determine whether to extend TPS for…
April 15, 2020
Press Release
Migrant workers in Qatar illegally expelled during COVID-19 pandemic
Qatari authorities rounded up and expelled dozens of migrant workers after telling them they were being taken to be tested for COVID-19, Amnesty International has learned. The organization interviewed 20 men from Nepal who were apprehended by Qatari police, alongside hundreds of others, in March. The police told most of the men that they were going to be tested for COVID-19 and would be returned to their accommodation afterwards. Instead, they were taken to detention centers and held in appalling conditions for several days, before being sent to Nepal. “None of the men we spoke to had received any explanation for why they…
April 15, 2020