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Update

Sustained human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus in the United States (US) appears today inevitable. The extent and impact of the outbreak in the US is difficult to predict and will depend crucially on how policymakers and leaders react. It will depend particularly on whether there is adequate funding and support for the response; fair and effective management of surging health care demand; careful and evidence-based mitigation of public fear; and necessary support and resources for fair and effective infection control. A successful American response to the COVID-19 pandemic must protect the health and human rights of everyone in the…

March 20, 2020

Press Release

Congress must take steps to protect our privacy and secure our personal data, including location and health data, in the forthcoming emergency relief packages, 15 groups said in a letter sent to members of Congress today. “Allowing access to personal data, particularly health data, without guardrails could threaten fundamental rights and liberties and open the door to data exploitation that could violate civil rights and harm vulnerable populations. It is not enough to expect that corporations will keep the promises they make in their unregulated terms of service. There must also be federal protections for new data collection, processing, and sharing, and…

March 20, 2020

Update

March 19, 2020 Russell T. Vought Acting Director U.S. Office of Management and Budget 725 17th Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20503 Re: Extension of Public Comments Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Dear Acting Director Vought: We are a diverse group of 170 public interest, labor, and grassroots organizations representing millions of Americans. We write now to call upon you to require all executive branch agencies to hold open all active comment periods for their pending rulemakings as long as President Donald Trump’s March 13, 2020 Declaration of a National Emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic remains in effect. We also call upon you…

March 20, 2020

Press Release

Responding to reports that parts of Qatar’s Industrial Area in Doha - home to a large number of migrant workers’ accommodation - has been put into lockdown after hundreds of construction workers became infected with COVID-19, Steve Cockburn, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director of Global Issues, said:

March 20, 2020

Press Release

Responding to the United States announcement that the country will imminently close its border with Mexico  and Canada, Charanya Krishnaswami, the Advocacy Director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA, said: "It's hard to imagine travel more essential than the journey an asylum-seeker makes to flee persecution. Yet today's restrictions, which empower the US to push back people who lack proper documentation, may inexcusably prevent asylum-seekers and unaccompanied children - two of the populations at greatest risk of danger - from accessing safety. "This is cruel, short-sighted, and opportunistic. Every person has the right to seek safety. Full stop." To schedule…

March 20, 2020

Update

To view PDF version click here: Letter to Sec Pompeo on ICC March 18, 2020 The Honorable Michael R. Pompeo Secretary of State U.S. Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, D.C. 20520 Dear Secretary Pompeo: Our organizations have deep experience working on issues impacting many countries where justice for grave crimes is non-existent or inadequate, and where its absence fuels conflict. Determined efforts to achieve justice for these crimes are essential for helping victims and showing would-be perpetrators that they will be held to account – but steep obstacles persist at the national level, and judicial mechanisms are…

March 19, 2020

Update

For PDF version, click here. Responding to the COVID-19 Crisis While Protecting Asylum Seekers (Updated March 25, 2020) Amnesty International USA, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières USA, Human Rights First, Physicians for Human Rights, Refugees International, and Women’s Refugee Commission call on the Trump Administration to immediately rescind its policy of shutting the border to people seeking asylum in the United States. Turning back men, women and children seeking refuge violates U.S. refugee laws and treaty obligations and will only endanger more lives and will make all of us less safe. We also call upon Congress to deny the Administration’s…

March 19, 2020

Press Release

In wake of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the Government of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir must restore full access to internet services in the region of Jammu and Kashmir and ensure that people have full access to health and safety-related information, said Amnesty International India today.

March 19, 2020

Press Release

Responding to the announcement by the Iranian authorities that pardons will be granted to prisoners convicted of “security” offenses who have a five-year prison sentence or less, and that those who have been granted leave in recent weeks will not be returned to prison, Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director, said: “Amnesty International welcomes the release of anyone detained as a prisoner of conscience, although they should not have been in prison in the first place. “No one should spend a single day in prison for peacefully exercising their rights, and it is…

March 18, 2020

Press Release

Responding to the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s remarks during a news conference at the State Department, Amnesty International USA’s advocacy director, Daniel Balson, said: “Threats against family members of ICC staff who are seeking justice is a new low, even for this administration.  Instead of pursuing the torturers, the U.S. is condemning the investigators, and even their families. No one should be exempt from accountability". “To refer to the International Criminal Court, a body which for years has worked on addressing the most heinous of crimes, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, as an embarrassment is…

March 18, 2020

Press Release

Following reports that the Trump administration intends to issue a new rule that would allow U.S. agents to turn back all asylum-seekers entering from Mexico in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Charanya Krishnaswami, Advocacy Director for the Americas at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) issued the below statement:

March 18, 2020

Press Release

Responding to the effective expulsion of journalists working for three major U.S. newspapers in China, the Head of Amnesty International’s China team, Joshua Rosenzweig, said: “This shameful assault on freedom of expression targets journalists who have uncovered the reality of numerous human rights violations in China, from Xinjiang to Hong Kong. These publications have also been among those providing in-depth investigations into Wuhan’s COVID-19 outbreak. “This latest escalation of the tit-for-tat row between Beijing and Washington threatens to severely undercut the flow of accurate and independent information from China. At a time when the world needs to work together to…

March 18, 2020