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Press Release

It is appalling that, instead of protecting the rights of Indigenous land and water defenders from the Wet’suwet’en Nation, the authorities have decided to prosecute them.

June 11, 2024

Press Release

Granting Leonard Peltier parole on humanitarian grounds in this case is not only timely but a necessary measure in the interests of both justice and mercy.

June 5, 2024

Press Release

Current plans regarding how to measure progress towards the Global Biodiversity Framework are unlikely to sufficiently assess whether the rights of the original inhabitants of the land are being protected.

May 10, 2024

Press Release

Marking the 6 February Global Day of Solidarity with Native American activist Leonard Peltier, Amnesty International reiterates its call on President Biden to immediately grant Mr. Peltier clemency.

February 5, 2023

Press Release

Amnesty International USA’s executive director, Paul O’Brien, released the following statement in response to the results of the U.S. Congressional election: “We call on the incoming Congress to respect human rights, both within the U.S. and around the world. It is absolutely crucial that the U.S. government respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of all people, without discrimination of any kind. That includes the right to abortion, the right to live free from gun violence, and the right to seek safety, including asylum.

November 17, 2022

Report

The U.S. government is continuing to fail its obligations to uphold the human rights of Indigenous women, as rates of sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women are at epidemic proportions. The Never-ending Maze: Continued failure to protect Indigenous women from sexual violence in the USA reveals that the U.S. government’s steady erosion of tribal government authority, chronic under-resourcing of law enforcement and Indigenous health services, and purposefully complex jurisdictional process have compounded rates of sexual violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women and made it near-impossible for survivors to obtain justice. The report follows a 2007 report…

May 17, 2022

Report

Indonesian authorities should immediately halt plans to develop a sprawling gold mine the size of the city of Jakarta in volatile Papua Province, where it risks fueling conflict and violating the land rights of Indigenous Papuans, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today.  

March 21, 2022

Press Release

Amnesty International welcomes the final passage of the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), particularly historic provisions that restore tribal criminal jurisdiction over non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence against Native women. More than half of Native American and Alaska Native women have experienced sexual violence, over twice the national average. Of Native women who have experienced sexual violence in their lifetime, 96 percent have experienced sexual violence by at least one non-Native perpetrator. The restored jurisdiction in VAWA 2022 means that tribes can arrest, prosecute and sentence offenders for sexual violence and other serious crimes outlined in VAWA…

March 16, 2022

Press Release

For more than two years, human rights lawyer Steven Donziger - currently serving the remainder of a six month sentence on house arrest - has been arbitrarily detained in apparent retaliation for his work to hold Chevron accountable for its deliberate dumping of more than 16 billion gallons of toxic oil waste into the Amazon rainforest. Despite repeated calls from human rights advocates and governmental authorities for Donziger’s release, the Department of Justice has refused to respond or take any action to remedy this human rights violation. Today, over 100 human rights and environmental organizations from around the world joined…

March 15, 2022

Press Release

On the occasion of International Migrants Day this Saturday, the #WelcomeWithDignity campaign and the International Mayan League call attention to the U.S. government’s continued human rights violations of Indigenous peoples seeking asylum in the United States. Last week marked the three-year anniversary of the death of Jakelin Caal Maquin, a 7-year-old Maya Q’eqchi’ Indigenous girl who died on the morning of December 8, 2018 under the custody of the U.S. government. Since 2018, there have been five documented cases of Indigenous children dying at the U.S./Mexico border. Last week more than 50 primarily indigenous migrants, including families and children, perished in…

December 17, 2021

Update

Today, Amnesty International USA wrote to the Biden administration regarding the upcoming United Nations Security Council debate on renewal of the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), which is expected to go to a vote on October 27th. Amnesty International strongly urges the Biden administration, representing the U.S. as the mandate’s penholder and permanent Security Council member, to ensure the critical inclusion of a human rights monitoring mechanism as it drafts and proposes the resolution for MINURSO’s renewal. Amnesty has thoroughly documented flagrant, unaccountable human rights abuses and crackdowns by Moroccan authorities in Western…

October 19, 2021

Update

Classified as a non-self-governing territory by the United Nations, Western Sahara has been under de-facto annexation by Morocco since the late 1970s. Morocco controls three-fourths of Western Sahara via unilateral annexation, with the  Polisario Front, the Sahrawi liberation movement party which fought a war against Morocco for an independent state, controlling the remaining portion. In 1979, the UN via Resolution 34/37 called on Morocco to end its occupation and recognized “the inalienable right of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence,” as it has done several times since including in 1990 and even just last year. In 1991,…

September 27, 2021