Amnesty International Australia
Defending Human Rights
Following a mass shooting yesterday in Las Vegas, Margaret Huang, Amnesty International USA executive director, released the following statement: “Last night’s shooting in Las Vegas demonstrated an utter contempt for human life, and our thoughts are with the victims of these attacks and the city of Las Vegas. But thoughts must be backed up with …
Continue reading “Las Vegas Attack Shows Utter Contempt for Human Life”
On learning of the reported death of a refugee who had been held in the Australian-run detention centre on Manus Island, Kate Schuetze, Pacific Researcher at Amnesty International said: “This tragic and avoidable death is the sixth death related to the Manus Island centre, and the ninth overall connected to Australia’s offshore processing regime. Immigration …
Continue reading “Tragic Manus Island death proves situation increasingly desperate”
Australian involvement in West Mosul civilian deaths In response to Australia’s announcement overnight that Australia was involved in civilian deaths in Iraq, Amnesty International Australia’s Campaign Coordinator Diana Sayed said: “Months ago, Amnesty International released a report expressing grave concern about the horrifying scale of civilian casualties and other human rights violations during operations in …
Continue reading “Australian involvement in West Mosul civilian deaths”
“Peter Dutton’s comments are not only extremely irresponsible, they also show a complete lack of understanding of the refugee convention,” said Graham Thom, Refugee Coordinator at Amnesty International Australia. The Immigration Minister made the incorrect comments on a Sydney radio station today in reference to the 52 people who have finally arrived in safety in …
Continue reading “Peter Dutton’s comments are irresponsible and untrue”
Dear friends, We held our September board meeting last weekend, with Branch Presidents joining on Friday to have a combined meeting. The Board approved an indicative list of our critical priority projects for Amnesty International Australia for 2018. We will continue to prioritise our Community is Everything campaign and campaign for a “better plan” for …
Continue reading “National President’s update: September 2017”
Authorities must not “push-back” Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar Refugees sent back to face certain persecution Thailand should provide refugees formal legal status and protection Australia has a crucial role to play in the region and must accept Rohingya refugees from Thailand With the world’s fastest growing refugee crisis developing on its doorstep, Thailand must …
Continue reading “Thailand: Hard line on refugees leaves thousands vulnerable and at risk”
Amnesty International today has the pleasure of announcing the finalists in the 2017 Media Awards, which celebrate excellence in human rights reporting. “In this fourth year of the awards, we were thrilled to receive a record number of entries from commercial, public and community media outlets across Australia,” said Media Coordinator Anita Harvey. “The 18 …
Continue reading “Congratulations to 2017 Media Awards Finalists”
Responding to the Saudi Arabian government’s announcement that women will be allowed to drive, Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Research and Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “It is a testament to the bravery of women activists who have been campaigning for years that the government of Saudi Arabia has finally relented …
Continue reading “Saudi Arabia: Right to drive long overdue step forward for women”
Responding to reports that President Trump will slash the number of refugee admissions to the United States to an all-time historical low number of 45,000 next year, Margaret Huang, executive director of Amnesty International USA said: “If these reports are true, this is a devastating betrayal of an American tradition of helping people escape war …
Continue reading “Thousands of Lives In Danger As Trump Slashes Number of Refugees Admitted to U.S.”
Responding to the news that at least 42 people were executed in Iraq yesterday on “terrorism” charges, Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International said: “This mass execution is a shocking display of the Iraqi authorities’ resort to the death penalty to try to show they are responding to security threats. “There can …