Today the Department of Defense announced 15 detainees were transferred from the Guantánamo Bay detention site. Amnesty International USA’s Security and Human Rights Program Director Naureen Shah issued the following statement: “This is a powerful sign that President Obama is serious about closing Guantánamo before he leaves office. With these transfers, Guantánamo’s population will be reduced …
Type Archives:
Iraq: Hundreds of thousands more risk displacement
Increased humanitarian assistance is urgently required to alleviate the suffering of millions of Iraqis displaced across the country and to provide basic services to hundreds of thousands of people who are expected to be displaced by military operations to recapture territory controlled by the group calling itself Islamic State (IS). Humanitarian organizations have already been …
Continue reading “Iraq: Hundreds of thousands more risk displacement”
Yemen: Bombardment of MSF hospital a deplorable attack
The Saudi Arabia-led coalition’s aerial bombardment of a hospital supported by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Yemen is an atrocious attack that could amount to a war crime. The Abs Rural Hospital which was hit at around 3:30pm local time, has treated 4,611 patients since MSF began to support it in July 2015. “The bombardment …
Continue reading “Yemen: Bombardment of MSF hospital a deplorable attack”
Queensland youth justice system needs Indigenous-led solutions
A new Amnesty International report, to be launched today at Queensland Parliament House, has found that, while the Queensland Government has recognised the need for reforming its youth justice system, serious concerns remain. Queensland leads the country in locking up 10- and 11-year-olds and detaining children on remand, the majority of them Aboriginal and Torres …
Continue reading “Queensland youth justice system needs Indigenous-led solutions”
France: Reaction to court decision to overturn burkini ban
John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe Director resposded to the decision of France’s highest administrative court to overturn the ban on the burkini on a French beach. “By overturning a discriminatory ban that is fuelled by and is fuelling prejudice and intolerance, today’s decision has drawn an important line in the sand,” he said. “By overturning …
Continue reading “France: Reaction to court decision to overturn burkini ban”
Thailand: Fatal bomb attacks disregard basic right to life
A series of apparently coordinated blasts at tourist spots in southern Thailand overnight are reprehensible acts of violence that must be thoroughly investigated, with those responsible brought to justice. At least four people were killed in the blasts and dozens more were injured as a series of bombs exploded in the resort town of Hua …
Continue reading “Thailand: Fatal bomb attacks disregard basic right to life”
Dangers of revoking citizenship
Amnesty Australia’s Government Relations Adviser, Guy Ragen, and Legal Governance Manager, Katie Wood, appeared before the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security to discuss the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015. Amnesty Australia has made a submission on the Australian Citizenship Amendment Bill 2015, recommending the rejection of the Bill in its current …
Iran: Women’s rights activists treated as ‘enemies of the state’ in crackdown
Iranian authorities have intensified their repression of women’s rights activists in the country in the first half of this year, carrying out a series of harsh interrogations and increasingly likening any collective initiative relating to women’s rights to criminal activity. The organization’s research reveals that since January 2016 more than a dozen women’s rights activists …
Continue reading “Iran: Women’s rights activists treated as ‘enemies of the state’ in crackdown”
The Guardian’s damning ‘Nauru files’ on refugee abuse
Responding to The Guardian’s “Nauru files” leak today, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research Anna Neistat said: “This leak has laid bare a system of ‘routine dysfunction and cruelty’ that is at once dizzying in its scale and utterly damning for the Australian authorities who tried so hard to maintain a veil of secrecy. “When …
Continue reading “The Guardian’s damning ‘Nauru files’ on refugee abuse”
Ethiopia: Dozens killed as police use excessive force against peaceful protesters
At least 67 people were killed and hundreds more injured when Ethiopian security forces fired live bullets at peaceful protesters across Oromia region over the weekend, according to credible sources. Thousands of protesters turned out in Oromia and Amhara calling for political reform, justice and the rule of law. The worst bloodshed – which may …
Continue reading “Ethiopia: Dozens killed as police use excessive force against peaceful protesters”