Amnesty International USA is the US Section of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights organization. http://www.amnestyusa.org/rss/en/news/uspolicy.xml en Amnesty International Amnesty International hourly 4 http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20100205001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Amnesty International USA today applauded the introduction of legislation to combat the global crisis of violence against women and girls. The International Violence Against Women Act (I-VAWA) would for the first time make the epidemic of violence against women worldwide a priority of the United States government and integrate prevention strategies across foreign policy and assistance programs. 2010-02-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20100203001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Major human rights organizations file amici curiae brief along with individual torture survivors and their families, religious groups, and torture survivor support organizations. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether former foreign government officials who committed human rights abuses while in office are entitled to immunity in U.S courts. 2010-02-03T00:00:00-05:00 countries=mali,somalia,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20100125001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy As the nation anticipates President Obama?s first State of the Union address on Wednesday, January 27, Amnesty International (AI) raised critical unresolved human rights issues, requesting the administration's urgent attention. 2010-01-25T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20100120001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy As detentions in the US Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay enter their ninth year, and the 22 January 2010 deadline for the detention facility?s closure approaches only to be missed, the administration has registered "wins" in two recent court decisions on the detentions. This paper looks at the two decisions and places them in the context of the USA?s failure to end the Guantánamo detentions. It argues that the missed deadline is a symptom of the failure of the US government to properly confront the detentions as an international human rights issue. 2010-01-20T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091216001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Amnesty International has been calling on the US government to ensure that the USA's counter-terrorism laws, policies and practices, including bringing to justice in fair trials those accused of involvement in the September 11, 2001 attacks, comply with international law and standards. 2009-12-16T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091216002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy The Obama administration should revise its detention policies in Afghanistan to make them consistent with international law, Amnesty International, Human Rights First, and Human Rights Watch have said. 2009-12-16T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091215001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Sarnata Reynolds, Advocacy and Policy Director for Refugee and Migrants' Rights at Amnesty International USA (AISUA), issued the following statement in response to the introduction of the Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity Act of 2009 (CIR ASAP) to the U.S. House of Representatives 2009-12-15T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091215002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA policy director for (counter) terrorism and human rights, issued the following statement in response to the Obama administration's decision to relocate some of the detainees in the U.S.- controlled detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the Thomsom Correctional Center in Illinois 2009-12-15T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091207001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy For nearly half a century, the USA has unilaterally imposed an economic, commercial, and financial embargo against Cuba. This document reiterates previous Amnesty International recommendations calling for the lifting of the US embargo. The document highlights the detrimental impact of the US embargo on the efforts by UN agencies and programmes supporting the Cuban government in the progressive realization of economic and social rights. In this report, Amnesty International focuses on the right to health by highlighting how the trade and financial sanctions affect the provision of health care in Cuba. 2009-12-07T00:00:00-05:00 countries=cuba,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091118002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA executive director, issued the following statement in response to President Barack Obama's remarks that the U.S.-controlled detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, will not be closed by his January 22, 2010, deadline. 2009-11-18T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091113001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA policy director for (counter) terrorism and human rights, issued the following statement in response to the Obama administration?s announcement that several 9/11 detainees will be transferred to federal courts: 2009-11-13T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009110513894&lang=e&rss=uspolicy US and Italian intelligence agents are convicted for their involvement in the abduction of Usama Mostafa Hassan Nasr (better known as Abu Omar). 2009-11-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=egypt,italy,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091104001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Bill Would Provide Critical Options to Death Row Inmates with New Evidence of Innocence. 2009-11-04T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091104002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA?s policy director for (counter)-terrorism and human rights, issued the following statement in response to the Italian court?s decision to convict 23 Americans in the CIA kidnapping case of Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, known as Abu Omar 2009-11-04T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091029003&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Amnesty International renewed its call today for President Obama to lift economic sanctions against Cuba, following a vote by the United Nations General Assembly condemning the decades-old embargo. The human rights organization, in a recent report, found the embargo was putting the lives of millions of Cubans at risk by blocking access to vital medicines and medical technologies. 2009-10-29T00:00:00-05:00 countries=cuba,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091028002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy President Obama signed the FY10 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today, which contains revisions to the rules for military commissions used to try detainees at the U.S.-controlled detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. Amnesty International rejects as insufficient the changes made and notes that President Obama?s decision to stand by the commissions flies in the face of his promise that U.S. policy would uphold the nation?s laws and values. 2009-10-28T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091021001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy However, human rights organization rebukes Congress and administration for blocking the release of ?torture photos;? asks Congress to resist any further amendments barring detainees for trials in the United States 2009-10-21T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090826001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Amnesty International sent this open letter to US Special Envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, sharing several of our ongoing concerns regarding Sudan and some of our recommendations for improving the human rights situation in the country. 2009-08-26T00:00:00-05:00 countries=sudan,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090826003&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Larry Cox, Amnesty International USA's executive director, issued the following statement on the sad passing of U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy. 2009-08-26T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090826004&lang=e&rss=uspolicy The U. N. Security Council should establish an International Criminal tribunal with jurisdiction over all grave human rights violations surrounding Timor-Leste's 1999 independence referendum and in the previous 24 years of Indonesian occupation, said Amnesty International in a report published today to mark the 10th anniversary of independence. 2009-08-26T00:00:00-05:00 countries=timor_leste http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090824001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Human Rights Organization Calls on Obama for More Concrete Steps to Ensure Torture Ceases 2009-08-24T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGPRE200908211188&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Amnesty International today regretted the US Parole Commission's decision not to grant Leonard Peltier parole despite concerns about the fairness of his 1977 conviction for murder. 2009-08-21T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090820001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy The Tunisian authorities continue to commit human rights violations in the name of security and counter-terrorism, yet other states continue to forcibly return Tunisian nationals at risk of torture and other abuses or to threaten such returns, Amnesty International said in a new report today. 2009-08-20T00:00:00-05:00 countries=tunisia,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090820002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Former South Korea President Kim Dae-jung died on Tuesday, aged 85. A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts at reconciliation with North Korea, he leaves a legacy of commitment to human rights and democracy. 2009-08-20T00:00:00-05:00 countries=south_korea,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090819001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Amnesty International published a series of exclusive photos and testimonies today, revealing serious ill-treatment by Honduras police and military of peaceful protesters in the capital, Tegucigalpa. The organization warned that beatings and mass arrests are being used as a way of punishing people for voicing their opposition to the military-backed coup d'etat in June. 2009-08-19T00:00:00-05:00 countries=honduras,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090819002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy On the eve of the presidential elections in Afghanistan, Amnesty International has called on the Afghan government to reverse its ban on national and international media from reporting on cases of violence and insecurity occurring during Thursday?s election. 2009-08-19T00:00:00-05:00 countries=afghanistan,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGNAU2009081811849&lang=e&rss=uspolicy A US Supreme Court order mandating a new evidentiary hearing for death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, has been welcomed by Amnesty International. 2009-08-18T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090812001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Days before the Afghan presidential elections, journalists from 13 provinces in Afghanistan have told Amnesty International that they have recently been threatened by Afghan government officials because of their critical reporting. 2009-08-12T00:00:00-05:00 countries=afghanistan,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090811001&lang=e&rss=uspolicy Today's guilty verdict against Daw Aung San Suu Kyi by a court in Myanmar has been described by Amnesty International's Secretary General Irene Khan as "shameful". "Her arrest, trial and now this guilty verdict are nothing more than legal and political theatre," added Irene Khan. 2009-08-11T00:00:00-05:00 countries=myanmar_burma,usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090811002&lang=e&rss=uspolicy The latest murder of a human rights activist in Chechnya demonstrates the complete disregard for rule of law that prevails in Chechnya today, Amnesty International said. 2009-08-11T00:00:00-05:00 countries=russian_federation,usa