Amnesty International USA is the US Section of Amnesty International, a worldwide human rights organization. http://www.amnestyusa.org/rss/en/reports/recent.xml en Amnesty International Amnesty International hourly 4 http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR410322009&lang=e&rss=reports Mexico is a dangerous place for human rights defenders. They face threats, harassment and intimidation, spurious criminal charges and wrongful prosecution. Some activists have even been killed in relation to their human rights work. Threats, attacks and killings of human rights defenders are rarely investigated effectively by either federal or state authorities. Impunity in cases of abuses against human rights defenders fosters a climate of intimidation, fear and insecurity. This report documents cases of abuses against human rights defenders and ends with recommendations to the state and federal authorities. 2010-01-21T00:00:00-05:00 countries=mexico http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAFR520012010&lang=e&rss=reports 2010-01-21T00:00:00-05:00 countries=somalia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20100120001&lang=e&rss=reports 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=reports 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=reports 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=ENGAMR410582009&lang=e&rss=reports Amnesty International is receiving increasing allegations of serious human rights violations, such as enforced disappearance, extrajudicial executions and other unlawful killings, torture and other ill-treatment, and arbitrary detention, being committed by members of the Mexican military. The cases documented in this report show that both civilian and military authorities frequently fail to investigate these reports in a prompt, impartial and effective manner. Amnesty International hopes this report and its recommendations will help the Mexican government address this pattern of serious human rights violations swiftly and effectively. 2009-12-08T00:00:00-05:00 countries=mexico http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA430022009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-12-07T00:00:00-05:00 countries=solomon islands http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGMDE131232009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-12-07T00:00:00-05:00 countries=iran http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091207001&lang=e&rss=reports 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=usa,cuba http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGMDE150262009&lang=e&rss=reports Palestinian families living in Humsa and Hadidiya hamlets in the Jordan Valley region of the West Bank, part of the Occupied Palestinian Territories, face a daily threat of forcible eviction from their homes by the Israeli army. Their movement is restricted and they are denied access to the water and land they need for survival. In this case sheet Amnesty international calls for the demolition and expulsion orders to be rescinded, for discrimination and harassment to end, and for confiscated property to be returned. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR620042009&lang=e&rss=reports Azam Farmonov and Alisher Karamatov are prisoners of conscience, detained on 29 April 2006 as they defended the rights of local farmers who had accused district farming officials of malpractice, extortion and corruption. The two men were allegedly tortured, charged with extortion and subjected to an unfair trial where they were denied adequate legal representation. In this case sheet Amnesty International calls for their immediate and unconditional release and, in the meantime, appropriate medical treatment. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=uzbekistan http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR250102009&lang=e&rss=reports Konstantina Kuneva, a Bulgarian migrant worker and trade union leader, was severely injured in a sulphuric acid attack by unknown men. She lost her sight in one eye and her larynx, oesophagus and stomach were seriously damaged. In this case sheet Amnesty International demands that the investigation into the attack is continued, leading to the perpetrators being brought to justice, and for the protection of human rights defenders and trade union members from similar attacks. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=greece http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA410042009&lang=e&rss=reports Human rights lawyers Nguyen Van Dai, aged 40, and Le Thi Cong Nhan, aged 30, were jailed in May 2007 for "conducting propaganda against the State." Amnesty International considers them prisoners of conscience and is calling for their immediate and unconditional release. In this case sheet Amnesty International calls for their immediate and unconditional release. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=viet nam http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR430142009&lang=e&rss=reports Nine women’s rights defenders are facing legal proceedings for their involvement in the case of a nine-year-old girl who obtained a legal abortion in Nicaragua after she was raped and became pregnant. It is feared that they have been targeted for their human rights work, particularly in the area of reproductive health. In this case sheet Amnesty International expresses its concern about the unresolved complaint against these women and urges the Nicaraguan authorities to resolve the case and to ensure that they can carry on their work free from intimidation. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=nicaragua http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAMR230232009&lang=e&rss=reports Members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadó in Colombia have been the focus of suspicion and hostility from all parties to the armed conflict since the Community’s formation in 1997. More than 170 have been killed since then, mostly at the hands of paramilitaries, either acting alone or with the collusion of the security forces. Guerrilla groups have also been responsible for a number of killings. In this case sheet Amnesty International urges the Colombian authorities to investigate human rights abuses against the members of the Community. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=colombia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAFR250102009&lang=e&rss=reports Birtukan Mideksa, an opposition party leader, is serving a life sentence in Kaliti Prison in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Amnesty International considers her a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression and association. In this case sheet Amnesty International expresses its concern about the life sentence re-imposed following her re-arrest and calls for her immediate and unconditional release. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=ethiopia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGASA310102009&lang=e&rss=reports Human rights defender Rita Mahato has been threatened with death, rape and kidnapping as a result of her work helping women in Nepal who have suffered acts of violence. She is a health adviser at the Women’s Rehabilitation Centre (WOREC). The police have failed to provide Rita Mahato with protection or to investigate the threats, and she fears for her life. In this case sheet Amnesty International urges the police to protect human rights defenders. 2009-12-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=nepal http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGACT770092009&lang=e&rss=reports Most of the people living in poverty in the world are women. Discrimination is a key driver of poverty. In some countries discrimination against women is built into the law. The violence women face helps keep them poor, and it is poor women who are most exposed to violence. Women continue to be most affected by poverty, violence, environmental degradation and diseases. They continue to be targeted in armed conflicts and face restrictions on their freedom and autonomy. Women's voices must be heard. Their contributions must be recognized and encouraged. 2009-11-25T00:00:00-05:00 issues=ADVERSE DISCRIMINATION,ARMED CONFLICT,ECONOMIC CONDITIONS,EDUCATION,WOMEN http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAFR250072009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-11-10T00:00:00-05:00 countries=ethiopia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGAFR250082009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-11-10T00:00:00-05:00 countries=ethiopia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGMDE150272009&lang=e&rss=reports Lack of access to adequate, safe and clean water has been a longstanding problem for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), principally as a result of discriminatory Israeli policies and practices. Some 180,000-200,000 Palestinians in rural communities in the West Bank have no access to running water. The water shortage has hindered social and economic development for Palestinians in the OPT and has resulted in violations of their right to an adequate standard of living, including the rights to water, food, health, work and adequate housing. 2009-10-27T00:00:00-05:00 countries=israel_and_occupied_territories http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20091008004&lang=e&rss=reports This report is about maternal mortality as a human rights issue. It focuses on: 1, the urgent need to remove financial barriers to health care and in particular emergency obstetric care; 2, the accountability of the government of Sierra Leone, given its obligations to address maternal health care and to ensure the availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality of health care services, facilities and goods; and 3, discrimination and other social factors that contribute to undermining women's right tohealth. 2009-10-08T00:00:00-05:00 countries=sierra_leone http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGACT300062009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-10-05T00:00:00-05:00 countries=somalia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR610052009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-09-23T00:00:00-05:00 countries=turkmenistan http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR410062009&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-09-15T00:00:00-05:00 countries=spain http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR410052009&lang=e&rss=reports Spanish law allows people to be held incommunicado, which means they have no effective access to a lawyer or to a doctor of their choice, and their family is not informed where they are or that they have been detained. It is one of the strictest detention regimes in the European Union. Many detainees held incommunicado say that they were tortured or otherwise ill-treated. Amnesty International is calling for the Spanish authorities to abrogate legislation that allows incommunicado detention and to investigate allegations of torture. 2009-09-15T00:00:00-05:00 countries=spain http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGEUR410012009&lang=e&rss=reports Amnesty International considers that the incommunicado regime in Spanish law is a violation of Spain’s obligations under international human rights law. No other European Union country maintains a detention regime with such severe restrictions on the rights of detainees. The continuing allegations of torture and other ill-treatment demonstrate the grave consequences detention in this regime may have. Amnesty International calls on parliament to abrogate the existing legislation and to ensure the effective protection of the rights of all persons deprived of their liberty. 2009-09-15T00:00:00-05:00 countries=spain http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGMDE230252009&lang=e&rss=reports Since the 11 September 2001 attacks in the USA, carried out by a group that included Saudi Arabian nationals, and in the wake of bombings and other attacks inside Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Arabian authorities have imposed a range of counter-terrorism measures that have swept aside embryonic legal reforms and left people in Saudi Arabia almost completely devoid of fundamental freedoms and rights. In this document, which includes case studies, Amnesty International is calling on the Saudi Arabian authorities to stop the endemic abuse of human rights. 2009-09-11T00:00:00-05:00 countries=saudi arabia http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090901001&lang=e&rss=reports 2009-09-01T00:00:00-05:00 countries=usa http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?id=ENGUSA20090901002&lang=e&rss=reports Seventh session of the UPR Working Group of the Human Rights Council, February 2010 2009-09-01T00:00:00-05:00 countries=qatar