A Message from Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien
I just wanted to say a few words about the year we’ve just been through and not quite finished yet and what’s coming. It’s been a difficult year for human rights here at home in the United States and all around the world.
Obviously, the elections were very divisive, and there was so much in human rights terms at stake in these elections.
I think of refugee and migrant rights which are under threat now more than ever.
I think about reproductive rights and how much is at stake. We’re proud that we helped to get a ballot passed in Arizona to protect abortion rights in the Constitution and to see it passed in six other states, but there’s so much work that needs to be done.
On the international front, we are working hard and deeply concerned about human rights in Israel and Gaza and the West Bank, in Ukraine, across sub-Saharan Africa.
I think of those who have been traveling across the Americas in the hope of getting sanctuary in the United States—and the danger of that journey and the hardship that they must now know in that they’re far from safe once they get to the border and begin the process of officially seeking sanctuary.
We have so much work to do in 2025.
What makes Amnesty different is not just our deep research and history of putting evidence and truth in front of policymakers, but our people power that helps them understand how important it is to so many people how politically relevant it is to act on a human rights framework and set of values. So that’s all about you.
I want to say thank you for the work that you’ve done with us, for the times you’ve chosen to lift your voice, and for the support you give us that allows others to lift their voices.
It’s going to be a big year in 2025, and we look forward to working with you on that journey.