Human Rights on Capitol Hill – December 2020 Newsletter

Amnesty International USA calls on the future Biden administration to adopt a bold, transformational strategy that places human rights at the forefront of all domestic and foreign policies. Our suite of 80 policy recommendations cover a wide array of human rights issues – thematic, domestic, international, regional, and country-specific. Our recommendations range from requiring U.S. law enforcement to reserve deadly force as a last resort to providing debt relief to the poorest nations suffering under the COVID-19 pandemic, from ending U.S. arms sales that fuel war crimes abroad to rebuilding a humanitarian protection system that aids people at the U.S. border as well as those seeking safety around the world.  Read our full report and recommendations.

Amnesty International’s Nov. 9 letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) outlines our international human rights priorities for 2021. We urge Congress to pass legislation to protect international human rights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, to block arms sales to the Saudi-UAE coalition engaged in atrocities in Yemen, to halt Myanmar authorities’ atrocities against the Rohingya, to permanently repeal discriminatory immigration and travel bans, and to permanently repeal the Global Gag Rule and Helms Amendment.

Transformative Justice, authored by the Justice Roundtable, details recommendations concerning the criminal legal system: law enforcement, pre-trial and court, drug policy reform, sentencing and prison reform, reentry, clemency, and racial justice and human rights.  

As the U.S. battles the worst pandemic in a century and as the U.S. COVID-19 death toll surpasses 270,000, the President and Congress must come together to pass an urgently needed relief package before the end of 2020. We urge Trump administration officials to accede to an orderly transition to ensure that the incoming administration has access to all information concerning vaccines and other public health matters. 

Amnesty International has sent letters urging Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller to refrain from deploying DHS law enforcement agents and military forces, respectively, in response to any protests related to the recent U.S. presidential election. We call on all lawmakers to condemn incitement to violence; to guarantee the right to peacefully protest and dissent; and to stop gun violence and police violence. 

Ethiopia’s internal turmoil reached new heights as the federal government of Prime Minister Abiy Mohammed launched a full-scale military offensive against the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led regional government in the state of Tigray that no longer recognizes the authority of the federal government after its constitutional term was extended beyond October 10. Both sides have accused each other of atrocities and Amnesty International has already confirmed a massacre where possibly as many as 500 people in Tigray were slaughtered by forces loyal to the TPLF. The Ethiopian government confirmed it had engaged its air force and the TPLF confirmed it had launched missiles in to neighboring Eritrea and in the Ethiopian state of Amhara. Over 45,000 people have fled into neighboring Sudan and there are reports of reprisal attacks against Tigrayans in other parts of the country. 

Amnesty International is calling on both Prime Minister Abiy and the de facto TPLF leadership to take steps to protect civilians, ensure that human rights are respected and allow unimpeded humanitarian access to the support internally displaced persons. 

We urge Congress to provide increased humanitarian assistance to Sudan, call for respect for human rights in Ethiopia, and urge the Trump administration to assemble international, regional, and domestic leaders in Ethiopia to press for an immediate end to the hostilities and engage in inclusive dialogue to nonviolently address the underlying drivers of the conflict. 

Nigeria continues to grapple with youth led demands for accountability and reform of the country’s police in particular the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) While President Buhari disbanded the unit in October, he redeployed members  to other police units around the country and ignored demands for accountability for decades of abuses by SARS members. The government’s brutal response to the protests led over 17 lives lost and scores being detained. While several Nigerian states have launched inquiries in to alleged abuses the Buhari administration is arresting protest organizers, freezing their bank accounts and seizing passports. 

Amnesty international is calling on Congress to support the nonviolent effort to secure police reform. In the House, we urge Members of Congress to support and pass the H. Res. 1216  which was introduced by Representatives Green (D-TX) and Castro (D-TX). In the Senate we are asking senators to join a Dear Colleague letter to President Buhari initiated by Senator Menendez (D-NJ) calling on his administration to respect the right to non-violent protest, and to implement the calls being made protestors.

On Nov. 20, Amnesty International submitted a statement for the Lantos Commission’s hearing on Indigenous rights in the Americas, documenting the threats posed by COVID-19 and large-scale economic projects to the survival of Indigenous communities across the region. Our statement is available here.

In October 2020, Amnesty published a comprehensive investigation documenting government abuses against Chilean people during the historic social protests of 2019. A year after these protests took place, the Chilean people voted to formulate a new constitution. Amnesty International is calling for Chile to adopt a constitution based on respect of and guarantee for human rights and for structural reform to Chile’s police force.