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Vanessa Parra, Director of Media Relations
Gabriela Arias, Press Officer
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Iranian and Turkish security forces have repeatedly pushed back Afghans who attempt to cross their borders to reach safety, including by unlawfully opening fire on men, women and children, Amnesty International said today. In a new report, They don’t treat us like humans, the organization also documents numerous instances - mostly at the Iranian border - where security forces have shot directly at people as they climbed over walls or crawled under fences. Afghans who do manage to enter Iran or Turkey are routinely arbitrarily detained, and subjected to torture and other ill-treatment before being unlawfully and forcibly returned.
Any moves by Russian-backed armed groups to try Ukrainian prisoners of war in a so-called ‘international tribunal’ in Mariupol are illegal and abusive, and a further act of cruelty against a city that has already suffered extensively under Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Amnesty International said today.
In response to today’s announcement from the U.S. Department of Defense on its new policy on civilian harm prevention and response, Daphne Eviatar, Security with Human Rights Director at Amnesty International USA, said:
The government of Russia must end its war of aggression in Ukraine, which began six months ago today, and the international community must hold those responsible for the Russian military’s war crimes accountable. The scale of devastation caused by this war of aggression thus far demands countries around the world do more to provide humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian people still in country and those seeking refuge abroad.
As human rights defenders, it is our duty to shine a spotlight on human rights abuses when they are committed, no matter who is the offending party. In recent months, Amnesty International has documented the war of aggression by Russia in nearly two dozen outputs, and also investigated how the Ukrainian military has put Ukrainian civilians at risk in an extended press release.
Ukrainian forces have put civilians in harm’s way by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals, as they repelled the Russian invasion that began in February, Amnesty International said today.
In response to United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s announced trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, Kate Hixon, Africa Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA, said:
Authorities in Myanmar’s prisons and interrogation centres routinely subject people detained for resisting the 2021 military coup to torture and other cruel or degrading treatment, Amnesty International said today in a new briefing, more than a year and a half after the power grab shattered the country’s halting transition to civilian rule.
The New York Police Department (NYPD) has been ordered to disclose thousands of records of how the force procured and used facial recognition technology against Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters, after the New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of Amnesty International and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) on their joint Article 78 lawsuit.
In response to today’s House of Representatives vote to ban assault weapons, Amnesty International USA submitted this statement urging approval of the Assault Weapons Ban of 2022 H.R. 1808:
Amnesty International USA’s Media Team helps journalists with background, expert interviews, and other information. Reach them at [email protected]
