Blog

By Amnesty Americas Media Manager Tuncan Tucker

Jessica Silva and her husband Jaime Torres were driving through Delicias, a town in the northern state of Chihuahua, late on 8 September when members of Mexico’s National Guard attacked them.

That afternoon they had joined thousands of agricultural workers in a tense protest at La Boquilla, a nearby dam, to defend their right to water. The National Guard fired tear gas at the demonstrators, who were armed with bats, poles and rocks. Undeterred, the protesters managed to seize control of the dam, forcing the soldiers to retreat. 

As Silva and Torres made their way home that night, members of the National Guard opened fire on their vehicle. A witness told Amnesty International he saw two National Guard trucks pass by and heard five or six gunshots. Torres, a walnut and alfalfa farmer, was seriously wounded, while Silva, a 35-year-old homemaker and agricultural worker with three teenage children, died instantly.

By Charlene Scharf, Health Network Co-Coordinator

As we follow the crest of the second wave, and on the eve of the annual flu season, concerns are rising over the new pressures that will come to bear on the health care system. The vital healthcare workers across the health systems from long term care homes to hospitals and all in between have already faced unprecedented pressures and risks since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was clearly outlined in the International Council of Nurses (ICN) Report highlighting the alarming burden of disease and deaths from COVID-19 which discussed collected data globally in mid-August, 2020. It found that of the 52 national nursing associations in 50 countries, the infection rates for healthcare workers ranged from 1% to 30 % of all COVID-19 cases. The average rate was 10%. An alarming statistic from the study revealed “across 44 countries, there were 1097 deaths among nurses with the possibility of the actual deaths being much higher.”

From November 21-22, Saudi Arabia hosted the G20 Leaders’ Summit. The Summit brought together some of the wealthiest and most powerful countries in the world, including Canada, to address global issues. We let Canada and other G20 member states know that if they didn't make women's rights and freedoms their business at the G20, they'd legitimize Saudi Arabia's atrocious human rights record. We called on G20 member states to #UnmuteSaudiVoices & #FreeSaudiFeminists

On November 24, Saudi Arabia announced a trial hearing for the five jailed women human rights defenders. The hearing was held on November 25 and instead of releasing Loujain, the court moved her case to the Specialized Criminal Court (anti-terrorism court). In the wake of this news, we need to keep up our activism even though the G20 Leaders' Summit has now passed!

By Gustavo Gatica* 

My life changed completely on Nov. 8 last year.

That day, Carabinero officers—members of the Chilean National Police—shot me in both eyes, leaving me completely blind.

Why did they shoot me? For exercising my right to protest.

Before that day, I was an ordinary student from Santiago, studying psychology, playing basketball, riding my bike and playing the bass.

That day, I was participating in a mass social demonstration, part of a wave of protests that began on Oct. 18 2019 to change a system that is based on inequality. The protests started due to an increase in the price of public transport, but that was just the trigger after decades of injustice. We took to the streets to change that, to demand more equal access to health and education, and better pensions.