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In response to reports that a 7-year-old Guatemalan girl has died of dehydration and exhaustion after being taken into Border Patrol Custody, Amnesty International tactical campaigns manager Ashley Houghton issued this statement:

“What wouldn’t you do to save your family’s life? This child’s father made a dangerous journey spanning almost 2,000 miles in hopes of ensuring safety and security for himself and his daughter. When ports of entry are all but closed, forcing asylum seekers to wait for weeks just to seek protection, families will be forced into taking more dangerous routes to reach the United States.

“This was not the first death at the southern border and sadly, it will not be the last. Children seeking protection should never be detained. There must be a thorough and transparent investigation into the circumstances around her death.

In response to the decree by Nicaragua’s National Assembly cancelling the legal registration of the Nicaraguan Centre for Human Rights (CENIDH) today, Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas director at Amnesty International, said:

“Attacking the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights (CENIDH) and cancelling its legal registration, is another repressive maneuver by President Daniel Ortega to try to cover up the serious human rights violations that his government has committed. Those who denounce the atrocities committed by his government are being punished in Nicaragua. President Ortega is wrong if he believes he will be able to evade justice by trying to silence CENIDH.”

“It’s extremely alarming that organizations with the trajectory and legitimacy of CENIDH are being persecuted. By cancelling their registration, the government leaves the people of Nicaragua defenseless, preventing organizations from representing victims or fighting for their demands for justice and accountability. Today is a very sad day for the defence of human rights in the region.”

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Responding to news that the warring parties in Yemen have agreed to a ceasefire for the port city of Hodeidah, Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s Middle East Director of Research said:

“Today’s announcement of a ceasefire agreement in Hodeidah brings hope to millions of civilians who are heavily dependent on the port for access to essential goods and humanitarian aid.

“The conflict has had a devastating impact in terms of interrupting vital supplies in and around Hodeidah. Both parties to the conflict have deliberately impeded humanitarian assistance in violation of international humanitarian law. They must now provide prompt and unhindered access to UN agencies and humanitarian organizations to deliver food, fuel, medicines and medical supplies to civilians in desperate need across Yemen.

“We call on the international community to strengthen the UN’s efforts to end gross violations of international law committed by all parties to the conflict and ensure justice and reparation for victims.”

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Update

Between 7 and 10 December 2018 in various media articles, South Sudan’s government denied Amnesty International’s findings about the use of the death penalty. In one article, government spokesperson Ateny Wek Ateny said that no one had been executed in South Sudan since 2011 and that the government had put a moratorium on the death penalty since 2013. In the same article, he however said “If you kill a person, you will be executed.” In another article, Ateny said “the South Sudan government cannot carry out executions because it has signed the international charter.” In response to Amnesty’s finding that a person who had been a child at the time of the crime was amongst the seven people executed in 2018, Ateny said that "the culture of South Sudan cannot accept it."

US lawmakers must press Google CEO Sundar Pichai on the company’s disturbing plans for a censored search app in China, Amnesty International said ahead of Pichai’s appearance before Congress.

Pichai is due to testify in Congress over allegations of political bias in Google’s search algorithm. The tech giant also faces questions over its prototype search engine for the Chinese market codenamed Project Dragonfly which would blacklist search terms like “human rights” and facilitate Chinese authorities in targeting dissidents online.  

“Sundar Pichai has some serious questions to answer tomorrow. How can Google square Project Dragonfly with its own human rights commitments? Does Google care more about profits than people? Will Google listen to the outcry of protest from its own workforce over its China plans?” said Joe Westby, Technology and Human Rights Researcher at Amnesty International.

Following guilty verdicts today in the case of 15 people tried in relation to their attempt to prevent what they believed was the unlawful deportation of a group of people at Stansted Airport last year, Amnesty International has reiterated its strong concern over the decision to charge the human rights defenders with a terrorism-related offence.

The 15 people - known as the “Stansted 15” - took non-violent direct action at Stansted in March 2017 to prevent the deportation of 60 people on a charter flight bound for Ghana and Nigeria.

The Stansted 15’s actions prevented the flight from leaving. Of the 60 individuals due to have been deported, ten are currently pursuing asylum claims in the UK, and at least one has since been granted permission to remain in the UK.

Amnesty International welcomes the release today of the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee Against Torture, following last month’s review of Canada’s record of compliance with the United Nations Convention against Torture, the first such review since 2012.