Hey super activist.
You’ve defended dignity, spoken out against injustice, and probably even helped save a life by taking action with Amnesty.
Here’s what’s next: Amnesty’s Human Rights Conference & Annual General Meeting in Chicago April 4-6.
In just a few weeks, we will unite in Chicago to fire up this movement and tackle some of the biggest human rights challenges of our time.
The Central African Republic has been torn apart by bloody sectarian clashes since Muslim rebels ousted president Francois Bozize in March 2013 and replaced him with their leader Michel Djotodia, who was himself forced out last month (Photo Credit: Fred Dufour/AFP/Getty Images).
By Natalia Taylor Bowdoin, Central African Republic Country Specialist
Last week, Amnesty met with the President of the Central African Republic – a country where clashes between the Christian majority and Muslim minority have resulted in war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
Christian militias are carrying out violent attacks in an effort to drive Muslims from the country. In response, Amnesty is demanding that international peacekeeping forces stop the violence and station troops in towns where Muslims are threatened.
Revelations about President Obama’s mass spying program have brought people across the political spectrum together calling for reform. The latest example is today’s Day We Fight Back Against Mass Surveillance.
It’s an international coalition day of action endorsed by groups ranging from progressives to libertarians, Republicans to Democrats – as well as companies like Reddit and non-partisan organizations like Greenpeace, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Amnesty.
Hot off their Grammy win and right before their appearance at our Bringing Human Rights Home Concert at the Barclays Center, Imagine Dragons will be sharing the stage with Melissa McCarthy tonight on Saturday Night Live.
Imagine Dragons won’t be joining Seth Meyers on for his last Weekend Update, but if they were, they would tell you all about our concert on February 5.
On Wednesday, Imagine Dragons will be joining the Flaming Lips, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tegan and Sara, The Fray, Cold War Kids, Colbie Caillat and Cake to take the stage for human rights.
Madonna, Blondie, Peter Gabriel, Bob Geldof, Yoko Ono, Susan Sarandon and Sting will be joining us on February 5th at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn!
These six artists have lent their fame to the cause of human rights for decades and join a new generation of artist-activists, including Imagine Dragons, following their stellar Grammy performance.
Peter Gabriel and Youssou N’Dour performing onstage at the Human Rights Now! concert (Photo Credit: Ken Regan/Neal Preston for Amnesty International).
By Paul Paz y Miño, Amnesty International USA’s Colombia Country Specialist
Growing up with a Quaker education always led me towards social justice, but it was music that opened the door to Amnesty for me. I’ve been an active member of Amnesty International USA and a volunteer leader for more than half my life and it all started at the Human Rights Now! Tour in Philly in 1988.
Having already been a huge Peter Gabriel and Genesis fan, I was absolutely not going to miss his performance and especially looked forward to his human rights anthem “Biko.” Adding to that, with Sting, Bruce Springsteen, Youssou N’Dour and Tracy Chapman – artists with a strong and ongoing commitment to human rights – the show was unlike anything I had ever seen.
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Got special plans for Feb. 5th?
I do – I’ll be at Amnesty’s Bringing Human Rights Home Concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn!
Imagine Dragons, Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Fray, The Flaming Lips, Tegan and Sara, Cold War Kids, Colbie Caillat, Cake and other special guests will be there – and I hope you will be there, too!
Make a contribution of $25 or whatever you can to Amnesty International USA and be automatically entered to win concert tickets and backstage passes for you and a guest to the #AmnestyConcert.
Good news! Amnesty’s iconic Human Rights Concert series will be returning on February 5 with a Bringing Human Rights Home concert at the Barclays Center.
The Flaming Lips, Imagine Dragons, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Tegan and Sara, The Fray, Cold War Kids, Colbie Caillat, Cake and more will be there with us, showing a new generation of activists how to stand up for justice at home and abroad.
By Natalie Butz, Communications Specialist at Amnesty International USA
It’s rare Amnesty activists get a moment to stop and take a breath. But with the start of a new year comes the opportunity to take stock of the progress we’ve made and the successes we helped accomplish in 2013. There’s still much to be done, but we hope the list below will help inspire all of us in the year to come:
Yorm Bopha was 29 when she was arrested on September 4, 2012 on spurious charges. She is a prominent activist from the Boeung Kak Lake community who is facing up to five years’ imprisonment if found guilty at her trial. She is a prisoner of conscience (Photo Credit: Jenny Holligan).
1. In 52 years, Amnesty International activists have helped free tens of thousands of Prisoners of Conscience around the world. In 2013, we continued that trend. Human rights activists freed this year included Yorm Bopha in Cambodia, Kartam Joga in India, Filipino poet Ericson Acosta, Yemeni journalist Abdul Ilah Haydar Shayi’ and Iranian human rights attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh.
The imprisoned members of Pussy Riot have been freed! Today, Nadezhda “Nadya” Tolokonnikova and Maria “Masha” Alyokhinam of the Russian feminist punk group, were officially released in compliance with a new amnesty bill approved by the Russian parliament.
This is great news (though it does not end the struggle for human rights in Russia)!
From the early days following the arrests of three Pussy Riot members (Nadya, Masha and a third member, Ekaterina “Katya” Samutsevich) for performing a protest song at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow, Amnesty International has been involved in the effort to unconditionally free the punk rockers!