Tag Archives: Americas

Honduran Government Moves to Silence Indigenous Activists

September 18, 2013 at 10:27 AM
'Thank you for your solidarity' from the Civic Council of the Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) (Photo Credit: COPINH).

‘Thank you for your solidarity’ from the Civic Council of the Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) (Photo Credit: COPINH).

Last week, Amnesty issued an urgent action ahead of the September 12 hearing in Honduras against three indigenous leaders working on environmental issues: Bertha Cáceres, Tomás Gómez and Aureliano Molina.

They are all members of the Civic Council of the Indigenous and Popular Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). Cáceres is the general coordinator of COPINH, and both Gómez and Molina work at a community radio station, Lencas’ Voice (La Voz Lenca). Amnesty has called the government’s charges of usurpation, coercion and continued damages against these Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)“unfounded.” These accusations are connected to COPINH’s opposition to a hydro-electric project on indigenous land.

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5 Things You Should Know About Enforced Disappearances

August 30, 2013 at 1:44 PM
Activists hold lighted candles during a vigil on International Day of the Disappeared in Sri Lanka, where some 12,000 complaints of enforced disappearances have been submitted to the U.N. since the 1980s (Photo Credit: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images).

Activists hold lighted candles during a vigil on International Day of the Disappeared in Sri Lanka, where some 12,000 complaints of enforced disappearances have been submitted to the U.N. since the 1980s (Photo Credit: Lakruwan Wanniarachchi/AFP/Getty Images).

Every year in dozens of countries around the world, thousands of men, women and children are detained by state authorities for no reason, never to be seen again. They are the “disappeared.” In 2012 alone, Amnesty International documented such cases in 31 countries.

Here are five facts you should know on August 30, International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.

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Guantanamo Bay: When Will We Wake Up?

July 29, 2013 at 2:00 PM
Demonstrators take part in a rally to call for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center (Photo Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images).

Demonstrators take part in a rally to call for the closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention center (Photo Credit: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images).

By Saira Khan, Intern at Amnesty International USA’s Security & Human Rights Program

I was born and raised in New York. My mother is originally from Pakistan and my father is from India. My parents and I are Muslim. From a young age, I had the impression that most Americans did not know much about my culture or religion.

During the September 11 attacks, I was in fifth grade. I can distinctly remember a classmate calling me a terrorist in the following days. While I knew that he did not realize the gravity of his accusations, I also understood that his words represented a new perspective held by many Americans regarding Muslims. As I have gotten older, this stereotypical outlook has been reinforced through my personal experiences.

Many Americans assume that all of the prisoners at Guantanamo must be guilty of something, and therefore are deserving of the conditions in which they live. The reality is that most detainees in Guantanamo Bay detention facility have never been charged, and none fairly tried. Yet they are all still being punished. I’m concerned that the passive acceptance of Guantanamo in our country is a manifestation of latent discrimination toward Muslims. This is a travesty, especially for America, the supposed “land of the free.”

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5 Reasons President Obama Should Release Leonard Peltier

July 17, 2013 at 1:45 PM
Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier

Leonard Peltier was a leading member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), an activist group that was involved in promoting the rights of “traditionalist” Indians during a period of intense conflict in the 1970s. On June 26, 1975, during a confrontation involving AIM members on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota, FBI agents Ronald Williams and Jack Coler were shot dead.

Leonard Peltier was convicted of their murders in 1977 and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. Leonard Peltier does not deny that he was present during the incident. However, he has always denied killing the agents as was alleged by the prosecution at his trial. Here are 5 reasons he should be released:

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Where is Honduran Journalist Anibal Barrow?

June 27, 2013 at 12:10 PM
Honduran journalist Anibal Barrow (right) speaks with Honduran Presidential candidate for the Liberal Party, Mauricio Villeda, during an interview in San Pedro Sula (Photo Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images).

Honduran journalist Anibal Barrow (right) speaks with Honduran Presidential candidate for the Liberal Party, Mauricio Villeda, during an interview in San Pedro Sula (Photo Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images).

Anibal Barrow, a Honduran journalist for TV Globo, was last seen on Monday, June 24, when three armed men stopped the vehicle he was riding in with family members. The assailants released his relatives, but commandeered the car and took Barrow with them.

That was the last that Barrow’s family saw of him. They reported the abduction to the authorities, but have not received any ransom demands. All they have heard is that the car was later found with bullet holes and traces of blood. There was no sign of Anibal Barrow, however.

The lack of ransom demands, as well the gunmen’s lack of interested in the other passengers, adds to fears that Barrow was attacked because of his journalistic activities. Amnesty International reports that Barrow had recently interviewed three candidates in the nation’s upcoming elections, including a union leader, about the 4th anniversary of the 2009 coup. CNBC has reported that Anibal Barrow’s son is also running in the elections.

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