Amnesty International Chapter at SFC

Our last Human Rights Lecture Series of the semester will take place virtually this upcoming Thursday. November 18th, 1:20pm - 2:30pm.

Don’t forget to RSVP with the link in our bio!

We are pleased to announce that the Amnesty International Chapter at SFC will be hosting our very first event on campus!!

Join us for a drink and let’s free humans in ICE Detention!
Scan the QR code on the flyer to register or simply walk in; we hope to see you there!

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Excited to announce our first Human Rights Lecture for this semester.

Please use the link in our bio or the QR code to RSVP.

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🟡 THE AMNESTY JOURNAL🟡

Swipe left to see our third newsletter, with current human rights news.

FULL ARTICLES BELLOW:

Chinese Government is responsible for Human Rights abuses against minorities

A Human Rights Watch report stated that China’s government, over the past years, has been committing different human rights abuses against the Turkic Muslim population in Xinjiang. This population has been the target of forced labor, detention, torture, enforced disappearances, mass surveillance, cultural and religious erasure, separation of families, and sexual violence, which clearly goes against Human Rights’ norms. This aggressively statal behavior has been often justified by the “legitimate use of force” of the State when it is clearly an ethnic cleaning.
Human Rights Watch and the Stanford Human Rights Clinic urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to create a commission to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity, identify officials responsible for abuses, and making them accountable for their acts.

Center of Human Rights in Iran releases a letter of help for Joe Bidden

On May 10th, 2021, the Center of Human Rights in Iran released a letter asking the U.S. President, Joe Bidden, to recognize Iranian’s interests when negotiation U.S. national security interests.
According to the U.S. State Department’s 2020 annual human rights report: “The government of Iran severely restricted freedom of speech and of the press as well as using the law to intimidate or prosecute people who directly criticized the government or raised human rights problems.” Also, in 2020, PEN America found that Iran imprisoned several writers and public intellectuals in the world—with 19 jailed across the country. Creative professionals, such as writers, musicians, filmmakers, photographers, and even fashion models have been targeted by the government as by their reports they can criticize the state and help civilians to develop a more sensitive critical sense. Also, women and LGBTQ+ individuals have been persecuting because of their sexual orientation. As of today, the U.S. Government has not taken any measures to change the situation, therefore, Iran citizens are begging for America to use its power and influence to deterrence Iran and to help its population to be safe.

Demonstrations in Colombia

Since the end of April, thousands of people across Colombia have been protesting against government corruption, widespread inequality and poverty, and police brutality.
According to Reuters, it all started on April 28, when labor unions began a strike against tax reform introduced by President Iván Duque Márquez,. Thousands took the streets of more than 50 cities, including Bogotá, Medellin, Cali, Barranquilla, Cartagena, and Valle de Cauca, to protest the government's reform law.
Much damage was done, starting with at least 42 dead, 165 missings according to the NGO Temblores reports. The Colombian government responded to the protests by taking the army and security units to the streets, especially in densely populated cities. The president also signed a law allowing mayors to request military presence on the streets, arguing that this would prevent rebel groups and drug traffickers from influencing the protests. The protests also prevented the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines and food in some parts of the country, which will also worsen the situation in the country's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Amnesty International is warning of targeted violence on protesters where cases of sexual abuse by the Mobile Anti-Riot Squad of Colombia (ESMAD) have been reported and the use of excessive force such as shooting into a crowd of demonstrators.

Continuation of Israel-Palestine conflict

The Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip continued on Friday (May 14th, 2021) with airstrikes and artillery salvos, despite international calls for peace. The Israeli army hastened the gathering of soldiers and tanks near the border with the Palestinian territory it is under siege. Al Jazeera's Safwat Al Khalout of Gaza reports that since midnight local time, Israeli troops have been gathering en masse at the border. The potential for a new escalation was given by at least three rockets fired from the south of Lebanon towards Israel.
The latest casualties have increased the death toll since Monday to 119, of which at least 31 are children. More than 600 people were injured. On the other hand, at least six Israelis and one Indian citizen were killed. The Israeli army states that hundreds of rockets were fired from Gaza towards various locations in Israel. There are also increasingly violent clashes between Jewish Israelis and Palestinian residents of Israel in several Israeli cities.
Israeli airstrikes destroyed or severely damaged more than 200 housing units in the Gaza Strip, while 24 schools suffered damage, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The agency said the escalation of the conflict affects access to water, sanitation, health care, and the fight against COVID 19. The UN office has noted that the North Gaza seawater desalination plant is still out of order, affecting about 250,000 people not having access to clean drinking water. Another 230,000 people from Gaza City and Khan Younis have limited access to water due to growing power outages and damage to networks, according to OCHA.
Individuals involved in the new outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed could be the target of an ongoing International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into earlier alleged war crimes in the two sides' conflicts, ICC chief prosecutor Faatou Bensouda told Reuters.
An Egyptian delegation that met with Israeli officials to mediate the ceasefire talks has not achieved any positive results; an Egyptian security source told the DPA. The UN Security Council has scheduled a virtual public meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Sunday, diplomats said on Thursday night, according to AFP. This meeting, originally scheduled for Friday, was requested by Tunisia, Norway, and China. The United States, which blocked Friday's session and planned to hold it early next week, agreed to hold it on Sunday. Preventing the continuation of the conflict is crucial because civilians on both sides are paying the price.

Food crisis in Yemen

The malnutrition of the population, primarily children, has become increasingly dangerous since the beginning of the war in Yemen in 2015. The price of food is jumping, diseases and infections are more and more present, normal life has practically become an abstract concept.
The rate of child malnutrition is one of the highest in the world and the nutrition situation continues to deteriorate. A recent survey showed that almost one-third of families have gaps in their diets, and hardly ever consume foods like pulses, vegetables, fruit, dairy products, or meat. Malnutrition rates among women and children in Yemen remain among the highest in the world, with 1.2 million pregnant or breastfeeding women and 2.3 million children under 5 requiring treatment for acute malnutrition (UN WFP report).
Many food-providing programs have been underfunded and their humanitarian assistance has no longer become sufficient to address this problem. According to the United Nations, $1.9 billion is needed to save lives and for people, especially children in Yemen, to have meals provided and thus stop famine.

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🟡 THE AMNESTY JOURNAL🟡

Swipe left to see our second newsletter, with current human rights news.

Full articles below:

1) Brazil Faces a Hunger Epidemic

Hunger has always been a problem in Brazil, one which many tourists might not see. When going to Downtown Rio, for instance, it is easily perceptible how this issue is a characteristic of this city, just as its beauty and beaches. There are thousands of people sleeping on the streets and begging for money and now, with the pandemic and the lockdowns, things are even worse.
From the start of the outbreak, Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been very skeptical of the disease’s impact and the citizens have been the ones directly suffering the consequences of his acts. The lack of concern with the dangerousness regarding the new virus, made it spread even more in Brazil, as many of Bolsonaro’s followers dismissed the importance of using masks and respecting social distancing. The situation in the country called the attention of several authorities around the globe and, as a consequence, many cities have declared lockdown for months, businesses have closed, and many individuals have been fired because of the lack of money coming in.
Last year, an emergency governmental fund helped put food on the table of millions of Brazilians — but when the money was scaled back sharply this year, with a debt crisis looming, many pantries were left bare. About 19 million people have gone hungry over the past year — nearly twice the 10 million who did so in 2018.

2) Crimes Against Asian America on Rise

After the breakout of the COVID Virus, the number of assaults reported by Asian Americans rose drastically. Because the pandemic was first felt in Wuhan, China, and because the former president Donald Trump called it a “Chinese Virus”, many American civilians have blamed Asian Americans for the spread of the Corona Virus. From March to May 2020 alone, over 800 COVID-related hate incidents were reported from 34 counties in the states, according to a report released by the Asian Pacific Policy Planning Council.
According to Amanda Nguyen, an activist and the founder of the Rise Civil Rights Not-for-Profit Organization, the visibility anti-Asian crimes receive is pretty good because this group is not even considered a social minority and, therefore, little attention is given to their situation.
The fact that so many people have been attacked in the prior year and in 2021, makes it an urgent issue for Biden’s Administration, as now Asian Americans are also being disrespected and mistreated. The advocacy group Stop AAPI Hate said it received more than 2,800 reports of hate incidents directed at Asian Americans nationwide last year, which shows that is more than time for re-education and change of behavior for a certain group of American People.

3) The COVID Pandemic hasn’t been enough to stop Death Penalties

Even during a time when the world’s attention has been focused on saving human’s life from a deadly virus, some countries pursued or even increased the number of death penalties, indicating a severe disregard for human rights. The 2020 ex*****oners included Egypt, which tripled its yearly ex*****on figure compared to the previous year, and China.
Although the overall number of ex*****ons has decreased in 2020 because of the pandemic - at least 483 people were known to have been executed in 2020, which represents a decrease of 26% compared to 2019, and 70% from the high-peak of 1,634 ex*****ons in 2015 - it is incredibly sad how countries decided to keep their agenda regarding death penalties. The necessity to advocate for a change is urgent as these death sentences are putting the lives of many social minorities at risk, as these are often cases of people who were misjudged and were innocent despite their death sentence.

4) Children at risk in Central African Republic

Child displacement in Central African Republic is getting worse every day since the year 2014. UN reported that at least 168,000 children were forced to leave their homes after widespread violence and unsafe atmosphere caused by the general election of last December. Children are at risk of exposure to sexual and physical violence, illegal recruitment by armed forces, increasing rates of malnutrition, and lack of basic and essential services.
One of the main problems is the recruitment of children by armed forces, which presents a serious violation of universal child rights. Report shows 584 out of a total of 792 cases documented only in 2020 (UN). Another problem is nutrition. At least 24,000 children under five, across 14 of the Central African Republic’s 35 health districts, are at risk of severe acute malnutrition following the recent spike in violence across the country (UNICEF).
However, there is a major concern because humanitarian workers reported many incidents and violence that they are facing; 115 reported by OCHA which significantly increased since 2020. This caused a reduction in humanitarian aid and presence in Central African Republic. Limited food supplies and poor roads are also one of the issues that are preventing humanitarian workers from solving the Child Crisis in Central African Republic.

5) Violence in Somalia

After Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed moved to extend his term last week, fighting between pro-government forces and opposition military units started in the capital Mogadishu. According to UN reports, local skirmishes are spreading to other parts of the country, which could lead to the rise of extremist group al Shabaab that can easily take advantage of the country’s political divisions.
The UN urges that this problem should be resolved as soon as possible in order to avoid consequences that could be bad for the region. The Spokesperson for Secretary-General, António Guterres, issued a statement of deep concern over the armed clashes and reiterated the UN chief’s call for all Somali combatants to avoid and stop further violence to resolve their differences through dialogue and compromise (UN report).

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April is Sexual Assault Awareness month. Use your voice to prevent it.

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Happy ! 🌎🌏🌍💚

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🟡THE AMNESTY JOURNAL🟡

Very excited to launch our bi-weekly newsletter, where we will present you with the latest top stories related to Human Rights.

Full articles below:

1) Dangerous Conditions at ICE Detentions

Last week, the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog agency released a damning report that shed new light on dangerous conditions at La Palma Correctional Center, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Eloy, Arizona. The Office of Inspector General reported that the facilities failed to provide basic humane conditions and preventions to the COVID-19 virus

Even after protests against those conditions, nothing has been done and a Core Civic guard told protestors he “did not care for who died and who lived”. During Trump’s administration, the number of immigrants held in ICE Detention was very high and many families were separated, as some of their members were deported - even during the pandemic breakdown. Biden is working hard to change that panorama - in March, ICE arrested 2,214 undocumented immigrants, down from 6,679 in December, Trump's last full month in office, but there is still a lot to be done, especially with those who are currently under ICE facilities and deserve to be treated as humans.

2) R**e is Being Used as a Weapon in Ethiopia’s War

In Tigray, an autonomous region in Ethiopia, a grinding civil war has been accompanied by a parallel wave of atrocities including widespread sexual assault targeting women. According to Tigrayan women, soldiers have been doing an ethnic cleansing as a tentative measure of preventing the birth of more Tigrayans.
Soldiers get into their houses abruptly and lock women so they can abuse them, which not only goes against their basic rights but also hurts their religious beliefs. Mona Lisa, an 18-year-old Ethiopian high school graduate, survived an attempted r**e that left her with seven gunshot wounds and an amputated arm, her case is not the only one.
Although the United Nations and some countries, like the U.S., have acted in favor of Tigrayans, the situation there is very bad, as it is under the State of Emergency and sexual diseases have spread all over the region due to the large numbers of r**es.

3) Protests in Myanmar Get More Violent

On February 1st, a coup d’état was set in Myanmar, deposing elected members of the country’s ruling party. Tatmadaw – Myanmar’s military – declared a year-long State of Emergency, claiming that the elections have been invalid, although the majority of the population was satisfied with it. Since then, civilians have strict access to the internet and have been targets of extreme violence when protesting against the new government, military forces have also taken all the vaccines destined for elderly people.

As of April 10th, 2020, at least 705 civilians, including children, have been killed by military or police forces and at least 3,070 people detained. Three prominent National League for Democracy (one of the political party in the country) members also died while in police custody in March 2021: "It is like genocide." - Myanmar Now news outlet quoted protester organizer Ye Htut - "They are shooting at every shadow."

The U.S. ambassador on the UN on Friday called for the international community to take "concrete action" against Myanmar's military forces, including imposing an arms embargo and sanctions.

4) Cameroon Against LGBT People:

On April 14, 2021, Human Rights Watch, an organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights, reported that in the past two months, members of the LGBT community were arrested and detained in Cameroon because of their sexual orientation. Cameroonian security forces, without any basis, arrested, beat, or threatened at least 24 people for having same-sex relations and conducts, and those who simply identify as part of the LGBT community, among the 24 arrested is a 17-year-old boy. Some of the arrested people were made to undergo HIV testing and a**l examinations.
Cameroonian NGOs constantly monitor and document organized police actions against gay, le***an, bisexual, and transgender people. It is known that Cameroon has laws that criminalize people who engage in same-sex consensual relationships for at least five years in prison, but no law allows persecution for simply identifying as part of the LGBT community which is what the Cameroonian forces are doing.
Cameroon authorities have not yet answered questions asked by human rights organizations on the issue. But one thing is for sure; LGBT people face a rising anti-LGBT atmosphere every day that calls into question their lives, integrity, and basic universal human rights.

5) Tanzania fails to help Burundian refugees:

Burundian refugees in Tanzania live in constant fear that they will be abducted by Tanzanian security forces in the middle of the night and taken to unknown locations. Even worse, to forcibly return them to Burundi, where they are seen as political opponents.
Nearly 150,000 who escaped the deadly clashes in Burundi have fled to Tanzania. The Tanzanian government has enforced strict asylum laws; which Burundi refugees must follow thoroughly. Allegedly, some political opponents, at the requests of the Burundian government, were returned to Burundi by Tanzanian police. Such action is violating international law, where refugees have the right to seek asylum in another country.
The United Nations is putting pressure on the Tanzanian government, which is aware of the situation, to stop violating human rights and to do something as soon as possible to prevent further violations of international law. The UN is also urging the Burundian government to stop persecuting its citizens and Burundian refugees that are in other countries’ asylums.





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This upcoming Thursday, April 22nd, SFC International, in partnership with other institutional departments at SFC will be hosting the third event of the Human Rights Lecture Series. Our guest speaker will be Paul O'Brien, who will join President Miguel Martinez-Saenz on a discussion on human inequality and distribution of power. The discussion will be based on his book "Power Switch", you can learn more about it in our post from last week.

LINK to REGISTER https://www.eventbrite.com/e/power-switch-how-to-reverse-extreme-inequality-in-the-world-tickets-146642344199

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Join us this upcoming Wednesday, April 21st for another Forum on Migration event! This time we will be hosting Sam Dinga, as he will discuss his coming to America. Make sure to RSVP to the event with the link below:

https://sfcfomep3.eventbrite.com

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Meet Paul O'Brien, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, who is out next guest on the SFC Human Rights Lecture Series, that will happen next Thursday, April 22, 1:20p.m. On his discussion with SFC’s President Miguel Martinez-Saenz he will discuss his recently published book: “Power Switch: How We Can Reverse Extreme Inequality.

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