Breaking News!

Please check out our recently released report entitled Indefensible: A Reference for Prosecuting Torture and Other Felonies Committed by U.S. Officials Following September 11th. More than ten years after the onset of the Bush Administration’s post-9/11 anti-terrorism policies, not a single torture survivor has succeeded in holding a top government official accountable in a U.S. court for the approval and use of torture. See the press release, and access the full report on our homepage!

Refused: Return to Sender

An asylum-seeker from Venezuela wrote to Human Rights USA asking for information to support his asylum claim. His request was marked October 19th. According to the package we sent to him that was returned to us, he was deported on October 20th.

Please consider making a donation on Wednesday, November 9th through our Give to the Max Day profile, so that we can continue working on behalf of asylum-seekers, so that those fleeing dangerous situations aren't deported back to them.

Give to the Max Day is November 9th- We Need You!

We need you on November 9th. Every donation will put us closer to claiming our share of $100,000 in cash prizes, so that we can continue making international human rights a national reality!

Pro-Democracy Activist Granted Asylum!

“He was detained again for approximately 30 days, and was again beaten while in custody, interrogated about his political activities opposing the Cameroonian government, and accused of plotting to overthrow the current regime.”

We congratulate Lindsay Harrison of Jenner & Block LLP, on the immigration court’s decision last week to grant asylum to Jean Marc Nken, a pro-democracy activist who came to the United States from Cameroon in 2001.

Mr. Nken’s case spanned ten years, and Ms. Harrison’s advocacy set important precedent’s that will save refugees’ lives.

Jean Marc was granted asylum on October 25, 2011. We are delighted for Jean Marc, his wife, and his son, who can now live in freedom.

Read more about Jean Marc’s case, and the role that Human Rights USA played.

Human rights defenders at risk more than ever

Today, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) released its 14th Annual Report on the situation of human rights defenders during a press conference held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. While the revolutions that took place in the Arab world in 2011 reminded the international community of the emergency to put the issue of human rights back at the top of its political agenda, utmost attention must be paid to the alerts made by human rights defenders worldwide, and no compromise must be made towards the harassment they face.

The release of the Annual Report is a key momentum of the daily activity of the Observatory. This report tells of the struggle of human rights defenders in about 70 countries - civil society activists, journalists, trade-unionists, lawyers or simple citizens “indignant” at injustice, arbitrariness, or horror.

The document highlights the universality of the claims raised by the “Arab Spring”. As pointed out by Stéphane Hessel and Aung San Suu Kyi in the foreword to the report, “everywhere, respect for human rights was at the heart of the peoples’ claims, (…) These movements did not feed on identity, religious or cultural politics, but were rather founded on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (…)”.

“At the same time”, FIDH President Souhayr Belhassen says, “human rights defenders are more than ever at risk. As the Report is being published, the blood bath continues in Syria, in Libya and in Yemen. In Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Americas, Asia, human rights defenders are harassed, imprisoned, sometimes tortured”.

For OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock, “far from being recognised for what they are - vital protagonists for change, the guarantors of a free society - human rights defenders are, on the contrary, subjected daily to repression by regimes that are all the harsher for having understood the force and the legitimacy of their claims”. “The present report calls for stronger protection for those involved in human rights and democracy”, he concludes.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), accompanies, follows and protects human rights defenders at risk throughout the year. The World Organization for Human Rights USA is a member of OMCT's network of more than 300 organizations working within their own countries to stop torture.

Guantanamo: Futile Attempts at Justice

Despite an executive order closing down the base and a Supreme Court opinion extending habeas corpus to the detainees, many of the 172 remaining Guantanamo Bay detainees have yet to see any results. Some argue that the holdups and delays are necessary in order to be sure the US does not mistakenly release a terrorist. The United States government has stayed the process of gaining freedom for one detainee by claiming it has new information, allegedly procured recently, that may cause the District Court to reverse its decision granting the right of habeas corpus to this particular detainee. Evidence introduced eight years after the initial arrest, as well as multiple other delays by the government do significant harm to the domestic and international perception of the US legal system. Read the full piece describing this detainee’s case by Human Rights USA’s litigation director, Allison M. Lefrak.

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