Category: Uncategorized

McGovern to Trump: Don’t do business with Bahrain’s monarchy

U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) is calling on President-elect Trump to stop doing business with foreign governments — including Bahrain’s monarchy.

rep-mcgovernU.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) is calling on President-elect Trump to stop doing business with foreign governments — including Bahrain’s monarchy.

In a letter (PDF) to the President-elect, Rep. McGovern raised serious concerns about the decision to host the Bahraini monarchy’s “national day” this Wednesday at the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC.

Rep. McGovern’s letter to President-elect Trump urges him to “take the following immediate steps:”

  • “Reject all business income from the Bahraini monarchy and any other foreign government.”
  • “Release all correspondence between the Bahraini monarchy and your businesses, including price negotiations and final contracts.”
  • “Release all correspondence between any foreign government and any of your businesses since you announced your campaign for president.”

From the letter:

“The American people deserve a president and White House that will act solely in our country’s interests, not those of any foreign government or business. Your private commercial dealings with repressive governments endanger this fundamental expectation of the president and deeply trouble many who care about human rights. I urge you to immediately and completely end your business dealings with the Bahraini and other foreign governments.”

Full letter text below:

Continue reading “McGovern to Trump: Don’t do business with Bahrain’s monarchy”

Will President Obama put human rights on the agenda during Saudi Arabia summit?

Amnesty International urges President Obama to raise human rights this week in Saudi Arabia.

Amnesty International is calling on President Obama to make human rights a core part of his agenda this week in Saudi Arabia.

Obama-Salman-SaudiPresident Obama is meeting this week with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, along with the heads of state from the Gulf Cooperation Council:  Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, and Qatar.

Read our letter and press release.

Testimony: Syria After 5 Years

How can we put human rights on the agenda for Syrian peace talks? My briefing on Capitol Hill. 7 min audio.

WithSyriaGraphic

This morning I spoke at a Syria briefing in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Organized by Crisis Action, the briefing focused on the 5 year anniversary of the start of the armed conflict in Syria.

Syria: Hope after 5 Years – Justice, Humanitarian Aid and looking to Syria’s Future
Friday March 18, 10:00am-12:00pm

 

 

Briefing Description:

Continue reading “Testimony: Syria After 5 Years”

Quoted: “Qatar leans on K Street connections” in The Hill (Washington DC)

“No amount of PR or lobbying can obscure the underlying realities of labor abuse and exploitation in Qatar. The government of Qatar should invest its resources in fixing these problems, not in trying to hide them from other governments,” said Sunjeev Bery, the advocacy director for Middle East North Africa at Amnesty International USA.

(From Qatar leans on K Street connections, By Megan R. Wilson, The Hill, 06/09/15)

 

45 Members of Congress Urge President Obama to Stand Up for Human Rights in Gulf Monarchies

45 Members of Congress just sent the following letter to President Obama today.  The letter urges him to stand up for human rights in his meetings this week with leaders from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait.   These countries make up the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Amnesty International USA and a diverse range of organizations worked to build support for the effort.

Letter in PDF:

Letter to President Obama

Text of Letter:

Continue reading “45 Members of Congress Urge President Obama to Stand Up for Human Rights in Gulf Monarchies”

Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald speak to Amnesty International in Chicago

Last weekend, Edward Snowden made a surprise appearance via video link at Amnesty International USA’s conference in Chicago.

20140408-090922.jpg

Snowden’s host, Glenn Greenwald, joined in from Brazil:

20140408-091005.jpg

U.S. Senate Committee passes humanitarian aid resolution on Syria

Notes on U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Hearing

Date: Tuesday, April 01, 2014
Time: 02:15 PM
Location: S-116 Capitol Building

Attended / compiled by Anna McMahon, Intern, Middle East/North Africa Advocacy Department, Amnesty International USA

U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations
Presiding: Senator Menendez

Summary: Unanimous passage of Resolution 384 from Committee.

Resolution 384:

“Expressing the sense of the Senate concerning the humanitarian crisis in Syria and neighboring countries, resulting humanitarian and development challenges, and the urgent need for a political solution to the crisis.”

Continue reading “U.S. Senate Committee passes humanitarian aid resolution on Syria”

Saudi Arabia & Bahrain: 5 Members of Congress Urge President Obama to Push Saudi Officials to Support Reforms

U.S. Rep Hank Johnson and four other Members of Congress have written a letter to President Obama urging him to push Saudi Arabian officials to be “more constructive” regarding political reform in Bahrain.  The core sentence in the letter is the following:

Long-term stability in Bahrain can only be achieved through meaningful political reform, and we urge you to encourage the Saudi government to play a more constructive role in this regard.

Being “more constructive?”  That’s definitely an understatement. 

As my colleagues wrote in our April 2012 report, “Flawed Reforms Bahrain Fails To Achieve Justice For Protesters” (PDF): 

On 15 March 2011, Saudi Arabia sent at least 1,200 troops to Bahrain across the causeway linking the two states, reportedly at the request of the Bahraini government. The same day,the King of Bahrain declared a three-month state of emergency, known as the State of National Safety, and gave the security forces sweeping powers to arrest and detain protesters and ban all protests.

Read the Letter: What We Want President Obama to Do in Saudi Arabia this Friday

This Friday, President Obama will travel to Saudi Arabia, a country whose government is highly repressive.   But instead of raising human rights, Obama’s trip has been described by The New York Times as focused on “fence-mending.”

This is the wrong approach.

As we say in our Amnesty International letter to President Obama:

For too long, the U.S. has put geopolitics and access to energy over support for human rights in its relationship with Saudi Arabia. As an ally of the United States, Saudi Arabia has been spared the blunt criticisms that U.S. officials make of other governments that commit serious human rights violations.

Want to read the full letter?  Scroll down, or download the PDF.

Continue reading “Read the Letter: What We Want President Obama to Do in Saudi Arabia this Friday”