Our Main Concerns

International Trade in Arms and Military Training

There is clear evidence that the sale of weapons or the training of military and police can contribute to human rights abuses.

Business & Human Rights

All companies have a direct responsibility to protect human rights. Amnesty International believes that the business community also has a wider responsibility — moral and legal — to use its influence to promote respect for human rights.

Children

As human beings, children are entitled to all the rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but children also need special protection and care.

Conflict Diamonds

In Sierra Leone, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the diamond trade has financed wars and atrocities. New reports suggest that the al Queda terrorist network has also profited from this trade.

The Death Penalty

The death penalty violates international human rights law. While most of the world has rejected the death penalty, the United States and a few other countries account for the majority of executions.

Education

Through its work on human rights education, Amnesty International is committed to raising awareness of the basic rights and responsibilities that each individual possesses and to building a culture of respect for human rights.

The Environment

Globalization has put economic imperatives on a collision course with the earth's eco-systems and its people. Those who speak out in defense of the environment are often silenced. Many face imprisonment. Others are harassed, arrested, tortured, raped, even executed.

International Criminal Court

For more than half a century since the Nuremburg and Tokyo trials, states have largely failed to bring to justice those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court will bring perpetrators to justice and provide redress to victims when states are unable or unwilling to do so.

Legal Issues

The notion of human rights is a concept embodied in law, and the work of Amnesty International is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

LGBT Human Rights

Around the world, the human rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people are violated daily. Many of those who speak up for their rights are persecuted with impunity.

Prisoners of Conscience

Prisoners of conscience are persons imprisoned solely for the peaceful expression of their beliefs.

Racial Profiling

Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or on any other particular identity undermines the basic human rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled.

Refugees

The United States has the responsibility under international law to allow asylum seekers access to a fair determination system, and not to return people to a country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution.

Religion & Human Rights

Faith communities have long been involved in human rights work, and many human rights defenders throughout history have been motivated by the ideals and beliefs of their religions.

Torture

Torture continues to be practiced in most countries despite the near universal and unequivocal legal prohibition against it.

US Policy and Legislation

No government has a greater impact on human rights - for better or worse - than the United States. One of the best ways to ensure security (and peace) in the future is to promote and respect human rights now. As a US citizen, how can you help ensure that US policy protects human rights? Make your views known.

The "War on Terror"

Amnesty International is concerned the "war on terror" not become an excuse to deny human rights in the name of defending America against terror. It is imperative that the United States stand for the principles of unalienable, universal rights.

Women

Pervasive discrimination continues to deny women full political and economic equality, and is often at the root of violations of their basic human rights.