Prevent maternal deaths

In honor of Mother's Day, we are launching a full-court press to reverse the terrible odds against pregnant women when it comes to maternal health standards.

We are demanding that the Department of Health and Human Services, the principal agency responsible for protecting health in this country, create an Office of Maternal Health to ensure that moms and moms-to-be are getting the care that they deserve.

Maternal death rates in the United States are higher than 40 other countries, despite the fact that we spend more on health care than any other country. Currently, there are few systems in place to analyze problems, propose solutions and improve maternal health standards. But with your help, we can begin to change that!

» Add your name to our petition to create an Office of Maternal Health
» Send our Mother's Day e-card to someone special and help support women's human rights!

"Words" nominated for a Webby Award!

We're proud to announce that our video "The Power of Words" was selected as a final nominee for the 14th Annual Webby Awards!

Cast your votes before April 29th. Then please share "Words" with your friends and family and ask them to cast a vote for Amnesty as well.

We were inspired to create this video because we've seen the incredible impact our supporters can have when they raise their voices to call attention to grave human rights abuses happening worldwide. Prisoners have been freed and lives spared, because your work to protect human rights makes a difference.

A vote for "Words" is a vote for spreading the power of human rights - every vote counts!

» Vote for "Words" in the Public Service & Activism category
» Check out our step-by-step 'How to Vote in the Webby Awards'
» Watch more Amnesty videos on YouTube

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) released!

The final four members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) have finally been released from police custody after spending five nights in cells.

In total, 65 members of WOZA were briefly detained in Harare for participating in a peaceful march. But WOZA leaders Jenni Williams, Magodonga Mahlangu and two other organizers remained in custody until the Attorney General's office refused to press charges due to lack of sufficient evidence.

Thank you to everyone who placed calls and sent emails to Zimbabwe officials!

» Read what WOZA had to say about prison conditions in Zimbabwe

» Read more about Women of Zimbabwe Arise

Maternal Health and Human Rights

More than two women die every day in the USA from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Approximately half of these deaths could be prevented if maternal health care were available, accessible and of good quality for all women in the USA.

A safe pregnancy is a human right for every woman regardless of race or income. Call on The Secretary of Health and Human Services to create an Office of Maternal Health.

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NEW Add your organization to our sign-on letter to Sec. Sebelius! »

Maternal mortality ratios have increased from 6.6 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1987 to 13.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2006. While some of the recorded increase is due to improved data collection, the fact remains that maternal mortality ratios have risen significantly.

The USA spends more than any other country on health care, and more on maternal health than any other type of hospital care. Despite this, women in the USA have a higher risk of dying of pregnancy-related complications than those in 40 other countries. For example, the likelihood of a woman dying in childbirth in the USA is five times greater than in Greece, four times greater than in Germany, and three times greater than in Spain.

African-American women are nearly four times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women. These rates and disparities have not improved in more than 20 years.

Maternal deaths are only the tip of the iceberg. During 2004 and 2005, more than 68,000 women nearly died in childbirth in the USA. Each year, 1.7 million women suffer a complication that has an adverse effect on their health.

This is not just a public health emergency - it is a human rights crisis. Women in the USA face a range of obstacles in obtaining the services they need. The health care system suffers from multiple failures: discrimination; financial, bureaucratic and language barriers to care; lack of information about maternal care and family planning options; lack of active participation in care decisions; inadequate staffing and quality protocols; and a lack of accountability and oversight.

This summary is based on DEADLY DELIVERY: THE MATERNAL HEALTH CARE CRISIS IN THE USA, which contains full citations and should be consulted for further information.

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Un-Natural Disaster

On August 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina, one of the strongest hurricanes to ever hit the United States, devastated the low-lying areas of the Gulf Coast, killing more than 1,800 people and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes.

Nearly five years later the suffering continues. In New Orleans and throughout the Gulf Coast, there is a continued lack of access to housing and health care, and issues related to the criminal justice system persist. Communities displaced by the storms remain unable to rebuild and return to their homes.

A new report by Amnesty International, Un-Natural Disaster, states that these failures constitute a violation of human rights by the U.S. government.

The Stafford Act, legislation that governs federal disaster response, fails to live up to the human rights standards outlined in the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. The Stafford Act must be strengthened to guarantee the rights of all people displaced by disasters.

Take action today to restore dignity to the victims of Hurricane Katrina and respect for human rights here at home.

» Call on Congress to amend the Stafford Act

» Learn more

» Read the press release

» Read the report Un-Natural Disaster

Journalist and Women’s Rights Activist Serving Six-year Prison Sentence

Hengameh Shahidi, a journalist and women's rights activist, began serving a six-year prison sentence in Evin Prison in Tehran on 25 February 2010, after an appeal court upheld her conviction and sentence for "gathering and colluding with intent to harm state security" and "propaganda against the system." Amnesty International considers her to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely for her peaceful political and journalistic activities.

Hengameh Shahidi was an advisor on women's issues to presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi who ran in the disputed 12 June 2009 elections. She is a member of his E'temad-e Melli (National Trust) Party. The party's newspaper, E'temad was shut down by authorities on 1 March 2010.

Hengameh Shahidi had been previously detained for four months from the end of June to 1 November 2009, and has reported that she was tortured in custody and threatened with execution. At her trial on 4 November 2009, she was accused of taking part in demonstrations that protested the contested elections, giving an interview to the media, writing articles on her blog, singing statements addressed to the United Nations about human rights in Iran, and collecting signatures for the Campaign for Equality which seeks to change discriminatory laws affecting women.

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Worldwide death penalty statistics

We recently released our annual report on global death penalty statistics.

While the use of the death penalty continues to decrease worldwide, a handful of countries accounted for the sheer majority of executions this past year – China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

But many important steps are being taken to finally close the book on capital punishment once and for all. In fact, for the first time since Amnesty International started keeping records, not a single execution was carried out in all of Europe. Furthermore, the UN General Assembly is progressing in its efforts to turn resolutions calling for a worldwide moratorium on the death penalty into reality.

» Learn more about the status of the death penalty worldwide

» Read the full Death Penalty Statistics report (PDF)

» VIDEO: Watch interviews of former death row inmates