Amnesty International Australia has issued a human rights alert to those intending to travel to the United States of America as the nation faces unrest in the lead up to the November 3 election.
Last month Amnesty International released a report, Losing the Peace: US Police Failures to Protect Protesters from Violence which found law enforcement agencies across the USA are failing to facilitate people’s fundamental right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and to protect protests and counter-protests from violent disruption by armed groups, among others
The right to protest is under threat all over the world, and we’re extremely concerned about what that means during the elections in the United States, which has a proud history of change through peaceful protest.
Amnesty International Campaigner, Nikita White.
“The right to protest is under threat all over the world, and we’re extremely concerned about what that means during the elections in the United States, which has a proud history of change through peaceful protest,” Amnesty International Campaigner Nikita White said.
“This is a salient reminder that important social change comes around almost invariably through protest movements, and to stifle this right is to trample human rights more generally.
“We urge the US authorities to meticulously protect people’s human rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression and prohibit and prevent vigilantism by armed groups, including those who seek to intimidate protesters and voters.”
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade today upgraded its travel advice warning to Australians to be alert and avoid travelling to the United States, particularly to “avoid areas where protests are occurring due to the ongoing potential for violence”.
