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For Immediate Release
Contact:

Mariya Parodi, media@aiusa.org

Trump Administration Makes Shameful Decision to Shroud Civilian Casualties in Secrecy

Reacting to news that the Trump administration has revoked a part of an Obama executive order requiring reporting on civilian casualties, Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USA's Director of Security with Human Rights stated:

"This is a shameful decision that will shroud this administration's actions in even more secrecy with little accountability for its victims.

"The public deserves to know how many civilians are killed by U.S. actions. This is an unconscionable decision and in complete disregard of fundamental human rights.

WASHINGTON

Reacting to news that the Trump administration has revoked a part of an Obama executive order requiring reporting on civilian casualties, Daphne Eviatar, Amnesty International USA's Director of Security with Human Rights stated:

"This is a shameful decision that will shroud this administration's actions in even more secrecy with little accountability for its victims.

"The public deserves to know how many civilians are killed by U.S. actions. This is an unconscionable decision and in complete disregard of fundamental human rights.

"It is incomprehensible that this vital work will be left only to human rights organizations such as ours."

Background

In 2016, Amnesty International USA spoke out on the Obama-era policy documenting standards for airstrikes, when they were first announced, calling for more transparency and accountability.

On June 6, 2018 Amnesty International published a report on air strikes in Raqqa, Syria documenting gaping holes in the US-led Coalition's insistence that their forces did enough to minimize civilian harm, providing a strong prima facie case that many Coalition attacks that killed and injured civilians and destroyed homes and infrastructure violated international humanitarian law.

Note: On March 20, Amnesty International will release new information about civilian casualties from US air strikes in Somalia. Contact media@aiusa.org for more.

This statement is available at: https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/trump-administration-makes-shameful-decision-to-shroud-civilian-casualties-in-secrecy/

Amnesty International is a global movement of millions of people demanding human rights for all people - no matter who they are or where they are. We are the world's largest grassroots human rights organization.

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