September, 14 2021, 04:27pm EDT
Twenty Years After Authorization for Use of Military Force, Continued Lack of Accountability for those Harmed by Policies and Abuses
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Authorization for Use of Military Force on September 18, 2001, Daphne Eviatar, the director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA said:
"On September 18, the 20th anniversary of the Authorization for Use of Military Force, we must not forget the lives destroyed and communities turned upside down as the United States conducted lethal assaults from Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria to Somalia.
WASHINGTON
Ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Authorization for Use of Military Force on September 18, 2001, Daphne Eviatar, the director of the Security With Human Rights program at Amnesty International USA said:
"On September 18, the 20th anniversary of the Authorization for Use of Military Force, we must not forget the lives destroyed and communities turned upside down as the United States conducted lethal assaults from Afghanistan to Iraq to Syria to Somalia.
"Decades of US policies targeting Black, Brown, and Muslim communities and painting them with suspicion has fomented Anti-Muslim sentiment, at home and abroad, denying basic rights to Muslims suspected of having links to armed groups. The discriminatory use of US military force against Black, Brown, and Muslim communities abroad has been grossly overlooked. On this 20th anniversary, the United States must acknowledge and hold itself accountable to those families and communities, worldwide as well as stateside.
"The recent written accounts of former detainees Mohamedou Salahi and Mansoor Adayfi highlight the enduring horrors experienced by those harmed by Unites States policies and abuses post 9/11, including the use of torture, the full accounting of which still has not been released by the CIA. It's well past time for the United States to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and release or transfer those who are still held without charge or trial, like Toffiq al-Bihani, who remains imprisoned more than a decade after being approved for transfer."
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all. Our supporters are outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world - so we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. We have more than 2.2 million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries and regions and we coordinate this support to act for justice on a wide range of issues.
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