Welcome, thank you all for being here. My name is margaret huong. Im the executive director of Amnesty International usa, and we are very honored today to welcome our colleagues from across the globe, and particularly our secretary general, for the for first time we are launching Amnesty Internationals human rights report here in the United States. Each year, amnestys International Team of experts and researchers puts together this report to document state by state the situation of human rights around the world. With more than with 159 countries in this years report, weve been able to identify some very common themes that were seeing across the globe. One of these is the worrying rise in statesponsored discrimination and hate, which we have seen here in the United States as well. But a more promising theme is that were also seeing rising levels of activism, which is exactly what Amnesty International is all about. Im very pleased today to be able to introduce my three colleagues from the Global Human Rights movement who are already ready to talk about the report and the important work that Amnesty International is doing. First, our secretary general will give an overview of the report and the key themes that amnesty is highlighting this year. Next, my colleague erica who is the americas direc to r for amnesty will speak to some of the human rights themes in our hemisphere, including the United States. And then our third speaker is the director of our crisis work, and shell be able to speak to amnestys work on the rohinga in bangladesh and myanmar. Id like to remind each of you that this launch today is actually part of an embargoed effort. The report will not released until 12 01 tonight eastern time. So we ask that you do not live stream, you do not tweet or post online to social media. And that you hold your stories until 12 01 tonight. Thank you again for being here and ill hand over to saleel. Thank you all for joining us this morning. So one year ago, millions of people, not just in the United States, but across the world, were watching anxiously to see what a Trump Presidency would yield after an Election Campaign of hateful and company phobic and sexist rhetoric. They were also looking at france and netherlands, austria and je germany were showcasing similar rhetoric. Combined with harsh crackdowns and violence in many countries, it was a bleak outlook. A year later we take stock. And what we find in 2017 to a very alarming extent, sadly the hateful rhetoric crossed into hateful reality. In the usa we saw the reinstatement of the global gag rule, depriving millions of women and girls worldwide of vital health care. The travel bans aimed at mainly muslim countries, the dramatic cutback on Refugee Resettlement you remember ins, leaving thousands more in limbo. And a new climate of permissiveness for xenophobia and hatred, and President Trumps failure to condemn it when he saw it. Ultimately leads only in one direction. When leaders foster turn a blind eye, the end game is horrific and literally fatal. In 2017 we saw no clearer example than the myanmars militarys campaign of ethnic cleansing against the rohinga population. And it drove more than 6,000 women, men and children to flee in terror. It was arguably the biggest human rights story of 2017. But a story with its roots in years of hatred, and systematic discrimination against the rohinga. The rising rhetoric of hate translated into horrific, real world consequences. That is the bad news from 2017. But theres also a lot of encouraging news. 2017 showed us what happens when people amass in great numbers to say they will not accept the injustices they face. Rather than capitulate to narratives of fear, ordinary people clamored for justice, breathing new life into long standing struggles, and igniting a new era of social activism. Theres no better example of that than what weve seen with the kids in this country standing up against gun violence in the last few days. They refuse, the children were talking about, refuse to accept what is unconscionable should be the status quo, from the huge womens marches, especially here in washington, d. C. , to the widespread protests which started over corruption in iran, and for the mass mobilizations of traditional freedoms in poland, to the thousands braving tear gas and bullets, and campaigning against food and medical shortage in venezuela, peoples determination to seek justice burned brightly across the world. As margaret mentioned, this is the first time am necessarily international is launching our report on the state of the world of human rights in the United States of america. The reason is simple, in 2017, the usa figured prominently on both sides of the ledger, significant and serious new threats to human rights met huge and energetic resistance. What happens here in the u. S. Has great resonance around the rest of the world. Now, its very important for us to remember that we cant view what happened in 2017 and whats happening in the world today as a simple equation of unprincipled leaders versus people power. Across the world, the values of human dignity, equality and human rights are hardly contested in our public squares hotly contested. And on the internet, which is the modern public scare. We saw the womens march here in d. C. But we also saw charlottesville. We saw the staunch defense of the judiciary in poland, but we also saw a huge nationalist rally, which included calls for a muslim holocaust, so the hatred and fear in our public sphere has not gone away, faced with a permissive climate for hatred, and leaders who are ready to throw away peoples rights, those who are willing to stand up are a critical line of defense. They often pay a heavy price, none more so than the 120 People Killed in protests in venezuela, the 312 or more human rights defenders who have been killed in 2017. Or the countless more facing intimidation. But above all, 2017 brings into sharp focus the urgency of principle and Ethical Leadership in the world. The great Abraham Lincoln famously said, and im sure we can apply the same to women, and i quote, nearly all men can stand adversity. But if you want to test a mans character, give him power. The lesson from 2017 is that fear and hatred is a recipe for nothing but violence. 2018 needs leaders prepared to tackle the big challenges, from refugees to protecting human rights defenders, to the precarious nature of many peoples access to basic services, instead of simply deflecting responsibility through blame. We need leaders who are unafraid to stand for and defend the values of human rights, dignity and equality. As people have shown up by rising up again and again in 2017, we cannot afford for these values simply to be thrown away. The cost of humanity is far too high and we can and must do better than this. Thank you very much. And ill invite erica to come here now, please. Thank you, everyone, good morning. My name is erica gavararosas. Im talking about the u. S. Policy impact in the caribbean. The world is experiencing one of the worst regression climates in the last decades. We are the region with the highest rates of homicide around the world. We are the most unequal region of the world, but also this is a cons kwe consequence, in many ways, of the u. S. Policies that affecting the ability of the people around the continent to exercise human rights. The alarming concern for human rights that greeted the election in the inauguration of donald trump has proved to be founded. President trump antiwhite rhetoric and sepp phobia into action by signing a bunch of executive orders that are affecting millions at home and abroad and some of the impact of the u. S. Policies in relation to latin america and the caribbean have included the immigration and refugee policies and practices, such as the many president ial orders that happen been suspended in the countrys refugee Settlement Program for a few days but also reducing the annual refugee admission cap to 44,000 amid a global refugee crisis with increasing numbers of people from central america, mexico and other countries in the region seeking protection due to the generalized violence and the failures of the states to protect them. The executive order on Border Security and immigration and improvements and a series of other measures are allowing also the forcible return of people to lifethreatening situations in the region as well as the increase of the unlawful mandatory detention of Asylum Seekers and the separation of families that are affects thousands in Central Americans and mexicans that are trying to cross the border in seek of protection. But also what is going to have a serious implication in the geopolitics of the immigration and refugee policies in the region is the end of the humanitarian programs known as the temporary protected status which allows thousands of salvadorans, haitians and nicaraguans to live and work legally in the country for many years. As one of the latest reversals of years of immigration policies intended to provide protection to people fleeing manmade and natural disasters in many regions. These thousands of people are among the nearly 1 Million Immigrants who lives in the United States whose lives in the United States have been upended and set to a deadline under President Trump. The largest group, nearly 700,000 immigrants who were protected under the deferred action shock known as daca are said to be losing temporary work permits in march in a few weeks and 12 of the 15 Top Countries of origin for daca beneficiaries are in the latin american and caribbean region. But if the threat to build a wall between the u. S. And mexico border was not enough to create a sense of division and hostility towards the southern neighboring countries, President Trump had rhetoric with venezuela and cuba are providing excuse for government leaders to justify grave violations of human rights and nationalist approaches to control peoples freedoms n. Venezuela in particular, where people are facing the worst human rights crisis in the countrys recent history, the rhetoric of trump against venezuelas ruling government has not just infuriated president maduro but also providing him with the perfect excuse to justify serious Human Rights Violations such as detentions, torture and attacks on civilians, but also women and girls are experiencing already the very fine consequences as regression on rights with rhetoric to reality. Trumps restrictions on women and girls actions to sexual and Reproductive Services have had a notorious impact on the life of millions in the region and elsewhere in the world. He reinstated and restricted almost 8 billion in u. S. Foreign and funding aid for International Programs that provide or even mention abortion in their work. He defunded a United NationsPopulation Fund as the leading Global Maternal Health organization that provides contraception and pregnancy care to lowincome women in 150 countries, and in latin america alone where experts estimate that almost 800,000 women are treated annually for complications of unsafe abortion, President Trumps stands are putting not just many lives at risk and are also creating a regression context in which countries are now proposing new restrictions to law and practices to ensure that women and girls are not accessing sexual reproductive rights that are needed in their lives. So, of course, yet even crisis after crisis shook us to the ground, they also inspired many to raise in the region against some of these policies, so weve seen the womens march in many countries in latin america opposing to some of these policies and oppose how the governments are justifying this new u. S. Foreign policy towards latin america, precisely to commit some of the worst atrocities against our populations, so im going to pass the mike to my colleague tirana hassan who will speak about some of the crises are that enduring to people in other parts of the world. Thank you. Thank you, erica. So before we launch into talking about 2017, i wanted to just share with you a comment that was sent to us from Eastern Ghouta. As you know, Eastern Ghouta is an enclave outside of damascus in syria and its being bombarded relentlessly over the last few days. Its been described probably as one of the worst sieges that syria has seen in the world. The pediatrician that our team spoke to said the situation in Eastern Ghouta is worse than words can say. We have been lacking the basics for five years, but today its even worse. Why do i Start Talking about whats happening today when were reflecting on 2017 . Its because this is a direct consequence of the paralysis that has plagued the International Community in 2017 when it comes to conflict, cries and mass atrocities. We have seen zero moral or legal leadership coming from the International Community. 2017 was the year 690,000 rohingya, pretty much the population of washington, d. C. , fled their homes, when the army went in, the Myanmar Military went in, guns ablazing and setting their homes on fire and killing their relatives and raping women. They fled into bangladesh where they are now living in squalid conditions, in terms that are like small cities. 2017 was the year that 470,000 people were living, not living, but surviving under siege in syria and 90 of those people are in Eastern Ghouta. 2017 was the year that hospitals, markets, civilian homes were bombed in yemen without consequence. And in 2017 was the year that the International Community could have done it differently. Mass atrocities played out in realtime. We could have done something about it, but they didnt. The messages that weve heard when we have taken the evidence from syria, from yemen, from myanmar to the security to the Security Council at the United Nations, to the human Rights Council, has been that the capitals are telling us to keep our heads down or this might not be the right time to engage on the rohingya issue with myanmar. It seems abhorrent, but the International Community when they look back at 2017 and they look at how they could have prevented mass apros tis, how they could have responded to crimes against humanity, they will not look back and draw any lessons from this. They will look back and they will see that they were part of the drafting of some of the darkest chapters in modern history. I was on the border with myanmar in bangladesh in the first weeks of when the rohingya were fleeing. They were coming across, and it was in droves. It was scenes of people fleeing of biblical proportion, and amongst the sea of people that came out one day was a woman called shafika who arrived holding just what she could carry. She had three of her children. Two of her children were still missing, and she never wanted to leave myanmar and the first thing she said was and i want to go back. She wanted to go back when she was safe. She wanted to go back when she would be recognized as a citizen of myanmar and as a rohingya. She wanted to go back when she could send her children to school and live safely and with dignity. None of those things are unreasonable and none of those things are not doable and none of those things justify the paralysis that we are seeing amongst the International Community when we are responding to the current Rohingya Crisis. There are solutions, and it is clear that without ordinary people in capitals, in countries, in communities who will push their World Leaders to take action on the International Stage, then were going to continue to see people suffer because of this paralysis. We live in a time when crimes against humanity are being beamed into our homes in realtime, and this demands real action. There must be a comprehensive arms embargo imposed on militaries that continue to kill civilians and bomb hospitals, and it needs to happen now, and it needs to happen against the militaries and the countries who are serial offenders of these crimes. 2017 taught us that without consequences and accountability, war crimes will go unabated and civilians, including women and children, the elderly and people with disabilities will not only suffer, they will die. 2017 told us one other thing, and that is that outrage and condemnation is not enough. Without concrete action from World Leaders the message that they are sending is no longer never again. It is again and again, and this is unacceptable. Thank you. So with were going do two things now. One, i just want to give a quick recap of the main messages, particularly for the cameras and also to do what we traditionally do which is to officially launch the report with holding up the report, and youre woman to join me, tirana and all of you, please, come this way so we get so do hold up the reports, please, yeah, for the cameras. So let me ju