followed by nra executive vice president. you can follow the conference online at c-span.org or listen by our radio app. tomorrow, president trump will speak to see that after 10 a.m. eastern. our coverage includes kellyanne conway, and the fcc. discussions about criminal justice, the president's affect on the country, and a bit -- economic cyber threats. amnesty international released its report on human rights, hateful rhetoric was listed as among the largest causes for human rights violations. comment by president trump and others has eroded human rights globally. >> good morning.

welcome. thank you all for being here. my name is margaret long -- hwong. we are very honored to welcome our colleagues across the globe and our secretary general for the very first time. we're launching amnesty human rights's report from in the united states. it's year the team of expert researchers puts together the report to document, state-by-state, the situation of human rights around the world. with 159 countries and this year's report, we have been able to identify some very common themes that we are seeing across the globe. is the worrying rise in state sponsored discrimination and hate, which we have seen here in the united states as well.

a more promising fame, is that we are also seeing rising levels of activism. that is exactly what amnesty international is all about. i am very pleased today to be able to introduce my three colleagues from the global human rights movement who are all ready to talk about the report and the important work that amnesty international is doing. first, our secretary general, will give it an overview of the report and the key themes that amnesty is highlighting this year. erika, who isague the director of amnesty will speak to the human rights themes in our hemisphere including the united states. our third speaker, the director of our crisis work, will be able to speak to amnesty's work on bangladesh and the situation in that haveother crises

been rising over the last several weeks and year. i would like to remind each of you, this lunch today is part of an embargoed effort. the report will not be released until 1201 tonight eastern time -- 12:01 tonight eastern time. we ask you to hold all your stories and social media postings until that time. thank you all for being here. thank you all for joining us this morning. ago, millions of people , not just in the united states, but across the world, were atching anxiously to see what trump presidency would yield. after an election campaign of and sexesd xenophobic

retort. and sexes retort. they were also looking across europe where electoral races in france, the netherlands, austria and germany were showcasing similar rhetoric and the cynical use of fear and hatred. that combined with already harsh crackdowns and identity-based violence, many countries, it was a bleak outlook. stock ander, we take what we found is, in 2017, to an alarming extent, sadly, the hateful rhetoric crossed into hateful reality. and the usa, we saw the reinstatement of the global gag rule. a deprived millions of women and girls worldwide of vital health care. the travel bans, aimed at mainly muslim countries, the dramatic cutback on refugee resettlement numbers leaving thousands more in limbo.

a new climate of present massiveness for xenophobia and arose fromarise -- president trump's failure to condemn it when he sought. peddling fear against whole groups of people based on who they are, ultimately leads only one direction. turn a blind eye, the endgame is or effect and literally fatal. and 2017, we saw no clearer example than the military's campaign of ethnic cleansing. that was led by the general at the time. that drove more than 600,000 women, men, and children to flee in terror. it was arguably the biggest human rights story of 2017. a story with this roots of years and hatred and systematic discrimination against the other

people. the rising rhetoric of hate translated into horrific real-world consequences. that is the bad news from 2017. there's also a lot of encouraging news. happens whens what people mask -- mass in great numbers to say they will not accept the injustices they face. ordinal -- they make it a new era of social activism. there is no better example of that than what you have seen with the kids in this country standing up against gun violence in the last few days. refuse, the children we are talking about, to accept what is unconscionable as the state.

the massay to mobilizations for judicial freedom and thousands reading teargas and bullets campaigning against medical shortages and venezuela. people's determination to seek justice across the world. margaret mentioned, this is the first time we are inching our on annual report on the state of human rights in the united states of america. the reason is simple. usa was, the prominently on both sides of the ledger. seriously threats to human rights met huge. resistance what happens here as great residence around the world. as very important for us to remember, we cannot view what happened in 2017 and what is happening today as a simple

equation of unprincipled leaders versus people power. a cause for the values of human dignity and human rights, hardly contesting and public squares. on the internet, the modern public square. march ine women's d.c., but we also saw charlottesville. we saw the defense and poland, but we also saw huge nationalist rallies which called for a muslim holocaust. the hatred and fear in our public is not going away. leaders are ready to throw away people's rights, dignity, and equality. those who are willing to stand up for justice and human rights are a critical line of defense area they often pay a heavy price. none more so than the 120 people venezuela, the 312 or

more human rights defenders dylan human -- 2017 -- killed and 2017. 2017 brings into sharp focus, the urgency of principles and ethical leadership around the world. said,m lincoln famously and i'm sure we can apply the same two women, "nearly all men , but ifd at adversity, you want to test a man's power, -- him power fear and hatred is a recipe for nothing but violence. 2018 needs leaders prepared to tackle the big challenges. instead of simply deflecting responsibility. we need leaders who are unafraid to defend the values of human

rights, dignity, and quality. people show up by rising up again and again in 2017. we cannot afford for these values to simply be thrown away. the cost to humanity is far too high. we can and must do better than this. thank you very much. i will invite erika to come. >> thank you everyone. ericae is aircraft and -- and i will talk about the impact on latin america. the region's experience one of most regressive climates. we are the region with the highest rates of homicide around the world. where the most unequal region of the world. we also face the consequence, in many ways, of the u.s. policies that are affecting the ability

of people around the continent to exercise human rights. the alarming concern for human rights [indiscernible] has proven to be well-founded. president trump wasted people's time and putting his anti-rights rhetoric and discrimination and xenophobia into action, including by signing a series of executive orders that are threatening the human rights of millions at home and abroad. some concerns about the impact of these policies in relation to have included the immigration and refugee policies and practices. like the many presidential orders that have been addressed just the countries for a few days, and also reducing the annual refugee cap 244,000 amid a global refugee crisis with increasing numbers from central america, and other countries in the region seeking protection

under the failures of the states to protect them. executive order on border security and immigration improvements and a series of other matchups, is allowing the ande of returning people increase the mandatory detention of a silent teachers -- silent -- asylum seekers. have ahat is going to serious implication and the politics of refugee policy in the region, is the end of the humanitarian programs which allow thousands of salvadorans, haitians, and nicaraguans to live in the country for many years. [indiscernible]

intended to provide protection fleeing man-made and natural disasters in many countries of the region. these thousands of people are among the nearly one million immigrants who live in the united states whose lives have been upended and said to have deadline under president trump. nearlygest group, under dacaigrants have lost temporary work permits in march and 12 of the 15 top countries are in the latin american, caribbean region. the threat between the u.s. and mexico border was not enough to crave a sense of division and hadility, president trump

rhetoric against certain companies -- countries are providing an excuse to justify violations of human rights and people's freedoms. in venezuela, where people are facing the worst human rights crisis in the country's recent history, this rhetoric of trop against venezuela's really government has not just infuriated that presidents, but provided a perfect excuse to deny serious rights violations. also, women and girls are experiencing the terrifying consequences as rhetoric turns to reality. to president's reduction women's services has had an -- on of millions

millions in the region. they are restricting almost a .illion dollars -- $8 billion funded -- a nation contraception and pregnancy care to low income women and 150 countries. in latin america, where experts estimate almost 800,000 women are treated annually or complications of an unsafe abortion, president trump is not only putting that many lives address, but creating context in which countries are proposing new restrictions to law and practices to ensure that women and girls are not accessing rights that are needing in their lives.

crisis after crisis, shook us to the ground. they also inspired many to race in the region against some of these policies. we saw the women arches and some of countries in latin america. this new u.s.how is precisely to commit some of the worst atrocities to the population. to someone who will speak about the crises who are endearing other people in the world. >> thank you, erica. before we go into 2017, i want to share a comment that was sent .o us as you know, this place is being

bombarded relentlessly over the last few days. it has been described, probably, as one of the worst sieges that syria has seen in the war. the pediatrician that our team spoke to, said the situation in eastern gouda is worse than words can say. we have been lacking the basics for five years, but today, it is even worse. what do i start with what is happening today when we are going -- talking about 2017? this is a direct consequence of the paralysis that has plagued the international community in 2017. when it comes to conflict, crisis, and mass atrocities, we or zeron zero moral leadership coming from the leadership community. where 690,000,ar

that is pretty much the population of washington dc, left their homes when the army went in, guns blazing, setting their homes on fire, killing the relatives, raping the women. they fled into bungalow -- where they are now living in camps that are like small cities. 2017 was the year that 400 and were0 -- 470,000 people living, not living, surviving under siege in syria. 90% of those people are in eastern good -- eastern gouda. areasas the year that were bombed in yemen without consequence. and 2017, that was the year the international community could have done it differently. mass atrocities played out in real-time. we could have done something about it, but they did not.

the message is that we have heard, when we have taken the evidence from syria, from yemen, from other places, to the security council of the united nations, to the human rights council, has been the capitals are telling us to keep our heads down. be the rightt not time to engage on that issue. it.eems a poor when international community looks back at 2017 and they look at how they could have printed -- prevented mass atrocities, is funded to crimes against humanity, they will not look back and draw any lessons from this. they will look back and see they were part of the drafting of some of the darkest chapters of modern history. i was on the border with myanmar

bangladesh. - -- it was coming across in droves. it was thing -- scenes of people fleeing and biblical proportions . amongst the sea of people, there's a woman called chevy got -- shafica. she had three of her children and two of her children were missing. 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 is safe, 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 with dignity. of those things are unreasonable.

none of those things are not doable. none of those things just the justify our response to the rohingya crisis. it is clear without ordinary people, in capitals, and countries, and communities, who will push their leaders to take action on the international stage, then we will continue to see people suffer because of this paralysis. we live in a time where crimes against humanity are being beamed into our homes and real-time. this demands real action. there must be comprehensive embargo imposed on militaries that continue to kill civilians, bomb hospitals, and it needs to happen now. and it needs to happen against the militaries that are serial

offenders of this. that, without consequences and accountability, war crimes will go unabated. civilians, including women, children, the elderly, peaceable -- people with disabilities, not only will suffer but they will die. 2017 taught us one other thing, outrage and condemnation is not enough. without concrete action from world leaders, a message that they are sending is no longer " never again," it is "again and again," and this is unacceptable. thank you. >> where going to do 2 things right now. i want to do a recap of the main

messages, particularly for the cameras and to do what we traditionally do, which is officially launch the report. you are welcome to join me, all of you, come please. hold up the reports please, so that we can --

the purpose of those of you who a lot of different messages. let me recap quickly, main of our report from 2017 s the word suffer, terrifying consequences has hit and moved policy and actions, and hese consequences have been on a voice, but at the same time, divisive politics attacks on volatile people, ordinary people, particularly youth, stood up to fight for their own freedoms and freedoms of others. and we have a huge number of examples. about how governments have been so brazen in their on human rights and human

values, but equally of people world.ng up across the so thank you very much for listening to us. we're open to take some from you, and i will answer some of them myself, but i have very able colleagues who will help in nswering, so please go ahead, raise your hand, introduce yourself, and keep your and precise, t please. all clear, no questions? go ahead. >> thank you. first time that you chose america as the venue -- are there any direct results that you will be or is it just at a showcase for your cause? well, i think the direct being seen already by actions which the united states people are taking up themselves. i hope that this will only

intensify and the government will understand, you know, the actions an rhetoric that we're hearing from i'm dent trump and others, sure margaret will stay more, you know, we have a government which just last order had an executive which was reversing the previous government's policy on something has been across the world serious as a violation, which is keeping guatanamo bay open. not talk, you know, abstract things. we speak.ppening as we have a president who actually aid, in his very first few months, endorsed the use of torture and you can imagine what this means for governments world who are extensively using torture including in the part of the from.which you come so i think our message is loud and clear but let me ask wants to add e anything to this point.

>> just two points. impact here in the united states is that people will feel inspired and continue motivated to stand up human amnesty is doing rights work in the united states. we don't just do human rights ork in other parts of the world. we do it here and we call out abuses wherever we seem them and have an way it will impact is our colleagues around the world are inspired that we do call out human rights abuses u.s.e it's not enough that we can criticize other governments that may not have as much influence in the u.s. we're also out those abuses. thank you. one more want to add point. most countries who are violating they always take the cover of national sovereignty and domestic laws understand when crimess to international

you don'tational law, have that cover. ou're obligated under international law to follow the laws. it doesn't matter whether you're or smallest, poorest country the richest most powerful country in the world, internationally human rights law consistent and used the same across all countries. i hope that answers you partially. go ahead. >> thank you. two questions. to know -- >> do you want to introduce ourself [inaudible] >> which countries do you think are trying to compensate all the are rs that, in your view, undermining human rights, and, how do you feel of multilateral that are stepping

this retreat the human rights violation us that you described? >> i'm not sure i exactly question. your it doesn't compare across countries. but i can give you one example probably what you're talking about, which is, we saw a very against the international criminal court african countries, most visibly -- which poured out -- supported by south africa actively. consequent to that, african countries, they said, we do not take this position. it looked like the icc was really at risk, if a big countries pullan

out, i think it's been reversed. is not saying the threat completely gone but we do have countries that will stand up for human rights including leaders some of these countries, but maybe, since it's a question argentina, you may want to comment. backlash dd that the against human rights is also in which context global and regional human rights institutions are being attacked governments and states. in the specific case of the mericas, the human rights system has endured what it's called a financial crisis, but of a opinion it's more political crisis of states --ing to reduce [inaudible] >> in particular, who is representing many of the victims violations.hts and this is something very alarming as well because we have lot, in having this regional human rights bodies hat are providing in some instances a last option for

victims of human rights iolations that didn't find justice in their own countries. ut also, some of the governmental bodies have been states to undermine the influence of certain governments n the region, when they don't necessarily, the leaders, who re proposing for declarations or for denouncing other governments such as in the case of venezuela, what we're seeing unfortunately we don't have leaders that have the ethical to call anybody out. so what happened last year at of the ral assembly organization of american states, that took place in mexico, is government and the wanted to overnment organize a declaration against venezuela but at the same time, mexican government was violating the rights and repressing the thaties of the 43 students

ere subject to, at the time they were denouncing the human rights situation in venezuela. is, of course, reating and closing spaces for states to hold themselves them table because all of have to respond to the human in their own countries. >> i would be remiss if i don't ighlight the important leadership role that was played by merkle in germany in the context and trudeau in where the n context, whole -- the trend in europe nd, of course, north america, has been to essentially pander to fringe voices who have taken anti-refugee position. but you found, you know, chancellor merkel standing up saying, if it comes with an stand by cost she'll european values and stick to the

principles of, you know, all uropean countries have signed up for the refugee convention and she said we're going to that.by trudeau -- canadiens refugees.t that's the whole issue, i think, of the leadership. we need leadership to stand up and do the right things. question. one >> good morning, my name is -- two the mexican -- i have questions. the first one is, i remember, i last year, i don't now, it was an organization, they presented a report about he [inaudible] after the election of donald trump. of, you know, y that, and, i t mean, we've seen some of the evidence sometimes on tv. question is, i wonder if you

have any reference about that situation in your report? alive orentiment still has it rescinded here in the united states? is, on second question latin america, recently, on the there ntial elections, was a call to the organization for american states, they a report, a very damming report, you know, raising serious questions about legality of the process. a lot of countries, including decide to states, and -- e the elections, i wonder if a case like that setback to the effort to defend human rights in region, considering the fact that after the election, there as another reppression and a

lot of people died on those. to say ret, do you want about the attitude questions? >> i think it's no surprise to issue of race an discrimination are still front and center in the political sphere of the united states. we're continue to monitor discrimination. amnesty has been very active in the igning against executive orders banning visitors from several muslim countries and reducing and anning the number of refugees allowed to resettle here in the u.s. but we've also been active in fighting against threats to women's reproductive health in the united states, we've been of ve in addressing issues disparity in our criminal justice system. there are a number of ways in which race plays out in very rights violations here in the u.s., and we a tinue to see those as work.ity for our

were killed in the context of repression and protests. were in solitary ained, and in some cases, they are confinement. we've expressed our serious about the situation in a country where human rights have been violated for many years. of the countries with the but st rates of homicide --o the highest rates [inaudible] many others have lost their life many others are not just experiencing different forms of the criminalization across own states -- the political context, it's extremely concerning, not just but in many other countries where elections are going to happen this year such mexico, costa rica, and

venezuela, we're seeing an increased tendency to create control on that can people to take to the streets in for accountability. for accoun. like is the case in mexico, with a new law on security, internal security, that one of the concerns that amnesty has is now to open door to repress protestors in the ontext of political -- in the context of the upcoming election. okay.be -- go ahead, and we'll give a chance to folks on this side. >> -- findings of we'll more on the china or our audience, please. >> what do you mean by findings china? >> striking findings -- [talking over each other]

>> unless you particularly want perspective on it. countrys you know, is a which is a strong focus for amnesty international's work. the work on china which is done out of the hong kong office. and there is a lot that can be so let me just stick to one or two key points. seen in the last year is that, with the president ecoming much more powerful inside the political, you know, we've seen china, actually a much higher sort of crackdown on human rights country, where e it's lawyers, journalists, and a ot of this like in many other countries, is being done under security, f national so, of course, one of the most incidents was the death an amnesty person, when he

cancer, and they refused to move him out of the country to get him some better medical care. that was a symbolic example of that. the controls have been tightened. several websites have been locked, and then if you take the specific instances, of the things have become much worse. i want to also mention that the rule of china on the also, i onal stage is think, different in 2017. more and more see difference, historically, china has taken a very sort of, you know, hands off policy, noninterference policy when it matters, nternational but i think the president has made it very clear this is a new assertive foreign policy. of e seen the direct impact myanmar, where they want

to agree on an agreement. role they seen the have played in zimbabwe, less things most of these happen behind the scenes. but, as you know, the global asserting through the one belt, one road program, has very human rights implications, and we're tracking this very closely. they are also pushing hard for like egypt is a good example, where there are critics located in are countries outside china. pressured are being to send them back to china. egypt has already done this. we're seeing this in many other places. starting to export civilians from africa, which done in the past in a very substantial way. i must say that, you know, on mean, this is the irony of china, if china wants to play a positive role, they do that. i mean, they are on the cusp where they need to make some ery difficult choices for themselves. if you take the climate change

issue, and you could say it's beijing is choking, they have no choice, but the fact is, the chinese government has taken a very positive proactive role on the paris agreement and, you all the climate change issues do have human rights implications because it affects eople living in fragile environmental situations. so, thank you for that question. there were a few more on this side. we've said we're going to stop at 11:40. i don't mind taking another five not much more, so please keep it short. > hi, i'm with nancy pelosi's office. iran di arabia and continue to engage in the proxy faces very serious health crisis issues such as the most a outbreak and recently, al-jazeera reported on february 18 there have been flu.rent deaths from bird do you believe that the threat of a serious health crisis like flu that can spill over

borders will change the attitude of the international community to the crisis and if not what do you believe in 2018 the international community should do to change the situation in more hopefulh into situations? >> i have a lot to say on yemen, i'll let -- do that. start with the health crisis. we're not on the cusp of the yemen. crisis in we're in a full-blown health crisis in yemen and tens of thus of people have died. i think that that ship has sailed. need to be doing now is not talking about what is the iteration of this crisis or next chapter in the book but what can we be doing about it. of the biggest issues when t comes to healthcare and why people are dying beside being bombed relentlessly is the fact yemen.s a blockade in

there are not supplies going in, of scale that needs to be going in. now, there is a siege on the port, for example. to see all of these restrictions lifted. we need to see free and humanitarian access throughout the country. and that needs to be negotiated sides, both the hewitttis and the yemi government need to be sure that they can be operating and there accountability. saudi led coalition continues, to bomb infrastructure, healthcare, et this will have a direct on yemen.e and survival of them. the turning point for the international community? i would say the turning point for the international community yemen to hold saudi

to account, to ensure that there is political engage. saudis, in terms of crimes against humanity and nternational, breaches of international hu international humanitarian law, needs to have happened two years ago. >> one point, you're right to a proxy war between saudi arabia and iran, and in this case, proportionately, i think saudi arabia has a lot to account for. but don't forget, that the eapons, which the saudi coalition is getting is coming from western countries, from the uk, from this country, from brazil, so, you know, what is war?ing the if you want to take action, there are people in this building who can do a lot more, think. we don't need to go too far to find the solution. so there was another question then probably, i'm to --g at -- then we need we can do one-on-one

conversations after this. a question for -- ms. hassan if possible. the crisis you're response program and i'm wondering what your greatest faced ges are as you're with new technology and trying to verify all these violations what are your greatest val well.enges and concerns as >> so i think the two things meld.ly begin to ne is it's becoming increasingly difficult to operate where we would need to be on the ground to collect the ort of evidence we need so that's proving to be very challenging in syria, our access syria is limited. relation to the crisis in m marimar, includes knowing mandate bad the human rights not been granted

access to be able to do any sort of proper on the ground investigation. instead we've been seeing flimsy investigation which is have been the perpetrators themselves. surprise, surprise, saying everything is fine. greatest of our challenges in. terms of, you know, what is oming out, how do we decipher what's true and what is not? hat do you do with these thousands of hours of live of amed horror coming out syria? actually, there are solutions, this is both our greatest and, in a way, our great opportunity. we've sty international developed a verification call. we've invested in ensuring we have a network, a capacity, a our our own, you might say, that actually looks at the

sort of footage that's coming out of these places and we conduct thorough thorough ion -- forensic analysis of these videos and photographs so we're to geolocate, we're able to verify, we're able to see when these videos existed before, if the context is then once it's only we've been able to try an-- triangulate. but it's proved -- proven dramatic nd some changes in open source investigations. as some of you may be aware libya, that ase in was libyan commander, who videos started to emerge on youtube of an individual who was executing men. present at a number of executions, no one had been on the ground but those videos were verified, and actually, an arrest warrant was issued by the so rnational criminal court

this is a real turning point. it's ile it's a challenge an incredible opportunity and a toward justice and accountability. >> two more and we have to keep it short. the back and then come to the front. here in the back. >> i'm with spanish newspaper. i wanted to know in the report the regression of human rights in the white house. i would like to know if you give us some concrete examples of -cent that regression in that country and in other countries. thank you. > i think we talked a little bit about that in the context of the americas. on the ous one is refugee shoe where it's very clear-cut. e talked about the global gag rule. implication of the gag rule internationally. of cutsoint, $8 billion in the funding for agencies were reproductive sexual healthcare.

the said, you know, if president of the united states legitimizes brazen human rights violations like guatanamo bay or torture, you can imagine the signaling effect of this, so, one now, if you take each things that he's been pushing for, it becomes, even the attacks on the media, for xample, and silencing of dissent, you can imagine how much leverage this gives for hungary or gypt or places where they are simply waiting to crush dissent and any kind of freedom of expression and assembly. e now have today the announcement of the arrest, or sentencing of five years for nigel for tweeting. others using f twitter for negative purposes across the world. implicationsne the of the actions taken by this country and elsewhere. but i will ask maybe, if,

margaret, you want to add anything. please. >> just one other thing. president trump has been highly movements protest here in the united states, and to the point, i think there is his criticism t of athletes like kaepernick or lives matter protestors here in the united states have now transferred to other countries, and we're seeing that speech,on of freedom of freedom of assembly, freedom of peaceful protests being crushed many countries around the world. including more than 120 in africa. several in the americas. in asia, and that's an alarming situation for those of who believe activism is part of the solution for human rights. thank you. please. >> good point. >> thank you. nhk.ia with this question is also for ms. hassan if you don't mind. speaking earlier very atrocities the

rohingya and miramar. what are you calling for the in that situation now? play in thisole to but she doesn't command the military. who is in the command and control, they are military personnel. the person who is the head of is a man r military called -- and we would expect is name to be in every newspaper and in every television report where we're talking about the atrocities committed in the northern state. so i think, in terms of the burning, for for the killings, for the atrocities that amnesty documented, weas do need to be focusing on commanders, commanding those units, who are on the ground, those orders and

the commander in chief himself in. terms of -- she has a role to play. did not come out of nowhere. the prejudice against the rohingya, the institutional rejudice against the rohingya, these are issues that should have been dealt with by the city government. the violence is one aspect of this, but there is an system which zed is made up of complex laws and just local ocal, sort of bylaws, which amnesty international has investigated 2017, and we have established of it's actually the crime apartheid. this crime of apartheid and laws which the discriminate to this degree, and rohingya -- this very much sits with the city civilian government. preview of thin the er and she should be acting on this immediately.

--i can just >> the role of the u.n. >> u.s. >> u.s., sorry, okay. maybe margaret may want to say something because we've been active on the u.s. role in it. you know, it's an issue in which i've been quite directly involved personally as think most striking thing about -- since you specifically, she was an amnesty presence of conscience, we fought for her for two decades. there is a second moral ethical holding inat she was the world, and her silence is very problematic and we've been that.pen about you know in some cases, some of the things she said was actually more than silence. she was justifying some of the actions in some ways. -- and she holds huge sway. she has huge popular support within the people of miramar, so she had -- and a responsibility change , and that would the discourse inside miramar.

we've been very vocal in our riticism but we shouldn't get confused in terms of who can move the needle on this issue inside miramar and that's directly with the army and precisely why we want to target the generals directly, course, there is a lot of blame to be shared. the last comment on what the u.s. government should be doing colleague, ask my johann lynn, who heads our relations team, to talk about the important work congress is oing to address the rohingya situation. johann? >> thank you, margaret, i really appreciate the question. i'm so happy to see so many hill taff here gathered with us because the plight of the rohingya is actually one of the important issues that amnesty international has been working very closely with to trump administration address. i think many of you may know that secretary tillerson shortly before thanksgiving visited

miramar, met with the military on the ground, spoke at a press conference critical of miramar authority, both military and civilian authorities, for their to address the atrocities and further failure to halt them. in addition, in december, just a few months ago, the trump administration issued an targeted 13der that individuals who were engaged in violations or other types of government corruption, were ese 13 individuals named and are subject to targeted financial sanctions by the united states. one of the 13 individuals is a former leader of the western miramar military. somebody whom amnesty international has documented as directly involved in overseeing or supervising crimes against humanity. we know that the trump administration at multiple agency levels including the department, treasury, national security, usa i.d.,

are chiefs, pentagon, continuing to address the rohingya crisis and there is still so much more to do. now, what is and what can congress do? there have been multiple both chambers. there has been movement on a resolution that the house i believe unanimously, in november. just two weeks ago, the senate relations committee marked up the burma human rights amnesty om act which international strongly supports, s 2060. is next stop for that bill the senate floor. am for a vote to d be brought to the floor. n monday, february 26, 320 amnesty international activists from across the united states will be hitting capitol hill and meeting with legislators, both republicans and democrats urging action on several

top priorities including ultimately, final passage of the bipartisan legislation on the rohingya. addition, amnesty activists are going to be urging congress funding for bust humanitarian aid for refugees peoples worldwide. the united states, notwithstanding, some very in 2017 developments from the trump administration, he united states government remains the single largest donor o the international community, and it's absolutely essential that the u.s. government keep world food program, unicef, and many others, to yemen, hat refugees, in in syria, in bangladesh, that for and lives ed can be saved. thank you. much.ank you very we want to just make sure is -- who is standing here the person who -- if you want to

individual conversations you want to have, because otherwise, it just to kind of icult sort out the question. so she's there. thank you very much for joining us this morning. i hope that you found it useful, and thanks for your upport to amnesty's work and rights. >> thank you. mra [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> here are introductions, soon to be heard from eric trump.