Amnesty International Case Study

I would like to write about Amnesty International, a UK based non-governmental organization that is “[C]ampaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all.” (Amnesty International [AI], n.d., Who we are section)

They advocate for human rights throughout the world, such as combating torture, or helping to change unjust laws by intervening in areas as armed conflicts, weapons control, enterprise accountability, death penalty, incarceration, missing people, discrimination, freedom of expression, indigenous people, international justice, dignity of life, migration, sexually-related rights, torture, and United Nations.

In 2015, the organization issued a report advocating in defense of the human rights of disabled people in Somalia,

3)

Many persons in such conditions, interviewed by the organization, reported acts of rape, forced marriage, violence, forced evictions and overall deficient assistance.

As it happens in armed conflicts, civilians are also among the victims and sometimes their government fails to care for them.

On the other hand, a deficient health care system may also account for people being born with disabilities.

Considering persons with intellectual or physical impairments, the country and an African mission body there ignored UN recommendations to have an updated record of its citizens with disabilities.

Some of the interviewed people lived in internal camps for displaced people, despite their disabilities, risking a greater exposure to abuse.

Disabled persons are stigmatized and in the country, children were considered a burden by their family, even being abandoned by

5), and reports that the abuse is even more serious in situations of persons with disabilities, where they may be let to die by the family, not to mention the above stated cases of rape and forced marriages.

Amnesty International cites Hannan saying “I was 13 years old. My family decided to give me to this man, I refused and ran away. My family sent strong men after me. They caught me, tied my arms and legs and threw me in a room with the man. He beat me since the beginning. His family would say that I was disabled, that I shouldn’t complain. He beats, slaps, kicks and throttles me. When people try to stop him, he beats them too...” (2015, p. 6)

Also according to Amnesty International “In 2012, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women noted that she was aware of ‘alarming reports of sexual violence, especially against women in displaced settlements and camps in some areas of Somalia.’ “ (2015, p. 7), and if the person has a disability may become an easy prey for the