Is this you? As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.
Claim your profile
Articles by Debra Maynard
Refugee Week: Time for Labor to make good on commitment to increase humanitarian intake
20 June 2023 After more than a year in government and two federal budgets, Labor is yet to keep its commitment to increase Australia’s humanitarian intake. This Refugee Week and on World Refugee Day, Amnesty International Australia is calling on the federal Labor government to deliver on the commitment in their party platform to raise the Refugee and Humanitarian Program intake to at least 27,000 places a year.
Finally all refugees to leave Nauru but solutions needed for all
14 June 2023 After years of calling for an end to successive Australian governments’ cruel offshore processing regime, Amnesty International Australia welcomes reports today that the last people remaining on Nauru are set to leave by 30 June.
Israel/OPT: Civilian deaths and extensive destruction in latest Gaza offensive highlight human toll of apartheid
13 June 2023 In its early May offensive on the occupied Gaza Strip, Israel unlawfully destroyed Palestinian homes, often without military necessity, in what amounts to a form of collective punishment against the civilian population, Amnesty International said today. Israel also conducted apparently disproportionate air strikes which killed and injured Palestinian civilians, including children.
UK: Jailing of mother-of-three for using abortion pills ‘terrifying’
13 June 2023 Responding to news that a 44-year-old woman in Stoke-on-Trent has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for using abortion pills after the legal time limit, Chiara Capraro, Women’s Human Rights Program Director at Amnesty International UK, said: “It is shocking – and quite frankly terrifying – that in 2023 a woman in the UK has been sentenced to jail because of a law dating back to 1861. “Access to abortion is essential healthcare and should be managed as such.
Afghanistan: Taliban’s cruel attacks in Panjshir province amount to war crime of collective punishment
8 June 2023 Civilians targeted with torture and unlawful killings; detainees subjected to extrajudicial executions Mass arbitrary arrests and detention intended to intimidate local population “Thousands of people are being swept up in the Taliban’s continued oppression” – Agnès Callamard The Taliban have committed the war crime of collective punishment against civilians in Afghanistan’s Panjshir province, Amnesty International said in a new report published today.
Iraq: Authorities must act to reveal fate of 643 men and boys abducted by government-linked militias
5 June 2023 The Iraqi authorities must take concrete action towards revealing the fate and whereabouts of at least 643 men and boys who were forcibly disappeared in June 2016 by the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in the context of military operations to retake Fallujah from the so-called Islamic State, Amnesty International said, marking seven years since the men and boys were abducted.
Hong Kong: Tiananmen anniversary arrests highlight deepening repression
4 June 2023 Responding to the arrests of four people for “seditious intention and disorderly conduct” in Hong Kong in the lead up to the 34th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown, Amnesty International’s interim Deputy Regional Director for Research Montse Ferrer said: “The Hong Kong government is once again using colonial-era ‘sedition’ charges to enable its crackdown on freedom of expression as it attempted to stop people commemorating the horrific events of 4 June 1989.
Iran: Prisons turned into killing fields as drug-related executions almost triple this year
2 June 2023 Iranian authorities have executed at least 173 people convicted of drug-related offences this year after systematically unfair trials, nearly three times more than this time last year, Amnesty International said. Executions for drug-related offences make up two-thirds of all the executions carried out in Iran in the first five months of 2023 and have predominantly impacted people from marginalized and economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Afghanistan: Taliban war on women and girls should be investigated as a crime against humanity
26 May 2023 The Taliban’s severe restrictions and unlawful crackdown on women and girls’ rights should be investigated as possible crimes under international law, including the crime against humanity of gender persecution, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists said today in a new report.
Cambodia: Casino Union Leader Chhim Sithar and Strikers Convicted
25 May 2023 Chhim Sithar Sentenced to Two Years; Eight Others Receive Up to One and a Half Years Cambodian authorities should immediately quash the convictions and unconditionally release Chhim Sithar, leader of Labor Rights Supported Union (LRSU) of Khmer Employees of NagaWorld, and eight other fellow union members or former members, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said today.
Israel/OPT: Release prisoner of conscience Mohammed al-Halabi
18 May 2023 Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammed al-Halabi, a Palestinian prisoner of conscience who is serving a 12-year prison sentence in Israel. Mohammed, a humanitarian worker from Gaza, spent six years in detention pending trial, before he was convicted in deeply flawed proceedings of diverting money to Hamas. Mohammed al-Halabi’s appeal hearing was supposed to take place on 17 May 2023, at Israel’s High Court of Appeals.
Iran: International community must take bold action to prevent the execution of three tortured protesters
18 May 2023 Responding to fears over the imminent execution in Iran of three protesters – Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi – from Esfahan after state media broadcast their forced “confessions” and the Supreme Court upheld their unjust conviction and death sentence despite torture and fair trial concerns, Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said: “Majid Kazemi said in an audio recording from prison that he was forced to...
Labor fails to boost refugee intake in line with policy promise
10 May 2023 Amnesty International Australia called on the Australian Government to meet Australia’s commitment to address the worsening global refugee crisis, including in our region, by raising the Refugee and Humanitarian Program intake to at least 30,000 places a year. The Labor Government has failed after more than a year in government to deliver on its promise to increase the intake that suffered drastic cuts under the previous Coalition Government.
Laos: Fatal shooting of 25-year-old human rights defender ‘Jack’ must be investigated immediately
3 May 2023 Lao authorities must urgently launch an investigation into the brazen shooting of a human rights defender who died on Monday after being shot in a café two days earlier, Amnesty International said today. Anousa “Jack” Luangsouphom, 25 — whose social media posts about human rights issues in Laos amassed a large following — was shot twice by an unidentified person at a coffee shop in the Chanthabuly district of the Laos capital Vientiane on Saturday, 29 April.
UPDATE Laos: Brazen shooting of human rights defender ‘Jack’ must be investigated immediately
3 May 2023 *Amnesty has updated this statement from an earlier version as it has not been able to independently verify whether Jack was killed in the attack. Lao authorities must urgently launch an investigation into the attack on a human rights defender who was shot in a cafe over the weekend, Amnesty International said. Anousa “Jack” Luangsouphom’s social media posts about human rights issues in Laos amassed a large following.
Singapore: Arbitrary and unlawful execution for drug-related offence shows disregard for human rights
26 April 2023 Responding to the execution by hanging of Singaporean national Tangaraju s/o Suppiah on 26 April, after he was convicted of abetting the trafficking of approximately one kilogram of cannabis in proceedings that violated international human rights law and standards, Amnesty International Deputy Regional Director Ming Yu Hah said: “This unlawful execution shows yet again the staggering failure of Singapore’s stubborn embrace of the death penalty.
ASEAN must address its failing approach to the crisis in Myanmar following the military coup
24 April 2023 Today marks the second anniversary since the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on the Five-Point Consensus in response to the military coup in Myanmar. The Myanmar military has ignored calls from the international community to stop the violence. Moreover, since the coup, the Myanmar military has committed war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. ASEAN leaders must step up and address the situation in Myanmar without further delay.
Sudan: New conflict escalation exacerbates 20 years of suffering for civilians in Darfur
24 April 2023 As the escalation in violence between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) spreads throughout Sudan, civilians in Darfur continue to suffer due to the country’s authorities failure to provide security, and their inability to deliver justice and accountability for war crimes and other violations 20 years after the Darfur conflict began, Amnesty International said today.
Afghanistan: Taliban torture and execute Hazaras in targeted attack
16 September 2022 Six people killed during a night raid on a family home in Ghor province, including a 12-year-old girl Ongoing Taliban killings indicate a pattern of attacks on ethnic minorities and members of the former security forces Taliban fighters killed six Hazara people in a deliberate attack on the ethnic minority group in Afghanistan’s Ghor province, Amnesty International said today following a new investigation.
Hope Arbor Assisted Living takes the field
The best stories come straight from the heart of those who care about the person in the story. For Hope Arbor Assisted Living operations manager Debra Maynard, making the residents of Hope Harbor’s dreams come true, has such a story.Bucket list wishes were granted in Myrtle Beach as the Pelicans took the field on Tuesday, Aug.
Show More
loading
Actions
Is this you?
As a journalist, you can create a free Muck Rack account to customize your profile, list your contact preferences, and upload a portfolio of your best work.Get in touch with Debra
Contact Debra, search articles and posts on X, monitor coverage, and track replies from one place.
Learn more about Muck Rack