URGENT ACTION

DR. SCOTT WARREN NEW TRIAL SLATED FOR NOVEMBER
Dr. Scott Warren was facing 20 years in prison for providing humanitarian aid to migrants in the desert of the US-Mexico border region. His first trial ended in June 2019, when the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision. On 2 July 2019, the prosecution announced it will try Dr. Warren again on 12 November 2019. They offered a plea deal, but it is unclear if he will accept it. The prosecution only dropped the conspiracy charges against him, so he would now face 10 years in prison.  

NO FURTHER ACTION IS REQUESTED FOR NOW. MANY THANKS TO ALL WHO SENT APPEALS.

On 17 January 2018, US Border Patrol agents arrested Dr. Scott Warren, a 36-year old Human Rights Defender and humanitarian aid volunteer. The USA government then prosecuted Dr. Warren for allegedly “harboring” two undocumented migrants by providing them with humanitarian aid in the desert town of Ajo, Arizona, where he lives. He faced up to 20 years in prison if convicted on all the original charges. The arrest came hours after the release of a report documenting the willful destruction by border agents of humanitarian aid supplies in the USA–Mexico border areas. His first trial began on 29 May 2019 and ended on 11 June 2019. Because the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision, the prosecution has opted to retry him in November 2019. The prosecution could have dropped all the charges against him, but it did not. 

We will continue campaigning for the prosecution to drop all charges until the next trial. Please see more information about the ongoing politically motivated harassment and intimidation of Human Rights Defenders at the US-Mexico border like Dr. Warren in Amnesty International’s latest report Saving Lives is Not a Crime (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/0583/2019/en/).

NAME AND PREFFERED PRONOUN: Dr. Scott Warren (he/his/him)

THIS IS THE FIRST AND FINAL UPDATE FOR UA 69/19

LINK TO PREVIOUS UA: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/amr51/0363/2019/en/