USA: Decision to retry Dr Scott Warren is part of a wider campaign against human rights defenders

In response to today’s decision by US federal prosecutors to retry the human rights defender Dr Scott Warren after a previous attempt to prosecute him ended in a mistrial, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas director Amnesty International, said:

“By deciding to mount an entirely new trial against Dr Scott Warren, the Trump administration is doubling down on its attacks against human rights defenders who are doing necessary and life-saving work at the US-Mexico border.

“Amnesty International has documented that the criminalisation of Dr Warren is not an isolated incident, but part of a larger politically-motivated campaign of harassment and intimidation by the US government that is in clear violation of US and international law. The US government must immediately halt these campaigns, and Congress should hold authorities accountable for their abuse of power.”