Author Archives: Noor Mir

About Noor Mir

Noor Mir is a Field Organizer for Amnesty International USA
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Is Dept. of Justice Use of Force Database enough?

October 21, 2016 at 5:25 PM
TOPSHOT - Baltimore County Sheriffs officers gather after Baltimore Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. was acquitted of all charges in his murder trial for the death of Freddie Gray at the Mitchell Court House June 23, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. Goodson, who drove the van in which Freddie Gray, a young African American, was transported before he died was acquitted of all charges including second degree murder and manslaughter. / AFP / Brendan Smialowski (Photo credit should read BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

TOPSHOT – Baltimore County Sheriffs officers gather after Baltimore Officer Caesar Goodson Jr. was acquitted of all charges in his murder trial for the death of Freddie Gray at the Mitchell Court House June 23, 2016 in Baltimore, Maryland. (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Last Thursday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced steps by the Department of Justice to enable the nationwide collection of data on law enforcement interactions with civilians, including data pertaining to the use of force by law enforcement.

While Amnesty International USA welcomes these small steps towards transparency and accountability, we also recognize that much more needs to be done, urgently, in order to address the the current crisis of police-involved deaths in the United States SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

AIUSA’s Formal Recommendations to Department of Justice for the Baltimore City Police Department Consent Decree Process

September 13, 2016 at 10:38 AM
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 28: Daquan Green, age 17, sits on the curb while riot police stand guard near the CVS pharmacy that was set on fire yesterday during rioting after the funeral of Freddie Gray, on April 28, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

A few weeks ago, the Department of Justice released findings from a “pattern and practice” review of the Baltimore Police Department. Amnesty International USA welcomed these findings as an important step towards transparency and accountability and expressed concern regarding alarming revelations about the use of deadly force by the Baltimore Police Department. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

DOJ Review of Baltimore Policy Department Indicates Urgent Need for Meaningful Change

August 19, 2016 at 4:25 PM
BALTIMORE, MD - APRIL 28: Daquan Green, age 17, sits on the curb while riot police stand guard near the CVS pharmacy that was set on fire yesterday during rioting after the funeral of Freddie Gray, on April 28, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Gray, 25, was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Houses housing project on Baltimore's west side. According to his attorney, Gray died a week later in the hospital from a severe spinal cord injury he received while in police custody. (Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

Earlier this week, the Department of Justice released findings from a “pattern and practice” review of the Baltimore Police Department. This is an important step towards transparency and accountability. While the report highlights pervasive problems throughout the BPD in how it interacts with communities of color within Baltimore, below are several of the DOJ’s findings pertaining to deadly force that require immediate attention: SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Make This Crucial Call Today to Help Unseal the Truth on Torture

May 5, 2015 at 10:30 AM

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Take a minute to imagine this.

You are taken from your home in the middle of the day, blindfolded and shackled on a plane, then taken to a place you’ve never seen before. Here, you are subjected to some of the most degrading treatment imaginable.

  • Forced rectal feeding to humiliate and exert control over you;
  • Shackled into standing positions, hung naked except for diapers, forced into sleep deprivation for days and weeks;
  • Held in total darkness and isolation for days with only a bucket to use for human waste.

But for dozens of men who were “disappeared” by the U.S. government and held in secret sites around the world from 2002 to 2008, this isn’t just imagination. This was reality. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST

Meet Noor at the AGM: Field Organizer

March 14, 2015 at 3:57 PM

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Leading up to our 2015 human rights conference in Brooklyn, NY, March 20-22, we are highlighting six Amnesty International USA staff members and moments in their life that have helped build their career in the human rights movement! Read all six in our “Meet me at the AGM” blog series.

NAME: ­­­­­­Noor Mir

I WORK FOR AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA AS: Associate Field Organizer

IN THAT ROLE I:

  • Move people to act
  • Inspire youth to take empowerment into their own hands
  • Build coalitions of human rights activists
  • Challenge power at the source

HOW DID YOU GET THERE?
I was born and raised in Islamabad, Pakistan to a family that had been at the forefront of political struggles and independence movements from the British Empire. SEE THE REST OF THIS POST