Amnesty issues ‘travel advisory’ for US after shootings

Amnesty International has issued a “travel advisory” for the United States in the wake of deadly mass shootings that took place over the weekend.

In the advisory, published on Wednesday, the London-based, non-governmental organization warned travelers to the US to be cautious due to “ongoing high levels of gun violence in the country.”

A total of 31 people were killed in two mass shootings in the US states of Texas and Ohio over the weekend.

“The Amnesty International travel advisory for the country of the United States of America calls on people worldwide to exercise caution and have an emergency contingency plan when traveling throughout the USA. This Travel Advisory is being issued in light of ongoing high levels of gun violence in the country,” the document read.

Amnesty International advised visitors to the US to be “extra vigilant at all times and be wary of the ubiquity of firearms among the population,” and called on travelers to “avoid places where large number of people gather, especially cultural events, places of worship, schools, and shopping malls.”

Amnesty stressed that the risk of being targeted by gun violence might be higher depending on the traveler's gender, race, country of origin, ethnic background and sexual orientation.

“Under international human rights law, the United States has an obligation to enact a range of measures at the federal, state, and local levels to regulate access to firearms and to protect the rights of people to live and move freely without the threat of gun violence,” the organization added in the document.

The administration of US President Donald Trump “has not taken sufficient steps to meet this obligation,” it said.

In the aftermath of the deadly shootings, several countries have issued travel advisories to their citizens. But it is not common for non-governmental organizations to issue travel warnings for countries.

SS