In a joint civil society organisations letter ahead of the E.U. Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) trilogue negotiation on 6 December, Amnesty International urges the Representatives of the Council of the European Union to effectively regulate the use of AI systems by law enforcement, migration control and national security authorities throughout Europe.
Announcements by a number of European countries and the European Commission to restrict funding to Palestinian human rights organizations would further damage the European Union’s credibility as a self-proclaimed champion of human rights. Amnesty International and 95 other organizations have published a letter to the EU and member states expressing concern about the impact of such discriminatory measures on human rights.
In an open letter, Amnesty International and 103 other civil society organisations express serious concern at the EU and several European states’ decision to suspend or review their funding to Palestinian and Israeli civil society organisations.
Responding to news that France, Germany and Italy, are putting adoption of the landmark AI Act at risk due to their opposition to regulate foundation models, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnes Callamard said:
An Amnesty International France and Omega Research Foundation investigative team discovered Chinese companies marketing illegal law enforcement equipment capable of inflicting torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, at Milipol, a military and police trade fair taking place this week in Paris.
I am writing these words in exile. I left Cuba almost exactly a year ago, after months of being threatened by State Security to stop my work defending human rights inside Cuba. My story is the story of dozens of activists, journalists, political dissidents and non-conformist artists who in the last few years have been forced to board a plane. And in many cases, to also follow the migrant routes that cross half of the American continent to reach a safe place to start over.
In October 2023, member states reached an agreement on the contentious Crisis and Force Majeure Regulation, enabling negotiations with the European Parliament to begin on this piece of the migration and asylum reforms package. Despite its name, this proposal will not usher in a better approach to ‘crises’ or increased arrivals at borders. If adopted, it risks normalising the use of emergency measures and lowering asylum standards further.
The LGBTI+ community in Türkiye is increasingly the target of discrimination, intimidation and violence, said the European Commission in its 2023 Enlargement Package published last week. It also points out that the activities of LGBTI+ organisations continue to be unduly restricted, LGBTI+ people and human rights defenders continue to be targeted with legal sanctions for participating in Pride events, and LGBTI+ people continue to face hate speech, stigmatisation, and smear campaigns.
As the EU AI Act negotiations continue, a number of controversial issues remain open. At stake are vital issues including the extent to which general purpose/foundation models are regulated, but also crucially, how far does the AI Act effectively prevent harm from the use of AI for law enforcement, migration, and national security purposes.
In a joint statement, Amnesty International and 81 other civil society organisations express our concerns regarding the potential retention of Article 5 in the proposed EU Screening Regulation (one of key legislative files encompassing the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum) during trilogue negotiations.
In a joint statement, Amnesty International and 17 other European networks and organisations, representing trade unions and NGOs, call on EU lawmakers not to trap migrant workers in exploitation, by ensuring a meaningful right to change employer, and to ensure full equal treatment, particularly in private rented housing.
On 15 November, Deputy Permanent Representatives to COREPER I will discuss the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) to update the Council’s negotiation mandate for the next political trialogue.