On 9 November 2025, the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean states (CELAC) will meet for their biennial EU-CELAC summit in Santa Marta, Colombia. Amnesty International urges the EU and CELAC leaders to seize the opportunity to move beyond rhetoric on long-standing partnership and shared values and interests to take concrete actions on human rights in both regions and worldwide, at a crucial time when human rights are under attack globally.

As Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza escalates, enabled by US military and political support, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has imposed sanctions on prominent Palestinian human rights organizations, Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. This represents a grave assault on human rights standards, the global pursuit of justice and respect for international law. 

Amnesty International and 8 international human rights organisations express profound concerns regarding the Georgian government’s all-out assault on human rights and civil society organisations in the country and call on the authorities to immediately and unconditionally end all persecution of civil society and media groups for their peaceful and legitimate work. The European Union, its member states and the broader international community should take urgent and coordinated measures to respond to and end this crackdown.

Dear President von der Leyen,

Reacting to today’s ruling by the European Union (EU) Court of Justice (ECJ) that Italy’s rules on designating certain countries of origin as ‘safe’ for people seeking asylum was incompatible with EU law, Adriana Tidona, Migration Researcher at Amnesty International, said:

Ahead of the upcoming EU-China Summit in China on July 24–25, 17 organizations wrote to President Costa and President von der Leyen, urging them to prioritize human rights and use the Summit as an opportunity to ensure justice for victims and survivors of Beijing’s violations. We call on the EU and its member states to confront a growing human rights crisis, which increasingly impacts not only people across China but also people worldwide.

Ahead of a visit by EU Migration Commissioner Brunner and EU ministers to Libya to discuss migration cooperation on 8 July, Eve Geddie, the Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, said:

Ahead of the forthcoming discussions on Ukraine at the 26-27 June European Council, Amnesty International wrote to President Costa and EU Heads of state or government, urging them to use the European Council to agree on concerted EU action aimed at shaping diplomatic negotiations on Ukraine and to ensure that broader EU efforts in pursuit of a ‘just and lasting peace’ are firmly grounded in respect for international humanitarian and human rights law and a commitment to international justice and accountability.

Reacting to the EU’s decision to initiate a review of Israel’s compliance with its obligations under international law under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, Eve Geddie the Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office said:

Responding to the European Commission’s proposal to amend the ‘safe third country’ concept by allowing EU member states to forcibly send people seeking asylum to countries where they have no connection, without the possibility to appeal from the EU, Olivia Sundberg Diez, Amnesty International’s EU Advocate on Migration and Asylum, said:

Amnesty International is presenting this submission to the European Commission ahead of the preparation of its 2025 Enlargement Package. It details Amnesty International’s human rights concerns and outlines key recommendations that the EU should prioritize in the framework of Serbia’s EU accession process as well as any other ongoing engagement with the authorities. 

In an open letter to President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council António Costa, Amnesty International and 57 other human rights organizations, media freedom groups, journalists’ organisations and representatives of the international legal community raise our profound concern over the extraordinary assault by the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the right to political participation, the rule of law and human rights in Türkiye and call for an effective and robust response by the EU, its member states and its institutions.