By Kamila Gunisova, Researcher at Amnesty International Slovakia

One year on from the start of the conflict in Sudan on 15 April 2023, and ahead of the 22 April Foreign Affairs Council, Amnesty International wrote to High Representative Borrell and to EU Foreign Ministers to urge them to ensure the European Union (EU) and its member states step up action on continuing human rights violations, including war crimes, in the conflict in Sudan.

Ahead of the European Parliament’s final vote on the European Union (EU) Pact on Migration and Asylum on 10 April, Amnesty International warns that these reforms will put people at heightened risk of human rights violations.

Amidst warnings from over 50 Civil Society Organisations, EU lawmakers reached a political agreement on the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum in December. The agreement is a continuation of a decade of policy that has led to the proliferation of rights violations in Europe. Moreover, it will have devastating implications for the right to international protection in the bloc and greenlight abuses across Europe including racial profiling, default de facto detention and pushbacks. Next week, MEPs will be presented with a final chance to reject the files in a Plenary vote, and give a political signal against the adoption of a Pact that would undermine fundamental rights.

For the last three years, we have worked in coalition as a broad range of digital, human rights and social justice groups to demand that artificial intelligence (AI) works for people, prioritising the protection of fundamental human rights. We have put forward our collective vision for an approach where “human-centric” is not just a buzzword, where people on the move are treated with dignity, and where lawmakers are bold enough to draw red lines against unacceptable uses of AI systems.

Amnesty International shared a submission to contribute to discussions ahead of the High-Level Conference on the European Social Charter to be held on 3-4 July 2024 in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Ahead of the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers, on 16-17 May 2024, Amnesty International wrote to Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Council of Europe member states and to Permanent Representatives to the Council of Europe, urging them to take action to further the recognition and protection of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment within the Council of Europe.

Reacting to the European Council’s decision to call for a sustainable ceasefire in Gaza, Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said: 

Every five years, European citizens choose who represents them in the European Parliament, acting for their interests in the European Union (EU). The European Parliament elections play a decisive role in shaping the day-to-day lives and futures of millions of people. From 6 to 9 June 2024, people across Europe will be making their voice heard and decide on the direction the EU will take.

Amnesty International and 216 civil society organisations, social movements and Indigenous Peoples Organizations co-signed a letter calling for the swift recognition of the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment through an additional Protocol to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

Ahead of the European Union’s (EU) leaders meeting with the Egyptian president in Cairo (17 March 2024), Amnesty International called for all leaders to ensure that respect for human rights is at the centre of all ties between the EU and Egypt.

Responding to the European Parliament’s adoption of the European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) today, Mher Hakobyan, Amnesty International’s Advocacy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, said: