To the attention of:

Your Excellencies,

Following a majority court ruling to convict Taner Kılıç for ‘membership of the Fethullah Gülen terrorist organization’ and to convict Özlem Dalkıran, İdil Eser and Günal Kurşun for ‘assisting the Fethullah Gülenterrorist organization’, Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s Turkey researcher who observed the hearing said:

This paper outlines Amnesty International’s key recommendations to the EU and EU member states participating in the Brussels IV Conference on Supporting the Future of Syria and the Region.

People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking to erode the independence of the judiciary to avoid accountability, Amnesty International said today as it published its annual review of human rights in the region.

President MichelEuropean CouncilHigh Representative BorrellEuropean External Action ServiceCommissionner VárhelyiEuropean Commission

The decision to detain Osman Kavala on new charges merely hours after a court ordered his release must be immediately reversed and he must immediately set free, said Amnesty International.

The EU’s new foreign affairs chief must draw a line under the EU’s complicity in human rights abuses in Libya, Amnesty International said today, ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on 9 December. With the situation in Libya on the agenda, Amnesty International is urging High Representative Joseph Borrell to pursue accountability for human rights violations in Libya and end policies which contribute to the suffering of refugees and migrants.

LIBYA: EU MUST PRIORITIZE ENDING THE CYCLE OF IMPUNITY AND REFOCUS MIGRATION COOPERATION ON PROTECTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

From 2014 onward, Burundian HRDs, journalists and civil society came under ever-greater pressure in a fast-onset crisis that culminated in an almost total absence of HRDs and civil society space at the time of writing in April 2019. Accelerating harassment and arbitrary detention of HRDs and journalists were the canary in the coal mine for this human rights crisis. At the start of the crisis, the EU was well placed as a donor to Burundi and partner of the government. In response, it initiated intense political dialogue, launched consultations under article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement in October 2015, and finally suspended all aid conducted through the government in March 2016.

Honduras is one of the most dangerous and difficult places for HRDs worldwide, in particular for those working on land and environmental issues. The EU faces many challenges to respond meaningfully here, including:

In recent years, human rights defenders in China have faced increasing intimidation, harassment, arbitrary detention and attacks.