Today is a dark day for Spain with these reforms representing a multi-pronged attack on a raft of rights.

19/03/2015 – The German Constitutional Court ruling striking down a blanket prohibition for teachers to wear religious and cultural symbols or dress in North-Rhine Westphalia, the most populous German state, is an important step towards combating discrimination based on religion or belief.

19/03/2015 – Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists comment on the Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism in advance of the third meeting of the Committee on Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Related Issues. They set out a short overview of some of the main concerns raised by the proposed text, including the excessively broad scope of application of the draft Protocol and the speed of the process itself which does not allow for an appropriate degree of consultation and debate on this complex topic. It has been noted that the principle of legality in respect of criminal offences, and the right to a fair trial, are of particular importance for this Protocol.

In order for surveillance to be lawful, it must be targeted, based on reasonable suspicion, and subject to prior judicial authorisation.

18/03/2015 – Amnesty International welcomes Italy’s acceptance of numerous recommendations made during its review on refugees and migrants — including on protection, reception conditions and unaccompanied minors — and calls on Italy to implement these urgently.

16/03/2015 – The European Court of Human Rights ruling striking down a sterilisation requirement for transgender individuals who wish to access gender reassignment surgery is an encouraging step towards equality for transgender people in Europe.

Of course, governments all over the world would love to keep court findings of their illegal activity behind closed doors, but that’s not how open justice works.

It’s vital that surveillance measures don’t ride roughshod over the rights of the very people they’re supposed to protect.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

06/03/2015 – In their preliminary public observations to the members of the Committee on Foreign Terrorist Fighters and Related Issues (COD-CTE) of the Council of Europe on the terms of reference to draft an Additional Protocol supplementing the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists set out general principles and make short comments on the specific new criminal offences that shall be introduced by this international treaty.

Without a collective and concerted rescue mission, the European Agenda on Migration remains dangerously incomplete.

03/03/2015 – The report highlights the mounting persecution of government critics, detained under false charges, beaten and threatened and deprived of urgent medical care and lawyers.