The UK government’s surveillance practices have been allowed to continue unabated and on an unprecedented scale, with major consequences for people’s privacy and freedom of expression. No-one is above the law and the European Court of Human Rights now has a chance to make that clear.
Millions of euros were allocated for settlements and yet, three years on, the vast majority of Roma families thrown out of their houses, are still awaiting a place to call home.
27/03/2015 – As NGOs present at the Brussels conference on the implementation of the European Convention on Human Rights, we welcome the draft Declaration’s deadline of June 2016 to improve the execution of the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights, but regret that it does not set out the specific measures that states and the Committee of Ministers should take to improve implementation.
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