Click here to link to the Amnesty International report: “Appeal to the European Union and Commonwealth” (AI Index AFR 46/010/2001).

Amnesty International is issuing an urgent appeal to European Union leaders to exert their influence through the Cotonou Agreement, following the arrest yesterday of the head of Amnesty International in Gambia, Mr Lamine Sillah, and 13 others including a leading member of Gambia’s opposition Dr Moudou Manneh.

At this crucial time, with global tensions running high, Amnesty International in Brussels today launched an appeal to EU leaders to show greater moral and political leadership to safeguard the international protection of refugees. The appeal coincides with this week’s Justice and Home Affairs Council (27-28 th September) which is due to discuss key issues regarding the EU’s asylum procedures.

Amnesty International calls on the European Union to uphold its own human rights principles by raising China’s deteriorating human rights record at the highest level during the EU-China summit in Brussels on Wednesday 5 September.

As EU leaders prepare to meet the Russian President Vladimir Putin at their summit in Stockholm, Amnesty International demands that they send the Russian leader home with a clear message.