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.

Amnesty International says EU leaders must tell the US President he is on a collision course with Europe and much of the rest of the world, on key human rights issues such as the death penalty and the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

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.