Dear Prime Minister,

The Cypriot government offers the last hope for a Syrian man to return to his family in Cyprus, said Amnesty International as they launched a new campaign to #BringAhmedHome.

EU top court condemns Poland’s law forcing Supreme Court judges to retire The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled today that Poland’s contested Law on the Supreme Court is in breach of EU law. Under an interim decision from the CJEU from November 2018, Polish authorities had already been ordered to restore the Supreme Court to its composition before April 2018, when the law came into force.

More than a million people in more than 200 countries and territories across the globe have come together to express their outrage at the sentencing of prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to 38 years and six months in prison and 148 lashes after two grossly unfair trials, Amnesty International announced today, as signatures demanding her release were handed in to Iranian embassies around the world.

Despite all the challenges facing our newly elected MEPs I am hopeful that a freer, fairer Europe is in reach. In last week’s elections Europeans came out and voted in greater numbers than at any time in the last 20 years, and many campaigns were driven by young people who made their voices heard on several key issues.

Amnesty International welcomes the 29 May decision by the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) that Azerbaijan had failed to fulfil its obligation to comply with the Court’s 2014 ruling in the case of opposition leader Ilgar Mammadov. This judgment underscores that Azerbaijan must end prosecution and incarceration of government opponents and human rights defenders under trumped-up charges, and ensure release, acquittal and reparation for all victims of such violations.

The Chinese authorities must end a wave of persecution targeting those seeking to commemorate the victims of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Amnesty International said ahead of the 30th anniversary of the bloodshed. 

Following a recent investigation in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, Amnesty International has gathered new evidence that the Myanmar military is committing war crimes and other human rights violations. The military operation is ongoing, raising the prospect of additional crimes being committed.

The European elections are over and now the real work begins for our new MEPs! The new cohort take their seats at a time of great turbulence both in Europe and globally. Leaders are spreading hate and fear,politicians are cracking down on peaceful activists, and powerful people are pushing for policies that are making us poorer and destroying our environment. As they take their seats for the next five years, new Members of the European Parliament (EP) have work to do to ensure that the human rights of everyone within the EU, and around the world, are respected.  

We all want the opportunity to build the life we want and pursue our ambitions. To have work that pays enough, to be able to afford somewhere decent to live. We should all have access to good education, access to a doctor or the hospital, regardless of our circumstances.

In response to a decision by Turkey’s Constitutional Court to reject an application by civil society leader Osman Kavala to end his continued pre-trial detention on the grounds that it is in violation of his human rights, Amnesty International’s Turkey Campaigner Milena Buyum said:

Your voice matters. You have the right to say what you think, express your hopes and wishes and demand a better world. You have the right to agree or disagree with those in power, and to peacefully protest.