As the Czech Republic government prepares to assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU), Amnesty International calls to ensure that human rights are at the forefront of the Czech presidency’s mandate. This presidency comes at a time of increased challenges in Europe, including the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and its implications for the international human rights system, backsliding on the rule of law, the growing anti-gender movement and the discriminatory treatment of asylum seekers.

Amnesty International is writing to share our concerns and recommendations ahead of the forthcoming European Union (EU) – China summit. While we understand that the main topic of discussions will be the Ukraine crisis and the Chinese government’s position on it, we urge you to dedicate adequate time to also discuss those authorities’ assaults on human rights both within and increasingly outside China’s borders. In that regard, we would also like to caution you against spending time persuading your Chinese counterparts to holding yet another round of the bilateral human rights dialogue.

Ahead of the European Union (EU)-African Union (AU) summit on 17-18 February 2022, Amnesty International calls on African and European leaders to deliver on their human rights commitments in policy and practice, as they confront multiple challenges together. At the EU-AU Foreign Affairs Ministerial Meeting in October 2021, both sides re-affirmed their commitment to political dialogue aimed at enhancing human rights and informing the overall AU-EU cooperation.

Ahead of the informal meeting of the European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers in Slovenia in September, Amnesty International, Civicus, International Commission of Jurists, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), wrote an open letter to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission Josep Borrell to express their grave concerns about the continued reticence from the EU and its member states in effectively engaging India on human rights. In light of the deteriorating human rights situation in the country, the organizations urge the EU and its member states to fundamentally revise their strategy toward relations with India and engage with India on human rights.

The arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of Russian prominent anti-corruption campaigner and opposition figure Aleksei Navalny, and the concurrent arrests and detention on spurious charges of his colleagues from the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), civil society activists and peaceful protesters during mass public protests held at the beginning of the year and in smaller protests that followed, are the latest in a series of severe, brazen reprisals against all forms of dissent in Russia. The prosecution of Aleksei Navalny and of his colleagues and supporters is politically motivated and their deprivation of liberty is unlawful. They are being held in detention solely for their peaceful political activism and their exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. They must be immediately released.

A court in Moscow has sentenced opposition activist and Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny to two years and eight months in a penal colony, amid a brutal crackdown on peaceful protests which saw at least 5,021 people detained on 31 January alone. The Simonovsky District Court granted a motion put forward by the Federal Penitentiary Service to replace Aleksei Navalny’s suspended sentence with jail time, and he will be held at a penal colony.

Dear High Representative,

To the attention of:

People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking to erode the independence of the judiciary to avoid accountability, Amnesty International said today as it published its annual review of human rights in the region.

The decision to detain Osman Kavala on new charges merely hours after a court ordered his release must be immediately reversed and he must immediately set free, said Amnesty International.

From 2014 onward, Burundian HRDs, journalists and civil society came under ever-greater pressure in a fast-onset crisis that culminated in an almost total absence of HRDs and civil society space at the time of writing in April 2019. Accelerating harassment and arbitrary detention of HRDs and journalists were the canary in the coal mine for this human rights crisis. At the start of the crisis, the EU was well placed as a donor to Burundi and partner of the government. In response, it initiated intense political dialogue, launched consultations under article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement in October 2015, and finally suspended all aid conducted through the government in March 2016.

In recent years, human rights defenders in China have faced increasing intimidation, harassment, arbitrary detention and attacks.