AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Not only do we have fears that Ablyazov would not get a fair trial in Russia or Ukraine, there is the real danger that he will eventually end up in Kazakhstan, where he will be at risk of torture and other ill-treatment. The French authorities must not send Ablyazov to any country where he will face serious human rights violations or be forced back to Kazakhstan.

Asylum seekers in Bulgaria, including many fleeing from war-torn Syria, are being held in appalling conditions, sometimes for months on end. They lack access to food, sanitation or basic medical care. They are also at risk of arbitrary detention and face lengthy delays in registration and are routinely deprived of access to fair and effective asylum procedures.

Today’s announcement is yet another effort by the UK to shirk its responsibility to get at the full truth

19/12/2013 – An Amnesty International delegation has just returned from a two-week mission to Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR) and documented serious violations of international humanitarian law and gross violations of human rights following the 5 December attack in Bangui and its aftermath, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. The commission of these crimes should be of great concern to the international community as a whole. All states have an obligation to investigate and, where enough admissible evidence is gathered, prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

If accurate, the deeply shocking statements attributed today to the Greek Chief of Police would expose a willful disregard for the rights and welfare of refugees and migrants seeking shelter and opportunity in the European Union.

The European Union urgently needs to change its mindset and approach to migration control. No matter how high member states try to build their walls, no matter how often they shift responsibility to neighbouring countries, and no matter how often they try to turn a blind eye, people will still be compelled to leave their country. And so, more lives will be lost off Europe’s shores

The European Union member states are failing to play their fair part in providing a safe haven to the refugees who have lost all but their lives. The number of those they’re prepared to resettle is truly shameful

12/12/2013 – In the space of 12 months, 1.8 million people fled the armed conflict in Syria. By September 2013 the terrible milestone of two million refugees had been reached as men, women and children continued to pour out of the country.

10/12/2013 – Today, Amnesty International formally requested access to information from the European Commission on the process and state of play of the so called pre-infringement procedures against Italy, following its discriminatory treatment of Roma and the specific failure of the national government to ensure equal access to adequate housing for all.

The consequences of this life-and-death decision will affect an entire country. If the Security Council does not act now to stem the horrific cycle of violence in the Central African Republic, that failure will hang heavily on the international community for years to come.