29/11/2013 – An informal settlement in Saint Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis), reported by media as one of the largest Roma camps in France with an estimated 800 people living in it at one point, was forcibly evicted on the morning of 27 November 2013. Media reports estimated that of the approximately 250 people evicted on 27 November, about 70 were children. The vast majority of evicted inhabitants were reportedly left homeless, with nowhere to live, as temperatures dropped to 7 C at the onset of winter.

20/11/2013 – In December 2013, the Czech Republic will be reviewed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe with regard to its progress towards the execution of the European Court of Human Rights judgment in the case of D.H. and Others. In 2007, the European Court held the placement of Romani pupils into special schools for pupils with mild mental disabilities amounted to discrimination.  Amnesty International is concerned that six years after the judgment, very little progress has been achieved towards ensuring equal access to education for Roma in Czech Republic. In this submission, Amnesty International demonstrates that to date, the government has failed to adopt measures  explicitly mandating the desegregation of Czech schools. It has also failed to put in place sufficient safeguards against discrimination in access to education. In 2013, instead of urgently adopting the necessary systemic changes, the government appears to have backtracked from its previous commitme

Amnesty International has documented Ukraine’s actions and challenges remaining to erradicate police torture. © APGraphicsBank

19/11/2013 – In the run up to the Vilnius Summit the EU has focused its attention on the problem of selective justice. The case of Yuliya Tymoshenko highlights the lack of fair trials and independence of the judiciary in Ukraine, but the political significance of her case should not be allowed to overshadow the systemic problems that deprive thousands of Ukrainians of their rights everyday.

The Court skirted around the real issue in this case and missed a key opportunity to state clearly that to criminalize consensual same-sex conduct ultimately amounts to criminalising people for who they are and, therefore, amounts to persecution per se, regardless of how often sentences of imprisonment are enforced. 

31/10/2013 – Almost one third of Syria’s population have fled their homes. More than 2 million are refugees living outside Syria – mostly in Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt – and 4.25 million individuals are displaced internally in Syria. They have fled widespread violence and human rights abuses, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Given the strains that the main hosting countries are under, there is a risk that without sufficient support from the international community they will no longer be willing or able to continue to give adequate protection and assistance to Syrian refugees. Countries with the means to do so, including Europe, must provide sufficient funding to deal with the refugee crisis.

The Council conclusions on migration painfully show that the expressions of sadness and solidarity were nothing more than crocodile tears. Europe’s priority clearly is not to save lives or to protect people along the borders. Instead it is to prevent people from arriving in Europe at all costs, even if those people are in need of safety and protection.