The human rights violators’ playbook: how to respond to an Amnesty International report

By attempting to silence critical voices and dismantle vital protections, Poland is creating an ever more suffocating climate for the judiciary, media and civil society.

16/02/2017 – As the European Commission is set soon to examine Poland’s response to its Recommendations under the Rule of Law Framework, NGOs are writing in support of the Commission’s assessment that there is a steady deterioration of the rule of law in Poland. We believe that this assessment, combined with concerns over the existence of a ‘clear risk of a serious breach’ by the Polish government of the values referred to in Article 2 TEU warrants you to resort to the procedure laid down in Article 7 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU).

16/02/2017 – On 13 July 2016, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation establishing a Union Resettlement Framework. The proposal sets a framework within which the Union will implement resettlement in the future. It establishes in essence the general objectives of the EU resettlement policy; common EU rules on admission of third country nationals through resettlement; common EU rules on eligibility and exclusion criteria; standard procedures governing all stages of the resettlement process; status to be accorded to resettled persons; decision-making procedures; and financial support to member states. It does not prescribe the scale of resettlement or the regions/countries from which to resettle as this is left to implementing acts by the Council and the Commission. However, under the proposed framework, the selection of priority regions and countries is to be predominantly linked to the EU’s migration control objectives.

16/02/2017 – On 4 May 2016, the European Commission presented a proposal for a revision of the Dublin Regulation (so-called Dublin-IV), which aims to determine the member state responsible for processing an asylum application lodged within the European Union (EU).This proposal is part of a package of proposals reviewing the Common European Asylum System.

14/02/2017 – The EU-Turkey refugee deal has left thousands of refugees and migrants in squalid and dangerous living conditions, and must not be replicated with other countries, Amnesty International says, ahead of the deal’s one year anniversary.

The EU-Turkey deal has been a disaster for the thousands who have been left stranded in a dangerous, desperate and seemingly endless limbo on the Greek islands

Rounding up all men, women and children seeking asylum and detaining them months on end in container camps is a new low in Hungary’s race to the bottom on asylum seekers and refugees

09/02/2017 – I would like to extend best-wishes to you on your election as President of the European Parliament and express Amnesty International’s desire to work with you and the European Parliament on human rights issues. As President of the European Parliament, you play a crucial role in promoting the European Union’s underlying principles, towards the public and in carrying out the European Parliament’s core business of holding the other EU institutions to account on their human rights obligations and commitments. We would like to urge you to champion human rights by speaking out about violations of human rights within the EU and abroad.

This plan is just the latest, but perhaps the most callous indicator of European leaders turning their back on refugees

01/02/2017 – Following the conclusion of Slovakia’s EU Presidency, Amnesty International’s wrote to Prime Minister Fico with an assessment of the Presidency’s role in addressing key human rights concerns.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE​ ​​​​ ​Greece: Refugees facing freezing conditions on the mainland and islands