14/04/2014 – Ahead of the 14-15 April Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), Amnesty International calls on the European Union (EU) and its member states to act urgently to bring stability to the Central African Republic (CAR). The newly launched EUFOR RCA military operation must be robust and well-resourced in order to immediately assist the existing peacekeeping troops on the ground. EU and international efforts are also necessary to ensure much-needed financial and logistical support reaches the African-led International Support Mission to the Central African Republic (MISCA). This will be essential for MISCA to live up to its mandate to protect civilians in all parts of the country until the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission deploys following the recent adoption of UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution 2194 (2014).

This withdrawal must not give a free ride to impunity for those Chadian peacekeepers allegedly responsible for human rights violations in the Central African Republic that killed dozens of civilians as recently as last weekend

03/04/2014 – The US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) has voted for a degree of transparency on the now long-festering injustices associated with the secret detention program operated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) after the attacks of 11 September 2001.

The Central African Republic is gripped by a human rights and humanitarian crisis of historic proportions. By failing to respond more robustly and urgently, the international community has shown a callous disregard for the country’s embattled civilians, abandoning them in their moment of need

01/04/2014 – At today’s European Union (EU)-Africa Summit in Brussels, Belgium, Amnesty International calls on African and EU decision-makers to ensure that human rights underpin all discussions and decisions on all the issues on the agenda aimed at “Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace.”

27/03/2014 – 2013 was marked by some challenging setbacks on the journey to abolition of the death penalty. Four countries – Indonesia, Kuwait, Nigeria and Viet Nam – resumed executions and there was a significant rise in the number of people executed during the year compared with 2012, driven primarily by increases in Iraq and Iran.

26/03/2014 – At today’s Summit, the European Union (EU) and the United States of America (US) must put human rights at the centre of their dialogue and action. The EU-US summit represents a crucial opportunity for both sides to explicitly address several key issues of cooperation in relation to their human rights records.

A group of artisanal miners sift through ores found in a stream close to Congo International Mining Corporation (CIMCO)’s plant in Luisha. © Amnesty International

04/03/2014 – Further to Amnesty International’s October 2013 report on the use of armed drones and ahead of the March EU-US summit, we urge the US administration to ensure independent, impartial investigations into credible reports of potentially unlawful deaths from US drone strikes, including killings that Amnesty International documented in its report, ‘Will I Be Next

21/02/2014 – Amnesty International has welcomed the decision of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General to open an investigation into the alleged rendition to Lithuania of Mustafa al-Hawsawi. The decision comes after the Vilnius Regional Court ruled on 28 January that al-Hawsawi had a right to an investigation of his claims.

Burning/looting of Muslim property and a mosque in PK 26 area, north of the capital Bangui in late January.© Amnesty International