After being put on hold for the past 10 years, the EU-Israel Association Council is set to take place against the backdrop of systematic human rights violations and the Israeli authorities’ persistent and increasingly brazen disregard for EU human rights concerns. Carrying on with business as usual...

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...

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...

Honduras is one of the most dangerous and difficult places for HRDs worldwide, in particular for those working on land and environmental issues. The EU faces many challenges to respond meaningfully here, including: high levels of violence and impunity; lack of easy access to HRDs in remote rural...

The European Union (EU) and its member states are falling short on their commitment to support and protect human rights defenders (HRDs) who are facing mounting deadly threats and attacks, a new Amnesty International report out today shows.  ...

Around the world, people are speaking up and working to defend human rights, frequently at risk to their safety, freedom or life. They are harassed and intimidated, unjustly prosecuted and imprisoned. Some are tortured, killed or forcibly disappeared. Many states have introduced restrictive laws to...

The severe crackdown on civil society in Saudi Arabia, especially since 2011 and more acutely since May 2018, has not been matched by a clear or resolute EU strategy to ensure the support and protection of HRDs. The policies of the EU and its member states have instead been characterized by...

On 17 July 2019,also the World Day for International Justice, the Burundian Court of Appeal of Ntahangwa confirmed the sentence of human rights defender Germain Rukuki. The decision was issued in a public hearing without Germain and his defence being notified. On 22 July, six days after the...

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE   Time for EU Kosovo mission to focus on war crimes   (Brussels, 26 April 2012) As the Council of the European Union prepares to extend the mandate of its Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) in Kosovo, a new Amnesty International report demands that the mission...

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS STATEMENT Court of Human Rights key to protecting human rights across Europe (Brussels, 7 November 2011) As the United Kingdom assumes the six-month chairmanship of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers, the organisation’s main decision-making body, Amnesty...

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE Last chance to investigate Croatian war crimes: “EU must act” (Brussels, 12 October 2011) As the European Commission prepares to issue its progress report on Croatia’s suitability to join the European Union, Amnesty International has expressed alarm at the...

AI AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE   Croatia must speed up war crimes prosecutions   (Brussels 9 December 2010) The Croatian authorities should prioritise and speed up the prosecution of war crimes suspects, Amnesty International has said in a report, Behind a wall of silence:...