Open Letter to Authorities in Europe and Globally

Today, the Council of the EU officially adopted the EU Directive on combating violence against women and domestic violence.1 As 13 civil society organisations2 which advocate for human rights, gender equality, and the right for all to live free from violence, we welcome this first ever binding EU legislation on this issue as a groundbreaking step.

This blog is authored by Ann Harrison, Climate Advisor, Amnesty International; Amy Jacobsen, Legal Counsel Communications, Greenpeace International, Emma Pagliarusco, Advocacy Coordinator, Youth and Environment Europe; Camilla Pollera, Program Associate, Center for International Environmental Law, Katharina Rall, Senior Researcher, Human Rights Watch. It was first published by Healthy Environment Europe.

Lebanese authorities and the European Union must respect their obligations under international law and not forcibly return refugees to Syria as long as the conditions for safe, voluntary and dignified returns are not met, eight civil society organizations, including Amnesty International, said today ahead of European Commission President Ursula von Der Leyen’s visit to Beirut

Amnesty International welcomes the initiative of the Council of Europe to draft a Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence, Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law as the first binding human rights instrument on Artificial Intelligence (AI).

One year on from the start of the conflict in Sudan on 15 April 2023, and as the Foreign Affairs Council meets on Sudan on 22 April 2024, Amnesty International and 10 other NGOs call on the European Union (EU) and its member states to take urgent, strategic and concrete steps to respond to the massive cost on civilians of the dramatic human rights and humanitarian crisis in the country and prevent further violations.

Responding to today’s European Parliament vote to adopt a package of new European Union (EU) laws on migration and asylum, Eve Geddie, Amnesty International’s Head of the European Institutions Office and Director of Advocacy, said:

At the time of the adoption of the so-called European Union (EU) – Turkey deal in 2016, despite the abundant evidence that human rights would be at risk if the deal went ahead, the Dutch authorities endorsed and implemented it. As such, the Netherlands should be held accountable for violating Dutch, international and EU law.

By Kamila Gunisova, Researcher at Amnesty International Slovakia

One year on from the start of the conflict in Sudan on 15 April 2023, and ahead of the 22 April Foreign Affairs Council, Amnesty International wrote to High Representative Borrell and to EU Foreign Ministers to urge them to ensure the European Union (EU) and its member states step up action on continuing human rights violations, including war crimes, in the conflict in Sudan.

Ahead of the European Parliament’s final vote on the European Union (EU) Pact on Migration and Asylum on 10 April, Amnesty International warns that these reforms will put people at heightened risk of human rights violations.

Amidst warnings from over 50 Civil Society Organisations, EU lawmakers reached a political agreement on the EU’s New Pact on Migration and Asylum in December. The agreement is a continuation of a decade of policy that has led to the proliferation of rights violations in Europe. Moreover, it will have devastating implications for the right to international protection in the bloc and greenlight abuses across Europe including racial profiling, default de facto detention and pushbacks. Next week, MEPs will be presented with a final chance to reject the files in a Plenary vote, and give a political signal against the adoption of a Pact that would undermine fundamental rights.