It is outrageously hypocritical of the European Commission to insinuate that Greece alone is to blame for dire conditions

Amnesty International European Institutions Office invites you to

02/12/2016 – Speech delivered by Amnesty International European Institutions Office director Iverna McGowan, to the EU – NGO forum on 2 December 2016, on how the EU can work towards the eradication of torture.

Time and again we have seen such measures used by governments to curb freedom of expression, and to control some people’s movements and associations

These volume thresholds, that exempt companies from complying with legislation, are dangerous loopholes

It would make a mockery of the system if 90% of importers are excluded from rules designed to prevent conflict minerals

There is a climate of impunity in CAR, where members of armed groups and militias alleged to have committed appalling human rights abuses and crimes under international law, move freely throughout the country and continue to fuel violence

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MEDIA ADVISORY

14/11/2016 – I write in advance of the 17 November donors’ Conference on the Central African Republic (CAR) in Brussels, to urge you to lead efforts of the European Union (EU) and its member states to put accountability, the consolidation of the rule of law and the reconstruction of the penal chain at the centre of discussions at the conference.

…traumatized people, arriving in Italy after harrowing journeys, are being subjected to flawed assessments and in some instances appalling abuse at the hands of the police, as well as unlawful expulsions

03/11/2016 – Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children, fleeing conflict, human right violations and poverty, have crossed the Mediterranean in the past three years in search of safe haven or a better life. In the absence of safe and legal routes into Europe, they have travelled irregularly, at considerable risk to their own lives. This has posed significant challenges to European leaders, who have largely failed to meet them. They have placed a particularly large burden on Greece, but also on Italy, which has led efforts to save lives at sea and has seen over 150 thousand irregular arrivals for each of the last three years. Rather than creating a bold, orderly system providing safe avenues for people to seek protection in Europe, and advocating for the respect and protection of human rights in countries where conflict and persecution are displacing people, European leaders have resorted to negotiating with human rights violating governments to stop them coming. Rather than promoting solidar

SUGGESTED EU RULES ON CONFLICT MINERAL TRADE RISK EXCLUSION OF 90% OF IMPORTERS