Ahead of the Foreign Affairs Council on 24 February 2025, Amnesty International wrote to High Representative Kaja Kallas and EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs, urging them to act on the escalating human rights crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Dear High Representative Kallas, Dear Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Ahead of the forthcoming Foreign…
On 12 February, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will hear three cases against Latvia, Lithuania and Poland concerning alleged unlawful pushbacks — summary returns of migrants and refugees at the border — from these EU states to Belarus. This is the first time the European Court will rule on human…
Ahead of the College of Commissioners’ visit to India, Amnesty International and 11 other NGOs urge EU leaders to step up their engagement with their Indian counterparts in light of the profound human rights crisis in the country. Dear President von der Leyen, Dear Commissioners, As the College of Commissioners prepares to visit India amid…
In a joint letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Amnesty International joined 162 civil society organizations and trade unions in calling on the EU to ban trade and business with Israel’s illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, to comply with its legal obligations as laid out by the International Court of…
In an open letter to the editor of Euractiv, Amnesty International responded to the ‘The Brief – Never again?‘ published on 27 January 2025. Dear sir, It is with shock but not surprise that we at Amnesty International read Euractiv’s editor in chief, Matthew Karnitschnig’s, The Brief – Never again? published on 27 January. In…
The following statement has been written collectively by the AI Act civil society coalition and the #ProtectNotSurveil coalition following the European Commission consultation on the AI Act prohibitions and AI system definition. On 11 December 2024, the European Commission’s consultation on its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act guidelines closed. These guidelines will determine how those…
In a letter to Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Ministers for the Environment of Member States of the Council of Europe, Amnesty International calls for a legally binding instrument guaranteeing the human right to a healthy environment. Dear Ministers, I am writing to you on behalf of Amnesty International to encourage you to take action…
As Poland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 January 2025, Amnesty International sets out recommendations for its mandate in a letter to Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland. Dear Prime Minister Tusk, Poland assumes the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) at a critical moment, and…
Ursula von der Leyen knows that the EU’s reputation as a credible actor for human rights and international law is in tatters over the horrors in Gaza. EU leaders and officials have gone from privately condemning the EU’s double standards behind closed doors to publicly lamenting them. Instead of tackling these double standards however, the European Commission President rebranded them…
Responding to the decision of several European governments to suspend asylum applications of Syrians following the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office, Eve Geddie said: “The situation in Syria is extremely volatile. Five decades of brutality and repression cannot be undone overnight. But European governments have wasted no time halting…
10 steps for the EU to ensure sustainable and rights-based asylum systems In light of recent policies aimed at preventing the arrival in the EU of individuals seeking international protection and safety, over 40 humanitarian and human rights organizations working to protect the rights of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, call on EU member states…
Together with 16 other international human rights organizations, Amnesty International calls on EU leaders attending COP29, the 29th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Baku, to raise directly with the Azerbaijani authorities the cases of those imprisoned on politically motivated grounds and aim to secure their release. In this joint statement, our organizations call…