Kategorie: Humans

Reacting to the release of 250 individuals imprisoned in Belarus on politically motivated grounds, including human rights defenders Marfa Rabkova and Nasta Loika, as a part of a deal with the United States, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director, said:

“While the release of hundreds of individuals unjustly detained on politically motivated charges is a welcome step, it must not be mistaken for justice. Marfa Rabkova, Nasta Loika, Valiantsin Stefanovich and others should not have spent a day in prison. Freedom should never be the product of geopolitical bargaining in human beings. Justice will not be served until those responsible for their unlawful imprisonment are held accountable.

“The Belarusian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those still imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights, quash their convictions and put an end to the systemic repression against government critics. Further reprisals, including arrests and imprisonment that we are observing, are unacceptable.”

Further reprisals, including arrests and imprisonment that we are observing, are unacceptable

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Director

Background

On 19 March, Belarusian authorities released 250 prisoners, including prominent human rights defenders Marfa Rabkova, Nasta Loika and Valiantsin Stefanovich. Among those released is also Mikita Zalatarou, arrested in 2021 when he was 17 years old and sentenced to five years.

The releases followed negotiations with the US, which in turn agreed to ease certain sanctions targeting Belarusian financial institutions and key export sectors. According to available information, while the majority of those freed remained in Belarus, at least 15 individuals were transferred to Lithuania accompanied by the US delegation.

Those released were detained, prosecuted and imprisoned under politically motivated charges, in retaliation for their professional activities such as human rights work or for peacefully exercising their human rights during protests that followed the widely contested 2020 presidential election, which triggered a wave of large-scale reprisals that continue to this day.

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Responding to statements from Pakistani officials claiming that an airstrike that hit a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul on 16 March was targeting an ammunition depot, Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, Research, said:  

“While the total death toll from this attack has yet to be independently verified, it’s clear that it resulted in a significant number of deaths and injuries to civilians, at least in the hundreds.  

“It’s well-documented that a large part of Camp Phoenix, a former NATO camp, had been operating as a drug rehabilitation facility since 2016. Pakistan’s military should have taken all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects before launching this strike. Any reasonable assessment and information gathering would have concluded that the camp had a high civilian presence. 

“Even if an ammunition depot was present inside the wider camp, the decision to attack should have been weighed against any excessive harm that it was likely to cause to civilians. The scale of death and destruction raises serious concerns about whether the Pakistani military conducted an adequate proportionality assessment and took all necessary steps to gather information about the intended target and minimize civilian harm. 

Pakistan’s military should have taken all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects before launching this strike.

Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director, Research

“The Pakistani authorities must now explain what information they acted upon, and steps taken for verification. They must also carry out an independent, impartial and timely investigation into the circumstances of this strike and the resulting civilian casualties, with the results made public with a view to ensuring accountability. 

“Amnesty International calls on all parties to the conflict to strictly adhere to international humanitarian law and to take urgent measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and other healthcare facilities.”  

Background 

As part of “Operation Ghazab Lil Haq”, Pakistan carried out airstrikes on 16 March in Kabul and Nangarhar. The strikes hit a camp used as drug rehabilitation centre known as Omid, which was established in 2016 on the site of Camp Phoenix, a former US and NATO military base on the outskirts of Kabul. The rehabilitation centre and other complexes on the site are reported to have had capacity for around 2,000 people. According to the Taliban, the strike killed over 400 civilians and injured more than 200 others. These figures could not yet be verified. The United Nations has reported 143 deaths so far. 

Prior to this attack, UNAMA documented at least 76 civilian casualties in Afghanistan since the armed conflict with Pakistan began in February. Pakistani officials reported four civilian deaths on 15 March in Bajaur district and that a child was killed in North Waziristan by mortar shells allegedly fired from Afghanistan on 8 March. 

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Responding to the killings and injuries of dozens of healthcare workers and first responders in Lebanon since 2 March 2026, amid escalating attacks by the Israeli military and its allegations – without providing evidence – that ambulances and healthcare sites are being used for military activities and may be targeted, Kristine Beckerle, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, said:  

“Israel is deploying the same deadly playbook it used in 2024 in Lebanon to kill dozens of health workers and devastate healthcare services. Amnesty International’s past research highlighted how the Israeli military repeatedly carried out unlawful attacks on health facilities and health workers during the 2024 escalation and we called for these to be investigated as war crimes. The Israeli military has also repeatedly and unlawfully attacked health facilities and medical teams in Gaza, as part of a broader pattern of devastating essential services. There has yet to be any accountability or redress for those violations, and now we’re seeing healthcare workers once again killed and wounded.  

Throwing out accusations claiming that healthcare facilities and ambulances are being used for military purposes without providing any evidence does not justify treating hospitals, medical facilities or medical transport as battlefields or treating doctors and paramedics as targets.

Kristine Beckerle, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International

“Healthcare workers are risking their lives to save others, and hospitals, other medical facilities and ambulances are specifically protected under international humanitarian law. Throwing out accusations claiming that healthcare facilities and ambulances are being used for military purposes without providing any evidence does not justify treating hospitals, medical facilities or medical transport as battlefields or treating doctors and paramedics as targets. Under international humanitarian law parties to a conflict must ensure to distinguish between military objectives and civilian objects.  

“Hospitals and medical transports only lose their protection if they are used for acts that are considered ‘harmful to the enemy,’ and even then, can only be targeted after a warning that gives sufficient time for the evacuation of patients and staff goes unheeded. In cases of doubt as to whether medical facilities are being used to contribute to military activity, they should be presumed not to be so used. An attack on a medical facility that has lost its protected status must adhere to the rules on precautions, distinction and proportionality and consider carefully the adverse effects that attacking medical facilities has on civilians, the sick and wounded.  

“Under international humanitarian law, civilians, including healthcare workers, do not lose their protected status simply based on an affiliation. As such, direct attacks on medical personnel and those working in civil defence merely on the basis that they are working for institutions associated with Hezbollah are strictly prohibited. Deliberately striking medics performing their humanitarian functions is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and could constitute a war crime. 

“All parties must uphold their legal obligation to protect civilians, medical personnel, patients and healthcare infrastructure at all times. The protection of healthcare is not optional — it is a binding rule of war.” 

Background 

According to the World Health Organization, between 2 and 15 March 2026, 28 attacks on healthcare have been recorded, killing 30 people and injuring 35.  

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported that as of 16 March 2026, 40 health workers have been killed and 96 injured. These include healthcare workers affiliated with the Islamic Health Association – a civilian institution affiliated with Hezbollah that provides medical and emergency services across Lebanon in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Islamic Risala Scout Association, as well as one paramedic from the Lebanese Red Cross. The Ministry also reported that five hospitals had been forced to close.  

In a recent statement, Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee alleged that ambulances and medical facilities in Lebanon are being used for military purposes. The Lebanese ministry of health denied the claim. The Israeli military had made a similar claim in 2024. 

Amnesty International previously investigated four Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities and medical vehicles that killed 19 healthcare workers and wounded 11 more in a one-week period between 3 and 9 October 2024. The organization did not find indications that the medical facilities or personnel targeted had been used for military purposes or for acts harmful to the enemy and called for the investigation of the attacks as war crimes. 

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As journalist and human rights defender Irfan Mehraj marks three years in arbitrary detention tomorrow, we the undersigned civil society organizations call for his immediate and unconditional release. We continue to stand in solidarity with Irfan and his family. Our organisations also demand an end to the Indian government’s continued repression of human rights defenders and journalists in Jammu and Kashmir.

On 20 March 2023, Irfan Mehraj was detained by India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) under provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) on politically motivated and fabricated charges. According to the NIA, Irfan Mehraj was arrested for being ‘a close associate of Khurram Parvez’. Khurram Parvez is a HRD and the Program Coordinator of the Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS), a leading civil society organisation in Jammu and Kashmir. Indian authorities continue to arbitrarily detain Khurram Parvez for over four years now on politically motivated and fabricated charges.

The ongoing detentions of Irfan Mehraj and Khurram Parvez highlight a broader pattern of persecution of human rights defenders and journalists in Jammu and Kashmir.

The authorities have used the UAPA – a draconian anti-terror law – and the repressive Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act (PSA), which permits long-term detention without trial, to criminalise and silence journalists and human rights defenders in Jammu and Kashmir. This has worsened since the unilateral abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood in August 2019.

In recent months, the police continued to harass and intimidate journalists from Indian-administered Kashmir for their reporting, including through summoning them for repeated police interrogations and demanding that journalists sign a bond undertaking that they will not do anything that would ‘disturb peace’.

The Indian government has continuously failed to respond to concerns regarding human rights violations in Kashmir raised by United Nations experts and international human rights organisations. India should respect its international human rights obligations and end its reprisal against human rights defenders and journalists, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. Other countries at the UN Human Rights Council should address these flagrant violations by a sitting member state.

Our organisations urge the Indian authorities to repeal repressive laws including the UAPA and the PSA and to create an enabling environment for civil society and the media to freely and independently operate in Jammu and Kashmir.

As India continues to work towards securing stronger multilateral and bilateral relations, we call on the international community to urge the Indian government to comply with its international human rights obligations, release Irfan Mehraj, Khurram Parvez and all other detained Kashmiri human rights defenders and end its repression in Jammu and Kashmir.

Signed by:

· Afghanistan Democracy and Development Organization

· ALTSEAN-Burma

· Amnesty International

· Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD)

· Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

· CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

· Civil Society and Human Rights Network (CSHRN)

· Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ)

· Community Self Reliance Centre

· Defence of Human Rights Pakistan

· Front Line Defenders

· Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

· Human Rights Foundation

· Human Rights Watch

· International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

· International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

· Kashmir Law & Justice Project

· Kazakhstan International Burau for Human Rights and Rule of Law

· KontraS (Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence)

· Korean House for International Solidarity

· Law & Society Trust

· League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI)

· Madaripur Legal Aid Association (MLAA)

· Maldivian Democracy Network (MDN)

· Odhikar

· Public Association “Dignity”

· Redemption Pakistan

· Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU)

· Reporters Without Borders (RSF)

· Taiwan Association for Human Rights

· Think Centre, Singapore

· WOREC

· World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

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Responding to the arrest in Norway of humanitarian worker and founder of the NGO Aegean Boat Report, Tommy Olsen, who is being prosecuted in Greece alongside fellow human rights defender Panayote Dimitras, of the NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor, on charges related to their work defending the rights of refugees and migrants, Dinushika Dissanayake Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe said:

“Tommy Olsen’s arrest in Norway is appalling and stems from an alarming escalation of Greece’s crackdown on human rights defenders. Based on information available to Amnesty International, Tommy Olsen and Panayote Dimitras are being prosecuted for their human rights work documenting serious human rights violations committed by the Greek authorities, including pushbacks at sea and land borders.   

“The charges against Olsen and Dimitras are not backed by evidence and are a misuse of anti-smuggling legislation. They should be dropped.  In the absence of any credible efforts from the Greek authorities to stop pushing back refugees and migrants and ensure accountability at its borders, Olsen and Dimitras’s work has proven vital in ensuring that these violations do not go unnoticed.

“It is no surprise that the Greek authorities are seeking Olsen’s extradition. These are the same authorities that pursued an unfounded prosecution against Seán Binder and 23 human rights defenders, leading to seven years of agonizing legal uncertainty. Greece should stop harassing people who report and document violations of refugee and migrants’ rights.

“The Norwegian authorities must immediately release Tommy Olsen and resist attempts by the Greek authorities to extradite him. If he is extradited to Greece, he is likely to be held in pre-trial detention for up to 18 months on baseless criminal charges. Accepting the Greek authorities’ request for extradition is tantamount to accepting that human rights work can be criminalized.” 

Background

Tommy Olsen, a Norwegian national, started Aegean Boat Report as a Facebook page in 2017 sharing information on new arrivals to Greece and cases of distress. It has been an NGO since 2018.

On 11 February, Olsen was informed by the Norwegian authorities of the European arrest warrant issued against him. The warrant follows an investigation opened by the Greek authorities in 2022 against Olsen and Dimitras, on charges including forming and joining a criminal organization, smuggling and facilitation of irregular entry and residence.

In 2020, Amnesty International documented how Greek authorities have misused smuggling charges against human rights defenders. Greek law is inconsistent with the international law definition of smuggling and does not sufficiently protect human rights defenders, rescue workers and others acting with humanitarian aims from punishment or prosecution.

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