Schlagwort: Amnesty International

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. 

The post Lebanon: Israel must halt attacks on healthcare workers, medical facilities and first responders appeared first on Amnesty International.

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

The post India: Kashmiri journalist and human rights defender Irfan Mehraj held for three-years in pre-trial detention appeared first on Amnesty International.

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.

The post Norway: Release human rights defender Tommy Olsen and reject his extradition to Greece appeared first on Amnesty International.

In response to the Algerian police sealing the Algiers office of SOS Disappeared, a human rights organization advocating for accountability for the thousands forcibly disappeared in the 1990s conflict, on 16 March 2026, Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said: 

“The forced closure of SOS Disappeared is a devastating blow to the fight for truth, justice and reparations in Algeria. By sealing the offices of the main organization advocating for accountability for enforced disappearances -an ongoing crime under international law-  Algerian authorities are once again using the draconian Law 12-06 to stifle human rights work. While the Algerian authorities have tolerated the presence of SOS Disappeared in Algiers for over two decades, since 2024 they intensified their crackdown on the organization. 

The forced closure of SOS Disappeared is a devastating blow to the fight for truth, justice and reparations in Algeria.

Diana Eltahawy, MENA Deputy Regional Director

 “Under international law, the right to freedom of association protects both registered and unregistered groups, and no association should be sanctioned or shuttered for operating without formal recognition, especially one that provides the only glimmer of hope for families seeking answers and accountability for the thousands who vanished after being taken by security forces or militias during the 1990s internal armed conflict. The authorities must immediately reverse this decision and end the climate of blanket impunity that has left relatives in mental anguish and distress.” 

Background

SOS Disappeared was established in 2001 in Algiers as a branch of the Committee for the Families of the Disappeared in Algeria (CFDA), an association founded in France in 1999 by mothers seeking justice for their loved ones who were subjected to enforced disappearance during Algeria’s internal armed conflict in the 1990s. The failure to provide accountability for the thousands of people forcibly disappeared during the conflict is an enduring and agonizing legacy of the conflict. 

As one of the main organizations advocating for truth and justice regarding the internal armed conflict, SOS Disappeared has faced persistent legal hurdles, with Algerian authorities denying their registration since their operations began. The current closure, ordered by the governorate of Algiers on 12 March 2026 on the grounds that it was unregistered. It follows two incidents in 2024 where police prevented them from organizing events at their premises. In May 2025, the organization’s website became inaccessible in Algeria. In July 2025, police arbitrarily denied the organization’s founder and president Nassera Dutour entry to Algeria 

The use of Law 12-06 to close the association’s office violates international human rights law and standards, which provide that an association does not require formal registration to be protected. Instead of forcibly closing the office of SOS Disappeared, the Algerian authorities should uphold freedom of association and create a safe and enabling environment for NGOs. 

The post Algeria: Authorities must reverse closure of SOS Disappeared and uphold civil society’s demands for truth and justice   appeared first on Amnesty International.

Responding to the killing on 15 March of a Palestinian couple, Waed Bani Owda, her husband Ali Bani Owda and two of their young children Othman, 7, and Mohammed, 5, in Tammoun in the occupied West Bank after a special Israeli military unit – posing as Palestinians and driving a car with a Palestinian number plate – riddled their car with bullets, Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said:

“This horrific incident is the latest in a pattern of increasing use of deadly force by Israeli forces against Palestinians and tragically we continue to see families and children paying the price. The Israeli military has failed to show that the family posed any threat when it was shot. We are deeply concerned that initial information and testimonies suggest the attack may amount to an extrajudicial execution. 

“Their two other children who were in the car at the time of the attack were injured and will live with the trauma of witnessing the killing of their family for the rest of their lives. 

“There must be an urgent thorough independent and impartial investigation into this appalling attack on the Bani Owda family and all other unlawful killings of Palestinians by Israeli forces or settlers. Wilful killings of Palestinians by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) are grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention and constitute war crimes. Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable; Palestinian victims must have justice and redress.”

Since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February, Israeli soldiers or state-backed settlers have killed 11 unarmed Palestinians across the occupied West Bank. According to OCHA, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces and settlers in the occupied West Bank reached 1071 since 7 October 2023, including 233 children. States with influence over Israel must adopt tangible measures to demonstrate that they will no longer grant Israel impunity for its institutionalized violence against Palestinians and to bring to an end Israel’s unlawful occupation of the OPT and its cruel system of apartheid against all Palestinians whose rights it controls.  

Israel has a long history of failing to protect Palestinians across the Occupied Palestinian Territory or to independently investigate and prosecute offences against despite its legal obligations as an occupying power. Impunity for the human rights violations, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, committed by Israeli forces and authorities against Palestinians is part of Israel’s cruel system of apartheid. This also includes Israel’s appalling and consistent failure to protect Palestinians from settler attacks, and in some cases the direct involvement of Israeli forces in such brutal attacks.

The post Israel/OPT: Killing of the Bani Owda family latest illustration of alarming rise in lethal force appeared first on Amnesty International.