Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Open Letter to Lebanon’s Justice Minister and Deputy Prime Minister

The Lebanese government should take immediate, concrete steps to help secure access to justice, truth, and reparations for thousands of civilian victims of abuses stemming from the armed conflict with Israel, five Lebanese and international human rights organizations said today in a letter to Lebanon’s justice minister and deputy prime minister, who heads Lebanon’s National Committee for International Humanitarian Law. 

The groups are Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Legal Agenda, the Union of Journalists in Lebanon, and Reporters without Borders.  

A year after the deadline for Israel to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon, ongoing Israeli attacks and large-scale destruction of infrastructure have prevented tens of thousands of people from returning to their homes or rebuilding their lives. Israel has conducted near-daily attacks in Lebanon, killing over 380 people, including at least 127 civilians, since the ceasefire agreement came into effect. The Israeli military remains in parts of Lebanese territory and has continued to extensively destroy civilian structures along the border, leaving entire communities to grapple with destruction and loss. 

The Lebanese government is ignoring a concrete set of legal actions it could have taken during this past year, starting with domestic investigations and accepting the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction over international crimes committed in Lebanon, the organizations said. They should now act on them as a matter of urgency.  

Israel must immediately allow safe return for Lebanese still displaced from their villages and provide full, effective and adequate reparations for all serious violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law committed by its military. For thousands of families, ‘post-ceasefire’ has not meant safety or stability. It has meant prolonged displacement, devastated livelihoods, and the anguish of living in limbo, while accountability and reparations are nowhere in sight. 

The organizations are urging the Lebanese government to explore every available legal avenue, both at the domestic level and internationally, to ensure that crimes under international law are investigated and prosecuted. A critical step the government could immediately take is filing a declaration with the ICC, accepting the court’s jurisdiction under article 12(3) of the court’s treaty, the Rome Statute, to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law committed on Lebanese territory since at least October 7, 2023. The government should also consider ratifying the Rome Statute. 

The government should support the establishment of prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial domestic judicial investigations into war crimes committed on Lebanese territory, the groups said. This includes providing judicial investigators with the authority, protection, and resources necessary to complete their work effectively and impartially. To provide a legal framework for these efforts, the government should urgently issue and introduce in parliament a law criminalizing war crimes and other acts that are crimes under international law.  

The government should establish a registrar to record all killings, injuries, and other damages to civilians, and invite the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence to visit Lebanon and to recommend measures that Israel, Hezbollah, and the government of Lebanon should take to uphold victims’ rights. 

The Lebanese government has the opportunity to take historic steps towards dismantling the entrenched impunity that has defined past periods of armed conflict in the country, the organizations said. By doing so, it can begin laying the foundation for victims and affected communities to fully realize their right to justice, truth, and reparations, and be able to rebuild their lives.  

Other countries, especially the United States, should immediately suspend all arms transfers and other forms of military assistance to Israel, due to the significant risk that these weapons could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international law, the groups said.  

Given the long-standing pattern of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by Israeli forces in Lebanon and beyond, other countries should also urgently step up efforts to ensure accountability, including by exercising universal or other forms of extraterritorial jurisdiction to investigate violations amounting to serious international crimes and, where sufficient evidence exists, bring prosecutions. The government of Lebanon should cooperate fully with such efforts. 

Background 

The ceasefire deal between Lebanon and Israel entered into effect in November 2024 and included a requirement for the Israeli military to withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days. However, on February 18, 2025, Israel announced it would maintain a military presence in, and temporarily control, five “strategic” vantage points in southern Lebanon.  

On February 27, Israel’s defense minister stated that Israeli forces were “staying indefinitely” in a buffer zone on the border. In August, Israel’s prime minister further linked the “phased reduction” of troops to the disarmament of Hezbollah. 

Lebanese and international rights groups have previously reported on the devastating impact on civilians caused by the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. This includes the Israeli military’s use of white phosphorus, indiscriminate simultaneous mass explosions targeting electronic devices, and attacks on journalists, health facilities, ambulances, and paramedics. 

Other reports documented unlawful air strikes against civilians and civilian objects, the extensive and ongoing destruction of Lebanon’s border villages even after the ceasefire, as well as Hezbollah’s repeated firing of unguided rockets into populated civilian areas in Israel.

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• Detainees routinely taken out of cell and shot dead
• Suspects tortured to make confessions
• Families of suspects that died suddenly harassed for seeking justice
• Point of Sale (POS) used to extract lucrative bribes

A Nigerian police unit set up to tackle kidnapping and armed robbery in Imo state has instead been unlawfully killing suspects, torturing and ill-treating detainees to coerce them into confessing to bogus crimes, and arresting people for the sole purpose of extracting lucrative bribes for their release, Amnesty International said today.

Based in Owerri, the capital of Imo state, the police unit known as “Tiger Base” is increasingly being used to arrest and detain people to settle scores, including land disputes and family conflicts. Amnesty International’s investigation Tiger Base of Atrocities: Human Rights Violations by Nigeria Police Anti-Kidnapping Unit in Owerri published today found that detainees are kept in filthy, windowless cells and subjected to regular beatings. Many are locked up for weeks or months, without charge. Others have been shot or forcibly disappeared.

“Tiger Base has become synonymous with police operating outside of the law and abusing their power to enrich themselves through extortion. The atrocities committed by the Tiger Base police unit is yet another sign of the Nigerian authorities’ failure to end widespread torture, extrajudicial execution, extortion and other crimes at the hands of law enforcement. Many are traumatized forever. Despite the horrific violations they have suffered, there has been no accountability to date,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

Torture, ill-treatment and prolonged unlawful detention

Many detainees locked up at Tiger Base’s detention centre are not asked for their statements regarding the allegations they face, and neither are they brought before a court. This enables the police to unlawfully detain people for indefinite periods of time without arraignment, thereby depriving them of essential procedural safeguards.

One survivor of prolonged unlawful detention told Amnesty International:

“They arrested me insisting I bought stolen items. I told them I didn’t know anything about it. They locked me up and seized my phone. After about three weeks, a police officer came to take my statement. Still, they kept me locked up…. They later told us that the complainant claimed her loss was worth ₦14 million (US$9,500) but that she agreed to collect ₦4.5 million (US$3,100) instead. They said if I wanted to be released, my family would pay.”

Former detainees said they were forced to write incriminating statements under torture, which included severe beatings with iron rods and cables. Knives, machetes, batons, water and whips were also used to torture suspects. Some detainees were tied up with ropes so that their bodies were hanging. Then they were cut and their wounds left to bleed.

Many people disappeared after being moved to Cell 1; nobody ever saw them again.

Former detainee

The resulting coerced “confessions” were used by police to demand a bribe that would have to be paid before a detainee could be released on bail. Former detainees said Tiger Base officers illegally arrest and detain dozens of people every day with the sole aim of extorting money from their relatives in exchange for suspects being released.

There is a thriving illegal point of sale (POS) business within the premises of the Tiger Base detention centre. In Nigeria, handheld POS machines act like an ATM allowing people to withdraw cash instantly from their bank accounts.

Our investigation shows that, at Tiger Base, officials from time to time take out inmates from the cells and shoot them. A survivor told our organization: “The other guy took him out, we heard gunshots, we thought they had killed him but after some hours in the night he came into the cell. We looked at his leg, and they shot him. He is carrying bullet wounds inside the cell with us; nobody cares.”

Inhuman and degrading conditions in detention

Each of Tiger Base’s four main detention cells measures about 12 feet by 12 feet with more than 70 people squeezed inside. As a result, detainees are forced to take turns either to sit or squat. 

Testimonies collected by Amnesty International indicated that few people sent to Cell 1 came out alive. According to a former detainee: “If you survive Cell 1, it is only by God’s grace. Many people disappeared after being moved there; nobody ever saw them again.”

© Amnesty International Nigeria

There are no windows in the cells and only one toilet per cell, which overflows with waste as people are forced to urinate, defecate and sleep in the same small place. The stench is unbearable. Former detainees reported seeing their cellmates passing out from overcrowding, intense heat and exhaustion.

“People [in the cells] will be crying: ‘someone is dying here!’ They [officials] will still lock the cell gate…Then, even if they bring you out, they will still beat you up to see whether you are pretending or not. Then, they will take you out and keep you in the corridor for air. If you regain consciousness, they will throw you back into the cell…” one former detainee told Amnesty International.

Deaths in detention

Several people were reported to have died in the Tiger Base detention centre. In 2022, three youth leaders handed over a suspect to the Tiger Base unit. About three months later, the young man, Okechukwu Ogbedagu, died in detention. 

Amnesty International has reviewed an autopsy report which showed that Okechukwu Ogbedagu died of asphyxiation. To cover up their atrocity, Tiger Base officers charged the three youth leaders who handed Okechukwu Ogbedagu to them with murder. They were released after about six months.

In another case documented by Amnesty International, on or around 5 May 2025, Japhet Njoku, a security guard who was accused of stealing, died in Tiger Base detention. Police officials told his family members following days of repeated demands, that he was beaten to death in his cell. Since then, Tiger Base officials have frustrated every attempt to conduct a coroner court-ordered autopsy to ascertain the cause of Japhet Njoku’s death—they have failed to turn up for the autopsy on four different occasions, despite the availability of the court-appointed pathologists.

Police impunity

“The atrocities committed by the Tiger Base police unit is yet another sign of the Nigerian authorities’ failure to end widespread torture, extrajudicial execution, extortion and other crimes at the hands of law enforcement. It appears the police have not learnt any lessons from the #EndSARS protests. Instead of being held accountable, corrupt police officers have been emboldened to commit human rights violations by the impunity they enjoy,” said Isa Sanusi.

The atrocities committed by the Tiger Base police unit is yet another sign of the Nigerian authorities’ failure to end widespread torture, at the hands of law enforcement. 

Isa Sanusi, Country Director, Amnesty International Nigeria

The Nigerian authorities must promptly establish an independent, impartial and effective investigation of the atrocities committed by Tiger Base unit police officers in Owerri, Imo state. The investigation must also examine the conduct of the Commander and other officers at the Tiger Base detention centre, their involvement in human rights violations, corrupt practices and other misconducts.

Police officers at Tiger Base are not above the law and must comply with the provisions of section 62 of the Police Act, which requires anyone arrested for a non-capital offence to be released within 24 hours with or without surety.

“Under Nigeria’s constitution and international and regional human rights treaties authorities have an obligation to ensure that human rights violations uncovered at Tiger Base are investigated and suspected perpetrators brought to justice, while victims receive adequate reparation,” Isa Sanusi.

BACKGROUND

The Anti-Kidnapping Squad, popularly known as Tiger Base, operates under the Imo state Police Command located in Owerri south-east Nigeria. Originally established to investigate and combat kidnapping-related crimes, the unit has significantly deviated from its core mandate. In recent years, Tiger Base has become notorious for systemic abuse, including, unlawful arrests, prolonged arbitrary detention, torture, extortion, enforced disappearances – including the removal of children from their mothers without records – and corruption.

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Brazil faces a decisive test of its willingness to confront impunity for attacks against human rights defenders in the coming weeks, said Amnesty International amid the beginning of the trials over the murders of Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes, in the Federal Supreme Court, and Maria Bernadete Pacífico, known as Mãe Bernadete, in the Bahia Jury Court.

“Justice for Marielle Franco, Anderson Gomes and Mãe Bernadette is long overdue. Their killings are emblematic of the broader and highly alarming trend of lethal violence and structural racism against human rights defenders in Brazil,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“These trials offer a historic opportunity to break the cycle of impunity that has characterized the state’s response to the killings of human rights defenders for decades. It is essential that they proceed with full independence, transparency and respect for due process. No one, regardless of their position or power, should be beyond the reach of the law.”

These trials offer a historic opportunity to break the cycle of impunity that has characterized the state’s response to the killings of human rights defenders for decades. It is essential that they proceed with full independence, transparency and respect for due process. No one, regardless of their position or power, should be beyond the reach of the law.”

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

Emblematic killings of defenders

Marielle Franco, a black, bisexual woman from the Maré favela, a human rights defender, and a Rio de Janeiro city councilor, was murdered on 14 March 2018, alongside her driver, Anderson Gomes. This crime, for which justice has not been delivered to this day, raises many questions about gender, race and class discrimination that need to be answered.

The trial before the First Panel of the Supreme Court, scheduled for 24 and 25 February 2026, will examine the responsibility of those accused of participating in planning and ordering the crime. It will be central to upholding the rights to truth, memory, justice, and reparation for the victims, their families and communities, and all those who continue to demand answers about who ordered Marielle’s murder and why.

Mãe Bernadete, a human rights defender and member of a quilombo community (Afro-Brazilian communities formed by descendants of formerly enslaved Africans who resisted slavery and established autonomous settlements) from Quilombo Pitanga dos Palmares, was killed in August 2023 in Salvador. She was killed amid a backdrop of structural racism, violence against quilombola communities, and conflicts over land and territory that have threatened the physical, cultural and spiritual survival of her people for years. The Bahia Court of Justice scheduled the jury trial of two defendants for 24 February 2026, almost two years after the crime, in a context of repeated threats, deaths of other family members, and attacks on terreiros (Afro-Brazilian religious temples) and Black leaders who denounce human rights violations and demand protection and effective public policies.

Delays expose structural impunity

The fact that it has taken eight years for this trial over the killing Marielle Franco and Anderson Gomes to take place will only take place in 2026 highlights how the Brazilian justice system fails to provide swift, effective, and respectful responses to victims and family members in cases of attacks on human rights defenders.

Years after the killings, family members, Black communities, quilombolas, peripheral communities, and religious communities continue to fight for memory, truth, and reparation, while facing insecurity, fear, institutional revictimization, and the feeling that the state still views their lives as disposable.

These two cases, although emblematic, represent only a fraction of a much broader picture of violence, threats, and persecution – often repeatedly denounced – that are not adequately investigated, do not result in accountability, and, in countless cases, do not even reach the stage of formal complaints being filed. The slow responses, failure to investigate those who order the attacks, the racial and territorial selectivity of the justice system, and the lack of consistent prevention and protection policies fuels the impunity that encourages new attacks and sends the message that it is possible to silence human rights defenders without facing the consequences.

Brazil is one of the deadliest countries for defenders

Several studies, surveys, and official statistics point to Brazil as one of the deadliest countries for human rights defenders, especially those seeking to protect the rights to land, territory, natural resources, and traditional peoples and communities. According to the organization Global Witness, 342 land and environmental defenders were killed in Brazil from 2012 to 2021, more than any other country on the planet during this period.

In agrarian and socio-environmental disputes, in urban areas marked by police violence, in quilombola and Indigenous territories, and in Afrodescendent religious spaces, defenders face threats, criminalization, murders, and disappearances, largely without the state taking adequate action to prevent, investigate, and punish these crimes.

The protection of human rights defenders remains inadequate due to insufficient public policies; limited protection programs; a lack of resources; profiling by police based on race, gender, class, and territory that remains largely unaddressed; and ineffective investigation of threats. Failure to respond firmly and swiftly to attacks and intimidation contributes to an environment of fear and self-censorship, in which many people give up reporting human rights violations, further aggravating the risks for those who remain on the frontlines.

“Defending rights should not cost lives. The Brazilian authorities must recognize the importance of human rights defenders and their actions, properly protect them and guarantee their rights, and ensure that any violations are exhaustively investigated and remedied, with fair and swift redress. The egregious killings of Marielle Franco and Mãe Bernadete must serve as a turning point in the protection of all those who dare to defend human rights in Brazil,” said Agnès Callamard.

Defending rights should not cost lives. The Brazilian authorities must recognize the importance of human rights defenders and their actions, properly protect them and guarantee their rights, and ensure that any violations are exhaustively investigated and remedied, with fair and swift redress.” 

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

Amnesty International’s commitment to these and other defenders

Amnesty International has continuously campaigned for justice for Marielle, Anderson and Mãe Bernadete, denouncing violence against human rights defenders in Brazil at national, regional, and international levels, and urging the authorities to ensure independent, impartial, and effective investigations, with accountability for suspected perpetrators, including those who ordered the crimes. The organization has highlighted their stories in its reports, campaigns, and global mobilization actions, placing them at the center of the struggle for memory and reparation in the face of serious human rights violations committed against Black women, quilombola leaders, favela communities, and traditional peoples and communities.

At the same time, Amnesty International emphasizes that combating violence against human rights defenders in Brazil must not be limited to the search for justice for these killings. The organization will continue to demand answers for countless other cases that have not reached the trial stage, in which the perpetrators have not been identified, in which repeated threats have not been investigated, and in which families and communities remain without any form of reparation or official recognition.

Amnesty International will remain vigilant and continue to stand alongside the people and communities on the frontline of defending human rights in Brazil – in the favelas, lowlands, quilombos, indigenous lands, urban peripheries, terreiros, rural areas, and all territories marked by conflict, racism, and inequality. As the trials over the killings of Marielle, Anderson and Mãe Bernadete begin, the organization calls on Brazilian authorities at all levels to:

• Ensure fair, independent, and transparent trials, with effective protection for family members, witnesses, communities, human rights defenders, lawyers, prosecutors and others involved in the proceedings.

• Ensure that the masterminds, criminal networks, and economic and political networks and interests behind the crimes, are effectively investigated and held to account, without fear or favor: breaking with the practice of holding only the direct perpetrators accountable must be a priority.

• Strengthen, with resources, transparency, and social participation, policies and programs to protect human rights defenders, seriously and effectively ensuring a focus on race, gender, sexual orientation, territory, and class.

• Address structural impunity by reopening and reviewing closed or stalled cases, swiftly investigating reported threats, and adopting measures to prevent recurrence, including institutional reforms, training for public officials, and combating racism and institutional violence.

For more information or to request an interview, please contact: press@amnesty.org 

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Ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said:

“The people of Ukraine have now endured another year of full-scale aggression, the most devastating so far in terms of its humanitarian consequences, and deadliest in terms of civilian casualties since 2022. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his senior officials indicted by the International Criminal Court remain fugitives from international justice.

“Despite the ongoing aggression, international resolve to oppose Russia’s crimes under international law and support its victims has come under increasing strain in recent months, particularly since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency.Commitments to justice and human rights are weakening as powerful actors grow emboldened to disregard international law and further erode the rules-based order. 

“We see this in rhetoric minimizing Russia’s responsibility for serious violations, and in proposals suggesting that impunity for aggression and other crimes is an acceptable price to pay to end the fighting. We also see it in the reckless, unchecked attacks on the International Criminal Court, and in recent limitations in assistance to Ukrainian refugees, with some states suggesting that parts of the country are now safe for return. 

“Injustice must be addressed, not normalized. Impunity must be challenged, not embedded in peace proposals.

Any pressure on Ukraine to compromise on accountability for war-related crimes or to accept Russia’s territorial and other demands is as morally repugnant as it is unlawful.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns

“Ukrainian civilians continue to endure daily indiscriminate attacks. Critical infrastructure indispensable for survival has been relentlessly destroyed, placing millions of lives at risk. Russian forces continue to torture prisoners of war, and terrorize and deport civilians in the territories they occupy, subject teachers to forcible labour, and indoctrinate children and deny them their identity. All the while, Moscow demands control over more Ukrainian territory as part of ‘peace negotiations’.

“The world must not forget that since Russia’s occupation and illegal annexation of Crimea 12 years ago, it has brought devastation and immense suffering to the people of Ukraine, both in the occupied territory and beyond. Millions have been displaced, countless families have been left homeless, and far too many lives lost. Russia’s aggression — a crime under international law — has tested not only the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, but also the resolve of the international community to uphold human rights and ensure justice.

“Any pressure on Ukraine to compromise on accountability for war-related crimes or to accept Russia’s territorial and other demands is as morally repugnant as it is unlawful. There must be no impunity for crimes under international law, and such crimes carry no statute of limitation.

“This is a critical moment for humanity. The resolve of the international community must not falter. It is paramount that the people of Ukraine receive truth, justice and reparations for the devastating impact this war has inflicted over the past twelve years — and continues to inflict on the country, its people, its land, and its future.”

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EU foreign ministers must use their meeting on 23 February with Nikolai Mladenov, Director-General of the Board of Peace and High Representative for Gaza, to demand that the board focuses on Palestinians’ rights, Amnesty International said.

The meeting in Brussels must also address the flaws of the Board of Peace mechanism and ensure it is aligned with human rights obligations under international law.

“The Board of Peace represents a dangerous assault on international law, and an attempt to create a parallel decision-making structure that bypasses and undermines the United Nations and international justice institutions.

The EU and its members states must be absolutely clear: this body is no substitute for the UN, the international human rights framework, or the global justice system painstakingly built over decades to uphold universal values, cooperation and equality.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns.  

“When legal protections and the UN’s human rights and humanitarian architecture are needed more than ever, the EU must firmly resist any attempt to undermine them,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns.  

“By sidelining accountability and marginalizing Palestinians, this mechanism erases the centrality of victims and their rights, while normalizing the very power dynamics that have enabled Israel’s unlawful occupation, apartheid and its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza to continue with impunity.”

“Any EU engagement that does not place Palestinians’ rights at its core risks complicity in violations, which are likely to occur if this fundamentally flawed mechanism is not urgently made rights-compliant and aligned with international law.”

Nearly one year ago, on 24 February 2025, the EU hosted Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister at the EU-Israel Association Council. High Representative Kaja Kallas stated she was “glad to welcome” the foreign minister to Brussels and pledged that the EU would “continue to be an honest, open and viable, reliable partner to the region”.

Days later, Israel resumed its siege on Gaza, killing 15 paramedics and rescue workers, cut off electricity to a desalination plant and unilaterally ended a fragile truce by launching a series of deadly air strikes killing at least 412 Palestinians, including 174 children, in one of the bloodiest days of the genocide.

Since the announcement of the so-called “ceasefire” on 9 October 2025, Israeli authorities have continued committing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. An arbitrary, constantly shifting demarcating line, known as the Yellow Line, effectively creates a no-go zone for Palestinians across nearly 60 percent of the Gaza Strip causing further mass forced displacement of Palestinians and exacerbating already inhumane living conditions, while cutting off Palestinians from most of their fertile agricultural zones.

Israel’s suspension of the registration of 37 humanitarian international NGOs, set to take effect within days, will close health facilities and field hospitals, halt food distribution and cut off life-saving care for Palestinians across the OPT. The effect is likely to be catastrophic. Medical evacuations from Gaza are already obstructed, restricted entry of indispensable supplies and equipment, including medical supplies, and Israel’s cruel blockade continues despite the International Court of Justice’s orders to immediately reverse it.

In 2025, a record number of new settlements were approved (54), outposts established (86), and Palestinian homes demolished in Area C (1,269) in the occupied West Bank. State-backed settler violence and Israel’s suffocating policies led to the full or partial displacement of 22 Palestinian communities, while Palestinians are routinely targeted with arbitrary detention without charges or trial and torture and other ill-treatment while locked up.

Meanwhile the Knesset is considering changing the law to allow Israeli courts to expand their use of the death penalty with provisions designed to be selectively used against Palestinians, further entrenching Israel’s cruel apartheid system.

“Israel is not just openly flouting international law and crossing each of the EU’s red lines, it is doing so with utterly brazen disregard, as evidenced by numerous statements made by leading Israeli policymakers. Yet the EU’s response remains one of appeasement – breaching international law, the human rights of Palestinians and the EU’s own rules,” continued Guevara-Rosas.  

“Lip service will not stop Israel from violating international law at will. A growing consensus is urging the EU to take principled action. This means suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which is conditional on respect for human rights, imposing a comprehensive arms embargo, enacting targeted sanctions against Israeli officials, and ending trade and investment with Israel’s illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“Now is precisely the moment to defend, uphold and enforce international law. Abandoning it would pose an existential threat for the EU and its legitimacy.”

Background

On 19 February, the first meeting of the Board of Peace was held in Washington. It is envisioned that 50 countries will join the Board of Peace, with 35 leaders showing interest so far. Of EU member states, Bulgaria and Hungary joined the Board of Peace as members. The EU, Cyprus, Czechia, Greece, Italy and Romania joined as observers.

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