Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard will attend the Munich Security Conference from 13 to 15 February, where she will be available for interview and will call on world leaders and senior officials to collectively resist the predatory attacks on international law that are severely undermining global security.

“It’s already clear that 2026 will be a year of immense global security challenges. The Trump administration’s act of aggression against Venezuela and its ongoing threats of military action in Colombia, Greenland, Iran and Mexico have laid bare its ‘might-is-right’ approach to foreign policy and complete disregard for international law. At the same time, Israel has refused to end its genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, despite the supposed ceasefire, and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is set to drag on into its fifth year, with no end in sight to the unlawful attacks on Ukrainian civilians,” said Agnès Callamard.

World leaders must find their backbones and seize on forums like the Munich Security Conference as opportunities to plot collective resistance to the attacks on international law that endanger us all.

Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard

“Now is not the time for states to imitate, appease, or capitulate in the face of bullies. The military aggressions and economic bullying of some states, coupled with the complicity and cowardice of many, have brought the multilateral, rules-based order to its knees. But this does not mean it was or is an illusion. And it certainly does not mean we should abandon the principles behind it. The safety of billions of people around the world relies on us revindicating the post-World War II spirit and strengthening international law and human rights protections. This means, for example, reforming the UN Security Council’s veto and membership rules, protecting bodies like the International Criminal Court, and rethinking the international legal system to make it fit for purpose in today’s tumultuous world.

“World leaders must find their backbones and seize on forums like the Munich Security Conference as opportunities to plot collective resistance to the attacks on international law that endanger us all. The bullies must be stopped. Humanity must win.”

Information for journalists

Hundreds of decision-makers and opinion leaders from around the world will meet to discuss security policy challenges at the 62nd Munich Security Conference, which runs from 13 to 15 February. Agnès Callamard will be available for media interviews on a range of human rights issues, including: 

• The importance of revindicating and revitalizing multilateralism and the rule-based order
• The European Project and role of the EU in the current environment
• Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza
• The USA’s military action in Venezuela and its threats against Greenland and other countries
• Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine
• The conflicts in Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar
• The security implications of new technologies and autonomous weapons systems

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Reacting to the European Parliament’s vote to ratify changes to EU asylum rules that undermine the foundation of refugee protection, Olivia Sundberg Diez, the EU Advocate on Migration and Asylum at Amnesty International, said:

“It’s a very dark day for human rights in the EU. This attack on the right to asylum is taking place while a vast array of punitive deportation measures remain under negotiation.  With this vote the European Parliament is capitulating to a decades-long campaign to strip away human rights, starting with the rights of asylum seekers, refugees and migrants. This troublesome political shift strikes at the core of the EU’s foundational principles.

“Today’s vote will mean that people seeking asylum in the EU could have their applications rejected without review, and be sent to countries to which they have no connection and where they have never even set foot. These measures mark an abdication of the EU’s commitment to refugee protection and pave the way for EU member states to broker agreements with third countries for the offshore processing of asylum claims.

“Today’s deal also introduces an EU-wide list of countries of origin that are considered ‘safe’, placing a burden on people seeking asylum to prove otherwise. This undermines the individual assessment of protection claims, and raises yet another hurdle in the legal maze that will undoubtedly see people at risk denied the protection they need.”

Background

On 10 February, the European Parliament voted in favour of rules amending the ‘safe third country’ concept in the EU Asylum Procedures Regulation, as well as introducing an EU-wide ‘safe countries of origin’ list. The rules will make it easier for member states to apply the ‘safe third country’ concept to reject asylum applications as inadmissible, without an examination of their merits, and to forcibly transfer people seeking safety to countries to which they have no connection, or that they may have only transited through. They also remove the suspensive effect of appeals in these cases, meaning that people could be deported while appeals are pending.

The list of safe countries of origin includes Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt, Kosovo, India, Morocco and Tunisia, as well as EU accession candidate countries (with exceptions). Nationals from these countries will be presumed not to be in need of protection and will be channelled through an accelerated asylum procedure, detracting from an individualised assessment of their claims.

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Amnesty International has documented the devastating impact of Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy system in a new series of testimonials from survivors enduring a freezing winter without heat, electricity or running water.

Based on the testimonies of dozens of people from across the country, the research tells the stories of Ukrainian civilians living with the fallout from massive, incessant Russian attacks that have caused widespread and ongoing disruption to essential services. By the time of the interviews, many of those who spoke to Amnesty International had survived weeks with intermittent or no electricity supply and no heating amid the country’s coldest winter since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.

“Russia isn’t just waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, it is subjecting the entire civilian population to a campaign of extreme cruelty. The scale and intensity of its attacks on vital energy infrastructure clearly indicate a strategy to spread despair among Ukraine’s civilian population and break its morale,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“News headlines cannot convey the experience of trying to survive without electricity, running water and heating during a long, freezing winter and amid nightly air raids. Today, while we are telling these stories, Russia’s relentless attacks continue and humanitarian conditions in Ukraine grow increasingly catastrophic.

“Since the beginning of its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has blatantly disregarded international law, including rules that protect civilians in warfare. Those responsible for atrocity crimes should know these crimes have no statute of limitation. People in Ukraine and beyond will relentlessly pursue truth, justice, and reparation and we will support them.”

I warm some water in a cup on a kerosene stove, fill up two bottles, one [goes] under my feet, the other in my hands, so as not to freeze. And we all sleep dressed… Dressed under duvets, all that we have, we put on.

Svitlana, a pensioner from Kyiv

Since last October, Russia has carried out several hundred intense long-distance aerial attacks against Ukraine. In January, these were daily – and often nightly – targeting the entire energy infrastructure. As a result, Ukraine lost more than half of its energy-producing capacity, and emergency power cuts have affected 80% of the country. This happened amid a winter in which temperatures have fallen below -15°C (5° Fahrenheit).

Interviewees, and Amnesty International’s staff members in Ukraine, have spoken of stone-cold apartment blocks, frozen and burst pipework, stalled elevators, discharged mobile phones and disrupted phone networks. As one person said: “At this point, we’re in harsh survival mode”.

Many residents have relied on camping and kerosene stoves to heat bricks and water bottles. Some have resorted to dangerous coping mechanisms, such as setting up camping tents inside their bedrooms and lighting candles within them to fight the cold.

Svitlana, a pensioner from Kyiv, said that during blackouts: “I warm some water in a cup on a kerosene stove, fill up two bottles, one [goes] under my feet, the other in my hands, so as not to freeze. And we all sleep dressed… Dressed under duvets, all that we have, we put on.”

There are many people, including older persons and people with disabilities, who are isolated and confined to their apartments, without any means of communication, whose circumstances are likely much worse than those documented in this research and who may not live through this winter to tell their story.

Amnesty International has documented widespread violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022, including war crimes and crimes against humanity. Russia’s full-scale invasion constitutes aggression, which is a crime under international law. Its strategy and tactics, including continued use of indiscriminate weapons and deliberate targeting of civilians, have caused widespread human suffering and seriously impacted Ukraine’s most vulnerable people, including children and older people. The scale and pattern of Russian aerial attacks across the country has clearly indicated that it has been seeking to damage Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

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Increasing harassment and deterioration in the health of individuals detained for exercising human rights reveals a persistent pattern of repression and authoritarian practices.

Amnesty International is deeply concerned about a further escalation of arbitrary detention, illegal surveillance and harassment against relatives of prisoners of conscience and persons involved in prominent cases of state repression in Cuba. These recent events add to a context marked by the worsening health and conditions of detention of a number of individuals imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights.

“Constant surveillance of homes, short-term arbitrary detention and unjustified restrictions on leaving the home are part of a systematic pattern of authoritarian practices that the Cuban state is using to punish and deter any form of dissent,” said Johanna Cilano, Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International.

Constant surveillance of homes, short-term arbitrary detention and unjustified restrictions on leaving the home are part of a systematic pattern of authoritarian practices that the Cuban state is using to punish and deter any form of dissent.”  

Johanna Cilano, Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International.

Harassment of family members

Amnesty International has received and verified information regarding state security operations, including police cordons around homes, permanent surveillance, unlawful restrictions on freedom of movement and threats, which affect the family members of prisoners of conscience, activists and dissidents. These authoritarian practices seek to intimidate, isolate and silence those demanding respect for the human rights, medical care or release of loved ones.

Amnesty International considers it particularly serious that these measures should target parents and other relatives whose only “crime” is to have publicly denounced human rights violations or demanded medical care and humanitarian solutions for their imprisoned relatives.

These actions are carried out without a court order, with no information on their legal grounds and no mechanisms through which to challenge them, in flagrant violation of minimum guarantees of due process.

Health of prisoners of conscience at risk

Amnesty International reiterates its concern on the alarming state of health of a number of prisoners of conscience. Loreto Hernández García and Roberto Pérez Fonseca suffer serious chronic illnesses that have progressively deteriorated in prison. Despite the fact that doctors within the prison system have confirmed the seriousness of their condition, the authorities are continuing to delay granting them prison benefits on health grounds, as provided for by Cuba law.

“The state is responsible for ensuring that all prisoners have access to appropriate health care under the same standards as are available in the community, without discrimination. Denying or delaying adequate medical care to persons in state custody may amount to a violation of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Arbitrarily obstructing the legal procedures available for the release on health grounds of persons with a serious medical condition puts their lives and well-being at risk,” said Johanna Cilano.

Denying or delaying adequate medical care to persons in state custody may amount to a violation of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. 

Johanna Cilano, Caribbean researcher at Amnesty International.

Amnesty International remains alarmed by the situation of Donaida Pérez Paseiro, who suffers from chronic bone pain and continues to lack adequate medical care, in addition to unjustified restrictions on contact with her children.

The circumstances of Félix Navarro Rodríguez continue to be particularly serious. He remains in prolonged isolation, with very limited access to the outdoors and no information whatsoever on his state of health. After undergoing medical tests on 12 January, neither he nor his family have received any results, despite him allegedly showing some symptoms of tuberculosis.

Transfer of Maykel Castillo Pérez (Maykel “Osorbo”)

Amnesty International has been informed of the recent transfer of Maykel Castillo Pérez to the prison known as Kilo 8, in the province of Pinar del Río, with no reasons or timely information being provided to his relatives, generating uncertainty and fear within the family. A family visit following the transfer took place under strict surveillance, with the constant presence of a guard who observed and listened to the entire conversation, raising serious concerns for the right to privacy and family contact without intimidation.

Other situations of particular concern

Sayli Navarro Álvarez continues to be detained in conditions that put her physical integrity at risk, as she is being held with high-risk common prisoners in a prison that has also lacked regular access to drinking water. The authorities have repeatedly denied her prison benefits on the ideological grounds of “re-education”.

Amnesty International is closely monitoring the case of Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara and calling for his immediate release. Luis Manuel is currently serving a five-year prison sentence in the Guanajay maximum security prison, a sentence expected to expire in July 2026.

Amnesty International urges the Cuban authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all prisoners of conscience and end arbitrary detention, illegal surveillance, harassment and other authoritarian practices, as well as to ensure prompt and adequate medical care in accordance with international standards.

For further information or to arrange an interview, please contact press@amnesty.org

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