Schlagwort: Amnesty International

Ugandan security forces targeted members and supporters of the opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP) with lethal force, arbitrary arrests, torture and other ill-treatment before, during and after the 15 January general elections, Amnesty International said today.

The organization received multiple reports indicating that between 15 and 18 January, the Ugandan People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) and the Uganda Police Force likely killed at least 16 people across the country using unlawful force. They also arbitrarily arrested hundreds, subjected some to incommunicado detention or held them in unknown places of detention. Others were subjected to forms of ill-treatment, including acts that amount to torture, during arrests and while in detention. These  violations occurred amid a nationwide Internet shutdown imposed by the authorities just two days before the elections.

“Three months since security forces meted out untold brutality on the public, no one has been held accountable,” said Tigere Chagutah Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“Ugandan authorities must ensure that that all allegations of human rights violations by the security forces are thoroughly, promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and that the officers responsible are held accountable.”

“Officers suspected of carrying out these abuses, including those who ordered or enabled them, must be suspended from work pending the completion of investigations.”

Between 5 January and 21 March, Amnesty International interviewed 33 men and 15 women based in Kampala city, Rubaga, Luwero, Bulenga, Mityana, Mukono, Rukiga, Mbarara, Luuka, Wakiso, Lira and, Tororo districts and Busoga region.

Three months since security forces meted out untold brutality on the public, no one has been held accountable.

Tigere Chagutah, Regional Director, Amnesty ESARO

Those interviewed included families of victims apparently killed by security forces; victims of gunshot injuries; victims of torture and other ill-treatment; victims of arbitrary arrests; eyewitnesses; and lawyers of those arbitrarily arrested. Amnesty International also reviewed six videos and six photos posted on social media or shared directly with the organization by trusted sources. The organization also reviewed charge sheets and official statements.

Ugandan authorities did not respond to Amnesty’s request for comment.

Unlawful use of lethal force by security forces

Amnesty International documented 10 incidents in which security officials appear to have used unlawful lethal force that resulted in the killing of at least seven people in Butambala, at least three people in Bulenga, two people in Luwero, and one person each in Rubaga, Nsambya, Mityana, and Mukono. Witnesses told Amnesty International that none of these victims was armed and they did not pose an imminent threat of death or serious injury to anyone.

Ugandan authorities must ensure that that all allegations of human rights violations by the security forces are thoroughly, promptly, impartially and effectively investigated and that the officers responsible are held accountable.

Tigere Chagutah

Amnesty International verified postmortem reports of six victims, all of which indicated that they had died from gunshot injuries. Family members told Amnesty International they were not allowed to witness the postmortem process and that authorities had not launched investigations into the deaths.

On election night, as election agents of opposition Member of Parliament Mwanga Kivumbi gathered in his Butambala home to return the declaration of results forms, the army stormed the compound and shot and killed at least seven people, evidence gathered by Amnesty International indicates. The Inspector General of the Police, Abbas Byakagaba, said the killings took place when over 100 people at Mwanga Kivumbi’s home attempted to attack a nearby police station and a polling station.

Gloria, * whose mother was killed during the incident, recalled seeing her mother fighting for her life among those who had been shot. She pleaded with the army officers for an intervention, but one officer said, “If you feel you’re dying, get yourself out.”

On 15 January in Rubaga, Victoria Ndagire, 33, was walking back home with others after voting when she was shot from the back of her head, with the bullet exiting through her eye. Security officers who came to the scene alleged that “she could have been hit by a stone.” Witnesses told Amnesty International that before the incident, they saw two-armed officers nearby. According to her postmortem report, she died from gunshot injuries.

Amnesty International also documented three cases of individuals who said they were shot and injured by people they believed to be police or army officers. They reported sustaining injuries in the abdomen and the legs. Two sources, who were at Mulago National Referral Hospital in Kampala on 15 and 16 January, said that they saw at least 12 other people with gunshot injuries, and that at least three of them died in hospital.

Arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances and incommunicado detention

Amnesty International documented 17 cases of arbitrary arrests, and interviewees provided information about 12 others who were arbitrarily arrested with them in Kampala, Masaka, Rukiga, Wakiso, Mbarara, Luuka, Lira, and Busoga region. The victims were arrested on the basis of their political affiliation. In all the cases documented by Amnesty International, victims were never presented with an arrest warrant, and, in some cases, they were arrested by individuals they believed to be plain-clothed security officers who neither identified themselves nor explained the reason for the arrest. Victims disclosed that during interrogation, they were questioned about their affiliation with the NUP or their support for its presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine).

Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release those still in detention solely for exercising their rights. The right to fair trial for those suspected of having committed an internationally recognized offence should be guaranteed.

Tigere Chagutah

Seven individuals were held incommunicado for a period ranging from three days to three weeks. In at least four of the cases, police denied holding the victims, pointing to possible cases of enforced disappearance. Three victims were held at an unknown detention facility, allegedly run by the military.

Victims of arbitrary arrest were charged with “incitement to violence, causing public nuisance, reckless driving, and possession of a voters’ register without reasonable cause.” Some have since been released on bail, while others remain in detention.

“Authorities must immediately and unconditionally release those still in detention solely for exercising their rights. The right to fair trial for those suspected of having committed an internationally recognized offence should be guaranteed,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Between 12 and 15 January, senior NUP officials, includeding Jolly Jacklyn Tukamushaba, Lina Zedriga, and Bright Muhumuza, were arbitrarily arrested by armed security officers, held at an unknown place of detention and charged, without legal representation, with a variety of offences, including ‘incitement to violence’ and ‘doing a rash and negligent act.’ They were never informed of the reasons for their arrest, and their families were never informed of their whereabouts until 6 February when they were charged in various courts.

The security officers came at 9:30am and ordered all of us to lie down. They started beating us with sticks and wires.

Victim

Buwembo Habib, NUP’s national mobilizer, was arbitrarily arrested by armed men in plain clothes believed to be soldiers, alongside two colleagues on 10 January as they drove to Masaka town for a political rally. On 12 January, they were charged, without legal representation, with causing public nuisance.  

On 14 January, 40 police and army officers forced their way into the home of Rodgers Lutaaya, NUP chairperson for Luuka district, who had assembled about 200 polling agents for training and deployment ahead of the next day’s elections.

“The security officers came at 9:30am and ordered all of us to lie down. They started beating us with sticks and wires,” an individual who was present in the home said.

The security officers arrested everyone at the home, except relatives of the candidate. They were taken to Kiyunga central police station where they were held until 5pm and then released without charge.

Torture and other ill-treatment

Amnesty International interviewed 12 people who reported being subjected to torture and other ill-treatment by security officers during arrests or while in detention. They described being beaten with wires, sticks and batons. Some were hit with an axe on their ankles, while others said they were squeezed with pliers on different body parts. In three cases, medical reports reviewed by Amnesty International corroborated victims’ testimonies.

Jonathan*, 25, an opposition official from Busoga region, recounted how soldiers severely beat him and seven of his colleagues after they were arbitrarily arrested on 15 January as they were heading to a tallying centre. “One of us lost his teeth and another lost his eye.”

On 27 January, Philip*, an NUP candidate in Luuka district, was abducted by four men he believed to be army officers who subjected him to incommunicado detention for a week. He said: “When we arrived at the detention centre, the officers asked for my phone and when they saw numerous NUP WhatsApp groups, one of the officers said, ‘You’re the terrorists here in Busoga.’ They tied both my hands and legs with a rope and caned me severely, leaving my legs numb.’  

Others were threatened with executions while in detention. Steven*, an associate to an NUP MP from Lira, was severely beaten when he was arrested together with four others by security officers on 26 December 2025. He was tortured and forced to “confess” that the MP had a gun. “They threw us on the floor of the car, and they were saying they would be taking us to the mortuary.”

“We had injuries on the head, hands, swollen body parts, and bleeding. We never got any medical treatment from the authorities,” Steven* lamented.

Amnesty International reviewed one video posted on social media on 19 January showing three men in camouflage outfits, one of them carrying a shotgun, beating with sticks three unarmed men who were laying on the ground. Two of the men on the ground wore vests similar to those worn by Uganda’s Electoral Commission officials.

The Ugandan authorities have international legal obligations to ensure that no one is subjected to arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearances, and to torture and other ill-treatment and to ensure that any such reports are investigated and prosecuted in fair proceedings, and victims are provided with effective remedies.

Tigere Chagutah

Amnesty International also verified a video published on social media on 27 January showing five men wearing Ugandan Police uniforms alongside men in plain clothes, beating a person with sticks in Nyanama, Lubaga Division.

The conduct in both videos amounts to torture and other-ill treatment.

Inhumane detention conditions

Some of those arrested said they were subjected to inhumane treatment at an unknown place of detention.

Three NUP members said that they were never given a change of clothes for over three weeks while in detention and were forced to use a UPDF-branded bedsheet as their towel and alternative clothing. They reported that guards brought food irregularly and denied them access to healthcare or sunlight throughout their detention.

Other detainees held in Lira and Luzira main prisons and Luzira Women’s Prison also reported extreme overcrowding, particularly during the election period.

Steven*, who was remanded at Lira main prison, said: “Five people can lie on top of you. You sleep only on one side up to morning. They give you food once a day, around midday.”

“The Ugandan authorities have international legal obligations to ensure that no one is subjected to arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearances, and to torture and other ill-treatment and to ensure that any such reports are investigated and prosecuted in fair proceedings, and victims are provided with effective remedies,” said Tigere Chagutah.

(*) Names have been changed to protect the identities of those interviewed

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino must tell member associations gathering tomorrow at the 76th FIFA Congress in Vancouver, Canada, how he will ensure that the world’s biggest sporting tournament does not become a stage for repression and a platform for authoritarian practices, Amnesty International said today.

“With just six weeks until the 2026 World Cup kicks off, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has yet to publicly outline how fans, journalists and local communities will be safe from arbitrary detention, mass deportations and crackdowns on free expression. This FIFA Congress should be the moment he does so, and the global football community must receive more than empty platitudes,” Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International said.

It is time for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to finally tell us how human rights will be protected at the World Cup.

Steve Cockburn, Head of Economic and Social Justice at Amnesty International

“With reports that FIFA is still considering whether to ask President Trump to halt cruel ICE raids during the World Cup, it is incredible that Gianni Infantino is yet to make this call in order to protect everyone connected with the tournament. In 2025 alone, 500,000 people were deported from the USA amidst a nationwide human rights emergency. This cannot continue.”

Last month, Amnesty International published a report detailing significant threats to human rights, as well as risks to fans, players, journalists, workers and local communities in all three host countries – not least those stemming from abusive and deadly US immigration policies, which have resulted in a surge of unlawful arrests, mass detentions and deportations.

“Fans should be able to enjoy the ‘safe, welcoming and inclusive’ tournament promised by FIFA. Yet, in the USA, immigration policies continue to pose a severe threat, while discrimination and restrictions on freedom of expression and peaceful protest are in place across all three host countries,” Steve Cockburn said. “It is time for FIFA President Gianni Infantino to finally tell us how human rights will be protected.”

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The fragile, temporary ceasefires, between the United States and Iran, and between Israel and Lebanon, must be replaced by an enduring, sustained, and comprehensive regional ceasefire that covers all countries affected by this conflict, to avoid further catastrophic civilian suffering and pave the way for justice, respect for international law and long-term human rights protection for all, Amnesty International said today.

Despite a reduction in armed hostilities this remains a critical and deeply precarious moment for civilians across the Middle East. Both current ceasefire agreements are fragile, temporary and in danger of collapse at any moment, endangering the lives of millions of civilians once more. The USA and Iran are continuing to trade threats and carry out attacks and ship seizures in the Strait of Hormuz. In Lebanon, as has been the case since 2024, the latest ceasefire has led to a reduction but not an end in hostilities and the Israeli military has remained on Lebanese territory, ordering residents in dozens of villages in border areas not to return. Meanwhile, civilians in Iran face dual risks of atrocity crimes linked to a resumption in unlawful US/Israeli attacks as well as further deadly repression by the Iranian authorities.

“The 28 February US-Israeli attacks on Iran were unlawful, violating the UN Charter’s prohibition on the use of force and they triggered unlawful acts by Iranian authorities in retaliation. Since then, more than 5,000 people have been killed and millions of civilians across the Middle East have had their lives upended as interrelated conflicts have escalated across the region and civilians and civilian infrastructure have come under attack. All parties including the USA, Israel, Iran and Hezbollah have launched unlawful attacks displaying a chilling disregard for human life, while the US President has issued brazen threats to commit war crimes and even genocide, threatening to wipe out ‘a whole civilization’ in Iran.

“The international community must now draw a red line: there must be a durable and genuine ceasefire; this requires a full halt in armed hostilities by all parties, across all affected countries,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“The so-called ceasefire agreements reached in Gaza in 2025 and Lebanon in 2024 demonstrably failed to stop Israeli attacks on civilians, with as many as 765 Palestinians killed since then, and near daily air strikes and extensive destruction of civilian property in southern Lebanon. 

“In a region long scarred by conflict, amidst long-standing impunity for crimes under international law, and the constant threat of renewed violence, civilians cannot afford another partial, selective or short-lived pause that leaves them living in fear and bracing for a repetition of the atrocities they have suffered.”

The international community must now draw a red line: there must be a durable and genuine ceasefire; this requires a full halt in armed hostilities by all parties, across all affected countries

Agnès Callamard, Secretary General

The armed conflicts quickly spread to 12 countries, endangering the lives and health of millions of civilians with attacks devastating civilian homes and critical infrastructure, harming the environment, and triggering economic shockwaves felt across the region and the globe.

A sustainable, enduring ceasefire is the only credible path to protecting civilians and paving the way for longer-term security, human rights protection and justice for all in the region – including those in Iran, Lebanon, Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and in Gulf states.

In Iran, by 7 April, US and Israeli attacks had resulted in at least 3,375 people killed and 25,000 injured, including hundreds of children, according to official figures. The US-Israeli attacks in Iran took place as the population was still reeling from unprecedented massacres of thousands of protesters and bystanders by Iranian authorities during the crackdown on January 2026 protests.

In Lebanon, by the time the ceasefire was announced, 2,294 people had been killed, including 177 children, more than 7,500 wounded. Since the ceasefire, Israel and Hezbollah have continued to trade attacks, with continued reports of civilian casualties.

At least 21 civilians have been killed in Israel where the population has endured attacks from both Iran and Hezbollah. Four people have been killed in the occupied West Bank. Between 28 February and 15 April 2026, at least 29 people have been killed in the Gulf including 13 in the United Arab Emirates, seven in Kuwait, three in Bahrain, three in Oman and three in Saudi Arabia. The figures exclude US military casualties.

In a briefing published today, Amnesty International details the ongoing dual risks faced by the people of Iran, who are trapped between armed conflict and deadly repression. The organization is highlighting the need for a dual, people-centred diplomatic approach that combines efforts to establish an enduring ceasefire with concrete steps to prevent atrocity crimes by the Iranian authorities.

“A ceasefire that is not accompanied by long-term solutions that safeguard human rights and address root causes is little more than a temporary patch over a deep wound. This is particularly true in Iran, where the population remains at risk of further atrocities at the hands of the Islamic Republic authorities, and in Lebanon, where civilians face the prospect of renewed conflict, indefinite displacement of civilians and destruction of their homes,” said Agnès Callamard.  

“We are witnessing a continued dangerous erosion of the global international legal order and of respect for international humanitarian law.  The international community must fully investigate the US and Israeli unlawful attacks on Iran in violation of the UN Charter and all crimes under international law, and ensure that states and individuals are held accountable.

Civilian harm in Lebanon

In Lebanon, where attacks by Israel have had a devastating impact on civilians and have continued in recent days, there is an urgent need for a durable ceasefire that applies to both Israel and Hezbollah – and ensures all civilians are protected in the longer term on both sides of the border. The Israeli military must immediately cease attacks stop razing civilian structures, withdraw from Lebanon. All those displaced from their homes must be allowed to return. Hezbollah must stop launching attacks into Israel.

Israel had said it would refrain from offensive attacks during the ceasefire, but that it retained the right to take “all necessary measures for self-defence at any time against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks,” and that it would not withdraw from Lebanese territory. During both the current and previous ceasefire agreed in November 2024, Israel has continued to carry out near daily attacks and to destroy Lebanese civilian property along the border. For civilians, this led to prolonged displacement, devastated livelihoods, and the anguish of living in limbo, while accountability and reparations remained nowhere in sight.

Hezbollah has also launched attacks, including into northern Israel, since the current 2026 ceasefire agreement.

From 2 March 2026 onwards, the Israeli military carried out relentless air strikes across the country, killing and wounding civilians, healthcare workers and journalists. The Israeli military’s overly broad mass ‘evacuation’ orders covering huge swathes of southern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut displaced over a million people. Israeli forces have also carried out extensive destruction of residential areas and other civilian infrastructure across southern Lebanon and are continuing to demolish homes in border villages. On one of the worst days, on 8 April, the Israeli military boasted it had carried out 100 strikes within just 10 minutes in Lebanon – killing more than 350 people -including simultaneous attacks in crowded civilian areas of central Beirut without warning. The absolute impunity that Israel has enjoyed for its 2024 unlawful attacks in Lebanon has fuelled further violations in 2026. 

 After repeated rounds of devastating conflict, which have been marked by international crimes, absolute impunity, and civilian lives upended again and again, plans for accountability must be drawn up and implemented.  International crimes must be credibly investigated and alleged perpetrators prosecuted before national or international courts. The Lebanese government should facilitate accountability efforts, including by accepting the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction. Civilians harmed by international humanitarian law violations should be provided prompt, adequate and effective reparations that recognizes the extent of the harm suffered.

Iranians face dual atrocity risks

In Iran, tens of thousands of air strikes by the USA and Israel between 28 February and 7 April have caused grave civilian harm. In one egregious incident, an unlawful US strike on a school in Minab killed 156 people, including 120 children. US and Israeli attacks also caused extensive destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, universities, schools, residential buildings, medical centres, steel factories and petrochemical facilities endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions and harming the environment.

However, even a durable ceasefire alone cannot guarantee the protection of civilians or safeguard the human rights of people in Iran. Protesters, dissidents, and others advocating for fundamental political change remain at grave risk of further atrocities by Iranian authorities. Since the US-Israeli attacks, Iranian authorities have ramped up their crackdown on any actual or perceived opposition amid the longest state-imposed internet shutdown on record in Iran. Senior officials have made menacing statements in recent weeks equating any form of dissent with siding with the “enemy” and have openly threatened further mass killings of anyone expressing dissent or peacefully advocating for the downfall of the Islamic Republic system, publicly boasting about carrying out thousands of unlawful killings of protesters in January 2026. The authorities have also arbitrarily executed at least 19 people: eight protesters nine dissidents and two individuals accused of espionage for the USA and/or Israel. The authorities are also persisting with mass arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances and torture to wipe out dissent.

The recurrence of atrocities in Iran is rooted in a constitutional structure that entrenches impunity and systemic discrimination and deprives people of access to justice and effective remedies.

To ensure that people in Iran do not face risks of further massacres, a ceasefire must be accompanied by urgent diplomatic action from the international community to prevent atrocity crimes by the Iranian authorities,  to support Iranian civil society-led calls for fundamental changes, including to the constitution to ensure equality and respect for human rights, including the right to life.

“In a country reeling from the combined impact of devastating US and Israeli bombings and state-orchestrated massacres, the risks of atrocity crimes by the Iranian authorities against the people in Iran remain significant. They face the threat of renewed air strikes and mass killings if the truce collapses and the prospect of a deadly repression and another severe wave of killings by ‘trigger-ready’ security forces targeting protesters and dissidents they label as ‘enemies’,” said Agnès Callamard.

“The international community must recognize that Iran’s human rights and impunity crisis, now compounded by the US/Israel unlawful attacks and vast suffering of civilians, requires a dual, people-centred diplomatic response. This means combining efforts to investigate the UN Charter violations, protect civilians and uphold international humanitarian law with action to prevent atrocity crimes by the Iranian authorities, and support Iranian civil society’s calls for a rights-respecting constitution. It also means establishing pathways for international justice, including the UN Security Council’s referral of Iran’s situation to the International Criminal Court.”

Civilian harm across the region

A sustainable enduring ceasefire is also the only means of ensuring the protection of civilians  and a secure, just and sustainable future for people across the region.

Civilians in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory have come under fire from both Iranian missiles and Hezbollah rocket fire. In Israel, at least 34 people were killed – 21 civilians in Israel and 13 soldiers in combat operations in southern Lebanon in 2026. In one unlawful attack, Amnesty International found that a wildly inaccurate Iranian ballistic missile was used to carry out an attack that struck a synagogue in Beit Shemesh killing nine Israeli civilians. The Huthi armed group in Yemen has also repeatedly fired missiles at Israel, including in March 2026. Four Palestinian women were also killed in the occupied West Bank due to Iranian missile attacks.  During the 2024 escalation, Amnesty International documented Hezbollah’s use of inherently inaccurate weapons to launch unlawful rocket attacks that killed and injured civilians in Israel in violation of international humanitarian law.

Israeli authorities must refrain from carrying out unlawful attacks and commit publicly to full respect for international humanitarian law, particularly the prohibition of directing attacks at civilians and civilian objects. Without taking real and concrete steps to end violations of international law and tackle long-standing impunity the risk of repeating rounds of armed conflict is war crimes and other serious violations remains constant.

Iranian strikes on the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman have escalated risks to civilians, with attacks extending beyond US military bases and damaging energy infrastructure, airports, desalination plants and residential neighbourhoods. Iranian officials openly declared their intention to cause economic harm and attack US economic interests.

“The latest regional escalation follows more than two and a half years of relentless conflict across the Middle East, from the Hamas-led attacks on civilians in southern Israel on 7 October 2023 to Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, and Israel’s 2024 attacks in Lebanon,” said Agnès Callamard.

“As the threat of renewed atrocity crimes looms, global inaction undermines the mechanisms the international community relies on to prevent and respond to mass atrocities. World leaders must urgently come together to ensure a lasting, comprehensive ceasefire comes into effect immediately –to stop the normalization of mass civilian suffering, defend our shared humanity and help create conditions across the region for a future grounded in human rights, justice and lasting stability.”

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One year on from the deadly US air strike on a Huthi-run migrant detention centre in Sa’ada, north-western Yemen, there has been no discernible progress towards justice and reparation, and survivors are still struggling with severe physical and psychological trauma, Amnesty International said today. The organization had called for the 28 April 2025 strike by US forces, which killed and injured dozens of African migrants to be investigated as a war crime, and this month spoke once again to six survivors of the attack who detailed the human costs they had experienced.  

Rather than taking credible steps towards ensuring accountability, including through effective and prompt investigations, or providing reparations to harmed civilians, the US administration under President Donald Trump has gutted measures and mechanisms intended to prevent, mitigate and respond to civilian harm caused by US military operations abroad and has threatened attacks certain to cause devastating harm to civilians. Eleven months after the air strike on the Yemeni migrant detention centre, an unlawful US air strike killed 156 people including 120 children at the Minab school in Iran.   

The Trump administration’s approach to its air strikes in Yemen from March to May 2025 should have set off alarm bells in the USA and around the world, clearly signalling an urgent need to strengthen measures to protect civilians.

Nadia Daar, Director of Amnesty International USA.  

“The Trump administration’s approach to its air strikes in Yemen from March to May 2025 should have set off alarm bells in the USA and around the world, clearly signalling an urgent need to strengthen measures to protect civilians. Instead the US administration has systematically weakened safeguards, shrinking offices aimed at reducing civilian harm, while simultaneously displaying a dangerous disregard for the lives of civilians endangered by armed conflicts. Against that backdrop, attacks such as the US attack on a school in Minab in Iran, which killed 156 people including 120 children, were a tragically foreseeable consequence of a failure to implement robust civilian-harm mitigation efforts,” said Nadia Daar, Director of Amnesty International USA.  

One year on, US officials have failed to hold anyone accountable or even to clarify the status or outcome of the investigations they had announced a year earlier.

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

“One year on, US officials have failed to hold anyone accountable or even to clarify the status or outcome of the investigations they had announced a year earlier. Families of those killed in the attack on the detention centre in Yemen are still being denied basic information about what happened, remain without justice for their loved ones. Survivors continue to struggle, lacking the means to secure a decent living or even receive adequate medical treatment,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns at Amnesty International’s International Secretariat. 

“They must receive full, effective, and prompt reparation, including restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition, through an effective and accessible mechanism.” 

The organization based these findings on an its initial investigation published on 19 May 2025, and follow up research published in October 2025, where Amnesty spoke with 15 survivors and requested information from the USA. The organization re-interviewed six of those survivors in April 2026. 

The 28 April 2025 strike had been one of the worst civilian tolls from a US strike that Amnesty International had documented in years. Less than a year later on 16 March 2026, Amnesty International documented another egregious attack in terms of civilian harm, the US attack on a school in Minab, Iran that killed 156 people, including over 120 children. The organization’s investigation found that the USA violated international humanitarian law by failing to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm in carrying out the attack.  

Despite this, President Trump and high-level US officials, including Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, have expressed contempt for international law and rules and restraints intended to mitigate civilian harm. 

Following the air strike in April 2025, a US defense official said they were assessing “claims” of civilian casualties. But, nearly a year later, US Central Command has not released its assessments, nor announced the results of any investigations so far conducted. On 4 March 2026, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegeseth said that an investigation into Minab was ongoing. 

On 1 May, the Department of Defense is required to issue its Annual Report on Civilian Casualties in connection with any United States military operations in 2025, pursuant to Section 1057 of the National Defense Authorization Act.  

“In order to stop this deadly spiral, the USA must ensure prompt, transparent, impartial, independent and effective investigations into attacks that have resulted in civilian casualties, including those in Yemen and Iran. The US Congress must also urgently step up its oversight role and demand answers, including a public accounting of these strikes and the adequate and prompt provision of reparation to the civilians that have been harmed and ensure it is not appropriating funds that may contribute to breaches of international law,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.  

‘I have nothing left that keeps me going’ 

In April 2026, Amnesty International did follow up interviews with six men who survived the US air strike on Sa’ada detention centre, all of whom are Ethiopian. All six men described the devastating and long-lasting consequences that the strike continues to have on their lives.  

One year after the attack, all still require some form of medical treatment that they cannot afford. While all six men originally left their home countries in search of work, as a result of the US attack, almost all now rely on support from their families. Five of them cannot work because of the injuries they sustained during the US strike. Four have remained in Yemen and two have returned to Ethiopia.  

Jirata*, a 30-year-old Ethiopian man, lost one leg in the US attack and now has a metal rod in the other. He lives in continuous pain:    

“I have lost hope and I have nothing left that keeps me going. I came here [to Yemen] to work like everyone else to help my family and change mine and their life for the better […]. Now people carry me to the toilet.”  

“The US government caused all this and as a result [of the air strike] I can no longer work and support myself. I want them to provide any type of reparation that will help with our life in any way possible. Something that will revive my hope.” 

After the US attack, Abay*, a 32-year-old Ethiopian man, took the dangerous migration route by sea back to Ethiopia to live with his family. He cannot work due to severe injuries to his legs and hand which still require treatment he cannot afford.  

He told Amnesty International: “I went to Yemen to change my family’s life, but now I made my family’s life even harder than it was before. I feel broken whenever I see their faces. You can see the sadness on their faces. I hoped for a better life, to work and change our lives but everything turned upside down.” 

Araya*, a 22-year-old Ethiopian man, who sustained a serious arm injury in the attack, described how the constant pain from his injury impacts his mental health: “If I don’t take a painkiller, I feel hopeless and wish to die. I think about how at such a young age I can’t even support myself and still rely on help from others. The metal rod inside me is very painful and uncomfortable. It drives you insane.” 

“The story of these migrants is grim and heartbreaking. Travelling to Yemen in search of better opportunities, they were detained by the Huthis, denied their freedom, then attacked in a US air strike. Those who survived have been left in limbo, with no justice or reparation in sight, nor an explanation for why this happened to them, an acknowledgment of the wrong done to them, or any support offered to help them carry on with their lives,” said Erika Guevara Rosas. 

Lack of transparency, information and amends  

A year since the attack, US authorities have failed to disclose any details of civilian harm assessments or the results of any investigation into the killing of the dozens of migrants at the detention centre. 

On 27 August 2025, four months after the attack, Amnesty International formally requested information from US Central Command (CENTCOM), detailing its findings and seeking clarification on the military objective attacked and the precautions taken. CENTCOM provided only a brief response on the same day the request was sent, stating that it was still “assessing all reports of civilian harm”, that it was taking all of them “seriously” and reviewing them “thoroughly”.  

Yet one year later, and despite mass civilian casualties caused, the US authorities have not made public any assessments related to civilian harm related to the attack on the migrant detention centre or any other air strike on Yemen during its 2025 military operation dubbed “Rough Rider”.  

Under international law, if civilian harm is found to have occurred in an attack that violates international humanitarian law, victims and their families should receive full reparation.  

In addition to its obligations under international humanitarian law, the US Department of Defense (DoD) Instruction on Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response notes that mitigating civilian harm is not limited to compliance with international humanitarian law and encourages commanders to “take additional protective measures not required by the law of war as they deem appropriate.”  

Furthermore, if investigations find that there were direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks striking military targets and civilians without distinction and which killed or injured civilians, they should be investigated and treated as violations of international law and potential war crimes. Amnesty International’s investigation into the air strike found that it was indiscriminate and therefore should be investigated as a war crime.  

The USA should promptly and transparently make public its assessment into the Yemen migrant detention centre strike, as well as other attacks in Yemen and Iran, including clear findings on civilian harm and the measures to address it.

Erika Guevara Rosas.

“The USA should promptly and transparently make public its assessment into the Yemen migrant detention centre strike, as well as other attacks in Yemen and Iran, including clear findings on civilian harm and the measures to address it. Where sufficient evidence exists, competent authorities should ensure those responsible are brought to justice, by prosecuting any person suspected of criminal responsibility for war crimes, including under the doctrine of command responsibility,” said Erika Guevara Rosas. 

 
*The migrants interviewed by Amnesty International are identified using pseudonyms for security reasons. 

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