Schlagwort: human rights

Responding to news that five law enforcement officers in Georgia have been arrested and charged over attacks in 2024 on three people attending anti-government protests, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director, said:

“Accountability for the widespread abusive use of force by police against peaceful protesters, journalists and government critics during the crackdown on protests since 2024 cannot end with the recent arrest of five law enforcement officers, already 17 months late. Amnesty International has documented dozens of cases of unlawful use of force and alleged torture and other ill-treatment, and severe injuries – including broken bones – inflicted on individuals who were simply exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Hundreds of protesters complained of such treatment. Justice means accountability for all these cases.”  

“These five arrests alone do little to change the broader picture of impunity in Georgia, or the fact that dozens of cases of torture and other ill-treatment remain without effective investigation.

These five arrests alone do little to change the broader picture of impunity in Georgia, or the fact that dozens of cases of torture and other ill-treatment remain without effective investigation

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Deputy Director

“The Prosecutor General’s investigation must extend to all those suspected of responsibility, including those who gave orders and who failed in their duty to prevent human rights violations. It is imperative that there is accountability across the entire chain of command, and for all reported cases of unlawful police conduct.”

Background

On 7 May 2026, Georgia’s Prosecutor General’s Office announced the arrest of five current and former law enforcement officers for violence against protester Zviad Maisashvili, politician Levan Khabeishvili and journalist Guram Rogava during the 2024 protests in Tbilisi. The five have been charged with “abuse of power with the use of violence”. One of them is also charged with “unlawfully obstructing a journalist’s professional activities resulting in harm to health or other serious consequences”. The charges carry a penalty of five to eight years’ imprisonment.

The announcement followed an investigative report by TV Formula which identified, through Ministry of Interior sources, an alleged attacker of Guram Rogava, then a TV Formula journalist, who was assaulted on 29 November 2024 while covering protests.

Amnesty Intentional and local watchdogs documented how protesters were targeted indiscriminately with rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons by Georgian police during peaceful protests between November and December 2024. Others were beaten and subjected to violence amounting to violations of the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, including in police vehicles known as “torture vans.” More than 300 detainees reported serious physical abuse, with over 80 requiring hospitalizations for concussions, fractures, and broken bones. Numerous detainees were taken to undisclosed locations, held without access to lawyers or families, and denied medical treatment and emergency surgery.

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In 2019, a group of 27 law students from the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu began campaigning to take the issue of human-induced climate change and its impacts on human rights to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Their initiative led the ICJ to issue a landmark Advisory Opinion in July 2025, which made it clear that governments have a legal obligation to protect human rights against climate change.

Today, the Pacific islands are leading on a draft UN climate change resolution to turn the ICJ’s groundbreaking Advisory Opinion into a roadmap for action and accountability, pushing leaders to phase out the fossil fuels and meet their human rights obligations.

Fijian-born Vishal Prasad is the director at Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC). Here he shares about the journey of turning “heartbreak into action.”

“In late 2019, I joined a group of 27 law students from the University of the South Pacific in Vanuatu that came together to take climate change to the world’s highest court. We knew all too well the cost of the climate crisis to the region.

We came from communities where a monthly king-tide means watchful, sleepless nights and countries where economic development built slowly over decades could be wiped away by multiple cyclones. We came of age alongside multiple UN climate conferences like COP where promises of urgent change and necessary remedy were made. Yet our people continue to wait and hope for these promises to be met.

A radical and stubborn optimism

The decision to take the world’s biggest problem to the world’s highest court was not youthful naivete. Too often calls for reform from young people are delegitimized and get shut down for being “out of touch” or “naïve.” We took the step out of a radical and stubborn optimism. The kind that is born from a lifetime of being told our homes are small, isolated, and destined for a future of rising tides and worsening disasters.

Over six years, this stubborn hope persisted as we strategized and identified ways to reach the ICJ while networking alongside partners across the world to build a movement demanding change.

Climate change is not just a Pacific issue

In taking this message to multilateral spaces, we found youths from around the world who shared similar stories from their homes: typhoons that left civilians stranded, rising ocean temperatures that devastated the biodiversity of islands, floods choking food systems.

This movement was also proof that climate change is not just a Pacific issue. Increasing floods, hurricanes and wildfires are being experienced by people around the world, disproportionately affecting the most marginalized everywhere. Therefore, it is in the best interest of all countries to support and unite behind international law. International law dictates that shared issues require shared collaboration.

A historic moment: The International Court of Justice delivers its Advisory Opinion on climate change

Huddled against a Dutch winter in December 2024, we stood interlinked alongside traditional knowledge holders, legal experts and youths to tell stories of climate decimation but also to call for justice at the highest court in the world. Seven months later after pleading our case, the ICJ delivered an Advisory Opinion in July 2025 that far exceeded our expectations. It clarified that countries have obligations to act under the Paris Agreement and a variety of international laws, including human rights, and customary international law. More specifically, the ICJ underscored that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a precondition for the effective enjoyment of all other rights and therefore a priority.

Human rights have now been directly linked to the harm caused by the climate crisis and this is an invaluable determination in our collective pursuit for justice. The ICJ also made clear that legal consequences may also arise when countries breach these obligations and cause climate harm. For many countries on the frontline of the climate crisis this was a validation of what we have been saying about the climate crisis – now reaffirmed by the power of international law. 

When people unite astonishing change is possible

This newfound legal clarity on state obligations must now be used as the foundation for international climate policy and action. One way to do this is by operationalizing the Advisory Opinion through a United Nations General Assembly resolution that has been put forward by Vanuatu and is currently being discussed by UN member states. This draft UN climate change resolution seeks to endorse the unanimous ruling handed down by the ICJ and explore mechanisms to bring the Court’s findings to life.

The challenge now is for the world to agree on a robust UN climate change resolution adopted with widespread support from UN member states. And we know that this is possible. Just like in the earlier phases of this campaign, we know that when people band together, astonishing, substantive change is possible.

We need everyone in the world to demand that their governments co-sponsor and vote to adopt the UN climate change resolution without diluting it – so that all people, the old, young and future generations, can live in dignity.

Vishal Prasad, director at Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change.

Urgency of the draft UN climate change resolution

Here at home, climate change is not a prediction of the time to come but a truth lived intimately; a tragedy unfolding in our backyard that we are resisting, mobilizing and working to change. For us, almost everything is at stake. We are on the frontlines. Home, identity and the very fabric of our cultural being is at stake.

Around the world, human-induced climate change is increasingly showing up in unprecedented floods, wildfires, droughts, cyclical extreme heat and cold, devastating cyclones. All this is compounded by wars and decreasing commitments towards climate action. The health of all our land, air, waterways and oceans is at stake.

We need everyone in the world to demand that their governments co-sponsor and vote to adopt the UN climate change resolution without diluting it – so that all people, the old, young and future generations, can live in dignity.

The post “For us, almost everything is at stake”: How students from the Pacific took the fight against climate change to the world’s top court appeared first on Amnesty International.

On the first anniversary of the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s ruling that trials of civilians by military courts are constitutional, Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia, said:

“The Supreme Court’s 2025 decision has fundamentally undermined the right to a fair trial and the right to liberty in Pakistan. Such courts flout virtually every protection guaranteed under international human rights law.

“A civilian before a military court is first subjected to a secret trial without procedural safeguards, conducted by army officials that lack independence and impartiality. If convicted, they are denied the right to appeal, despite orders by the Supreme Court that this protection be guaranteed. Those serving convictions, including 9 May protesters still serving their sentences and activists such as Idris Khattak, are being deprived of the right to have their convictions and sentences independently and impartially reviewed. They are not given access to the court’s reasoned judgements and, in many instances, they have not been provided with any written order at all, as part of a deliberate tactic to prolong their unlawful detention.

Such courts flout virtually every protection guaranteed under international human rights law

Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia

“Amnesty International calls on the Pakistani authorities to end this injustice by banning military trials of civilians and overturning all unlawful civilian convictions by these courts. Authorities must ensure that all those convicted are provided with a meaningful right to appeal to a competent, independent and impartial tribunal.”

Background

On 7 May 2025, the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan overturned a previous Supreme Court ruling from October 2023 that stated that the trial before a military court of civilians involved in the 9 May protest was unconstitutional and struck down sections 2(1)(d), section 59(4)(i) and 59(4)(ii) of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

While validating military trials of civilians, the Supreme Court stated in its majority decision and detailed judgment that the legislature must pass a law to provide an “independent right of appeal to the High Courts for civilians” convicted by military courts within 45 days of the 7 May 2025 order. Despite this, a year on, Parliament has yet to table or pass any such legislation.

In December 2024, 105 protesters who took part in the 9 May 2023 protests following the arrest of former Prime Minister Imran Khan were convicted by military courts for two to 10 years. Nineteen of them were released on grounds of mercy immediately after and an additional five were released in May 2025 after completing their full two-year sentence. Idris Khattak is a human rights activist who was forcibly disappeared in 2019 and convicted and sentenced to 14 years imprisonment after a secret military trial in 2021.

The post Pakistan: Authorities must end ongoing injustice of civilian trials by military courts appeared first on Amnesty International.

Amnesty International has designated Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán, ancestral authorities of the 48 cantons of Totonicapán in 2023, as prisoners of conscience. They have been unjustly imprisoned for over a year simply for having made use of their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. 

“Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán should never have been imprisoned. Their arrest and prosecution constitute arbitrary punishment for having participated in peaceful protests and for representing their community. Every day they remain in prison compounds the violation of their human rights”, said Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International.  

Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán should never have been imprisoned. Their arrest and prosecution constitute arbitrary punishment for having participated in peaceful protests and for representing their community. Every day they remain in prison compounds the violation of their human rights.”

Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International. 

Luis and Héctor were arrested on 23 April 2025 and have remained in pre-trial detention since that date. The Public Prosecutor’s Office accuses them of the crimes of terrorism, unlawful association and obstruction of criminal proceedings, for the role they played during the peaceful protests that took place in the country in October 2023. Crimes with penalties totalling more than 30 years in prison.  

At the time of the events, they were serving as community mayors appointed in accordance with the customs and traditions of the Maya K’iche’ people of Totonicapán. They were also president and treasurer, respectively, of the board of directors of the Council of Mayors of the 48 Cantons of Totonicapán, an ancestral and indigenous authority that brings together the K’iche’ communities of this municipality in the west of the country. 

Based on a review of the criminal case, Amnesty International has found multiple irregularities, including unjustified delays that have hindered the process. For example, due to the successive changes of judges in charge, the process has stalled, and the intermediate hearing, initially scheduled for the beginning of July 2025, has not been held. In addition, more than a year has passed without Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán appearing before a judge to review the deprivation of their liberty, and to date, their lawyers have not been able to access all the evidence in the file. These practices are characteristic of the pattern of criminalization against justice workers, human rights defenders, and journalists who have participated in the fight against corruption and impunity.  

Amnesty International condemns the misuse of charges of terrorism and unlawful association to punish the legitimate use of freedom of expression, in violation of international human rights standards, based on a misinterpretation of criminal offences whose ambiguous wording opens the door to this type of arbitrary action.  

Two other people, also ancestral authorities, were arrested for the same reason and placed under house arrest: Basilio Puac, a member of the Board of Directors of the 48 cantons in 2023, accused of the crimes of unlawful association, sedition, obstruction of criminal proceedings and obstruction of justice; and Esteban Toc Tzay, former deputy mayor of the Indigenous Mayor’s Office of Sololá accused of the crimes of unlawful association, terrorism, sedition, obstruction of criminal proceedings and obstruction of justice. 

The organization also warns of the discriminatory nature of the accusations against these four representatives of Indigenous Peoples, which seek to punish their forms of organization and dissuade them from making use of their right to peaceful protest. 

“In a country like Guatemala, whose history has been marked by systematic violence and racism against Indigenous Peoples, the use of serious criminal charges such as terrorism, sedition and unlawful association against representatives of Indigenous Peoples is no coincidence. These unfounded accusations, which criminalize their forms of organization, are one more manifestation of the racial discrimination against them, which remains deeply rooted in the institutions of justice”, Ana Piquer added.  

In a country like Guatemala, whose history has been marked by systematic violence and racism against Indigenous Peoples, the use of serious criminal charges such as terrorism, sedition and unlawful association against representatives of Indigenous Peoples is no coincidence.”

Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International. 

Amnesty International’s designation as a prisoner of conscience is based on a rigorous analysis of the circumstances of detention. This status is granted to those who have been deprived of their liberty solely for expressing their ideas, exercising their rights or for reasons related to their identity – such as their ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation or other characteristics protected by international human rights law – without having resorted to violence or incitement to hatred. The organization calls for the immediate and unconditional release of these individuals. 

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

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Reacting to reports that Azat Miftakhov, a mathematician and anarchist activist, was subjected to torture, including sexualized abuse, in a Russian penal colony, Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The authorities must urgently launch an independent and effective investigation into these allegations, hold all those suspected to be responsible to account in fair proceedings, and ensure that Azat Miftakhov is protected from further violence, including torture and other ill-treatment.

“Reports that prison staff and inmates were involved in the attack expose a system where violence and cruelty are deployed, encouraged or tolerated by the prison administration as tools of intimidation and coercion. This is often compounded by sexual violence and sexualized threats, which explicitly target LGBTI prisoners and are used more widely – tactics associated with some of the most repressive practices of the GULAG era.

Reports that prison staff and inmates were involved in the attack expose a system where violence and cruelty are deployed, encouraged or tolerated by the prison administration as tools of intimidation and coercion

Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“Azat Miftakhov’s case is emblematic of the acute risks faced by prisoners singled out by the administration. In May 2023, his intimate photographs were reportedly distributed by members of the authorities among other inmates, thereby seeking to subject him to the cruelty of the informal prison hierarchy, to the harshest conditions and sexual violence at the hands of other inmates.”

Background

On 5 May 2026, the support group of Azat Miftakhov, a former Moscow State University postgraduate, published a detailed account alleging that he was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, and sexual violence including threats of rape following his transfer to Penal Colony No. 18 “Polar Owl” in Harp, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

On 21 April 2026, one day after his arrival at the colony, Miftakhov was reportedly unlawfully ordered to perform a cleaning task expressly intended to humiliate him. After his refusal, he was allegedly restrained by staff and other inmates, beaten and struck with a wooden hammer on the soles of his bare feet. He was reportedly then stripped naked and threatened with rape and suffocation, while officers and inmates subjected him to repeated physical assaults. According to his testimony, electric shocks were administered to his toes, with the abuse repeated multiple times when he refused to obey.

Azat Miftakhov has previously reported torture following his first detention in 2019 over his alleged involvement in the 2018 arson attempt targeting an office of the ruling party United Russia in Moscow, which caused no damage.  

In September 2025, immediately upon his release, he was re-arrested and charged with “justifying terrorism” over comments he had allegedly made while in detention and was sentenced to a further four years in prison.

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