Schlagwort: human rights

• Court’s closure would fail victims & survivors and represent “a catastrophic setback” in country’s fight against impunity
• Court staff already reduced by 25%

The Special Criminal Court (SCC) of the Central African Republic is at serious risk of closure in 2026, potentially depriving thousands of victims and survivors of war crimes and crimes against humanity of justice and reparations, Amnesty International said today. The organization is calling on states to make urgent financial contributions to the court to ensure its crucial operations can continue.

The Special Criminal Court is doing essential work, with 15 investigations and three trials ongoing.

Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa

The SCC, which relies solely on voluntary contributions from states and international organizations, has endured massive budget cuts over the past year. Without additional funding, the court, which has a mandate to investigate and prosecute crimes under international law committed during conflicts in the Central African Republic, will run out of money in June.

“Thousands of Central African civilians were killed, raped, abducted, maimed, injured, displaced, or had their homes burned down during waves of violence and armed conflict since 2003. For these victims and survivors, the SCC represents a hope for justice, which is now compromised. The court is doing essential work, with 15 investigations and three trials ongoing, and over 30 persons currently wanted. Its closure would be a catastrophic setback in the fight against impunity in the Central African Republic. It must continue its work,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa.  

“Victims are excluded from their own trials, as the court no longer has the means to cover their transportation and accommodation costs. The possibility of cases being frozen or simply abandoned is no longer a hypothesis, it is a founded fear. Victims fear that justice will be extinguished due to lack of resources,” said a member of a local survivors’ association.

“The decline in funding has a significant impact. Financial partners are no longer responding to our needs, yet those partners are essential. This affects those most directly concerned, namely the victims who are seeking justice,” said the representative of another survivors’ association. 

Fewer staff and minimal operations due to lack of funding

The SCC was severely affected by the withdrawal of funding by the United States, which was the second biggest donor to the court after the United Nations (UN). The only current donors are the UN, through its peacekeeping mission and its development agency, and the European Union (EU). Due to the liquidity crisis faced by the UN, it cannot guarantee its planned contributions for 2026.

This drastic funding reduction has already profoundly affected the court’s functioning and jeopardizes its very existence, with serious repercussions for ongoing proceedings and the services provided to victims and witnesses. For this calendar year, only the EU has pledged a funding contribution. Some European states are also examining the possibility of providing funding, however they have not yet committed to making new contributions, and neither has any other state.

National courts do not have the resources and capacity to carry out the mandate entrusted to the Special Criminal Court.

Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for West and Central Africa

The court has already had to make a quarter of its staff redundant, particularly its foreign experts, between August and September 2025, according to information gathered by Amnesty International. There is now only one team of judicial police officers left to investigate, down from four previously, while there are 15 ongoing investigations into cases involving war crimes and crimes against humanity. The witness protection section has lost more than half of its staff, potentially reducing the court’s ability to prevent reprisals against witnesses.

“Victims and survivors of crimes under international law have a right to truth, justice, and reparations. We call on all partner states of the Central African Republic to urgently commit financial and human resources to the SCC so that justice can be served for these victims and survivors. Without this, impunity will prevail,” said Marceau Sivieude.

“National courts do not have the resources and capacity to carry out the mandate entrusted to the SCC, despite the efforts made by the Central African authorities. If the SCC closes, having arrested and prosecuted in person only a few low-level persons, and not the leaders most responsible, and for a few recent incidents, it will have largely failed in its mission and disappointed the hopes and expectations of the Central African people.”

Background

The SCC, inaugurated on 22 October 2018, is a hybrid court supported by the UN, composed of Central African and foreign prosecutors and judges.

On 19 April 2022, it opened its first trial, against three former members of an armed group for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Since then, four trials have taken place, two of these cases are still in the appeal phase. Two other trials are currently pending in first instance.

The SCC issued an arrest warrant for former President François Bozizé in 2024, which has not yet been executed, although the case was sent to trial in January 2026 even in the absence of Bozizé. Over 30 persons are currently wanted by the court in connection with ongoing investigations or proceedings.

The SCC began its second five-year term on 22 October 2023. It is due to end in October 2028.

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Responding to a Hong Kong court’s conviction of the father of US-based pro-democracy activist Anna Kwok under the city’s Article 23 law, Amnesty International Hong Kong Overseas spokesperson Joey Siu said:

“This conviction is the first time a family member of a ‘wanted’ pro-democracy activist living abroad has been convicted under Hong Kong’s national security laws. It marks a disturbing escalation in the Hong Kong government’s repressive use of ‘Article 23’.

“The absurd bounty placed on Anna Kwok’s head due to her activism is already a brazen attack on her freedom of expression. Now, as Hong Kong authorities stoop to a new low, her father faces jail solely for an alleged attempt to handle an insurance policy.

“This apparently politically motivated conviction of an activist’s close relative also sets a dangerous precedent, designed to terrify and silence others who continue to speak out about Hong Kong issues from overseas.

“Hong Kong authorities must immediately release the father of Anna Kwok, as well as all others accused of assisting activists in exile, unless they can show they have committed an internationally recognized crime.”

Background

The father of Anna Kwok was today convicted of attempting to deal with funds linked to an “absconder”, an offence under the Hong Kong’s Safeguarding National Security Ordinance, often referred to as the ‘Article 23’ law.

Anna Kwok is a US-based Hong Kong activist wanted for “colluding with foreign forces”, with national security police offering a reward of HK$1m (US$128,000) for information leading to her capture. She is one of the 34 activists in exile targeted with a bounty.

In late 2024, Hong Kong’s Secretary for Security Chris Tang invoked his powers under Article 23 to cancel Kwok’s Hong Kong passport, declare her an “absconder”, and prohibit her from dealing with funds, other financial assets or economic resources in Hong Kong, along with six of the other exiled activists.

Since Hong Kong’s National Security Law came into effect in June 2020, the human rights situation in the city has deteriorated dramatically, with the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association among the rights under sustained attack.

The city’s Article 23 law, enacted in March 2024, has further squeezed people’s freedoms and enabled authorities to intensify their crackdown on peaceful activism in the city and beyond.

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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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