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1000 results for “amnestynl”
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Leonela Moncayo wuchs in #Ecuador neben einer Ölraffinerie auf. Wie ihr die Umweltverschmutzung bewusst wurde, wie sie zur Klimaaktivistin wurde, wie sie gewaltsam zum Schweigen gebracht werden soll. 👇
#ProtectTheProtest
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/oped-desde-un-pozo-petrolero-hasta-la-cop30/ -
Amnesty International
Reprendre le terrain : la lutte pour les droits des femmes musulmanes dans le sport. Pétition
https://mcinformactions.net/reprendre-le-terrain-la-lutte-pour-les-droits-des-femmes-musulmanes-dans-le
#femmes #musulmanes #sport #discriminationIntersectionnelle -
Amnesty International
Reconnaissance faciale en France : agissons avant qu’elle ne devienne une réalité. Pétition
https://mcinformactions.net/reconnaissance-faciale-en-france-agissons-avant-qu-elle-ne-devienne-une-realite
#reconnaissanceFaciale #surveillance #technosurveillance -
Importance of Human Rights: UK Support for the ECHR
November 2025
Nigel Farage’s proposal for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights was defeated on 29 October by 154 votes to 96, a majority of 58. The vote was largely symbolic: a ten-minute bill without government backing is often used simply to air an issue. The Liberal Democrats led the opposition to the bill, a number of Conservatives joined Reform UK in supporting it and many Labour backbenchers chose not to abstain but voted against it, fearing that were it to pass even symbolically, it would send a negative message to European allies.
The position of the Government remains that while it may pursue some changes to the interpretation of the Convention it would under no circumstances seek to abolish it.
75th Anniversary
A statement of support for the ECHR was signed by almost 300 organisations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention. Organised by Liberty, the statement highlighted the many ways the Convention has helped ordinary people from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service personnel, public interest journalists to mental health patients and victims of grave miscarriages of justice, as with the Hillsborough and Windrush cases.
It calls on the government to make the positive case for the UK’s human rights protections and claims that the way the Convention has been scapegoated in recent years has had devastating real world consequences.
Meanwhile a survey for Amnesty by the widely respected agency Savanta concluded that more than 8 in 10 UK adults say that human rights protections are as important – or more important – today than when the ECHR was created after the Second World War. When asked which rights matter most to them, UK adults chose: the right to a fair trial (42%); the right to life (41%); the right to privacy, family life and respect for your home (40%).
Support for staying in the ECHR is almost twice as high as support for leaving. 48% want the UK to remain part of the ECHR. Only 26% want to leave.
People believe rights should be universal, permanent, and protected from political interference: 87% agree that rights and laws must apply equally to everyone, 85% agree we need a legal safety net to hold the Government accountable in cases like the infected blood scandal and Grenfell and 78% agree rights should be permanent, not something the Government of the day can reduce.
Respondents were shown a list of major UK scandals or institutional failings and asked which made them feel the importance of strong legal protections and accountability. The top five were:
Grenfell Tower – 46%; Hillsborough disaster and cover up – 42%; Infected blood scandal & the COVID inquiry – 37%; The murder of Sarah Everard – 36%; Windrush scandal – 29%.
ECHR and Immigration
In response to critics attributing the real problems of the UK’s immigration system to the ECHR, the Good Law Project set out some basic facts about the Convention, namely that it does not provide a right for people to enter or remain in a country of which they are not a national; that the Court rarely rules against the UK on immigration issues at all – since 1980 only on 13 of the 29 cases concerning either deportation or extradition. And while the Human Rights Act of 1998 incorporating ECHR rights into UK law makes it unnecessary to go to Strasbourg, successful claims to stay in the UK are rare. Last year out of a total inward immigration of 948,000 only 3,790 cases related to the Human Rights Act were won at immigration tribunals.
Protect the Protest: Palestine Action and Judicial Review
Amnesty and Liberty will be making the case to lift the ban on the proscribed activist group Palestine Action in the Judicial Review scheduled for 25 – 27 November.
Defend Our Juries are urging the police not to bow to pressure from the Government but to allow the
peaceful protests organised throughout November at the continuing crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. They say that police are struggling to enforce the law in the face of peaceful protesters, many of them elderly. Some police forces are refusing outright to make arrests. International and national human rights groups, politicians and United Nations representatives have condemned both the ban and the subsequent attacks on civil liberties. Unions are declaring that they will not recognise the ban, with over 2,100 now arrested under ‘terror charges’ related to this peaceful sign-holding campaign.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty’s Director, criticised the Home Secretary for statements “that create a chilling effect by dissuading people from exercising their fundamental right to peaceful protest. At any time, any interference with freedom of expression must be strictly necessary, proportionate and in full accordance with the law.”
In a further incident of Transnational repression Sheffield Hallam University terminated a staff member’s project about Uyghur forced labour after Chinese security officers interrogated a staff member in Beijing and a Chinese company named in the report filed a defamation lawsuit in the UK. The university retracted the ban but only after Professor Laura Murphy, specialising in human rights and modern slavery, began legal action against it for violating her academic freedom.
#HumanRights_ #ECHR #immigrants #immigration #law #Salisbury
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Importance of Human Rights: UK Support for the ECHR
November 2025
Nigel Farage’s proposal for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights was defeated on 29 October by 154 votes to 96, a majority of 58. The vote was largely symbolic: a ten-minute bill without government backing is often used simply to air an issue. The Liberal Democrats led the opposition to the bill, a number of Conservatives joined Reform UK in supporting it and many Labour backbenchers chose not to abstain but voted against it, fearing that were it to pass even symbolically, it would send a negative message to European allies.
The position of the Government remains that while it may pursue some changes to the interpretation of the Convention it would under no circumstances seek to abolish it.
75th Anniversary
A statement of support for the ECHR was signed by almost 300 organisations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention. Organised by Liberty, the statement highlighted the many ways the Convention has helped ordinary people from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service personnel, public interest journalists to mental health patients and victims of grave miscarriages of justice, as with the Hillsborough and Windrush cases.
It calls on the government to make the positive case for the UK’s human rights protections and claims that the way the Convention has been scapegoated in recent years has had devastating real world consequences.
Meanwhile a survey for Amnesty by the widely respected agency Savanta concluded that more than 8 in 10 UK adults say that human rights protections are as important – or more important – today than when the ECHR was created after the Second World War. When asked which rights matter most to them, UK adults chose: the right to a fair trial (42%); the right to life (41%); the right to privacy, family life and respect for your home (40%).
Support for staying in the ECHR is almost twice as high as support for leaving. 48% want the UK to remain part of the ECHR. Only 26% want to leave.
People believe rights should be universal, permanent, and protected from political interference: 87% agree that rights and laws must apply equally to everyone, 85% agree we need a legal safety net to hold the Government accountable in cases like the infected blood scandal and Grenfell and 78% agree rights should be permanent, not something the Government of the day can reduce.
Respondents were shown a list of major UK scandals or institutional failings and asked which made them feel the importance of strong legal protections and accountability. The top five were:
Grenfell Tower – 46%; Hillsborough disaster and cover up – 42%; Infected blood scandal & the COVID inquiry – 37%; The murder of Sarah Everard – 36%; Windrush scandal – 29%.
ECHR and Immigration
In response to critics attributing the real problems of the UK’s immigration system to the ECHR, the Good Law Project set out some basic facts about the Convention, namely that it does not provide a right for people to enter or remain in a country of which they are not a national; that the Court rarely rules against the UK on immigration issues at all – since 1980 only on 13 of the 29 cases concerning either deportation or extradition. And while the Human Rights Act of 1998 incorporating ECHR rights into UK law makes it unnecessary to go to Strasbourg, successful claims to stay in the UK are rare. Last year out of a total inward immigration of 948,000 only 3,790 cases related to the Human Rights Act were won at immigration tribunals.
Protect the Protest: Palestine Action and Judicial Review
Amnesty and Liberty will be making the case to lift the ban on the proscribed activist group Palestine Action in the Judicial Review scheduled for 25 – 27 November.
Defend Our Juries are urging the police not to bow to pressure from the Government but to allow the
peaceful protests organised throughout November at the continuing crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. They say that police are struggling to enforce the law in the face of peaceful protesters, many of them elderly. Some police forces are refusing outright to make arrests. International and national human rights groups, politicians and United Nations representatives have condemned both the ban and the subsequent attacks on civil liberties. Unions are declaring that they will not recognise the ban, with over 2,100 now arrested under ‘terror charges’ related to this peaceful sign-holding campaign.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty’s Director, criticised the Home Secretary for statements “that create a chilling effect by dissuading people from exercising their fundamental right to peaceful protest. At any time, any interference with freedom of expression must be strictly necessary, proportionate and in full accordance with the law.”
In a further incident of Transnational repression Sheffield Hallam University terminated a staff member’s project about Uyghur forced labour after Chinese security officers interrogated a staff member in Beijing and a Chinese company named in the report filed a defamation lawsuit in the UK. The university retracted the ban but only after Professor Laura Murphy, specialising in human rights and modern slavery, began legal action against it for violating her academic freedom.
#HumanRights_ #ECHR #immigrants #immigration #law #Salisbury
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Importance of Human Rights: UK Support for the ECHR
November 2025
Nigel Farage’s proposal for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights was defeated on 29 October by 154 votes to 96, a majority of 58. The vote was largely symbolic: a ten-minute bill without government backing is often used simply to air an issue. The Liberal Democrats led the opposition to the bill, a number of Conservatives joined Reform UK in supporting it and many Labour backbenchers chose not to abstain but voted against it, fearing that were it to pass even symbolically, it would send a negative message to European allies.
The position of the Government remains that while it may pursue some changes to the interpretation of the Convention it would under no circumstances seek to abolish it.
75th Anniversary
A statement of support for the ECHR was signed by almost 300 organisations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention. Organised by Liberty, the statement highlighted the many ways the Convention has helped ordinary people from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service personnel, public interest journalists to mental health patients and victims of grave miscarriages of justice, as with the Hillsborough and Windrush cases.
It calls on the government to make the positive case for the UK’s human rights protections and claims that the way the Convention has been scapegoated in recent years has had devastating real world consequences.
Meanwhile a survey for Amnesty by the widely respected agency Savanta concluded that more than 8 in 10 UK adults say that human rights protections are as important – or more important – today than when the ECHR was created after the Second World War. When asked which rights matter most to them, UK adults chose: the right to a fair trial (42%); the right to life (41%); the right to privacy, family life and respect for your home (40%).
Support for staying in the ECHR is almost twice as high as support for leaving. 48% want the UK to remain part of the ECHR. Only 26% want to leave.
People believe rights should be universal, permanent, and protected from political interference: 87% agree that rights and laws must apply equally to everyone, 85% agree we need a legal safety net to hold the Government accountable in cases like the infected blood scandal and Grenfell and 78% agree rights should be permanent, not something the Government of the day can reduce.
Respondents were shown a list of major UK scandals or institutional failings and asked which made them feel the importance of strong legal protections and accountability. The top five were:
Grenfell Tower – 46%; Hillsborough disaster and cover up – 42%; Infected blood scandal & the COVID inquiry – 37%; The murder of Sarah Everard – 36%; Windrush scandal – 29%.
ECHR and Immigration
In response to critics attributing the real problems of the UK’s immigration system to the ECHR, the Good Law Project set out some basic facts about the Convention, namely that it does not provide a right for people to enter or remain in a country of which they are not a national; that the Court rarely rules against the UK on immigration issues at all – since 1980 only on 13 of the 29 cases concerning either deportation or extradition. And while the Human Rights Act of 1998 incorporating ECHR rights into UK law makes it unnecessary to go to Strasbourg, successful claims to stay in the UK are rare. Last year out of a total inward immigration of 948,000 only 3,790 cases related to the Human Rights Act were won at immigration tribunals.
Protect the Protest: Palestine Action and Judicial Review
Amnesty and Liberty will be making the case to lift the ban on the proscribed activist group Palestine Action in the Judicial Review scheduled for 25 – 27 November.
Defend Our Juries are urging the police not to bow to pressure from the Government but to allow the
peaceful protests organised throughout November at the continuing crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. They say that police are struggling to enforce the law in the face of peaceful protesters, many of them elderly. Some police forces are refusing outright to make arrests. International and national human rights groups, politicians and United Nations representatives have condemned both the ban and the subsequent attacks on civil liberties. Unions are declaring that they will not recognise the ban, with over 2,100 now arrested under ‘terror charges’ related to this peaceful sign-holding campaign.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty’s Director, criticised the Home Secretary for statements “that create a chilling effect by dissuading people from exercising their fundamental right to peaceful protest. At any time, any interference with freedom of expression must be strictly necessary, proportionate and in full accordance with the law.”
In a further incident of Transnational repression Sheffield Hallam University terminated a staff member’s project about Uyghur forced labour after Chinese security officers interrogated a staff member in Beijing and a Chinese company named in the report filed a defamation lawsuit in the UK. The university retracted the ban but only after Professor Laura Murphy, specialising in human rights and modern slavery, began legal action against it for violating her academic freedom.
#HumanRights_ #ECHR #immigrants #immigration #law #Salisbury
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Importance of Human Rights: UK Support for the ECHR
November 2025
Nigel Farage’s proposal for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights was defeated on 29 October by 154 votes to 96, a majority of 58. The vote was largely symbolic: a ten-minute bill without government backing is often used simply to air an issue. The Liberal Democrats led the opposition to the bill, a number of Conservatives joined Reform UK in supporting it and many Labour backbenchers chose not to abstain but voted against it, fearing that were it to pass even symbolically, it would send a negative message to European allies.
The position of the Government remains that while it may pursue some changes to the interpretation of the Convention it would under no circumstances seek to abolish it.
75th Anniversary
A statement of support for the ECHR was signed by almost 300 organisations to mark the 75th anniversary of the Convention. Organised by Liberty, the statement highlighted the many ways the Convention has helped ordinary people from victims of sexual violence to LGBT+ service personnel, public interest journalists to mental health patients and victims of grave miscarriages of justice, as with the Hillsborough and Windrush cases.
It calls on the government to make the positive case for the UK’s human rights protections and claims that the way the Convention has been scapegoated in recent years has had devastating real world consequences.
Meanwhile a survey for Amnesty by the widely respected agency Savanta concluded that more than 8 in 10 UK adults say that human rights protections are as important – or more important – today than when the ECHR was created after the Second World War. When asked which rights matter most to them, UK adults chose: the right to a fair trial (42%); the right to life (41%); the right to privacy, family life and respect for your home (40%).
Support for staying in the ECHR is almost twice as high as support for leaving. 48% want the UK to remain part of the ECHR. Only 26% want to leave.
People believe rights should be universal, permanent, and protected from political interference: 87% agree that rights and laws must apply equally to everyone, 85% agree we need a legal safety net to hold the Government accountable in cases like the infected blood scandal and Grenfell and 78% agree rights should be permanent, not something the Government of the day can reduce.
Respondents were shown a list of major UK scandals or institutional failings and asked which made them feel the importance of strong legal protections and accountability. The top five were:
Grenfell Tower – 46%; Hillsborough disaster and cover up – 42%; Infected blood scandal & the COVID inquiry – 37%; The murder of Sarah Everard – 36%; Windrush scandal – 29%.
ECHR and Immigration
In response to critics attributing the real problems of the UK’s immigration system to the ECHR, the Good Law Project set out some basic facts about the Convention, namely that it does not provide a right for people to enter or remain in a country of which they are not a national; that the Court rarely rules against the UK on immigration issues at all – since 1980 only on 13 of the 29 cases concerning either deportation or extradition. And while the Human Rights Act of 1998 incorporating ECHR rights into UK law makes it unnecessary to go to Strasbourg, successful claims to stay in the UK are rare. Last year out of a total inward immigration of 948,000 only 3,790 cases related to the Human Rights Act were won at immigration tribunals.
Protect the Protest: Palestine Action and Judicial Review
Amnesty and Liberty will be making the case to lift the ban on the proscribed activist group Palestine Action in the Judicial Review scheduled for 25 – 27 November.
Defend Our Juries are urging the police not to bow to pressure from the Government but to allow the
peaceful protests organised throughout November at the continuing crisis in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel. They say that police are struggling to enforce the law in the face of peaceful protesters, many of them elderly. Some police forces are refusing outright to make arrests. International and national human rights groups, politicians and United Nations representatives have condemned both the ban and the subsequent attacks on civil liberties. Unions are declaring that they will not recognise the ban, with over 2,100 now arrested under ‘terror charges’ related to this peaceful sign-holding campaign.
Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty’s Director, criticised the Home Secretary for statements “that create a chilling effect by dissuading people from exercising their fundamental right to peaceful protest. At any time, any interference with freedom of expression must be strictly necessary, proportionate and in full accordance with the law.”
In a further incident of Transnational repression Sheffield Hallam University terminated a staff member’s project about Uyghur forced labour after Chinese security officers interrogated a staff member in Beijing and a Chinese company named in the report filed a defamation lawsuit in the UK. The university retracted the ban but only after Professor Laura Murphy, specialising in human rights and modern slavery, began legal action against it for violating her academic freedom.
#HumanRights_ #ECHR #immigrants #immigration #law #Salisbury
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Report warns Welsh Government failing to deliver on human rights promises
The findings come from the Cross‑Party Group on Human Rights, chaired by South Wales West MS Sioned Williams, which has published its inquiry into the state of human rights in Wales. The report concludes that despite a decade of recommendations from the UN, Senedd committees and civil society organisations, key international treaties have not been incorporated into Welsh law.
The group is calling for a new Human Rights Wales Act to be introduced “at the earliest opportunity.”
Sioned Williams said the report revealed “a Wales where human rights are too often promises rather than protections — aspirations rather than guarantees.” She added that poverty, barriers to healthcare, housing and education, and ongoing discrimination against disabled people, women, racialised communities and children showed why stronger legal protections were needed.
The report was produced by Professor Simon Hoffman of Swansea University and Glenn Page of Amnesty Cymru. Glenn Page, Director of Amnesty International Cymru, said: “It is not enough to say we support human rights; the Welsh Government must protect human rights in law to ensure that now, and in the future, people’s everyday rights are protected and upheld.”
The report will be launched at the Senedd today (Wednesday 12 November), with a debate scheduled later in the evening on the importance of strengthening human rights for the people of Wales.
#amnesty #amnestyInternationalCymru #crossE28091partyGroupOnHumanRights #glennPage #humanRights #humanRightsLaw #humanRightsWalesAct #professorSimonHoffman #senedd #sionedWilliamsMs #swanseaUniversity #welshGovernment
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Nan mais WTF ?$%!! 🤬 « Armes de torture ou armes de maintien de l'ordre ? » (via #AmnestyFrance) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw3UmynOhq8
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David-gegen-Goliath-Sammelklage: Anwohner*innen von Kabwe, #Sambia verklagen einen multinationalen Konzern. Kabwe ist einer der am höchsten mit Blei belasteten Orte der Welt. Jahrzehntelang wurde dort Bergbau betrieben, die Umweltschäden möchte niemand sanieren...
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/11/amnesty-international-and-salc-intervene-on-landmark-multinational-mining-case-at-south-africas-supreme-court-of-appeal/ -
Neuer Bericht von #AmnestyInternational aus #Pakistan: Kinder und ältere Menschen haben dort ein steigendes Risiko, an den Folgen der #Klimakrise zu sterben. #Klimawandel #lossAndDamage
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/05/pakistan-climate-disasters-increasing-risks-of-death-and-disease-amongst-children-and-older-people-new-report/ -
Amnesty International chief Agnes Callamard calls on New Zealand to lift its game https://www.byteseu.com/1459504/ #agnes #also #Amnesty #before #broadsides #callamard #calls #chief #donald #fiery #fired #from #game #General #Hearing #here #international #Internationals #its #lift #NewZealand #next #on #president #secretary #some #soon #thank #those #time #to #trump #visit #week #whos #wont #words #you #zealand
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#Bangladesch ist von der #Klimakrise besonders bedroht: Dürren, Zyklone, Überflutungen, extreme Hitze. Arme Menschen, die in der Abwasser- und Abfallentsorgung arbeiten sind durch diese Phänomene direkt betroffen und zusätzlich auch durch gesellschaftliche Diskriminierung. Besonders Frauen leiden darunter.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/10/bangladesh-invisible-sanitation-workers/?utm_source=BLUESKY-IS&utm_medium=social&utm_content=18475789150&utm_campaign=Amnesty&utm_term=-No -
Illegal police surveillance of journalists
Tribunal finds that police illegally spied on journalists
December 2024
Viewers of news programmes last evening (17 December) will have noticed journalists and David Davies MP standing outside the Royal Courts of Justice holding Amnesty signs saying ‘Journalism is not a Crime’. This was as a result of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruling that both the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Metropolitan Police had acted unlawfully by spying on journalists during the Troubles*.
Journalism is an important part of our society and is sometimes the only means we have of getting some glimpse of the truth. Police actions in spying on journalists is to be deprecated. Two journalists, Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey produced a film called No Stone Unturned which documented the alleged collusion between the Police and the suspected murderers in the massacre which took place in Loughinisland in 1994. Six Catholic men were shot dead in the UVF attack, which was later found to involve collusion. In making enquiries to the PSNI this set off the surveillance operation in a bid to find the sources the journalists had relied on. It seemed relatively easy for the police at the time to acquire these orders.
‘Landmark case for press freedom‘ – Amnesty
Responding to a judgment from the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) which today ruled that the police acted unlawfully and breached the human rights of Northern Ireland journalists, Amnesty declared it a ‘landmark case for press freedom’.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which is the only British court with statutory powers to investigate secret police surveillance, ruled that the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Metropolitan Police Service unlawfully spied on the journalists in a bid to uncover their sources.
At the conclusion of a five-year investigation, the Tribunal found that the PSNI had repeatedly acted unlawfully, in breach of the European Convention of Human Rights and the Human Rights Act 1998.The unlawful behaviour reached all the way to the top of the PSNI with then Chief Constable Sir George Hamilton being found by the Tribunal to have acted unlawfully by failing to “consider whether there was an overriding public interest justifying an interference with the integrity of a journalistic source”, when he authorised a spying operation against an official at the Office of the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland.
There are increasing concerns about police and security service surveillance, which is becoming easier with new technology. Software can be placed on phones to intercept messages, whether the phone is switched on or not.
Sources: Amnesty International; Irish Times; Irish News; The Guardian
*The ‘Troubles’ were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it began in the late 1960s and is usually deemed to have ended with the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. Although the Troubles mostly took place in Northern Ireland, at times violence spilled over into parts of the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. (Wikipedia)
Recent posts:
- Death penalty rage in US
- Illegal police surveillance of journalists
- 54th Vigil
- Group minutes
- Shameful media coverage
#HumanRights_ #investigatoryPowersTribunal #journalism #MPs #NorthernIreland #police #PSNI #surveillance #Troubles
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"Amnesty International nannte das Vorgehen der Behörde unlängst einen "bitteren Meilenstein in der Kriminalisierung von Klimaprotest in Österreich". Klaus Schönberger, Professor für Kulturanthropologie an der Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, zeigt sich ebenfalls entsetzt und bezeichnet die Androhung der Ausweisung als "das Allerletzte". Der österreichische Staat bewege sich mit der Androhung einer solchen Repression am unteren Ende der Skala für demokratische Kultur in Europa. Der Wissenschaftler sieht das Innenministerium bereits auf dem Weg der Orbanisierung: „Ein solches Vorgehen ist aussichtslos und völlig absurd“."
https://mailchi.mp/letztegeneration/ueberwaeltigende-solidaritaet-3-tag-proteste-in-graz
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Palestinian state recognised
UK recognises the state of Palestine
September 2025
Today, 21 September, the UK government announces that it is to recognise the state of Palestine. It has joined the majority of countries around the world and joins Canada and Australia who did the same today. The decision has come after months of hesitation and was delayed until after the visit to the UK by President Trump who does not agree with the decision. To an extent, the government’s hand was forced. The disproportionate response to the horrific attack by Hamas on October 7th with the destruction of huge parts of Gaza, a death toll now over 65,000 many or whom are women and children and the deliberate introduction of siege conditions leading to more deaths by starvation, has left the government little option but to take action. Public opinion has also been a factor and the images of emaciated children has horrified many.
Britain’s decision is more than symbolic since the 1917 Balfour Declaration was instrumental in the creation of the state of Israel. The declaration was vague however since although it recognised that Arabs and Palestinians already lived there and said ‘nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine‘ it made no provision for protecting their claims or rights.
Some argue this is symbolic since with American support and ever increasing violence by settlers in the West Bank, the prospects of an actual state on the ground are receding. Some suggest that this means the conditions for statehood as set out in the 1933 Montevideo convention are not achievable. The Israeli government has rejected the decision saying ‘it categorically rejects the one-sided declaration of a Palestinian state by the UK and some other countries.’ It claims the decision does not promote peace. A spokesman for the British Board of Deputies interviewed on the BBC was critical of the decision and said it would cause deep dismay across the Jewish community in the UK. It says it is a reward for Hamas violence.
Implications
What are the implications? It will take some while for the implications to percolate through the claims and counter claims of the various political interests. It will enable the Palestinians to open an Embassy in the UK which will improve their status. It will enjoy diplomatic rights which will be significant. Up until recently, the Israelis have enjoyed almost uncritical support from governments but its continued violence in the West Bank and Gaza is seeing that support melt away.
It is unlikely to bring a peace deal any closer. Wars end because a kind of exhaustion sets in and the population goes weary of war-time restrictions and the loss of soldiers. This shows no sign of applying in Israel. Seemingly limitless weapons supplies from America and a huge military advantage in weapons and materiel mean any exhaustion is a long way off. IDF deaths are modest 464 [Jewish News Syndicate, 18 September]. The far right members of the Knesset such as Bezalel Smotrich see Gaza as a ‘property bonanza’ and claim the ‘demolition phase is over’.
Recognition will make it harder for the UK government to continue its support of Israel – open and covert – with RAF overflights for example, and ignore the plight of the Palestinians. It may even see some more robust reporting from the BBC whose lamentable performance has slowly begun to change.
Amnesty has said it is a ‘hollow gesture’ and without meaningful action to end the genocide, end violence in the West Bank and ending the Apartheid system against the Palestinian people. Real action needs to be taken to end arms sales and divest from companies which continue to sell arms to Israel. A report by CAAT sets out the details of arms export to Israel.
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Appeal case – arms to Israel
Update on the case from Amnesty and Human Rights Watch
May 2025
Amnesty has issued an update on this case which is currently before the Appeal Court. There is a video clip attached.
See also a post from Human Rights Watch;
“How could they have allowed that to happen? This is the question everyone asks, years later, when looking back at mass atrocity crimes in the past. Everything’s so clear when it’s described in history books – war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide…
It’s not that these things aren’t clear at the time exactly. In fact, in recent decades, they have often been well-documented in excruciating detail more or less as they happen. Yet, somehow, when these things are unfolding in real time, some folks seem unable – maybe, more often, unwilling – to accept the evidence of their eyes and ears. Various considerations distract international leaders in particular: prejudices, alliances, politics…
There can never be any justification for the worst kinds of crimes known to humanity, but that doesn’t keep leaders from trying to offer some. And with that, you move toward the future answer to the future question: The world at the time had leaders who refused to take a stand and defend humanity when it mattered most.
Today, everyone can see Israel has been committing atrocities in Gaza during hostilities since October 7, 2023. We’ve seen systematic destruction of homes, apartment buildings, orchards and fields, schools, hospitals, and water and sanitation facilities. Israel has also openly used starvation as a weapon of war.
These actions amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity including extermination, and acts of genocide. Now, the Israeli government’s latest plan has made its intentions even clearer. They want to demolish what remains of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and concentrate the Palestinian population (about 2 million people) into one tiny area.
Israeli government ministers couldn’t make things any more obvious. They say Israel is “finally going to conquer the Gaza Strip.” They threaten that Gaza will be “completely destroyed” and say its Palestinian population will “leave in great numbers to third countries.”
Some Israeli officials say the Palestinian exodus will be “voluntary.” However, it’s hard to call it voluntary, when Israel has deliberately destroyed the area’s ability to sustain human life.
If implemented, the plan would amount to an abhorrent escalation of extermination. In fact, Israel’s plan is so obviously extreme and has been made so extremely obvious, it should trigger international action under the Genocide Convention’s “duty to prevent.”
The 1948 Genocide Convention is an international agreement that embodies the spirit of “never again.” It says a “duty to prevent” genocide arises as soon as a state learns, or should normally have learned, of a serious risk that genocide may be committed. One hundred and fifty-three countries have signed up to the Convention. These include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.
Yet, these are some of the very countries that have been supporting the government of Israel most throughout its carnage in Gaza, not least by continuing to provide Israel with weapons even after the atrocities were undeniable.
Israel’s latest plan should finally, at long last, shake London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, and Washington to their core. It should make them see beyond everyday politics, to their responsibility to humanity and history – and to their legal obligation to act.
Without that, the question one day may indeed be, “How could they have allowed that to happen?” And everyone will know the answer.” Human Rights Watch
May 15th
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Arms trade news
Grim reading in Campaign Against the Arms Trade’s latest newsletter
May 2025
The CAAT Newsletter (Spring 2025, Issue 272) has details of what’s happening in the world of arms sales a world in which the UK is a big player. Our previous post discussed the continuing sale of arms to Israel which is subject to an Appeal Court hearing starting on 13th. Also we mentioned the role of the RAF in carrying out hundreds of flights over Gaza and quite what is being done with the information gleaned is not revealed.
Arms sales are important for several reasons. Weapons have an enormous capacity to do great harm in the wrong hands. Governments need to exert great control over licensing to ensure that arms do not fall into such hands. British governments are frequently to be heard claiming it exercises ‘robust’ controls. It is doubtful that this is the case and CAAT have often noted the considerable use of open licences which means little effective control exists.
The current Labour government has a policy of growth which seems to dominate thinking. As the court case will reveal, and papers have already revealed, this seems to trump considerations of human rights. CAAT News has the following examples:
- The Defence Secretary has held meetings with counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Turkey to discuss opportunities for expanding military cooperation which is likely to involve arms sales. Both countries have woeful human rights records. Saudi has a full array of violations including public executions, use of torture, restrictions on women’s rights and repression of any opposition or free speech. Turkey has carried out baseless prosecutions against journalists, human rights defenders and opposition leaders, thousands of whom are in gaol.
- Eurofighter sales – which the UK co-produces – are planned for Qatar and Turkey. The latter is involved in bombing Kurdish groups in its own country and Iraq. Qatar is another repressive Gulf state and is highly corrupt.
- We have noted before the question of the Revolving Door where politicians, ministers, senior civil servants and military personnel leave their posts and head off for lucrative appointments/directorships/consultancies with arms firms. It is an open invitation for corruption and the ACOBA system seems powerless to stop it. The Aerospace, Defence and Security Group, (ADS) the trade body for the defence industry representing all of the major arms makers, holds an annual dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in which, in the words of CAAT ‘The dinner’s purpose is to introduce them to one another and allow them to schmooze and entertain their powerful friends from Parliament and the Civil Service‘ … These kinds of dinners are where relationships are formed and built and where the next round of arms deals are made, over fine food and wines.’
- And it doesn’t end there. The Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) resumes in September at the ExCel Centre in London. This may be the largest such exhibition in the world. It is popular because the UK government invites representatives from a wide range of countries including those with appalling human rights records, some even on its own watch list. The thousands of attendees will be met by ‘a cast of compliant senior civil servants and politicians on hand to make sure things run smoothly’ (CAAT).
- … or even there because the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre is to host Security and Policing run by the Home Office. Again, a range of countries with dreadful human rights are cordially invited to view the latest in surveillance, tear gas and ammunition. Journalists are banned. Britain seems happy to be host to regimes who use this equipment to repress and intimidate oppositions, journalists or human rights people.
Growth or rights?
The government seems keen to actively support these activities and to do all it can to promote arms and surveillance equipment to repressive regimes. It does this while piously claiming that:
This Government is fully committed to the protection of human rights both at home and abroad. We are committed to the international human rights framework and the important role that multilateral organisations like the Council of Europe play in upholding it. (Ministry of Justice, November 2024, ref: CP 1192)
It is hard to square the multi-level activities to promote arms sales and in the process currying favour with some of the world’s worst regimes, with their stated desire to be upholders of human rights and the wellbeing of those at the end of it all. While politicians, civil servants, military brass and ministers ‘schmooze’ with the arms manufacturers in expensive London hotels, it may be hard for them to empathise with those who have been bombed, starved, driven from their homes or incarcerated, tortured or executed for no reason. All facilitated by the weapons and equipment they so admire whilst quaffing the Bollinger. Is it growth above all else?
Sources include: CAAT, The Canary, Amnesty
#armsFair #armsSales #CAAT #DSEI #Farnborough #government #PoliceAndSecurity #revolvingDoor
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High Court to decide on arms to Israel
The appeal is to be heard on May 13
May 2025
The appeal against the government’s decision to continue to supplying Israel with arms – and in particular, components for the F-35 – will be heard in the High Court starting on May 13th. The government is in something of a bind. The actions by Israel in Gaza are widely deplored and many contend amount to a war crime and genocide. But to offend the Americans by curtailing supplies of components for the F-35 used in Gaza is almost unthinkable for the government desperate as it is to curry favour with the Americans.
The action is being brought by Al Haq a human rights organisation based in Ramallah, and Global Legal Action Network consisting of lawyers and investigators which identifies and pursues legal actions against those involved in human rights violations. They have been joined by Amnesty, Oxfam GB and Human Rights Watch.
The latest edition of Campaign Against the Arms Trade (Issue 272, Spring 2025) discusses the issue of continuing military aid to Israel. It notes that ‘even our government has been forced to admit that is assesses Israel is not committed to complying with International Humanitarian Law‘. The case will be the biggest legal test of UK exports to Israel to date. They highlight an article in the Guardian by a former Foreign Office diplomat who described continued attempts by ministers to stonewall or play down evidence of what is happening in Gaza.
Over 52,000 have now been killed in the conflict. There are now reports of 57 deaths due to malnutrition mainly of children, the sick or the elderly. No aid is allowed in including food and necessary medical supplies. This has been the case now for over 60 days. Aid agencies stocks are depleted. A gloomy picture is painted on the situation in Haaretz.
We will follow the court case with great interest.
In addition to the supply of arms, there is the question of involvement of the RAF which has carried out over 250 overflights of Gaza (Declassified says 500). The chief of defence staff, Sir Tony Radakin was asked by a reporter from Declassified whether the RAF’s activities meant they were participating in Israel’s operations in Gaza? Answer came there none. They are not alone and the article reports that backbench MPs have sought answers without success. It is disturbing that the RAF are seemingly deeply involved in what is happening.
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UE. La nouvelle proposition sur les « pays tiers sûrs » est une tentative cynique pour affaiblir les droits et se décharger des responsabilités en matière d’asile.
https://www.amnesty.fr/presse/ue-la-nouvelle-proposition-sur-les-pays-tiers-srs-
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Menschenrechtler in Haft: Setzt Euch für Carlos #Correa, Javier #Tarazona, Rocío San #Miguel, Carlos Julio #Rojas und Kennedy #Tejeda in #Venezuela ein! Sie wurden allein wegen ihrer Menschenrechtsarbeit inhaftiert. https://www.amnesty.de/mitmachen/urgent-action/venezuela-menschenrechtlerinnen-haft-2025-01-09?j=386745&sfmc_sub=8711246&l=45_HTML&u=7114680&mid=536000658&jb=2001
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Nach Kritik „verschwunden“: Setzt Euch für die #Menschenrechtsverteidigerin Rocío San #Miguel aus #Venezuela ein! Sei wurde willkürlich festgenommen, als sie das Land verlassen wollte, seither fehlt jede Spur von ihr. https://www.amnesty.de/mitmachen/urgent-action/venezuela-menschenrechtlerin-am-flughafen-festgenommen-2024-02-14?j=239780&sfmc_sub=8711246&l=45_HTML&u=3999680&mid=536000658&jb=1001
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#Amnesty International's take on how #Moldova violated human rights while trying to counter Russian propaganda and influence by for example by badding a pro-Russian party #Shor.
"In the attempt to counter Russian influence, the Republic of Moldova violated the law to association and freedom of expression, noted Amnesty International (AI) in the organization's annual report on the situation of human rights in the world, published on Wednesday."
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"#Amnesty n Anu Tuukkasen mukaan #poliisi on viime vuosina reagoinut eri mielenosoituksissa – itsenäisyyspäivinä ja muina aikoina – eri tavalla ja tämä voi hämmentää mielenosoittajia.
Myös poliisin ylilyöntejä on Tuukkasen mukaan nähty.
Hän toivoo poliisille mahdollisimman yhteneväistä linjaa ja yksityiskohtaisia toimintaohjeita myös voimankäytön osalta."
#mielenosoitus #miekkari #mielenosoittaminen #aktivismi #kansalaisaktivismi #voimankäyttö #yhteiskunta
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#AmnestyInternational in tutkimuksessa selvisi, että Euroopassa on laajalti käytössä #kokoontumisvapaus tukahduttavia lakeja.
Mielenosoitusoikeuksia rajoitetaan Euroopassa järjestelmällisesti.
Suomessa mielenosoittajiin kohdistuu #poliisi n suhteetonta voimankäyttöä ja rajoittavia käytäntöjä etenkin ilmastomielenosoitusten ja kansalaistottelemattomuuden kohdalla.
#Amnesty #kansalaisoikeudet #mielenosoitus #miekkari #miekkarit #Elokapina #kansalaisaktivismi #aktivismi
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Jos katsotte salaa #Jalkapallo #MMFutis, niin vinkiksi/harkittavaksi kaverin systeemi, että jokaisesta maalista kymppi (tms.) #Amnesty lle.
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#AmnestyInternational Condemns Trump Threat of 'Very Heavy Force' Against #MilitaryParade #Protesters
The #FarRight Republican president, warned the #HumanRights group, "is continuing to send a clear and chilling message: #dissent will be punished."
Jon Queally
Jun 12, 2025"The human rights advocacy group Amnesty International USA has issued a strong rebuke and warning in response to President Donald Trump's public threat to aim 'very heavy force' at law-abiding protesters voicing their constitutionally-protected #FreeSpeech during organized '#NoKings' protests scheduled for Saturday nationwide.
"In Tuesday remarks to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said he didn't know of any planned protests timed to coincide with his $134-million parade, taking place on his birthday, but said if there are, 'these are people that hate our country.'
" 'For those people who want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force,' Trump said, making no distinction between peaceful demonstrators and those who might be more confrontational or even violent.
" 'Now is a good moment to remind President Trump that protesting is a human right and that his administration is obligated to respect, protect, and fulfill the human rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly–not suppress them,' said Paul O'Brien, executive director of Amnesty International USA, in a statement on Wednesday.
"Trump's threat arrived after he overrode California Gov. Gavin Newsom to call up 4,000 National Guard troops in that state last weekend—and subsequently U.S. Marine forces—to confront large protests in Los Angeles that erupted in response to raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) agents and the violent arrest of union leader #DavidHuerta, president of #SEIUCalifornia.
" 'The militarized response to protests, including the deployment of the #NationalGuard and the #Marines in #LosAngeles, further escalates tensions and is a chilling preview of even more human rights violations that could be coming,' warned O'Brien. 'The U.S. military is not trained or equipped to police civilians. It increases the risk of excessive force, arbitrary arrests, and other violations of free expression and peaceful assembly. The Trump administration has already shown us that it will use any tool of the state, including ICE, police, and military forces to target #immigrants, #AsylumSeekers, #protesters, and anyone who dares to defend their rights.'
"Over 1,800 coordinated '#NoKings' protests are being organized for [#June14] to counter Trump's growing #authoritarianism and to coincide with the military parade Trump is throwing for himself in #WashingtonDC, at an estimated cost of $134 million.
"A new poll released Thursday shows a majority of Americans believe the parade is a waste of taxpayer money.
"Approximately 6 in 10 Americans also say Trump's parade is 'not a good use' of taxpayer funds, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That number of disapproving voters includes a number of people surveyed who have no particular criticism of the parade itself.
"Beyond the wasted cost, critics of the president warn that the more dangerous aspect of the parade is how the spectacle dovetails with Trump's broader authoritarianism, including his militarized response to dissent and weaponizing state power against his perceived political enemies.
" 'Make no mistake,' said Amnesty's O'Brien. 'President Trump’s response to protests has nothing to do with public safety. This is his administration’s way of stoking fear and suppressing opposition. By sending police, ICE, or the military into neighborhoods to silence voices calling for justice and human rights, President Trump is continuing to send a clear and chilling message: dissent will be punished.'
"Amnesty called for an immediate halt to Trump's 'militarized response' to public protest."
Listen / read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-heavy-force-military-parade-protesters#Resistance #NoKingsEvents #TrumpIsAFascist #Resist #ImmigrantRights #CriminalizingDissent #PunishingDissent #AuthoritarianRule
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Mediapart
Droits humains : Amnesty alerte sur un monde au bord du précipice
https://mcinformactions.net/droits-humains-amnesty-alerte-sur-un-monde-au-bord-du-precipice
#AmnestyInternational #genocide #droitshumains
#deshumanisation #racisme #patriarcat #migrants #refugies -
Wenn das Singen uigurischer Volkslieder als Extremismus verfolgt wird: Setzt Euch für den uigurischen Musiker #Yashar ein, der in #China in der uigurischen Region #Xinjiang zu drei Jahren Haft verurteilt wurde. https://www.amnesty.de/mitmachen/urgent-action/china-inhaftierter-uigurischer-musiker-braucht-medizinische-versorgung-2024-11-21?j=362982&sfmc_sub=8711246&l=45_HTML&u=6777766&mid=536000658&jb=2001
