NewzIntel.com

Category: NGOs

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Meet three Afghans at risk of deportation from Pakistan

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The Pakistan government is pushing forward with its plans to arbitrarily and forcibly expel Afghan nationals, including refugees and asylum seekers, as part of the opaque ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan’ which adds to the plight of at-risk Afghans. Between September 2023 and February 2025, at least 844,499 Afghan nationals have been forced to return back to Afghanistan where they are at real risk of human rights violations by the Taliban amid worsening humanitarian crisis.

    These stories are part of a compendium titled “Treat us like human beings”: Afghans in Pakistan at risk of unlawful deportation’ published to mark Amnesty International’s new campaign #undothedeadline which aims to amplify the voices of Afghans at risk of unlawful deportation. The compendium spotlights ten stories of Afghan refugees and asylum seekers, artists, journalists and women who cannot go back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and not only risk their lives but also stand to lose decades worth of lives built in Pakistan. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Pakistan: Amnesty International launches #undothedeadline campaign against unlawful deportation of Afghan nationals

    Source: Amnesty International –

    With the Pakistani authorities beginning a new round of deportations for Afghan nationals, including refugees and asylum seekers, living in the country, Amnesty International is launching its new campaign #undothedeadline by releasing a compendium of stories titled ‘ “Treat us like human beings”: Afghans in Pakistan at risk of unlawful deportation.’

    Through the #undothedeadline campaign, Amnesty International aims to amplify the voices of Afghans at risk of unlawful deportation, advocate for the respect of their human rights and raise awareness about the urgent need to stop their forced deportations from Pakistan. The compendium spotlights ten stories of Afghan migrants, refugees and asylum seekers who are artists, journalists and women who cannot afford to go back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and not only risk their lives but also stand to lose decades worth of lives built in Pakistan.

    “Afghan nationals including refugees and asylum seekers in Pakistan have been living in a state of fear since the Pakistani authorities announced their phased deportation plans in October 2023. Many Afghans have been in Pakistan for more than four decades. Their lives stand to be completely upended as a result of the Pakistan government’s insistence on violating their obligations under international human rights law, specifically the principle of non-refoulement,” says Babu Ram Pant, Deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International.

    Many Afghans have been in Pakistan for more than four decades. Their lives stand to be completely upended as a result of the Pakistan government’s insistence on violating their obligations under international human rights law…

    Babu Ram Pant, Deputy regional director for South Asia at Amnesty International

    “Afghans seeking refuge and asylum in Pakistan after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 are particularly at risk. These include Afghan women and girls, journalists, human rights defenders, women protestors, artists, and former Afghan government and security officials who fled Taliban’s persecution. Pakistan must reverse its existing policy of forced return to ensure the safety of these individuals.”

    Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Pakistan government to reverse its latest decision to expel Afghan nationals from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and formally suspend the ‘Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan.’

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF mourns the killing of eleventh colleague in Gaza Palestine

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is appalled and saddened by the killing of our colleague Hussam Al Loulou by an airstrike on the morning of 1 April in southwest of Deir Al Balah, central Gaza, Palestine. His wife and 28-year-old daughter were also killed in this horrendous attack.

    Our colleague Hussam was killed along with hundreds of others across the Gaza Strip since the resumption of attacks by Israeli forces on 18 March. This is the second killing of an MSF colleague in just two weeks.

    Hussam joined MSF in December 2024 as a watchman at the MSF urgent care unit in Khan Younis. He was 58 years old. Hussam was known for his selflessness, humility, and genuine care for those around him. He is survived by two sons.

    Hussam Al Loulou, Gaza, Palestine.

    In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with his family, and all our colleagues in Gaza with whom we mourn his death and stand during these extremely difficult moments.

    Hussam is the eleventh MSF colleague to be killed since the war started in Gaza. We strongly condemn his killing and call yet again for the immediate restoration of the ceasefire and protection of civilians. This bloodshed needs to end. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: The Republic of Congo’s reliance on fossil fuels: a threat to climate, biodiversity and human rights.

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    Kinshasa, April 3, 2025 – At a time when the planet is facing an unprecedented climate emergency, the Republic of Congo has announced a drastic increase in its oil production. At the Energy and Investment Forum (CEIF), held in Kintélé on March 25 and 26, the government unveiled its ambition to increase national production to 500,000 barrels per day by the end of 2025, almost double the current level. A decision that Greenpeace Africa denounces as a direct threat to the environment, climate commitments and the rights of Indigenous People and local communities.

    A risky gamble in the midst of the climate crisis

    At a time when experts are warning of the need to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, Congo is opting for the opposite strategy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), no new oil projects should see the light of day if the goal of zero net emissions by 2050 is to be achieved. Yet Congo, which currently produces 270,000 barrels/day, is persisting with plans to almost double production in less than a year, a decision that directly contradicts its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, which call for a 48% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, subject to international support.

    An ecological disaster in the making

    The environmental cost of this expansion would be colossal. The Congo Basin is the world’s second largest tropical rainforest. Stretching over 3.7 million square kilometers and encompassing six countries, this region plays a crucial role in regulating the world’s climate, storing around 30 billion tons of carbon – the equivalent of three years’ global emissions. Oil development threatens this carbon sink and, in particular, the Conkouati-Douli National Park, a UNESCO biosphere reserve that protects over 5,000 square kilometers of terrestrial and marine biodiversity. The park is home to endangered species such as forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, manatees and three species of marine turtle on the IUCN red list. 

    The extension of oil blocks on the outskirts of Conkouati-Douli National Park presents a major threat to biodiversity. In addition to fragmenting ecosystems, polluting water resources and accelerating deforestation, this expansion calls into question the Republic of Congo’s international commitments. As a signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Global Framework for Biodiversity, the country has pledged to protect at least 30% of its land and marine areas by 2030 (the “30×30” target). However, by promoting the exploitation of fossil fuels in these sensitive areas, the government is going back on its commitments and setting a worrying precedent for other resource-rich countries.

    An underestimated human impact

    Beyond the environmental devastation, oil expansion directly threatens the livelihoods of local populations. More than 30,000 people living in and around Conkouati-Douli National Park risk losing access to drinking water, sustainable fishing grounds and resources essential to their survival. Past experience shows that these projects are not without human consequences. In 2024, a Greenpeace Africa mission to Lokolama, DRC, highlighted the devastating effects of oil exploitation: arbitrary detentions, extortion, forced displacement and brutal repression of indigenous voices. Without urgent strengthening of legal safeguards and genuine protection of community rights, these abuses are likely to recur on a massive scale.

    The illusion of oil as an engine for development

    Congo’s oil expansion is often justified by its low electrification rate, which stands at just 12% in rural areas and 49% in urban areas. But the facts contradict this pseudo-logic: in many countries, the oil industry has never been able to bring affordable energy to the most vulnerable populations.  Conversely, renewable energy – led by solar and wind power – offers a faster, more sustainable and, above all, more accessible alternative for isolated communities. According to several studies, every dollar invested in green energy generates three times as many jobs as in fossil fuels. These are all arguments that should weigh heavily in the balance of any country concerned about its long-term economic development.

    What about the Congo’s international commitments?

    With this expansion, the Congo is in contradiction with several major international agreements:

    • The Paris Agreement (2015), which aims to limit global warming to below 1.5°C
    • The Convention on Biological Diversity, which requires countries to protect critical habitats
    • The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which affirms the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) before any industrial development on ancestral lands 
    • The Global Biodiversity Framework (2022), which calls for the protection of 30% of land and oceans by 2030.

    Greenpeace Africa calls for a change of course 

    In view of this situation, Greenpeace Africa strongly urges :

    • The Congolese government to immediately halt oil exploration and production in protected areas
    • Investors and financial institutions to stop financing oil projects in biodiversity hotspots
    • The African Union to adopt a firm position in favor of a fair energy transition
    • International donors to prioritize support for renewable energy and conservation projects

    Dismayed by this latest blow to the fight for climate justice in the Congo Basin, Greenpeace Africa’s Dr. Lamfu Fabrice commented: 

     “Congo’s attempt to become a fossil fuel hub is irresponsible and short-sighted. It betrays the country’s climate goals, endangers biodiversity and sacrifices the rights and future of its people for immediate gains.”

    “As the international community prepares for the upcoming climate talks – COP30, any decisions taken today will weigh heavily on the future of the continent and the world. Now is not the time for promises, but for concrete action”, concluded DR Lamfu.

    END

    For Media Inquiries, Contact:

    Raphael Mavambu, Communication and Media, Greenpeace Africa, [email protected]

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Iran: Authorities must halt gruesome plan to amputate fingers of tortured prisoners within days 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The Iranian authorities are preparing to inflict the cruel and irreversible punishment of finger amputation against three prisoners as early as 11 April, following their torture-tainted convictions in unfair trials, Amnesty International warned today. The organization is calling on the international community to urgently press the Iranian authorities to end this spectacle of brutality. All Iranian officials responsible for ordering and/or carrying out these acts of torture must be criminally investigated and prosecuted. 

    Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian and Mehdi Shahivand, held in Urumieh Central prison, West Azerbaijan province, were informed by prosecution authorities on 13 March 2025 that their amputation sentences would be carried out as early as 11 April 2025. The authorities amputated the fingers of two brothers in the same prison in October 2024 using a guillotine device, raising alarm that they are prepared to carry out further amputation sentences. 

    Amputation constitutes torture, which is a crime under international law and is a flagrant and abhorrent assault on human dignity.

    Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International

    “Amputation constitutes torture, which is a crime under international law and is a flagrant and abhorrent assault on human dignity. We call on the Iranian authorities to immediately halt all plans to carry out these cruel and inhuman sentences and abolish all forms of corporal punishment in law and practice,” said Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. 

    “For years, these men have lived in a waking nightmare, knowing the authorities could at any moment mutilate their bodies, committing torture with a judicial seal. The planned amputations, based on ‘confessions’ obtained under torture and following grossly unfair trials, are a chilling reminder of the Iranian authorities’ readiness to inflict irreversible suffering and that Iran’s judicial system is a vital cog in the machinery of torture. 

    “The prosecution and judicial authorities responsible for ordering and executing such crimes should know they are liable to face criminal prosecution under international law, and states must pursue legal pathways to hold them accountable through universal jurisdiction.” 

    In a letter from November 2024, Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharfian and Mehdi Shahivand described their mental anguish and the “constant nightmare” of awaiting the implementation of their sentence, stating: “We have been unable to sleep or eat, anxiously awaiting the enforcement of our own sentences…This nightmare must end so that we can find a way back to life.” 

    Following the latest threats in March 2025, Hadi Rostami wrote another letter from inside prison, pleading for help from the international community: “I call upon human rights organizations, the United Nations, and the international community to take urgent action to prevent the implementation of this inhumane sentence.” 

    Tortured “confessions” and grossly unfair trial 

    Hadi Rostami (38), Mehdi Sharifian (42), and Mehdi Shahivand (29) have endured years of mental torture, with repeated threats of amputations from the authorities. 

    All three were arrested in August 2017 and convicted of robbery in 2019 after a grossly unfair trial. According to their court verdict, they are sentenced to “have four fingers on their right hands completely cut off so only the palm of their hands and thumbs are left”. 

    The men were denied access to lawyers during the investigation phase of their cases and courts relied on forced “confessions” which they have said were obtained under torture to convict them, despite the men retracting them during trial. 

    According to informed sources, the men were tortured through being beaten, kicked, flogged with a cable and hung from their wrists and feet during interrogations. Hadi Rostami’s hand was broken and interrogators removed Mehdi Shahivand’s trousers and threatened to rape him using a wooden object unless he incriminated himself and the others. 

    Iranian authorities, including judges at the Supreme Court, failed in their obligations to order investigations into the men’s allegations of torture. 

    The men have gone on multiple hunger strikes in prison since their conviction to protest inhumane prison conditions and threats to carry out their amputation sentences. Hadi Rostami has also attempted suicide several times. 

    In February 2021, the authorities further tortured Hadi Rostami by carrying out a flogging sentence of 60 lashes imposed for “disrupting prison order” in reprisal for his hunger strikes. 

    Pattern of torture through amputation sentences 

    On 29 October 2024, the authorities in Urumieh Central prison carried out the amputation sentences of two brothers – Mehrdad Teimouri and Shahab Teimouri – from Iran’s Kurdish ethnic minority. After amputating their fingers, they transferred the brothers to a hospital outside prison for medical care but returned them to prison within hours. They then held them for several days in solitary confinement while denying them access to ongoing medical care. 

    At least two other men – Kasra Karami and Morteza Esmaeilian – held in Urumieh Central prison are also under sentence of finger amputation.  

    Scores of prisoners across the country are currently feared to be under amputation sentences.  

    Iran is among the last countries in the world that retains corporal punishments.  

    The Iranian authorities have issued at least 384 amputation sentences and carried out at least 223 amputation sentences since 1979, according to Abdorrahman Boroumand Center, a human rights organization based outside Iran. The authorities do not publish official figures on amputation sentences issued or implemented, so the real numbers are likely much higher. 

    Victims of amputations in Iran are overwhelmingly from poor, vulnerable backgrounds. By deliberately maiming them, the Iranian authorities further strip them of means to work and survive, particularly in a society where people with physical disabilities suffer widespread discrimination. 

    Iranian law mandates a physician’s presence during corporal punishments, violating ethical guidelines and international standards which expressly prohibit health providers’ involvement in torture. Physicians present during the implementation of amputation sentences are complicit in the crime of torture. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Philippines: State-sponsored online harassment has “chilling effect” on young human rights defenders  

    Source: Amnesty International –

    *Names changed to protect identity   

    Amnesty International’s first ever youth-led report reveals that online harassment by the Philippine authorities, including the practice of “red-tagging” or labelling individuals as communists, creates a climate of fear that is deterring young human rights defenders from engaging in activism and expressing themselves freely. 

    In the report, “Left to their own devices: The chilling effects of online harassment among young human rights defenders (YHRDs) in the Philippines,” young activists aged 18 to 24 shared experiences of being red-tagged, doxed with personal information published online without their consent, and trolled. They describe how online harassment has led to self-censorship, infringed their rights to freedom of expression and association, and in some cases, forced them to abandon their work as activists or journalists. 

    “The chilling effect of online harassment severely impairs the rights of these young human rights defenders. It not only threatens the individual, but also undermines their capacity to do their work to defend human rights. 

    Mia Tonogbanua, Amnesty Philippines Vice-Chairperson and former Youth Board Representative. 

    The report highlights how young activists’ age, sexual orientation, student status and institutional affiliations magnify the risks and impact of online harassment that they experience. 

    This current research is part of RightUp, Amnesty International’s first youth-led research project in which young voices, often overlooked in traditional human rights work, take centre stage. Nine young researchers documented and investigated the experiences of YHRDs through desk research, an online questionnaire, and interviews with young people aged 18 to 24. Amnesty International provided resources, guidance, and technical support. 

    Death threats, self-censorship and fear 

    State-sponsored online harassment has had disturbing effects on young activists. They describe suffering psychological distress, being isolated from families and social circles and feeling that their contribution to human rights work was devalued.  

    Habagat*, a student activist, received death threats after being publicly red-tagged on the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s (NTF-ELCAC) Facebook page. 

    “I couldn’t sleep properly for three weeks after it happened,” he recalled. “I was constantly afraid for my safety.”  

    NTF-ELCAC is a task force established by Philippine government in 2018 as part of its response to the ongoing communist insurgency in the country. Since its creation, it has been criticized by activists and human rights groups, including Amnesty International, for engaging in red-tagging. 

    Environmental defender Marisol* said she had resorted to “playing it safe” and self-censorship to minimize backlash over controversial issues. However, this approach has left her conflicted: “It’s like you’re not taking a stand on what needs to be done.” 

    Sarita*, a young advocate for peace and security in southern Philippines, said online harassment “made me feel so weak, so inferior compared to these politicians with all the powers that they have.” 

    Online harassment affects various rights, including the right to freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, health, remedy, non-discrimination and the right to defend human rights. 

    Young activists also spoke of a pervasive fear of participating in public discussions. Some of the YHRDs attributed this to concerns about reprisals from the authorities in the form of online harassment. Many expressed doubts about the value of their voices and expertise as young people in the face of violence and hatred in online spaces. 

    A call for collective action and accountability 

    Despite these challenges, YHRDs have found ways to adapt their approach to ensure they can continue their human rights advocacy. These include establishing internal well-being committees, enforcing safety protocols, and accessing mental health services.  

    “Being a young human rights defender in the Philippines is not safe, comfortable, or ideal. Yet…young activists continue to fight, spurred onwards by strategies for care and commitment to justice.  

    Mia Tonogbanua Amnesty Philippines Vice-Chairperson and former Youth Board Representative

    The Philippine government has consistently failed to fulfill its obligations to protect the rights of human rights defenders in the country. Perpetrators of online harassment are not effectively held accountable, while YHRDs must cope with the consequences of this harassment without sufficient support or protection. 

    At the time of publication, the Philippine government had not responded to a request for comment on the findings of Amnesty’s report. 

    Amnesty International urges the Philippine government to end state-sponsored red-tagging, intimidation, harassment, threats or attacks against activists, including young human rights defenders. 

    This research builds on findings of previous Amnesty International investigations, including how the two successive governments of President Duterte and President Marcos Jr have weaponized digital tools, misinformation and vague anti-terror laws to create a climate of fear and intimidation among young human rights defenders in the Philippines. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Northern Ireland: Amnesty response to arrest in the investigation of journalist Martin O’Hagan’s murder

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Martin O’Hagan with the NUJ banner on May Day in Belfast 2001 © Kevin Cooper/Photoline NUJ

    Responding to news of an arrest in the police investigation into the 2001 murder of Northern Ireland journalist Martin O’Hagan, Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland Director, said:

    “This is potentially the most significant development since charges against four men were dropped in July 2010.

    “The public execution of Martin O’Hagan was designed to send a clear message to journalists in Northern Ireland that they are not safe. 

    “It is unacceptable that, in the twenty-four years since Martin O’Hagan was shot dead, no one has been held accountable.

    “This failure has created an environment of impunity for those who continue to threaten journalists in Northern Ireland today.”

    View latest press releases

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Hungary: Withdrawal of country from ICC ‘a betrayal of all victims of war crimes’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Withdrawal from the ICC is possible under Article 127 of the Rome Statute

    Such a withdrawal takes effect one year after notification is received by the UN treaty office

    However, withdrawal does not impact Hungary’s current legal obligations as a member state, to arrest all those subject to ICC arrest warrants

    ‘Hungary’s purported withdrawal from the ICC is a brazen and futile attempt to evade international justice and to stymy the ICC’s work’ – Agnès Callamard

    Reacting to news that Hungary, an International Criminal Court (ICC) member state, has welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu to the country without arrest and stated that it will withdraw from the ICC, Agnès Callamard the Secretary General of Amnesty International said:

    “Prime Minister Orbán is harbouring a wanted ICC fugitive. Benjamin Netanyahu is accused by the ICC of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians. By welcoming Netanyahu, Hungary is effectively giving a giving a seal of approval to Israel’s genocide, namely the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in whole or in part in Gaza.

    “Leaders and officials from ICC member states must not participate in undermining the ICC through meeting with Netanyahu or any other ICC fugitives who are wanted by the Court. Netanyahu’s shameful trip to Hungary must not become an impunity tour of other ICC member states.

    “Hungary’s purported withdrawal from the ICC is a brazen and futile attempt to evade international justice and to stymy the ICC’s work. This cynical announcement does not change the fact that Hungary still has a fundamental obligation to arrest and surrender Benjamin Netanyahu to the ICC. Any withdrawal would take effect in one year and must not distract from Hungary’s international legal obligations.

    “The EU institutions and member states must be unequivocal about what this visit is: a direct attack by Hungary to undermine the ICC and its work, weaken the European Union at a time when it needs to stand strong and united, and an insult to all victims who are looking for justice.

    “The European Union and all ICC member states must urgently call on Hungary to arrest and surrender Netanyahu and firmly commit to defending the Court from insidious threats to international justice which a visit of this kind represents. This moral bankruptcy must be stopped before it spirals into further damage for the international rules-based order.”

    A betrayal of victims of war crimes

    Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit comes 18 months into Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. Israel has killed over 50,140 Palestinians – including over 15,600 children – and nearly 114,000 people have been injured. Israel forcibly displaced 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza and the entire population has been grappling with a spike in disease and battling with starvation as a result of Israel’s unlawful siege, that for over a month has now seen a complete blocking of desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.  Just yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he would “seize” territory to “divide up” Gaza.

    Withdrawal from the ICC is possible under Article 127 of the Rome Statute. Such a withdrawal takes effect one year after notification is received by the UN treaty office in New York. Crucially, therefore, withdrawal does not impact Hungary’s current legal obligations as a member state, including to arrest all those subject to ICC arrest warrants and of full cooperation in relation to ongoing investigations.

    Its withdrawal is a betrayal of all victims of war crimes and undermines the protections afforded the Hungarian people, as it removes, in a year, their opportunity to seek justice at the ICC for crimes committed against them.

    State officials from ICC state parties should sever all non-essential contact with fugitives like Netanyahu who are wanted by the Court. All EU states have committed to avoid such non-essential contacts as official EU policy.  

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Hungary: Withdrawal from ICC does not absolve Hungary of its legal obligation to arrest fugitive Benjamin Netanyahu

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Reacting to the news that Hungary, an International Criminal Court (ICC) member state, has welcomed Benjamin Netanyahu to the country without arrest and stated that it will withdraw from the ICC Agnès Callamard the Secretary General of Amnesty International said:

    “Prime Minister Orbán is harbouring a wanted ICC fugitive. Benjamin Netanyahu is accused by the ICC of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians. By welcoming Netanyahu, Hungary is effectively giving a seal of approval to Israel’s genocide, namely the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in whole or in part in Gaza.

    “Leaders and officials from ICC member states must not participate in undermining the ICC through meeting with Netanyahu or any other ICC fugitives who are wanted by the Court. Netanyahu’s shameful trip to Hungary must not become an impunity tour of other ICC member states.

    “Hungary’s purported withdrawal from the ICC is a brazen and futile attempt to evade international justice and to stymy the ICC’s work. This cynical announcement does not change the fact that Hungary still has a fundamental obligation to arrest and surrender Benjamin Netanyahu to the ICC. Any withdrawal would take effect in one year and must not distract from Hungary’s international legal obligations.

    “The EU institutions and member states must be unequivocal about what this visit is: a direct attack by Hungary to undermine the ICC and its work, weaken the European Union at a time when it needs to stand strong and united, and an insult to all victims who are looking for justice.

    “The European Union and all ICC member states must urgently call on Hungary to arrest and surrender Netanyahu and firmly commit to defending the Court from insidious threats to international justice which a visit of this kind represents. This moral bankruptcy must be stopped before it spirals into further damage for the international rules-based order.”

    Background

    Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit comes 18 months into Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip. Israel has killed over 50,140 Palestinians, including over 15,600 children and nearly 114,000 people have been injured. Israel forcibly displaced 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza and the entire population has been grappling with a spike in disease and battling with starvation as a result of Israel’s unlawful siege, that for over a month has now seen a complete blocking of desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza.  Just yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu announced that he would “seize” territory to “divide up” Gaza.

    Withdrawal from the International Criminal Court is possible under Article 127 of the Rome Statute. Such a withdrawal takes effect one year after notification is received by the UN treaty office in New York. Crucially, therefore, withdrawal does not impact Hungary’s current legal obligations as a member state, including to arrest all those subject to ICC arrest warrants and of full cooperation in relation to ongoing investigations.

    Its withdrawal is a betrayal of all victims of war crimes and undermines the protections afforded the Hungarian people, as it removes, in a year, their opportunity to seek justice at the ICC for crimes committed against them.   

    State officials from ICC state parties should sever all non-essential contact with fugitives like Netanyahu who are wanted by the Court. All EU states have committed to avoid such non-essential contacts as official EU policy.  

    For more information please contact: [email protected]

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Iran: UN expands Fact-Finding Mission’s mandate in landmark development to address human rights crisis 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to today’s adoption of a landmark resolution at the UN Human Rights Council, which extended and broadened the mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, originally established in November 2022 during the Woman Life Freedom protests, Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said:  

    “The extension of the mandates of both the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and the Fact-Finding Mission, along with the expansion of the latter’s mandate, is a critical, long-awaited response to the persistent demands for justice from survivors, victims’ families and human rights defenders in Iran and in exile. Crucially, by no longer being limited to the 2022 Woman Life Freedom protests, the Mission can now investigate other recent or ongoing serious human rights violations and crimes under international law, ensuring that international scrutiny is not confined to a single chapter of repression, but that it addresses continuous patterns of serious violations. 

    Today’s vote delivers a strong message to the Iranian authorities and their judges, prosecutors, security and intelligence agents that they cannot continue to commit serious violations and crimes under international law without the risk of consequences

    Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International

    “Today’s vote delivers a strong message to the Iranian authorities and their judges, prosecutors, security and intelligence agents that they cannot continue to commit serious violations and crimes under international law without the risk of consequences. Beyond intensifying ongoing global scrutiny, by establishing a vital process to collect, analyze and preserve essential evidence for future criminal prosecutions, the mechanism bolsters efforts to secure justice through universal jurisdiction. 

    “This milestone follows years of advocacy by Amnesty International, and the Iranian human rights community, pushing for a permanent independent international investigative mechanism to tackle the systemic impunity that has long enabled Iranian authorities to commit serious human rights violations and crimes under international law. 

    “States must press the authorities in Iran to cease their pattern of refusal to cooperate with human rights mechanisms, grant unrestricted access to independent investigators, and end reprisals against survivors, victims’ families and others for engaging with UN mechanisms.” 

    Background 

    The resolution, adopted on 3 April 2025,  extended the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran and  decided that the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Islamic Republic of Iran should continue with a mandate “to thoroughly and independently monitor and investigate allegations of recent and ongoing serious human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran …[and] to collect, consolidate, analyse, record and preserve evidence of such violations … and ensure that all evidence is accessible for use in any independent legal proceedings.” 

    The resolution was adopted with 24 votes in favor, eight votes against, and 15 abstentions.  

    In its March 2024 and March 2025 reports to the UN Human Rights Council, the Fact-Finding Mission found that “the Iranian authorities committed gross human rights violations in the context of the [Woman Life Freedom] protests, many of which amount to the crimes against humanity of murder, imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution, enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts, committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population, namely women, girls and others expressing support for human rights, including ethnic and religious minorities, and LGBTQ+ persons.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Kenya: Meta can be sued in Kenya for role in Ethiopia conflict   

    Source: Amnesty International –

    In response to the High Court ruling that a case in which Meta is accused of promoting content that led to ethnic violence and killings in Ethiopia from 2020 to 2022, can proceed to trial in Kenya, Mandi Mudarikwa, Head of Strategic Litigation at Amnesty International, said:  

    “Today’s ruling is a positive step towards holding big tech companies accountable for contributing to human rights abuses. It paves the way for justice and serves notice to big tech platforms that the era of impunity is over. 

    “Communities and individuals affected by corporate human rights abuses committed by multinationals often struggle to access justice, in part because companies like Meta can use their terms of service to restrict jurisdiction to courts out of reach of many victims. 

    “This ruling offers hope that marginalized groups can access justice no matter where they are in the world. The idea of looking at countries outside the US and Europe as mere markets where profits can be made in the absence of accountability must be challenged.  

    Mandi Mudarikwa, Head of Strategic Litigation at Amnesty International

    “It’s time for these platforms to abide by their responsibilities and prioritize human rights over profit.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Global: UN move to draft a convention on rights of older people ‘a major step forward’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to today’s resolution by the UN Human Rights Council to establish a working group tasked with drafting an international treaty on the human rights of older people, Elena Sergi, Amnesty International’s Crisis Response Programme Campaigner, said:

    “The UN Human Rights Council has taken a major step forward. Today represents a milestone in the fight for the protection of older peoples’ rights.

    “Despite the growing number of older people in the world, their rights often remain overlooked. The need to properly recognize and protect human rights in older age is greater now than ever before.

    “A comprehensive legal framework to combat age-based discrimination is long overdue. Now, the full and meaningful participation of civil society and organizations representing older people is essential in ensuring the next steps are effective.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Syria: Coastal massacres of Alawite civilians must be investigated as war crimes

    Source: Amnesty International –

    • Government affiliated militias deliberately killed civilians from Alawite minority  
    • Syrian government must ensure independent, effective investigations of these unlawful killings and other war crimes and hold perpetrators to account 
    • Truth, justice and reparation crucial to ending cycles of atrocities 

    The Syrian government must ensure that the perpetrators of a wave of mass killings targeting Alawite civilians in coastal areas are held accountable and take immediate steps to ensure that no person or group is targeted on the basis of their sect, Amnesty International said today.  

    Militias affiliated with the government, killed more than 100 people in the coastal city of Banias on 8 and 9 March 2025, according to information received by Amnesty International. The organization has investigated 32 of the killings, and concluded that they were deliberate, targeted at the Alawite minority sect and unlawful.  

    Armed men asked people if they were Alawite before threatening or killing them and, in some cases, appeared to blame them for violations committed by the former government, witnesses told Amnesty International. Families of victims were forced by the authorities to bury their loved one in mass burial sites without religious rites or a public ceremony. 

    “The perpetrators of this horrifying wave of brutal mass killings must be held accountable. Our evidence indicates that government affiliated militias deliberately targeted civilians from the Alawite minority in gruesome reprisal attacks – shooting individuals at close range in cold blood. For two days, authorities failed to intervene to stop the killings. Once again, Syrian civilians have found themselves bearing the heaviest cost as parties to the conflict seek to settle scores,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard. 

    “Deliberately killing civilians or deliberately killing injured, surrendered or captured fighters is a war crime.   States have an obligation to ensure prompt, independent, effective and impartial investigations into allegations of unlawful killings and to hold perpetrators of international crimes to account.  

    Without justice, Syria risks falling back into a cycle of further atrocities and bloodshed.

    Amnesty International’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard

    “Syrians have already endured more than a decade of impunity for the grave violations and mass atrocities by Assad’s government and armed groups. The latest massacres targeting the Alawite minority create new scars in a country already burdened by too many unhealed wounds. It is critical that the new authorities deliver truth and justice for the victims of these crimes, to signal a break with the past and zero tolerance for attacks on minorities. Without justice, Syria risks falling back into a cycle of further atrocities and bloodshed”. 

    On 6 March 2025, armed groups affiliated with the former government led by President Bashar al-Assad launched multiple coordinated attacks on security and military sites in the coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartous. In response, the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior, backed by supporting militias launched a counteroffensive, leading to a significant escalation of violence. By 8 March, the authorities announced they had regained control of all affected areas. 

    In the days that followed, militias affiliated with the current government deliberately killed Alawite civilians in towns and cities along the coast, including the city of Banias, which was the site of a widely reported 2013 massacre by Bashar al-Assad’s government.  

    On 9 March, President Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged to hold perpetrators of crimes accountable, established a fact-finding committee to investigate the events on the coast, and formed a higher committee to maintain civil peace.  While the fact-finding committee appears to be a positive step towards establishing what happened and identifying suspected perpetrators, the authorities must ensure that the committee has the mandate, authority, expertise and resources to effectively investigate these killings. This should include access to and the ability to protect  witnesses and families of victims, as well as access tomass burial sites, and the required forensic expertise. They should also ensure that the committee has adequate time to complete its investigation.  

    Amnesty International conducted interviews with 16 people, including five living in Banias city and seven in other areas in the coast, two in other parts of Syria, and two outside Syria.  

    Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab verified nine videos and photos shared with researchers or posted on social media between 7 and 21 March 2025, conducted weapons analysis, and analyzed satellite imagery.   

    Amnesty International interviewed nine people, including five residents of Banias city who reported that 32 of their relatives and neighbours, including 24 men, six women and two children, had been deliberately killed by government-affiliated militias in Banias city between 8 and 9 March 2025. Of the 32 killed, 30 were killed in al-Qusour neighborhood in Banias city. Amnesty International also interviewed a medical worker in Banias city.  

    Interviewees identified their close relatives and neighbours and described to Amnesty International how they were killed. The organization also received the names of 16 civilians, whose relatives reported that they had been deliberately killed in Latakia and Tartous countryside.  

    In late January 2025, after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied armed opposition groups captured Damascus, the interim government announced that all armed factions would be dissolved and integrated into government armed forces. That process is reportedly ongoing.  

    While the UN believes the number of people killed on the coast is much higher, they were able to document the killing of 111 civilians in Tartous, Latakia and Hama governorates. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights many of the cases documented were of “summary executions carried out on a sectarian basis reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities’ security forces, and by elements associated with the former government”. The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR), documented the unlawful killings of 420 civilians and disarmed fighters (those hors de combat), including 39 children, mostly by militias affiliated with the authorities.  

    “In addition to ensuring independent, effective investigations and holding the perpetrators of these horrific killings to account,” Callamard said, “The government has obligations to carry out a human rights vetting process. Where there is admissible evidence that a person committed serious human rights violations, that person must not remain, or be placed, in a position where they could repeat such violations.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Belgium: Persistent failure to provide reception violates rights and dignity of people seeking asylum

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The Belgian authorities continue to deny reception to thousands of people seeking asylum, forcing them into homelessness, in violation of the country’s obligations under international, EU and Belgian law, Amnesty International said today.

    In a new report, ‘Unhoused and Unheard: How Belgium’s persistent failure to provide reception violates asylum seekers’ rights’, Amnesty International documents how Belgium’s actions since October 2021 have impacted the lives, dignity and human rights of people seeking asylum. It reveals discrimination against racialized single men and how the authorities’ failure to abide by international obligations and follow court orders, sets a worrying precedent.

    Since 2021, when Belgium saw a rise in the number of asylum applications after the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities have continuously failed to adapt the reception system to the demands of the new situation, including by increasing the number of available reception places. During this time, authorities have mostly denied reception to racialized single men seeking asylum. Currently, over 2,500 people are on the reception waiting list.

    To date, national and international courts have ordered the authorities in Belgium to provide reception more than 12,000 times. Belgium has consistently refused to fully comply with the judgments, despite these being final and legally binding.

    In 2025, Belgium’s new federal government boasted that it will adopt “the strictest migration policy possible”. Amnesty International fears that the plans of the new government risk further exacerbating the situation for people seeking asylum.

    “Belgium’s failure to provide reception is not due to a lack of resources but a lack of political will,” said Eva Davidova, spokesperson for Amnesty International Belgium.

    “The previous government had ample time to resolve the homelessness situation and failed to do so. The current government is more concerned with reducing the number of people who receive asylum rather than addressing the very real harm inflicted on people seeking asylum currently in the country. The scale and duration of Belgium’s persistent disregard for court orders raises questions as to how rights holders can have any hope of holding the Belgian government accountable, especially marginalized and racialized persons like those affected by this situation.”

    The report is based on research conducted by Amnesty International between October 2024 and January 2025, including interviews with people seeking asylum who experienced homelessness in Belgium between 2021 and 2024. Additional interviews were conducted with migration lawyers and representatives of civil society organizations.

    Poor living conditions and obstacles to accessing healthcare

    People seeking asylum who were denied accommodation often ended up homeless, living on the streets and in squats. They faced numerous barriers to accessing healthcare, leading to a further deterioration of their situation.

    Sayed, a young man from Afghanistan, spent months in the infamous ‘Palais des droits’ squats, in Brussels, from October 2022 to January 2023. “In the beginning it was good enough, there were toilets and showers, and some people brought food in the afternoon. But slowly it was turned completely into a graveyard. Showers and toilets were broken, with the passage of time…Pee was coming up to the place where you were sleeping”.

    Ahmet and Baraa, both Palestinian men who fled Gaza, arrived in Belgium in September 2024. They lived in a squat which housed six or seven people per room. Ahmet described how the squat lacked hot water, mattresses, or blankets: “It was cold. […] You can be starving, and no one will know about it. No one will help you.” Both men experienced immense personal loss in Palestine. Ahmet stated, “I lost a lot of relatives and friends. My mother is severely wounded, my brothers and sister as well. I was thinking in their shoes: I just need to survive.”

    Civil society organizations and volunteers have shown admirable empathy and solidarity towards affected people, stepping in to provide emergency relief, but their resources are limited and they should not be expected to make up for the state’s failures.

    “People were feeling our pain, but not the authorities,” recalled Sayed.  

    Long term impacts of homelessness

    The lack of reception also profoundly impacts people’s future prospects in Belgium, limiting their access to the labour market or education. Interviewees highlighted that they are not allowed to work because they lack a fixed address.

    Baraa, a man from Gaza, voiced how he just wished for a “simple life, basic rights, a job, food in [my] stomach and just to live like a normal person. We had a life back in Gaza, but we just lacked the security and the safety there and that is why we left. That is why we came here: to find a safe place.”

    “This report should be a wake-up call for the Belgian government and the EU. Belgium is actively manufacturing a homelessness crisis which is bound to have a lasting adverse impact on people’s lives and dignity, while civil society is left to pick up the pieces. Without urgent intervention, this crisis will deepen, further violating asylum seekers’ rights and eroding both the country’s and the EU’s commitment to human rights,” Eva Davidova said.

    No more excuses, both Belgium and the EU must act

    Amnesty International urges the Belgian government to immediately provide sufficient reception places and ensure that all people seeking asylum are given adequate housing. They must ensure people have access to adequate healthcare services, including specialized psychological support, regardless of their housing situation. Belgian authorities must also activate the ‘dispersal plan’ outlined in domestic law and implement contingency plans to manage fluctuations in the number of asylum applications.

    In the meantime, the organization calls on the Belgian government to provide civil society organizations assisting asylum seekers with financial and logistical support to ensure they can continue their vital work making up for the state’s inaction.

    The European Commission should ensure that Belgium restores compliance with the Reception Conditions Directive, including by launching infringement procedures if necessary. The failure of Belgium to provide reception is not an isolated issue but a test of the EU’s commitment to upholding fundamental human rights.

    Background

    While Belgium’s persistent refusal to respect the human rights of people seeking asylum has been ongoing since 2021 and has been previously condemned by Amnesty International, this new publication underlines its human impact.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Syria: ‘Brutal mass killings’ of Alawite civilians must be investigated as war crimes – new evidence

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Government affiliated militias deliberately killed civilians from Alawite minority

    Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab verified videos and photos, conducted weapons analysis, and analysed satellite imagery  

    Interviews with witnesses include people living in Banias city and other areas in the coast

    ‘I was alone burying my brothers. Corpses are next to each other and above each other and then the truck covered the grave with soil’ – Saed*

    ‘Without justice, Syria risks falling back into a cycle of further atrocities and bloodshed’ – Agnès Callamard

    The Syrian government must ensure that the perpetrators of a wave of mass killings targeting Alawite civilians in coastal areas are held accountable and take immediate steps to ensure that no person or group is targeted on the basis of their sect, Amnesty International said today.

    Militias affiliated with the government, killed more than 100 people in the coastal city of Banias on 8 and 9 March 2025, according to information received by Amnesty. The organisation has investigated 32 of the killings, and concluded that they were deliberate, targeted at the Alawite minority sect and unlawful.

    Witnesses told Amnesty that armed men asked people if they were Alawite before threatening or killing them and, in some cases, appeared to blame them for violations committed by the former government. Families of victims were forced by the authorities to bury their loved one in mass burial sites without religious rites or a public ceremony.

    Multiple coordinated attacks

    On 6 March, armed groups affiliated with the former government led by President Bashar al-Assad launched multiple coordinated attacks on security and military sites in the coastal governorates of Latakia and Tartous. In response, the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior, backed by supporting militias launched a counter offensive, leading to a significant escalation of violence. By 8 March, the authorities announced they had regained control of all affected areas.

    In the days that followed, militias affiliated with the current government deliberately killed Alawite civilians in towns and cities along the coast, including the city of Banias, which was the site of a widely reported 2013 massacre by Bashar al-Assad’s government.

    On 9 March, President Ahmed al-Sharaa pledged to hold perpetrators of crimes accountable, established a fact-finding committee to investigate the events on the coast, and formed a higher committee to maintain civil peace.  While the fact-finding committee appears to be a positive step towards establishing what happened and identifying suspected perpetrators, the authorities must ensure that the committee has the mandate, authority, expertise and resources to effectively investigate these killings. This should include access to and the ability to protect witnesses and families of victims, as well as access to mass burial sites, and the required forensic expertise. They should also ensure that the committee has adequate time to complete its investigation.

    Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:

    “Deliberately killing civilians or deliberately killing injured, surrendered, or captured fighters is a war crime. The perpetrators of this horrifying wave of brutal mass killings must be held accountable.

    “Our evidence indicates that government affiliated militias deliberately targeted civilians from the Alawite minority in gruesome reprisal attacks – shooting individuals at close range in cold blood. For two days, authorities failed to intervene to stop the killings. Once again, Syrian civilians have found themselves bearing the heaviest cost as parties to the conflict seek to settle scores.

    “The latest massacres targeting the Alawite minority create new scars in a country already burdened by too many unhealed wounds. It is critical that the new authorities deliver truth and justice for the victims of these crimes, to signal a break with the past and zero tolerance for attacks on minorities. Without justice, Syria risks falling back into a cycle of further atrocities and bloodshed.

    “States have an obligation to ensure prompt, independent, effective and impartial investigations into allegations of unlawful killings and to hold perpetrators of international crimes to account. The government has obligations to carry out a human rights vetting process. Where there is admissible evidence that a person committed serious human rights violations, that person must not remain, or be placed, in a position where they could repeat such violations.”

    Amnesty’s investigation

    Amnesty conducted interviews with 16 people, including five living in Banias city and seven in other areas in the coast, two in other parts of Syria, and two outside Syria.

    Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab verified nine videos and photos shared with researchers or posted on social media between 7 and 21 March, conducted weapons analysis, and analysed satellite imagery.  

    Amnesty interviewed nine people, including five residents of Banias city who reported that 32 of their relatives and neighbours, including 24 men, six women and two children, had been deliberately killed by government-affiliated militias in Banias city between 8 and 9 March 2025. Of the 32 killed, 30 were killed in al-Qusour neighborhood in Banias city. Amnesty also interviewed a medical worker in Banias city.

    Interviewees identified their close relatives and neighbours and described to Amnesty how they were killed. The organisation also received the names of 16 civilians, whose relatives reported that they had been deliberately killed in Latakia and Tartous countryside.

    In late January 2025, after Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and allied armed opposition groups captured Damascus, the interim government announced that all armed factions would be dissolved and integrated into government armed forces. That process is reportedly ongoing.

    While the UN believes the number of people killed on the coast is much higher, they were able to document the killing of 111 civilians in Tartous, Latakia and Hama governorates. According to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights many of the cases documented were of “summary executions carried out on a sectarian basis reportedly by unidentified armed individuals, members of armed groups allegedly supporting the caretaker authorities’ security forces, and by elements associated with the former government”. The Syrian Network for Human Rights, documented the unlawful killings of 420 civilians and disarmed fighters (those hors de combat), including 39 children, mostly by militias affiliated with the authorities.

    Witness testimonies

    Four residents of al-Qusour neighbourhood described how they heard heavy gunfire on 7 March. The next day scores of militia men affiliated with the current government entered the neighbourhood. Then, the killings began. They continued throughout 8 and 9 March.

    Samira* told Amnesty that a group of armed men raided her home at around 10am on 9 March and killed her husband, shooting him in the head. One of the men asked her and her husband whether they were Alawite and then blamed the death of his brother on the Alawite community.

    She said: “I begged them not to take [my husband]. I explained that we had nothing to do with killings that happened in the past or the death of his brother.” She said that the men took her husband to the roof, telling him they would show him how Alawites had killed Sunnis. “After they left, she said:

    “I went to the roof and saw his body. I had to flee for my life and begged my neighbour to protect the body.”

    Amnesty reviewed six images showing his body, which had an observable head wound, lying in a pool of blood.

    In addition to her husband, Samira said that her neighbour’s husband, who was in his late 70’s, and her brother-in-law were also killed.

    At around 11am on 8 March, Ahmad* received a phone call from his relative informing him that armed men raided his home and shot his father, who was in his late 60’s.

    He said: “My mother told me that four armed men entered our home early in the morning. Their first question was if [my family members] were Alawite.” The men began beating Ahmad’s brother, and his father tried to stop them. “[My father] was ordered to turn away… As he did, an armed man shot him in the back with the bullet exiting his chest… 20 minutes later, they came back and took the body.”

    Amnesty reviewed a video showing blood scattered on the floor, which belonged to his father, according to Ahmad.

    Ahmad said that another close relative had to search through bodies at a nearby hospital, in the presence of armed men, multiple times until they were able to find his father’s body. A medical worker confirmed to Amnesty that they received scores of bodies from militias, The Syrian Network for Human Rights and civil defense teams, which were kept in the hospital in Banias, most outside the mortuary refrigerator, in piles. Families had to search through bodies to find their loved ones.

    Saed* was visiting his parents in the neighbourhood for the weekend. On the morning of 8 March, the family heard gunshots and then silence. They thought their lives were spared, until the next day. At around 10am, a group of armed men entered the building. They heard gunshots.

    Saed said:

    “I called my family to follow me and ran outside the door towards the roof. They were behind me. I reached the roof, but I looked behind and [my family] wasn’t there… Then I heard the armed men ask my brother if you are Alawite or Sunni. My brother responded but his voice was trembling. My second brother intervened and told them: ‘Take anything you want but leave us’. Then I heard my father’s voice and then it sounded like they were taking them downstairs.” After that he heard gunshots.

    A few minutes later, Saed found the bodies of his father, 75 years old, and his brothers, 31 and 48, shot dead at the entrance of the building. Amnesty reviewed images which showed three bodies located outside of what appeared to be a residential building.

    Witnesses told Amnesty that many of the men involved in the killings were Syrian, but that there were also some foreigners amongst them.

    According to residents, the authorities did not intervene to end the killings, nor did they provide residents with safe routes to flee the armed men. Two residents told Amnesty they had to walk for at least 15km through the woods to seek safety. Three others said the only way for them to flee was when, eventually, they were able to secure car rides from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a former armed group integrated into the government armed forces.

    Burial of family members refused

    Seven interviewees told Amnesty that they or their relatives were not allowed by authorities to bury family members killed in al-Qusour neighbourhood according to religious rites, in a location of their choosing, or through a public ceremony. Instead, bodies were piled up in an empty lot next to Sheikh Hilal cemetery close to the neighbourhood.

    Saed* said security forces dug an empty lot next to the cemetery and lined the bodies up. He was not allowed to take photos or have other family members present during the burial.

    “I saw hundreds of corpses,” he said. “I was alone burying my brothers [on 10 March]. Corpses are next to each other and above each other and then the truck covered the grave with soil.”

    Amnesty’s Evidence Lab verified four pictures of the burial site in in al-Qusour neighbourhood, which showed graves marked in an informal manner. Satellite imagery confirms the ground in the area was scraped between 8 and 10 March.

    According to international humanitarian law, the dead should be buried, if possible, according to the rites of the religion to which they belonged and, in principle, in individual graves.

    *Real name withheld for security reasons.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF hands over decade long programme in Kamrangirchar

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    The air in Kamrangirchar hangs thick with dust and rings with the clang of machinery. Located in Bangladesh, southeast Asia, just across the river from Dhaka’s towering skyline, this four-square-kilometre enclave is a world unto itself. Here, in the labyrinth of makeshift factories, hundreds of thousands of people labour in the shadows.

    “It’s like people are born, live, and die here without ever seeing Dhaka,” says Masud Kaiser, an Médecins Sans Fropntières (MSF) health educator who grew up in Kamrangirchar. “This [place] is a gateway to a new life for many, a chance to escape rural poverty. But the cost is often unbearably high.” 
     

    Occupational healthcare

    Behind the blue gates and down narrow, alleys, a hidden world of sweatshops thrives. Over 10,000 unregulated factories — crammed into basements, perched on rooftops, squeezed into single rooms — churn out goods for the domestic market. Men, women, and even children endure gruelling hours in hazardous conditions, their families their only safety net when illness or injury strikes.

    Hanif has spent a decade in a metal cabinet factory, his hands calloused and scarred. “If I get sick, I don’t get paid, but I keep my job,” he says. Like many, he’s paid by piece rate, his income fluctuating with his output. A bad injury can devastate his family, plunging them into deeper poverty.

    “Every time I have gone to MSF’s clinic and received care there, it has been very good because you get help quickly, and it doesn’t cost anything,” says Hanif.

    Our clinic opened in 2009, initially addressing the rampant malnutrition among children and evolving to tackle the most pressing needs: occupational health, sexual and reproductive health, and support for survivors of gender-based violence.  

    “The difference between the formal and informal sectors in Bangladesh is like heaven and hell,” explains Gayathrie Sadacharamani, MSF’s medical activity manager. “Here, there’s no oversight. Workers are worn out and discarded, their labour fuelling a system that often disregards their basic human dignity.” 

    The impact is far-reaching, rippling through families and communities. Housna Ara sews tunics for ten hours a day, her body aching, her eyes burning. “I have to work, or we won’t eat,” she says. Her fading eyesight, a direct consequence of her work, threatens her livelihood.

    MSF staff member prepares a vaccination for a factory worker in Kamrangirchar. Bangladesh, January 2025.
    MSF

    Children, too, are trapped in this relentless cycle. Robin, 15, and his 13-year-old brother are the sole breadwinners for their family, their childhoods stolen by necessity. Suma, also 15, works twelve-hour days in a textile factory, her dreams of school and a better life overshadowed by the immediate need to survive.

    Our clinic was nestled in the heart of Kamrangirchar. From first aid training to vaccinations and mental health support, it addressed the multifaceted needs of the community, understanding that health is inextricably linked to economic stability and social well-being.

    “In the last ten years, we provided occupational health services to about 77,000 workers in Kamrangirchar, of which 53 per cent were men and 47 per cent were women, and we provided occupational health services to more than 10,000 children,” says Dewan Muhammad Miskatul Mishnad, an MSF occupational health doctor.
     

    Care for sexual and gender-based violence

    The clinic provided care to women in Kamrangirchar facing the hardship of sexual and gender-based violence. Initially, reaching these women meant overcoming stigmas and actively seeking them out in their homes and workplaces.  

    “We’ve witnessed a profound shift in the community’s awareness and willingness to seek help,” Gazi Farzana Srabony, mental health activity manager in Kamrangirchar. “At the end, women came to us on their own, often secretly, driven by desperation and the hope they see in their neighbours who have received our care. They would say, ‘I came here because I can’t tell my family’.”

    “We’ve seen firsthand the impact of accessible services; and we are hopeful that other organisations will continue to build on what we’ve started,” says Srabony.  

    MSF’s outreach team in Kamrangirchar visiting door-to-door to share health messages to the community. Bangladesh, September 2024.
    Farah Tanjee/MSF

    More support is needed

    The challenges in Kamrangirchar are immense. The sheer number of factories, the continuous influx of new labourers, and systemic issues mean that the impact of MSF’s interventions, while valuable, was limited in scale. We provided essential support, like first aid and safety training, which offered crucial relief in a community where survival is a daily struggle. As we hand over this programme, local organisations and authorities plan to do their best to ensure that workers continue to receive necessary medical care.  

    Due to a global review and financial reprioritisation, after more than a decade working in partnership with the community in Kamrangirchar, by the end of March 2025, MSF handed over our Kamrangirchar projects.  

    In Kamrangirchar, MSF provided medical services through clinics in Ali Nagar and Madbor Bazar, supported the 31-bed government hospital with staff and resources, and conducted outreach to improve healthcare access and occupational health awareness in local factories.  

    Elsewhere in Bangladesh, MSF remains present in the Cox’s Bazar district which hosts Rohingya refugees who have fled targeted violence in neighbouring Myanmar’s Rakhine state since 1978. More than 1 million Rohingya are estimated to live in the confined camps of Cox’s Bazar district, where they arrived after fleeing violence in Myanmar. This includes the more than 60,000 people estimated to have arrived since January 2024, after renewed clashes between armed groups in Myanmar.

    Our current intervention in Cox’s Bazar started in 2009, when Kutupalong field hospital was established to serve both refugees and the local community. In August 2017, we scaled up activities and now run nine health facilities across Cox’s Bazar district, including three hospitals, three health centres and two specialised clinics.  

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Civilians and MSF teams trapped by violence in Walikale, DRC

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    • Worsening violence between armed groups in Walikale, DRC, has trapped people and our teams and is preventing the delivery of supplies.
    • If supply routes remain blocked, our teams will start to run out of essential medical supplies in two weeks.
    • We call on all warring parties to protect civilians, medical facilities, and health workers, and facilitate the delivery of medical supplies.

    Escalating violence between armed groups the FARDC and the M23/AFC, and their respective allies, in North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo, reached the city of Walikale on 19 March, trapping Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff at our base and at the local hospital. 

    In recent days, the situation has continued to deteriorate. The violence has severely impacted people’s access to healthcare, as 80 per cent of the community has fled the city, after hearing artillery fire and fearing hostilities. Over 700 displaced people are sheltering at the Walikale general hospital, putting additional pressure on already-limited medical resources. 

    “Our teams on the ground have to put their medical activities on hold when fighting erupts and are unable to move safely,” says Natalia Torrent, head of programmes for MSF in North Kivu. “The safety of our staff and patients is our top priority.” 

    Heavy gunfire has been heard in the vicinity of our base, highlighting the extreme risks faced by both healthcare workers and the communities they serve. Two weeks ago, a crossfire hit our logistics base, impacting our structures and some of our vehicles. Massive explosions took place near the town’s general hospital, where MSF supports the Ministry of Health in providing medical care. 

    Critical supply shortages of essential medicines 

    Today, logistical challenges remain critical, with no viable road or air routes to facilitate the transport of supplies and personnel. Our last supplies by air arrived on 17 January. With the airport remaining inoperative, the delivery of humanitarian supplies is a challenge. 

    “Within two weeks, our teams on the ground will start facing shortages of essential medicines, further complicating the ability of our teams to provide urgent medical assistance,” says Torrent. 

    MSF once again calls on all warring parties to respect and protect civilians, medical facilities, and health workers, as well as to facilitate the delivery of medical supplies to the area. We urgently demand safe and guaranteed access to healthcare for all those affected by the conflict. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Worsening conflict leaves tens of thousands without essential care in Colombia

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Bogotá – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has in recent weeks increased our medical humanitarian assistance in areas hit by the most intense upsurge of conflict in years in Colombia. Tens of thousands of people are currently caught in at least 11 active pockets of violence, according to authorities. Amid exacerbated humanitarian needs, we urge state entities and other humanitarian organisations to reach isolated communities where many people are lacking access to basic services, including healthcare. We also urge armed groups to protect medical facilities and humanitarian workers from violence. 

    “We are deeply concerned about the impact that the escalating conflict in Colombia is having on tens of thousands of people in several regions of the country,” says Francisco Otero, MSF general coordinator in Colombia. “Our teams are providing essential medical and humanitarian assistance to isolated and vulnerable communities, in areas that are very difficult to access for humanitarian organisations and with little state presence.”

    In February, MSF teams launched an emergency response in rural areas of the northeastern region of Catatumbo, where in January more than 50,000 people were forced from their homes by hostilities in the largest sudden displacement of people in decades. Many of those who remained now have movement restrictions imposed on them. In March, we started a project in the department of Arauca, which borders Venezuela. 

    A map of MSF’s response in Colombia. March 2025.

    Emergency in Catatumbo

    In mid-January, the breakdown of a non-aggression pact between two non-state armed groups triggered an escalation of violence that has left at least 98 people dead, and some 77,000 people affected, including displaced and confined persons, according to state authorities. The Colombian armed forces have also launched several offensives against these groups. 

    MSF teams are carrying out mobile clinics in rural areas where there are restrictions on movement, both for people to leave in search of resources and services, and for official entities and other humanitarian organisations to enter. MSF is one of the few organisations granted access by the parties to the conflict to areas widely affected by these restrictions. 

    Between 10 February and 15 March, we provided nearly 1,200 medical consultations in rural areas of Ábrego, Teorama, and Tibú, including 933 for basic healthcare and 112 for mental health. Additionally, 472 people benefited from group mental health activities.  

    “We see a deterioration in the health of the community, from children with symptoms of malnutrition to patients with chronic conditions, such as hypertension or diabetes, whose treatment has been interrupted.” explains Dr Altair Saavedra, MSF’s medical coordinator in Colombia. 

    “Most of the pregnant women we saw in consultations had not started prenatal checkups, regardless of their gestational age, and some patients have shown severe psychological symptoms caused by uncertainty about the development of the conflict.” says Dr Saavedra.

    In addition, in the areas visited by MSF, at least four basic healthcare centres have closed or have suspended activities due to the violence. 

    An MSF mobile team arrives at the health centre in the village of La Arenosa, in Catatumbo, northeast Colombia, to provide medical and psychological care to communities affected by the ongoing conflict whose movement has been restricted by armed actors. Colombia, February 2025.
    MSF

    New project in Arauca 

    In the region of Arauca, several non-state armed groups are fighting for the control of the territory. MSF began a long-term project in the first week of March that focuses on people who face severe constraints to access healthcare. They include Venezuelan migrants, Colombian returnees, and displaced people, as well as vulnerable Indigenous groups in the urban area, and communities affected by the armed conflict in rural areas.

    “We will offer services for sexual and reproductive health, comprehensive care for survivors of sexual violence, mental health consultations, priority attention to children under five years of age, support for first level facilities and strengthening the technical capacity of health personnel,” says Alejandro Matos, MSF coordinator in Arauca. “We will also carry out water and sanitation activities.”

    An MSF team provides medical care, family planning methods and psychological care to people in a settlement in Arauca. Colombia, March 2025.
    Alejandro Matos/MSF

    Between 3 and 14 March, we provided 281 medical consultations, 30 individual mental health consultations, and 116 people participated in group mental health sessions, in the settlements of Jerusalem, Brisas del Puente, and Clarinetero, in the town of Arauca, the region’s capital. 
     

    The worsening conflict in Colombia

    Seven decades of conflict have made Colombia one of the countries with the highest number of internally displaced people in the world, with nearly nine million according to authorities. During the last decade, the figure of 70,000 people newly displaced by violence was never surpassed in a year, but in 2024 the country registered 160,000, according to the authorities. This is the highest annual figure since the 2016 signing of the peace agreement between the state and the defunct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).

    Despite an ongoing negotiation process between the government and several non-state armed groups, the Colombian ombudsman’s office has indicated there are 11 humanitarian emergency hotspots, especially in regions along the Pacific and the Venezuelan border. 

    “As an organisation that guides our action under the principles of neutrality, impartiality and independence, we call on the parties to the conflict to provide safe access to areas hit by violence where there are unmet humanitarian needs.” says Otero.  

    Colombia has also been the largest recipient of USAID funds in Latin America. In 2024, the United States provided nearly 68 per cent of the resources for the humanitarian response managed by aid workers in the country. But in 2025, dozens of NGOs and United Nations agencies have already been impacted by cuts. In the health sector alone, more than 183,000 people lost access to assistance, and 683,000 others are at risk of being affected, according to the humanitarian health organisations team.

    “Amid the exacerbation of needs due to the worsening conflict, we urge State entities and other humanitarian organisations to reach out to communities where access to basic services such as healthcare has been impacted,” says Otero. “We urge the parties to the conflict to protect medical facilities and humanitarian workers from violence.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: TFL block Amnesty adverts to hide warnings over crime-predicting technology

    Source: Amnesty International –

     Amnesty advert alerts residents of South London to the problematic predictive policing happening in their communities  

    Transport for London rejected the advert, stating ‘it might bring other members of the Greater London Authority Group (GLA) into disrepute’  

    Research revealed that Met Police (a member of the GLA Group) attempt to predict the future by labelling people as ‘suspects’ without them ever having offended or committed a crime     

    The Met had the highest rate of stop and search encounters for people of ‘black ethnic appearance’ per 1,000 population of any ethnic group       

    ‘Transport for London, and its Chair Mayor Sadiq Khan, are in danger of being complicit in a cover up of harmful Met Police crime predicting technology’ – Sacha Deshmukh   

    Amnesty International UK has sharply criticised Transport for London (TFL) for preventing them from displaying adverts that would inform South London residents that ‘predictive policing’ is occurring on their streets.   

    Amnesty had booked advertising space in Elephant and Castle tube station highlighting the findings of their new research which exposed the prevalence of racial profiling technology and its use by police forces across the UK.    

    The aim was to alert the public to Amnesty’s damning conclusions in their 120 – page report Automated Racism – How police data and algorithms code discrimination into policing’ which exposes the grave dangers to society from ‘predictive policing’ systems and technology used across almost three quarters of the UK’s police forces.       

    This is the first report to demonstrate how these systems are in flagrant breach of the UK’s national and international human rights obligations.        

    Amnesty found that at least 33 police forces – including the Metropolitan police and British Transport police – across the UK have used predictive profiling or risk prediction systems. Of these forces, 32 have used geographic crime prediction, profiling, or risk prediction tools, and 11 forces have used individual prediction, profiling, or risk prediction tools.    

    Transport for London rejected the adverts, stating ’it might bring other members of the GLA Group into disrepute’ which would include the Mayor’s office of crime and policing.    

    Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UK’s Chief Executive, said:   

    “Transport for London and its Chair Mayor Sadiq Khan are in danger of being complicit in a cover up by preventing police transparency and community awareness about harmful crime predicting technology.   

    “Protecting members of the GLA, such as the Mayor’s office of crime and policing, just creates more of a shroud of secrecy. A shocking lack of transparency already exists about these crime-predicting technologies, and public policing should be open to critique and accountability.    

    “The use of predictive policing tools violates human rights. The evidence that this technology keeps us safe is just not there; the evidence that it violates our fundamental rights is clear as day. We are all much more than computer-generated risk scores.        

    “These technologies have consequences. The future they are creating is one where technology decides that our neighbours are criminals, purely based on the colour of their skin or their socio-economic background.         

    “These tools to ‘predict crime’ harm us all by treating entire communities as potential criminals, making society more racist and unfair.     

    “TFL have made the wrong call in preventing us from advertising, and we are calling on the Mayor of London to reverse it.” 

    Racist and failing systems in London     

    Risk Terrain Monitoring (RTM) is a predictive policing system that processes police acquired data to generate a location-based risk score.      

    An initial period of RTM-influenced policing targeted the north of the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, commencing in September 2020. Between December 2020 and October 2021, Lambeth had the second-highest volume of stop and searches of all London boroughs. In the same period, people of ‘black ethnic appearance’ (as defined by the Metropolitan Police Service) had the highest rate of stop and search encounters per 1,000 population of any ethnic group: they were stopped and searched more than four times than people of white ethnic appearance. Eighty per cent of these stops and searches resulted in no further action. In the same period, Lambeth had the second highest volume of police uses of force in all London boroughs, and police used force most against people recorded as ‘black or black British’.         

    In Southwark in the year ending March 2021, Black people were stopped and searched 3.3 times more than white people. Police used force against people in Southwark at least 8,924 times between September 2020 and September 2021, and 45 per cent of those times, it was against ‘black or black British’ people.   

    The Metropolitan Police Service’s Violence Harm Assessment profiles people based on intelligence reports and about people who are ‘suspects’, and an individual can be profiled without ever having offended or committed a crime.   

    The force has said that it will not inform any member of the public that they feature on the Violence Harm Assessment. It also says that data subject access requests from individuals asking if they are on the Violence Harm Assessment list will be considered ‘on a case-by-case basis against the statutory exemptions and the level of risk the individual presents and risks of notification to the individual’.     

    The Metropolitan Police Service has itself noted that issues with the Violence Harm Assessment include: the adultification of children; the Rationale for Suspect over Convictions and how using ‘suspect’ could risk racial disproportionality if wrongly named; and that this leads to a ‘possibility of disproportionality due to some communities/areas being “over policed” leading to greater reports’.    

    Human rights violations exposed       

    Racial profiling: The use of these systems by police results in, directly and indirectly, racial profiling and the disproportionate targeting of Black and racialised people and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds. This, in turn, leads to their increased criminalisation, punishment, and exposure to violent policing.     

    There is no right to a fair trial: Predictive systems target individuals and groups before they have actually committed an offense, which risks infringing on the presumption of innocence and the right to a fair trial.      

    Mass surveillance:  This is indiscriminate and can never be proportionate interference with the rights to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of association and of peaceful assembly.      

    Chilling effect: Individuals who live in areas targeted by predictive policing will likely seek to avoid those areas, resulting in a chilling effect. Participants in the Essex discussion group stated that if police were targeting specific areas, they would likely avoid those areas.  

    Recommendations   

         Amnesty is calling for:     

    • Accountability obligations, including a right and a clear forum to challenge a predictive, profiling, or similar decision or consequences leading from such a decision.  

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Brazil and Paraguay: Itaipú takes a step towards restoring land to the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People, but integral reparation is still pending

    Source: Amnesty International –

    On 24 March, it was formally agreed that Itaipú Binacional should finance the purchase of 3,000 hectares of land in Brazil to restore part of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense territory that had been dispossessed and flooded for the construction and operation of the Itaipú hydroelectric dam. The dam, one of the largest in the world, was built in the 1970s and 1980s as a joint project by the Paraguayan and Brazilian governments.

    Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International, declared that “The commitment to purchase 3,000 hectares of land in Brazil with resources from Itaipú Binacional is a result of the resistance of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People. It does not, however, discharge the responsibility of the company and the governments of Brazil and Paraguay to provide full reparation to a people who have struggled for more than 40 years to recover their land”.

    The commitment to purchase 3,000 hectares of land in Brazil with resources from Itaipú Binacional is a result of the resistance of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People. It does not, however, discharge the responsibility of the company and the governments of Brazil and Paraguay to provide full reparation to a people who have struggled for more than 40 years to recover their land.

    Ana Piquer, Americas director at Amnesty International

    A week ago, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court endorsed a settlement agreement in a lawsuit brought by the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Brazil, representing the interests of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense Indigenous communities, against Brazilian state agencies and Itaipú Binacional. This legal procedure, supported by the Guaraní Yvyrupa Commission and other organizations, seeks redress for human rights violations suffered by the communities of Tekoha Guasu Ocoy Jacutinga and Tekoha Guassu Guavira in Brazil. The agreement includes the publication of an apology acknowledging the company’s responsibility for the violations and “damages” suffered by these Indigenous peoples during construction of the dam, and financing the purchase of 3,000 hectares of land for the communities, which comprise more than 5,000 members in the municipalities of São Miguel do Iguaçu, Itaipulândia, Santa Helena, Terra Roxa and Guaíra in the state of Paraná.

    In their own statement, the communities accepted this restitution as an immediate remedy, but declared that it does not in any way cover the true extent of the damage caused to the Avá Guaraní Paranaense territory. In particular, the communities in Brazil insist that this restitution does not cover all of the land they are claiming, and that the 3,000 hectares to be acquired are not enough to avoid a situation of overpopulation that would prevent them from recovering their traditional livelihoods linked to cultivation, hunting, fishing and forest management.

    The dam that Brazil, Paraguay and Itaipú Binacional present internationally as a model project for the production of supposedly clean energy is in fact built on the pain of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People. Without their territory and the livelihoods it provides, the very cultural identity of these Indigenous peoples is at risk

    Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil

    “The dam that Brazil, Paraguay and Itaipú Binacional present internationally as a model project for the production of supposedly clean energy is in fact built on the pain of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People. Without their territory and the livelihoods it provides, the very cultural identity of these Indigenous peoples is at risk.”, said Jurema Werneck, executive director of Amnesty International Brazil.

    The Avá Guaraní Paranaense communities on the Paraguayan side of the border shared with Amnesty International their joy at the steps taken in Brazil and their disappointment at the lack of equivalent progress in Paraguay. For more than a decade, Amnesty International has denounced the continued violation of the human rights of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People in Paraguay, in particular through lack of reparation, the precariousness that affects many of those displaced, and the violence directed against communities who, after years of waiting, have decided to reoccupy parts of their ancestral territory that have not been flooded.

    Rosalía Vega, executive director of Amnesty International Paraguay, said that “the Avá Guaraní Paranaense communities are a single people who share an open wound inflicted by the Itaipú hydroelectric dam. It is therefore incomprehensible that acknowledgement of responsibility and steps towards reparation are not happening simultaneously. Both the Paraguayan and Brazilian governments and Itaipú Binacional must be held accountable and address the claims of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense communities on both sides of the border”.

    The Avá Guaraní Paranaense communities are a single people who share an open wound inflicted by the Itaipú hydroelectric dam. It is therefore incomprehensible that acknowledgement of responsibility and steps towards reparation are not happening simultaneously. Both the Paraguayan and Brazilian governments and Itaipú Binacional must be held accountable and address the claims of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense communities on both sides of the border

    Rosalía Vega, executive director of Amnesty International Paraguay

    For these reasons, Amnesty International submitted an access to information request to Itaipú Binacional on both sides of the border, asking the company about the integrity of the measures taken to respect the right of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People to free, prior and informed consultation and to redress the human rights violations committed during the construction of the dam. The request also addresses the company’s responsibility of due diligence to ensure that human rights are upheld at all times in its operations.

    Amnesty International recognizes the resistance of the Avá Guaraní Paranaense People and reaffirms its commitment to accompany their struggle until justice and effective reparation for the human rights violations committed against them on both sides of the Paraná River are achieved.

    For further information or to request an interview, please contact [email protected]

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Myanmar Earthquake: Devastating Crisis, Immediate Response Underway

    Source: Oxfam –

    Oxfam in Myanmar has activated its Emergency Response Team and is providing hygiene, dignity and family kits in the areas affected by the strong 7.7 magnitude earthquake on 28 March.

    More than 1600 people are reported to have been killed and over 3400 people injured. These figures are expected to increase as more information becomes available from the affected regions.

    The situation in all affected regions remains dire, with survivors in urgent need of shelter, clean water, medical care, and protection. 

    First-response supplies—including hygiene kits, dignity kits, and family kits—are already being dispatched to the worst-affected areas to meet immediate needs and support survivors through this critical period.

    Oxfam is working closely with local partners to ensure that aid reaches those most in need as quickly and effectively as possible. Oxfam’s priority is to save lives, preserve dignity, and prevent further suffering among communities facing unimaginable loss.

    Rajan Khosla, Country Director of Oxfam in Myanmar, expressed profound sorrow over the devastation caused by the earthquake.

    “While Oxfam and partners are focused on providing emergency relief, the magnitude of this disaster requires a broader, coordinated global response to address both immediate needs and long-term recovery. The full scale of the earthquake’s destruction is still emerging, but we need swift humanitarian assistance to help survivors begin rebuilding their lives with dignity,” Khosla said.

    A staff member from Oxfam in Myanmar, currently on the ground in Mandalay, has reported firsthand the catastrophic destruction caused by the earthquake.

    “The ground shook violently beneath my feet. Buildings around me began to collapse, and I could hear the cries of people running. It’s impossible to describe the horror and helplessness felt as I watched families desperately trying to escape the destruction. It’s a nightmare for me. People are scared, injured, and in urgent need of aid. The scale of this tragedy is beyond what we could have ever imagined,” she said.

    The National Disaster Management Committee has declared a State of Emergency across six earthquake-affected areas— Sagaing Region, Mandalay Region, Magway Region, northeastern Shan State, Nay Pyi Taw Territory, and Bago Region.

    Recognizing the severity of the crisis, international humanitarian assistance has been requested to support the ongoing response and recovery efforts.

    Oxfam in Myanmar remains steadfast in its commitment to stand with the people of Myanmar during this difficult time. We continue to work closely with partners to deliver timely and effective aid to those most in need.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Critical medicines running out in Gaza after one month of Israeli blockade

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Jerusalem – A month-long siege imposed by Israeli authorities in Gaza, Palestine, means some critical medications are now short in supply and are running out, leaving Palestinians at risk of losing vital healthcare, warns Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). As Israeli forces continue to bomb the Gaza Strip, depriving people of basic needs, including food, water, and medicines may lead to a high number of health complications and deaths. MSF calls on Israeli authorities to immediately cease the collective punishment of Palestinians, end their inhumane siege of Gaza, and to uphold their responsibilities as an occupying power to facilitate humanitarian aid at scale.

    For over a month, no aid or commercial trucks have entered Gaza, marking the longest period since the start of the war without any trucks entering the Strip and on 2 March, Israeli authorities imposed a complete siege of Gaza. On 9 March they cut the electricity, needed to power water desalination plants. This total blockade of aid and electricity has deprived people of most basic services, amounting to collective punishment.

    “The Israeli authorities have condemned the people of Gaza to unbearable suffering with their deadly siege,” says Myriam Laaroussi, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza. “This deliberate infliction of harm on people is like a slow death; it must end immediately.”

    The siege has forced MSF teams to start rationing medications such as pain killers, providing less effective treatment or turning patients away. Teams are also running out of surgical supplies such as anaesthetics, paediatric antibiotics and medicines for chronic conditions like epilepsy, hypertension and diabetes. As a result of rationing, our teams in some clinics conduct wound dressings for injured people without providing them with any pain relief.

    In addition, MSF teams are no longer able to donate blood bags to Nasser hospital due to a lack of stock, while the influxes of patients war-wounded by relentless Israeli forces attacks continue.

    The lack of soap and clean water for people means in clinics across the Strip, our teams are seeing an increase of people with skin conditions. In February, MSF teams treated 565 cases of skin conditions at the Al-Hekker clinic in Deir Al-Balah and 1,198 cases at the Al-Attar clinic in Khan Younis. Just in two weeks in March, the number of cases at Al-Hekker had already reached 437—nearly 80 per cent of February’s total—while at Al-Attar, 711 cases had been treated, almost 60 per cent of the number seen in February.

    A Palestinian child with scabies is receiving medical treatment at MSF Mawasi Rafah clinic, south of Gaza Strip, Palestine, March 2025.
    Nour Alsaqqa/MSF

    The blockade has left MSF teams unable to provide medication to treat skin conditions, just small amounts of lotion to alleviate the pain. Skin conditions like scabies require treatment for the entire family to prevent spread and reinfection, but without medications and clean water this is impossible.

    For people with non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, the consequences of the lack of treatment may lead to severe complications, such as permanent disabilities and in some cases even death. Since the blockade, we have only been able to give patients medication to cover their needs for seven to 10 days.

    “I don’t have any blood pressure medication left. My son searched for two days and couldn’t find any,” explains Sobheya Al-Beshiti, a patient of the MSF clinic in Al-Attar, Khan Younis. “What can I do? Stay without treatment? If I don’t take my blood thinner, my nose starts bleeding, and I start coughing blood.”

    During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid, patients in MSF clinics are reporting weight loss and lack of access to proper food.

    “Right now, my blood levels are low, and my weight is also low. There aren’t enough food supplies to help me gain weight or increase my blood levels,” explains a pregnant mother in an MSF clinic in Mawasi, Khan Younis. “The rising prices are a huge problem in the city: people simply cannot afford to buy necessities because of how expensive everything is.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Speeding backwards: Greenpeace slams Coalition commitment to neuter vehicle efficiency standards

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    MELBOURNE, 2 APRIL 2025–Greenpeace Australia Pacific has slammed the Coalition’s promise to neuter the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) by removing fines from the scheme as policy that bends the knee to the petrol car lobby while costing Australians and increasing carbon pollution

    “The NVES finally brought Australia onto the same playing field as other major countries, which have strong standards for the efficiency of cars. Sabotaging this policy by removing penalties shunts us to the back of the pack once again,” said Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy, Greenpeace Australia Pacific. 

    “Removing the thing that makes the NVES an effective policy—penalties for car importers insistent on dumping their most polluting cars in Australia—is a capitulation to the petrol car lobby and overseas companies like Mitsubishi Motors, at the expense of Australian drivers and businesses. 

    “The NVES will prevent 80 million tonnes of car-related carbon pollution from entering our atmosphere by 2035—as much as the entire state of Victoria emits in a year.

    “Emissions from petrol and diesel cars constitute a third of all greenhouse gases in Australia, and the sector is on track to be the top polluter in our economy. There are already low-emissions vehicles for sale around the world that address this challenge. 

    “Giving foreign car companies a free pass to continue selling polluting cars in Australia, which they cannot sell anywhere else, pushes the burden of reducing emissions onto other Australian industries and businesses. 

    “This ill-considered policy U-turn, which flies in the face of a mountain of evidence from around the world on the benefits of strong efficiency standards, will also make it harder for Australians to access more affordable, cheaper-to-run electric cars. 

    “It will keep more polluting cars on our roads for longer, prolonging Australians’ exposure to toxic tailpipe emissions while other countries move quickly towards cleaner, safer cars on their streets. 

    “Removing fines from the NVES and making it essentially unenforceable is like selling a car without brakes, and simply hoping it will stop when needed. Instead of removing this important enforcement mechanism, it is important to ensure that Australia’s car industry stays the course towards lower emissions, and cleaner, more affordable cars.

    “Greenpeace Australia Pacific fought hard to secure this essential legislation, which brought Australia in line with other major economies. We will resist the Coalition’s plans to neuter this legislation every step of the way.” 

    —ENDS—
    For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact Vai Shah on 0452 290 082 / [email protected].

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Week 3 of “Dirty Dems” campaign exposes the Rubio sisters

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    WEST COVINA, CA — (April 1, 2025) As part of the ongoing “Dirty Dems” campaign, Greenpeace USA, in collaboration with the California Working Families Party and Courage California, continues to hold California State legislators accountable for their damaging connections to the oil and gas industry and their failure to support critical climate, economic justice, and progressive priorities.

    This week, the spotlight is on Senator Susan Rubio and Assembly Member Blanca Rubio, who represent Southern California districts, including West Covina, Ontario, Pomona, Baldwin Park, and Glendora. Both have failed to take meaningful action to protect their communities from the harmful impacts of the oil and gas industry after receiving substantial campaign contributions from fossil fuel interests.

    Amy Moas, Ph.D., Greenpeace USA Senior Climate Campaigner, said: “Senator Susan Rubio and Assembly Member Blanca Rubio are textbook examples of ‘Dirty Dems’ who have chosen corporate donors over the people they are supposed to represent. Their failure to take decisive action on critical climate, health, and economic justice issues is a betrayal of their constituents and the values we need in our leaders.”

    Senator Susan Rubio

    Senator Susan Rubio, representing the 22nd Senate District in Southern California, has been serving in the California State Legislature since 2018. During her time in office, Rubio has accepted over $116,000 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, with $74,500 coming in the most recent legislative session alone. She was initially elected with the help of an independent campaign fueled by more than $2.8 million in oil money, illustrating the extent of her ties to the fossil fuel industry.

    Senator Rubio has a troubling pattern of abstaining from votes on key environmental justice and progressive priority bills. Her failure to take a stand on critical climate and public health issues, such as SB 1137 (a bill to reduce pollution from oil drilling in neighborhoods) and AB 1167 (a bill to ensure oil companies pay to clean up idle wells), shows her disregard for the health and safety of her constituents.

    Despite fluctuating scores across some progressive scorecards, Rubio has earned failing grades from groups like Courage California, Sierra Club, and California Environmental Justice Alliance during her time in office. In fact, she consistently scored among the very lowest of Democrats in the State Legislature on California Environmental Voters scorecard every year since first being elected.

    Assembly Member Blanca Rubio “Big Oil Blanca”

    Assembly Member Blanca Rubio, representing the 48th District of Los Angeles’ eastern San Gabriel Valley, has taken over $240,000 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry, including $45,000 in the most recent session. In addition, she has accepted gifts, including sponsored travel from the California Independent Petroleum Association, an industry trade group. These financial ties have earned her the nickname “Big Oil Blanca” from critics.

    Assembly Member Rubio has earned failing grades from environmental and progressive organizations year after year. Since 2019, she has consistently received F grades from Courage California, California Environmental Voters, and the Sierra Club. She has also never scored higher than a D on the California Environmental Justice Alliance scorecard.

    Blanca Rubio has purposefully skipped votes on critical bills aimed at reducing harmful pollutants, such as AB 674, which would address air quality issues related to asthma and cancer-causing chemicals, and SB 1137, which would regulate the harmful impacts of oil drilling in residential areas. Her absences extend to key economic justice measures as well, including bills like AB 2584, which would limit big corporate control of housing, and AB 2666, which would protect Californians from inflated utility rates.

    Holding the Rubio Sisters Accountable

    Both Senator Susan Rubio and Assembly Member Blanca Rubio are the third and fourth Dirty Dems to be named, joining Stephanie Nguyen and Mike Gipson on the growing list. These Dirty Dems have repeatedly chosen to prioritize corporate donations over the well-being of their constituents, but this campaign  will continue to expose these harmful practices and demand that these legislators be held accountable for their repeated failure to act to protect the communities they represent.

    Contact: Gigi Singh, Communications Manager at Greenpeace USA
    (+1)  631-404-9977, [email protected]  

    Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Myanmar: Military cannot ‘ask for aid with one hand and bomb with the other’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Myanmar’s military must refrain from deliberate air strikes and other forms of attack on civilian targets in areas impacted by last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, Amnesty International said today as it called for aid to more quickly reach people in the epicentre of the disaster.

    Testimony gathered by Amnesty in the days following the earthquake corroborates reports that the military has continued its campaign of deadly air strikes, adding to the strain of recovery efforts and the fear and anxiety of survivors.

    Joe Freeman, Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher, said:

    “You cannot ask for aid with one hand and bomb with the other. Carrying out air strikes and attacking civilians in the same region where the earthquake struck is inhumane and shows a blatant disregard for human rights.

    “Human rights are most in jeopardy in situations of crisis and emergency. The Myanmar military and other parties to the conflict must address the immediate and essential needs of all affected communities and ensure that rescue and relief efforts are carried out without discrimination.

    “Priority in the provision of international aid – such as safe and potable water, food and medical supplies – and financial aid should be given to the most vulnerable or marginalised groups of the population.”

    Death toll

    At least 2,065 people have been killed and more than 3,900 injured as a result of the earthquake, according to military-controlled media in Myanmar. The rapid spike in figures from day to day as well as communication challenges have prompted fears of a much larger toll.

    The earthquake epicentre is in Sagaing, a sprawling region in central Myanmar. Significant damage is also being reported in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, the capital Naypyitaw and parts of Shan State and Bago Region.

    The air strikes, which have become a daily fact of life in Myanmar since the 2021 coup, have now hit areas near the focus of earthquake recovery efforts, and in other conflict zones such as Karen and Karenni States.

    The sound is ‘like a chainsaw’

    Since the coup, the military has fought fierce battles with armed resistance groups in Sagaing and in central Myanmar generally, carrying out unlawful air strikes, extrajudicial executions and large-scale burning of homes. In some instances, groups fighting against the military have also been accused of abuses.

    Amnesty spoke to a Myanmar nurse in Nwe Khwe village, which is in Sagaing Region’s Chaung-U township, and a local rescue worker in the same township.

    The rescue worker described taking cover from attacks after the earthquake, which included several on this morning(1 April) and one on the day of the earthquake. These were carried out with manned motorised paragliders, referred to locally as “paramotor attacks,” a new tactic of the Myanmar military in central Myanmar that requires fewer resources like jet fuel.

    The rescue worker told Amnesty:

    “I was in an underground shelter. [During attacks] I can hear the sound of the engine crossing over my village. The paramotor attack noise is like a chainsaw,” the rescue worker said. “It becomes like our daily life, surviving the air strikes. I don’t know why it doesn’t stop yet.”

    The nurse, who is affiliated with the Civil Disobedience Movement which opposes the military through protests and boycotts, also said a paramotor attack occurred in the evening after the earthquake, as well as one on 31 March. There were no fatalities from the paramotor attacks this time, largely because of established early warning systems.  She said:

    “I am not mentally well, everybody in the village is frightened because of the attacks and the earthquake.”

    The opposition National Unity Government, which oversees armed People’s Defense Forces created in the aftermath of the 2021 coup to fight the military, announced a two-week suspension of hostilities starting on 30 March. A separate but aligned armed faction, the Three Brotherhood Alliance, announced a one-month humanitarian pause except in the case of defensive actions, from today.

    ‘The situation is like Covid-19’

    Contrary to previous natural disaster responses that Amnesty has documented, Myanmar’s military has issued a rare appeal for international aid, and Amnesty has received information that aid is getting through to some affected areas. But the picture is mixed, complicated by internet outages and reports of deliveries being blocked or held up.

    In Sagaing town, the capital of the Sagaing Region, Amnesty spoke to three residents. It also reviewed a report on recovery efforts from a coordinating group drawn from Myanmar civil society, which said that in Sagaing town there are rising needs for body bags and quicklime powder, torches, medical supplies and mosquito repellant coils.

    It also said that the military, which largely controls the town, was imposing “strict surveillance” for light vehicles en route to Sagaing from Mandalay. Soldiers are inspecting deliveries, and checks can take longer if they come from other areas in Sagaing that have more connections to resistance groups.

    The residents said most of the town had been damaged and that people do not have regular access to drinking water, food, shelter, medicine, adequate medical treatment or electricity, with some using small solar panels. They said people are sleeping on the streets, using mats, tarpaulin and mosquito nets.

    One resident said:

    “The Myanmar Red Cross is here, and local civil societies based in Sagaing are active and they are functioning. But I don’t see international groups coming into town. They cannot buy food and drinking water because there is no supplier in the town.”

    Another town resident who was helping deliver aid locally said people need dry rations such as canned food and packaged noodles, and that local groups were using their own equipment to carry out search and rescue work.

    International agencies had reportedly been granted access to deliver aid to Sagaing, but no one Amnesty spoke to at the time had seen them in the town as of 31 March.

    A pregnant woman described scenes of horror in the local hospital after the earthquake. She said:

    “The situation in the hospital [Sagaing General Hospital] was just like Covid-19, there are tons of dead bodies in the hospital, without knowing who they are and who they belong to. The hospital just put them in the crematorium.”

    The woman said she was told she needs a c-section but that it needs to be done in Mandalay, which she can’t reach. As of 31 March, she was staying out in the open area of the hospital compound.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Myanmar: Inhumane military attacks in earthquake areas hindering relief efforts

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Myanmar’s military must refrain from deliberate air strikes and other forms of attack on civilian targets in areas impacted by last week’s 7.7-magnitude earthquake, Amnesty International said today as it called for aid to more quickly reach people in the epicentre of the disaster.

    Testimony gathered by Amnesty International in the days following the earthquake corroborates reports that the military has continued its campaign of deadly air strikes, adding to the strain of recovery efforts and the fear and anxiety of survivors.

    “Myanmar’s military, along with all other actors involved in earthquake relief efforts, must ensure that human rights principles are fully respected and that the humanitarian needs of survivors are the top priority,” Amnesty International’s Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman said.

    “You cannot ask for aid with one hand and bomb with the other. Carrying out air strikes and attacking civilians in the same region where the earthquake struck is inhumane and shows a blatant disregard for human rights.”

    At least 2,065 people have been killed and more than 3,900 injured as a result of the earthquake, according to military-controlled media in Myanmar. The rapid spike in figures from day to day as well as communication challenges have prompted fears of a much larger toll.

    The earthquake epicentre is in Sagaing, a sprawling region in central Myanmar. Significant damage is also being reported in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-biggest city, the capital Naypyitaw and parts of Shan State and Bago Region.

    The air strikes, which have become a daily fact of life in Myanmar since the 2021 coup, have now hit areas near the focus of earthquake recovery efforts, and in other conflict zones such as Karen and Karenni States.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Israel/OPT: Killings of paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza must be investigated

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Israel’s genocide in Gaza has resulted in an unprecedented number of aid workers being killed

    Human rights investigators are still unable to access Gaza to monitor alleged war crimes

    ‘Every day of inaction is costing lives in Gaza and further emboldens perpetrators’ – Erika Guevara Rosas

    There must be an independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances in which at least 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers, who went to southern Gaza for a rescue operation, were shot dead after Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicles, said Amnesty International today, reiterating calls for independent monitors to be granted immediate access to the occupied Gaza Strip.

    Those killed included eight Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) health workers, one UNRWA staff member, and six members of the Palestinian Civil Defense. One further PRCS paramedic remains missing.

    Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, said:

    “These men were paramedics and rescue workers who put their lives on the line day after day, braving bombs and bullets, and working in harrowing conditions to save lives. The fact that they were killed while trying to rescue people is deeply distressing and an absolute tragedy.

    “Medical personnel carrying out their humanitarian duties must be respected and protected in all circumstances. Deliberate attacks on medics and humanitarian workers are prohibited by international law and constitute war crimes.

    “When medics and humanitarian workers are stopped from doing their lifesaving work, all victims of conflict suffer. These killings must be independently and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators must be held to account.”

    Israel must allow access to human rights investigators

    Amnesty will continue to investigate the details of this incident. Efforts to investigate violations and crimes under international law in Gaza continue to be severely hampered by Israel’s total siege of the Gaza Strip, including its refusal to allow access to human rights investigators, including forensic experts.

    Continuing, Erika Guevara Rosas said:

    “Israeli authorities must not be allowed to continue to obstruct investigations into atrocity crimes, in defiance of legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice. They must immediately allow for impartial and independent investigations to be carried out and vital evidence to be collected and stored by professional investigators, including those mandated by the UN and the International Criminal Court, as well as those working for Palestinian and international human rights organisations. Without such investigations Israel is denying victims any prospect for justice and reparation.

    “In light of Israel’s brazen defiance of international law, including the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, states cannot continue to remain silent and inactive. They have clear obligations to ensure Israel respects international humanitarian law and to bring an end to Israel’s genocide and other gross violations of international law against Palestinians. Every day of inaction is costing lives in Gaza and further emboldens perpetrators.”

    Investigation needed

    According to a member of the Palestinian Civil Defense interviewed by Amnesty, the victims had travelled to the Hashashin area in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip on 21 March on a joint rescue mission by PRCS and the Palestinian Civil defense. They had gone to the area to provide assistance to a number of wounded people, including a PRCS medic, Mustafa Khafaja, who himself had been injured after going to the area to provide first aid to people injured as a result of Israeli shelling. The PRCS crew had been missing for days before their bodies were found on 30 March in a mass grave after an agonising nine-day search. One of the paramedics was detained by Israeli forces and then released on 23 March.

    The Israeli military said an initial inquiry found that its troops opened fire on vehicles it deemed “suspicious”, acknowledging that they had shot at Palestinian ambulances and fire trucks. Israeli forces had been in full control of the area at the time.

    Amnesty will continue to investigate the details of this incident. Efforts to investigate violations and crimes under international law in Gaza continue to be severely hampered by Israel’s total siege of the Gaza Strip, including its refusal to allow access to human rights investigators, including forensic experts.

    Israel’s genocide in Gaza has already resulted in an unprecedented number of aid workers being killed, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians. In total, since 7 October 2023, at least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including at least 280 UNRWA staff and 34 PRCS staff.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Israel/ OPT: Investigate killings of paramedics and rescue workers in Gaza 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    There must be an independent and impartial investigation into the circumstances in which at least 15 Palestinian medics and rescue workers, who went to southern Gaza for a rescue operation, were shot dead after Israeli forces opened fire on their vehicles, said Amnesty International today, reiterating calls for independent monitors to be granted immediate access to the occupied Gaza Strip. 

    Those killed included eight Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) health workers, one UNRWA staff member, and six members of the Palestinian Civil Defense. One further PRCS paramedic remains missing. 

    These killings must be independently and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators must be held to account. 

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

    “These men were paramedics and rescue workers who put their lives on the line day after day, braving bombs and bullets, and working in harrowing conditions to save lives. The fact that they were killed while trying to rescue people is deeply distressing and an absolute tragedy. Medical personnel carrying out their humanitarian duties must be respected and protected in all circumstances. Deliberate attacks on medics and humanitarian workers are prohibited by international law and constitute war crimes. When medics and humanitarian workers are stopped from doing their lifesaving work, all victims of conflict suffer. These killings must be independently and impartially investigated, and the perpetrators must be held to account,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns. 

    According to a member of the Palestinian Civil Defense interviewed by Amnesty International victims had travelled to the Hashashin area in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip on 21 March 2025 on a joint rescue mission by PRCS and the Palestinian Civil defense. They had gone to the area to provide assistance to a number of wounded people, including a PRCS medic, Mustafa Khafaja, who himself had been injured after going to the area to provide first aid to people injured as a result of Israeli shelling. The PRCS crew had been missing for days before their bodies were found on 30 March in a mass grave after an agonizing nine-day search.  

    One of the paramedics was detained by Israeli forces and then released on 23 March.  

    The Israeli military said an initial inquiry found that its troops opened fire on vehicles it deemed “suspicious”, acknowledging that they had shot at Palestinian ambulances and fire trucks. Israeli forces had been in full control of the area at the time.  

    Amnesty International will continue to investigate the details of this incident. Efforts to investigate violations and crimes under international law in Gaza continue to be severely hampered by Israel’s total siege of the Gaza Strip, including its refusal to allow access to human rights investigators, including forensic experts.  

    “Israel’s continued denial of entry to Gaza for forensic experts and independent investigators, including from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and international human rights organizations like Amnesty International will strengthen impunity and embolden perpetrators of war crimes from all parties,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.  

    “Amnesty International’s research indicates Israel is responsible for war crimes and genocide in Gaza. The Israeli authorities must not be allowed to continue to obstruct investigations into atrocity crimes, in defiance of legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice. They must immediately allow for impartial and independent investigations to be carried out and vital evidence to be collected and stored by professional investigators, including those mandated by the UN and the ICC, as well as those working for Palestinian and international human rights organizations. Without such investigations Israel is denying victims any prospect for justice and reparation.  

    Every day of inaction is costing lives in Gaza and further emboldens perpetrators.

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

    “In light of Israel’s brazen defiance of international law, including the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, states cannot continue to remain silent and inactive. They have clear obligations to ensure Israel respects international humanitarian law and to bring an end to Israel’s genocide and other gross violations of international law against Palestinians. Every day of inaction is costing lives in Gaza and further emboldens perpetrators.”  

    Israel’s genocide in Gaza has already resulted in an unprecedented number of aid workers being killed, the vast majority of whom are Palestinians. In total, since 7 October 2023, at least 408 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including at least 280 UNRWA staff and 34 PRCS staff.  

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Finland: Move to leave convention banning anti-personnel mines could put civilian lives at risk

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Reacting to news that the Finnish government has initiated the process of withdrawing from the Ottawa convention, a landmark treaty prohibiting the use of anti-personnel mines, Esther Major, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Research in Europe, said:

    “The Finnish government’s move to leave the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention is a disturbing backward step that further undermines the global consensus aimed at minimizing civilian harm during armed conflict.

    “Anti-personnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate weapons. They have devastating effects on civilians, sometimes decades after they are deployed, while unexploded anti-personnel landmines can blight whole regions for generations. The use of weapons which are by their nature indiscriminate is prohibited under customary international humanitarian law.

    “This move, which follows the recent withdrawal from the Convention on Cluster Munitions by Lithuania, goes against decades of progress on eliminating the production, transfer and use of inherently indiscriminate weapons. As the world prepares to mark the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action this week, we call on the Finnish government to reverse this decision that will inevitably put civilian lives at risk.”

    Background

    The 1997 Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention (the Ottawa treaty) bans the use, stockpiling, production, and transfer of antipersonnel mines and currently has 164 states parties.

    The Ministers of Defence of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland recently recommended withdrawal from the Ottawa Convention.

    The International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance in Mine Action is on 4 April.

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  • MIL-OSI NGOs: MSF resumes medical activities in central Mali

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has resumed activities in the Nampala region of central Mali, after we had been forced to evacuate our staff on 10 December 2024. This followed violence against our teams and restrictions on our movements, and leaving us no longer able to provide the same support to health facilities. MSF teams are back in the area and are currently working in Nampala health centre, where we plan to expand activities to Nampala’s outskirts to provide free healthcare to the community.  

    Ximena Andrea Campos Moreno, MSF medical manager, describes the prevailing situation and the challenges faced by the teams in bringing healthcare to people.

    What is the general situation in Nampala? 

    The area has been and remains the scene of fighting between the Malian armed forces, supported by their Russian partners, and non-state armed groups. This situation has resulted in frequent displacements of the community as the fighting continues, particularly from the outskirts to the centre of Nampala, to the Tenenkou and Dioura areas, and into Mauritania. In addition, for several months, Nampala was cut off from supplies of food and basic goods. 

    The local people were caught in a trap, and it became virtually impossible to carry out daily activities. Faced with these difficulties, some medical staff also left the town. Today, movements are progressively resuming, but the situation remains unstable and volatile.  

    What are the medical and other health needs? 

    In a scenario where access to healthcare is limited due to insecurity, the lack of qualified personnel, or the limited availability of essential medicines, medical needs are growing. It is, however, essential that people have access to basic healthcare. Today, it is mainly women and children who need medical assistance, particularly to treat the large number of cases of malaria, which can be fatal for children under five and pregnant women. 

    But we are also concerned about the urgent need to treat cases of malnutrition, respiratory infections and the many cases of diarrhoea (due to the shortage of clean drinking water), which are the main illnesses MSF teams are seeing.  

    How can MSF continue to be present in this region? 

    We are working in a complex area, which requires constant contact with all the players at local, regional, and national level to guarantee the safety of our teams and patients.

    Last October, we had to suspend our activities following violence and acts of intimidation against our teams while we were carrying out medical and humanitarian activities for the community. After having held discussions with all the parties involved, we received the necessary guarantees to resume our work at the beginning of November. 

    By December, movement restrictions, stress and fatigue made it increasingly difficult for the teams to stay on site. In order not to let down the people and the medical staff who had stayed on, we managed to send essential medicines and some basic equipment in January to ensure the continuation of basic healthcare. 

    MSF teams returned to the area on 17 March, and we are gradually resuming all our activities. At the health centre, we are carrying out general and prenatal consultations in close collaboration with the Nampala community health association, and referring serious cases to Niono if the security situation permits. In a second phase, the teams will be sent to the outskirts of Nampala as soon as the conditions and safety guarantees are in place.

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