NewzIntel.com

Category: NGOs

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Philippines: Duterte’s appearance at ICC a symbolic moment for ‘war on drugs’ victims

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to former Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s scheduled first appearance at the International Criminal Court, Amnesty International’s Southeast Asia Researcher Rachel Chhoa-Howard said:

    “Rodrigo Duterte’s appearance at the International Criminal Court is a sight families of the thousands of victims of the ‘war on drugs’ in the Philippines feared they would never see. Today shows that those accused of committing the worst crimes may one day face their day in court, regardless of their position.

    “The very institution that former President Duterte mocked will now try him for murder as a crime against humanity. This is a symbolic moment and a day of hope for families of victims and human rights defenders who have for years fought tirelessly for justice despite grave risks to their lives and safety.

    “The Court must ensure that this process plays out with full transparency, including for people following it in the Philippines. It must also ensure that victims, witnesses and their relatives and representatives are fully supported and protected and can effectively participate in the proceedings.

    “Accountability must not stop here – the Philippines government must rejoin the ICC and cooperate fully with the court in this case. It must also initiate long overdue investigations of its own and, where there is evidence, ensure fair trials and prosecutions for all those suspected to be responsible for violations, regardless of their rank or status.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Türkiye: acquittal of Saturday Mothers protesters brings end to an ordeal that has lasted almost seven years

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The 45 protesters were prosecuted after their 700th peaceful vigil for their forcibly disappeared loved ones was banned and violently dispersed in 2018

    This was a “prosecution that should have never seen the light of day, dragged on for years”- Dinushika Dissanayake

    Reacting to the acquittal of 45 members of the Saturday Mothers, prosecuted after their 700th peaceful vigil for their forcibly disappeared loved ones was banned and violently dispersed in August 2018, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe, Dinushika Dissanayake said:

    “Almost seven years after the Saturday Mothers’ 700th peaceful vigil was violently broken up by riot police, 45 people standing trial for participating in the vigil have finally been acquitted and their ordeal ended. A prosecution that should have never seen the light of day, dragged on for years.

    “The authorities must draw the necessary conclusion from this long-awaited outcome: Saturday Mothers/People have the right to meet on Galatasaray Square every Saturday to demand justice for their disappeared loved ones. We call on the Minister of Interior Ali Yerlikaya to ensure that all ongoing restrictions on the Square are lifted immediately and permanently.

    “For more than one thousand Saturdays since 1995, the Saturday Mothers and their supporters have become a powerful symbol of the importance of peaceful protest. We must defend this right even in the face of crackdown, violence, detention and prosecutions.”

    Saturday Mothers

    Members of the Saturday Mothers/People are relatives of victims of enforced disappearances during the 1980s and 1990s who have been holding a peaceful vigil every Saturday at the same spot since May 1995. The 700th vigil, on 25 August 2018, was subject to a ban by the Beyoğlu district governor on the spurious grounds that the authorities had not been notified 48 hours prior to the vigil.  

    Police broke up the vigil using tear gas and water cannons and detained 46 people who were later released but indicted two years later in 2020 on the charge of “attending illegal meetings and marches without weapons and not dispersing despite warning.” The first hearing in the trial, initially of 46 people, took place in March 2021. In 2024, one of the 46 defendants was separated from the case because of their absence from the trial proceedings.  

    View latest press releases

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UN report on Israel’s gender-based violence and genocidal acts against women’s health facilities must spur action to protect Palestinians

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel published today concluding that Israel has systematically used sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence against Palestinians since October 2023 and carried out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians in Gaza by destroying women’s healthcare and reproductive health facilities and blocking access to reproductive healthcare, Amnesty International’s Senior Adviser on gender, conflict and international justice, Lauren Aarons, said:

    “These damning findings are another clear illustration of the devastating impact of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its use of gender-based violence to oppress Palestinian women and girls across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to use sexual violence to perpetuate oppression on Palestinians of all genders, especially in Israeli detention centers.

    “The report exposes yet again the horrors of Israeli atrocity crimes in Gaza, and how they specifically impact women. They follow the findings of Amnesty International’s own December 2024 report which concluded that Israeli authorities committed and are committing genocide in Gaza. Acts that formed part of Israel’s genocide documented by Amnesty International included the ​killing and seriously injuring tens of thousands of women and girls and deliberately subjecting them to conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, in whole or in part.  

    These damning findings are another clear illustration of the devastating impact of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its use of gender-based violence to oppress Palestinian women and girls across the Occupied Palestinian Territory

    Lauren Aarons, Senior Adviser on gender, conflict and international justice

    “Palestinian women in Gaza have been subjected to a range of gendered forms of bodily and mental harm, including reproductive and other gender-based violence.

    ​​“Even after the first phase of the ceasefire came into force horrific conditions of life inflicted by Israel during the offensive have continued to disproportionately affect women and girls. This includes damage and destruction of homes, medical facilities including maternity wards, maternal care clinics and other life-sustaining infrastructure as well as shelters protecting women and girls from gender-based violence. Israel’s decision to completely block entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza for the past 12 days has already exacerbated the catastrophic conditions facing women and girls. Even prior to the imposition of these measures as a clear form of collective punishment, Israel had banned the entry of mobile homes and heavy machinery to remove the rubble. This means that hundreds of thousands of women and girls continue to live in dire conditions in tents or crowded schools, exposed to violence and with scarce access to clean water contributing to a hygiene crisis.

    ​​“Palestinians released from Israeli detention centers have also told Amnesty International that they were subjected to torture and sexual violence while in detention.

    “The publication of the COI report must prompt the international community to take urgent action to protect the rights of​ Palestinian​ women and address gendered crimes being committed against women and men. In addition to a long-lasting ceasefire, urgent measures are needed to repair hospitals, clinics and sanitation facilities, Israel must lift its genocidal siege on the occupied Gaza Strip and restore the electricity supply. It must also repeal its ban on UNRWA, whose work is vital to addressing the humanitarian catastrophe including the needs of women and girls.

    “No discussion of human rights is possible without tackling Israel’s decades long impunity for its violations against Palestinians.  The world must act to ensure justice is a reality for all Palestinians and to restore some faith in international law for all.”

    Background:

    In a December 2024 report Amnesty International documented how Israel during its military offensive has carried out acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention, with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza. These acts include killings, causing serious bodily or mental harm and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction

    The organization has also documented evidence of war crimes by Israeli forces in Gaza including indiscriminate attacks resulting in mass civilian casualties wiping out entire families and destroying residential neighbourhoods.

    The organization has also documented violations of international law by Hamas and other armed groups including launching indiscriminate rocket attacks into Israel as well as deliberate killings of civilians and hostage-taking since 7 October 2023.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Israel/OPT: UN report clearly exposes ‘devastating impact’ of Israel’s gender-based violence against Palestinian women and girls

    Source: Amnesty International –

    ‘The report exposes yet again the horrors of Israeli atrocity crimes in Gaza, and how they specifically impact women’ – Lauren Aarons

    Responding to a report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel published today, which concluded Israel has systematically used sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence against Palestinians since October 2023 and carried out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians in Gaza by destroying women’s healthcare and reproductive health facilities and blocking access to reproductive healthcare, Lauren Aarons, Amnesty International’s Senior Adviser on Gender, Conflict and International Justice, said:

    “These damning findings are another clear illustration of the devastating impact of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its use of gender-based violence to oppress Palestinian women and girls across the Occupied Palestinian Territory and to use sexual violence to perpetuate oppression on Palestinians of all genders, especially in Israeli detention centres.

    “The report exposes yet again the horrors of Israeli atrocity crimes in Gaza, and how they specifically impact women.

     “Palestinian women in Gaza have been subjected to a range of gendered forms of bodily and mental harm, including reproductive and other gender-based violence.

     “Even after the first phase of the ceasefire came into force, horrific conditions of life inflicted by Israel during the offensive have continued to disproportionately affect women and girls. This includes damage and destruction of homes, medical facilities including maternity wards, maternal care clinics and other life-sustaining infrastructure as well as to shelters protecting women and girls from gender-based violence.

     “Israel’s decision to completely block entry of humanitarian aid to Gaza for the past 12 days has already exacerbated the catastrophic conditions facing women and girls.

    “Even prior to the imposition of these measures as a clear form of collective punishment, Israel had banned the entry of mobile homes and heavy machinery to remove the rubble. This means that hundreds of thousands of women and girls continue to live in dire conditions in tents or crowded schools, exposed to violence and with scarce access to clean water contributing to a hygiene crisis.

    “Palestinians released from Israeli detention centres have also told Amnesty that they were subjected to torture and sexual violence while in detention.

    “The publication of the report must prompt the international community to take urgent action to protect the rights of Palestinian women and address gendered crimes being committed against women and men.

     “In addition to a long-lasting ceasefire, urgent measures are needed to repair hospitals, clinics and sanitation facilities. Israel must lift its genocidal siege on the occupied Gaza Strip and restore the electricity supply. It must also repeal its ban on UNRWA, whose work is vital to addressing the humanitarian catastrophe including the needs of women and girls.”

    In a December 2024 report, Amnesty concluded that Israeli authorities committed and are committing genocide in Gaza. Acts included the killing and seriously injuring tens of thousands of women and girls and deliberately subjecting them to conditions calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, in whole or in part. The organisation has also documented violations of international law by Hamas and other armed groups including launching indiscriminate rocket attacks into Israel as well as deliberate killings of civilians and hostage-taking since 7 October 2023.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Ongoing medical needs amid relentless attacks in eastern Ukraine

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    In eastern Ukraine, Dobropillia, Donetsk oblast (region) — less than 20 kilometres from the frontline — has recently faced some of the worst shelling since the escalation of the war in 2022. As attacks continue, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are working to ensure urgent medical care is available to those caught in the violence.

    “We hear heartbreaking stories from our patients,” says Oleksandr Makarevych, MSF Emergency Manager in Ukraine. “People tell us how they ran out of burning houses. Some were trapped inside their flats as the fire spread and couldn’t escape. One woman told us that her neighbours died in the bathroom, where they tried to hide during the attack.”

    A former city of refuge now faces frequent attacks 

    Dobropillia, a city of miners and farmers, was once home to almost 40,000 people. Now, only 20,000 people remain, despite the growing danger. Because of its location, war-wounded and vulnerable people from nearby towns — including Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad, and Kostiantynivka — were evacuated to Dobropillia for emergency medical care. However, now the city is under constant threat. 

    “People are living under permanent stress,” says Thomas Marchese, MSF Programme Director in Ukraine. “Missile attacks have become more frequent. When sirens go off, people have only seconds to reach shelters — and many elderly people, people with disabilities, or families with children cannot make it in time.” 

    “Even in basements, they are not completely safe. If a building collapses, people could be trapped under rubble,” says Marchese. “For the past three years of full-scale war, we’ve witnessed these devastating consequences repeatedly — in Donetsk region, Sumy, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia.”

    MSF assisting in medical evacuations

    Since 2022, MSF ambulances have been working closely with Dobropillia’s hospital, helping to transport patients to safer facilities further from the frontlines. Following the massive attack at the beginning of March, which killed 11 people and injured at least 50, MSF ambulance teams referred 25 patients from Dobropillia to hospitals in Dnipro, five of whom were in critical condition. 

    Building destroyed by shelling in Donetsk region.
    MSF

    Among those evacuated was a woman suffering severe burns to her face and eyes, along with blast injuries and head trauma. She and her husband had briefly left Dobropillia to stay with relatives in Dnipro but returned home to collect belongings — when shelling began.

    “There were so many wounded that even the hospital corridors were filled with patients,” says Serhii Tkachenko, MSF feldsher. “[The patient’s] oxygen levels were dangerously low, so we transported her with oxygen support.” 

    Another patient was a young man with an open fracture to his leg, as well as blast injuries, head, and chest trauma. 

    “He ran to help others after the first explosion but was injured when more shells landed,” says Dr Hennadii Kyslytsia, an MSF doctor. “We managed his pain and monitored his vital signs during the referral.”

    Even if the war ends tomorrow, enormous needs will remain 

    What our teams see in Dobropillia is alarming: burned-out apartment blocks, scorched land, and desperate shortages of essential medicines and services. Local authorities continue to call on residents to evacuate. The nearest transit centre for displaced people is in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovsk oblast, where MSF mobile clinics also operate.

    “Sometimes, patients arrive with severe injuries that were left untreated for two or three days,” says Marchese. “By the time they get to us, their condition is critical.”

    MSF teams will continue to provide emergency care, evacuate the war-wounded, and support hospitals near the frontline. Even if the war ends tomorrow, the humanitarian and medical needs in Ukraine — especially in conflict areas — will remain enormous. People will need housing, access to medical care, and psychological support to recover from trauma and stress.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Rainbow Warrior arrives in Marshall Islands to call for nuclear and climate justice on 40th anniversary of Rongelap evacuation

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    MAJURO, MARSHALL ISLANDS, Tuesday 11 March 2025 — Greenpeace flagship vessel the Rainbow Warrior was welcomed back to the Marshall Islands today, marking the start of a six-week mission around the Pacific nation to elevate calls for nuclear and climate justice; and support independent scientific research into the impacts of decades-long nuclear weapons testing by the US government.[1] 

    Escorted by traditional canoes, and welcomed by Marshallese singing and dancing, the arrival of the Rainbow Warrior marks a significant moment in the shared history of Greenpeace and the Marshall Islands — 40 years since Greenpeace crew evacuated over 300 people from the Rongelap atoll to Mejatto island, after toxic nuclear fallout from the Castle Bravo test rendered their ancestral lands uninhabitable.[2]

    The ship was given a blessing by the Council of Iroij, the traditional chiefs of the Islands; with speeches from Senator Hilton Kendall (Rongelap atoll); Honorable Boaz Lamdik on behalf of the Mayor of Majuro; Farrend Zackious, Vice Chairman Council of Iroij; and keynote address from Minister Bremity Lakjohn, Minister Assistant to the President.

    Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:

    “We’re extremely grateful and humbled to be welcomed back by the Marshallese government and community with such kindness and generosity of spirit. Over the coming weeks, we’ll travel around this beautiful country, bearing witness to the impacts of nuclear weapons testing and the climate crisis, and listening to the lived experiences of Marshallese communities fighting for justice.

    “For decades, Marshallese communities have been sacrificing their lands, health, and cultures for the greed of those seeking profits and power. But at the same time, the Marshallese people have been some of the loudest voices calling for justice, accountability, and ambitious solutions to some of the greatest issues facing the world. Greenpeace is proud to stand alongside the Marshallese people in their demands for nuclear justice and reparations, and the fight against colonial exploitation which continues to this day. Justice – Jimwe im Maron.”

    Over the six-week mission, the Rainbow Warrior will travel to Mejatto, Enewetak, Bikini, Rongelap, and Wotje, undertaking much-needed independent radiation research, and reaffirming its solidarity with the Marshallese people — now facing further harm and displacement from the climate crisis, and the emerging threat of deep sea mining in the Pacific.

    Jobod Silk, a climate activist from Jo-Jikum, a youth organisation responding to climate change, said:

    “Marshallese culture has endured many hardships over the generations. Colonial powers have each left their mark on our livelihoods – introducing foreign diseases, influencing our language with unfamiliar syllables, and inducing mass displacement “for the good of mankind”. Yet, our people continue to show resilience. Liok tut bok: as the roots of the Pandanus bury deep into the soil, so must we be firm in our love for our culture.  

    “Today’s generation now battles a new threat. Once our provider, the ocean now knocks at our doors, and once again, displacement is imminent. Our crusade for nuclear justice intertwines with our fight against the tides. We were forced to be refugees, and we refuse to be labeled as such again.  As the sea rises, so do the youth. The return of the Rainbow Warrior instills hope for the youth in their quest to secure a safe future.”

    Dr Rianne Teule, Senior Radiation Protection Advisor at Greenpeace International, said:

    “It is an honour and a privilege to be able to support the Marshallese government and people in conducting independent scientific research to investigate, measure, and document the long term effects of US nuclear testing across the country.

    “As a result of the US government’s actions, the Marshallese people have suffered the direct and ongoing effects of nuclear fallout, including on their health, cultures, and lands. We hope that our research will support legal proceedings currently underway and the Marshall Islands government’s ongoing calls for reparations.” 

    The Rainbow Warrior’s arrival to the Marshall Islands on March 11 also marks the 14th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Whilst some residents have returned, there are many areas that remain too contaminated for people to safely live.[3]

    ENDS

    Photo and video of the welcome ceremony will be uploaded in the Greenpeace Media Library as the events progress.

    Notes:

    [1] Between 1946 to 1958, the US government detonated 67 nuclear weapons on Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the Marshall Islands. In 1954, the US launched its largest test, Castle Bravo, which impacted the people on Rongelap and rendered the island uninhabitable.

    [2] On Marshall Islands Remembrance Day, Greenpeace calls for nuclear justice and reparations from the United States 

    [3] 14 years since Fukushima nuclear disaster: Greenpeace statement

    For more information or to organise an interview, please contact Kate O’Callaghan on [email protected] or 0406 231 892

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: How women are reducing maternal mortality in Benin story Mar 04, 2025

    Source: Doctors Without Borders –

    Before Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) arrived in the southern department of Couffo, Benin, only a small percentage of pregnant women and women of reproductive age were visiting a health center on a regular basis. Most women were not getting medical check-ups during their pregnancies, and often gave birth at home.

    There was also significant demand for contraception, but around half of women of reproductive age did not have access to it. Maternal and infant mortality rates were high, and some of these deaths could have been prevented with regular medical monitoring.

    Since 2022, MSF teams and partners from the Ministry of Health have been working to ensure long-term and sustainable changes in health care access for communities in Couffo. Today, outreach and health promotion activities in Couffo’s villages are carried out mainly by women trained by MSF. These women have connected health centers in the area with local communities, focusing on women, who are now being monitored on a more regular basis.
     

    Some people thought that a woman who controlled her pregnancies would become sterile. I’ve noticed that people’s minds are slowly changing, when a couple understands that a woman will be in good health if she avoids a pregnancy too soon after the last one.

    Hippolite, health promotion supervisor

    Léonie is the mother of five children. She is one of the women in her village who have been made aware of the good practices to adopt when pregnant to stay healthy. During her last pregnancy, Léonie suffered from fluid retention and swelling in her feet that made it difficult for her to sleep. The herbal infusions she was given had no effect.

    Once she was informed of the importance of medical care during pregnancy, Léonie went to a health center where staff listened to her needs. Because her last pregnancy was particularly difficult, without this medical assistance and a safe delivery of her baby, Léonie could have died. Today, her 7-month-old son, Précieux Magloire, is doing well and also receiving care at the health center.

    MSF midwife Victoire demonstrates how to insert an intra-uterine device during a training session for midwives and state nurses at the Toviklin health center. | Benin 2025 © Adrienne Surprenant/MSF

    Minds are slowly changing about a long-held taboo

    Hippolite supervises health promotion activities in the villages of KTL health zone, which is named after its three communes, Klouékanmè, Toviklin, and Lalo. Part of his job is to train and support women leaders, who are active ambassadors for other people in their villages. The involvement of these women is essential to help inform the community and support them in making decisions to improve their reproductive health.

    “If women don’t know why they need to go to the health center, they won’t go,” said Hippolite. “Medical staff can save lives, but we are also fighting ignorance, which can lead to some people dying.”

    22,211

    prenatal consultations

    3,253

    consultations for access to family planning methods

    9,920

    deliveries, including 4,153 in the hospital, 3,659 in health centers, and 2,108 cesarean sections

    To bring sustainable change within the community, MSF is focusing on providing adequate information about different methods of family planning methods to enable couples to choose if and when they will have their next child.

    “The question of contraception has been a taboo subject in Beninese society for a long time,” said Hippolite. “Some people thought that a woman who controlled her pregnancies would become sterile. I’ve noticed that people’s minds are slowly changing, when a couple understands that a woman will be in good health if she avoids a pregnancy too soon after the last one.”

    MSF launched a project dedicated to improving sexual and reproductive health care for women in Couffo, one of the poorest departments of the country. | Benin 2025 © Adrienne Surprenant/MSF

    Community coordination ensures access to health centers

    Lucienne is one of the 465 leaders trained by MSF. Since she started, she has seen the results in the community, particularly among men. In her village, a tricycle referral system has been set up to take people to the nearest health center. It is mainly the men who manage this system for the women.

    “Before I became involved, I also thought that contraception made people sick and sterile,” said Lucienne. “I understood the reluctance of husbands and their wives. Today, I realize that when contraception is accepted in a household, it avoids many problems between partners.”

    “I was also afraid that women who suffered complications during pregnancy would die,” she continued. “Today, many things have changed for the better.”

    These women leaders play a vital role in reducing maternal mortality, complementing MSF’s awareness-raising activities with their knowledge of the challenges and conditions the communities face and how best to communicate with their peers.

    Jules, an ambulance driver on a tricycle provided by MSF, refers patients from remote villages to the Klouékanmè health center in Couffo. | Benin 2025 © Adrienne Surprenant/MSF

    Contraception contributes families’ well-being

    Felix is the father of six children, the eldest of whom is 15. He and his wife lost two children who were in their early childhood. As one of the 160,000 people reached by MSF teams since the project began, he is now aware of the various methods of contraception. Before, he used to believe that the withdrawal method was enough to prevent pregnancy. Now he understands the importance of spacing births for the well-being of his whole family, and that contraceptive methods are a safe way of achieving this.

    “Denise gave birth five months ago to a baby girl whom we have named Naomie,” said Noutchedehou. “Now we’re going to take good care of the children we already have, and we won’t have any more children. I, in turn, will pass the message on to my children so that this suffering never happens again.”

    Our work in Couffo

    MSF teams have been working in the Couffo department since 2022. In addition to health promotion activities, six health centers have received the support of MSF in the recruitment and training of health staff, rehabilitation, and medical supplies. MSF teams also work in Couffo’s hospital, which receives the most severe cases in the area and we assist a blood bank to ensure that adequate blood supplies are available for anyone in need. MSF supports pre- and postnatal consultations, safe deliveries, safe abortion care, family planning counseling, and assistance for victims of sexual violence.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Through her art: Tales of displaced women story Mar 07, 2025

    Source: Doctors Without Borders –

    In 2024, wars in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, Syria, and beyond forced millions to flee, leaving destruction and despair in their wake. Women, often bearing the heaviest burden of displacement, have had to navigate violence, loss, and uncertainty—all while caring for their families and communities.

    For International Women’s Day on March 8, four artists have brought to life the stories of four displaced women, as shared by MSF staff in places affected by war. Through art, they have transformed these experiences into powerful visual narratives.

    Lebanese illustrator Maya Fidawi reflects on Ezdihar’s story through the lens of her childhood, having grown up during Lebanon’s civil war. Her artwork captures the haunting cycle of fear passed from mother to child. | Lebanon 2025 © Maya Fidawi

    Ezdihar and Maya: Fear passed across generations in Lebanon

    Ezdihar Al Diqar fled the southern suburbs of Beirut with her two children after an airstrike warning from Israel during the war in Lebanon in September 2024. Their first night was spent on the streets before moving to the Azarieh shelter in downtown Beirut. For weeks after, she was still living in fear, as explosions continue just a mile away. Her 14-year-old daughter, Maya, has been forced to grow up too fast amid war and uncertainty.

    Lebanese illustrator Maya Fidawi reflects on Ezdihar’s story through the lens of her childhood, having grown up during Lebanon’s civil war. Her artwork captures the haunting cycle of fear passed from mother to child. 

    Syrian illustrator Amany El Ali brings Amina’s story to life, reflecting on 13 years of war and displacement that have uprooted millions of Syrian women. | Syria 2024 © Amany El Ali

    Amina and Amany: A journey of endless displacement

    In the dead of night, Amina—a Syrian grandmother—fled Homs on a motorcycle with her son, guiding her eight family members across a river for six grueling hours after the announcement of the fall of the previous Syrian government on December 8, 2024. Out of fear of violence and uncertainty, many Syrians and Lebanese living in Syria crossed to Lebanon. Amina was forced to urgently leave her home and to discard their clothes and blankets along the way. While crossing the river, they arrived in Lebanon with nothing but fear and exhaustion.

    Syrian illustrator Amany El Ali brings Amina’s story to life, reflecting on 13 years of war and displacement that have uprooted millions of Syrian women. Her illustration speaks to the collective trauma of those who continue to search for safety.

    Palestinian artist Safaa Odah, who also survived the war in Gaza, channels the grief and terror that mothers in Gaza have endured since October 7, 2023. | Lebanon 2025 © Safaa Odah

    Khadija and Safaa: Five minutes that changed their world in Gaza

    Khadija*, a mother from Gaza, believed her family was in a safe place—until the tanks arrived. In an instant, a shell exploded between them, leaving her son severely injured. At the hospital, she held back tears as her son asked, “Mama, why are they covering Baba’s eyes?” 

    Her husband was gone. Her son, in shock, didn’t speak for 10 days.

    Palestinian artist Safaa Odah, who has also survived the war in Gaza, channels the grief and terror that mothers in Gaza have endured since October 7, 2023. Through her art, she captures the unrelenting cycle of loss that countless Palestinian families continue to face.

    Jordanian artist Aya Mobayedeen illustrates Amira’s silent agony, shedding light on the overlooked crisis in Sudan, where mothers face war, grief, and the collapse of essential healthcare. | Lebanon 2025 © Aya Mobayedeen

    Amira and Aya: A wounded mother in Sudan

    As war broke out in Khartoum, Amira* was days away from giving birth. Three days into the conflict, she delivered her baby in a hospital in Bahri, Khartoum North, only to lose him hours later. Weakened from a painful cesarean section and left without medical care, she resorted to cleaning her wound with hand sanitizer—her only option for survival.

    Jordanian artist Aya Mobayedeen illustrates Amira’s silent agony, shedding light on the overlooked crisis in Sudan, where mothers face war, grief, and the collapse of essential health care.

    *Names have been changed for privacy. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: People in Gaza still need a massive scale-up of humanitarian supplies

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Sarah Vulstyeke is a project coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). She recently returned from the Gaza Strip, Palestine, where she coordinated operations with an MSF team in northern Gaza, where MSF runs mobile clinics to provide medical assistance to people through general consultations, treatment of non-communicable diseases, changing wound dressings, and health promotion. 

    During the first and second weeks of February, MSF mobile clinics were sent to Jabalia camp and Beit Hanoun. Around 1,200 consultations were conducted, with 11.6 per cent being children under five years. Just over 23 per cent of the consultations were upper tract respiratory infections and 169 dressings were done. Sarah describes what our team saw.

    “When we arrived at the first health centre in the north of Gaza in early February to assess the situation, it was a slap in the face for all of us. There was nothing left to assess: we were shocked and felt helpless after realising how much infrastructure, how many buildings and lives, had been destroyed. 

    Right after the ceasefire [which took effect on 19 January 2025], one of our priorities was to look at how we could support access to basic healthcare for people in Gaza, especially in the northern part of the Strip. Jabalia camp had been besieged and heavily bombed by Israeli forces since 6 October 2024, and Israeli authorities dramatically reduced the quantity of essential aid authorised to enter. 

    Tens of thousands of people remained trapped in the north with barely any access to healthcare since last October; while hundreds of thousands returned there after the implementation of the ceasefire during end of January 2025.  

    A crowd of people wait for medical consultations at the MSF-supported Sheikh Radwan healthcare centre in Gaza City. Gaza Strip, Palestine, February 2025.
    Nour Alsaqqa/MSF

    The devastation we found in Jabalia is hard to describe; there was nothing left, only rubble. We tried to assess the conditions of health centres. But we visited the first one, and it was flattened. Then the second, the third… Everything was in ruins and reduced to piles of rubble. It’s breathtaking and heartbreaking. Looking at the scale of the destruction, we had no other choice but to act quickly. 

    The biggest challenge was to start and set up medical activities amid the rubble. It took a week to clear up enough rubble with our rented bulldozer, just to set up a temporary structure. The first week, we parked by the side of the road and began our activities. 

    Later, we were able to set up tents and shelters where patients could wait for their consultation. The weather was freezing, but still hundreds of patients came every day.  

    People in Gaza, as well as our teams, are determined to try to rebuild what was lost, despite the unbearable difficulties they face every day. The situation is still very precarious, and we are really worried about the consequences that a blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza could have. 

    People in Gaza still need an immediate and massive scale-up of humanitarian supplies, and it is unacceptable that an entire population is now once again being prevented from receiving humanitarian aid.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: The women leaders in Cameroon fighting for maternal health story Mar 07, 2025

    Source: Doctors Without Borders –

    Since 2023, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been working with influential local women in Cameroon’s Far North region, where insecurity and local practices can severely affect access to critical health care. As key intermediaries, women known as matrons and mother leaders are fighting against malnutrition and infant mortality, saving lives amid an alarming humanitarian crisis.

    “Many women give birth at home because of fear—fear of insecurity,” said Yeza Aoudi, a matron in the region. “Displaced people are terrified when they encounter armed men. If a woman goes into labor at night, she would rather deliver at home than risk going to the hospital.”

    As one of nine matrons trained and supported by MSF, Yeza helps raise awareness about maternal health, vaccination follow-up, and guiding women toward the medical care they need.

    In 2023, just 49 percent of deliveries occurred in hospitals across Cameroon, while the Far North region saw 18,720 home births. Maternal and neonatal deaths remain shockingly high in both settings, with 595 deaths in communities, nearly equal to the 631 deaths that occurred in hospitals.

    Postnatal consultation in the sexual and reproductive health department of Kourgui Integrated Health Center. | Cameroon 2025 © Vanessa Fodjo/MSF

    A community approach to improving access to health care

    In the Mora health district, where MSF is present, maternal and child mortality persists due to limited access to health care, economic instability, and the consequences of a long-lasting regional conflict.

    In response, MSF has launched an innovative community outreach strategy in which matrons and mother leaders living in the community are key intermediaries in breaking down barriers between community members and medical services, ensuring people can access health care.

    “In the past, matrons were elderly women who delivered babies at home,” said Danielle Zouyane, a midwife supervisor. “Today, their role has evolved. They no longer run home births but identify pregnant women who need care and refer them to the health centers.”

    Cameroon 2025 © Vanessa Fodjo/MSF

    “We matrons know how to detect the first signs of pregnancy. We go to [the pregnant women] to ask what’s wrong and encourage them to go to hospital. We tell them about the benefits of prenatal care for the baby.”

    Yeza, matron

    Mother leaders, meanwhile, play a key role in raising awareness about eating habits and encouraging pregnant and breastfeeding women to visit health centers. They also organize cooking demonstrations using local, affordable foods to fight malnutrition, a dangerous health issue in the region.

    “Every week, we visit different neighborhoods to raise awareness,” said Neche Maïzena, a mother leader. “The main challenge for families with ill children is the distance between them and health centers. But thanks to our efforts, more women are seeking consultations.”

    In 2024, mother leaders and matrons reached close to 36,500 people and referred more than 1,100 patients for various conditions, including prenatal and postnatal care, assisted deliveries, vaccinations, malnutrition, and sexual violence. Of those, 1,025 (91 percent) arrived at the Kourgui Integrated Health Center, a 40 percent increase from 2023.

    A cooking demonstration organized by mother leaders at Kourgui Integrated Health Center on how to make enriched porridge to tackle malnutrition. | Cameroon 2025 © Vanessa Fodjo/MSF

    The measurable impact on communities

    The capacity-building efforts for matrons and mother leaders have led to tangible improvements. Since the matron referral strategy was introduced in 2023, the rate of women attending prenatal consultations in the first trimester increased to almost 10 percent, up from just over 6.5 percent the previous year. Although the figures are still low, this marks a significant leap in improving access to care.

    “Women often hide their pregnancies in the first few months, but with the help of the matrons, we can detect early signs and encourage them to go to the hospital,” said Yeza Aoudi, a matron. “We explain the benefits of prenatal care for their baby.”

    In 2024, MSF provided about 14,500 sexual and reproductive health consultations at the Kourgui Integrated Health Center, and 1,380 deliveries.

    Attendees at a cooking demonstration for mothers. | Cameroon 2025 © Vanessa Fodjo/MSF

    A humanitarian crisis with growing needs

    The ongoing crisis in the Lake Chad basin has worsened humanitarian conditions in the Far North, making access to health care even more critical for both people who are displaced and host communities. Since 2015, MSF has been delivering essential medical and humanitarian aid, including emergency surgery, treatment for malaria and diarrhea, and nutrition and reproductive health services.

    Despite significant progress, the challenges remain immense. However, the dedication of local women proves that lasting solutions are possible—even in the most challenging environments.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Zimbabwe: Ten years without answers since journalist and activist Itai Dzamara’s enforced disappearance 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Ahead of the 10-year anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Zimbabwean journalist and pro-democracy activist Itai Peace Dzamara, Amnesty International calls on authorities to urgently establish an independent, impartial and transparent investigation into his whereabouts. 

    On the morning of 9 March 2015, five men abducted Dzamara from a barber shop in the capital Harare’s Glen View suburb. The men accused him of stealing cattle before handcuffing him and driving off with him in a white truck with concealed number plates. All attempts by relatives and human rights lawyers to establish his whereabouts have been unsuccessful.

    “Itai Dzamara’s family and loved ones have endured ten years without answers. The authorities have ignored calls for information and investigation, including from his wife Sheffra Dzamara,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. “Zimbabwean authorities must urgently carry out an effective investigation into what happened to Itai Dzamara and end their official silence on his case.” 

    Dzamara was a leader of the Occupy Africa Unity Square, a pro-democracy protest group. Two days before his enforced disappearance, Dzamara addressed an opposition rally where he called for mass action against Zimbabwe’s deteriorating economic conditions. 

    “Itai Dzamara’s family and loved ones have endured ten years without answers. The authorities have ignored calls for information and investigation, including from his wife Sheffra Dzamara,”

    Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

    Immediately after Dzamara’s abduction, his wife filed a missing person report at Glen Norah Police Station in Harare. The next day, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights approached the High Court to try to force the state to expend all available resources to investigate and locate Dzamara. 

    The High Court of Zimbabwe ordered police and state security agents to search for Dzamara and report on their progress every two weeks. However, according to his lawyer, none of the security services have fully complied with the order. Police have reportedly not given any substantial information on the details of their supposed investigation when they submitted reports to the court, and have stopped submitting reports. 

    “Authorities have yet to conduct any credible inquiry into Itai Dzamara’s fate or whereabouts,” said Tigere Chagutah. “It is time for the authorities to stop pretending and get serious about finding Itai Dzamara and holding accountable whoever is suspected of responsibility for his enforced disappearance.” 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: JSO judgment shows anti-protest laws must be ‘revised immediately’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Responding to the Court of Appeal’s judgment on the appeal made by 16 Just Stop Oil protesters against their prison sentences for a range of peaceful protests, Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s Director of Campaigns, said:

    “Today’s ruling highlights the urgent need for the UK’s protest laws to be revised.

    “It’s good the Court confirmed that the fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly will always be relevant to the sentencing of peaceful protesters, and it is welcome that some of the sentences in this case have been reduced. But we are in danger of having laws that only allow for protests that don’t bother anybody, and that treat peaceful protest worse than many violent offences. It’s incredibly unjust that peaceful protesters face being locked up for years.

    “We call on the UK government to drop the new anti-protest laws that they have just tabled themselves and institute a fully independent and public review of the protest laws that have been passed in recent years.”

    Policing protest in the UK

    Today’s ruling involved 16 JSO activists from four separate cases. The decision by the court to conduct the hearing as a single, mass two-day event highlighted the significance of this case – it is rare for so many different appeals to be combined.  

    The right to protest in England and Wales has been eroded in recent years, despite being protected under international law. In 2022, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act handed police in England and Wales broad powers to shut down protests and expanded criminal offences and punishments for peaceful protest activities, including a maximum 10-year prison sentence for causing ‘public nuisance’ – the offence at the heart of many of the cases decided today.

    This was followed by the even more draconian Public Order Act 2023 and the particularly controversial Serious Disruption Regulations 2023, regulations that were recently found by the High Court to be unlawful, but which remain in place while the Government pursues an appeal.

    Thanks to this authoritarian legislation, police can define almost any demonstration as “seriously disruptive” and impose restrictions on it. Peaceful tactics like locking on, tunnelling and even causing “serious annoyance” were criminalised. New powers were created to issue orders banning people from even attending protests.  

    There has also been a steep rise in the use of facial recognition technology in the policing of protest. This is despite the UK Court of Appeal concluding in 2020 that the legal framework in place at the time for this technology violated human rights.

    Hundreds of protesters have been arrested. Some have received long custodial sentences and many prosecutions remain pending. Following his visit to the UK in January 2024, the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders warned that environmental activists face a “severe crackdown” due to the repressive legislative framework and introduction of new criminal charges.

    New stop and search powers, including suspicionless stop and search, can be used against people at or on the way to protests. Existing evidence highlights that stop-and-search powers are disproportionately used against Black and other minoritised people, itself a feature of an institutionally racist policing and criminal justice system. The expansion of these powers serves as a gateway for further racialised police encounters.

    Anti-protest rhetoric and stigmatisation

    Climate change and pro-Palestine protesters in the UK have been heavily stigmatised and their actions used in part as justification for further anti-protest legislation. High-ranking officials labelled disruption created by environmental protests as “a threat to our way of life” and described activists as “using guerilla tactics”.

    Now the new government seems intent on following its predecessor, by introducing yet more anti protest measures in its new Crime and Policing bill. These include a power to criminalise the wearing of facial coverings at a protest, risking discrimination against Muslim women and people with health conditions, and the power for police to require foreign nationals such as student protesters to leave the country as a condition of issuing a caution, without any of the due process protections that apply to enforced removals.

    Existing international human rights standards require Governments not to introduce any measures that place disproportionate restrictions on people’s freedom of expression and assembly – it is accepted that protest by its very nature can be disruptive. 

    As well as calling for the scrapping of recently passed laws, Amnesty hopes the Government will move away from previously used stigmatising discourse and rhetoric, fuelling harmful stereotypes and portraying peaceful protesters in a way that fuels hostility. This includes characterising protesters as criminals, terrorists, threats to public order and security, or a nuisance to be crushed. Amnesty also recommends that regular and systematised data collection and reporting on restrictions imposed by authorities, including the police, is undertaken.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Three vaccinations that are critical to women’s health

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Hepatitis E, tetanus and hepatitis B all pose significant but under-reported threats to the health and lives of women and girls, especially in low-income countries with limited access to healthcare. This can also mean life or death for their babies.

    Nyakuola Nguot Gang lives with her extended family in Fangak county, South Sudan, where a deadly hepatitis E outbreak started in 2023 and continued through 2024.  

    “I almost lost my life while I was pregnant, in September,” says Nyakuola. “I thought it was only symptoms of my pregnancy, because my body was aching and I had a fever. I went for a blood test, and that’s when hepatitis E was discovered.”

    Some diseases have far greater negative consequences in women and girls, especially during pregnancy and childbirth. Hepatitis E, a water-borne infection that affects the liver, is one of them.  

    “A lot of people call it the Ebola for pregnant women, because you have a really high mortality rate in pregnant women, although we don’t really understand why it affects pregnant women so much,” says John Johnson, vaccination advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “The mortality rate is around 20 to 30 per cent in pregnancy.”  

    For pregnant women with hepatitis E, the risk of death is highest in the third trimester. 

    Pregnancy is also a critical time for vaccinating women and girls against tetanus if they haven’t been vaccinated before. A serious infection for people of any age, tetanus is deadly for newborns, but protecting the mother is lifesaving for her baby.  

    A third, lesser-known disease of concern is hepatitis B. If not prevented, it has lifelong, and life-limiting, consequences.  

    Both hepatitis B and tetanus pose significant health threats for victims and survivors of sexual violence, who are many times more likely than men to be women and girls.

    The good news is that there are vaccines available, but the reality is that they’re not reaching everyone who needs them, especially the women and girls who are most at risk.

    A groundbreaking vaccination campaign in South Sudan 

    Hepatitis E is the most common cause of acute viral hepatitis, linked to approximately 20 million infections and 70,000 deaths per year. This under-recognised disease predominantly affects people experiencing poverty or disadvantage – and is especially dangerous for pregnant women. It is transmitted through faecal contamination of food and water. Large-scale outbreaks typically occur when water and sanitation conditions are inadequate.

    There is only one vaccine available, HEV 239, developed in China. MSF first piloted its use in an epidemic in Bentiu, South Sudan, in 2022, and through subsequent research has generated strong evidence of its safety and effectiveness.

    Fangak county is one of the most remote and difficult to access areas of South Sudan. With the area inundated by recurrent floods in recent years, its people have had to learn to survive in a changing environment.  

    An MSF vaccinator administers the hepatitis E vaccine to a woman in Hai Matar, Fangak County, in the first round of the campaign. South Sudan, December 2023.
    Gale Julius Dada/MSF

    “We are surrounded by water in all aspects,” says Fangak resident Bhan Gutjiath Wal. “You go to the market, you go through water. You stay at home, there is water too.”    

    But in September 2023, these conditions led to an outbreak of hepatitis E. Within two months, MSF launched only the second vaccination campaign in the world reacting to an active hepatitis E outbreak, and the first-ever during the acute stage of an outbreak in such remote and hard-to-reach communities. This joint undertaking with the Ministry of Health eventually spanned almost a year.

    “It was a personal decision to get vaccinated,” says Nyakuola. “Those who have witnessed people who have been vaccinated and live have made the decision to also get the vaccine.”

    Sharing lifesaving protection against tetanus between mother and baby 

    “Babies, especially in what we call the neonatal period, in their first 28 days – that is when they’re most susceptible to death from certain diseases and infections,” says Isabella Mayes, midwifery activity manager in MSF’s Old Fangak project. “So providing mothers with vaccinations gives their babies a little bit of protection until they can receive their vaccine later in life.”  

    If a woman is vaccinated against tetanus before she gives birth, lifesaving antibodies will transfer through the placenta into the baby’s blood.

    The bacteria that causes tetanus is widespread in the environment. The risk to newborns occurs when the cut umbilical cord is infected, usually due to unsterile tools or conditions.

    Isabella Mayes, midwifery activity manager, performs an ultrasound on a pregnant woman in Fangak county. South Sudan, January 2025.
    Paula Casado Aguirregabiria/MSF

    Known also as lockjaw, tetanus limits a baby’s ability to feed. The rigidity spreads through the whole body, and the baby’s muscles spasm uncontrollably. A baby will need intensive nursing care and isolation in a dark and quiet room to prevent reactive spasms, hospitalised for up to a month. Untreated, some 90 per cent of affected newborns will die.

    An estimated 24,000 newborns died of tetanus in 2021, according to the most recent global data available. While this figure represents a gradual decline over time, it tells us that women and girls continue to miss out on vital vaccinations, antenatal care and safe delivery care, especially in low-income countries.  

    Access to healthcare in South Sudan is extremely limited. MSF’s hospital in Old Fangak is the only facility of its kind providing care to the 20,000 people in the immediate vicinity, as well as in villages only reachable hours away by boat. This includes maternal immunisation as part of antenatal care. 

    Timely protection for victims and survivors of sexual violence

    The value of post-exposure vaccination is highlighted in care for sexual violence. A victim/survivor can be protected against both tetanus and hepatitis B after an assault or rape, but the window of opportunity to kickstart immunity is only 72 hours.

    “We [vaccinate] every patient that had any wounds,” says Renda Kella Dhol, a clinical officer in MSF’s team in Old Fangak. “We just do it immediately to prevent the disease, because [tetanus] is really very serious.”

    Hepatitis B is often transmitted through sexual contact. It is up to 100 times more infectious than HIV.  

    A woman walks in front of the entrance of the MSF hospital in Old Fangak, Jonglei State. South Sudan, December 2023.
    Gale Julius Dada/MSF

    “We don’t know the status of the perpetrator,” says Dhol. “That’s why we provide hepatitis B [vaccine] to prevent the patient from being infected by hepatitis B.”

    Hepatitis B virus often causes a long-term infection. It is a major public health problem, with an estimated 254 million people chronically infected and 1.1 million deaths worldwide in 2022 from hepatitis B-related liver disease, including liver cancer.  

    A woman can also unknowingly pass it on during childbirth to her baby, who will also need vaccination to avoid a 90 per cent likelihood of death.

    To raise awareness about sexual violence and the medical and psychological care available, MSF conducts health promotion in schools and other places where people gather, among community leaders and with the police.  

    Dhol acknowledges people are afraid of discussing the topic of sexual violence, something our teams try to dispel.  

    “We told them in song: Don’t be afraid. We are here for you. We are going to support [you]. It will never be [revealed] to everybody,” says Dhol. “But we need the right for you to have the medication and the treatment to prevent anything that might have happened during this, because it’s not your fault, and it’s happening everywhere in the world.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Chinese International Women’s Day activist: ‘Feminism is a way of life’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Li Tingting was one of five feminist activists arrested by Chinese police for organizing a campaign highlighting sexual harassment ahead of International Women’s Day 2015. Ten years on, she assesses a decade of women’s rights progress – and setbacks – in China.

    It was March 2015, and our plan was simple. My four fellow activists and I would distribute stickers on subways and buses in cities across China to raise public awareness about sexual harassment. Our message was clear: sexual harassment is not a matter of “bad luck” or something to be silently endured. It is a social issue that must be addressed and resolved.

    But on the eve of our action, and two days before International Women’s Day (IWD) 2015, we were arrested and detained for 37 days, on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. We became known as the ‘Feminist Five’.

    This is now seen as a significant moment in China’s feminist movement. But for me personally, the arrest also had a profound impact.

    I never anticipated being detained so quickly. During my time in custody, I reminded myself every day to stay strong, persistent, and patient, believing firmly in my innocence. After my release, I carried the trauma of my experience, but I also found support from both international and domestic allies, and from my family. When my parents agreed to an interview with Al Jazeera, the police surrounded our village, blocking foreigners from entering. They detained my parents in a house, forbidding them from leaving or going to work. My parents were terrified, yet they did not place much blame on me.

    This experience profoundly deepened my understanding of China’s censorship system and the political sensitivity surrounding feminist issues. Feminism had been completely stigmatized as a dangerous political ideology, a ‘threat’ that needed to be contained.

    The All-China Women’s Federation (an off-shoot of the Chinese Communist Party) even went so far as to label feminism as a “Western ideology,” advocating instead for adherence to their interpretation of Marxist views on women and deliberately distinguishing it from Western feminist principles.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Senegal: Authorities must deliver justice to victims of violent repression of protests since 2021 

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The Senegalese authorities must deliver justice, truth and reparation to the thousands of victims of the violent crackdown on protests between 2021 and 2024, said Amnesty International on the first anniversary of a law granting an amnesty to security forces.  

    The amnesty law, passed on 6 March 2024, covers all acts likely to be classified as crimes or offences relating to ‘demonstrations or politically motivated events’, which took place between 1 February 2021 and 25 February 2024. During this period, during protests triggered by the arrest of then opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, security forces routinely deployed excessive and lethal use of force against protesters. According to figures gathered by Amnesty International and other civil society organizations, at least 65 people were killed, the majority by firearms, with at least 1,000 wounded. A further 2,000 people were arrested.  

    “Justice, truth and reparation require that security forces allegedly responsible for excessive and illegal use of force during protests be prosecuted. The amnesty law constitutes an obstacle that must be removed by the current Senegalese authorities, as they pledged to do,” said Marceau Sivieude, Amnesty International’s interim regional director for West and Central Africa. 

    Justice, truth and reparation require that security forces allegedly responsible for excessive and illegal use of force during protests be prosecuted.

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

    “The financial assistance paid in 2024 to some of the victims of detentions and announced in 2025 to families of people killed during protests is a first step. However, it does not meet their need for justice, nor does it constitute a guarantee that such events will not be repeated. Senegalese authorities must repeal the amnesty law and provide justice to all victims of human rights violations during protests,” said Seydi Gassama, executive director of Amnesty International Senegal.    

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: GTA Project Gas Leak – BP Oil Company in the Dock

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    Dakar, [06 March 2025] – Greenpeace Africa expresses its deep concern and outrage over the gas leak detected at the Grand Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) field, operated by BP off the coast of Senegal and Mauritania.  

    Although BP has acknowledged the incident,  the company’s assertions regarding a “low flow” and “negligible” impact fail to obscure the significant risks that offshore hydrocarbon extraction presents to marine ecosystems and coastal communities. 

    “BP is once again demonstrating its utter disregard for marine life and coastal communities. This leak from the GTA field cannot be considered an accident, it is simply the predictable result of an industry that puts its profits before our fragile ecosystems and the survival of local populations,” says Dr. Aliou Ba, Oceans Campaigns Lead at Greenpeace Africa.  

    The GTA field is home to the largest deep-water coral reef, a unique ecosystem in the world. ” A single spill can wipe out decades of marine biodiversity, contaminate food webs and destroy the habitat of hundreds of species. The impacts will extend far beyond the drilling areas, affecting species migration, marine reproduction and the ecological balance of the entire coastal region of Mauritania and Senegal.”

    We are also calling out  the paternalism and the total lack of transparency shown by BP in its communication with local populations. The company must stop procrastinating and immediately publish independent data on the true extent of this leak and the measures taken to address it.  

    “BP’s statement is more than an ethical breach, it is a denial of basic human rights. Local communities have an inalienable right to information on the risks that threaten their environment and their survival.” insists Dr. Aliou Ba.  

    Greenpeace Africa calls on the governments of Senegal and Mauritania to insist on complete transparency from BP and to establish robust systems for monitoring and mitigating environmental risks associated with gas extraction. In fact, “a nation’s sovereignty is defined by its capacity to safeguard its citizens and their rights. It is crucial for the authorities to take action and ensure BP is held accountable.”

    Faced with the threat of yet another ecological disaster orchestrated by the oil companies, Greenpeace Africa will remain vigilant and continue to demand justice for the environment as well as for the affected communities.

    Press contacts: Luchelle Feukeng – Communications and Storytelling Manager
    Mail: [email protected]

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: In Haiti, escalating violence increases displacement

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Since 24 February, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams in Haiti have witnessed a surge in violence, increasing the number of wounded people and medical needs. Clashes between armed groups and police are intensifying, leaving people trapped under constant threat of crossfire. Today, 85 per cent of the capital, Port-au-Prince, is under the control of armed groups, and movement through many neighbourhoods puts lives at risk.

    From 24 February to 2 March, MSF medical teams at the Turgeau emergency centre treated 314 patients, including 90 direct victims of violence – double the usual number. Some patients requiring surgery were transferred to the MSF hospital in Tabarre, where the trauma capacity was expanded from 50 to 75 beds. For the past 10 days, the hospital has been running at near full capacity, with teams working under extreme pressure to admit new patients.

    Since 14 February, attacks by armed groups in several neighbourhoods of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area have forced over 24,000 people to flee, and this number continues to rise amid the ongoing violence. As of today, the International Organisation for Migration estimates that more than 180,000 internally displaced people are living in over 140 sites. These vulnerable people, some of whom have been displaced multiple times, are seeking refuge in makeshift camps where access to clean water is either extremely limited or completely non-existent.

    For over a month, the suspension of US funding has deprived many humanitarian organisations of their resources, forcing groups like Solidarités International to suspend the distribution of drinking water in displacement camps. According to the NGO, in these camps, displaced people are trying to survive on just one litre of water per day. This is far below the international emergency standard, which recommends 15 litres per person per day. In response, we are currently implementing a water distribution system via tanker trucks to provide water for more than 13,000 people living in four camps.

    A woman, injured during a wave of violence that swept Port-au-Prince in February and March 2024, rests her leg with external fixators attached on a hospital bed in MSF’s hospital in the Tabarre neighbourhood. Haiti, March 2024.
    Luce Cloutier/MSF

    “We have identified more than 100 displacement camps in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, but the scale of this crisis far exceeds what MSF can respond to alone, especially with the rainy season approaching,” warns Christophe Garnier, MSF’s head of mission in Haiti.

    With the imminent arrival of the first rains, sanitation systems are flooding, hygiene conditions are deteriorating, and the risk of deadly disease outbreaks, including cholera, is rising. UNICEF estimates that more than 180,000 displaced people are sheltering in over 100 sites, while 140 additional sites remain unassessed.

    “The humanitarian response plan in Haiti is severely underfunded, even as the conflict escalates and thousands of people are repeatedly forced to flee, seeking refuge in makeshift camps with limited access to basic services such as water and sanitation,” says Garnier. “Without urgent action, the situation will turn into a humanitarian catastrophe, as relentless violence continues to deepen the suffering of an already exhausted community.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Global: Electric shock equipment widely abused by law enforcement agencies due to alarming lack of regulation

    Source: Amnesty International –

    States and companies are manufacturing, promoting and selling electric shock equipment that is being used for torture and other ill-treatment, said Amnesty International, in a new report calling for a global, legally-binding treaty to regulate the unchecked production of and trade in law enforcement equipment.

    “I Still Can’t Sleep at Night” – The Global Abuse of Electric Shock Equipment, documents how law enforcement agencies are using inherently abusive direct contact electric shock weapons – including stun guns and electric shock batons– on the street, at borders, in migrant and refugee detention centres, mental health institutions, police stations, prisons, and other places of detention.

    These inherently abusive devices, which deliver painful shocks at the press of a button, have been used against protesters, students, political opponents, women and girls (including pregnant women), children and human rights defenders, among others. Survivors have suffered burns, numbness, miscarriage, urinary dysfunction, insomnia, exhaustion and profound psychological trauma.

    The report also looks at the escalating misuse of Projectile Electric Shock Weapons (PESWs), which can have a legitimate role in law enforcement, but are often misused. Cases include the unnecessary and discriminatory use against vulnerable groups resulting in serious injuries and in some cases even death.

    Direct contact electric shock weapons can cause severe suffering, long-lasting physical disability and psychological distress.

    Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International

    “Direct contact electric shock weapons can cause severe suffering, long-lasting physical disability and psychological distress. Prolonged use can even result in death,” said Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s researcher on military, security and policing issues.

    “PESWs are being used against individuals who pose no risk of violence, simply for punishment or compliance with orders. They are also being used in direct contact ‘drive stun’ mode, which should be prohibited. Despite the clear human rights risks associated with their use, there are no global regulations controlling the production of and trade in electric shock equipment. Direct contact electric shock weapons need to be banned immediately and PESWs subject to strict human-rights-based trade controls.”

    The extensive report draws on research carried out by Amnesty International from 2014 to 2024 in over 40 countries across all regions across the world, where cases involving torture and other ill-treatment using electric shock equipment have been documented.

    Vulnerable groups targeted by electric shock weapons

    Testimonies gathered by Amnesty International are harrowing.

    During the 2022 “Woman Life Freedom” uprising in Iran, the military unit IRGC Basijbattalion forced several boys to stand with their legs apart in a line alongside adult detainees and administered electric shocks to their genitals with stun guns.

    In another case, several schoolboys were abducted for writing the protest slogan “Woman Life Freedom” on a wall. One of the boys told Amnesty International: “They hit my face with the back of a gun, gave electric shocks to my back, and beat me with batons on the bottom of my feet and hands…”

    PESWs have often been used as de facto direct contact electric shock weapons when deployed in “drive stun” mode.

    “I was lying on the ground and still they have used tasers on me three times, and at the same time they beat me with the batons.

    Detainee from Sub-Saharan Africa

    Recounting a raid by border guards on the Medininkai detention centre in Lithuania on 2 March 2022, one detainee from Sub-Saharan Africa said: “I was lying on the ground and still they have used tasers on me three times, and at the same time they beat me with the batons.” Another described being threatened by police officers who placed a “taser” on her forehead, telling her “‘Shut up or I will shoot you!’”

    “Even when used as a stand-off weapon, PESWs have been linked to serious injuries and deaths,” said Patrick Wilcken. “These include dart lacerations and penetration of the skull, eye, internal organs, throat, fingers and testis; electrical discharge induced burns, seizures and arrythmias; and a variety of injuries and deaths from falls.”

    Amnesty’s report reveals patterns of PESWs’ discriminatory deployment against racialized and marginalized groups, such as young Black men. In April 2024, police in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, were filmed using a TASER directly on the leg of a Black protester at a Palestine solidarity demonstration while he was pinned to the ground by three police officers and handcuffed.

    “Given the high risks of primary and secondary injuries, the use of PESWs must be set at a high threshold. These weapons should only be used only in situations involving a threat to life or risk of serious injury which cannot be contained by less extreme options,” said Patrick Wilcken.

    The urgent need for prohibitions and trade regulation

    At least 197 companies from all regions manufactured or promoted direct contact electric shock equipment for law enforcement between January 2018 and June 2023 – with most companies based in countries such as China, India and the USA.

    According to US-based Axon Enterprise, Inc., their TASER brand models are currently used by over 18,000 law enforcement agencies in more than 80 countries.

    “There is an urgent need for a legally-binding treaty which would prohibit inherently abusive electric shock equipment and strictly control the trade in PESWs,” said Patrick Wilcken.

    “Companies should implement robust human rights due diligence and mitigation measures to ensure their products and services are not being systematically misused for torture or other ill-treatment. This includes ceasing production of direct contact electric shock devices and removing the ‘drive stun’ function from PESWs.”

    Amnesty International, along with a global civil society network of over 80 organizations worldwide, is campaigning for the negotiation of a Torture-Free Trade Treaty that would introduce global prohibitions and controls on a wide range of law enforcement equipment, including electric shock weapons and equipment.

    Background

    • In September 2017, the EU, Argentina and Mongolia launched the Alliance for Torture-Free Trade at the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The Alliance currently comprises 62 states from all regions of the world pledging to “act together to further prevent, restrict and end trade” in goods used notably for torture or other ill-treatment. In October 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture presented a thematic report on the torture trade at the UNGA which argued for a legally binding instrument to regulate the production of and trade in law enforcement equipment and included lists of goods considered prohibited and controlled.
    • This is one of a series of in-depth research reports showing the devastating human rights impact of law enforcement equipment; previous reports include work on tear gas, batons, rubber bullets, and the trade in less lethal weapons used to repress protesters.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: International Women’s Day: The world must resist mounting attacks on gender justice

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Ahead of International Women’s Day, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard, said:

    “The significance of International Women’s Day 2025 cannot be overstated. It is no longer a case of addressing unfinished business on the gender justice front, but one of bracing ourselves to resist active regression and a mounting assault on our rights.

    “Thirty years ago, 189 governments came together at the Fourth World Conference on Women to adopt the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a groundbreaking blueprint for strengthening women’s rights endorsed by thousands of activists. Despite significant progress since then, the world has failed to fully deliver on all the promises. From rape and femicide to coercion, control and assaults on our reproductive rights, violence against women and girls still threatens their safety, happiness and very existence in a multitude of ways.

    “And crucially, we are now going backwards. The aggressive patriarchal crusade led by President Trump and other powerful leaders against the rights and bodily autonomy of women and gender-diverse people has already had devasting consequences not just in the United States but all over the world. By dismantling domestic efforts to tackle gender-based, racial and other forms of discrimination, erasing recognition of transgender identity, and ending international funding for abortion counselling or referrals, the US administration is shamefully erasing years of hard-fought gains.

    “Let us be clear, this trend has deeper roots than President Trump’s recent election. For several years now, brazen anti-rights movements have conspired to turn back the clock to an age when patriarchal oppression was the norm. We cannot afford to be complacent in the face of this gathering storm, for women, girls and LGBTQI+ people are under attack the world over.

    Despite suffering setbacks and facing countless attempts to block, divide and undermine us throughout history, feminist, LGBTI+ and grassroots movements keep marching forward.

    Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard

    “Amnesty International calls on states and non-state actors who believe in universal values and a rule-based international order to resist this accelerated and well-resourced attack against women’s rights. We call on them to strengthen protections of women, girls, LGBTQI+ people and other marginalized groups against gender-based violence. We urge them to recognize and support the vital work of all women human rights defenders and all those on the frontlines of the fight for sexual and reproductive rights, and to implement concrete measures to protect and empower them.

    “We appeal to all to respect sexual and reproductive rights and prevent rollbacks, including by revoking any laws that criminalize or punish people for exercising these rights, as well as fully decriminalizing, providing and funding universal access to abortion.

    “Finally, this International Women’s Day, Amnesty International reiterates its call on states to recognize gender apartheid under international law as a crime against humanity. Doing so would fill a major gap in the global legal framework and help to combat institutionalized and systematic domination and oppression on the basis of gender, no matter where it occurs.

    “Despite suffering setbacks and facing countless attempts to block, divide and undermine us throughout history, feminist, LGBTI+ and grassroots movements keep marching forward. We may be walking a rocky path, but we will never stop fighting for a world where women, girls and gender-diverse people are free to enjoy the full range of human rights without discrimination or fear of reprisal.”

    Agnès Callamard is available for interviews on women’s rights and gender justice around International Women’s Day.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Egypt: Detainees punished for protesting their detention in cruel conditions

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Egyptian authorities must end their reprisals against prisoners in 10th of Ramadan Prison for their hunger strike to protest their arbitrary detention and demand an end to their cruel and inhuman detention conditions, Amnesty International said today.

    Since early January, a number of detainees at 10th of Ramadan (6) Prison started a hunger strike to demand the release of individuals held in pretrial detention for more than six months, the right to outdoor exercise, full visitation rights, and the removal of the National Security Agency (NSA) officer in charge of the prison, whom they accuse of being abusive. In the aftermath of the strike, authorities transferred at least three detainees from 10th of Ramadan (6) Prison to prisons notorious for their harsh detention conditions, after punitively confiscating their personal belongings.

    “Instead of addressing the abysmal detention conditions in the 10th of Ramadan Prison, the authorities are trying to silence prisoners protesting these conditions by punishing them. Even when prisoners are held in newly built, modern prisons such as 10th of Ramadan, they still suffer abuse at the hands of prison authorities who operate without adequate oversight or accountability,” said Mahmoud Shalaby, Egypt Researcher at Amnesty International.

    “Instead of addressing the abysmal detention conditions in the 10th of Ramadan Prison, the authorities are trying to silence prisoners protesting these conditions by punishing them” – Mahmoud Shalaby, Egypt Researcher

    “The Egyptian authorities must ensure that conditions of detention are humane and in line with international law and standards, including the Nelson Mandela Rules. They must respond to longstanding calls by Amnesty International and Egyptian human rights defenders to allow independent Egyptian and international observers to have unfettered and unannounced access to prisons and to monitor detention conditions in the country.”

    Two women family members of the transferred detainees told Amnesty International that authorities had moved their relatives to prisons located hundreds of kilometres away from their families. The transfer to remote prisons, known as “Taghriba” (internal exile), is a common punitive measure used by the authorities to punish prisoners and render visitation even more costly and burdensome for their families.

    “When they escorted him from his cell at 10th of Ramadan (6) Prison, he thought they were finally taking him to the hospital for long overdue surgery. Instead, they were transferring him to another prison,” a relative of one of the detainees told Amnesty International. She said that he was punished solely for attempting to send a letter to a political party that he is a member of, urging them to advocate for his release.

    The third detainee went on hunger strike on 29 January to protest his transfer. His lawyer told Amnesty International that upon transfer, he was placed in an overcrowded cell, where detainees are forced to sleep in shifts. On 18 February, authorities failed to bring him to his pretrial detention renewal session, however, judges renewed his detention in his absence, without providing any justification. On 1 March, his wife posted on Facebook that he had ended his strike and remains hospitalized within the prison.

    Brutal detention conditions

    Three lawyers and three relatives of detainees held at 10th of Ramadan (6) Prison told Amnesty International that all inmates inside their wards are totally deprived of sunlight because they are not permitted daily exercise outdoors as required by the Mandela Rules. Nada Mougeeth, the wife of arbitrarily detained cartoonist Ashraf Omar, said that he has not seen the sun in seven months. According to Nada and the relatives of the two transferred prisoners, detainees are confined to their cells for 23 hours a day. They are allowed a maximum of one hour of exercise in a corridor inside the building where they are held.

    Under Egypt’s Internal Bylaws on Prisons, pretrial detainees are allowed two hours of exercise out of their cell daily.

    On 3 February, economist Abdel Khalek Farouq, also held in 10th of Ramadan prison for political reasons, told prosecutors that after he complained to prison officials about not being allowed to exercise in sunlight, he was moved, along with two other detainees, to another cell in an isolated and empty ward, according to a member of his family. He also said that a police officer threatened to transfer him to Sohag Prison, located around 500 kilometres away from Cairo where his family live.

    Nada and the two relatives told Amnesty International that family visits to the prison are limited to only 20 or 30 minutes once per month, except if there is an exceptional visit. This violates the prison bylaws, which provides for weekly one-hour visits for pretrial detainees and twice monthly visits for convicted prisoners. Some detainees are denied family visits altogether. For instance, Anas al-Belgaty, who has been arbitrarily detained for 11 years solely for his family affiliation, has received no visits since his transfer to 10th of Ramadan (2) prison in June 2023.

    Nada and the two relatives also reported being frequently subjected to invasive body searches by female guards. They said that the guards search women twice before they enter the visit hall, including through placing their hands inside the women’s clothing, touching their bras.

    They also reported that prison guards inspect the food brought by families using their bare hands in an unhygienic manner. Food brought by families is the main source of nutrition for detainees due to the lack of quality or insufficient portions provided by the prison.

    Background

    10th of Ramadan Prison began to operate in 2023 amid a public relations campaign by the government promoting it as a step toward improving detention conditions.

    On 12 January, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) published a statement about the deteriorating detention conditions at 10th of Ramadan 6 Prison. Following this statement, on 19 January, prosecutors opened an investigation into prominent human rights defender Hossam Bahgat, executive director of EIPR, on charges of “spreading false news” and “aiding and funding a terrorist group.”

    Based on research into 16 prisons across Egypt, Amnesty International previously found that prison officials in Egypt are subjecting prisoners of conscience and others held for political reasons to torture and other  cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment through conditions of detention and are deliberately denying them health care to punish dissent.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Global: Electric shock equipment widely abused by law enforcement agencies due to alarming lack of regulation – new report

    Source: Amnesty International –

    40 countries including the UK where cases involving torture and other ill-treatment using electric shock equipment have been documented

    197 companies manufactured or promoted direct contact electric shock equipment for law enforcement – most companies based in China, India and the USA

    Survivors have suffered burns, numbness, miscarriage, urinary dysfunction, insomnia, exhaustion and profound psychological trauma

    Harrowing testimonies of people of electric shock equipment used against people

    ‘They hit my face with the back of a gun, gave electric shocks to my back, and beat me with batons on the bottom of my feet and hands…’ – schoolboy in Iran

    In the UK, Tasers were drawn, aimed or discharged 33,232 times between April 2023 to March 2024

    States and companies are manufacturing, promoting and selling electric shock equipment that is being used for torture and other ill-treatment, said Amnesty International in a new report calling for a global, legally-binding treaty to regulate the unchecked production of and trade in law enforcement equipment.

    The 72-page report – “I Still Can’t Sleep at Night” The Global Abuse of Electric Shock Equipment – draws on research carried out by Amnesty from 2014 to 2024 in over 40 countries including the UK, where cases involving torture and other ill-treatment using electric shock equipment have been documented.

    Law enforcement agencies are using inherently abusive direct contact electric shock weapons – including stun guns and electric shock batons– on the street, at borders, in migrant and refugee detention centres, mental health institutions, police stations, prisons, and other places of detention.

    The devices, which deliver painful shocks at the press of a button, have been used against protesters, students, political opponents, women and girls (including pregnant women), children and human rights defenders, among others. Survivors have suffered burns, numbness, miscarriage, urinary dysfunction, insomnia, exhaustion and profound psychological trauma.

    The report also looks at the escalating misuse of Projectile Electric Shock Weapons (PESWs) which can have a legitimate role in law enforcement but are often misused. Cases include the unnecessary and discriminatory use against vulnerable groups resulting in serious injuries and in some cases even death.

    Trade fairs in the UK

    In September 2024, Amnesty and the Omega Research Foundation found that a British company, The Squad Group Ltd led by retired police officers – including a former Assistant Chief Constable – were caught on camera demonstrating electric-shock torture equipment at a trade fair in Birmingham.

    The revelations raised serious questions about the enforcement of laws in relation to the prohibition of torture equipment as well as the staging of security equipment trade events. The trade in direct-contact and body-worn electric-shock weapons is illegal under laws regulating the arms and security trade, with UK companies and nationals banned from importing, exporting or in any way promoting these goods anywhere in the world. Electric-shock weapons are prohibited under The Trade in Torture etc. Goods (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, and current Government export control guidance clearly states that all trading activity, including promotion and marketing of these goods anywhere in the world, is prohibited.

    More information about The Squad Group Ltd here.

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

    “It’s shocking that prohibited torture equipment is openly being promoted and demonstrated by a UK company.

    “Despite raising this case directly with the UK government in September last year, no satisfactory answers have been provided to shed light on how these electric shock weapons have been able to be advertised, promoted and demonstrated despite seemingly robust legislation banning these activities. Alarmingly, since first alerting the authorities to this case, it has become clear that they have been demonstrated to several UK policing bodies.

    “Bringing any direct-contact electric-shock weapon into the UK must surely be a serious breach of current UK arms trade regulations that have been in place since prohibitions on electric shock weapons were first introduced by then Labour Foreign secretary Robin Cooke in 1997. To this day, these electric shock weapons are still being promoted for sale, suggesting that our existing rules are either not being properly enforced or are riddled with loopholes.”

    Tasers used in the UK

    In the latest use of force figures for England and Wales published by Home Office for April 2023 to March 2024, Tasers were used – that is drawn, aimed or discharged – a total of 33,232 times and police threatened to use Tasers against children 2,895 times with 66 charges. Five of those incidents, officers threatened to use Tasers against children under the age of 11.

    Tasers were used on Black people at a rate of 4.2 times higher than someone from a white ethnic group in England and Wales (excluding the Metropolitan Police). In the MET police area, Tasers were used at a rate of 4.4 times higher when percentages of Taser use by ethnicity were compared with the breakdown of ethnic groups in the general population in the 2021 Census. According to the Independent Office for Police Conduct found that Black people were more likely to be tasered for prolonged periods (over 5 seconds) than white people.

    Sacha Deshmukh added:

    “The police have a disturbing record of misusing Tasers, using them disproportionately against people from minority ethnic communities and those suffering from mental health crises, and also when people have been running away from officers and presenting no risk to them or the public.  

    “Tasers are potentially lethal weapons and they should only be made available to properly-trained specialist officers, and not normalised as a piece of weaponry available to every police officer operating on our streets.”  

    More information about Tasers used in the UK from page 30 in the report.

    Electric shock weapons used around the world

    During the 2022 “Woman Life Freedom” uprising in Iran, the military unit IRGC Basij battalion forced several boys to stand with their legs apart in a line alongside adult detainees and administered electric shocks to their genitals with stun guns. In another case, several schoolboys were abducted for writing the protest slogan “Woman Life Freedom” on a wall. One of the boys told Amnesty:

    “They hit my face with the back of a gun, gave electric shocks to my back, and beat me with batons on the bottom of my feet and hands…”

    PESWs have often been used as de facto direct contact electric shock weapons when deployed in “drive stun” mode. Recounting a raid by border guards on the Medininkai detention centre in Lithuania on 2 March 2022, one detainee from Sub-Saharan Africa said:

    “I was lying on the ground and still they have used tasers on me three times, and at the same time they beat me with the batons.” Another described being threatened by police officers who placed a “taser” on her forehead, telling her “‘Shut up or I will shoot you!’”

    Amnesty’s report reveals patterns of PESWs’ discriminatory deployment against racialised and marginalised groups, such as young Black men. In April 2024, police in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, were filmed using a Taser directly on the leg of a Black protester at a Palestine solidarity demonstration while he was pinned to the ground by three police officers and handcuffed.

    The urgent need for prohibitions and trade regulation

    At least 197 companies from all regions manufactured or promoted direct contact electric shock equipment for law enforcement between January 2018 and June 2023 – with most companies based in countries such as China, India and the USA.

    According to US-based Axon Enterprise, Inc., their Taser brand models are currently used by over 18,000 law enforcement agencies in more than 80 countries.

    Amnesty along with a global civil society network of over 80 organisations worldwide, is campaigning for the negotiation of a Torture-Free Trade Treaty that would introduce global prohibitions and controls on a wide range of law enforcement equipment, including electric shock weapons and equipment.

    Patrick Wilcken, Amnesty International’s researcher on military, security and policing issues, said:

    “Projectile Electric Shock Weapons are being used against individuals who pose no risk of violence, simply for punishment or compliance with orders.

    “Direct contact electric shock weapons can cause psychological distress, severe suffering, long-lasting physical disability. These include dart lacerations and penetration of the skull, eye, internal organs, throat, fingers and testis; electrical discharge induced burns, seizures and arrythmias; and a variety of injuries and deaths from falls. They are also being used in direct contact ‘drive stun’ mode, which should be prohibited.

    “Despite the clear human rights risks associated with their use, there are no global regulations controlling the production of and trade in electric shock equipment. Direct contact electric shock weapons need to be banned immediately and Projectile Electric Shock Weapons subject to strict human-rights-based trade controls.

    “There is an urgent need for a legally-binding treaty which would prohibit inherently abusive electric shock equipment and strictly control the trade in Projectile Electric Shock Weapons.

    “Companies should implement robust human rights due diligence and mitigation measures to ensure their products and services are not being systematically misused for torture or other ill-treatment. This includes ceasing production of direct contact electric shock devices and removing the ‘drive stun’ function from Projectile Electric Shock Weapons.”

    Alliance for Torture-Free Trade

    In September 2017, the EU, Argentina and Mongolia launched the Alliance for Torture-Free Trade at the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The Alliance currently comprises 62 states from all regions of the world pledging to “act together to further prevent, restrict and end trade” in goods used notably for torture or other ill-treatment. In October 2023, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture presented a thematic report on the torture trade at the UNGA which argued for a legally binding instrument to regulate the production of and trade in law enforcement equipment and included lists of goods considered prohibited and controlled.

    This is one of a series of in-depth research reports showing the devastating human rights impact of law enforcement equipment; previous reports include work on tear gas, batons, rubber bullets, and the trade in less lethal weapons used to repress protesters.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: North Dakota Supreme Court denies Greenpeace entities’ petition for venue change in Energy Transfer SLAPP trial

    Source: Greenpeace Statement –

    Greenpeace USA brought a powerful visual campaign to the streets of Dallas, projecting messages around Dallas to highlight the growing threat to free speech and peaceful protest. © Ollie Harrop / Greenpeace

    Bismarck, ND (March 5, 2025) — The North Dakota Supreme Court today denied a petition by Greenpeace organizations in the US and Greenpeace International for a change of venue as they defend against the SLAPP case brought by Energy Transfer in Morton County.

    The North Dakota Supreme Court’s denial follows three prior denied motions to the Morton County court for change of venue. 

    “While we are disappointed with this outcome, we have always believed in the strength of our defense, and will continue to present our case,” said Greenpeace USA Senior Legal Advisor Deepa Padmanabha. “We trust that the jury will follow the facts and the law, and render a decision in our favor.” 

    “The fairness of a trial should be above any questioning. A jury drawn from a community heavily affected by the events Energy Transfer is attempting to blame on the defendants, shouldn’t bear the responsibility of deciding this case. It’s disappointing to learn the Supreme Court denied the motion, but we are confident in our defense and will continue to focus on winning at trial,” said Daniel Simons, Senior Legal Counsel, Greenpeace International.

    Contact: Madison Carter, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, [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: Strengthening Rights Respecting Societies through Human Rights Education

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Year after year, Amnesty International investigates and challenges human rights violations around the world. Our work uses different approaches to address chronic and immediate violations, including research, advocacy, campaigning, and education. Each year, through our extensive human rights education (HRE) programming, Amnesty International reaches millions of children, young people and adults in diverse communities to build knowledge and understanding to strengthen rights-respecting societies. This blog shares an overview of the scope and reach of Amnesty’s HRE in 2023, achieved in collaboration with local communities, teachers, schools and students, and other national and international partners. (Please note we are currently collating data from our HRE work in 2024 to be published later this year). In 2023, Amnesty International’s HRE reached almost 6 million people. Our HRE interventions ranged from strengthening human rights knowledge through social media to more in-depth programming through in-person community workshops, human rights-friendly schools and after-school clubs, trainings, and e-learning.

    Human Rights Education (HRE) is not just about learning laws and policies, it is about equipping individuals with the tools to challenge injustice, advocate for equality, and build resilient communities. Despite numerous challenges in 2023, from political repression to environmental crises, Amnesty International’s HRE initiatives have thrived and have proven to be a catalyst to drive meaningful transformation in different societies. You can read a detailed account of the HRE work in 2023 in our annual report: Amnesty International: State of Human Rights Education 2023. Below, you can read just some of the key actions and outcomes of our collaborative HRE work that took place in 2023:

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israeli attacks on health facilities, ambulances and paramedics must be investigated as war crimes

    Source: Amnesty International –

    The Israeli military’s repeated unlawful attacks during the war in Lebanon on health facilities, ambulances and health workers, which are protected under international law, must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said today.

    The Lebanese government should provide the International Criminal Court (ICC) the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes within the Rome Statute committed on Lebanese territory, and ensure victims’ right to remedy, including by calling on Israel to provide reparation for serious violations of international humanitarian law.

    In findings released today, Amnesty International presents the results of its investigations into four Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities and vehicles in Beirut and in south Lebanon between 3 and 9 October 2024, which killed 19 healthcare workers, wounded 11 more, and damaged or destroyed multiple ambulances and two medical facilities in a one-week period in October 2024.

    During the war in Lebanon in 2024, the Israeli military repeatedly attacked health facilities and medical vehicles. The Israeli military has not provided sufficient justifications, or specific evidence of military targets being present at the strike locations, to account for these repeated attacks, which weakened a fragile healthcare system and put lives at risk.

    “Israel’s unlawful attacks on medical facilities and personnel are not only serious violations of international humanitarian law and likely war crimes but also have devastating consequences for civilians more broadly. We call for the government of Lebanon, with the support of the international community, to step up and act to ensure that suspected perpetrators of war crimes can be held accountable. The new Lebanese government must grant the International Criminal Court jurisdiction over all Rome Statue crimes committed on or perpetrated from its territory,” said Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas.

    “Israel’s unlawful attacks on medical facilities and personnel are not only serious violations of international humanitarian law and likely war crimes but also have devastating consequences for civilians more broadly” – Erika Guevara Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns

    Lebanon must urgently accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC and make a declaration granting the Court jurisdiction from 2002. In the interim, Lebanon should make an ad hoc declaration accepting the exercise of the ICC’s jurisdiction with respect to all Rome Statute crimes committed on or perpetrated from Lebanese territory.

    The Israeli military repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons, and of using medical centres affiliated with the Islamic Health Association (IHA) as a “cover for terrorist activities”. In the four attacks investigated, however, Amnesty International did not find evidence that the facilities or vehicles were being used for military purposes at the time of the attacks.

    “When a health system is attacked, civilians suffer. Even when hospitals are thought to be used for military purposes and lose their protected status under international law, they can only be attacked after a warning that gives sufficient time for the evacuation of patients and staff goes unheeded. An attacking party remains at all times bound by the principle of proportionality, weighing the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from an attack against the expected harm to civilians and civilian objects, including the reverberating humanitarian consequences resulting from the attack,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.

    Amnesty International interviewed 17 people, including medical workers, witnesses to the attacks, local officials, and family members of the victims. Researchers also visited the site of the attack on the IHA’s centre in Bachoura, Beirut. In addition, Amnesty International verified 46 photographs and videos from the attacks shared directly with the organization or published in the media and on social media. Amnesty International wrote to the Israeli military with its findings on 11 November 2024 but had not received a response by the time of publication.

    Medical personnel, hospitals, and other medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.  According to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), people who have exclusively non-combat functions in armed groups or are merely members of or affiliated with political entities with an armed component, such as Hezbollah, may not be targeted unless and for such time that they are directly participating in hostilities. Medical personnel affiliated with Hezbollah, including those assigned to civil defence organizations, exclusively assigned to medical or humanitarian duties are protected from attack.

    A ceasefire was announced in Lebanon in late November 2024. In early 2025, healthcare workers impacted by the four Israeli attacks said they were doing their best to provide care while still grappling with damaged or destroyed facilities and vehicles and the loss of their colleagues. One civil defence team member, whose centre was destroyed in an Israeli attack, said the team was now working from a local villager’s home, which he said they had “offered to us, on temporary basis… until we find and move to a new locale.”

    “It is crucial that all attacks against medical staff and facilities are investigated to ensure that perpetrators are punished, victims receive reparations, and these crimes are never repeated” – Erika Guevara Rosas

    “It is crucial that all attacks against medical staff and facilities are investigated to ensure that perpetrators are punished, victims receive reparations, and these crimes are never repeated. A ceasefire is only the first step to ending and preventing harm. To move forward, victims of serious violations by all parties must see justice and receive redress,” said Erika Guevara Rosas.

    Before Israel launched its operation Northern Arrows on 23 September 2024, Amnesty International had verified over 80 photos and videos from 11 attacks that hit medical crews and facilities in Lebanon between 8 October 2023 and 24 June 2024.

    According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, between October 2023 and November 2024 the Israeli military attacked 67 hospitals, 56 primary health care centres, and 238 emergency medical teams, killing at least 222 medical and emergency relief workers.

    According to the World Health Organization, as of 21 November 2024, “47% of the attacks on health care – 65 out of 137 – have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon”.

    The Lebanese healthcare sector was already straining due to multiple, ongoing and compounding crises, including a massive economic crisis that spiralled in late 2019, followed by the Beirut Port explosion in 2020, while the country tried to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

    On 27 November, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 60-day ceasefire deal. Within days, numerous violations of the ceasefire deal were reported. On 27 January, the ceasefire got extended for another few weeks. Israel later announced it intended to remain in a number of positions in Lebanon’s territory.

    Amnesty International has also documented evidence of unlawful airstrikes that killed and injured civilians. In a briefing published in December 2024, Amnesty International documented four air strikes by Israeli forces across Lebanon which killed at least 49 civilians and killed entire families and that must be investigated as war crimes. 

    During the war, Hezbollah repeatedly fired unguided rocket salvos into northern Israel, including carrying out attacks that killed and injured civilians. In some cases, they insisted they were aiming at military targets, but in others said they were attacking the civilian city or town generally.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Lebanon: Israeli attacks on health facilities, ambulances and paramedics must be investigated as war crimes – new investigation

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Four attacks on healthcare facilities and vehicles which killed 19 healthcare workers investigated

    Israeli military has not provided sufficient justifications or specific evidence of military targets being present at the strike locations

    Lebanon must urgently provide the ICC the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes within the Rome Statute

    ‘It is crucial that all attacks against medical staff and facilities are investigated to ensure that perpetrators are punished, victims receive reparations, and these crimes are never repeated’ – Erika Guevara Rosas

    The Israeli military’s repeated unlawful attacks during the war in Lebanon on health facilities, ambulances and health workers, which are protected under international law, must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said today.

    In findings released today, Amnesty presents the results of its investigations into four Israeli attacks on healthcare facilities and vehicles in Beirut and in south Lebanon between 3 and 9 October 2024, which killed 19 healthcare workers, wounded 11 more, and damaged or destroyed multiple ambulances and two medical facilities in a one-week period.

    During the war in Lebanon in 2024, the Israeli military repeatedly attacked health facilities and medical vehicles. The Israeli military has not provided sufficient justifications, or specific evidence of military targets being present at the strike locations, to account for these repeated attacks, which weakened a fragile healthcare system and put lives at risk.

    Lebanon must urgently accede to the Rome Statute of the ICC and make a declaration granting the Court jurisdiction from 2002. In the interim, Lebanon should make an ad hoc declaration accepting the exercise of the ICC’s jurisdiction with respect to all Rome Statute crimes committed on or perpetrated from Lebanese territory.

    Four attacks investigated

    The Israeli military repeatedly accused Hezbollah of using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons, and of using medical centres affiliated with the Islamic Health Association (IHA) as a “cover for terrorist activities”. In the four attacks investigated, however, Amnesty did not find evidence that the facilities or vehicles were being used for military purposes at the time of the attacks.

    Amnesty interviewed 17 people, including medical workers, witnesses to the attacks, local officials, and family members of the victims. Researchers also visited the site of the attack on the IHA’s centre in Bachoura, Beirut. In addition, Amnesty verified 46 photographs and videos from the attacks shared directly with the organisation or published in the media and on social media. Amnesty wrote to the Israeli military with its findings on 11 November 2024 but had not received a response by the time of publication.

    Medical personnel, hospitals, and other medical facilities are protected under international humanitarian law.  According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, people who have exclusively non-combat functions in armed groups or are merely members of or affiliated with political entities with an armed component, such as Hezbollah, may not be targeted unless and for such time that they are directly participating in hostilities. Medical personnel affiliated with Hezbollah, including those assigned to civil defence organisations, exclusively assigned to medical or humanitarian duties are protected from attack.

    A ceasefire was announced in Lebanon in late November 2024. In early 2025, healthcare workers impacted by the four Israeli attacks said they were doing their best to provide care while still grappling with damaged or destroyed facilities and vehicles and the loss of their colleagues. One civil defence team member, whose centre was destroyed in an Israeli attack, said the team was now working from a local villager’s home, which he said they had “offered to us, on temporary basis… until we find and move to a new locale.”

    Before Israel launched its operation Northern Arrows on 23 September 2024, Amnesty had verified over 80 photos and videos from 11 attacks that hit medical crews and facilities in Lebanon between 8 October 2023 and 24 June 2024.

    According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, between October 2023 and November 2024 the Israeli military attacked 67 hospitals, 56 primary health care centres, and 238 emergency medical teams, killing at least 222 medical and emergency relief workers. According to the World Health Organization, as of 21 November 2024, “47% of the attacks on health care – 65 out of 137 – have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient in Lebanon”.

    The Lebanese healthcare sector was already straining due to multiple, ongoing and compounding crises, including a massive economic crisis that spiralled in late 2019, followed by the Beirut Port explosion in 2020, while the country tried to recover from the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.

    Violations of the ceasefire deal

    On 27 November, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 60-day ceasefire deal. Within days, numerous violations of the ceasefire deal were reported. On 27 January, the ceasefire got extended for another few weeks. Israel later announced it intended to remain in a number of positions in Lebanon’s territory.

    Amnesty has also documented evidence of unlawful airstrikes that killed and injured civilians. In a briefing published in December 2024, Amnesty documented four air strikes by Israeli forces across Lebanon which killed at least 49 civilians and killed entire families and that must be investigated as war crimes. 

    During the war, Hezbollah repeatedly fired unguided rocket salvos into northern Israel, including carrying out attacks that killed and injured civilians. In some cases, they insisted they were aiming at military targets, but in others said they were attacking the civilian city or town generally.

    Call to investigate war crimes

    The Lebanese government should provide the ICC the jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute crimes within the Rome Statute committed on Lebanese territory, and ensure victims’ right to remedy, including by calling on Israel to provide reparation for serious violations of international humanitarian law.

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

    “Israel’s unlawful attacks on medical facilities and personnel are not only serious violations of international humanitarian law and likely war crimes but also have devastating consequences for civilians more broadly.

    “When a health system is attacked, civilians suffer. Even when hospitals are thought to be used for military purposes and lose their protected status under international law, they can only be attacked after a warning that gives sufficient time for the evacuation of patients and staff goes unheeded. An attacking party remains at all times bound by the principle of proportionality, weighing the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated from an attack against the expected harm to civilians and civilian objects, including the reverberating humanitarian consequences resulting from the attack.

    “It is crucial that all attacks against medical staff and facilities are investigated to ensure that perpetrators are punished, victims receive reparations, and these crimes are never repeated. A ceasefire is only the first step to ending and preventing harm. To move forward, victims of serious violations by all parties must see justice and receive redress.

    “We call for the government of Lebanon, with the support of the international community to step up and act to ensure that suspected perpetrators of war crimes can be held accountable. The new Lebanese government must grant the ICC jurisdiction over all Rome Statue crimes committed on or perpetrated from its territory.”

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Trapped between borders: the life-threatening consequences of increased militarisation at the Poland-Belarus border

    Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

    Since 2021, individuals seeking sanctuary in the European Union (EU) have attempted to cross the border from Belarus only to face severe violence in the remote and densely forested border area. While the Belarusian government is alleged to have orchestrated the increase in people attempting the crossing since 2021, the absence of safe pathways to the EU has left people needing refuge with no other option than to take perilous journeys, including across the Belarusian-EU green border. People crossing this border have, as a result, been depicted as threats and weapons in a supposed “hybrid war” directed by Belarus and Russia. This rhetoric has justified increasingly repressive, violent and militarised means against people seeking protection in the EU.

    In Poland, the erection of border barriers, domestic “legalisation” of pushbacks, large-scale deployment of military troops, and the systematic denial of access to territory and assistance for those seeking sanctuary in the EU since 2021 have left people stranded in wild forests, exposed to violence and indefinitely rebuffed across the border between Belarus and Poland. These policies have led to a continuous cycle of violence, trapping individuals seeking protection in the EU between fences while they struggle to survive amidst physical assaults Since the spring of 2024, a perception of increasingly organised crossings from Belarus and the fatal stabbing of a Polish soldier at the border have triggered a further escalation of violence.

    Trapped between borders: the life-threatening consequences of increased militarisation at the Poland-Belarus border pdf — 2.81 MB Download

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UK: Government ‘must stop equivocating’ on Israel’s genocide against Palestinian people

    Source: Amnesty International –

    ‘We are long past the point of Israel merely risking violations of international law’ – Karla McLaren

    Responding to the debate in parliament on Palestinian rights today, Karla McLaren, Amnesty International UK’s Government Relations Manager, said:

    “It’s true that humanitarian aid should never be contingent on a ceasefire or used as a political tool, but we are long past the point of Israel merely risking violations of international law.

    “Israel’s decision to block humanitarian aid to Gaza is a war crime and amounts to collective punishment of the civilian population. It’s a continuation of the policy to impose on Palestinians conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction. This is genocide.

    “The UK government must stop equivocating when it comes to the widespread breaches of international law Israel is clearly responsible for – this only serves to conceal the truth about the crimes of apartheid and genocide being inflicted daily on the Palestinian people.

    “The UK has a legal obligation to prevent and punish genocide. At the minimum, it should immediately stop all transfers of arms to Israel and actively support international justice mechanisms. Not doing so risks UK government complicity in genocide and other grave violations of international humanitarian law.”

    View latest press releases

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: UN Report: Bleak conclusions on UK poverty action echo Amnesty warning of ‘devastating domino effect’

    Source: Amnesty International –

    UN gives a damning view on failing performance of politicians on fundamental human rights 

    A domino effect of poor housing, a broken social security system and inadequate healthcare is leaving communities on their knees 

    Published yesterday, the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) concluding obligations set out a bleak view of the UK Government’s performance on tackling poverty, managing the impact of austerity, and ensuring people have a decent home, enough money to pay for the essentials (like food), and access to decent work, good health care, and education.   

    They outlined a worsening picture of food insecurity, poverty, homelessness, health inequalities, and educational outcomes, which impact those communities already marginalised, such as single mothers, racialised communities, gypsy Roma and traveller communities, and people seeking asylum. 

    Amnesty UK presented evidence to CESCR in Geneva in February 2025 on the government’s failure to protect fundamental human rights, outlining the domino effect of poor housing, a broken social security system, and inadequate healthcare in communities. 

    Jen Clark, Economic and Social Lead at Amnesty UK, said:   

    “The UN committee set out clearly how a devastating domino effect of unmet rights leads to destitution and hardship, a conclusion borne out by our own research.    

    “Reading between the lines of the committee statement, you get a sense of frustration that little progress has been made since they last reviewed the UK performance in 2016.   

    “They call again for independent evaluation on the impact of austerity on the most disadvantaged groups and communities to be undertaken as a matter of priority and for the punitive nature of sanctions and deductions from social security payments to be reviewed. 

    “Like Amnesty, the UN is calling for the end to the two-child limit, benefit caps, and five-week wait for benefits. They are concerned that social security is already not paid at a level that enables an adequate standard of living for essentials such as food, utility bills, and clothing.   

    “It is all tied together by addressing that our human rights are not adequately protected in the UK. The government has failed to provide legal protections for these rights under the covenant, meaning people who experience violations cannot access justice. Amnesty echoes their call on the government to undertake an independent review of how legal status can be given to these rights to provide routes to justice and safeguards against further rollback of these rights.” 

    Additional elements addressed in the report include: 

    • Concern regarding the specific plight of people with certain immigration status who have no recourse to public funds and that people experiencing homelessness are criminalised by punitive policy.  

    • To address depleted public services and struggling local authorities, CESCR calls on the government to shift fiscal priorities away from tax freezes and toward measures that will broaden the tax base and increase the funding available for them (such as capital, corporate, and property taxes). 

    • The UK’s failings at home were not the only concern of the UN Committee.  They too share concerns about the UK’s role in ensuring these rights abroad, citing the need to address the extent to which the ODA budget has slipped away from the target (at the time of reporting this was to 0.5%) and call for the UK to take a stronger approach on the world stage in relation to tackling debt in the global south and taking more decisive leadership to ensure that the UK addresses tax evasion from multinational companies.  

    The three top priorities that the UK Government must report back on in the next 24 months: 

    • Conduct an independent, participatory impact assessment of the extra-territorial effects of its financial secrecy and corporate tax policies on the economies of developing countries. 

    • Conduct an independent assessment of the cumulative impact of austerity measures introduced since 2010 on economic, social, and cultural rights, focusing on disadvantaged groups, regional disparities, and the effects of subsequent policy shifts 

    • Assess the impact of welfare reforms introduced since 2010 on the most disadvantaged groups and take corrective measures, including reversing policies such as the two-child limit, the benefit cap, and the five-week delay for the first Universal Credit payment. 

    Amnesty’s complete submission to the United Nation’s Committee for Cultural, Economic, and Social Rights can be read here. 

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Russia/Ukraine: Ill-treatment of Ukrainians in Russian captivity amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives to torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance and other inhumane treatment, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said in a new report today.

    The report, A Deafening Silence: Ukrainians held incommunicado, forcibly disappeared and tortured in Russian captivity, documents how Ukrainian POWs and civilians held captive by Russia since February 2022 are being deliberately cut off from the outside world, often for years. A lack of transparency over their whereabouts has allowed for their torture and other ill-treatment in detention, and even unlawful killings of POWs, to continue with total impunity.

    “Russia’s systemic incommunicado detention of Ukrainian POWs and civilians reflects a deliberate policy designed to dehumanize and silence them, leaving their families in agony as they wait for news about their loved ones,” said Amnesty International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard.

    Russia’s systemic incommunicado detention of Ukrainian POWs and civilians reflects a deliberate policy designed to dehumanize and silence them, leaving their families in agony as they wait for news about their loved ones

    Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

    “Torture takes place in complete isolation from the outside world, with the victims entirely at the mercy of their captors for survival. This is not a series of isolated incidents – it is a systematic policy that violates every tenet of international law.”

    Amnesty International’s report is based on interviews with 104 people in Ukraine between January and November 2024. These include five former Ukrainian POWs, family members of 38 POWs, family members of 23 Ukrainians “missing in special circumstances”, 28 formerly detained civilians and their families, and 10 Russian POWs currently detained in Ukraine.

    MIL OSI NGO –

  • MIL-OSI NGOs: Russia/Ukraine: Ukrainian prisoners of war ‘entirely at the mercy’ of Russian captors – new testimonies

    Source: Amnesty International –

    Thousands of Ukrainians are currently held in captivity in Russia and occupied Ukraine, facing torture, enforced disappearance, and incommunicado detention

    ‘They beat me with stun guns, these special sticks, it was very painful. I saw how the guys started to die after that. Their hearts just couldn’t take it anymore’ – Volodymyr Shevchenko, former prisoner of war 

    ‘Torture takes place in complete isolation from the outside world, with the victims entirely at the mercy of their captors for survival’ – Agnès Callamard

    Russian authorities have subjected Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives to torture, prolonged incommunicado detention, enforced disappearance and other inhumane treatment, which amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said in a new report today.

    The 32-page report – A Deafening Silence: Ukrainians held incommunicado, forcibly disappeared and tortured in Russian captivity – documents how Ukrainian POWs and civilians held captive by Russia since February 2022 are being deliberately cut off from the outside world, often for years. A lack of transparency over their whereabouts has allowed for their torture and other ill-treatment in detention, and even unlawful killings of POWs, to continue with total impunity.

    Amnesty’s report is based on interviews with 104 people in Ukraine between January and November 2024. These include five former Ukrainian POWs, family members of 38 POWs, family members of 23 Ukrainians “missing in special circumstances”, 28 formerly detained civilians and their families, and 10 Russian POWs currently detained in Ukraine.

    Darkness of not knowing

    While their exact numbers are unknown, it is likely that thousands of Ukrainians, both military personnel and civilians, are currently held in captivity in Russia and occupied Ukraine. The majority of Ukrainian POWs are held incommunicado, with their families receiving little to no information about their fate, status or whereabouts.

    At the same time, Russian authorities have denied international organisations access to them as part of a deliberate policy to put POWs beyond the protection of international law. Prolonged incommunicado detention may amount to inhuman treatment.

    Olena Kolesnyk, whose husband Serhii was captured in July 2024, said the little information she had about his whereabouts was unofficial and unconfirmed. She told Amnesty:

    “I won’t know where to look for my husband and where to write letters. This black darkness of not knowing – it’s killing me.”

    The missing

    Tens of thousands of Ukrainians are considered “missing in special circumstances” by Ukrainian authorities. Many are likely in detention, while others may have been killed. In some cases, Russia has acknowledged individual POWs’ captivity by notifying the International Committee of the Redcross as required by international law. However, it is likely that Russia has not notified the organisation of the status of hundreds or thousands more POWs.

    Khrystyna Makarchuk’s husband Volodymyr appeared on Russian television describing how he was captured. In addition, a returned POW who knew Volodymyr personally confirmed to his family that he was in captivity. Yet Russia has not confirmed Volodymyr’s detention. Russia’s failure to acknowledge the detention of individuals like Khrystyna Makarchuk’s husband amounts to enforced disappearance.

    Civilians also account for a considerable number of those believed to be subjected to enforced disappearance. Russia has long used arbitrary arrest, torture and enforced disappearance to intimidate the civilian population in areas it controls. Such acts amount to crimes against humanity.

    Systemic torture and denial of medical treatment

    Amnesty documented harrowing accounts of torture and denial of medical treatment in Russian captivity.

    Volodymyr Shevchenko, a former POW who spent over two years in Russian captivity, said:

    “They started torturing me right away. They beat me with stun guns, these special sticks, it was very painful. I saw how the guys started to die after that. Their hearts just couldn’t take it anymore.”

    Serhii Koroma, a former Ukrainian POW who was badly wounded before being captured, reported that he was given no more than a topical antiseptic on one occasion and left to heal or die.

    Violation of the laws of war

    Russia’s actions blatantly violate the Geneva Conventions, which guarantee POWs the right to regular correspondence, access to medical care, and visits from international organisations.

    Amnesty calls on Russia to stop its campaign of torture, enforced disappearance, and incommunicado detention against Ukrainians in captivity. Russian authorities must also notify the relevant authorities of the status of all its POWs and allow unhindered access to them for international humanitarian organisations. Russia must also ensure adequate medical care is provided to all Ukrainians in captivity and directly repatriate seriously sick and wounded POWs, including through establishing mixed medical commissions. Unlawfully detained civilians must be released.

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

    “Russia’s systemic incommunicado detention of Ukrainian POWs and civilians reflects a deliberate policy designed to dehumanise and silence them, leaving their families in agony as they wait for news about their loved ones.

    “Torture takes place in complete isolation from the outside world, with the victims entirely at the mercy of their captors for survival. This is not a series of isolated incidents – it is a systematic policy that violates every tenet of international law.

    “The international community should use all its influence and tools, including universal jurisdiction, against Russia to stop these heinous crimes under international law and ensure accountability. Without justice, the suffering of Ukrainian POWs, civilians, and their families will only deepen.”

    MIL OSI NGO –