Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Oxfam –

Source: Amnesty International –

Reacting to the detention of Lidiya (Lida) Moniava, a Russian civil society activist and prominent charity leader, for alleged “dissemination of false information” about the Russian Armed Forces, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said:

“The criminal case against Lida Moniava is yet another brazen attempt by Russia’s authorities to crackdown on any expression of anti-war sentiment. This assault on one of Russia’s most prominent charity leaders is designed to silence not only her, but the entire civil society.”

“The Russian authorities must immediately end the criminal prosecution of Lida Moniava for peacefully exercising her right to freedom of expression. They must repeal the country’s repressive ‘war censorship’ legislation and release all those imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to express opposition to the war.”

This assault on one of Russia’s most prominent charity leaders is designed to silence not only her, but the entire civil society

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Background

Lida Moniava has worked in the charity sector since 2008, including with “Podari Zhizn” (Gift a Life) foundation, which helps children with oncological and haematological diseases, and “Vera” (Faith), a hospice where she coordinated palliative care for children. In 2014, she became deputy director of the children’s hospice “Dom s Mayakom” (House with a Lighthouse) and in 2018 became director of its charitable foundation.

On 2 September 2026, Lida Moniava was detained in Moscow under charges of “public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation” (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code). Her home was searched and she was questioned by members of the Investigation Committee, a stand-alone agency tasked with investigating serious crime. On the same day, she was placed in a temporary detention facility for two days until the court decides on her pretrial restrictions.

According to her lawyer, the criminal case concerns a Telegram post by Lida Moniava in February 2023.  

In February 2026, a court fined Lida Moniava 45,000 roubles (US$ 580) for allegedly “discrediting” the Russian Armed Forces. The proceedings concerned three posts on her Telegram channel, including posts referring to Russia’s war against Ukraine and to reported Russian strikes in Kryvyi Rih and Sumy.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Over 20,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that the city’s parks be protected under Bengaluru Rising Campaign

Bengaluru, September 2, 2026: Citizens groups and Greenpeace India welcome Chief Minister D K Shivakumar’s statement that the Karnataka Government will review the Parks Amendment Bill and allow the matter to be discussed again in the Legislative Assembly. 

The CM’s statement comes after sustained public opposition, with thousands of Bengaluru residents coming together under the rallying cry “Not 5%. Not 1 inch. Leave Our Parks Alone” to oppose the proposed amendment allowing portions of parkland to be diverted for infrastructure projects. In just seven days, over 20,000 people have signed an online petition demanding that the city’s parks be protected. The movement was initiated and mobilised under the Bangalore Rising campaign along with citizen groups and civil society organisations demanding protection of Bengaluru’s green commons. 

“What the movement has shown us is that Bengaluru is watching and its people care deeply about how the city is being shaped. Thousands showing up and over 20,000 people signing  this petition sends a clear message: our parks are not land banks for concrete development. Opening the bill for review is a welcome first step, but discussion cannot be mistaken for a rollback. The amendment must be withdrawn, and decisions affecting Bengaluru’s green and blue spaces must be transparent and participatory,” said Selomi Garnaik, Climate and Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace India.

Greenpeace India and citizen groups call for meaningful public consultation on any infrastructure proposal that could affect the city’s green and blue spaces including parks, lakes, wetlands, forests or other green and blue commons.  The movement advocates for formal recognition of urban green spaces as essential environmental safeguards- ensuring their ecological, social and health values are given legal protection at par with concrete infrastructure.

“Revisiting the amendment is not enough. We demand that the Bill be withdrawn and that the government initiate a meaningful public consultation on the future of Bengaluru’s parks,” said Leon from Bangalore Environment Forum. 

At a time when Bengaluru is experiencing rising temperatures, worsening air pollution, water stress, flooding and rapid urbanisation, the city needs more green spaces, not fewer. The government should use this moment to develop a long-term Green Space Protection Plan with strong legal safeguards, a transparent inventory of public green spaces, restoration of degraded areas and a commitment to expanding equitable access across the city.

Media Queries: Nibedita Saha | [email protected]

Source: Amnesty International –

Ahead of the final appeal hearing at Tunisia’s Court of Cassation on 3 September in the unjust “conspiracy case”, which is a chance to overturn the convictions of opposition figures jailed solely because of their peaceful political opposition, Sara Hashash, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said: 

“Tunisia’s authorities must seize this opportunity to rectify a travesty of justice that has upturned the lives of 34 prominent opposition figures, human rights defenders and lawyers who were convicted on unfounded charges in a mass trial marred by due process violations. These defendants were targeted with politically motivated charges and should have never been imprisoned in the first place. Many of them have been languishing in jail with deteriorating health problems, with recent successive heatwaves further worsening detention conditions inside poorly ventilated cells. 

It is time to put an end to this pattern of instrumentalizing the justice system to target dissent. 

Sara Hashash, Amnesty International

“The authorities must overturn these unjust convictions and sentences and release all those arbitrarily detained in this case. It is time to put an end to this pattern of instrumentalizing the justice system to target dissent. Authorities must ensure that prison conditions across the country comply with international standards and that all detainees have regular access to their families, lawyers and adequate healthcare. “ 

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

Natalia Romero Peñuela/MSF

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Source: Amnesty International –

Ahead of the 4 September meeting between Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and the Netherlands to discuss progress on plans to deport people to so-called “return hubs” in countries outside Europe where they may never have set foot, likely be to centres or facilities funded by EU member states, Eve Geddie, Director of the European Institutions Office of Amnesty International, said:

“By their very design, and wherever they may be located, ‘return hubs’ carry a risk of grave human rights violations, including arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment, and forced onward returns to countries of origin. There is a real danger that these locations will, in practice, become cruel black holes for human rights to outsource or offshore detention and deportation. Any responsible government should reject these plans outright.

“We are particularly alarmed that discussions are reportedly zeroing in on two countries with appalling human rights records: Uganda and Rwanda – despite ongoing conflict and political instability in the Great Lakes Region.

“These negotiations, and the EU’s broader so-called ‘migration diplomacy’ approach, are based on deep power asymmetries reflecting an unabashed attempt by the EU to shirk its migration responsibilities and shift them on to countries in the Global South that are already doing far more than Europe to receive refugees and with fewer resources.

“From the Italy-Albania deal and governments’ past attempts to outsource or offshore their migration policies, we already know that ‘return hubs’ will disproportionately harm racialized people. Following the shameful chants to ‘send them back’ heard in the European Parliament in June, governments across the political spectrum are now dancing to this same xenophobic and racist tune – willing to pursue an agenda to increase deportations at seemingly any cost. Amnesty International will continue to expose the harms and illegalities of these policies – and to resist them.”

Background

Amnesty International has repeatedly warned that ‘return hubs’ cannot be implemented in a human rights-compliant manner, given the severe risk of rights violations, as with all past attempts to outsource migration responsibilities.

While specific details have yet to be disclosed, there is a real danger that “return hubs” will in practice become deportation and detention sites involving automatic – and therefore arbitrary and unlawful – detention; refoulement, including in return hubs or through onward deportations; torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment; and restrictions on access to due process and effective remedies, among other abuses.

Negotiations between these five EU member states are reported to be particularly advanced with Uganda and Rwanda, despite the well-documented human rights violations in both countries. There have also been reports of a planned centre in Uganda, which could become operational in 2027, that could accommodate up to 10,000 people.

The EU Return Regulation, which is yet to be formally adopted but will provide the legal basis for “return hubs” in EU law, states that these agreements may only be reached with countries where “international human rights standards and principles […] are respected.”

Amnesty International has long documented rights violations in Uganda, including repression, unlawful detention and deportations, and notably its extreme anti-LGBTQ+ law, which criminalizes consensual same-sex acts and carries the death penalty for the offence of ‘aggravated homosexuality’.

The Rwandan government and military control and closely support the M23 armed group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has perpetrated serious abuses that may amount to war crimes. In its ruling in 2023, the UK Supreme Court found that Rwanda was not a safe third country for the UK to forcibly transfer people seeking asylum, given the country’s record of repression, restrictions on media and political freedoms, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, ill-treatment and torture. In September 2025, the European Parliament called on the European Commission to review assistance, including financial aid, to Rwandan public institutions involved in arbitrary detentions, torture or unfair trials.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

KOROR, PALAU, Wednesday 2 September 2026 — The new global heating projection by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has laid bare the dire realities of inevitable climate disaster, loss and damage for the Pacific and Australia in a 1.8°C world, with Greenpeace warning ‘we are now in bloody dangerous territory’, and must do everything possible to return warming to 1.5°C.

The report, Limiting Overshoot – Navigating exceedance of 1.5°C and pathways towards return, released as world leaders meet at this year’s Pacific Islands Forum in Palau, highlights the urgency of the climate crisis, the greatest security threat facing the Pacific. It comes as fracked gas from the Beetaloo Basin, one of Australia’s biggest climate bombs, began flowing for the first time.

Australia is the biggest polluter of all Pacific Islands Forum member states, far exceeding all other forum members combined. Greenpeace is calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to centre Pacific priorities at the Forum, and walk the talk on climate solutions as a genuine family member of the Pacific.

Speaking from Palau, Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The latest UNEP report has printed in black and white that fossil fuel-hungry nations have overstepped, overshot and overindulged at the expense of Pacific lives, livelihoods, cultures and communities. This year’s Pacific Islands Forum has made it more apparent than ever that climate change is the region’s greatest security threat, and we cannot waste time on geopolitical power games when our world is sinking beneath our feet.

“As a person from the Pacific, I know our communities will not quietly accept these dire warnings of climate overshoot as our fate; we are already living and fiercely resisting this reality every single day. With every increment of warming, our lands, our livelihoods, and our island homes are threatened, but the Pacific’s resolve only grows stronger. We draw strength from our ocean and those who walked before us; our people are the protectors of the frontlines of climate change and the beacons of climate justice.

“By harnessing the natural power of our sun, winds, and seas through a rapid transition to renewable energy, and uniting in true global collaboration, we can steer back to 1.5°C  – this is our moral, legal, and scientific imperative. A Fossil Fuel Free Pacific can breathe life back into the lungs of our islands.”

Also in Palau, Dr Simon Bradshaw, COP31 Lead and climate expert at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The UN report is warning that we are now in bloody dangerous territory. It lays bare the deadly consequences of reckless fossil fuel expansion, and a failure to listen to Pacific voices and to the decades of emphatic scientific warnings.

“It is a damning indictment of government climate inaction and negligence, coming just days after fracked gas from the Beetaloo Basin started flowing and Woodside’s disastrous Browse gas mega project undergoes Federal decision — two carbon bombs that would lock in decades of dangerous climate pollution and push us past the point of no return.

“Every new fossil fuel project pushes us closer to dangerous and irreversible tipping points in the climate system, with almost unimaginable consequences for the safety and security of communities in the Pacific, Australia and around the world.

“The task now is to minimise the magnitude, duration and consequences of any temperature overshoot. A pathway back to 1.5°C is possible but this pathway cannot be paved by fossil fuels.

“Accelerating the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, and working with our big energy partners across Asia to decarbonise together, is not only the path back from the climate brink, but also the key to our energy security and our future prosperity.”

Also in Palau, Vishal Prasad, Director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change, said: “This report is terrifying for the young people of the Pacific. We know what 1.5, and what anything beyond it, means for our future, our families, our culture and our environment. 1.5 to stay alive has never been just slogan. It is our reality.

“The International Court of Justice has made it clear: keeping to 1.5 is not a choice, it is a legal obligation. Every new fossil fuel project drives us further from it. So we are not asking for your goodwill. We are not begging you. We are telling you what international law requires of you: end fossil fuel expansion. No new coal, no new oil, no new gas. Your corporate profits cannot be allowed to extinguish our future.”

—ENDS—

Greenpeace Australia Pacific has delegates from the Pacific and Australia at the PIFLM in Palau available for interview

Headshots can be found here

Media contact: Kimberley Bernard in Palau on +61407 581 404 or [email protected] 

Source: Amnesty International –

Angolan women and children displaced by drought into Namibia face serious human rights abuses arising from a lack of safe and legal migration pathways for people forced across borders by natural disasters, Amnesty International said in a new report. 

The report, “The Drier it Gets, the Longer You Have to Walk: The Human Rights Impacts of Drought-Induced Displacement on Angolan Women and Children in Namibia, documents the devastating consequences of recurrent drought in southern Angola and the human rights impacts experienced by those displaced into Namibia, including persistent fear of arrest, detention and deportation, which in turn influences their daily decisions about whether to seek healthcare and other services.  

“Namibian authorities must establish a rights-based approach to migration, ensuring that people displaced by drought and other natural disasters can access basic rights, including registration and documentation.” Said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“The protection of already marginalized Angolans who are forced to move to Namibia in search of livelihoods is not just a humanitarian concern. This is a human rights crisis that demands international solidarity, including legal protection against refoulement,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Namibian authorities must establish a rights-based approach to migration,ensuring that people displaced by drought and other natural disasters can access basic rights, including registration and documentation.

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

Between May 2024 and May 2026, Amnesty International interviewed at least 167 people, including displaced people, community leaders, government officials, representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs), academics, and members of the UN Country Team.

At the time of publication, Nambian government officials had not responded to Amnesty International’s request for comment.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

BANGKOK, THAILAND (September 2, 2026) – As Thailand prepares to serve as the main host of Gastech 2026 in Bangkok from 14-17 September, the event comes at a critical moment for the country’s energy future and the wider energy transition across Asia. At a time when governments must accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels, Gastech risks becoming a platform for new fossil gas deals and infrastructure that could lock Thailand and other Asian economies into decades of fossil gas dependence. 

Greenpeace organizations across Southeast Asia, East Asia and Australia are calling on the governments and companies attending Gastech 2026 to reject further fossil gas expansion and accelerate investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency, storage and a modernised power grid. As a host, Thailand has an opportunity to show regional leadership by strengthening energy security through renewable, affordable and resilient energy systems rather than deepening dependence on fossil gas.

Arifsyah Nasution, Program Director at Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said:

“Asia’s rising electricity demand, particularly from industry and the buildings sector, compounded by the risk of further demand surges driven by data centers and AI, is placing unprecedented pressure on Asia Pacific’s regional power grids. Energy companies and governments must not weaponize this rising demand to justify further gas expansion that exposes consumers to volatile global fuel prices, fuelling climate disasters, and places additional environmental and social burdens on communities.”   

Thailand: Energy Security cannot mean greater fossil gas dependence

Manun Wongmasoh, Climate and Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace Thailand, said:

“Hosting Gastech 2026 must not mean handing Thailand over to the fossil gas lobby. The narrative that gas is a ‘bridge fuel’ or the answer to energy security is a dangerous myth that locks us into fossil fuels, blocks a genuine transition to renewable energy in line with net-zero goals, and exposes us to skyrocketing power bills and toxic pollution. Communities in Thailand’s eastern region are already bearing the brunt of fossil gas expansion and can’t afford further expansion of gas infrastructure, including LNG terminals, pipelines and gas-fired power plants. Instead of locking our power system into decades of corporate profit, decision-makers must accelerate a just transition to renewable energy and ensure that businesses respect human rights. This is the path to protecting local livelihoods, reducing people’s energy burdens, and putting people and their rights before the interests of the fossil fuel industry.  

East Asia’s AI Energy Surge and Public Finance Fueling Global Fossil-Gas Lock-in 

Yeonho Yang, Senior Climate & Energy Campaigner at Greenpeace East Asia, said: 

“East Asia’s rising electricity demand cannot be used as a blank cheque for fossil-gas expansion. Gastech must not become a platform for the gas industry to use AI, data centers and advanced manufacturing to legitimize new LNG infrastructure or rebrand fossil-fuel finance as ‘transition finance’. Governments must direct public finance towards genuine renewable energy expansion, energy storage, grid modernization and efficiency, to power their digital growth while cutting emissions and protecting affected communities.” 

Australia’s export responsibility for regional climate and nature impacts

Joe Rafalowicz, Head of Climate and Energy at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:

“From toxic chemical emissions to pollution and nature destruction, Australian gas exports threaten the lives and livelihoods of communities along the supply chain. While the world is clearly ready to move away from volatile, expensive, dirty gas, multinational gas corporations like Woodside Energy, which are speaking at Gastech, have different plans: they want to hook in new customers across Asia, and lock us into a future of climate disasters, nature destruction and pollution. There’s no future in gas. We need to fast-track the rollout of clean homegrown renewable energy and protect our communities from the energy shocks and climate change fuelled by the corporations at Gastech.”

A Regional choice for Asia’s energy future 

From gas-producing countries like Australia to major energy markets across East Asia and Southeast Asia, the impacts of fossil gas expansion extend across borders and along the entire supply chain. Gastech 2026 should not be used to justify another generation of fossil gas infrastructure while communities bear the economic, environmental and climate cost. Asia’s rising energy demand must be met without locking the region into a fossil fuel future.

END

Notes:

Thailand: Fossil gas dependence and the ambition to become a regional LNG hub

For Thailand, where fossil gas dominates approximately 60% of the country’s generated electricity, these risks are particularly significant as the country seeks to position itself as a regional LNG hub. Further investment in gas import terminals, pipelines and gas-fired power plants would deepen its reliance on imported fossil fuels. 

Communities in Thailand’s eastern region, including Rayong, Chachoengsao and Prachinburi provinces, are already raising concerns over cumulative pollution, pressure on natural resources and impacts on livelihoods. Gastech should therefore be an opportunity to question whether greater fossil gas dependence can genuinely deliver energy security, affordable electricity and a just energy transition.

East Asia: Rising electricity demand and public finance

Across East Asia, rapid growth in AI, data centers, and semiconductor manufacturing is intensifying pressure on electricity systems, particularly in fossil fuel-reliant Taiwan and South Korea. Taiwan raised its electricity-demand forecast in June, citing semiconductor and AI data-centre growth, and plans to add 25.98 gigawatts(GW) of thermal capacity by 2035—largely gas-fired. South Korea’s three mega AI projects could require an additional 27GW of power by 2040, raising concerns that LNG and other fossil fuels will be used to meet rising demand. 

Japan and South Korea are also major providers of public finance and export support for overseas fossil-fuel projects. Japanese public institutions provided approximately US$93 billion for overseas oil and gas projects from 2013 to 2024, nearly four times the amount for renewables. South Korean export-finance agencies committed approximately US$44.4 billion to overseas energy projects between 2020 and 2024, with 74.5% supporting fossil fuels. By financing gas terminals, pipelines and export facilities across Southeast Asia and beyond, both countries risk locking the region into long-term fossil-fuel dependence and undermining efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

Australia: Fossil gas exports and the regional supply chain

Australia is the world’s third-largest gas exporter, with a significant amount of its gas production sent to East Asia and Southeast Asia markets, where it is associated with climate and environmental impacts across the supply chain. As Australian gas fields decline and major trading partners in East Asia reduce their demand, the upstream gas industry is increasingly looking to emerging Asia markets for future demand. 

Multinational gas corporations, like Woodside Energy,  presenting at Gastech, seek to hook customers in new markets like Thailand to replace declining demand.  Expanding gas in Asia will mean more gas drilling in Australia, including Woodside’s Browse proposal to drill up to 57 oil and gas wells at Scott Reef, which risks a pristine marine ecosystem, and would emit 1.6 billion tonnes of climate pollution over its lifetime.

These developments highlight how decisions about new gas infrastructure and the long-term supply chain in Asia can have implications across the wider gas supply chain. At the same time, renewable energy, energy storage, grid modernisation and other clean energy solutions provide alternative pathways for meeting the region’s growing electricity demand while reducing reliance on fossil gas.

Media contacts: 

Somrudee Panasudtha, Senior Communications Campaigner, Greenpeace Southeast Asia (Thailand Office),  +66 81 929 5747, [email protected]

Yujie Xue, International Communications Officer, Greenpeace East Asia, +852 5127 3416, [email protected]

Lucy Keller, Senior Communications Advisor, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, +61 491 135 308, [email protected]