Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the United States President Donald Trump’s statement about Iran on Truth Social on 7 April 2026, warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, AgnèsCallamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International said:

“President Trump’s very act of making such apocalyptic threats, including his warning of ending ‘a whole civilization’, reveals a staggering level of cruelty and disregard for human life. It becomes all the more terrifying when coupled with his explicit threats to directly attack civilian infrastructure by bringing about the ‘complete demolition’ of Iran’s power plants and bridges.

“International humanitarian law strictly prohibits direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects. The US President’s threat of extermination and irreparable destruction brazenly shreds core rules of international humanitarian law, with potentially catastrophic consequences for over 90 million people.  It may constitute a threat to commit genocide, a crime defined by the Genocide Convention and by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as committing one or more defined acts ’with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.’

“The stakes could not be higher. The international community, including the UN Security Council, regional bodies and all states must urgently intervene to avert an impending catastrophe and unequivocally affirm that inciting, ordering or committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide entail individual criminal responsibility under international law.  

“President Trump’s threats, coupled with escalating USA and Israeli attacks destroying civilian infrastructure, are terrorizing millions of people in Iran and their distressed relatives abroad as tens of millions of lives hang in the balance. We call for immediate action to stop unlawful attacks that would plunge an entire country into darkness and deprive millions of their fundamental human rights to life, water, food, healthcare, and an adequate standard of living.

“In recent days, US and Israeli forces have attacked civilian infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, universities, steel factories and petrochemical facilities, killing and injuring civilians, condemning the population to years, if not decades, of deepened economic hardship, inflicting serious harm on civilian health and the environment, and leaving long‑lasting damage to civilians’ lives and livelihoods.

“Intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure constitute war crimes under international law. Even in the limited cases that civilian infrastructure qualify as military targets, a party still cannot attack them if this may cause disproportionate harm to civilians. Power plants, water systems and energy infrastructure are indispensable to civilian life, underpinning access to clean water, medical care, hospital electricity, food supply chains, and basic livelihoods. Attacking them would be disproportionate and thus unlawful under international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime.”

Background

In recent days, President Trump has repeatedly issued escalating threats against Iran’s energy and transport infrastructure, warning that unless the Iranian authorities reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the United States would carry out the “complete demolition” of the country’s power plants and bridges. He also threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”.

On 5 April, President Trump warned stated that Iran could be “taken out in one night” and set a deadline of 8pm Eastern Time on 7 April for Iranian authorities to comply. He further vowed that every power plant and bridge in the country would be left “burning, exploding, and never to be used again”.

On 7 April, the Israeli military issued an overly broad warning to civilians in Iran to avoid trains and railway lines nationwide, stating that being near such infrastructure would “endanger your life”.

During the same period, USA and Israeli strikes across Iran struck bridges, petrochemical facilities and steel factories, killing and injuring civilians and heightening fears of widespread, unlawful attacks on essential civilian infrastructure.

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the sentencing of nine police officers to death by the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai for the 2020 custodial torture and killing of P. Jayaraj and P. Bennix, Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board, said: 

“The court verdict marks a rare moment of accountability in India’s long struggle against police torture. The verdict acknowledges the brutality of a crime that shocked the nation. But this death penalty sentence is not justice – it is a deflection from the deeper reforms urgently required to ensure police oversight and accountability. Punishing a human rights violation with another does not end violence; it just perpetuates it.  

“What is needed is structural reform. India must ratify the UN Convention against Torture, a long-pending step that would legally bind the country to international law and strengthen domestic accountability mechanisms. While ratification alone will not end torture, it is a critical part of a broader solution that should include a standalone anti-torture law, independent investigations, and strict enforcement of existing safeguards. India must also facilitate the visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, whose requests have gone unanswered since 1999.

Punishing a human rights violation with another does not end violence; it just perpetuates it

Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. It neither deters torture nor delivers systemic change. Justice for Jayaraj, Bennix and thousands of others lies in transforming the institutions that enabled their deaths and ensuring it will never happen again.” 

Background 

In addition to the death sentences, the court ordered the police officers to jointly pay ₹1.40 crore (USD 150,500) in compensation to the deceased’s family. 

Jayaraj and his son Bennix died days after being taken into custody by the Sathankulam police in Tamil Nadu state in June 2020, allegedly for violating COVID-19 restrictions. They were subjected to torture including sexual violence in custody. Their deaths exposed systemic failures: routine torture, weak oversight, and a culture of impunity that persists despite existing legal safeguards. 

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, between 1999 and 2023, over 2,200 people died in police custody in India. However, convictions remain exceptionally rare, with no convictions recorded in custodial death cases between 2018 and 2023.  

India has established legal and institutional safeguards to ensure police accountability for torture in custody. The Criminal Procedure Code requires medical examination, production before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest and judicial inquiries into custodial deaths. The National Human Rights Commission has investigative authority. Yet these safeguards are routinely ignored or weakly implemented. 

Regardless of India’s non-ratification of UNCAT, prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is a norm of customary international law that applies to all people in all circumstances.  

For more information on Amnesty International’s position on the death penalty, see here. 

Source: Amnesty International –

The prosecution of Amnesty International Türkiye’s former Chair Kerem Dikmen and ten other members of the executive and supervisory boards of Genç LGBTI+ (Young LGBTI+) Association, is part of an orchestrated strategy of harassment of LGBTI+ organizations and their supporters, Amnesty International said ahead of a hearing which starts tomorrow.  

In December, a court ruled to dissolve the Izmir-based Genç LGBTI+ Association on the grounds of ‘obscenity’ for five illustrations posted on their social media accounts between 2019 and 2022, based on an audit report in 2024. In October 2025, a related criminal prosecution was launched against eleven people in the leadership position of the association for violating the Law on Associations. If found guilty, they could face a jail sentence of up to three years. 

Despite a finding that the social media posts were not obscene, the authorities closed a vibrant LGBTI+ rights organization and are now threatening the liberty of its board

“It is shocking that this baseless case has been brought against these human rights defenders in the first place. Despite an initial finding by İzmir’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Cybercrime Bureau in August 2025 that the social media posts were not obscene, the authorities have first closed a vibrant LGBTI+ rights organization and they are now threatening the liberty of its board,” said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Research in Europe. 

This case is part of an increasingly anti-LGBTI agenda being implemented by Turkish authorities in the ongoing crackdown on Türkiye’s LGBTI+ community

“This case is part of an increasingly anti-LGBTI agenda being implemented by Turkish authorities in the ongoing crackdown onTürkiye’s LGBTI+ community. Under their claimed pretext of ‘protecting family values’, the authorities are using the justice system to attack the people’s freedom of association and to criminalize LGBTI+ rights defenders. The absurd charges against Kerem Dikmen and the other board members must be dropped.” 

Background

The illustrations posted on Facebook and Instagram, were drawings showing figures kissing, three colourful paintings depicting some level of nudity including one depicting four people together. 

On 11 December 2025, the İzmir Civil Court of First Instance No. 3 ruled that five images posted on social by the organization in 2019, 2020 and 2022 were ‘obscene’ and ‘encourage and incite individuals in society to engage in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, or transsexual behaviour.’ The Court found that the organization could neither be considered ‘in line with the moral values of the society’ nor ‘Article 41 of the Constitution which stipulates that the family is the foundation of the Turkish society.’ Genç LGBTI+ Association is appealing this decision. 

In parallel with these civil proceedings, the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Cybercrime Bureau is prosecuting Emirhan Şaşmaz, Kerem Dikmen and nine other members of the executive and supervisory boards of Genç LGBTI+ association for violating the Law on Associations. 

Amnesty International Türkiye spokespeople will be at the hearing and available for interview. Follow @aforgutu for updates.

See Urgent Action launched in March 2026 here 

For more information contact [email protected] 

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the news that parliamentarians loyal to former Senior General Min Aung Hlaing voted him in as the next president of Myanmar on 3 April, Amnesty International Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman said: 

“If Min Aung Hlaing thinks that an official civilian title will shield him from prosecution for the many grave violations of international law that he is accused of overseeing as head of the military, that is not how international justice works. He may exchange his military fatigues for civilian attire, but this changes nothing with respect to his suspected responsibility for serious crimes under international law in Myanmar.  

“For the many Myanmar people who have been victims of Min Aung Hlaing’s violently unfettered military in the aftermath of the 2021 coup and beforehand, seeing their oppressor formally elevated instead of prosecuted will be deeply painful. They may also fear that this will entrench impunity across the country.  

“No individual should have immunity from prosecution for crimes under international law, no matter their position. There is an existing arrest warrant request for Min Aung Hlaing at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Should that be granted, ICC member states have a duty to enforce it if he travels to their territory, and the whole international community should ensure he is denied safe haven and immediately arrested if he leaves Myanmar, rather than use this political development as an excuse to ignore their international legal obligations. 

“Until Min Aung Hlaing, his alleged co-perpetrators in the military and others are prosecuted fairly in independent courts for the crimes they are accused of being responsible for, Myanmar’s cycle of impunity will continue, and a Myanmar where human rights are protected, promoted and fulfilled will recede ever further into the distance.  

“We also urge the ICC to proceed with arrest warrants for Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar junta officials under the ICC’s investigation, and for the UN Security Council to refer the whole situation in Myanmar to the ICC.” 

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 2, 2026 ) — Despite its stated commitment to improving Americans’ health, the Trump administration has repeatedly favored the petrochemical sector while weakening basic safeguards that protect people from toxic chemicals, including weakening formaldehyde cancer standards, rolling back air pollution monitoring requirements, and reducing enforcement of environmental laws. 

In response to the Trump Administration’s announcement of its STOMP program to ‘systematically target’ microplastics, Sybil Bullock, Greenpeace USA Senior Oceans Campaigner, said: “Microplastics are polluting our bodies, damaging human cells and tissues. While we need microplastics out of our water, the Trump administration’s announcement of more research is not leadership, it’s more of the same—another gift to the very industries that are making Americans sick. The science is clear: plastics contain over 16,000 chemicals, many of which are harmful to human health. Adding microplastics to a list without committing to take action puts present and future generations at risk. The only way to Make America Healthy Again is to cut plastic production and eliminate hazardous chemicals from food packaging and everyday products. They cannot claim to prioritize health while expanding oil and gas—the same systems fueling plastic production and chemical exposure.

Bullock continued: “Every day, roughly 10,000 babies are born in the United States — already at risk of exposure to plastics and harmful chemicals before they even take their first breath. No one should have to live like this, exposed from the very start of life with no way to opt out. Health officials and advocates across the political spectrum know these exposures damage our health throughout childhood and every stage of life. Microplastics have been found in the air we breathe, the food we eat, in our organs, and in our blood. This is unacceptable — Americans should not be treated as collateral damage for the oil and gas industry’s profits.” 

Fenceline communities, those living next to oil, gas, and petrochemical facilities, bear a disproportionate burden of toxic pollution and related health risks. Yet they continue to face the threat of industry expansion, as recent federal actions have accelerated permitting, increased drilling approvals, and fast-tracked new oil and gas infrastructure projects. 

Jo Banner, Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Descendants Project, said: “Plastic is like a fire raging through a building. From its top floor, starting with extraction and production, to its bottom floor of waste management, addressing the issue of microplastics is like attempting to extinguish the flames while the structure collapses, burying the health of frontline communities, such as my community in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, in its ash and rubble.”

---

Contacts:

Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected]

Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected] 

Greenpeace USA (inc.) 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.

Source: Amnesty International –

As humanitarian and human rights organisations that have worked for years in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we are appalled by the Israeli Knesset’s decision to approve a bill that makes death penalty effectively mandatory in the West Bank and which will de facto apply exclusively to Palestinians.

On 30 March, the Knesset approved a bill, introduced by the party of Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir, expanding the use of the death penalty in both military and civilian courts. Although Israeli law has long provided for the death penalty for cases of genocide and wartime espionage, Israel has not carried out executions nor imposed death sentences since 1962. This new legislation not only marks a significant regression: it also does so by imposing capital punishment on de facto ethnic or national grounds and by diluting basic legal safeguards.

In the West Bank – excluding East Jerusalem – the law imposes the death penalty as the default sentence for those convicted of intentional killings classified as acts of terrorism under Israeli legislation, allowing life imprisonment – and life imprisonment only – in “special circumstances” that are not specified in law. Military courts may impose capital punishment by a simple majority, even without a prosecutorial request. Sentences cannot be commuted or pardoned and must be carried out within 90 days. Notably, Israeli settlers in the West Bank are explicitly excluded from the scope of this provision.

Within Israel, civilian courts may impose the death penalty or life imprisonment for intentional killings, if they are committed with the aim of “negating the existence of the State of Israel.” 

Therefore, while the law does not explicitly reference ethnicity or nationality, it is effectively designed to target Palestinians exclusively. It also introduces an exceptional execution regime by hanging, characterised by secrecy, and limited access to legal counsel and external oversight.

The European Union has consistently held that capital punishment is cruel, inhuman, and incompatible with human dignity under all circumstances. But even beyond this principled stance, the new Israeli law breaches basic safeguards recognised by the international community to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty. Its discriminatory nature and lack of due process guarantee, violate the right to life and protections enshrined in international humanitarian and human rights law, such as the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture.

Diplomatic engagement by the EU and its Member States urging Israel to reverse course has so far proven ineffective. This appalling development occurs amid an ongoing manmade humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which a UN Commission of Inquiry, multiple Palestinian, Israeli and international organizations, and independent experts have characterised as constituting genocide, and against the backdrop of an accelerating de facto annexation of the West Bank, as acknowledged by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024. The adoption of the death penalty law is thus part of a pattern of discriminatory policies and practices against Palestinians, which in the same Advisory Opinion the International Court of Justice has found to violate Article 3 CERD, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid.

In furtherance of these policies, Israel has already crossed established EU red lines: the advancement of settlement construction in the E1 area, which breaks the territorial contiguity of the West Bank, with the intent to prevent a future Palestinian state; the ban on UNRWA and attacks on its facilities, including schools and clinics built and run with EU contributions; the expulsion of international NGOs through restrictive registration procedures; forced evictions of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem; forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians and widespread demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the West Bank, including EU-funded projects; persistent impunity for abuses by Israeli security forces and state-backed settler violence; reports of widespread and systemic torture and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners; restrictions on religious freedoms; attacks on journalists; and denial of access to EU officials.

As also recalled by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kallas in her statement of 31 March, the EU-Israel Association Agreement establishes respect for democratic principles as an essential element of EU-Israel relations. A review conducted by the EU in June 2025 based on Article 2 of the Agreement found Israel in breach of its human rights obligations for serious abuses against Palestinians and violations of the laws of war, both in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Nine months on, the time for action is long overdue. The European Union must uphold its stated principles and legal obligations by finally suspending, as a minimum immediate measure, the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and adopting other measures, as proposed by President von der Leyen in September 2025.

Signatories:

1. 11.11.11
2. ACT Alliance EU
3. Act Church of Sweden 
4. ActionAid International
5. Amnesty International
6. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
7. Bystanders No More
8. Caritas Europa
9. Caritas MONA (Middle East and North Africa)
10. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
11. Children Not Numbers
12. Christian Aid
13. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
14. CNCD-11.11.11
15. Cooperazione Internazionale Sud-Sud (CISS)
16. DanChurchAid
17. 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World
18. EuroMed Rights
19. Finn Church Aid
20. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
21. Human Rights Watch
22. Insecurity Insight
23. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
24. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH)
25. Norwegian Church Aid
26. Oxfam
27. Pax Christi International
28. Public Commitee Against Torture in Israel
29. Trócaire
30. United Against Inhumanity
31. Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC) 

Source: Amnesty International –

Iranian authorities are trampling upon children’s rights and committing a grave violation of international humanitarian law amounting to a war crime by recruiting and mobilizing children as young as 12 into a military campaign led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Amnesty International said today. 

On 26 March 2026, a deputy of the IRGC Mohammad Rasoul Allah Corps of Greater Tehran, Rahim Nadali, announced that a recruitment campaign called the “Homeland-Defending Combatants for Iran” is “open to volunteers” aged 12 and above, encouraging registrations at Basij bases in mosques across Tehran to join “combatants defending the homeland.” Eyewitness accounts and verified audiovisual evidence show child soldiers having been deployed at IRGC checkpoints and patrols, armed with weapons, including AK47pattern rifles.   

“The Iranian authorities are shamelessly encouraging children as young as 12 to join an IRGC run military campaign, putting them in grave danger and violating international law, which prohibits the recruitment and use of children in the military. Recruiting children under 15 into the armed forces constitutes a war crime,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns. 

As US and Israeli strikes hit thousands of IRGC sites, including Basij facilities, across the country, including through drone attacks targeting security patrols and checkpoints, the deployment of child soldiers alongside IRGC personnel or in their facilities puts them at grave risk of death and injury.

Erika Guevara-Rosas, Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns. 

“As US and Israeli strikes hit thousands of IRGC sites, including Basij facilities, across the country, including through drone attacks targeting security patrols and checkpoints, the deployment of child soldiers alongside IRGC personnel or in their facilities puts them at grave risk of death and injury. Iranian authorities must immediately stop their criminal assault on children’s rights and prohibit the recruitment of anyone under 18 by the armed forces.” 

According to official statements, under announced campaign, recruits are being assigned to a range of activities linked to the IRGC’s “operational and security” activities, including patrols, checkpoint duties, logistical support, distribution of equipment and supplies, and assisting with food, medical and relief tasks.  

Amnesty International has analysed 16 photos and videos that have appeared online since 21 March 2026, showing children wielding weapons such as AK-pattern assault rifles  or standing alongside IRGC and other forces at checkpoints, on patrols and during state-organized militarized rallies in Tehran, Mashad and Kermanshah. 

On 29 March, 11-year-old boy, Alireza Jafari, was killed, while accompanying his father, a member of the IRGC’s Basij, at a checkpoint in Tehran, laying bare the devastating consequences of the presence of children at military objectives. Authorities have confirmed that the child was killed “while serving” at a checkpoint following an Israeli drone attack. 

The boy’s mother told Hamshahri newspaper that on the night of the incident, her husband reported a “shortage of personnel” at checkpoints and took their sons, Alireza Jafari and his younger nine-year-old brother, with him. She added that her husband said Alireza “must get prepared for the days ahead” and that currently, children as young as 15 and 16 commonly take part in checkpoint duties. 

A Senior Reporter for BBC Persian Forensic, Ghoncheh Habibiazad, shared with Amnesty International screenshots of text messages received from four eyewitnesses in Tehran, Karaj, and Rasht who reported seeing children deployed at Basijrun checkpoints and armed with weapons, including AK47pattern rifles, in March 2026.  

One of the eyewitnesses from Tehran wrote: 

“[On 25 March], I saw a child at a checkpoint near our house… I think he was about 15. He just had the faint beginnings of a moustache. It seemed like he was struggling to breathe from the effort of lifting the gun. He was pointing the gun toward the cars.” 

Another eyewitness from Karaj wrote: 

“Today [on 27 March], I saw a child at a checkpoint. I think he was about 16. His facial hair hadn’t even grown. He was holding a Kalashnikov rifle.” 

An eyewitness from Rasht wrote on 30 March: 

“I have seen children wielding weapons. They wear masks to cover their faces, but it is obvious they are kids. They have not even grown in height… some appear to be 13 years old at most… I saw [several] children standing in front of mosques [where Basij bases are located], ahead of the actual forces. I keep thinking their brains aren’t developed like adults and they might actually fire randomly. I am both scared of them and feel sad for them.” 

In a video posted online on 30 March 2026, filmed in Mashhad at Shariati Square, two children, visibly identifiable from their height and stature, are seen wearing Basij camouflage uniforms and balaclavas and carrying AK‑pattern assault rifles while positioned on a white car during a state-organized rally. One child is visible standing through a side window, while the other appears positioned through the top window of the vehicle. The footage shows the children elevated above the crowd as the car moves through the square, with people around them cheering and waving flags. 

The recruitment announcement was circulated alongside a poster depicting a man in a uniform belonging to the Basij battalions of the IRGC, a woman in civilian dress, and two children, a boy and a girl. The poster promoted the campaign under the slogan “Basij with people, for people,” and featured a quote from the late Supreme Leader and commander-in-chief of the armed forces Ali Khamenei, stating that “Basijis must remain at the heart of the field for the main virtues of the Revolution to stay alive.” 

In an interview aired by state media, a deputy of the IRGC Mohammad Rasoul Allah Corps of Greater Tehran, Rahim Nadali, spoke of the “high enthusiasm” among teenagers to join “intelligence and operational patrols,” saying:  

“Teenagers and youth have repeatedly come forward saying they want to take part… Given the ages of those making these requests, we have set the minimum age at 12. There are now kids aged 12-13 who want to be present in this space.” 

Source: Amnesty International –

Last year, the European Commission launched a drive to simplify existing EU laws on artificial intelligence (AI) and data protection, arguing that this would “boost competitiveness” and “cut red tape”. In November 2025, it unveiled proposals for sweeping changes to major laws like the AI Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

At stake are the rules that protect us on and offline. Corporations work hard to give regulation a bad name, but regulations protect our rights from being steamrolled by states and governments. They protect our environment, our rights at work, our rights online, and so much more. 

Backed by powerful corporations, the Commission’s so-called “Digital Omnibus” threatens to weaken EU digital rules that were once seen as global benchmarks for privacy and AI. This plays on a false dichotomy between regulation and innovation, championed by Big Tech, who seek a rules-free environment that prioritizes profit at any cost. True innovation means finding ways to ensure that the benefits of new technologies are shared by society at large, and not serve only the interest of Big Tech oligarchs. 

The proposals presented under the guise of “simplification” amount to an unprecedented rollback of rights online at the EU level that protect us from corporate and state surveillance, discrimination at the hands of AI systems, and much more.