Following years of advocacy by civil society organisations, journalists and activists, Lebanon has passed a new media law that introduces important human rights-based reforms, but falls short of bringing all the changes needed to ensure that the right to freedom of expression is respected, protected and fulfilled in the country, Amnesty International said today.
The Lebanese Parliament adopted a long-awaited Media Law on 11 August 2026 replacing outdated legislation from 1962 and 1994. The law published in the official gazette on 3 September, introduces several long-overdue safeguards for journalists, media workers and people exercising their right to freedom of expression online, including decriminalizing insults and defamation in some instances, introducing stronger protections for sources, prohibiting pretrial detention in media-related cases, restricting military court jurisdiction for such cases, and expanding protections for online expression.
However, parliament missed an opportunity to address other threats to the right to freedom of expression, including by retaining provisions in the Penal Code that carry prison sentences for protected speech such as “insulting” or defaming foreign states, and it also introduces new criminal offence for “false or harmful news”.
“After years of efforts by Amnesty International and other rights groups advocating legislative reform to protect expression in Lebanon, the new media law takes multiple steps forward, including by removing criminal penalties for certain insult and defamation offences and expanding protections for online speech. However, long-standing provisions in Lebanese law that criminalize protected expression remain on the books and could end up undermining progress towards decriminalization that parliament spent nearly years negotiating,” said Reina Wehbi, Lebanon campaigner for Amnesty International.
“In recent years, people in Lebanon that have published or written on controversial topics or criticized powerful actors have been summoned to face criminal investigation or brought to court for peacefully exercising their right to freedom of expression based on vague insult and defamation articles. The Lebanese parliament must not look away from the legal provisions that could still be used to prosecute and intimidate people for peacefully expressing their views and should complete the reform process by repealing the offence of ‘false and harmful news’ which is not a recognizable offence under international law and fully decriminalizing defamation, as well as repealing insult offences.”
As the new law governs expression disseminated through media outlets, publications, websites, online platforms and other electronic means, the protections and exemptions it establishes do not necessarily apply in other contexts in which freedom of expression could be exercised.
On Monday, 31 August, the Oyvon, a search and rescue vessel operated by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), rescued 18 people in distress on the central Mediterranean Sea. Most were Eritrean, and 12 were unaccompanied minors, including one young girl.
The rescue took place within the Maltese search and rescue zone, and the survivors were brought to Trapani, Sicily, which the Italian authorities designated as the place of safety on Tuesday, 1 September.
“The people we rescued, many of them children, had left Libya over 24 hours earlier,” says Leah Kenny, Humanitarian Affairs Coordinator aboard Oyvon. “By the time we reached them, they were exhausted, adrift in international waters and out of fuel.”
The Mediterranean route is still deadly for migrants
The sea journey across the central Mediterranean has been one of the world’s deadliest migration routes for more than a decade, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
“Since 2015, more than 35,000 people have been recorded dead or missing in the Mediterranean, and these figures likely underestimate the true scale of the tragedy,” adds Kenny.
Search and rescue activities remain essential. MSF has conducted search and rescue operations in the central Mediterranean since 2015, rescuing more than 94,000 people across nine different vessels.
“People on the move face increasing violence at sea and along migration routes, including dangerous and violent interceptions,” says Claire San Filippo, MSF search and rescue representative. “Humanitarian rescue vessels are also subjected to harassment, intimidation, and armed attacks, often by the EU-funded Libyan or Tunisian Coast Guards, putting both survivors and rescue teams at risk. This is unacceptable.”
Restrictive migration policies continue to endanger lives
Current EU policies restricting rescue vessels or criminalising NGOs do not prevent people from attempting the crossing. People flee because of what they are escaping, not because we are present at sea.
European governments must stop their continued outsourcing of migration management to third countries, including equipping and funding their Coast Guards to intercept and push back people at sea.
“For some of the people we rescued, this was not their first attempt to make the crossing,” says Kenny. “They had previously been intercepted and forcibly returned to Libya by the EU-funded Libyan Coast Guard. Libya is not a place of safety, and the EU’s support for operations that return people there exposes them to the risk of serious human rights violations.”
“This directly contravenes the principle of non-refoulement, to which EU Member States are bound,” she says.
MSF teams have heard countless testimonies about how people who are forcibly returned to Libya face a cycle of arbitrary detention, violence, torture, and extortion. This is not a safe nor legal response to migration.
All of this is the result of the deadly policies of the EU and its Member States. Saving lives at sea should not be controversial. It is a legal obligation, a human and ethical duty, and Europe is failing it.
Responding to reports that journalist and human rights defender Kananelo Boloetse was abducted on 5 September from his home in Maseru, interrogated about his work, assaulted and threatened with death, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda, said:
“The reported abduction and brutal assault of Kananelo Boloetse is deeply alarming and raises serious concerns for the safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Lesotho.
The reported abduction and brutal assault of Kananelo Boloetse is deeply alarming and raises serious concerns for the safety of journalists and human rights defenders in Lesotho.
Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa
“The Lesotho authorities must urgently take all necessary measures to guarantee Kananelo Boloetse’s safety and protect him from further threats, intimidation or reprisals. They must also conduct a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into his abduction, assault and the threats against his life. Any suspect must be brought to justice in fair proceedings.
Journalists and human rights defenders must be able to carry out their work freely and safely. Violence, threats or intimidation against those exercising their right to freedom of expression should never be tolerated and must not go unpunished.
Vongai Chikwanda
“Journalists and human rights defenders must be able to carry out their work freely and safely. Violence, threats or intimidation against those exercising their right to freedom of expression should never be tolerated and must not go unpunished.”
Background
According to Newsday Media, Boloetse was abducted from his home in Katlehong, Maseru, on 5 September 2026 by three unidentified men. The organization said he was interrogated about his journalism and human rights work, assaulted, and later abandoned in Thaba-Bosiu, approximately 20–25 km east of Maseru.
Deadly US-Israeli coalition attacks on densely populated areas of Tehran in March 2026, that killed and injured dozens of civilians, must urgently be independently and impartially investigated to determine whether they constitute war crimes, Amnesty International said in a new briefing published today. The organization is calling for accountability and redress for possible indiscriminate attacks in violation of international humanitarian law as hostilities continue to escalate between the USA and Iran.
The recent escalation between the USA and Iran – with reports of civilian casualties in a deadly US attack on a wedding celebration in Hormozgan province on 1 September 2026, and Iran’s retaliatory attacks on Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq and Bahrain – demonstrates that the risks to civilians across the region remain high.
The organization’s investigation into air strikes on Niloufar, Resalat, and Javadieh neighbourhoods of Tehran between 1 and 13 March 2026 found evidence that explosive weapons with wide area effects were used in densely populated areas, killing and injuring civilians and causing extensive damage to homes, businesses and other civilian buildings.
In Resalat, air strikes destroyed or damaged a facility belonging to one of the Basij battalions of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as well as three nearby buildings – at least one of which was a residential building – killing 16 civilians. In Niloufar and Javadieh, at least 25 civilians were killed during air strikes that caused destruction or damage to police stations as well as widespread damage to nearby homes and other civilian structures.
Police are normally considered civilians under international humanitarian law unless they are incorporated into the armed forces or are directly participating in hostilities. In Iran, the police force is part of the broader armed forces structure and therefore police stations may qualify as military objectives. While the USA and Israel announced strikes on “regime” targets in Tehran in March 2026, neither confirmed carrying out these three specific attacks.
“The available evidence in Tehran points to a series of strikes using explosive weapons with wide area effects on security-related facilities within densely populated urban areas, with devastating and yet entirely predictable consequences for civilians. The civilian death toll, the scale of destruction, the timing of the attacks, the impact on nearby civilian structures and the lack of effective advance warnings point to alarming failures by the US-Israeli coalition to abide by the obligations to take all feasible precautions to minimize civilian harm and spare civilian objects,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International
“The US/Israeli strikes in Tehran investigated by Amnesty International may constitute indiscriminate attacks and amount to war crimes. They must be the object of independent, impartial, effective and transparent investigations.
The available evidence in Tehran points to a series of strikes using explosive weapons with wide area effects on security-related facilities within densely populated urban areas, with devastating and yet entirely predictable consequences for civilians
Agnès Callamard, Secretary General
“Amid the resumption of US strikes in Iran and renewed threats by US President Donald Trump to target civilian infrastructure, it is imperative that the US and Israel end all unlawful attacks and strictly comply with international humanitarian law, including by taking all feasible precautions to avoid, and in any event minimize, incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians and damage to civilian objects during the planning and execution of military operations. The same international law obligations apply to Iran while carrying out retaliatory attacks, including against Gulf states.”
Amnesty International renews its calls for an enduring ceasefire, and accountability for the unlawful US and Israeli attacks on Iran in violation of the UN Charter, and for all violations of international humanitarian law.
The organization also calls on the USA, Israel, and Iran to invite the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission to conduct enquiries into allegations of serious violations of international humanitarian law by all parties, including attacks on energy infrastructure; and urges the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly to consider all possible avenues to deliver and ensure peace, security and justice for all unlawful attacks in Iran.
Amnesty International analysed satellite imagery, as well as verifying 60 videos published online in relation to the three incidents. The organization also reviewed official public statements made by authorities in Iran, Israel and the USA and conducted interviews with two individuals inside Iran. Pseudonyms are used to protect their security. Amnesty International wrote to Israeli and US authorities on 17 July 2026 and to Iranian authorities on 31 July 2026. No response was received by the time of publication.
AIR STRIKES IN NILOUFAR
At least 20 civilians were killed in the attack in Niloufar Square in central Tehran on 1 March 2026, according to information gathered by Amnesty International from eyewitness accounts, media reports, and statements from Iranian officials. The attack took place at around 9pm when restaurants and cafes were open and the presence of civilians was readily foreseeable.
The evidence gathered indicates that the attack directly struck and destroyed the 104 Abbas Abad Police Station (Kalantari 104), located on Eshghyar Street in Niloufar Square.
Verified videos show that the blast destroyed the police station and caused extensive damage to surrounding apartment buildings, shops and other civilian structures located up to approximately 100 metres away.
A journalist who visited the site said the devastation extended well beyond the police station, leaving multiple apartment buildings uninhabitable and killing civilians, including a father and son who worked at a nearby bakery.
At least 16 civilians were killed and dozens injured during an attack in the densely built-up neighbourhood of Resalat, a populated district in eastern Tehran, at around 2.30pm local time on 9 March 2026, according to information gathered by Amnesty International from open-source evidence, eyewitness accounts, state media reports, and statements from Iranian officials and the Iranian Red Crescent.
According to Amnesty International’s research, the attack directly struck a facility belonging to a Basij battalion of the IRGC.
Amnesty International is unable to independently verify the exact number of strikes that took place and the nature of all buildings impacted in Resalat but satellite imagery analysed by the organization shows four distinct buildings where heavy damage and destruction are visible, including a residential building known as “Number 12” (Pelak-e 12). An eyewitness told Amnesty International that at least 13 civilians in residential building Number 12 were killed, including the building’s caretaker and 12 members of one family.
Evidence gathered by Amnesty International, including satellite imagery and videos as well as witness accounts, indicates that Number 12 was likely struck separately from the Basij facility.
At least five civilians, members of the same family, were killed and dozens injured during an attack in the densely populated neighbourhood of Javadieh in southern Tehran at around midday on 13 March 2026, according to information gathered by Amnesty International from state media reports and statements from Iranian officials.
Satellite imagery taken between 11 and 14 March 2026 and audiovisual evidence show that the attack destroyed parts of Police Station 117 (Kalantari 117) on Ghorbani Street and other buildings nearby.
Verified videos show the blast impact extending up to more than 50 metres and causing severe damage to surrounding residential and commercial buildings. One verified video shows emergency and rescue workers carrying out rescue operations. Amnesty International’s weapons experts analysed a photograph published by state media showing individuals standing around two dark, cylindrical pieces of metal lying on the ground and identified the objects as consistent with a component of a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), specifically the section that houses the GPS guidance unit. JDAM kits are manufactured in the US and are known to be used by both US and Israeli forces.
On 28 February, the USA and Israel launched joint attacks on Iran, with tens thousands of strikes across the country since. The strikes killed at least 1,469 civilians in Iran, including hundreds of children, between 28 February 2026 and 24 July 2026, according to official figures.
The Iranian authorities launched retaliatory attacks across the region. Iranian attacks have thus far killed at least 21 civilians in Israel and four in the occupied West Bank; and at least 29 killed across Gulf Cooperation Council countries. Amnesty International found that some of the attacks carried out by the Islamic Republic authorities were unlawful, including an attack that killed nine civilians in Beit Shemesh in Israel, and an attack on a migrant labour camp in Saudi Arabia that killed four civilians. Israel has also escalated its attacks on Lebanon, in response to Hezbollah’s attacks, with at least 4,333 killed in Lebanon since 2 March 2026.
The human cost of the flash floods in Nepal of 26 August is devastating. Thousands of people have been killed, with many still missing, and many thousands more have lost their homes and livelihoods.
After arriving in Nepal on 27 August, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams have carried out assessments in Rasuwa and Nuwakot districts, the parts of Nepal worst affected by the flash floods. Our teams spoke with people affected, visited health facilities and relief centres, and spoke with municipal, district and disaster management authorities coordinating the response to this tragedy.
People have repeatedly told us that their biggest needs now are for recovery – for roads and markets to reopen, for schools, homes and infrastructure to be rebuilt. It is clear that continued, significant, relief efforts and funding for people in affected communities is required now and in the weeks and months to come.
As an emergency humanitarian medical organisation, MSF’s expertise is in providing humanitarian assistance in the most acute phases of emergencies. Our teams have assessed that the humanitarian response is well mobilised and managed. The government-led response, in coordination with local communities, United Nations agencies, and other humanitarian organisations, has succeeded in meeting people’s immediate humanitarian needs.
MSF has therefore decided not to launch a humanitarian response, as our expertise does not lie in the recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction activities that people in Nepal now need. We extend our admiration and respect to local communities, the Nepali authorities and all those responding tirelessly under difficult conditions, helping people recover from this disaster.
We send our heartfelt sympathies to the people of Nepal and all those who have lost loved ones in this tragedy.
This press release contains information that some readers may find upsetting
Meta failed to address harmful rhetoric on Facebook against the LGBTI community in Hungary by ineffectively applying its own moderation policies, a new Amnesty International briefing shows.
“Meta contributed to adverse human rights impacts experienced by LGBTI people in Hungary through its policy decisions, and failed to take adequate steps to prevent the resulting harm. Risks to LGBTI people in Hungary were foreseeable and well documented, yet Meta did not adequately act on them,
Daniela Schnidrig, Interim Policy and Advocacy Adviser at Amnesty International’s Big Tech Accountability Team.
One of Meta’s failures was not properly assessing the risks that changes to its global policies posed to the Hungarian LGBTI community. This was despite knowing the hostile political climate and existing legal restrictions on LGBTI-related assemblies, including Pride, and sustained anti-LGBTI rhetoric, including by government and government-aligned actors.
Facebook occupies a uniquely influential position within Hungary’s information environment, reaching over half of the population. LGBTI people interviewed for this research said that sustained exposure to anti-LGBTI content on Facebook caused them anxiety, frustration and feelings of helplessness even in cases where they reported the harmful content.
“Facebook is just another piece in the pile of my anxiety… to them (Meta) users are not people, they are just numbers,” one interviewee told Amnesty International.
Some interviewees temporarily withdrew from the platform and participation in public discussions to protect their mental health. Others self-censored fearing a backlash if they openly expressed their sexual orientation, gender identity, or support for the rights of LGBTI people on the platform. These experiences raise concerns over whether Facebook failed to protect the rights to freedom of expression and non-discrimination, by undermining LGBTI people’s ability to participate in public and civic life on an equal basis with others.
“Over the last decade, members of the Hungarian LGBTI community faced severe smear campaigns and repressive laws from the Orbán government. They also could not express themselves freely on Meta platforms which largely added to their despair” – said Eszter Mihály, LGBTI rights officer at Amnesty Hungary.
The third UN Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001 was a watershed moment for millions across the world. Seven thousand people representing governments and civil society from 170 countries gathered in Durban, South Africa. Led by countries in the Global South, the Durban Conference challenged the idea that human rights is a Western concept, recognized the historical roots of contemporary forms of racism and called on States to repair the lasting consequences of colonialism and slavery. While the US and Israel withdrew from the Conference, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action were adopted, both of which became foundational documents for the global fight against racism. But with racism still very much alive, we spoke with activists about their struggles and hopes.
My name is Paul Divakar Namala. I am the Executive Director of The Inclusivity Project and Convenor of the Global Forum of Communities Discriminated on Work and Descent. My work focuses on communities whose social status, occupations and exclusion are inherited across generations through caste, analogous hierarchies and systems rooted in traditional slavery.
I am a Dalit. Dalits were historically treated as “untouchable” and placed at the bottom of, or outside, the caste hierarchy. This can shape every part of life: access to a common water source, where a child sits at school, where a family may live, what work a person is expected to perform and whether others will eat with or even be seen with them. Poverty is widespread in South Asia, but its burden falls disproportionately on Dalits because caste restricts access to land, education, dignified employment, public services and political power.
The third UN Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance in 2001 was a watershed moment for millions across the world. Seven thousand people representing governments and civil society from 170 countries gathered in Durban, South Africa. Led by countries in the Global South, the Durban Conference challenged the idea that human rights is a Western concept, recognized the historical roots of contemporary forms of racism and called on States to repair the lasting consequences of colonialism and slavery. While the US and Israel withdrew from the Conference, the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action were adopted, both of which became foundational documents for the global fight against racism. But with racism still very much alive, we spoke with activists about their struggles and hopes.
The Durban Conference was happening when I was one year old. It’s fascinating to see how many people got together back then to try and shape justice in the world but, without being too pessimistic, I see that things are getting worse. This is happening everywhere, not just in Palestine.
In eastern Chad, near the border with Sudan, more than 117,000 refugees live in the Ouré-Cassoni camp. As new families continue to arrive after fleeing the war in Sudan, needs are increasing while humanitarian funding is declining. In this isolated camp, the consequences of reduced aid are being felt directly in people’s daily lives. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) urges for Ouré-Cassoni to be among the priorities of the humanitarian response in Chad.
Sadia knows Ouré-Cassoni from the inside
Sadia arrived in Ouré-Cassoni with her family after fleeing violence in Sudan. Today, she works in the camp as a health promoter with MSF.
“I arrived here as a refugee and today I work with other refugees,” says Sadia. “I know what it means to wonder what tomorrow will bring.”
Women and children wait in a covered area of the sexual and reproductive health unit of MSF’s outpatient department, in Zone D of Ouré-Cassoni camp. Chad, July 2026.Flurina Rothenberger/MSF
Ouré-Cassoni is located in a remote region of Ennedi-Est, in north-eastern Chad. Its isolation makes access to services and the delivery of aid more difficult. Since the war in Sudan began in April 2023, the camp has experienced several waves of arrivals.
More than 60,000 people arrived in May 2025 following the fall of Zamzam camp, in North Darfur state. Following the takeover of El-Fasher, more than 21,000 new arrivals were registered between October 2025 and August 2026. MSF teams continue to observe daily arrivals from Sudan.
The camp is therefore growing, but the resources allocated to the humanitarian response do not follow the same trajectory.
When food assistance is reduced
For families in Ouré-Cassoni, the insufficiency of food is very real, it means not having enough to put on the table for their children. Salwa, a mother in the camp, explains.
“There are times when we do not know what we will feed our children the next day,” she says. “When distributions are reduced, we have to make do with very little.”
MSF teams are also seeing an increase in malnutrition among the children screened. Between 2025 and 2026, severe acute malnutrition increased from 2.2 per cent to 3.4 per cent, while moderate acute malnutrition increased from 10 to 13 per cent.
Behind these percentages are children arriving at health facilities in need of nutritional support, and parents trying every day to find ways to feed their families. The reduction in food assistance adds further pressure. This situation forces families to make difficult choices.
“Before, we could at least rely on distributions to help us feed the children,” says Salwa. “Now, we have to do more with what we have. When there is not enough food, the whole family suffers.”
Two litres of water a day
Water is another urgent concern. In Ouré-Cassoni, only around two litres of water is available per person per day, far below the 15 to 20 litres generally recommended in emergency situations.
Getting this water to families requires a complex chain: pumping it from the lake, treating it, checking its quality, transporting it, and distributing it across the different areas of the camp. For MSF, this shows what funding makes possible – or no longer makes possible – in concrete terms on the ground. Reduced funding translates into less clean water being provided to people in the camp.
In July, more than 14 per cent of consultations carried out by MSF in the camp concerned cases of non-bloody diarrhoea. Although a lack of clean drinking water is not the only cause, it is certainly among the causing factors.
“When we talk about humanitarian funding, we also need to think about very concrete needs: keeping pumps running, treating water and making sure it reaches families in sufficient quantities and on a regular basis,” says Joshua Ayuba Mpato, MSF project coordinator in Ouré-Cassoni.
“For people living in Ouré-Cassoni, access to safe water in sufficient quantities is not a luxury: it is a basic necessity for their health and dignity,” he says.
A precarious roof and difficult access to healthcare
After food and water, shelter is one of the main needs identified by communities. Thousands of families have to improvise homes using whatever materials they can find, often in conditions that provide limited protection.
These living conditions also have consequences for health. Respiratory infections, particularly those associated with precarious housing conditions, account for more than 30 per cent of MSF consultations across different areas of the camp and among all age groups.
However, Ouré-Cassoni has only one health centre, and specialist healthcare is not directly available within the camp. People requiring specialist care must be referred to other facilities, where only critical cases are supported financially.
Timothée Awoulzou Tchangvo, MSF psychologist, leads a psychosocial group session for caregivers and children with moderate acute malnutrition in the outpatient department in Zone D of Ouré-Cassoni camp. Chad, July 2026.Flurina Rothenberger/MSF
Dire living conditions and lack of assistance also translate into increased risks for women and girls, who are forced to leave the camp to collect water and firewood. Between January and July 2026, MSF teams provided care to 91 victims and survivors of sexual violence in Ouré-Cassoni. Although it is not possible to determine how much of this violence took place in Chad after people fled Sudan, going outside the camp exposes women to an increased risk of violence.
A huge camp, a shrinking response
It is against this backdrop that the question of Ouré-Cassoni’s place in the humanitarian response arises. Ouré-Cassoni was not included in the priority areas outlined in the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Chad. For MSF, the contrast is concerning. Needs are increasing at the very time that available resources are decreasing.
“Ouré-Cassoni must be a priority for donors,” says Ayuba Mpato. “We are talking about more than 117,000 people, with considerable needs, and new arrivals every day. The situation we are seeing here is not sustainable. Needs are increasing, but resources are not keeping pace. Without an urgent increase in assistance, the gap between people’s needs and the humanitarian response will only continue to widen.”
In Ouré-Cassoni, the consequences of reductions in aid are therefore not abstract. They are felt in the meals families are able to provide, in the amount of water available, in precarious shelters, and in inaccessible healthcare.
For MSF, the scale and urgency of the needs in Ouré-Cassoni fully justify prioritisation of the camp in the humanitarian response in Chad.
