SYDNEY, Wednesday 26 August 2026 — New 2026 Sustainability Reports released by supermarket giantsColesandWoolworthsthis week demonstrate the retailers are failing on their commitments to end deforestation in their supply chains.
Adele Chasson, Nature Policy Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific said:
“These so-called sustainability reports are revealing. Despite their public commitments in 2024 and 2025, neither Coles nor Woolworths have taken deforestation-linked beef off their shelves. Meanwhile, bulldozers continue to tear up forests and bushland, pushing wildlife closer to extinction and causing mass toxic runoff to flow into the Great Barrier Reef. Millions of native animals like koalas are losing their homes to beef pastures each year, while the big supermarkets put off action.
“Australians would be shocked to know that beef on the shelves of our biggest supermarkets could be pushing threatened species to the brink of extinction. Collectively Coles and Woolworths have made more than $2 billion in profits in the last year, profiting from the destruction of wildlife and precious Australian nature. Coles and Woolworths owe it to shoppers to deliver on their promises and end deforestation in their supply chains now.
“As big beef buyers, Coles and Woolworths have an essential role to play in keeping Australia’s unique forests standing. They can help stop the Great Barrier Reef from being poisoned by runoff and protect iconic forest wildlife by taking deforestation off their shelves. It’s time these big companies put their money where their mouths are and follow through on their promise of sourcing and supplying deforestation-free beef.”
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights today delivered a landmark judgment in the case of Osman Kavala, the human rights defender and civil society leader unlawfully imprisoned in Türkiye since November 2017. The Court ruled that Kavala’s continued detention is unlawful and found that his rights to fair trial, freedom of expression and association have been violated. The Court also found that his aggravated life sentence amounts to inhuman and degrading treatment and that the Turkish authorities acted in bad faith by keeping him in detention unlawfully. The Court concluded that he was convicted for the ulterior purpose of punishing and silencing him, and to prevent his human rights work. The Court ordered his release at the earliest possible date and that his conviction be quashed.
Human rights organisations Human Rights Watch, International Commission of Jurists, and the Turkey Litigation Support Project submitted a joint intervention to the Court on the core rights issues at stake in the case. Amnesty International declared Osman Kavala and his six co-defendants prisoners of conscience in June 2022.
Today, the ECHR has comprehensively established that Osman Kavala‘s detention for is based on a politically motivated trial
Eve Geddie, Amnesty International
In what became known as the “Gezi Park trial”, Kavala was sentenced on April 25, 2022 to life in prison without parole for “attempting to overthrow the government” alongside co-defendants who received 18-year terms for “aiding the attempt to overthrow the government” during protests in 2013. The Turkish authorities should immediately release Osman Kavala and set aside his conviction in line with both Türkiye’s international legal obligations and the Turkish Constitution, the groups said.
“Today, in its latest ruling, the European Court of Human Rights has comprehensively established that Osman Kavala‘s detention for almost nine years is based on a politically motivated trial,” said Eve Geddie, Director of Amnesty International’s European Institutions Office.
“Türkiye has defied two previous binding rulings from the Court in his case. This obstruction of justice must end. Türkiye’s authorities, including judicial and prosecutorial, must act to free Osman Kavala immediately and unconditionally.”
In its latest judgment, the European Court examined the entirety of the Gezi proceedings – in which the prosecution falsely alleged that the 2013 peaceful protests in Istanbul’s Gezi Park were an attempt to overthrow the government. The Court assessed the indictment, the charges, the purported evidence, the trial, the appeals and the conviction against the European Convention on Human Rights’ fair trial guarantees. It found that the entire basis of Kavala’s deprivation of liberty and eventual conviction was ‘a flagrant denial of justice’. The Court also recognized the structural shortcomings which undermine the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in Türkiye and ordered measures be taken to remedy them.
“Europe’s highest human rights court has confirmed beyond doubt that Kavala’s arrest, detention, prosecution and conviction as part of the Gezi trial was politically motivated and completely flawed from start to finish,” said Ayşe Bingöl Demir, Director, Turkey Litigation Support Project.
“The systemic failures that made possible the violations of his rights since his arrest in October 2017 have been exposed once again.”
This is the third time the European Court has ruled on Kavala’s situation. In December 2019, the Court found that his detention violated his right to liberty and that it pursued the ulterior purpose of silencing him as a human rights defender. The Court ordered his immediate release. In July 2022, in its second ruling on the case, the Court found Türkiye in breach of its obligation to abide by the 2019 judgment.
The European Convention system for human rights protection now faces a defining test, the groups said. Despite these rulings the Council of Europe has yet to take meaningful action to ensure Türkiye’s compliance with the Court’s judgments in the Kavala case.
“Türkiye was among the first states to join the Council of Europe and to become party to the European Convention on Human Rights, thereby agreeing to uphold and protect the rights it enshrines and implement the binding judgments of its Court,” said Temur Shakirov, Director of Europe and Central Asia Programme, International Commission of Jurists.
“It must now honour those obligations, and the Council of Europe needs to act to ensure it does.”
The Committee of Ministers (the Council of Europe’s decision-making body) is charged with supervising execution and compliance with the Court judgments. In the face of such serious and continuous lack of compliance, the Council of Europe, its Parliamentary Assembly and Secretary General also need to take every necessary measure and use all the appropriate tools available to secure the implementation of these judgments to ensure that Osman Kavala is finally released from prison. The Council of Europe and its member states should recognize the implications of Türkiye’s failure to implement these judgments which represents a serious threat to the effectiveness and credibility of the Convention system.
Türkiye has defied two previous binding rulings from the Court in his case. This obstruction of justice must end
Eve Geddie, Amnesty International
Council of Europe member states must also keep the Kavala case at the top of their agenda concerning Türkiye and raise compliance with these judgments in clear and unambiguous terms with the Turkish authorities, including by articulating concrete demands for Osman Kavala’s immediate release.
“Osman Kavala has been unlawfully imprisoned for nearly nine years,” said Aisling Reidy, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch.
“The European Court has now demanded his immediate release three times. It is vital that the Council of Europe and its member states act to ensure that the Court’s judgments are respected and that Osman Kavala – finally – is freed.”
In the sprawling, overcrowded refugee camps of Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, a crisis far from the headlines is taking a severe toll on the youngest generation of Rohingya refugees. Children arrive at medical facilities later, sicker, and with complex, overlapping physical and psychological health needs.
Nine years after fleeing extreme violence in Myanmar, children make up more than half of the 1.3 million refugees living in conditions of indefinite containment. In these camps, where international funding is volatile and shrinking, families struggle to secure basic food, healthcare, and education, placing children’s daily survival at constant risk.
Beyond physical hardship, children and their families carry the heavy psychological weight of a life in limbo, trapped by political dynamics that fail to deliver meaningful solutions or ensure long-term safety and dignity. At Kutupalong hospital – Médecins Sans Frontières’ (MSF’s) largest hospital and main referral hub for people in the camps – medical teams are witnessing the largely overlooked impact of this crisis.
What was once a hospital treating routine, seasonal illnesses has turned into an emergency facility managing children arriving in life-threatening conditions.
As general health posts scale back due to drastic international funding cuts, specialist referral facilities, like Kutupalong hospital, are left absorbing critical needs far beyond their original design. Today, severe physical disease, chronic malnutrition, and acute mental health distress are colliding, making children sicker and much harder to save.
Children admitted multiple times
Inside the paediatric ward of Kutupalong hospital, Yasmida sits at a hospital bed, holding her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Halima Sadia. Halima’s small body is fragile, weighed down by severe malnutrition, fever, and persistent infections that have left her too weak to sit or stand on her own.
Yasmida fled Myanmar in 2017, surviving a treacherous 15-day journey across mountains and rivers to reach Bangladesh. Today, living in the camp with a family of seven, her daily reality is consumed by her child’s relentless cycles of illness which sometimes result in multiple hospital admissions in a single month.
“My baby has been very sick for many days now,” says Yasmida. “Since her birth, we have frequented various hospitals and health facilities inside the camps around 10 to 12 times, and she was admitted to the MSF hospital four times.”
Yasmida’s experience navigating health emergencies in the middle of the night reflects the severe security and logistical barriers families face in the camps.
“Stepping out in the camp at night is terrifying because it is very dark, and I feel scared,” she says. “Once, at 2 am, my daughter became extremely ill. As my husband and I set off toward the hospital with our sick baby, after walking a short distance, we came across a group of men. They beat up my husband and looted everything he had.”
“Frightened that night, we returned home in that condition with our daughter and only took her to the doctor the next morning,” says Yasmida. “Because of these things, if the child falls ill at night, we cannot go out, and her health worsens further due to not receiving timely treatment.”
This delay in seeking care echoes across the camps. Dr Nadim Shahariyar, deputy hospital director at Kutupalong hospital, observes that Yasmida and Halima’s story is part of a broader trend.
“Over the last few years, we have seen significant changes in paediatric admissions to our hospital,” says Dr Shahariyar. “One thing we know for sure is that patients are arriving in more critical condition and with multiple illnesses at the same time. Previously, patients usually came in with a single illness and recovered well.”
“Recently, however, children are arriving at our hospital later in the progression of their conditions, often with multiple illnesses and complications,” he says. “This makes their clinical management much more challenging.”
Dr Nadim Shahariyar (right), deputy hospital director of Kutupalong hospital“Previously, patients usually came in with a single illness and recovered well. Recently, however, children are arriving at our hospital later in the progression of their conditions, often with multiple illnesses and complications.”
Dr Shahariyar highlights how drastic cuts to humanitarian aid have forced families into desperate daily trade-offs that directly delay medical care.
“Within the camps, we have observed a significant reduction in funding,” says Dr Shahariyar. “As a result, families are struggling to meet their basic daily needs. When parents are forced to prioritise daily survival, like securing food or safety, they delay seeking hospital care for a sick child until it becomes a life-threatening emergency, leading to an influx of far more severe cases.”
“It is particularly difficult for a child to recover when their immune system is compromised, whether by malnutrition or other diseases,” he says. “Recovery can be extremely difficult, and despite treatment, the outcomes are not always successful. Malnutrition acts as an invisible amplifier, turning treatable childhood infections into life-threatening emergencies.”
A tipping point for adolescent wellbeing
Beyond physical illness, a mental health emergency is taking a devastating toll on young people. Chronic stress, severe poverty, a lack of education opportunities, and exposure to family disputes are driving a sharp rise in adolescent distress.
Beauty, 13-years-old, and Jasmine, 14-years-old, both reached a breaking point inside their overcrowded shelters, leading to suicide attempts before receiving psychiatric care and counselling at Shantikhana, an MSF mental health counselling room and safe space at Kutupalong hospital.
“With the rations we receive, we somehow get by eating just rice and lentils,” says Beauty, who attempted suicide following severe food scarcity and family conflict. “We cannot eat anything beyond that. Driven by so much suffering and deprivation, I made that decision.”
“After this incident, I came to Shantikhana,” they say. “A counsellor explained things to me and provided counselling. I now understand that dying is not a solution.”
“Life in the camp is difficult for people our age,” explains Jasmine, sharing how systemic hardship exacerbates tension at home. “The living conditions here are not good. Many people are crammed into small shelters, and families have barely any income, which causes a lot of distress. Overall, life here is barely manageable. If only the environment in the camp were better, perhaps we would feel better.”
The painful experiences of Beauty and Jasmine reflect stark admission trends recorded at Kutupalong hospital. Facility-based data between 2023 and 2025 reveals that children under 18 years of age accounted for 27% (160 out of 586) of all recorded suicide attempts, meaning one in every four attempts was a child.
Over the same period, 81% of these paediatric suicide attempts were directly attributed to family violence, exacerbated by severe crowding and relentless daily stress. This crisis is growing rapidly, with the proportion of children under 15 years old seeking MSF mental health support jumping from 9.7% (131 cases) in 2021 to 29.4% (232 cases) in 2025.
At the MSF mental health department in Kutupalong hospital, Fatema Jinnat Laboni, social worker, and Rozina Akter, counsellor educator, facilitate a psychosocial support session. Using activities like applying henna, the team fosters an informal environment that helps them build trust, listen to patient experiences, and better understand their psychosocial needs. Bangladesh, August 2026.Nazmul Islam/MSF
Shariful Islam, MSF’s mental health activity manager, emphasises that these acts are clear cries for help in an unviable environment.
“We are observing that both the volume of mental health patients and the severity of their conditions have increased significantly compared to five years ago,” says Islam. “Our team also observes that suicide attempts are driven by a complex interplay of factors rather than a single isolated cause. The root drivers stem from inadequate humanitarian assistance, lack of freedom of movement, and a pervasive loss of hope after nearly nine years of displacement.”
Beyond emergency response: An urgent call for systemic solutions
The findings from Kutupalong hospital demonstrate that paediatric illness and rising child mental health distress are not isolated medical issues, but indicators of a broader protection and public health emergency. Reduced funding across the camps has crippled general healthcare, compromised nutrition programmes, and eroded basic living conditions — forcing specialist facilities like Kutupalong hospital to absorb critical needs far beyond their original design.
A malnourished child with pneumonia, a young person in acute psychological distress, or a patient whose chronic condition is no longer controlled may appear as isolated medical emergencies. But together, they reveal the devastating health consequences of a system steadily contracting around people who are confined.
Emergency medical care cannot substitute for political responsibility. Humanitarian and health organisations, alongside international stakeholders, must sustain an adequate humanitarian response, ensuring that basic food, healthcare, and protection are reinforced, while a lasting political solution is sought.
Responding to news that Chinese artist Gao Zhen has been convicted of the offence of “slandering China’s heroes and martyrs” and sentenced to three years in prison, Amnesty International’s China Director Sarah Brooks said:
“The lengthy pre-trial detention and, ultimately, decision to convict Gao Zhen and sentence him to the maximum three-year prison term under this offence illustrate the authorities’ determination to deter others from engaging in independent artistic expression.
“No artist should face criminal punishment for creating work that challenges official narratives or encourages critical reflection on history.
“This trial demonstrates how broadly worded and politically motivated laws are used – and worse, in this case, used retroactively – to silence artists, activists and other individuals who dare to express views that differ from those of the Chinese government.”
The repressive outreach of the authorities has extended beyond Gao Zhen himself. His wife and child have not been accused of any crime, yet they have reportedly been subject to harassment and intimidation and have been unable to leave China since his detention.
Brooks added, “The retaliation against Gao Zhen’s family members is a deeply troubling tactic and amounts to a form of collective punishment.
“Gao Zhen’s conviction should be overturned, all charges against him should be dropped, and he should be released immediately and unconditionally. Harassment and threats against Gao Zhen’s family must end, and his wife and child should be allowed to leave the country freely.
“The Chinese authorities must repeal the law on heroes and martyrs unless they can ensure that it is in line with international human rights standards, and must cease criminalizing peaceful expression and artistic creation.”
Ahead of Brazil’s presidential election, Amnesty International submits Facebook advertisements to test robustness of Meta’s moderation system
More than half of the ads spreading election-related disinformation are accepted
The others are flagged but not rejected outright for containing election-related disinformation
Amnesty International has today warned that Meta may be failing to effectively address election-related disinformation spread through its Facebook Advertisements platform ahead of Brazil’s presidential election on 4 October.
Social media has been used to spread disinformation in Brazil for years. To investigate how Facebook handled election-related disinformation in advertising, Amnesty International conducted an experiment by submitting ‘mock’ ads containing election-related disinformation to Facebook. The content ranged from ads alleging election fraud to ads that used disinformation to advocate for a military takeover. The experiment found that eight of the submitted ads were accepted, while the remaining seven were flagged for identity verification as they appeared to be related to a social issue, election or politics, rather than being rejected specifically because they contained election-related disinformation. Amnesty ensured that these test ads did not go live, despite Facebook’s failure to stop them.
“The fact that Meta’s moderation system failed to catch more than half of Amnesty International’s election-related disinformation ads is deeply alarming. It shows that Meta is not doing enough to prevent its platform from being a vector of disinformation, while continuing to profit from the content and advertising systems that enable its spread,”
Jurema Werneck, Executive Director of Amnesty International Brazil
As the Rohingya crisis in Bangladesh enters its tenth year, Oxfam is warning that shrinking humanitarian resources risk undoing years of progress and placing already stretched essential services in Cox’s Bazar under even greater pressure.
Mallika, 36, has lived with her family in Camp 19 in Cox’s Bazar since arriving in Bangladesh in 2017. She said, “When we first came, there was hardly any support, and we suffered a lot. Later, NGOs helped with different lifesaving support and services. But now support is decreasing. I used to buy better food for my children. Now I borrow money for basic needs. It is very difficult to survive.”
Since the mass displacement of 2017, Bangladesh, host communities and international partners have sustained one of the world’s largest humanitarian responses, providing food, safe water and sanitation, shelter, healthcare, protection, education and disaster preparedness to Rohingya refugees. What began as an emergency response, however, has become a prolonged crisis.
Nearly 1.2 million Rohingya refugees are living in Bangladesh, including some 150,000 who have fled renewed violence in Myanmar since early 2024. The recalibrated 2026 Joint Response Plan (JRP) asks for $710.5 million – 26 percent below last year’s – covering little more than the minimum needed to sustain lifesaving assistance.
Funding gaps remain substantial. According to UNOCHA, donors met less than half of the $934.5 millionUN appeal for Rohingya refugees in 2025.
UN OCHA
Anil Pant, Country Director of Oxfam in Bangladesh, said:
“The greatest danger is becoming accustomed to this crisis. Funding pressure now threatens systems built over nearly a decade. We must protect lifesaving services, strengthen resilience and local capacity, support host communities, and renew collective action towards sustainable solutions.”
Funding gaps remain substantial. In 2025, the first year of the 2025–26 Joint Response Plan, donors met just 46 percent of the $934.5 million appeal. The shortfall is now compounding. The cuts have already gutted vital services in the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), food, health and protection sectors.
Oxfam’s new report,Holding the Line: WASH Systems, Risk and Resilience in the Rohingya Response,shows what is at stake. Across Cox’s Bazar, emergency WASH interventions have evolved into a vast humanitarian public-health system, including 298 water networks, 320 production boreholes, 768 reservoir tanks, more than 7,000 tapstands, nearly 49,500 latrines, and 167 faecal sludge treatment plants. Yet the publication cautions that scale can hide fragility: ageing assets, dry-season water stress, monsoon exposure, uneven operational control and funding compression are increasing risk.
For women and girls, that strain is a question of safety and dignity as much as sanitation. Asmat Ara, 24, who lives with six family members in a Rohingya camp in Teknaf, said hygiene supplies have dwindled and safe facilities are scarce, making daily life harder.
“If it gets very late, I feel afraid to go outside,” she said. “Sometimes boys gather outside and make comments. I never go alone at night; I take my mother with me.”
She also described the growing pressure on menstrual hygiene support: “The pads should be provided again, and the material could also be improved. We also need more soap.”
“The greatest danger is becoming accustomed to this crisis. Funding pressure now threatens systems built over nearly a decade.”
Anil Pant, Country Director
Oxfam in Bangladesh
Holding the public-health line, the report argues, now depends on steady financing for critical work, such as maintaining and repairing assets, controlling water quality, treating sewage, clearing waste and drains, keeping access safe, and acting fast when disease emerges. Since 2017, Oxfam has worked alongside Rohingya and host communities, local partners, government institutions, UN agencies and donors across WASH, protection, livelihoods, food security, gender and community engagement. This work, which ranges from surface-water treatment and faecal sludge management to solar lighting, solid-waste systems, food production for dietary diversification, and skills development, shows that humanitarian assistance can protect lives while strengthening resilience and community capacities. Oxfam is calling on the international community to provide predictable financing, protect essential services, strengthen locally led responses and build host-community resilience. A decade of international solidarity has saved lives and built critical systems. The tenth year must not become one of retreat but of renewed commitment, shared responsibility and credible action towards a sustainable future.
By Lisa Dittmer, Amnesty International’s Children’s Digital Rights Researcher, and Paloma Candia and Ahmed Dhman both Amnesty International’s Digital Rights Champions, a global network of child and youth human rights defenders.
Children’s online safety has become a leading political issue as concerns about Big Tech harms have moved from academic debates to bestseller lists and mainstream news. French President Emmanuel Macron hailed France’s teen social media ban as “leading the way in Europe in protecting our children and our teenagers.” France’s top court later blocked the law, citing privacy and freedom of expression concerns. United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Guterres has called for an artificial intelligence (AI) Child Safety Pledge. Yet amid the flurry of high-level pledges and the rush to protect “our children,” the voices of one demographic are noticeably absent: children themselves.
A brief prerecorded video aside, not a single child got to speak when a new state coalition for the protection of children launched its work at the UN AI Dialogue in July. Kenya, one of the state parties to the coalition, is currently debating a new AI bill that lacks any child-specific protections or consultation mechanism. The absence of children and young people in policymaking spaces and the failure to recognize their demands and needs are clearly linked. Globally, a mixture of Big Tech state capture, political shortsightedness and a rise in digital authoritarian practices is hollowing out children’s rights just as the world proclaims to finally making children safe online.
SYDNEY, Monday 24 August 2026 –New analysisof Woodside modelling released by Greenpeace Australia Pacific and Environs Kimberley has revealed the oil and gas corporation’s plans to drill at Scott Reef could cause an oil spill up to 30 times bigger than the2009 Montara disaster, impacting the Kimberley coastline and reaching as far as Indonesia.
The new analysis details the “catastrophic” oil spill risk put to environmental regulators for approval by Woodside in its Browse to North West Shelf Project (Browse) plans, the worst-case scenario being a blowout directly below Scott Reef, polluting whale migratory pathways and covering isolated turtle nesting ground with oil condensate.
An FOI application (F348) revealed the federal environment department (DCCEEW) asked offshore oil and gas regulator NOPSEMA to look into the oil spill risk in 2025. NOPSEMA’s response to the application refused access to its report, and one document shows DCCEEW sought further advice this year.
Greenpeace and Environs Kimberley are calling on the Federal Government to publicly release the NOPSEMA report given the risk of an uncontrolled release of oil condensate from directly below Scott Reef.
Hannah Schuch, Senior Campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Woodside is aware that drilling at Scott Reef risks a massive oil spill that would have severe, far-reaching consequences. It appears environmental regulators are aware too.
“The state and federal governments need to take this risk from Woodside’s drilling plans seriously, as they could end up allowing the worst oil spill in Australian history.
“The pygmy blue whales that migrate up and down the WA coast with their newborns each year could be swimming and feeding in toxic, oil-slicked water. Woodside’s proposal to drill at Scott Reef is an environmental disaster waiting to happen, and the WA and federal governments have one surefire way to prevent catastrophe — reject Browse.”
Martin Prichard, Executive Director at Environs Kimberley, said: “A catastrophic oil spill by Woodside would be disastrous not just for marine life in the area but also for the Kimberley’s $500 million tourism industry.
“The state and federal governments will see five marine parks on the Kimberley coast included in the risk area of a catastrophic Woodside oil spill.
“The Montara oil spill was disastrous for West Timor with the toxic oil destroying seaweed farmers’ livelihoods. The Kimberley dodged a bullet with Montara, we were lucky the spill didn’t head our way. Myself and a crew flew over the Montara oil spill and followed it as far as we could. It was like a scene from a disaster movie.”
After the WA Environmental Protection Authority deemed Browse “unacceptable” due, in part, to oil spill risk, Woodside submitted a mitigation plan based on technology that has never been used “in anger”, a weakness stated in an independent expert review of the plan.
Professor Richard Steiner, independent oil spill expert, said: “A large offshore spill is impossible to effectively contain or recover. Historically, only 2-6% of total spill volume is recovered and the ecological injury from the release of toxic hydrocarbons in the sea can be severe, extensive, and long-term.
“Here in Alaska, government research concludes that several marine populations injured by the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, including whales, fish, and seabirds, are still not recovering today, 37 years later. We should expect similar long-term ecological impacts in Western Australia if there were to be a major oil spill. The only sure way to avoid the risk of a catastrophic marine oil spill is to not develop oil and gas projects in marine environments.”
One month after Indian police deployed unlawful and deadly force against peaceful protesters at the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP)-led “Chalo Sansad” march, not a single officer in Delhi has been held accountable, Amnesty International said today as it published a new digital investigation documenting the police response to the protests.
Witness testimony and video and photographic evidence verified by Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab confirm that police used weapons including pellet-firing shotguns, tear gas launchers, grenades, batons and electric shock devices against protesters between 20 July and 24 July in Delhi and Siwan town in Bihar state. The weapons were deployed in a manner that breached international law and standards and domestic policing guidelines. Amnesty International also verified two instances of a police officer unlawfully using lethal force against a crowd.
On X, the Delhi Police publicly denied any disproportionate use of force, repeating it before India’s Supreme Court, describing its handling of the protest as “professional”. Evidence gathered by Amnesty International directly contradicts this account.
“Instead of facilitating the right to protest, Indian authorities suppressed it first with a communication blackout, barricades and transport disruption. They then attempted to crush it with unnecessary or excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, including children. This heavy-handed response was state-sanctioned violence masked as crowd control. The continued impunity after a month is a testament to that,” said Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India.
Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab verified 17 videos filmed on 20 July in central Delhi across the area spanning Jantar Mantar, Sansad Marg and Connaught Place and two videos filmed in Siwan town of Bihar state on 24 July. In videos filmed in Delhi, personnel from Delhi Police, the Rapid Action Force (RAF), and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were identified.
Use of birdshot against protesters
Frames from two videos filmed on 20 July 2026 in Delhi and verified by Amnesty International show an RAF officer firing a shotgun into the crowd. Amnesty International
Amnesty International’s Evidence Lab verified twovideos showing an RAF officer firing a shotgun into the crowd, at the intersection of Connaught Place and Sansad Marg. This type of weapon can be used to fire lethal and less lethal ammunition. Two other verifiedvideos show two protesters near the same intersection with wounds consistent with those caused by birdshot, a hunting round that fires a large number of small metal pellets. The weapons used are colloquially known as “pellet firing shotguns” in India. CCTV footage verified by Amnesty International also shows two RAF officers carrying shotguns among the crowd a few blocks away.
Speaking to Amnesty International on a condition of anonymity, a protester who sustained pellet injuries said:
“I was near Connaught Place and an altercation took place between the protesters and the police. Even then, most of the protest remained peaceful. RAF officials were using tear gas but then, without any warning, started using pellet-firing shotguns. I saw an officer standing roughly 300-400 metres away aiming the shotgun towards where I was standing. I started running in the opposite direction and that’s when I got hit on my back, otherwise I would have been hit on my face and chest. I had roughly 25-30 wounds and immediately went to the hospital. The doctors confirmed that they were pellet injuries. Thankfully, my bones have been saved but my body has been scarred badly.”
Birdshot ammunition has not been developed for law enforcement purposes. Due to the spread of the metal pellets, it is inherently inaccurate and presents a high risk of serious injuries to the targeted person and even bystanders. Its use has been associated with deaths and multiple cases of blindings in Egypt, Iran and Jammu & Kashmir. Birdshot ammunition has no legitimate use in law enforcement and must be explicitly prohibited for this purpose.
The ‘Standard Operating Procedures to deal with Public Agitations with Non-Lethal Measures’ prepared by India’s Bureau for Police Research and Development recommend that security forces warn protesters before using less lethal or lethal force. According to the victim interviewed by Amnesty International, no prior warning was given before the pellet-firing shotgun was used. International standards on the use of force also require that law enforcement officials use non-violent means before resorting to the use of force. This includes issuing a clear warning whenever possible and giving sufficient time for people to react.
Delhi Police responded to reports of pellet injuries on X with a “Fake News Alert,” calling the reports “completely false and misleading” and warning that “appropriate legal action” would be taken against anyone “spreading rumours”.
In addition to pellets, the national newspaper The Hindu reported that an RAF unit had fired “two ballistic cartridges loaded with plastic pellets” on the evening of 20 July on the orders of a Deputy Commissioner of Police, alongside “55 non-electrical and 15 electrical crowd-control shells and five tear gas grenades”. A subsequent internal CRPF inquiry reportedly found that RAF personnel had fired at least seven rounds of ammunition containing metal pellets. Responding to a Right to Information request filed by Saket Gokhale, an All India Trinamool Congress spokesperson, at least ten people were injured by pellets during the protests.
Tear gas and batons
A sequence of frames taken from a video filmed on 20 July 2026 in Delhi and verified by Amnesty International show a tear gas grenade (highlighted in a yellow circle on frame 1) landing near a group of peaceful protesters and immediately exploding with a heavy blast (frame 2). One of the protesters tries to run away from it (frame 3) but is thrown to the ground (frame 4). Amnesty International
Another video verified by Amnesty International shows a tear gas grenade landing near a group of protesters and immediately exploding with a heavy blast. Tear gas grenades releasing an excessive amount of explosive energy are extremely dangerous and should be prohibited for use in public assemblies.
Eyewitnesses told Amnesty International that tear gas grenades were launched directly at protesters instead of at an angled trajectory above the head of protesters, at odds with UN Guidance on the use of Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement. The use of tear gas should be limited to situations of widespread and serious violence. There is no evidence available that suggests such a level of violence by protesters. While there were isolated incidents of protesters throwing stones, this would not reach that threshold.
Amnesty International documented frequent misuse of long, flexible batons, widely known as lathis in India, during the protest. The organization verified eightvideos showing Delhi Police officers in khaki uniform and RAF officers striking lathis against peaceful protesters, including a young boy, who offered no provocation or any sign of resistance. In many instances they hit people indiscriminately on all parts of the body. In one video, a man knocked to the ground is struck repeatedly while unable to move or pose any threat.
The UN Special Rapporteur on Torture considers lathis to be inherently cruel, inhuman or degrading as “they deliver a greater level kinetic force than conventional batons, causing excessive pain and increasing the risk of serious injury” and has called for them to be prohibited – a position supported by Amnesty International.
In at least two videos, men in plain clothes, including some wearing black helmets marked “Delhi Police” on the back, are seen beating protesters with lathis while uniformed officers, who escorted them toward the crowd, stand beside them and make no attempt to intervene. The absence of visible identification, such as name tags or badge numbers, on these individuals is itself a breach of the accountability principle, which requires that law enforcement officials be identifiable in any encounter involving the use of force.
Amnesty International also verified one video of an RAF officer using an electric shock baton on a peaceful protester. Direct-contact electric shock devices inflict severe pain without incapacitating a person and serve no legitimate law enforcement purpose that could not be achieved through less harmful means. Amnesty International, together with the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, has called for an absolute prohibition on their use by law enforcement, given the risk of severe suffering, lasting disability, psychological harm and, with prolonged use, death. Authorities in India should immediately withdraw this weapon from their law enforcement personnel.
Firearms
Frames from two videos filmed on 24 July 2026 in Siwan and verified by Amnesty International show a state police officer firing an AK-type assault rifle against protesters. Amnesty International
Amnesty International also verified twovideos filmed on 24 July in Siwan, Bihar, where a state police officer is firing an AK-type assault rifle against protesters. Firearms of this kind are designed to kill and, in the context of assemblies, may lawfully be used only to meet an imminent threat of death or serious injury to a specific individual, and only as an absolute last resort. Amnesty International has found no evidence any such threat existed.
“Despite this body of evidence, the Indian authorities have made no public commitment to investigate or prosecute any officer involved. We call on Indian authorities to order a prompt, impartial and effective investigation into the use of firearms, birdshot ammunition, tear gas, lathis and electric shock weapons against protesters in Delhi and Siwan, and to publish its findings,” said Aakar Patel.
“The deployment and use of birdshot ammunition and direct contact electric shock devices must also end immediately.”
In response to the “Chalo Sansad” march, authorities denied permission for the march, imposed an internet shutdown around the areas where the protest was scheduled to take place, issued orders prohibiting gatherings of more than five people, closed multiple Delhi metro stations and erected barricades across central Delhi. Under international human rights law, holding an assembly must not be subject to prior authorization or permission. Where a notification is required, it should only serve to prepare the authorities in facilitating the assembly and should not be used as means to further restrict the right to freedom of peaceful assembly. Further, the issuing of prohibitory orders is akin to a blanket ban on an entire march. This does not meet the standard of legality, necessity and proportionality, nor does the blanket internet shutdown imposed by authorities.
According to the Delhi Police, more than 400 people were injured including police personnel and protesters. At least three people were injured in Siwan including one bystander who was shot and sustained a bullet wound to the neck.
Previously, Amnesty International has extensively documented the numerous injuries – including blindings – and killings caused by Indian authorities’ use of shotguns loaded with birdshot as a means of crowd control in Jammu & Kashmir. In August 2016, the seven-member committee set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs to explore alternatives to shotguns recommended that they be used only in “rarest of rare cases” but fell short of calling for a complete ban. In 2018, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights recommended India to immediately order the end of the use of pellet-firing shotguns in Jammu and Kashmir for the purpose of crowd control. A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking decommission of the use of pellet-firing shotguns by law enforcement agencies for policing assemblies.
PERTH, Monday 24 August 2026 –New polling of Perth voter sentiment towards Western Australia’s gas and energy sector, commissioned by Greenpeace, has shown strong levels of opposition to gas drilling and fracking proposals at Scott Reef and the Kimberley, with 88% of voters concerned.
The new polling shows 71% of Perth voters, including a majority of One Nation and Labor supporters, reject risking Scott Reef and the Kimberley for oil and gas projects, with 88% concerned about existing proposals.
Only one in five Perth voters thinks WA is getting a fair deal from the state’s gas industry, and one in two believe the current arrangement is tipped too far in the industry’s favour. Two thirds of voters support the adoption of a state renewable energy target.
Geoff Bice, WA Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The Cook Labor Government should be encouraged that Perth voters across the political spectrum want environmental protection prioritised over new fossil fuels.
“Woodside has asked for approval from the state and federal governments to drill for gas and oil condensate at Scott Reef, even though the proposal risks a catastrophic oil spill that could destroy the ancient reef and ecosystem.
“Perth voters want to see a faster switch to renewable energy and better domestic returns from existing gas projects rather than new projects approved, and over two thirds support a renewable energy target.
“The people of Perth are fed up with getting a raw deal out of the gas industry and want the Cook Government to get on the right side of the energy transition.”
