Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

NADI, FIJI Sunday 4 October 2026 — As leaders and delegates gather for the Pacific Pre-COP in Fiji and Tuvalu, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on the Australian government to uphold Pacific priorities on fossil fuels and climate finance, and respond to the urgency of the climate and energy crisis by accelerating the just transition away from fossil fuels. 

The Pre-COP meeting in Fiji and atoll nation Tuvalu is an important milestone on the road to the COP31 climate summit in Türkiye, where Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen will take the reins as President of Negotiations. But another coal mine approval in the days before the Pre-COP has left Pacific leaders and civil society exasperated at Australia’s perceived ‘double talk’ and overshadowed the start of talks.

Speaking from Nadi, Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
“This week we must focus on why the Pre-COP is so important. We must listen to Pacific leaders and communities who are sick of Australia’s double talk on climate, and want to see the actions of the most polluting nations respond to the urgency and scale of the crisis we face.

“Every cyclone, every storm blows with the deadly force of accumulated emissions and gives a warning of what is to come. The Pacific must not become a sacrifice zone for major polluters and fossil fuel corporations. 

“1.5°C remains the scientific, moral and legal temperature limit. The landmark Pacific-led ICJAO ruling is clear — continuing down the fossil fuel path, and failing to align efforts with limiting warming to 1.5°C, is a breach of our international legal obligations. Our communities, our cultures and our very existence are under threat.

“As Australia prepares to chair the upcoming COP31 talks in partnership with the Pacific, it must do much more to turn empty rhetoric into real action to end the fossil fuel chokehold.”

Also in Nadi, Dr Simon Bradshaw, COP31 Lead and climate expert at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The Pacific Pre-COP is a critical milestone on the road to COP31. The Australian government must rise to the moment with concrete plans to accelerate the global transition away from fossil fuels, and respond to communities across the region facing soaring cost of living and the escalating impacts of the climate crisis.

“This week, the Australian government must deliver more than empty rhetoric. The Prime Minister’s recent keynote address at New York Climate Week acknowledged the urgency of the climate crisis, but failed to mention its cause, fossil fuels. Just last week we saw another new coal mine approval in Australia. This is on top of the 37 fossil fuel approvals by the Albanese Government since elected, despite recognising through the Belém Declaration that returning to 1.5°C is incompatible with new coal, oil and gas.

“At the Pre-COP, words must be matched with real action to phase out fossil fuels. We can not help decarbonise the world without action at home to halt fossil fuel approvals and phase out coal and gas exports. Don’t waste this important moment to back Pacific leadership and turn commitments into real action, including an immediate end to new fossil fuel approvals, and following other nations in developing a national roadmap away from fossil fuels.”

ENDS

Media contact: Kate O’Callaghan in Nadi on +61 406 231 892 (Whatsapp/Signal)

Source: Amnesty International –

• Australia must turn its claim to Pacific climate leadership into concrete action

• Governments urged to end fossil fuel era and deliver scaled up grants-based climate finance

• Amnesty International launches campaign spotlighting environmental human rights defenders

As Pacific leaders, communities and civil society gather in Fiji and Tuvalu for the Pre-COP31 meetings, the expected absence of many world leaders must not become another excuse for climate inaction, Amnesty International said today.

The meetings come after an unusually hot European summer, with August 2026 becoming the joint-hottest month on record. Against the looming threat of a powerful El Niño, widespread wildfires, droughts, and floods, the new UN warning of the world rapidly breaching warming thresholds adds urgency to the need for decisive climate action.

“World leaders have spent years talking about the climate threats facing the Pacific. Now they must come to Fiji and Tuvalu, listen to Pacific communities and act. Rising seas are already eating away at people’s lands, livelihoods and cultures. Concern without action will not hold back the tide,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.

“Those who do not show up in person cannot evade their responsibilities. Their absence will not stop the seas from rising or erase the obligations of high-emitting countries towards communities paying the highest price for a crisis they did least to cause.

“An empty seat is not the greatest failure. The greater failure is an empty promise. Pre-COP31 must turn years of rhetoric into concrete commitments and action that deliver the climate ambition the world needs at COP31 in November.”

Fiji’s Environment Minister has said that the Pacific-led summit will proceed “with or without” major world leaders.  

An empty seat is not the greatest failure.
The greater failure is an empty promise.
Pre-COP31 must turn years of rhetoric into concrete commitments and action that deliver the climate ambition the world needs at COP31 in November.

Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

The company names might change, but the villain remains the same. 

For more than 50 years, we have known that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS, are highly toxic. You might’ve heard them called “forever chemicals” because not only can they cause irreversible damage to our collective health and environment, but they can also exist in our water, air, soil, food, and clothing for thousands of years.  

Historically campaigns to rein in the use of these chemicals have been robust and largely successful. We laid out the health risks. We showed the science. And they listened. 

Fifteen years ago, Greenpeace USA launched a campaign targeting big fast fashion companies – we demanded they stop polluting waterways with hazardous chemicals from clothing production. 

80 companies took a pledge, and by 2020, all 80 had achieved significant progress in phasing out these chemicals from their supply chains. Progress!  But not enough. 

New forms of PFAS continue to pop up and are used in consumer goods and food packaging and for various industrial uses. 

Today, we are tracking a recent surge in new PFAS demand – this time not through fast fashion – instead from the boom of new data center development fueling artificial intelligence.

How PFAS are entering the AI boom

You can find PFAS nearly top to bottom in data centers  – from construction to AI chips, circuit boards, fire suppression equipment, and the coatings on the huge lengths of cable that connect the systems. 

Now, the chemical industry is pushing hard to make PFAS integral to the functionality of data center cooling systems.

Those big, windowless buildings are packed with servers that get so hot they need constant cooling to keep from overheating and breaking down. Traditionally, data centers used large fans with air conditioners or chilled water loops to keep equipment cool. 

However as the scale of data centers grows larger and larger, and are often in water scarce areas, much of the industry is coming to rely on immersion cooling. It’s a technique that places the electronic equipment inside of a tank filled with specialized chemical liquid that facilitates heat transfer.  This cuts back on water use, but the specialized chemical liquids often contains PFAS. 

Why should we be concerned?

PFAS contaminate our drinking water supplies, our farmlands, rivers, and wildlife. They have been linked to a range of health complications, including: high cholesterol, fertility issues, immune system disorders, kidney disease, birth defects, cancer and many more.

Today, PFAS can be found in nearly every American’s bloodstream and workers that handle or are exposed to these “forever chemicals” can potentially face increased risks of cancers, organ toxicity, higher vulnerabilities to infections, and reduced fertility. 

The most concerning thing isn’t what we already know about PFAS — it’s what we don’t. Scientists are still trying to design ways to understand how they impact our health, while Big Tech companies are racing to produce and use more of them.

The chemical industry is betting big on AI

The AI boom came at a very convenient time for the chemical industry that makes PFAS. After decades of lawsuits, multi-billion dollar settlements over contaminated drinking water and pressure from regulators, the chemical industry has been looking for new ways to keep ‘forever chemicals’ in production – rapid AI expansion and data center build outs offered them just that.  

The Chemours Company – a DuPont spinoff – is behind some of the most infamous and notorious PFAS contaminations in the world, and now is one of the leading chemical companies betting on AI by promoting the two phase immersion system as “a critical technology for sustainable data center cooling.” 

But we know what this really is – the chemical industry is desperate for new customers and Big Tech is a big fish. However, both are pushing the “critical” nature of their unregulated development on Americans, while failing to commit to a truly sustainable and just buildout. 

Cleaning up PFAS is expensive and the cost almost always ends up being paid by local water municipalities and ratepayers rather than the companies that made the chemicals in the first place. 

For example, in a North Carolina community, ratepayers put up $46 million for a PFAS filtration facility to clean up the water supply with no help from the company responsible for polluting it.

If PFAS are built into the backbone of the AI economy, they will remain in our water, soil and bodies for generations to come. 

We have to stop repeating history. Fifteen years after Greenpeace’s anti-PFAS fast fashion campaign, we’re still making some the same demands: 

• Keep PFAS out of data centers.
• Commit to 24/7 renewable energy to power data centers, not more dirty polluting fossil fuels or toxic chemicals. 
• Make polluters pay. These chemical and Big Tech companies must pay for the pollution they cause and the cleanup, not push it on to ratepayers. 

We can’t afford to let the AI boom pave the way to our future – we must demand that people and the planet are put first.

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the imposition of prohibitory orders, the detention of hundreds of protesters, and the suspension of internet and public transport services in Delhi and Mumbai amid peaceful protests demanding the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner of India, Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India, said: 

“The right to protest is not dependent on government approval. It is protected by the Indian Constitution and international human rights law. 

“Prohibitory orders like Section 163 of India’s criminal procedure law, which grant temporary emergency powers to restrict gatherings in the name of public order, have become a convenient way for authorities to routinely prevent peaceful protests.  

“Detaining people simply because they intend to protest is a blatant attack on the rights to liberty and freedom of peaceful assembly. Detentions must have a lawful basis and cannot be arbitrary or discriminatory. Those arbitrarily detained for solely exercising their right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly must be released at once, and authorities must guarantee their right to protest.  

The right to protest is not dependent on government approval

Aakar Patel, Chair of Board, Amnesty International India

“Cutting internet connectivity during a protest also raises grave human rights concerns. The internet is now part of how people exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Protesters use it to organize, communicate, share information, and document events. We urge the authorities to immediately restore online access.” 

Background

The protesters led by Cockroach Janta Party, student unions and opposition parties are demanding Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation amid controversy over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. More than 130 million people have been deleted from electoral rolls since 2025.  

The protesters allege that the exercise risks wrongful removal of eligible voters and have questioned the transparency and impartiality of the process. The controversy intensified after reports that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi had raised objections on 14 occasions over 10 months to decisions concerning voter additions, deletions and electoral systems.  

The Election Commission claims that the revision is intended to verify voter eligibility and has denied allegations of political manipulation. 

Source: Amnesty International –

 Iraqi authorities must guarantee full due process rights for more than 5,700 detainees transferred to Iraq from north-east Syria, and ensure the urgent protection of child rights, Amnesty International said today, ahead of an upcoming trial session on 5 October.  

The transferred individuals are being prosecuted for their suspected affiliation with the armed group calling itself Islamic State, following their relocation to Iraq between late January and February 2026. The transferred group includes 5,704 individuals from 67 countries, including 16 Arab countries with thousands of Syrian nationals and hundreds of Iraqis, 19 from European Union countries, and 32 other foreign nationalities, and at least 157 juveniles under the age of 18.  

 ”The opening of these trials places an enormous responsibility on Iraqi authorities to uphold international human rights law and standards of all those being prosecuted at every stage of judicial proceedings,” said Grazia Careccia, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International. 

“While we acknowledge the security challenges and immense logistical strain this situation places on Iraq’s legal system, justice cannot be delivered through flawed procedures, forced confessions, or mass prosecutions. The Iraqi government must ensure that every single detainee receives a fair trial grounded strictly in individualized criminal responsibility, or else be released.”  

In judicial proceedings, Iraqi authorities have said that prosecutions will move forward under Penal Code No. 111 of 1969 and Anti-Terrorism Law No. 13 of 2005. This counterterrorism framework has drawn long-standing criticism for its overly broad definitions of terrorist activity and for its provision of the death penalty, including for acts that encompass mere membership or support of a group. 

The Iraqi government must ensure that every single detainee receives a fair trial grounded strictly in individualized criminal responsibility, or else be released.

Grazia Careccia, Amnesty International

In past proceedings, Iraqi courts have repeatedly demonstrated an over-reliance on confessions extracted under torture and ill-treatment. Amnesty International has documented widespread patterns where detainees transferred from north-east Syria were subjected to severe beatings, electric shocks, forced stress positions, and suffocation to compel self-incriminating statements.  

“Iraq’s history of relying on torture-tainted confessions in terrorism cases makes strict adherence to international safeguards an urgent necessity,” said Grazia Careccia.  

“The Supreme Judicial Council must exclude any evidence obtained through torture or ill-treatment and thoroughly investigate all allegations of human rights violations. Defendants must be granted prompt access to legal counsel, qualified interpreters, and public hearings. Crucially, given that trials in Iraq could result in the death penalty any failure to guarantee fair trial standards carries irreversible, fatal consequences. Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all circumstances and calls on the Iraqi authorities not to impose or carry out death sentences, regardless of the offence or circumstances.” 

 The fact that at least 157 children are among the detainees standing trial also highlights the need for a child-rights-centered response that strictly adheres to international child rights and child justice standards, including the best interests of the child and child protection.  

Many children and young adults were originally detained in north-east Syria under broad, indiscriminate circumstances. They include boys as young as 11 years old who were separated from their mothers in detention camps. International standards dictate that children recruited or used by armed groups must be recognized primarily as victims of human rights violations.  

Criminal prosecutions of individuals for conduct allegedly committed while they were under 18 must remain an absolute exception, reserved only for credible allegations of crimes under international law or serious violent crimes under domestic law. In such cases, alternatives to judicial proceedings as well as community-based and noncustodial alternatives to detention must be considered, and sentencing options should support the child’s rehabilitation and reintegration, with detention used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Children should never be prosecuted for mere association with an armed group. 

Source: Amnesty International –

The African Union must convene an emergency session on the situation in northern Ethiopia as the latest armed conflict which broke out in the Tigray and parts of Afar and Amhara regions on 21 September expands, Amnesty International said today.

Since the outbreak of fresh fighting, the organization has continued to receive credible reports of destruction of civilian objects through shelling and air strikes, intensified forced conscription, and other acts that may constitute violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

“The African Union’s Peace and Security Council cannot wait for mass atrocities to unfold or for a surge in civilian casualties before placing Ethiopia, its host country, on the agenda. The AU, which was one of the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement that has now effectively collapsed, must learn from past mistakes and urgently activate its response mechanisms and mobilize its member states before it is too late,” said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa.

“The starting point is for the Peace and Security Council to urgently convene an emergency session on the situation in Ethiopia. This is especially critical as fears of regionalisation of the conflict are on the rise”.

The African Union’s Peace and Security Council cannot wait for mass atrocities to unfold or for a surge in civilian casualties before placing Ethiopia, its host country, on the agenda. The AU, which was one of the guarantors of the ceasefire agreement that has now effectively collapsed, must learn from past mistakes and urgently activate its response mechanisms and mobilize its member states before it is too late.

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

The fighting between Tigrayan forces and their allies on one side, including Amhara Fano forces, and the Ethiopian National Defence Force (ENDF) and its allies, on the other, has significantly intensified across southern Tigray and the Northern Amhara and Western Afar regions since it began a week ago. In addition to the extensive use of heavy weaponry, the renewed hostilities have involved intensified aerial attacks across Tigray including in the town of Axum and the regional capital Mekelle.

Amnesty International is particularly alarmed by reports that civilian infrastructure, including several schools, has been damaged or targeted during aerial attacks. Fighting involving heavy weapons in and around the towns of Maychew and Alamata has reportedly resulted in civilian casualties and further endangered critical civilian infrastructure.

The disruption of communication services across Tigray, and parts of Afar and Amhara regions combined with increasing restrictions on civic space by the Ethiopian government, raises serious concerns that grave human rights violations could occur under the cover of darkness, hidden from independent monitoring.

“Disrupting communications in conflict-affected areas is a well-documented pattern in Ethiopia’s armed conflicts. Such restrictions have frequently concealed atrocities and isolated civilians from the outside world. We call on all relevant authorities to immediately restore access to communications services and ensure civilians are not cut off from life-saving information and assistance at this critical time,” said Tigere Chagutah.

The current outbreak of conflict in Tigray and the neighbouring Afar and Amhara regions comes on the backdrop of six years of persistent armed conflict across Ethiopia, including in the Oromia region. These armed conflicts have devastated communities across the country with most of the armed actors involved in the fighting linked to serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Yet, despite the scale and gravity of these abuses, meaningful and independent accountability remains largely absent.

Disrupting communications in conflict-affected areas is a well-documented pattern in Ethiopia’s armed conflicts. Such restrictions have frequently concealed atrocities and isolated civilians from the outside world. We call on all relevant authorities to immediately restore access to communications services and ensure civilians are not cut off from life-saving information and assistance at this critical time.

Tigere Chagutah

“Regional and international actors, including the AU, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the UN, must address the deeply entrenched accountability crisis in Ethiopia. They must take urgent measures to protect civilians from harm, renew efforts to restore independent investigations into serious violations committed by all parties to Ethiopia’s conflicts, and ensure unhindered access for journalists, humanitarian organizations, and human rights monitors,” said Tigere Chagutah.

Background

The Peace and Security Council (PSC) is AU’s standing decision-making body for the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts in Africa. During the 2020-2022 armed conflict in Tigray and parts of Afar and Amhara regions, the PSC held its first session on the situation in Ethiopia in November 2021, one year after the conflict began.

The conflict was described by the UN International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia (ICHREE) as ‘one of the deadliest conflicts of the twenty-first century.’ Reports indicate that hundreds of thousands of people died, millions were displaced, and thousands of women and girls were subjected to conflict-related sexual violence and other grave violations.

The conflict was marked by an unprecedented communications blackout as civilians in Tigray were largely cut off from telephone services, internet access, and other forms of communication for more than a year.

Although hostilities formally ended in November 2022, the consequences of the conflict continue to be felt. Hundreds of thousands of displaced people remain unable to return home. Victims of serious violations continue to await truth, justice, and reparations.

Source: Amnesty International –

In response to the state of Tennessee’s senseless pursuit of the death penalty and the  attempted execution of Christa Pike, Justin Mazzola, Deputy Director of Research with Amnesty International USA said:    

“Tennessee’s attempted, but botched, execution of Christa Pike was an extreme display of cruelty and the latest reminder that the death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment.  

“Governor Lee had the power to stop this execution before it reached this point. Yet he appallingly chose not to. To make matters worse, the state of Tennessee rushed toward the execution even after a circuit court issued a temporary stay to give time to look into claims that the severe childhood sexual abuse and trauma Ms. Pike experienced were not adequately presented during her trial. It shouldn’t have gotten this far. 

“This is the second time in less than five months that Tennessee has botched an execution, with Tony Carruthers having a similar experience in May. Not only does Tennessee have an extended history of botched executions, but its authorities have pursued executions also by shrouding in secrecy its lethal injection process. The extraordinary display of cruelty is emblematic of why the death penalty must be immediately abolished. There is no humane way for the state to kill someone. The death penalty system is broken beyond repair. It is a violation of human rights, and no government should have the power to carry it out.   

“Governor Lee has said he will pause all executions, but that does not go nearly far enough. He must grant both Ms. Pike and all those on death row clemency and commute their sentences. He must also establish an indefinite moratorium on all executions, not just for a few months. Yesterday’s harrowing spectacle must spark a new determination to work to move the state of Tennessee to abolish the death penalty once and for all.  

“As the death penalty continues to decline around the world, the United States remains increasingly isolated. It is long past time for Tennessee and the United States to stop executing people under the guise of justice and banish this cruel punishment to the history books.” 

Notes to editors

Amnesty International opposes the death penalty in all cases without exception – regardless of who is accused, the nature of the crime or if they are guilty or innocent.   

In 2025, the U.S. carried out 47 executions in 11 states, reaching the highest they’ve been since 2009. Florida drove the spike with 19 executions. South Carolina, Texas, and Alabama followed with five executions in each state. Other states that used the death penalty were Tennessee (3), Arizona (2), Indiana (2), Mississippi (2), Oklahoma (2), Missouri (1) and Louisiana (1). The U.S. was among the top five highest executing countries of 2025.     

So far in 2026, there have been 29 executions in the U.S. Tennessee has executed 11 people since 2018. As of today, 113 countries have abolished the death penalty for all crimes and 145 are abolitionist in law or practice.   

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the lower house of the Algerian Parliament adopting today legal amendments that expand the scope of the death penalty after more than three decades without any executions, Amnesty International’s Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said:

“Today’s decision by the Algerian People’s National Assembly to approve these regressive amendments to the Penal Code is a devastating blow for human rights and is at odds with Algeria’s international human rights obligations.

“The lower house parliamentary vote took place just one month after devastating wildfires erupted across north-eastern Algeria between 26 and 30 August. Within days, Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune ordered the Minister of Justice to amend the country’s Penal Code to ‘reintroduce’ the death penalty for arson, warning that anyone who exhausted their right of appeal would face execution. The Minister of Justice also warned the press that the death penalty would be applied.

“The amendments, which were rushed through parliament in a process devoid of meaningful consultations with relevant stakeholders, including human rights NGOs and lawyers, introduced the death penalty for broadly worded actions such as inciting, encouraging or facilitating arson, including on social media, as well as the abduction, torture and sexual assault of children.

“It is deeply alarming that the Algerian authorities are moving so quickly to follow through on their plans to expand the scope of the death penalty. This dangerous step backwards, coupled with threats to resume executions for the first time in more than 30 years, contradicts Algeria’s consistent support to UN General Assembly resolutions calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty and runs contrary to the global trend towards its abolition.

“Algerian lawmakers must reject the amendments to the Penal Code in the upcoming vote in the Council of the Nation, the upper house of parliament, and halt all plans to expand Algeria’s use of the death penalty.

“While the devastating wildfires demand thorough investigations and accountability, the tragic loss of life they caused must not be used to justify further loss of life. The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment and an assault on the right to life. Instead of broadening its application, Algeria’s authorities should establish an official moratorium on executions as a first step towards full abolition of the death penalty.

“Algeria’s response to the wildfires must ensure respect for the right to effective remedy, including providing guarantees of non-repetition. While authorities have announced compensation for victims and plans to provide more resources for firefighters, they have yet to disclose comprehensive casualty figures for the fires and officials have focused on highlighting the responsibility of alleged arsonists and foreign entities before judicial investigations concluded. Genuine accountability must involve a thorough investigation into all factors that contributed to loss of life, including any failures by public officials in prevention or in emergency response procedures.”

Source: Amnesty International –

Ahead of the trial of human rights defenders Tommy Olsen and Panayote Dimitras on 6 October in Rhodes on charges relating to their work in support of refugees and migrants Dinushika Dissanayake, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for Europe said:

“The criminal charges against Panayote Dimitras and Tommy Olsen are a gross misuse of anti-smuggling legislation and are not backed by evidence. Both are being targeted for their work documenting serious human rights violations against migrants and refugees.

“The Greek authorities have a long-standing record of going after human rights defenders and criminalizing human rights work, but this is a new low. For the first time, human rights workers are being referred to trial for helping people access asylum procedures. Construing this as ‘smuggling’ is not only a distortion of international and domestic law but a dangerous vilification of NGOs’ valuable work.”

In July 2021, Dimitras and Olsen were supporting people seeking asylum on the island of Kos including helping them to access the asylum procedure. They also documented and reported cases of pushbacks by the Greek authorities – the illegal and often violent practice of summarily returning people across borders, a practice that Greece has been found guilty of by the European Court of Human Rights.

The authorities accuse Dimitras and Olsen of establishing and participating in a criminal organization and jointly facilitating the “unlawful entry” and “unlawful stay” of third country nationals in Greece. Based on information available to Amnesty International, there is no indication that Dimitras’ and Olsen’s work went beyond the legitimate activities of assisting people in legally exercising their human rights and documenting the situation.

If convicted they face up to 20 years in prison.

Tommy Olsen said: “When human rights defenders face criminal prosecution for documenting what happens at Europe’s borders, while pushbacks and other serious human rights violations continue with impunity, it sends a powerful message to everyone doing this work: stay silent, or risk becoming the accused yourself.”

Panayote Dimitras said: “This prosecution had the sole aim to harass us and severely limit our work documenting human rights violations at Greece’s borders. It has left me stigmatized and has prevented me from travelling abroad to continue our human rights advocacy at an international level for more than three years.”

“The charges brought against Olsen and Dimitras send an alarming message that supporting  people in need of protection to exercise their rights can be misconstrued as complicity in smuggling. This doesn’t just harm refugees and migrants who have undertaken dangerous journeys at sea, as it discourages the provision of assistance, but has a chilling effect on civil society a whole,” said Dinushika Dissanayake from Amnesty International.

Background

Tommy Olsen is a Norwegian human rights worker who founded the NGO Aegean Boat Report in 2017 to monitor arrivals to the Greek islands and document rights violations. Panayote Dimitras is the legal administrator and representative of the NGO Greek Helsinki Monitor, an organization that documents racist violence and racist speech including pushbacks of asylum seekers by Greek law enforcement officers at borders.

Since 2023, the Greek authorities have imposed extremely onerous pretrial measures on Dimitras, including a ban on leaving the country, a duty to regularly report to the police station, and a bail payment of €10,000.

Tommy Olsen is currently living in Norway. Earlier in the year, Norway’s authorities rejected an extradition request from Greece, finding that the actions for which Olsen had been prosecuted in Greece are not illegal in Norway and represented a real risk for Olsen’s right to freedom of expression.

Amnesty International has repeatedly highlighted shortcomings in Greek anti-smuggling laws, noting that the legislation is based on broad and vague language, and does not adequately protect human rights defenders and humanitarian actors from criminal prosecution.

For more information contact [email protected]

Further resources:

Source: Médecins Sans Frontières –

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