Source: Amnesty International –
The Niger Delta is one of the world’s largest wetlands and also one of its most valuable oil-producing regions. For decades, oil spills, gas flaring, waste dumping and failed clean-ups have devastated communities who depend on its land, rivers and creeks for food, water and livelihoods. Amnesty International’s research has shown that Shell’s record there is not only an environmental scandal. It is a human rights crisis.
Source: Amnesty International –
India continued to supply arms to Israel despite the substantial risk they could be used in its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, Amnesty International said in a new report.
Made in India: The Supply of Weapons and Ammunition to Israel documents how the Government of India has forged a close and profitable partnership with the Israeli defence sector and has become a significant contributor to the supply chains that support Israel’s military operations.
The report uses shipment-level trade data between India and Israel to reveal how Indian weapons, ammunition, parts and components have been shipped to large Israeli companies that supply the Israeli military. Companies that are directly owned and controlled by the state of India are also identified in the report.
“Our research reveals India’s continuing support to the Israeli military and defence sector despite the genocide in Gaza, which has been broadcast worldwide on an almost daily basis for years,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.
“India manufactures and supplies arms transferred to Israel through its ownership and control over key supplier companies. Not only has India failed to regulate arms exports to Israel by private companies in line with international law and standards; it has also deepened its defence partnership with Israel.
“In light of the International Court of Justice’s provisional measures orders recognizing a plausible risk of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, the Indian authorities cannot credibly argue that they did not know that continuing to authorize and facilitate arms transfers to Israel carries a substantial risk of contributing to serious violations of international law. While the Israeli military was inflicting widespread death, destruction and suffering on Palestinians in Gaza, Indian companies continued to profit by supplying components and munitions destined for Israel’s defence sector.
“The Indian government must immediately stop authorizing exports of weapons, ammunition and parts to Israel. It must also ensure that companies operating under its jurisdiction do not contribute to crimes under international law. All companies have a responsibility to respect human rights throughout their global operations, which includes taking proactive and robust measures early on to ensure that their products are not involved in serious violations of international law. These measures must be commensurate with the level of risk.”
India manufactures and supplies arms transferred to Israel through its ownership and control over key supplier companies.
Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General
Amnesty International investigators analysed 2,596 shipments of weapons, ammunition, parts and components shipped from India to Israel since 7 October 2023. Records indicate that Indian companies have supplied at least 390,516 small arms parts for military grade weapons, 564,970 parts of explosive ordnance (such as drone warheads, artillery shell casings and others), and 298 components of military vehicles to large Israeli companies that are direct suppliers to the Israeli military.
Amnesty International systematically excluded data shipments which may have been destined for civilian use. Amnesty International also excluded weapons, parts and ammunition that are likely used for anti-missile defence technology, which has often been used to defend civilians from indiscriminate attacks.
Amnesty International analysed India’s national legal framework around arms transfers and its compliance with international law and standards. The organization found critical structural failures, including a lack of explicit requirement for human rights due diligence to prevent military goods from being used in violations of international human rights law or international humanitarian law (IHL), and insufficient transparency resulting in an unaccountable export process.
India abstained in the vote for the adoption of the ATT in April 2013. Since then, it has not signed or acceded to the ATT. It is vital that India accede to the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) as a first step in bringing its export control regulations into line with international law on arms transfers.
As a part of their obligation to respect and ensure respect for IHL, all states are prohibited from transferring or permitting private actors to transfer weapons to a party to an armed conflict – whether a state or non-state armed group – where there is a clear risk that this would contribute to the commission of IHL violations.
Corporate actors involved in the transfer of weapons to Israel may also contribute to IHL violations. Moreover, where companies and their personnel were aware of the substantial likelihood that said weapons would be used to commit crimes under international law, possible criminal responsibility may arise.
In June and July 2026, Amnesty International wrote to the State of India and the nine companies named, detailing the report’s findings. At the time of publication, no response had been received.
Source: Amnesty International –
Amnesty International joins the call from the Guerreras por la Amazonía (GxA, Women Warriors for the Amazon), who, five years after securing a landmark ruling requiring Ecuador to eliminate oil industry gas flares located near populated areas and provide reparations to affected communities, continue to demand its full implementation.
“Over the past five years, the Guerreras por la Amazonía, the Union of People Affected by Texaco’s Operations (UDAPT), the Eliminen los Mecheros collective and affected communities have led a tireless struggle for their rights and for climate justice. However, they continue to face the authorities’ indifference, actions that merely create the appearance of compliance with the ruling, as well as stigmatization and even attacks against them,” said Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Over the past five years, the Guerreras por la Amazonía, the Union of People Affected by Texaco’s Operations (UDAPT), the Eliminen los Mecheros collective and affected communities have led a tireless struggle for their rights and for climate justice.”
Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International.
Source: Amnesty International –
Responding to extreme heat related weather events around the globe, including widespread wildfires, drought and floods, Marta Schaaf, Programme Director for Climate, ESJ and Corporate Accountability at Amnesty International said:
“Extreme heat is not just a weather event. This heat is political. It is where climate change driven by corporate greed and political failure collides with people’s rights, lives and livelihoods. It is a human rights emergency that threatens the rights to life, health, housing, water and sanitation, food, education, and a healthy environment. Extreme heat is not a stand-alone disaster. It’s a multiplier of human rights harm. While many governments and corporate actors roll back their climate action, an increasing number of people worldwide experience life altering – and in too many cases, life ending – climate change driven extreme events.
“Heatwaves can kill directly, and they also fuel wildfires, worsen air pollution, dry out land and disrupt rainfall patterns, deepening drought in some places and making floods more dangerous elsewhere. These harms are being made worse by authoritarian tactics that attack climate science, restrict protest, spread climate disinformation and shield powerful fossil fuel interests from accountability.
“Governments must protect people now through adaptation and climate-resilient public services including early warning systems, safe housing, access to water, and heat protections. But they must also confront the root cause of this escalating crisis. Thanks in part to generous public subsidies and support from allies in government, fossil fuel companies continue to profit while communities are left to pay the costs of the damage these companese helped cause. States must make polluters pay, defend climate science and civic space, and deliver a full, fast, fair and funded phase-out of fossil fuels that leaves no one behind.”
This heat is political.
It is where climate change driven by corporate greed and political failure collides with people’s rights, lives and livelihoods.Marta Schaaf, Programme Director for Climate, ESJ and Corporate Accountability at Amnesty International
Source: Amnesty International –
Summary killings of at least 19 Malian soldiers by members of armed groups in Tabrichat, a village in the Gao region, in central Mali, must be investigated as war crimes, Amnesty International said after analyzing video footage of the incident which took place after the soldiers were ambushed on 18 July.
Amnesty International analyzed 12 videos published on social media that help reconstruct the incident. Three videos show a group of at least 19 Malian soldiers walking in the desert with their hands behind their heads, clearly surrendering. Another video shows a group of men on the ground and five armed men firing at them. A close-up video shows the bodies of the men who had been filmed moments earlier surrendering. The videos also show the armed men subjecting prisoners to acts of ill-treatment by manhandling and beating them.
“In the footage Amnesty International has reviewed, it is clear that the soldiers were hors de combat before being subjected to ill-treatment and killed in execution style. Any person out of action, including soldiers taken prisoner or having surrendered, must be protected under international humanitarian law. The evidence of war crimes is irrefutable,” said Ousmane Diallo, Senior Researcher on Sahel at Amnesty International’s Regional Office for West and Central Africa.
In two videos, a white flag, characteristic of the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Groupe de Soutien à l’Islam et aux Musulmans – GSIM) appeared on the front of the attackers’ vehicles.
A total of 17 videos were shared on X accounts and on a Telegram channel associated with the Russian private military company Wagner Group, which was active in Mali between 2022 and June 2025.
In a statement dated 18 July, the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) claimed responsibility for the ambush in Tabrichat of Malian soldiers and allied Russian fighters from Africa Corps and stated that it had inflicted ‘significant loss of life and considerable damage to property’. The GSIM also claimed to have ambushed a joint convoy of Malian military and Russian Africa Corps fighters in the area of Tabrichat, mentioning ‘human casualties and serious material damage in the ranks of the enemy’.
Source: Amnesty International –
Shell must answer for decades of pollution in the Niger Delta after internal company documents revealed broken rules, failing infrastructure and unresolved clean-up costs that risk leaving affected communities to pay the price, a coalition of human rights and environmental organisations, including Amnesty International, said today in a new report.
The report, Nigeria: Lifting the Lid, analyses internal Shell emails, audits, presentations and confidential reviews disclosed in UK legal proceedings, revealing a wider human rights scandal than previously reported. While Shell presented its operations as meeting global standards, the documents point to concerns raised by the Nigerian army over alleged complicity in oil theft, suspected staff and contractor collusion, exemptions from safety standards, chronic neglect of known pipeline integrity risks, missing well data, weak leak detection and flawed spill monitoring.
Shell knew the risks from ageing and leaking infrastructure, including an old pipeline internally described as “a basket” [case], yet kept oil flowing. It later decided to divest its onshore business rather than face the enormous cost of clean-up and decommissioning, including an internal US$10.9 billion decommissioning estimate. A separate internal presentation stated that 375km² of mangrove forest had been harmed by pollution.
Amnesty International wrote to Shell on 3 July 2026 to share its findings related to the disclosed documents. In response to Amnesty’s report, Shell wrote that: “The characterisation and portrayal of Shell in your letter is not one we recognise. Shell is committed to honesty, integrity and respect for people, and to conducting business in an ethical and transparent manner.” Shell says that the findings do not reflect the “challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta at the time”. Their full response is included in the report.
“Shell has long blamed oil theft and sabotage for pollution in the Niger Delta. But these documents cut through years of denial and raise grave questions about what Shell knew, what it allowed to continue, and whether it then sought to walk away from the costs of its toxic legacy,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria.
“The scandal was not simply illegal ‘bunkering’ or oil theft. The real scandal is Shell’s pursuit of profit at the expense of people’s rights. Shell was willing to accept further environmental damage in Nigeria that would not have been tolerated elsewhere, and years of public denial are now challenged by its own documents.”
The real scandal is Shell’s pursuit of profit at the expense of people’s rights.
Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria
The report is published by Amnesty International together with The Corner House, Hawkmoth, HEDA Resource Centre, Kebetkache Women Development & Resource Centre, Miideekor Environmental Development Initiative (MEDI), Recommon and Social Action. For affected communities, the findings confirm what many have said for decades: oil pollution has damaged water, farmland, fisheries, health and livelihoods, while companies continued to profit and deny responsibility.
“Shell cannot be allowed to take the oil, take the profits and leave the pollution behind. Communities in the Niger Delta deserve truth, justice, clean-up and full remedy,” said Olanrewaju Suraju, Chairman of the HEDA Resource Centre, a Nigerian governance and environmental justice NGO.
Source: Greenpeace Statement –
SYDNEY/KINGSTON, Wednesday 29 July — The future of deep sea mining will be a focus for world leaders this week as the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Assembly takes place in Kingston, Jamaica.
Country delegates and members from Pacific Civil Society have come together to discuss a deep sea mining code, while the call for a moratorium grows. It follows the ISA’s contentious decision last week to extend The Metals Company subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc’s (NORI) exploration contract, despite its support for the pursuit of unlawful deep sea mining via US unilateralism.
The Assembly’s agenda was agreed to yesterday, with a science item put forward by Vanuatu to be heard on Thursday local time. Overnight, Mozambique and Mauritius joined the call for a global moratorium.
Rae Bainteiti, Pacific Political Coordinator at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said from the ISA in Kingston:
“As we move into the General Assembly this week, the fundamental issue remains that there is not enough science to guarantee the safety and protection of the ocean in a world where deep sea mining is allowed. As trustees of the ocean, the common heritage of humankind, our Pacific governments must stand firm against corporate interests that are pushing to move ahead with deep-sea mining outside the ISA framework. If deep sea mining goes ahead, Pacific communities will suffer the economic, cultural and social consequences. We continue to call on all States to support a moratorium as the principled and responsible pathway to protect the ocean.”
Currently, 45 countries, including seven Pacific nations, support a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea mining. Last week, Australia’s Labor National Conference committed to supporting a moratorium, but the government has yet to make an official comment.
— ENDS —
Source: Amnesty International –
Reacting to reports that security forces used lethal force against protesters in Rawalakot, Pakistan-administered Jammu and Kashmir, on the first day of the regional election, Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia, said:
“The disturbing reports emerging from Rawalakot are consistent with the Pakistani authorities’ long history of unlawful violence against protesters in Jammu and Kashmir. A prompt, independent, and transparent investigation must be ordered into the security forces’ use of force against protesters. So long as an internet and mobile services blackout remains in place, it will severely impede the independent verification of the full extent of the situation on the ground. We urge the Pakistani authorities to restore all communications access and allow media and independent observers into the area.
We urge the Pakistani authorities to restore all communications access and allow media and independent observers into the area
Isabelle Lassee, Amnesty International’s Acting Regional Director for South Asia
“Tensions around this election are being heightened by the unlawful ban on the Jammu and Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC). Amnesty International has repeatedly called on the Pakistani authorities to lift the ban on this protest movement and stop weaponizing anti-terror laws to silence and arbitrarily detain JAAC members and supporters. The ban cannot be used as an excuse to mete out deadly violence against protesters.”
On 27 July, there were reports of violence in Rawalakot as well as one incident in Kotli, where a political worker was killed during a clash between supporters of rival parties. According to the JAAC, 19 people were killed and dozens injured after security forces fired at protesters. Media outlets have reported that there were some casualties, but have not ascribed a number, while police have reported that two of its personnel were injured. Mobile internet services have remained suspended in Jammu & Kashmir since 5 June.
The JAAC was designated as a “proscribed organization” under the first schedule of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Anti-Terrorism Act, 2014 on 5 June 2026.
In the lead up to the election, media have reported that at least 40 people have been killed, 34 of them protesters, and six were police and paramilitary personnel.
Source: Amnesty International –
The public execution of two protesters today, following the arbitrary execution of at least three other protesters last week, marks a further escalation in the authorities’ use of the death penalty to quash dissent, Amnesty International said. The organization fears that at least 60 others, including three arrested as children, remain at risk of execution after being sentenced to death, while many others are facing prosecution on capital charges in relation to the protests.
In the first half of 2026, Iranian authorities have increasingly used broadly worded national security charges, including espionage and collaboration with hostile states, to convict and sentence to death individuals arrested in the context of the January 2026 protests. Since the beginning of the year, they have arbitrarily executed at least 26 people convicted of offences in connection with the January 2026 protests, following torture-tainted grossly unfair trials by Revolutionary Courts. Beyond those targeted in the context of the protests, the authorities have arbitrarily executed at least 26 other individuals on politically motivated charges, while continuing to carry out hundreds of executions for drug-related offences and other crimes.
The Iranian authorities are unleashing a horrifying wave of executions and death sentences to punish and suppress dissent and project an image of strength and absolute control in the wake of the January popular uprising and amid ongoing attacks by US and Israeli forces.
Heba Morayef, Amnesty International.
“The Iranian authorities are unleashing a horrifying wave of executions and death sentences to punish and suppress dissent and project an image of strength and absolute control in the wake of the January popular uprising and amid ongoing attacks by US and Israeli forces,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.
“The muted response from the international community emboldens the Iranian authorities to continue their deadly rampage. UN member states must take urgent coordinated diplomatic action to press the Iranian authorities to halt further executions. They must place Iran’s human rights and impunity crisis high on their agenda, support the creation of an independent international justice mechanism for Iran and urge the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Iran to the International Criminal Court.”
Amnesty International spoke with 10 informed sources, including victims’ families outside Iran and lawyers inside Iran. The organization also reviewed official statements from the Iranian authorities, as well as reports from state media and reports by human rights organizations based outside Iran.
In the cases documented, those arbitrarily executed or sentenced to death were convicted of overly broad and vague charges of “enmity against God” (moharebeh) and “corruption on earth” (efsad-e fel-arz). Among them are individuals executed for alleged involvement in arson, property damage, road blockages or disrupting public order – acts that do not meet the threshold under international law and standards for the application of the death penalty, which restricts its use to the “most serious crimes” involving intentional killing.
Some others have been prosecuted under the Law on Intensifying the Punishment for Espionage and Collaboration with the Zionist Regime and Hostile States (Espionage Law), which was enacted in the aftermath of the 12-day war in June 2026. The law criminalizes acts protected under international human rights law such as peaceful participation in protests and sharing information with media organizations.
Given that thousands were arrested in the context of the January 2026 protests and relatives often refrain from publicly reporting death sentences fearing reprisals, Amnesty International believes that many more protesters may be at risk of the death penalty.
Source: Amnesty International –
In response to the decision by the administrative tribunal in Algiers to dissolve the National Autonomous Union of Education and Training Workers (CNAPESTE), Sar Hashash Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International said:
“Today’s decision to dissolve the CNAPESTE is a serious assault on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly and a devastating blow to independent trade union activity in Algeria. Using restrictive laws to disband a teachers’ union because its members challenged legislation affecting their working conditions is entirely inconsistent with Algeria’s obligations under international human rights law.
The dissolution of a trade union must never be used as a means of punishing workers for exercising their rights or silencing independent voices.
Sara Hashash, Amnesty International.
“The dissolution of a trade union must never be used as a means of punishing workers for exercising their rights or silencing independent voices. Algerian authorities must immediately rescind this ruling, end the judicial harassment of trade unionists, and ensure that workers and their organizations can operate freely without fear of reprisals or arbitrary interference. ”
