MIL NGO Engine

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Mysuru, March 15, 2026:  Civil society groups, residents, parents, caregivers, students and Greenpeace India today came together today to reclaim Bogadi Road as a shared and inclusive public space, presenting the Samavesha participatory road design developed by the Mysuru School of Architecture (MSA). The design reflects months of citizen engagement through imaginariums, accessibility audits, community workshops, where community people, everyday commuters collectively reimagined how the junction can be more safer, more walkable and accessible for everyone.

As part of the collective action, community members also painted a zebra crossing and empathy line marking on the Bogadi road stretch, reflecting people’s design inputs that prioritise safety and dignity. This action reflects the importance of placemaking–where citizens collectively reclaimed the street as safer and more shared public space. The empathy line visually marks the space people with disabilities and pedestrians need to move safely and comfortably, reflecting the community’s call for streets designed with safety and dignity in mind.

At the press conference held today, the citizen groups collectively submitted the design recommendations to the concerned authorities as the city administration is preparing to begin white topping work on the Bogadi Road stretch.

“Bogadi Road is at a turning point. As the city prepares for white-topping, this is a critical and important opportunity to integrate people-led design ideas like safe crossings, accessible footpaths, and clear signage into the white topping plan. What people have designed here is practical, affordable, and rooted in lived realities,” said Selomi Garnaik, climate and energy campaigner at Greenpeace India. 

“For this to translate on ground, it is essential that upcoming engineering plans engage with and reflect these public inputs. The authorities now have a chance to show that infrastructure can be people-led and inclusive,” she added.   

The imaginariums are part of the Mysuru Rising campaign which brings local residents, caregivers, persons with disabilities, students, and experts together in the reimagining process, where they collectively envision a more accessible and inclusive city. The final design reflects communities’ lived experiences and captures how people actually want to move around their city  in everyday life.

The zebra crossing activity was joined by the students and faculty members of MSA, AIISH, disability rights groups, community people, volunteers and citizen forums from Mysuru city.  The participatory design recommendations underscores the urgent need for scientifically designed traffic calming measures, covering of the open drains alongside the footpath, installation of railings on footpaths, empathy line markings, shifting of barricades obstructing movements, visually enhanced zebra markings, continuous and obstruction-free footpaths, ramps, tactile paving, clear signage into the engineering plan of white topping work.

“This work on Bogadi Road demonstrates how architecture and planning can meaningfully respond to people’s everyday needs when communities are part of the design process. The participatory audits and imaginariums helped translate lived experiences into practical design solutions. Bogadi Road now stands as an important example of how people-centric street design can be developed, and it offers a model that other cities can learn from.,” said Dr Champa, Director and Dean, Mysuru School of Architecture (MSA).

“​​Mysuru has always taken pride in its heritage and civic values. A truly progressive city is one where streets are designed for seamless movement of wheelchairs, strollers and bicycles can move safely alongside everyone else. If our streets can provide support for the most vulnerable users, they will work for everyone.” said , B S Ramakrishna Mudre, Hon Director, Palliative Care, Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement Mysore and Imaginarium Participant.

The community action on Bogadi Road shows how collective citizen participation can drive meaningful change in their streets, setting a powerful example for other cities to follow in designing people-centric urban spaces. The civil groups urge authorities to treat Bogadi Road as an opportunity to demonstrate how participatory design can shape infrastructure that truly reflects people’s needs and aspirations.

About Mysuru Rising: 

Mysore Rising is a project led by Greenpeace India  to reclaim our cities as spaces for people, not just for cars or capital. It begins with listening to what communities/ citizens truly aspire for, moves to prototyping those visions in the places where people live, and culminates in challenging destructive “stupid projects” through collective advocacy.

To learn more about the Mysuru Rising please click on the link below and join the growing call for safer, more inclusive streets and help shape a city that works for everyone.

https://gpin.greenpeace.org/cityrisingmysore

For further media queries, please write to [email protected]

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the decision by Israel’s Military Advocate General to drop charges against five Israeli soldiers accused of abusing and sexually assaulting Palestinian detainees at Israel’s notorious Sde Teiman military prison, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research Advocacy and Policy, Erika Guevara Rosas said:

“This decision marks yet another unconscionable chapter in the Israeli legal system’s long-standing history of granting impunity to perpetrators of grave crimes against Palestinians. This, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s welcoming of the decision, illustrate the Israeli system’s “unwillingness or inability” to prosecute crimes under international law, stressing the urgent need for international justice as the only remaining avenue for Palestinians.

This decision marks yet another unconscionable chapter in the Israeli legal system’s long-standing history of granting impunity to perpetrators of grave crimes against Palestinians.

Erika Guevara Rosas

Since the start of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the occupied Gaza Strip, and despite overwhelming evidence of widespread torture and abuse, including sexual violence, against Palestinians in Israeli detention centres, only one Israeli soldier has been so far sentenced over torturing a Palestinian detainee. At least 98 Palestinians are known to have died in Israeli custody since October 2023, with Israeli authorities failing to hold any independent, transparent, and impartial investigation into any of these cases, while continuing to block independent monitors, including the ICRC, from visiting Palestinian detainees.  

“Amidst rising regional tensions, the world cannot look the other way while Palestinians continue to be denied even a semblance of justice. State parties to the Rome Statute must do all that in their power to support ICC investigation of ongoing crimes in Palestine and Israel.”

According to Israel NGO HaMoked there are currently 9,446 Palestinians held in custody in Israeli prisons. Amnesty International has previously documented how Palestinians detained at Sde Teiman have been held incommunicado and subjected to torture and other ill-treatment.

Source: Amnesty International –

Kazakhstan’s proposed new Constitution represents an alarming rollback of human rights protections and the rule of law and a blatant attempt to concentrate presidential power, Amnesty International said ahead of a referendum on the sweeping changes scheduled for 15 March.

“The project of the new Constitution of Kazakhstan reflects what we have been witnessing over the last years – the erosion of international human rights standards and fundamental principle of the law in the country,” Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said.

The draft Constitution, which was prepared without inclusive public consultations or meaningful input from independent civil society, would permit greater restrictions on human rights including the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, based on overly broad and vague concepts of “constitutional order” and “public morality.”

It also defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, further enshrining discrimination against LGBTI people, whose rights have already been severely curtailed by a law banning so-called propaganda of “non-traditional sexual relations” enacted in December 2025.

“By including in the draft Constitution undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and the right to protection from discrimination, Kazakhstan is joining an accelerating rollback on international human rights standards and the rule of law that we have documented throughout Central Asia and the wider region,” Marie Struthers said.

By including in the draft Constitution undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, and the right to protection from discrimination, Kazakhstan is joining an accelerating rollback on international human rights standards and the rule of law that we have documented throughout Central Asia and the wider region

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

“The draft Constitution places human rights within the framework of broad and vague concepts such as the “idea of a Just Kazakhstan,” the principle of “Law and Order,” and “promotion of the idea of a responsible, creative patriotism.”

“Kazakhstan authorities must immediately revoke or remove the repressive provisions and ensure the draft Constitution contains human rights guarantees that are entirely consistent and compatible with the country’s international human rights obligations.”

As one human rights defender from Kazakhstan put it, “Law becomes a substitute for rights, and Order – for freedoms”.”

Primacy of national law

The Constitution would no longer contain the provision that international treaties to which Kazakhstan is a state party take precedence over national laws which are inconsistent with the country’s international human rights obligations. Instead, as has been the case in Russia since 2020, the draft Constitution grants the Constitutional Court the authority to overrule the implementation of decisions by international human rights bodies which “do not comply with the Constitution,” thereby undermining the country’s international human rights obligations. Kazakhstan may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform its treaty obligations.

In what appears to be a bid to tighten control over civil society, the draft Constitution would require NGOs to ensure that all information on financial transactions relating to foreign sources of their funding and all related assets is “open and accessible.”

“Although framed as a transparency measure, in practice such provisions are only too reminiscent of repressive ‘foreign agents’ or ‘foreign influence’ legislation likely to be used to impede NGOs’ work, replicating harmful examples from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and elsewhere,” said Marie Struthers.

Although framed as a transparency measure, in practice such provisions are only too reminiscent of repressive ‘foreign agents’ or ‘foreign influence’ legislation likely to be used to impede NGOs’ work, replicating harmful examples from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia and elsewhere

Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Background

The draft Constitution was hastily drafted by a state appointed commission. The authorities have clamped down on criticism of the proposed changes, stifling any legitimate debate by detaining journalists, lawyers and bloggers and blocking social media accounts. 

The draft Constitution further consolidates presidential power while undermining the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances and diminishing the role of Parliament, which will become unicameral and renamed the Kurultai.

It also grants the President the authority to appoint the heads of the Supreme Court, the Central Electoral Commission, the Supreme Audit Chamber, the State Security Service, the National Bank and the Human Rights Commissioner, without parliamentary approval. In addition, the President would appoint the Chairperson of the Constitutional Court and, together with the Kurultai, confirm 10 of the Court’s 11 judges.

Article 27 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969) provides that, “A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as justification for its failure to perform a treaty.” Kazakhstan acceded to the Convention on January 5, 1994.

Source: Amnesty International –

For years, Seán Binder’s life was turned upside down because he believed people’s pulses should be checked before their passports. In January, he was finally acquitted of charges relating to his humanitarian work helping migrants and refugees at sea. Here, he shares his story and his concerns over a new piece of EU legislation that threatens vital humanitarian work in future. 

My ordeal started at about 2am one morning in February 2018, when I was arrested by the Greek police. People were fleeing conflicts at home and coming to Europe seeking safety in unseaworthy boats and I was helping the Emergency Response Center International to conduct search and rescue activities.

I was detained without understanding what exactly was happening; we were provided neither a lawyer nor an interpreter. After two nights, we were released “pending further investigation.” We continued to do search and rescue. After all, we had done nothing wrong. In fact, we continued to cooperate with the very authorities that had arrested us.

Then, in August 2018, six months after our initial arrest, my colleague and I were detained again. This time, we were charged with serious crimes, including forgery, the illegal use of radio frequencies, espionage, money laundering, being members of a criminal organization, and facilitating illegal entry.

The severity of the charges meant that my colleagues and I were detained in pre-trial prison. By the time we were released, 106 days later, our case had become at high-profile example of the criminalization of humanitarianism in Europe. Human rights organizations described it as the “criminalization of saving lives.” At trial, the first prosecution witness described the case in precisely those terms.  That assessment proved decisive.

Finally, on 15 January this year, I was acquitted. The prosecutor at trial stated there was no evidence of criminality, and the panel of judges unanimously agreed that my 23 co-defendants and I were motivated by, and engaged in, legal humanitarianism.

Whilst I am delighted not to be returning to prison, it has taken far too long for this absurd prosecution to collapse. In the interim, the damage has already been done. EU states’ authorities have obstructed civilian rescue efforts, and over 32,000 lives have been lost at Europe’s borders since 2014.  

Meanwhile, dozens of humanitarians across Europe face similar prosecutions, obstruction, intimidation and harassment. Sadly, my case was not the exception but part of a wider pattern of states criminalizing humanitarian work.

My colleagues and I have spent years and vast resources proving what should never have been in doubt: saving lives is a legal obligation, not a crime. Humanitarian work should be encouraged and protected in countries that claim to respect human rights.

The current effort to reform EU anti-smuggling legislation, the so-called “Facilitators Package” offers an opportunity to address some of the issues that have led to our baseless prosecution.

However, the proposed revisions to the legislation might inadvertently increase the risk of criminalizing rescue workers – meaning future prosecutions will still be possible and may not end in acquittals like mine. They will also impact migrants, people of migrant origin and racialized people who all too often suffer from these policies.

As Amnesty International has highlighted, the proposal’s broad and vague provisions risk perpetuating the criminalization of refugees, migrants and human rights defenders. Any reform should clarify explicitly and in a binding manner that acts of humanitarian assistance or solidarity should be exempted from prosecution or punishment. Migrants who may have been smuggled themselves, or people assisting their family members should also be protected from criminal liability.

Through this reform, the EU has an opportunity to align with the EU Charter, UN Conventions and Smuggling Protocols, and treaties on maritime search and rescue, and to explicitly protect the right to life, the right to seek asylum, and the duty to render assistance.

As it stands, the proposal tries to expand the avenues to pursue humanitarian workers by introducing the crime of “public instigation” of irregular migration. This vague new provision could be misconstrued to harm refugees and migrants, advocates and activists protesting unjust migration laws or professionals providing legal information or assistance.

I have seen how people fleeing persecution and poverty may have no option but to board unseaworthy boats. How in the absence of safe routes those crowded aboard cling to the sides of dinghies. How in the dead of night, in choppy waters, even children are without life vests. Criminalizing humanitarians or a passenger who takes the helm of a dinghy abandoned by the smuggler does nothing to stop that.

Prosecutors should focus on exploitation and violence, including by authorities summarily force people across land or sea borders.

Last year, the European Court of Human Rights found “serious evidence” of systematic pushbacks in Greece. Evidence of similar practices has been mounting across European borders. Without border monitoring, this already opaque crime becomes ever more obscure.

Finally, trafficking, another cross-border crime, is arguably exacerbated by EU policy. A UN report published in 2018 found that asylum seekers in Libya face “unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention, gang rape, slavery, forced labour and extortion,” with apparent complicity by State actors. Nevertheless, the EU has for years financed the so-called Libyan Coast Guard.

Whether in the Facilitators Package or in its wider border policies, the EU must respect the rule of law and human rights.

The way to stop people taking dangerous journeys is providing safe and legal pathways for protection, commensurate in scale with the need for protection, and channels for regular migration for those seeking a better life. By denying safe routes, the EU pushes people into the arms and boats of smugglers and traffickers.

All the while, EU laws and narratives on stopping smugglers continue being used to criminalize migrants and people doing what they can to save lives or offer assistance. Unless the reform of the Facilitators package takes serious steps to uphold the duty to rescue and defend humanitarians, people will continue to risk jail for doing what is normal, human behaviour: helping others at risk.

Watch Seán as he discusses his case, his reflections and hopes for the future.

Listen to Séan’s full story in the first season of Amnesty’s podcast ‘On the Side of Humanity’.

Source: Amnesty International –

Four more men removed by the United States arrived in Eswatini on 11 March and are being detained in the Matsapha Correctional Complex, a maximum-security prison located some 2 kms from the country’s international airport. 

According to information received by Amnesty International, the men – two Somali nationals, one Tanzanian national and one Sudanese national – arrived at around 11PM on a flight originating from Phoenix, Arizona. 

The authorities in Eswatini must immediately disclose the legal basis for these detentions, guarantee regular and confidential access to lawyers and families, and guarantee due process to ensure that no one is held arbitrarily. 

Vongai Chikwanda, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa

“This latest unlawful transfer makes clear that the United States is continuing to send people to Eswatini under a secretive third-country removal arrangement, and that Eswatini is continuing to hold them in unlawful detention without transparency or adequate legal safeguards,” Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Vongai Chikwanda, said. 

“People with no known ties to Eswatini are transferred there and arbitrarily detained while their fate is decided behind closed doors. The authorities in Eswatini must immediately disclose the legal basis for these detentions, guarantee regular and confidential access to lawyers and families, and guarantee due process to ensure that no one is held arbitrarily.” 

Both Eswatini and the United States must end this deeply abusive practice.

Vongai Chikwanda

In July 2025, the US removed a first group of five people to Eswatini where they were kept in arbitrary detention. This was followed by the removal of a further 10 individuals from the US to the Southern African country in October 2025. None were known to have ties with Eswatini, where human rights under the absolute monarchy continues to be curtailed. 

“No one should be removed to a country where they face a real risk of unlawful detention, onward refoulement or other serious human rights violations. Both Eswatini and the United States must end this deeply abusive practice,” Vongai Chikwanda said. 

Background

Under a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 14 May 2025 and published in the United States following a Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) request, the government of Eswatini agreed to accept up to 160 third country national removed from the United States, in exchange for $5.1 million USD “to build its border and migration management capacity”.  

According to media reports, three men previously deported from the United States to Eswatini have filed a complaint before the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, alleging that their prolonged detention is unlawful.  

Source: Amnesty International –

Pascale Solages is the co-founder and General Coordinator of Nègès Mawon, a feminist organization in Haiti founded in 2015. Since then, the organization provides access to health services and care for survivors of gender-based and sexual violence, and promotes feminist activism through art, education for girls, and advocacy. 

Haiti is currently experiencing an unprecedented social, political, and humanitarian crisis. Violence escalated in 2021 following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, after which criminal groups seized control in Port-au-Prince, the country’s capital. Since then, several efforts have been made to restore peace in the country, but they have not been as successful as hoped. 

This interview is part of a series of blogs highlighting the extraordinary work of Haitian activists and organizations who are making a difference, especially in the lives of communities affected by violence in Haiti. 

Source: Amnesty International –

Israeli air strikes on locations linked to al-Qard al-Hassan, a non-profit financial institution associated with Hezbollah, must be investigated as war crimes as they do not constitute legitimate military targets under international humanitarian law, Amnesty International said today.

Since 2 March, the Israeli military has announced that it would target all branches of al-Qard al-Hassan across Lebanon and by 10 March said that it had struck “around 30 branches” during the past week. Many al-Qard al-Hassan offices are located within residential buildings or in crowded neighbourhoods. The attacks across Beirut’s southern suburbs, south Lebanon and the Beqaa, have destroyed facilities used by tens of thousands of civilians to access financial services, including loans to pay for school fees, healthcare expenses and vehicles to commute to work.

“Over and over again, the Israeli military has appeared to assume that labelling something as Hezbollah-affiliated, be that healthcare workers, homes in border villages, or financial institutions, makes it targetable. That’s wrong,” said Heba Morayef, Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“Allegations of financial links do not, on their own, turn a civilian or a civilian building into a military objective. Distinguishing between military objectives and civilian objects is a cornerstone of international humanitarian law. Hezbollah is both a military and a political actor, but it also runs service and charity institutions staffed by civilians.”

“Civilians and civilian objects do not become lawful targets simply because of an affiliation or perceived connection. Yet once again, Israel is destroying branches of a financial institution that serves as a lifeline for thousands of people in desperate need. These attacks are unlawful and must be investigated as war crimes.”

Amnesty International reviewed the Israeli military’s claims about the attacks, verified footage of four locations targeted on 2 and 9 March, and interviewed 12 people from diverse backgrounds who had used al-Qard al-Hassan’s financial services. Pseudonyms are used throughout to protect people’s privacy and security.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Responding to news of escalating attacks by Iran on vessels stuck in the Persian Gulf extending to the Strait of Hormuz, Nina Noelle at Greenpeace Germany, which has been mapping oil tankers trapped in the area and potential impacts of an oil spill, said:

“Right now, there are dozens of tankers carrying billions of litres of oil trapped in the Persian Gulf as mines are being laid and missiles are hitting ships. This is an environmental disaster waiting to happen. A single oil spill in the Gulf could damage this fragile marine habitat beyond repair with devastating consequences for people, animals, and plants in the region, adding to the terrible human toll this illegal war has already taken on local communities.

“The US-Israel attack on Iran and subsequent strikes by Iran on neighbouring Gulf countries has shown once again that our dependence on fossil fuels is a constant threat to peace, security and prosperity. When oil and gas prices surge, fossil fuel giants rake in more profits while everyday people are hit by higher costs for heating, electricity, transport and food. 

“Greenpeace is calling on all parties to de-escalate tensions and pursue peaceful, diplomatic solutions and on governments everywhere to urgently shift away from fossil fuels towards distributed renewable energy systems where the risks of conflict are reduced rather than amplified.

“From Venezuela to Iran, we’ve seen how Trump’s stated desire to control resources – especially oil and gas – is playing out in violent foreign policy. In Trump’s illegal war with Iran, the only winners are the oil and gas companies.”

An investigation by Greenpeace Germany has analysed the blocked Strait of Hormuz using ship movement data and satellite imagery and simulated the potential consequences of oil spills in the Persian Gulf if tankers are damaged. At present, the oil tankers trapped in the Persian Gulf are carrying at least 21 billion litres of oil.

“Greenpeace simulations show how an oil slick could spread if the stranded tankers are damaged in an attack. The Strait of Hormuz and adjacent waters are home to pristine coral reefs, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows. This is an ecological ticking time bomb and represents an enormous risk that further increases instability and human suffering in the region.” 

ENDS

Satellite images available in the Greenpeace Media Library. Link to interactive map 

Notes: 

[1] Greenpeace Germany is tracking larger oil tankers above 80.000 DWT (deadweight tonnage) and 100 metres length. Interactive map and accompanying article: How oil tankers stuck in the Strait of Hormuz south of Iran threatens the Gulf ecosystem

[2] You can’t blow up the sun: 4 reasons renewables are a security imperative

[3] In Trump’s illegal war with Iran, the only winners are the oil and gas companies 

Contact: 

Nina Noelle, crisis communications and international relations manager, Greenpeace Germany, +49 151 10622733, nina.noelle@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the launch of Medact’s (an organisation bringing together health workers in the UK) latest briefing that outlines grave human rights concerns and risks posed by contracting Palantir to build NHS England’s Federated Data Platform (FDP), Matt Mahmoudi, Researcher and Advisor on Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights at Amnesty International said:

“Amnesty International supports the briefing published by Medact and partners exposing why Palantir’s is an unsuitable partner for National Health Services (NHS) England due to significant human rights concerns associated with the company. Palantir has a track record of flagrantly disregarding international law and standards, both in the  violations of the human rights of migrants in the United States, to which it risks contributing to, and its ongoing supply of artificial intelligence (AI) products and services to the Israeli military and intelligence services that are linked to Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

“Amnesty International is calling on NHS England, the UK government and all other public institutions to use their leverage from their investments, including by responsibly divesting from Palantir and ceasing the purchase of equipment and services from the company. These measures must remain in place until the company can demonstrate that it is not contributing to Israel’s genocide, apartheid, unlawful occupation or other crimes under international law.”