MIL NGO Engine

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

Energy as a hostage with people and planet paying the price

As the US-Israel-Iran conflict continues, those at the frontlines continue to be in a state of constant fear, with their basic human rights and livelihoods stripped away. The damage is not contained by borders, the impact of this conflict is felt far beyond the frontlines as our global economy is built upon a foundation of distant, import-dependent fossil fuels and commodities – including fertilizer and feeds. When critical supply chain pathways are severed by conflicts, a dangerous domino effect is triggered. Ordinary people did not choose this war. We were never given the option to reject. Yet most of us are in countries that lack energy, food and agricultural self-sufficiency and are forced to bear the full weight of the impacts.

In  Southeast Asia, we face full-on the impacts of this war. The Philippines just declared a state of national energy emergency in an attempt to secure fossil oil and gas, aiming for some stability to the mega oil price hikes of almost 100% impacting daily lives. Farmers face doubling cost of fertilizer, fisher folks skip daily fishing to save on fuel or stretch their time at sea at great risks to optimize fuel supply.  Jeepney drivers had to resort to a nationwide strike to get government action, as they are prevented from increasing transportation fares while bearing oil price hike. Daily wage earners face the threat of increasing food prices and families with migrant workers in Southwest Asia face the prospect of losing jobs or worse, a loved one. Overseas remittances buoy the Philippine economy, and current disruption poses a serious threat to the country’s GDP. 

Thailand has a high reliance on imported energy, with its economy particularly vulnerable to oil and gas price shocks. Airline costs have increased discouraging tourism with an anticipated loss of THB150B not to mention 1000 inbound flights cancelled or delayed. After weeks of using the Oil Fuel Fund, the government was forced to abandon the price cap as the fund began bleeding 2.5 billion Baht daily, resulting in an overnight fuel price increase of 6 baht per liter, or 14% to 22%. More than 1,000 Thai nationals have been repatriated. At least three Thai sailors remain missing when Iran targeted a Thai marine vessel off the Strait of Hormuz.

Malaysia and Indonesia, albeit as oil and gas producers, also face a potential significant impact of rising oil prices towards their national budget. Both countries subsidize their domestic oil and gas consumption which will put additional pressure against their national budget. One estimate warns that the Malaysian federal budget would bear a heavier subsidy for domestic oil consumption even though there will be a bigger profit gained by Petronas due to the higher oil prices. As for Indonesia, a national budget deficit is looming in the background, with a risk of USD 411 million budget deficit in every rising price of USD 1 per barrel in the Indonesian Crude Price (ICP). The Indonesian government will adopt one day working from home per week for government officials and encourage private sectors to follow suit to reduce oil consumption during the ongoing conflict in Southwest Asia. Furthermore, rising cost of other petrochemical products like fertilizer and plastics are being felt by farmers and small and medium enterprise owners.

Just transition to renewable energy a national and regional security measure

The impact of the Southwest Asia conflict shows how fossil fuels can be transformed into a geopolitical tool that directly impacts people’s lives. Even with the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, it will still take months for supply and therefore prices to stabilize. This is compounded by the looming super El Nino which will further put a stress on energy supply and demand, and food production. In addition, there is a possibility of US-Israel strikes on Iran shadow fleets that pass by Southeast Asia waters which in turn can affect lives and pollute the environment.  

Southeast Asian countries must take this as an opportunity to fast track the shift to renewable energy. Pakistan’s people led renewable energy revolution is proving to be not just a climate commitment but a national security measure – strengthening the ability to secure the basic needs locally, reducing dependence on market fluctuations, wars and geopolitical tensions. The just transition towards renewable energy should be set as a regional and national policy goal with clear milestones for ASEAN Member States. The upcoming 2026 ASEAN Summit, should address the issues of fuel supplies and food prices with the lense of fast tracking the just transition towards renewable energy as a matter of national and regional security. 

Renewable energy as a national and regional security measure requires a fundamental rethinking of the entire energy system structure. A more decentralised renewable energy production system, as seen in Pakistan, is needed to make energy more accessible to homes, health care units, schools, farms, and small businesses. Such a system builds resilient communities, who are likewise at the frontlines of the impacts of climate change. 

A decentralized energy system builds the agency of the community to take control over their lives, livelihoods and their environment. It is a pathway out of being held hostage by fossil fuel wars.

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 7, 2026) — As another perilous threat to the people of Iran looms from behind White House gates, Greenpeace USA activists took a banner to the White House calling for the immediate removal of President Donald Trump for war crimes. NO WAR calls are coming from across the nation while Trump schemes up more ways to steal oil under the guise of a senseless war that would not only put American’s lives at risk, but is already threatening the livelihood of all. 

Reinforcing our resolute objection to the war on Iran and threats of genocide, John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA Program Director, said, “President Trump threatened ‘a whole civilization will die tonight’ if Iran does not meet his deadline — an obvious threat to commit an illegal attack on civilians. This is a moment where the Vice President and presidential cabinet must intervene to invoke the 25th Amendment and declare Trump unfit for office. All of us have a responsibility to ensure our members of congress understand that their constituents expect them to back this action and prevent millions of deaths from happening in our name.”

Photos of the bannering can be found in the Greenpeace media library here.

“The American people understand that this war is about the financial interests of the dozen or so billionaires that seem to run this administration and will not make anyone safer. When U.S. companies are set to pocket upwards of $60 billion in windfall profits from this greed-driven disaster, Trump cannot look the truth in the face and lie to the American people who see it clearly written through the impact at the gas pump, in our travel plans, and the supplies of goods and merchandise millions rely on.”

“Our name is not just a brand, it’s the truth we’ve leveraged since the very day this organization was founded more than 50 years ago. We cannot have a green, just world without peace – and that is what we are calling for today.”

Greenpeace USA will always choose peace over war — and the path there is clear: The Vice President must invoke the 25th amendment before any of these threats can be carried out. At the same time we must make plans to tax Big Oil’s windfall profits, reinvest that money in the American public, and pass the bold renewable energy policy that finally ends our dependence on volatile fossil fuels.

###

Media Contact: Madison Carter, Greenpeace USA National Press secretary, [email protected], +1 703-554-4842

Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected]

Greenpeace USA (inc.) is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the United States President Donald Trump’s statement about Iran on Truth Social on 7 April 2026, warning that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, AgnèsCallamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International said:

“President Trump’s very act of making such apocalyptic threats, including his warning of ending ‘a whole civilization’, reveals a staggering level of cruelty and disregard for human life. It becomes all the more terrifying when coupled with his explicit threats to directly attack civilian infrastructure by bringing about the ‘complete demolition’ of Iran’s power plants and bridges.

“International humanitarian law strictly prohibits direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects. The US President’s threat of extermination and irreparable destruction brazenly shreds core rules of international humanitarian law, with potentially catastrophic consequences for over 90 million people.  It may constitute a threat to commit genocide, a crime defined by the Genocide Convention and by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as committing one or more defined acts ’with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.’

“The stakes could not be higher. The international community, including the UN Security Council, regional bodies and all states must urgently intervene to avert an impending catastrophe and unequivocally affirm that inciting, ordering or committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide entail individual criminal responsibility under international law.  

“President Trump’s threats, coupled with escalating USA and Israeli attacks destroying civilian infrastructure, are terrorizing millions of people in Iran and their distressed relatives abroad as tens of millions of lives hang in the balance. We call for immediate action to stop unlawful attacks that would plunge an entire country into darkness and deprive millions of their fundamental human rights to life, water, food, healthcare, and an adequate standard of living.

“In recent days, US and Israeli forces have attacked civilian infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, universities, steel factories and petrochemical facilities, killing and injuring civilians, condemning the population to years, if not decades, of deepened economic hardship, inflicting serious harm on civilian health and the environment, and leaving long‑lasting damage to civilians’ lives and livelihoods.

“Intentionally attacking civilian infrastructure constitute war crimes under international law. Even in the limited cases that civilian infrastructure qualify as military targets, a party still cannot attack them if this may cause disproportionate harm to civilians. Power plants, water systems and energy infrastructure are indispensable to civilian life, underpinning access to clean water, medical care, hospital electricity, food supply chains, and basic livelihoods. Attacking them would be disproportionate and thus unlawful under international humanitarian law and could amount to a war crime.”

Background

In recent days, President Trump has repeatedly issued escalating threats against Iran’s energy and transport infrastructure, warning that unless the Iranian authorities reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the United States would carry out the “complete demolition” of the country’s power plants and bridges. He also threatened to bomb Iran “back to the Stone Age”.

On 5 April, President Trump warned stated that Iran could be “taken out in one night” and set a deadline of 8pm Eastern Time on 7 April for Iranian authorities to comply. He further vowed that every power plant and bridge in the country would be left “burning, exploding, and never to be used again”.

On 7 April, the Israeli military issued an overly broad warning to civilians in Iran to avoid trains and railway lines nationwide, stating that being near such infrastructure would “endanger your life”.

During the same period, USA and Israeli strikes across Iran struck bridges, petrochemical facilities and steel factories, killing and injuring civilians and heightening fears of widespread, unlawful attacks on essential civilian infrastructure.

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the sentencing of nine police officers to death by the First Additional District and Sessions Court in Madurai for the 2020 custodial torture and killing of P. Jayaraj and P. Bennix, Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board, said: 

“The court verdict marks a rare moment of accountability in India’s long struggle against police torture. The verdict acknowledges the brutality of a crime that shocked the nation. But this death penalty sentence is not justice – it is a deflection from the deeper reforms urgently required to ensure police oversight and accountability. Punishing a human rights violation with another does not end violence; it just perpetuates it.  

“What is needed is structural reform. India must ratify the UN Convention against Torture, a long-pending step that would legally bind the country to international law and strengthen domestic accountability mechanisms. While ratification alone will not end torture, it is a critical part of a broader solution that should include a standalone anti-torture law, independent investigations, and strict enforcement of existing safeguards. India must also facilitate the visit of UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, whose requests have gone unanswered since 1999.

Punishing a human rights violation with another does not end violence; it just perpetuates it

Aakar Patel, Amnesty International India’s Chair of Board

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman, and degrading punishment. It neither deters torture nor delivers systemic change. Justice for Jayaraj, Bennix and thousands of others lies in transforming the institutions that enabled their deaths and ensuring it will never happen again.” 

Background 

In addition to the death sentences, the court ordered the police officers to jointly pay ₹1.40 crore (USD 150,500) in compensation to the deceased’s family. 

Jayaraj and his son Bennix died days after being taken into custody by the Sathankulam police in Tamil Nadu state in June 2020, allegedly for violating COVID-19 restrictions. They were subjected to torture including sexual violence in custody. Their deaths exposed systemic failures: routine torture, weak oversight, and a culture of impunity that persists despite existing legal safeguards. 

According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, between 1999 and 2023, over 2,200 people died in police custody in India. However, convictions remain exceptionally rare, with no convictions recorded in custodial death cases between 2018 and 2023.  

India has established legal and institutional safeguards to ensure police accountability for torture in custody. The Criminal Procedure Code requires medical examination, production before a magistrate within 24 hours of arrest and judicial inquiries into custodial deaths. The National Human Rights Commission has investigative authority. Yet these safeguards are routinely ignored or weakly implemented. 

Regardless of India’s non-ratification of UNCAT, prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment is a norm of customary international law that applies to all people in all circumstances.  

For more information on Amnesty International’s position on the death penalty, see here. 

Source: Amnesty International –

The prosecution of Amnesty International Türkiye’s former Chair Kerem Dikmen and ten other members of the executive and supervisory boards of Genç LGBTI+ (Young LGBTI+) Association, is part of an orchestrated strategy of harassment of LGBTI+ organizations and their supporters, Amnesty International said ahead of a hearing which starts tomorrow.  

In December, a court ruled to dissolve the Izmir-based Genç LGBTI+ Association on the grounds of ‘obscenity’ for five illustrations posted on their social media accounts between 2019 and 2022, based on an audit report in 2024. In October 2025, a related criminal prosecution was launched against eleven people in the leadership position of the association for violating the Law on Associations. If found guilty, they could face a jail sentence of up to three years. 

Despite a finding that the social media posts were not obscene, the authorities closed a vibrant LGBTI+ rights organization and are now threatening the liberty of its board

“It is shocking that this baseless case has been brought against these human rights defenders in the first place. Despite an initial finding by İzmir’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Cybercrime Bureau in August 2025 that the social media posts were not obscene, the authorities have first closed a vibrant LGBTI+ rights organization and they are now threatening the liberty of its board,” said Esther Major, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Research in Europe. 

This case is part of an increasingly anti-LGBTI agenda being implemented by Turkish authorities in the ongoing crackdown on Türkiye’s LGBTI+ community

“This case is part of an increasingly anti-LGBTI agenda being implemented by Turkish authorities in the ongoing crackdown onTürkiye’s LGBTI+ community. Under their claimed pretext of ‘protecting family values’, the authorities are using the justice system to attack the people’s freedom of association and to criminalize LGBTI+ rights defenders. The absurd charges against Kerem Dikmen and the other board members must be dropped.” 

Background

The illustrations posted on Facebook and Instagram, were drawings showing figures kissing, three colourful paintings depicting some level of nudity including one depicting four people together. 

On 11 December 2025, the İzmir Civil Court of First Instance No. 3 ruled that five images posted on social by the organization in 2019, 2020 and 2022 were ‘obscene’ and ‘encourage and incite individuals in society to engage in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, or transsexual behaviour.’ The Court found that the organization could neither be considered ‘in line with the moral values of the society’ nor ‘Article 41 of the Constitution which stipulates that the family is the foundation of the Turkish society.’ Genç LGBTI+ Association is appealing this decision. 

In parallel with these civil proceedings, the İzmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office Cybercrime Bureau is prosecuting Emirhan Şaşmaz, Kerem Dikmen and nine other members of the executive and supervisory boards of Genç LGBTI+ association for violating the Law on Associations. 

Amnesty International Türkiye spokespeople will be at the hearing and available for interview. Follow @aforgutu for updates.

See Urgent Action launched in March 2026 here 

For more information contact [email protected] 

Source: Amnesty International –

Responding to the news that parliamentarians loyal to former Senior General Min Aung Hlaing voted him in as the next president of Myanmar on 3 April, Amnesty International Myanmar Researcher Joe Freeman said: 

“If Min Aung Hlaing thinks that an official civilian title will shield him from prosecution for the many grave violations of international law that he is accused of overseeing as head of the military, that is not how international justice works. He may exchange his military fatigues for civilian attire, but this changes nothing with respect to his suspected responsibility for serious crimes under international law in Myanmar.  

“For the many Myanmar people who have been victims of Min Aung Hlaing’s violently unfettered military in the aftermath of the 2021 coup and beforehand, seeing their oppressor formally elevated instead of prosecuted will be deeply painful. They may also fear that this will entrench impunity across the country.  

“No individual should have immunity from prosecution for crimes under international law, no matter their position. There is an existing arrest warrant request for Min Aung Hlaing at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Should that be granted, ICC member states have a duty to enforce it if he travels to their territory, and the whole international community should ensure he is denied safe haven and immediately arrested if he leaves Myanmar, rather than use this political development as an excuse to ignore their international legal obligations. 

“Until Min Aung Hlaing, his alleged co-perpetrators in the military and others are prosecuted fairly in independent courts for the crimes they are accused of being responsible for, Myanmar’s cycle of impunity will continue, and a Myanmar where human rights are protected, promoted and fulfilled will recede ever further into the distance.  

“We also urge the ICC to proceed with arrest warrants for Min Aung Hlaing and other Myanmar junta officials under the ICC’s investigation, and for the UN Security Council to refer the whole situation in Myanmar to the ICC.” 

Source: Greenpeace Statement –

WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 2, 2026 ) — Despite its stated commitment to improving Americans’ health, the Trump administration has repeatedly favored the petrochemical sector while weakening basic safeguards that protect people from toxic chemicals, including weakening formaldehyde cancer standards, rolling back air pollution monitoring requirements, and reducing enforcement of environmental laws. 

In response to the Trump Administration’s announcement of its STOMP program to ‘systematically target’ microplastics, Sybil Bullock, Greenpeace USA Senior Oceans Campaigner, said: “Microplastics are polluting our bodies, damaging human cells and tissues. While we need microplastics out of our water, the Trump administration’s announcement of more research is not leadership, it’s more of the same—another gift to the very industries that are making Americans sick. The science is clear: plastics contain over 16,000 chemicals, many of which are harmful to human health. Adding microplastics to a list without committing to take action puts present and future generations at risk. The only way to Make America Healthy Again is to cut plastic production and eliminate hazardous chemicals from food packaging and everyday products. They cannot claim to prioritize health while expanding oil and gas—the same systems fueling plastic production and chemical exposure.

Bullock continued: “Every day, roughly 10,000 babies are born in the United States — already at risk of exposure to plastics and harmful chemicals before they even take their first breath. No one should have to live like this, exposed from the very start of life with no way to opt out. Health officials and advocates across the political spectrum know these exposures damage our health throughout childhood and every stage of life. Microplastics have been found in the air we breathe, the food we eat, in our organs, and in our blood. This is unacceptable — Americans should not be treated as collateral damage for the oil and gas industry’s profits.” 

Fenceline communities, those living next to oil, gas, and petrochemical facilities, bear a disproportionate burden of toxic pollution and related health risks. Yet they continue to face the threat of industry expansion, as recent federal actions have accelerated permitting, increased drilling approvals, and fast-tracked new oil and gas infrastructure projects. 

Jo Banner, Co-Founder and Co-Director of The Descendants Project, said: “Plastic is like a fire raging through a building. From its top floor, starting with extraction and production, to its bottom floor of waste management, addressing the issue of microplastics is like attempting to extinguish the flames while the structure collapses, burying the health of frontline communities, such as my community in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, in its ash and rubble.”

Contacts:

Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, [email protected]

Greenpeace USA Press Desk: [email protected] 

Greenpeace USA (inc.) is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa.

Source: Amnesty International –

As humanitarian and human rights organisations that have worked for years in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, we are appalled by the Israeli Knesset’s decision to approve a bill that makes death penalty effectively mandatory in the West Bank and which will de facto apply exclusively to Palestinians.

On 30 March, the Knesset approved a bill, introduced by the party of Minister of National Security Ben-Gvir, expanding the use of the death penalty in both military and civilian courts. Although Israeli law has long provided for the death penalty for cases of genocide and wartime espionage, Israel has not carried out executions nor imposed death sentences since 1962. This new legislation not only marks a significant regression: it also does so by imposing capital punishment on de facto ethnic or national grounds and by diluting basic legal safeguards.

In the West Bank – excluding East Jerusalem – the law imposes the death penalty as the default sentence for those convicted of intentional killings classified as acts of terrorism under Israeli legislation, allowing life imprisonment – and life imprisonment only – in “special circumstances” that are not specified in law. Military courts may impose capital punishment by a simple majority, even without a prosecutorial request. Sentences cannot be commuted or pardoned and must be carried out within 90 days. Notably, Israeli settlers in the West Bank are explicitly excluded from the scope of this provision.

Within Israel, civilian courts may impose the death penalty or life imprisonment for intentional killings, if they are committed with the aim of “negating the existence of the State of Israel.” 

Therefore, while the law does not explicitly reference ethnicity or nationality, it is effectively designed to target Palestinians exclusively. It also introduces an exceptional execution regime by hanging, characterised by secrecy, and limited access to legal counsel and external oversight.

The European Union has consistently held that capital punishment is cruel, inhuman, and incompatible with human dignity under all circumstances. But even beyond this principled stance, the new Israeli law breaches basic safeguards recognised by the international community to protect the rights of those facing the death penalty. Its discriminatory nature and lack of due process guarantee, violate the right to life and protections enshrined in international humanitarian and human rights law, such as the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention Against Torture.

Diplomatic engagement by the EU and its Member States urging Israel to reverse course has so far proven ineffective. This appalling development occurs amid an ongoing manmade humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, which a UN Commission of Inquiry, multiple Palestinian, Israeli and international organizations, and independent experts have characterised as constituting genocide, and against the backdrop of an accelerating de facto annexation of the West Bank, as acknowledged by the International Court of Justice in its Advisory Opinion of 19 July 2024. The adoption of the death penalty law is thus part of a pattern of discriminatory policies and practices against Palestinians, which in the same Advisory Opinion the International Court of Justice has found to violate Article 3 CERD, which prohibits racial segregation and apartheid.

In furtherance of these policies, Israel has already crossed established EU red lines: the advancement of settlement construction in the E1 area, which breaks the territorial contiguity of the West Bank, with the intent to prevent a future Palestinian state; the ban on UNRWA and attacks on its facilities, including schools and clinics built and run with EU contributions; the expulsion of international NGOs through restrictive registration procedures; forced evictions of Palestinian residents in East Jerusalem; forced displacement of tens of thousands of Palestinians and widespread demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the West Bank, including EU-funded projects; persistent impunity for abuses by Israeli security forces and state-backed settler violence; reports of widespread and systemic torture and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners; restrictions on religious freedoms; attacks on journalists; and denial of access to EU officials.

As also recalled by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kallas in her statement of 31 March, the EU-Israel Association Agreement establishes respect for democratic principles as an essential element of EU-Israel relations. A review conducted by the EU in June 2025 based on Article 2 of the Agreement found Israel in breach of its human rights obligations for serious abuses against Palestinians and violations of the laws of war, both in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Nine months on, the time for action is long overdue. The European Union must uphold its stated principles and legal obligations by finally suspending, as a minimum immediate measure, the trade component of the EU-Israel Association Agreement and adopting other measures, as proposed by President von der Leyen in September 2025.

Signatories:

1. 11.11.11
2. ACT Alliance EU
3. Act Church of Sweden 
4. ActionAid International
5. Amnesty International
6. American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
7. Bystanders No More
8. Caritas Europa
9. Caritas MONA (Middle East and North Africa)
10. Child Rights International Network (CRIN)
11. Children Not Numbers
12. Christian Aid
13. CIDSE – International Family of Catholic Social Justice Organisations
14. CNCD-11.11.11
15. Cooperazione Internazionale Sud-Sud (CISS)
16. DanChurchAid
17. 80:20 Educating and Acting for a Better World
18. EuroMed Rights
19. Finn Church Aid
20. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (GCR2P)
21. Human Rights Watch
22. Insecurity Insight
23. International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
24. Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH)
25. Norwegian Church Aid
26. Oxfam
27. Pax Christi International
28. Public Commitee Against Torture in Israel
29. Trócaire
30. United Against Inhumanity
31. Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC)