Asylum-seekers were denied access to asylum; refugees and migrants were forcibly returned to Croatia. The COVID-19 pandemic severely affected care home residents who accounted for most deaths. Freedom of peaceful assembly was under threat.

Reacting to the release of 16 individuals from Russian and Belarusian prisons, including Russian human rights defenders, as part of a prisoner swap deal, Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, said: “Today, we share the relief and joy for the release...

Across Europe, the right of peaceful assembly is coming under severe attack as states increasingly stigmatize, criminalise and crack down on peaceful protesters, imposing unjustified and punitive restrictions and resorting to ever more repressive means to stifle dissent, said Amnesty International...

Wildfire in Rhodes, Greece

Responding to the adoption by the Slovenian Parliament of amendments to the country’s Criminal Code that will recognise that sex without consent is rape, Amnesty International’s Europe Director, Nils Muižnieks, said: “This is a historic victory for women in Slovenia and an important step along the...

People’s rights are being violated by governments in Europe and Central Asia, who are cracking down on protests and seeking to erode the independence of the judiciary to avoid accountability, Amnesty International said today as it published its annual review of human rights in the region. The...

The European Court of Human Rights’ judgment today that Slovenia did not violate the rights of two Roma families by failing to ensure access to basic services such as water and sanitation is a blow to Roma communities, and a missed opportunity to end a cycle of poverty and marginalization, said...

New law passed this evening strip refugees and asylum seekers of protections to which they are entitled under international and EU law and are a serious backward step for human rights in Slovenia, said Amnesty International. The amendments to the Aliens Act allow for special emergency measures that...

Sweeping new laws are driving Europe into a deep and dangerous state of permanent securitization, Amnesty International said on the publication of a comprehensive human rights analysis of counter-terrorism measures across 14 EU member states. Dangerously disproportionate: The ever-expanding...

The Slovenian parliament must reject amendments to the Aliens Act that, once triggered, would deny refugees and asylum seekers the protections to which they are entitled under international and EU law, Amnesty International said following the adoption of the amendments by the government today....

A constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to water for all must be fully implemented to benefit the lives of Slovenia’s Roma communities denied access to water, said Amnesty International. Whilst the amendment passed today recognises that everyone has the right to drinking water, some...

By Todor Gardos, Amnesty International’s Balkans Campaigner Slovenia is on its way to becoming the first country in Central Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry. Its citizens should feel proud of this historic opportunity to widen the scope of civil rights by voting in the referendum that...

New border control rules implemented almost simultaneously by the governments of Macedonia, Serbia and Croatia over the past 48 hours have resulted in large-scale renewed human rights violations, including collective expulsions and discrimination against individuals perceived to be economic...