Search results - Amnesty International

264 results

Research

Europe and Central Asia

Censorship and Freedom of Expression

Italy: Statement expressing concern about law enforcement officials violating human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly, on 5 October in Rome preceding and during the “National Demonstration for Palestine”

Amnesty International is concerned that the Italian authorities’ actions regarding the “National Demonstration for Palestine” that took place in Rome on 5 October 2024 violated human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly. We are calling on the authorities to carry out an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into all…

November 28, 2024
Research

Italy

Discrimination

Italy: Backsliding on rights and freedoms

This submission was prepared for the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Italy in Jan – Feb 2025. In it, Amnesty International evaluates the implementation of recommendations made to Italy in its previous review, including in relation to the prohibition of torture, Roma’s right to adequate housing and refugees and migrants’ rights. It also assesses the…

July 31, 2024
Research

Italy

Discrimination

Amnesty International v. Italy: a victory for the Roma

Guided by its research and campaigns to advance the rights of the Roma, in 2019 Amnesty International filed a collective complaint to the Council of Europe’s European Committee of Social Rights. The complaint sought accountability and redress for the precarious living conditions and persisting violations of the Roma’s rights in accessing housing in Italy. On…

July 11, 2024
Research

Austria

Protests and Demonstrations

Europe: Under Protected and Over Restricted: The state of the right to protest in 21 European countries

Peaceful protest is a powerful and public way for people to make their voices heard. It has long been a vital means for advancing human rights around the world. However, in Europe, the right of peaceful assembly is increasingly coming under attack, with state authorities stigmatizing, impeding, deterring, punishing and cracking down on those organizing…

July 8, 2024
Research

Europe and Central Asia

Asylum

Liberty and Dignity: Amnesty International’s Observations on the Administrative Detention of Migrant and Asylum-Seeking People in Italy

People, regardless of how they arrive to a country, have the right to liberty under international law. While migration-related detention is allowed by international law, detention solely for migration-related purposes is only permitted in the most exceptional of circumstances and there is a presumption against such detention. In Italy, thousands of mainly racialised people from…

July 3, 2024
Research

Europe and Central Asia

Asylum

The Italy-Albania Agreement on Migration: Pushing Boundaries, Threatening Rights

On 6 November 2023, the Italian and Albanian Prime Ministers announced that they had signed an agreement to set up two centres in Albania to hold people rescued at sea by Italian ships, including people seeking protection. Amnesty International’s overall conclusion is that, while the agreement is highly unlikely to reach its stated aim in…

January 19, 2024
Research

Europe and Central Asia

Torture and other ill-treatment

Italy: Backtracking on guaranteeing freedom from torture

Italy’s guarantees on freedom from torture have been weak at best, and recent proposals to amend domestic laws suggest a concerning determination to erode international law undertakings against torture in the country. Despite the adoption of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (the Convention) in 1984, it was…

November 3, 2023
Research

Italy

Justice Systems

Italy: Avoidable loss of life at sea calls for swift review of search and rescue procedures and visa policies

In the space of two weeks, two major shipwrecks claimed well over 100 lives in the Mediterranean. Amnesty International is concerned that both these tragic events represent the foreseeable outcome of legislation, policies and practices introduced by successive Italian governments that have undermined the integrity of the search and rescue system.

March 17, 2023
Research

Europe and Central Asia

Human Rights Defenders and Activists

Italy: Withdraw measures that hinder the work of search and rescue NGOs and increase the risk of drownings

In the central Mediterranean, over 2000 people lost their lives in 2022 while engaging in irregular sea crossings to seek international protection or better lives in Europe. In December 2022, the Italian government adopted two measures affecting NGO ships that patrol the central Mediterranean and rescue people in distress at sea. In combination, these measures…

February 1, 2023
Research

Europe and Central Asia

Freedom of Movement

Italy: Sahrawi human rights defender Mohamed Dihani in Italy to seek international protection

After a long-running legal battle, on 22 July 2022, Mohamed Dihani, human rights defender and activist in defence of the rights of the Sahrawi people, was eventually able to enter the Italian territory to apply for international protection. Mohamed Dihani has long been a victim of serious human rights violations, ranging from arbitrary detention, torture,…

September 7, 2022
Research

Europe and Central Asia

Business and Human Rights

Italy: Muzzled and unheard in the pandemic: Urgent need to address concerns of care and health workers in Italy

The briefing details how health and care workers in Italy who raised legitimate concerns about poor and unsafe working conditions in care homes during the COVID-19 pandemic were subjected to unfair disciplinary proceedings and feared recriminations from their employers. Staff working in residential care homes during the pandemic and trade unions have raised serious concerns…

October 22, 2021
Research

Europe and Central Asia

EU

Italy: A slippery slope for human rights: The Iuventa case

Since the end of 2016, Italy, along with other EU countries and with the backing of EU institutions, has created a hostile environment for human rights defenders and civil society organizations conducting rescue missions at sea, with the aim to reduce the number of people reaching Europe in search of protection or a better life.…

August 4, 2021