The government’s response to COVID-19 raised human rights concerns including in relation to policing, the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to education. Roma continued to experience systemic discrimination, and some faced excessive use of force and ill-treatment by police. The...

On 11 March, the World Health Organisation declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic and called on states to take urgent measures to tackle it. This report covers 12 countries and exposes how the enforcement of the ‘lockdown measures’ adopted by many European states have...

On 7 October, Romania is expected to hold a referendum to change the definition of family in the constitution. The referendum could result in making it impossible to protect same-sex unions in the future. Currently, same-sex couples do not have access to civil partnerships, nor marriage, in...

Romanian authorities must conduct prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations by civilian authorities into the allegations of unnecessary and excessive use of force by the gendarmerie against participants of a protest in Bucharest on 10 August, and bring all those suspected of...

This submission contains Amnesty Internationals’ suggested recommendations to States considered during the 29th session of the Universal Periodic Review, 15-26 January 2018. Areas covered include human rights defenders, death penalty and ratification of human rights treaties.

Today, Romani communities, activists and their partners from Cluj and beyond commemorate a long history of violations of housing rights and racial exclusion in the city. Dozens of people will participate in a series of events, including a march for equality to mark December 17 as one the saddest...

About 30 Roma, half of them children, are at imminent risk of being forcibly evicted. Amnesty International, European Roma Rights Centre and Romani CRISS are calling on the Eforie municipality to refrain from carrying out any forced eviction.

The release in December 2014 of a 524-page summary of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) “Study of the Central Intelligence Agency’s Detention and Interrogation Program” has provided additional detail regarding the CIA’s ill-conceived and presidentially authorized foray into...

Amnesty International and the European Roma Rights Centre welcome the Concluding Observations made public on Monday 1 December by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights following the recent review of Romania’s periodic reports.

Almost 20 years since its last review, Romania again appeared in front of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR). NGOs present during the review sessions are deeply concerned over discriminatory statements by the Romanian representatives and the government’s failure to...

In this letter Amnesty International raises its concerns under articles 2.2 and 11.1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, in respect to a continuing, widespread and systematic pattern of forced evictions carried out by local authorities and affecting hundreds of...

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Union are providing a loan to SC Vital S.A., to fund a project for the extension and rehabilitation of the waste water and waste infrastructure in the Romanian town of Baia Mare. This project has led to forced evictions of Romani...

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