Health care workers lacked adequate personal protective equipment at the beginning of the pandemic. COVID-19 deaths among older people were disproportionate. Police officers issued more than one million fines and subjected some individuals to arbitrary punishments for COVID-19 lockdown breaches....

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,...

In November 2023, the European Court of Human Rights declared inadmissible the application filed by the Spanish rapper Pablo Rivadulla Duró (known as Pablo Hasél). Amnesty International considers the criminal prosecution and conviction of Pablo Hasél as an unlawful restriction on his right to...

Amnesty International has prepared this submission for consideration by the United Nations Committee against Torture on the occasion of the seventh periodic report submitted by Spain on the implementation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or...

Amnesty International presents this submission in advance of the review of Spain’s ninth periodic report on measures taken to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. It focuses on sexual and gender-based violence, including barriers to justice as...

The European Coalition on Sex Workers’ Rights and Inclusion presents this submission to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in advance of the review of Spain’s ninth periodic report on measures taken to implement the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of...

On 24 June 2022, the deadliest incident ever recorded at the Melilla border between Morocco and Spain left at least 37 Black people dead and 77 more missing. The victims, refugees and migrants from sub-Saharan Africa seeking safety, were met with prolonged and unlawful use of force by Moroccan and...

Belgium’s Constitutional Court is expected to rule on whether a 19th century Belgian law criminalising insults to the King is in line with domestic and international human rights law. The Belgian Constitutional Court’s assessment will have important consequences in proceedings against Josep Arenas...

In response to the questionnaire of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on “pushback practices and their impact on the human rights of migrants”, this document provides Amnesty International’s input on select patterns of pushbacks of migrants and refugees in Europe with a focus...

Discrimination against Muslims in the counterterrorism context in Europe is a longstanding human rights concern. In the last two decades in particular, Muslims’ lawful religious, cultural, and political activities and affiliations have been construed as “dangerous” enough to justify significant...

The UN Human Rights Council approved the outcome of the Universal Periodic Review of Spain on 16 July 2020, at its 44th session. This statement has been submitted by Amnesty International in relation to the outcome prior to the adoption of the review report. The organization also contributed to the...

Health and essential workers have played an extraordinary role in the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Across countries, they have put their health and wellbeing at risk, often in very difficult circumstances and with very little support, to ensure that people are able to access 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...