Europe Regional Director at Amnesty, former Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Latvian, laughing & learning

Joined January 2021
Climate activists are on the front line in combatting shrinking civic space. Governments should engage, listen, not repress. Human rights experts warn against European crackdown on climate protesters theguardian.com/environment/…
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Great piece by Trillin on the back story to the (thus far) failed UK Rwanda deportation plan - take note #Denmark & #Austria! ‘Incoherence and inconsistency’: the inside story of the Rwanda deportation plan theguardian.com/world/2023/o…
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1/ Systemic discrimination against people from Russia's regions – affecting not just ethnic minorities, but ethnic Russians as well – is to blame for the disproportionate numbers of war casualties among the country's minority groups, according to the author of a study. ⬇️
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"in Poland and Hungary, the Pegasus surveillance spyware has been illegally deployed for political purposes to spy on journalists, opposition politicians, lawyers, prosecutors and civil society actors, apparently as part of a system or an integrated strategy" @EUCouncil 🙈🙉🙊
Five @CoE member states - Poland, Hungary, Greece, Spain and Azerbaijan - must investigate #spyware abuse, says @PACE_LegalHR, citing "mounting evidence" that #Pegasus and similar tools have been used for illegitimate purposes: pace.coe.int/en/news/9186/fi… Plenary debate next month.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is officially a wanted man.
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Abortion laws in Poland do not reflect the views of most Polish people. If you believe in the right to safe abortion, now is the time to talk about it. As Poland prepares for elections, show your support for them Because abortion is healthcare and a human right. @amnestyPL
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#OnThisDay 7️⃣0️⃣ years ago the European Convention on Human Rights entered into force. The #ECHR has changed people’s lives in many different ways across #Europe. Here are just 200 examples: ➡️ coe.int/en/web/impact-conven… #ECHRimpact #HumanRights
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Failure to act by #ECtHR on #Portuguese #climate case risks "consigning the convention to the garbage heap of good but useless intentions" - strong words by Philippe Sands. A momentous climate case could force countries to do more ft.com/content/9da70dde-5904…
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Happy to share our report on domestic violence in Kosovo today. The state is failing to consider and integrate perspectives of survivors in its response to domestic violence. We provide recommendations on how to change this.
🚨Victims of domestic violence in #Kosovo are being failed by the authorities 🚨 Survivors, most of whom are women and girls, face obstacles in every direction as they try to leave abusive situations. New research from @amnesty out today 👇 amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2…
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“Amnesty Intn’l stand with them” @AgnesCallamard Today is #InternationalDayoftheDisappeared Every Saturday, the #SaturdayMothers gather to call for justice for their disappeared loved ones Turkiye’s longest peaceful protest must be allowed to continue
Tomorrow, the #SaturdayMothers who have been holding weekly vigils for the disappeared in #Turkey for decades, will hold their 900th vigil At their 700th vigil - the police moved in using teargas & detaining 46 and banning future vigils @amnesty observers will be at the vigil
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Provocative piece by Krastev - "Elections are still for mainstream parties to lose rather than for extremists to win," but "liberal confusion" can be fatal for democracy. ‘Secret Hitler’ and the risks of real-life liberal confusion ft.com/content/59ec9066-f507…
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#SLAPPs - abusive lawsuits v. journos & activists - growing in no. & spreading across Europe. This threat to civic space must be addressed. SLAPPs: 2022 record year for number of abusive lawsuits filed - report – @EURACTIV euractiv.com/section/media/n…
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#Greecewildfires - The 19 people killed by wildfires in Evros are victims of two great injustices of our times: catastrophic climate change and migration management policies predicated on racialized exclusion and deadly deterrence, including racist border violence. @amnesty
The 19 people killed by wildfires in Greece appear to be victims of 2 great injustices of our times Catastrophic climate change, which govts are failing to address & lack of access to safe & legal routes for refugees, migrants & asylum seekers on the move amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2…
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