EuroMed Rights

21/10/2026

EuroMed Rights
Tunis, 20 October 2026

EuroMed Rights Mourns the Passing of Yousef Habash

It is with profound sadness that EuroMed Rights mourns the passing of Yousef Khader Habash, a Palestinian activist and advocate, and Head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate branch in Europe, who passed away following an illness.

EuroMed Rights remembers the late Yousef Habash’s unwavering commitment to defending the rights of the Palestinian people and his active contribution to joint human rights work, particularly through his participation in the MAJALAT Working Group. Yousef was an active and dedicated member of this initiative, which brings together civil society organisations and actors from across the region to strengthen cooperation, exchange expertise and advance joint human rights efforts.

The late Yousef Habash also built strong partnerships and cooperative relationships with civil society actors across the region. EuroMed Rights recognises his contribution to these collective efforts and the importance his engagement reflected in fostering cooperation and solidarity among civil society organisations in their defence of just causes, foremost among them the Palestinian cause.

EuroMed Rights extends its heartfelt condolences to his family, friends and colleagues, as well as to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the Palestinian people, wishing them strength and solace in this difficult time.

EuroMed Rights

الأورومتوسطية للحقوق
تونس، 20 أكتوبر 2026

الأورومتوسطية للحقوق تنعى يوسف حبش

ببالغ الحزن والأسى، تنعى الأورومتوسطية للحقوق يوسف خضر حبش، المناضل والناشط الفلسطيني ورئيس فرع نقابة الصحفيين الفلسطينيين في أوروبا، الذي وافته المنية بعد صراع مع المرض.

وتستذكر الأورومتوسطية للحقوق استماتة الفقيد في الدفاع والذود عن حقوق الشعب الفلسطيني ومساهمته الفاعلة في العمل الحقوقي المشترك، ولا سيما مشاركته في مجموعة العمل «مجالات» (MAJALAT). وقد كان يوسف حبش عضوًا ناشطا وملتزمًا في هذا المسار، الذي يجمع منظمات المجتمع المدني وفاعلين من المنطقة لتعزيز التعاون وتبادل الخبرات والعمل المشترك في مجال حقوق الإنسان.

كما جمعت الفقيد علاقات تعاون وشراكة مع فاعلين من المجتمع المدني في كامل المنطقة. وتُقدّر الأورومتوسطية للحقوق مساهمته في هذه الجهود الجماعية، وما عكسته مشاركته من أهمية التعاون والتضامن بين منظمات المجتمع المدني في ذودها عن القضايا العادلة وعلى رأسها القضية الفلسطينية.

وتتقدم الأورومتوسطية للحقوق بأحر التعازي إلى عائلة الفقيد وأصدقائه وزملائه، وإلى نقابة الصحفيين الفلسطينيين والشعب الفلسطيني، راجية لهم جميل الصبر والسلوان.

الأورومتوسطية للحقوق

20/10/2026

We join 12 organisations in standing in solidarity with the six imprisoned journalists from Egypt’s Matsda2sh platform, detained incommunicado and reportedly subjected to torture.
Their arrest for exposing misinformation and challenging harmful narratives about forcibly displaced people is a grave attack on press freedom and the right to information.
We call for their immediate and unconditional release and an independent investigation into allegations of torture.

Read full joint statement : https://euromedrights.org/publication/joint-statement-investigative-journalism-is-not-a-crime-refugee-rights-organizations-in-the-region-stand-in-solidarity-with-the-matsda2sh-platform-team/

20/10/2026

Following World Mental Health Day, EuroMed Rights calls on States and competent institutions to make the mental health of people on the move and relatives of missing migrants a public health and human rights protection priority. The statement highlights the impact of violence, discrimination, precarious living conditions and prolonged uncertainty on migrants’ mental well-being, as well as the psychological and emotional challenges faced by families searching for missing loved ones. EuroMed Rights urges States to ensure effective access to mental health care, address the conditions that perpetuate suffering, and provide sustained psychological, social and legal support to affected families.

Read full statement: https://euromedrights.org/publication/mental-health-in-migration-protecting-displaced-persons-and-supporting-relatives-of-missing-persons/

19/10/2026

EuroMed Rights condemns the summons issued to Lina Attalah, Editor-in-Chief of , to appear before Egypt’s Supreme State Security Prosecution on 21 October, without any explanation of the reasons for her questioning.
Case 9072/2026 marks the sixth case targeting Mada Masr, its journalists and its editor-in-chief in six years. This repeated targeting is an alarming pattern of judicial harassment aimed at independent journalism.
Reporting on alleged abuses in detention facilities is a matter of public interest. Egypt must end the harassment of journalists and uphold press freedom and the public’s right to information.

13/10/2026

🔎 EuroMed Rights is coming to the end of its 2022-2027 strategic period and is looking to evaluate the results of itswork. The Network is seeking to undertake an independent end-of-strategy evaluation before the end of 2026. The evaluation will assess the overall strategic performance and contribution of EuroMed Rights during the strategy period, synthesise learning emerging from harvested outcomes, and generate strategic recommendations to inform the development of the next organisational strategy for 2028-2030.

Learn more on : https://euromedrights.org/jobs/

12/10/2026

+120 NGOs from over 60 countries and dozens legal experts, human rights defenders and members of the European Parliament, urgently call on States Parties to defend the Court they themselves established and protect those who cooperate with it. Condemnations alone are not enough; coordinated action is urgently needed to protect the Court's ability to function.

We condemn in the strongest terms the decision by the United States (US) to impose unlawful sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). This unprecedented measure represents a direct attack against the rule of law, the independence of the Court and international justice, ultimately undermining the rights of millions of victims and survivors of mass atrocities worldwide.

For victims, survivors and witnesses in more than a dozen situation countries under investigation by the Court across the globe, the consequences could be profound. Many have waited years for justice, recounted traumatic experiences and placed their trust in the ICC as a last resort for justice. Any disruption to the ICC’s mandate and operations risks impeding their right to justice. It threatens decades of advances in accountability and justice efforts, leaving victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide without a meaningful prospect for accountability, truth and reparations.
Statements of concern and condemnations are no longer a sufficient response to this attack. A coordinated response can no longer be delayed. Three decades ago, States made a promise that no one, no matter how powerful, will be shielded from accountability for international crimes. Victims and survivors have waited decades for a Court capable of delivering justice regardless of power or nationality, and today, the ICC is facing unprecedented pressure precisely because it seeks to apply the law equally. States Parties established the Court and are uniquely placed to safeguard its independence and effectiveness. Failure to respond decisively risks weakening the international justice system they pledged to uphold.

© Coalition for the ICC

Read full joint statement : https://euromedrights.org/publication/joint-statement-urgent-call-for-action-states-must-act-now-to-protect-the-international-criminal-court-from-unlawful-us-attacks/

10/10/2026

On World Mental Health Day, we call for the mental health of people on the move to be recognised as a public health and human rights priority.

Protecting mental health means addressing the violence, detention, racism and uncertainty that deepen distress, while ensuring access to care and safe, dignified living conditions.

It also means sustained support for families of missing migrants living with unanswered questions, and for those who support people on the move, families and survivors.

Mental health must be part of protection, reception and support at every stage.

08/10/2026

EuroMed Rights, alongside +24 NGOs, denounces Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the persistent failure of the international community to hold perpetrators accountable.

Three years of mass killing, starvation and the systematic destruction of Palestinian life have unfolded in plain sight, while the international community has failed to ensure meaningful accountability for those responsible.

The EU and its Member States must end complicity and impunity: suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement, impose a two-way arms embargo, end trade with illegal settlements, ensure unrestricted humanitarian access and uphold international law.

Read full joint statement : https://euromedrights.org/publication/three-years-into-the-gaza-genocide-inaction-is-complicity/

05/10/2026

Documenting human rights violations at Europe’s borders must NOT be a crime

On 6 October, the trial of human rights defender Tommy Olsen is scheduled to begin in Rhodes, Greece.

For more than eight years, Olsen and Aegean Boat Report have documented what happens at Europe’s external borders in the Aegean Sea, including pushbacks and other human rights violations.

His case raises concerns that EuroMed Rights repeatedly highlights: the shrinking space for civil society working on migration, the criminalisation of humanitarian assistance and human rights defenders, and the need for independent monitoring and accountability at Europe’s borders.

Olsen’s case is part of a wider trend of criminalisation of migration and solidarity across Europe. Human rights defenders must be able to document, denounce and challenge human rights violations without being criminalised for their work.

Ahead of 6 October, we stand in solidarity with Tommy Olsen and all those defending the rights of people on the move.

05/10/2026

ALGERIA SOLIDARITY GROUP
No to the resumption of ex*****ons.
Press Release – October 5, 2026

We, the associations and member organisations of the Algeria Solidarity Group, united in our commitment to the defence and respect of human rights in Algeria, oppose any resumption of ex*****ons and reaffirm our firm opposition to the death penalty.
On August 30, 2026, following deadly wildfires that struck several regions of the country during the summer, the President of the Republic ordered a revision of the Penal Code aimed at reinstating the death penalty. The draft bill amending the Penal Code was presented on Monday, September 21, before the Committee on Legal Affairs of the National People’s Assembly. The draft bill was adopted by the Assembly on October 1, 2026, and has yet to be examined by the Council of the Nation.

We share the grief of the families bereaved by the fires. We unequivocally support the demand for effective and impartial justice. However, neither the gravity of the crimes committed nor the legitimate demand for justice for the victims can justify resorting to the death penalty.

The draft bill is particularly severe and incoherent. It punishes with death any intentional setting of a forest or field fire, regardless of the consequences of the fire, even in the absence of any deaths. It also targets fires linked to a “foreign party” or undermining national unity or public order. These notions are vague and open the door to arbitrariness. Yet no death sentence should be imposed on the basis of a criminal offence whose definition is vague.

The same penalty applies to those who incite, encourage or facilitate these acts, including on social media. The text also punishes with death the abduction of a child, regardless of the means used, as well as certain acts of violence committed against them. Finally, it prohibits the judge from granting mitigating circumstances. The judge would therefore have no discretion as to the sentence. Such a provision would be contrary to the fundamental principle of the individualisation of sentences.
We remind Algeria of the international political and legal commitments it has undertaken in support of the moratorium and of progress towards the definitive abolition of the death penalty.

No death row inmate has been executed in Algeria since 1993. This moratorium, in place for over thirty years, constitutes a major achievement in the field of human rights. A resumption of ex*****ons would be a terrible step backwards. This is why we reaffirm our principled opposition to the death penalty.
Since 2007, Algeria has voted in favour of the United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for a universal moratorium on ex*****ons. In 2007, Algeria was the only country in the Arab world to support it. As recently as January 2026, the Minister of Justice presented the moratorium as being in line with Algeria’s international commitments.

Algeria’s international legal commitments are precise. Algeria has been a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights since 1989. This treaty reserves the death penalty for the “most serious crimes”. According to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, this refers solely to crimes of extreme gravity involving intentional killing. Generally speaking, it follows from the Covenant that any crime that does not directly and intentionally result in the death of a human being cannot be punishable by death. A fire that caused no deaths therefore does not fall into this category.
Furthermore, the Covenant establishes a principle of non-regression. While it does not prohibit the death penalty, it points towards its abolition. Thus, the Committee also specifies that a State cannot make a crime punishable by death if it was not already punishable by death before the State became a party to the Covenant. It also considers arbitrary any death penalty that a judge is required to impose. This is precisely what the prohibition of mitigating circumstances would produce.

Along the same lines, since 1999, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has also urged States parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to observe a moratorium on ex*****ons.

A few days before World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10, we reaffirm our opposition to the death penalty under all circumstances. We call on all those committed to the moratorium and opposed to the death penalty to mobilise. We call on the Algerian authorities not to introduce new offences punishable by death into legislation, to maintain the moratorium on ex*****ons, and to definitively abolish capital punishment, notably by ratifying the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Thirty-three years without an ex*****on: this achievement belongs to all Algerian society. It must be preserved.

List of signatories :
● Transmediterranean Alliance of Algerian Women
● Collective of Families of the Disappeared in Algeria
● EuroMed Rights
● Foundation for the Promotion of Rights
● Tharwa N'Fadhma N'Soumeur Association
● Safeguard Committee of the Algerian League for the Defence of Human Rights
● Libertés Algérie
● Riposte Internationale