After two years of war, the current ceasefire in Gaza is not a roadmap to peace. It ends the destruction, but not its political logic. For the first time in months, people can once again gain access to water, food and medical aid. Hostages have been released, Palestinian prisoners freed – a vital respite, but not a future.

In Europe and all over the world, pro-Gaza protests have shaken the public sphere. They grew out of migrant, postcolonial and diasporic milieus, driven by young people who no longer accepted the moral paralysis in politics. Their voices were indignant and defiant – a challenge to those in power, whose response came mostly in the form of rejection, denial and intimidation.

Israeli historian Omer Bartov said at an ECCHR event on the eve of the current ceasefire agreement: “The current and previous US presidents could have ended this terrible recent war in Gaza – unlike Putin's war in Ukraine – within two days.” The long wait was thus not the result of impotence, but a conscious political decision – a symptom of a globally selective coldness towards Palestinian victims, particularly in Germany. German compassion adheres to exclusionary boundaries, not universal standards.

After months of devastation, it is clear that a war machine was at work in Gaza, the genocidal nature of which can hardly be further disputed. In contrast, however, German arms deliveries remained unchallenged for a long time – an expression of the double speak that invokes human rights while simultaneously supporting their violation: a case of deeply entangled complicity. With its constitutional complaint against German arms exports to Israel, ECCHR demands that this deadly alliance end, that justice be served, and responsibility be taken.

80 years after the Nuremberg trials, the principle remains the same: without justice, there can be no peace. Without equality, there can be no justice.

The case of Abdel J. has entered its decisive phase: with the support of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Al Mezan, Al Haq and ECCHR, he filed a constitutional complaint at the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe. The fundamental questions are: does Germany have a duty to protect people abroad from the deadly consequences of its arms exports? Are courts obliged to enforce this right to protection if there is a risk that German arms exports could be used in attacks that violate international law?

The legal answer is clear: Germany has a constitutional duty to protect the right to life and physical integrity – also in cases where state action through arms exports enables breaches of international law.

This is why, in October 2024, Abdel J. applied for interim legal protection at the Frankfurt Administrative Court with our support. He sought to stop the delivery of tank transmissions manufactured by the Renk company that are installed in Merkava tanks. The court, however, rejected the application, refusing to grant him effective legal protection, despite the obvious danger to Abdel J. and countless others in Gaza.

More about the case, our work on weapons exports, our work on Palestine

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As the fall of Assad regime has reignited hopes for justice and a democratic transition in Syria, criminal accountability remains a key demand of survivors and civil society: it is seen as foundational to any process of justice and reconciliation, as well as the long-term stability of the country. The EU has a pivotal role to play here: its track record of universal jurisdiction cases on Syrian state crimes provides a roadmap for tackling impunity abroad. ECCHR’s latest policy paper calls upon the EU to renew its long-standing political commitment to accountability in Syria, while emphasizing that this must be a process led by Syrian experts and civil society. At a recent event in Brussels aimed at engaging EU and international decision-makers, we launched this policy brief alongside members of the Global Initiative Against Impunity and Syrian partners. In the words of Joumana Seif, “For a meaningful and sustainable transitional justice process to thrive in Syria, it cannot be imposed; it must be designed for Syrians by Syrians. This means ensuring that their rights and demands drive accountability efforts…”

Read the policy brief: “Promoting criminal accountability and transitional justice in Syria: The role of the EU” (also available in Arabic)

Our work toward ending impunity for crimes against humanity committed in Libya and the Mediterranean has stepped up in recent weeks. Together with Refugees in Libya and over 60 other organizations, Allison West and Jemison Tipler supported five days of civil society action in Rome in mid-October. The occasion was the upcoming renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between Italy and Libya that forms the cornerstone of a broader policy to keep people out of Europe by force – using public funds. Germany also participates as a member of the EU naval mission Operation IRINI. Even though it is widely known that these mechanisms have led to widespread suffering and death in Libya and the Mediterranean, both the German and Italian parliaments voted in favor of the respective agreements. In so doing, ECCHR argues that European officials are contributing to the commission of crimes falling under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and, like Libyan suspects, must be investigated. Earlier this year, Italy failed to carry out its obligations to cooperate with an ICC arrest warrant for Libyan prison commander Elmasry by preventing his transfer to the ICC. Now, Italy must answer to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) for its breach of duty to cooperate or investigate Elmasry itself, after an application supported by ECCHR on behalf of a torture survivor was registered by the Court. 

More about the complaint to the ECtHR

More about our Libya interventions

Impressions from the protests in Rome

In 2022, Pakistan was devastated by climate-induced flooding on a scale rarely ever before seen. Unrelenting rains submerged nearly a third of the country, leaving roughly 1,700 people dead and an estimated $30 billion in damage. Some 33 million people lost their homes and livelihoods, as the year’s harvest was decimated and livestock swept away in torrential currents. The floods showed with frightening clarity that the climate crisis is not a distant threat but a present reality – especially for those least responsible for it. Despite contributing less than 1% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Pakistan ranks 1st among the top ten countries most affected by extreme weather events in 2022.

This is why on 28 October, 43 farmers from the hardest-hit Sindh region of Pakistan, supported by ECCHR, medico international, NTUF and HANDS, sent a letter of claim demanding compensation from the German companies RWE and Heidelberg Materials. These companies rank among the world’s hundred largest GHG polluters. Should they refuse to acknowledge their liability, a lawsuit will be filed by the end of the year. In line with the “polluter pays” principle, it is time for Carbon Majors to pay their share of the costs of the climate crisis. 

More about the case

Visit the campaign site

They have waited nearly a decade. Now, Lafarge's former Syrian employees are finally getting their chance in court: starting 4 November, the French cement giant and several former executives will face charges in Paris for financing terrorism and violating international sanctions. This is a historic moment – the first case of its kind against a multinational corporation.

The story is devastating: while war raged in Syria, Lafarge allegedly paid over 5 million euros to armed groups – including the Islamic State. Not to protect its employees, but to keep the cement plant running. The people who worked there faced kidnappings and death threats.

"Instead of investing in our protection, Lafarge financed armed groups," says Mohammad, one of the plaintiffs and former employees. "Nine years after filing charges, we're still hoping for justice."

In 2016, Mohammad and 10 other former employees filed criminal charges together with ECCHR and Sherpa. For years, Lafarge tried to block the trial with every legal means available, but the plaintiffs didn't give up – and now several of them will be able to testify in court.

This trial is just the beginning. Parallel investigations are still underway against Lafarge for complicity in crimes against humanity. The groups financed by Lafarge committed the most serious crimes, including genocide against the Yazidis. We will continue fighting to hold corporations accountable for their actions in conflict zones.

More about the case and our Q&A

“We are producing for the Global North – this problem should be faced by the Global North. The law is there, the department [BAFA] is there, but we want it to be more progressive and take the law more serious,” said our Pakistani union partner Nasir Mansoor in conversation with Annabell Brüggemann at a symposium on due diligence and labor law. His demand encapsulates the essence of our current work on the legal regulation of supply chains – while business associations and their political affiliates continue to work toward weakening both the EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG). The ministries in charge, the one for economic affairs and energy, as well as the one for labor and social affairs, seem openly willing to stray from the principles of due process, the rule of law and the separation of powers. At least, that is what a directive to the agency tasked with supply chain monitoring – the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA) – suggests, which was analyzed by Frag den Staat with the legal support of Lisa Pitz. By instructing the BAFA to immediately cease to carry out many of its enforcement powers, the executive branch is effectively anticipating – and even exceeding – a change in the law that has been suggested by the German government, but not yet been passed by Parliament. It substantially curtails the effectiveness of the law, especially when it comes to its preventive effect. This raises considerable doubts as to the legality of this directive. Those whose rights are now being treated as provisional under the banner of “de-bureaucratization” are numerous, well organized, and will not, now or in the future, be placated by lofty promises of “voluntary commitments” or meaningless certifications.

Read our report: “Two years of the German Supply Chain Act”

German energy company RWE has backed out of its deal to purchase ammonia from Hyphen Hydrogen Energy in Namibia. Hyphen plans to build large-scale infrastructure to produce ammonia across Tsau||Khaeb National Park – on ancestral Nama land – without consulting the Nama community. This not only threatens severe environmental and human rights impacts, it undermines the Nama’s right to free, prior, and informed consent.

On 2 April 2025, the Nama Traditional Leaders Association (NTLA), supported by ECCHR and partners, issued an open letter to RWE, demanding that it withdraw from the project until Hyphen carries out a thorough environmental, social, cultural, and human rights assessment with Nama participation. From colonial dispossession and genocide under German rule, to South African apartheid, to the modern Namibian state – Nama land has been controlled by others while the Nama remain marginalized. RWE’s retreat proves that when civil society mobilizes, corporations are forced to listen. With meaningful Nama participation, Indigenous rights cannot be brushed aside.

More about the case

It is well known that anyone committed to fulfilling the promise of human rights needs to be in it for the long haul. Beyond this, the proverbial “elephant's memory” is becoming an increasingly important tool when contending with opponents who are trying, at an ever-faster pace, to sell their powerful interests as universal, immutable laws of nature. This is one reason why we created the Living Open Archive (LOA), a digital space for remembering and analyzing past struggles. Here, you will find a trove of valuable resources: among them, seven video recordings of the 2022 series of talks initiated by Wolfgang Kaleck, “Human Rights in Times of Crisis.” Here, activists, academics and lawyers from different regions of the world exchange views on colonial continuities, feminist movements, corporate power, the climate crisis and increasing repression – all with an eye toward the concrete utopia of human rights and the mission to create dissonance in the current world order to enable change.

Visit the LOA Spotlight “Human rights in times of crisis”

Forging global futures where fundamental rights, liberty and cultural freedom stand at the forefront, and where human diversity is not only perceived, but acknowledged in solidarity and granted genuine validity – in a nutshell, these are the values that the opening symposium of the upcoming Photo Triennial in Hamburg, co-organized by ECCHR, places at the center of its mission. In his opening speech, Wolfgang Kaleck will explore, among other things, how the arts and cultural institutions provide us with the wherewithal to imagine human dignity and, hence, to safeguard it. On the second day, he will discuss with the artistic director of the Triennial, Marc Sealy, and the writer and art critic Aruna D'Souza what distinguishes solidarity from empathy, and how this connects to a political understanding of love.

7 – 8 November, Auditorium Deichtorhalle (Day 1) und Halle 424 Oberhafenquartier (Day 2), Hamburg 

More about the program and participants

The 8th installment of the “On Justice” series will examine law as an instrument for climate and environmental justice, focusing on several core questions. What are the potential advantages and limitations of legalizing ecological issues? What challenges does the implementation of the idea of “rights of nature” entail, which calls for the recognition of ecosystems such as rivers and forests as legal entities? And finally, what prospects do these rights open up for a more just relationship between humans and nature?

With Cristina Hernandez Hurtado, Parid Ridwanuddin, Nikolaj Schultz, Roda Verheyen;, and moderated by Miriam Saage-Maaß

28 November, 7:00 pm, HAU 1, Hebbel am Ufer, Stresemannstr. 29, Berlin

More about the program and participants

The sniper unit within the Israeli army known as the “Ghost Unit” is the subject of this panel discussion at the Munich Kammerspiele. Members of the unit are suspected of deliberately killing Palestinian civilians. Together with Palestinian partners, ECCHR has filed a criminal complaint against one of them with the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office. Alexander Schwarz discusses this and other legal questions about war with the investigative journalists from Paper Trail Media who uncovered this case.

3 December, 7:30 pm, Münchner Kammerspiele (Werkraum), Maximilianstraße 26-28, Munich

More info and tickets

Wolfgang Kaleck used the invitation to the peace prayer in Leipzig's Nikolaikirche as an opportunity to broaden perspectives. In his speech, he recalled forgotten wars and promises of peace that were, at best, only partially fulfilled, reminding listeners that the world has never been as good as some like to portray it. Anyone who views the period since 1945 as a story of progress is contributing to a history of double standards. At the same time, it is cynical to say that international law has failed “when people around the world are working with it to enforce their rights.” 

Academics and practitioners from across the globe got together in Erfurt to share their experiences in clinical legal education and transformative lawyering across jurisdictions and education systems. Speakers and participants discussed how to strengthen transformative networks and alliances across the Global North and South and build a lasting community of practice on clinical education in global justice. Several ECCHR colleagues presented their input, and Annelen Micus is currently also a fellow at the Global Justice Clinic at the University of Erfurt.

More about the program and participants

More than a century after German colonial forces committed genocide against the Ovaherero and Nama in what is now Namibia, negotiations between Germany and Namibia began in 2015. However, the resulting reconciliation agreement – still unsigned – has faced broad rejection from descendants of affected communities, particularly due to Germany’s refusal to recognize the genocide and negotiate reparations directly with the Nama and Ovaherero Indigenous Peoples. This panel discussed the lasting impacts of the genocide and the shortcomings of the proposed agreement, as well as how international and human rights law can support the claims of the Nama and Ovaherero.

Read the event report

More about the panel and participants

Palestinian international law expert Ahmed Abofoul and Israeli historian Omer Bartov discussed the difference between a ceasefire and peace. They talked about memory, coming to terms with the past, and the longing for justice. Ahmed Abofoul expressed this longing by emphasizing that he had no doubts about a free country stretching from the river to the sea – for citizens of all religions and ethnicities: Palestinians, Jews, and many others. He concluded by saying that he could hardly wait for the day when they would bring German politicians to the memorials for the Holocaust and the Gaza genocide.

The podcast of the event will soon be available here  

Rendering invisible the violence to which people are increasingly exposed at borders is part of Europe’s heavily armed border strategy. Hanaa Hakiki discussed with academics from various disciplines how this can be countered by legal and other means.

More about the conference.

“The first step to accountability is seeing what actually happens” – with these words, Phoebe Walton (Forensis) explained the core value guiding the organization’s work. Their latest documentary, Escaping Libya’s Detention Industry, was screened as part of this event co-hosted by ECCHR. The following debate addressed crimes against humanity committed against people on the move, focusing on how EU migration policies enable and entrench these crimes. In the words of panelist David Yambio (RiL): “Libya is also a product of Europe.”

More about the event and participants

Listen to the discussion

The prominent US civil rights lawyer, who has defended Edward Snowden, among others, reported on the extent of the repression and attempted harassment by the Trump administration. In conversation with Wolfgang Kaleck, he emphasized the tangible growth in solidarity among the institutions under attack: "If people fight back, the crisis will be smaller. The institutions have proven to be more resilient than Trump had expected."

Participants in this conference, organized by the Italian Association for Legal Studies on Immigration (ASGI), analyzed current border regimes and reflected on legal strategies to counter them. Silvia Rojas Castro spoke at a workshop on the right to life, state responsibility and litigation.

More about the conference

Climate justice and corporate responsibility were the topics of this year's International Summer School for tomorrow's human rights defenders. ECCHR has been organizing the program since 2019 in cooperation with the University of Nuremberg-Erlangen and Tilburg Law School. Read here to find out more about the specific topics covered and who the teachers were.

Clara Alibert, Chloé Bailey

"Without our land and river, we will starve”

CFFD-Terre Solidaire, Justiça Ambiental (JA!) Report 2025

 
Anne Kiefer, Cannelle Lavite, Claire Tixeire

Lafarge on Trial: Cementing Accountability

Opiniojuris, 27 October 2025

Alexander Schwarz

Interview: “For such crimes, there can be no impunity” (only available in German) 

taz, 6 October 2025 

Sigrun Matthiesen, Allison West

“Criminal complicity: Libya and the EU” (only available in German)

Blätter für deutsche und internationale Politik, November 2025

Alexander Schwarz

“War, law, and reality: In October 1950, the Geneva Conventions entered into force” (only available in German)

Deutschlandfunk Kultur, 15 October 2025