Amnesty International warns of ongoing human rights concerns in Bulgaria

Pressure on journalists, civil society organisations, women, and vulnerable communities in Bulgaria is expected to persist into 2025, according to a new report by Amnesty International.

The findings are part of the organisation’s latest global assessment, The State of the World’s Human Rights 2025–2026, presented at the BTA National Press Club by Nayden Rashkov, director of Amnesty International Bulgaria. The report examines the human rights situation in 144 countries, including a detailed national overview for Bulgaria.

According to the analysis, Roma and LGBTI communities in Bulgaria continue to face widespread discrimination, with persistent barriers to housing, education, employment, and healthcare. The report highlights the forced eviction of dozens of families in Sofia during Easter 2025 as a particularly concerning case, noting that it violated rulings by the European Court of Human Rights.

The document also raises concerns about gender-based violence. “Organisations reported at least 24 cases of femicide,” the report states.

In a separate incident cited in the report, three Egyptian children died near Bulgaria’s border after allegedly being denied rescue assistance.

Amnesty International further points to systemic failures in the care of people with disabilities and older individuals. The report documents cases of violence against children in institutional settings, including beatings and sexual abuse in boarding schools, which it attributes to inadequate state oversight.

“The findings exposed deep flaws in child protection systems and a lack of accountability for perpetrators,” the report states. “Despite repeated recommendations, the government failed to adopt effective monitoring or rehabilitation measures.”

Presenting its annual global report, Amnesty International also issued a broader warning about the state of human rights worldwide. The organisation said the world is “on the brink of a perilous new era,” driven by attacks on international law and multilateralism by powerful states, corporations, and anti-rights movements.

“We are confronting the most challenging moment of our age,” said Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “Humanity is under attack from transnational anti-rights movements and predatory governments determined to assert dominance through unlawful wars and brazen economic blackmail.”

Editor: Ivo Ivanov

Edited and posted in English by E. Radkova