Amnesty International Renames Luxembourg Street in Defence of Human Rights

On Monday 23 March 2026, Amnesty International Luxembourg announced it had symbolically renamed Rue des États-Unis in Luxembourg-Gare, “Rue des Droits humains” (Road of Human Rights), in response to what the association called “the rise of authoritarianism in the United States”.

According to Amnesty International Luxembourg, a sign bearing the words “Rue des droits humains” was raised in front of activists and other supporters of the organisation, which defends human rights worldwide. The sign bears the dates 10 December 1948, the day the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted, and 20 January 2025, the beginning of President Trump’s second term.

The organisation said it took the initiative to rename the street, where its offices are located, to convey “a strong message in response to the rise of authoritarianism in the United States and elsewhere”.

Amnesty International Luxembourg said: “For several weeks, immigration agents have been committing widespread human rights violations with impunity, including extrajudicial executions, mass detentions and expulsions targeting certain populations in the metropolitan areas of Minneapolis and Saint Paul (Minnesota), as well as elsewhere in the United States.”

It added: “Federal agents have shot two civilians in three weeks in Minneapolis: on 7 January 2026, immigration officers fatally shot Renee Macklin Good, a resident who was voluntarily observing immigration enforcement operations in her city. On 24 January, immigration agents also killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis while he was filming them and attempting to assist a person being assaulted by one of them. During the first two weeks of 2026, six additional deaths occurred in detention under the responsibility of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).”

The human rights association also referenced the United States recent strikes on Iran and stressed: “This action violated international humanitarian law, as no precautions were taken to avoid civilian casualties. This attack on a school full of children resulted in 168 deaths. This violation adds to numerous others, such as the abduction of the President of Venezuela, threats against European and Canadian allies, the devastating role of the United States in the genocide in Gaza, and multiple attacks against international organisations (International Criminal Court), among others.”

Amnesty International added that one year after Donald Trump returned to power, it had raised the alarm over increasingly authoritarian practices employed by the United States and the erosion of human rights, through attacks on freedom of the press, access to information, freedom of expression and assembly; against civil society and universities; against political opponents, lawyers and judges; against the rights of refugees and migrants.

It said: “Through this symbolic action, Amnesty International Luxembourg aims to underline the importance of continuing to mobilise to demand justice for these repeated violations of the law and of human rights, and to bring an end to these abuses.”