The Azores have been singled out in the latest annual report by Amnesty International, The State of the World’s Human Rights, released yesterday, with three direct references raising concerns about human rights conditions in the autonomous region. The report highlights allegations of ill-treatment in a regional prison, unequal access to abortion services, and the authorization of military stopovers at Lajes Air Base involving fighter jets bound for Israel.

The document compiles key human rights developments throughout 2025. In its section on Portugal, Amnesty notes that a report by the national Ombudsman, published in July, identified signs of abuse in three of the 10 prisons inspected in 2024. Within that framework, the organization points to an ongoing investigation by prosecutors into allegations that, in May, two detainees in a prison in the Azores were subjected to ill-treatment.

Amnesty links this case to broader concerns raised by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, which in October expressed alarm over persistent shortcomings in criminal investigations into torture allegations in Portugal.

The report also draws attention to the Azores in its assessment of sexual and reproductive rights. Amnesty states that access to abortion continues to be uneven across the country, emphasizing that the most severe restrictions are found in the Azores and the Alentejo region. This disparity is largely attributed to the high number of healthcare professionals invoking conscientious objection, effectively limiting access to the procedure.

Further underscoring the issue, Amnesty cites data released in July by Spain’s Ministry of Health, indicating that 2,525 residents of Portugal sought abortion care in Spain between 2019 and 2023—often due to Portugal’s legal limit of 10 weeks for the procedure. The report does not specify how many of these cases originated in the Azores.

In a separate section addressing irresponsible arms transfers, Amnesty reports that the Portuguese government acknowledged that at least three F-35 fighter jet aircraft—sold to Israel by the United States—were authorized to stop over at Lajes Air Base on Terceira Island in April. According to the organization, these stopovers facilitated the transfer of military equipment to Israel in potential violation of Portugal’s obligations under the Arms Trade Treaty and international humanitarian law.

More broadly, Amnesty’s assessment of Portugal points to new evidence of prison abuse, unlawful restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly, a rise in hate crimes, insufficient legal safeguards to combat gender-based violence, and ongoing barriers to abortion access.

Within this national landscape, the Azores emerge as a focal point in three key areas: the investigation into alleged prison abuse, structural obstacles to reproductive healthcare, and the strategic use of Lajes Air Base in international military logistics.

In Diário dos Açores-Paulo Viveiros, director.