AMMAN/GENEVA — In a sharp rebuke of the Iranian government’s response to recent domestic turmoil, UNICEF has issued an urgent plea for the immediate and unconditional release of all children currently held in state detention. The statement, released on February 19, 2026, highlights the “life-lasting consequences” of incarceration on minors and underscores Iran’s binding obligations […]
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LONDON — The invisible front lines of global journalism have shifted from physical war zones into the pockets of the world’s most prominent reporters. Recent forensic revelations have unmasked a disturbing expansion of Predator spyware, a “mercenary” surveillance tool being strategically deployed by authoritarian regimes and anti-free-press actors to dismantle the anonymity of the fourth […]
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Cameroonian authorities are arbitrarily detaining non-Cameroonian nationals deported from the United States and detaining and abusing journalists who tried to interview them. But US President Donald Trump’s administration doesn’t seem to care. In January and February, under a secret agreement, the US government deported to Cameroon 17 men and women—including asylum seekers and a stateless […]
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A new United Nations report details how criminal groups in Haiti are exploiting the near-total absence of the state, as well as widespread hunger and violence, to recruit children who then face abuse. These criminal groups traffic children by using threats and material incentives to force them into criminal activity, sexual abuse, and sexual slavery. At […]
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In the early morning hours of February 26, 2023, the Summer Love shipwrecked off the coast of Calabria, Italy. At least 94 people, including 35 children, died in what is known as the Cutro shipwreck. According to survivors, the boat was carrying up to 250 people, most from Afghanistan, Syria, and Pakistan. The anniversary comes […]
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US President Donald Trump’s administration today rolled back another air-pollution protection, this time for one of the most toxic substances on earth: mercury. The action reverses then-President Joe Biden’s decision in 2024 to reduce the levels of allowable mercury air emissions for coal-fired power plants, restoring them to their previous levels. Trump had already given dozens […]
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From Mandate to Monument: Benita Diop and Africa’s Unstoppable March to End Violence Against Women The history of international human rights is a testament to the fact that progress is never given; it is legally, politically and socially fought for. Nowhere is this struggle for juridical equity more apparent—and more advanced—than in the African context, […]
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(New York) – North Korea’s ninth Party Congress started on February 20, 2026, amid escalating repression of young people, strict control of information, and widespread forced labor, Human Rights Watch said today. The Congress of the Workers’ Party of Korea is the country’s most important political meeting. Party Congresses have historically occurred irregularly: the last three […]
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ISTANBUL — In a move that has reignited international concerns over media suppression, Turkish authorities have detained Alican Uludag, a seasoned investigative journalist for Germany’s state-backed broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). Uludag was apprehended at his home in Ankara late Thursday and immediately transferred to Istanbul for questioning, facing charges of “disseminating misleading information” and “insulting […]
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The disqualification of the Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych from the 2026 Winter Olympics shines a critical light on Rule 50 (2) of the Olympic Charter prohibiting political, racial, or religious “propaganda” at Olympic venues. He was disqualified for wearing a helmet displaying images of Ukrainian athletes killed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The decision by […]
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