Press Groups Demand Release of Yemeni Journalist Detained by Houthis

Sanaa, 30 September 2025 — International press freedom advocates are calling for the immediate release of Majed Zayed, a Yemeni freelance journalist reportedly abducted by Houthi authorities in Sanaa on 23 September during a wider sweep of detentions targeting media workers, writers, and activists. Enforced Disappearance Allegations According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), […]

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DOJ Sues New Jersey Protesters Over Alleged Synagogue Disruption

Washington, D.C., 30 September 2025 — The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil lawsuit against two activist groups and six individuals accused of intimidating Jewish worshippers and disrupting services at Congregation Ohr Torah in West Orange, New Jersey, in November 2024. Allegations of Intimidation and Disruption According to the complaint, protesters targeted […]

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UN Urges Belarus to Ease Child Contact Restrictions for Convicted Mothers

Geneva, 30 September 2025 — A group of United Nations human rights experts has called on Belarus to lift severe restrictions that prevent women convicted on extremism charges from maintaining meaningful contact with their children. Currently, mothers in detention under such charges are barred from in-person visits and phone calls, with correspondence permitted only once […]

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Chad’s Weaponization of Citizenship | Human Rights Watch

On September 17, the Chadian authorities published a decree purporting to strip blogger Makaila Nguebla and journalist Charfadine Galmaye Saleh of their nationality. The move marks a chilling escalation in the repression of dissent. By wielding citizenship as a political weapon, the government not only violates international law but crosses a line that threatens the rights of […]

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The Syria prison survivor who’s seeking justice for those still missing

Today, with the backing of the UN, one of those former detainees, Syrian human rights defender Riyad Avlar, is working to find out what happened to those who did not make it out – and seeking justice for the disappeared. He recalls one mother’s stunned response when he told her that her son had died […]

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Russia Withdraws from European Anti-Torture Convention, Ending International Oversight

Moscow/Geneva, On 1 October 2025 — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law the country’s withdrawal from the European Convention for the Prevention of Torture, a move that effectively ends international monitoring of Russia’s prisons and detention facilities. The decision comes at a time when Moscow faces widespread allegations of torture and inhuman treatment of […]

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El Salvador’s Journalists Driven into Exile Amid Escalating Press Repression

San Salvador, 2 October 2025 — More than 50 Salvadoran journalists have fled the country in the past four months, citing intensifying legal persecution and mounting threats under the administration of President Nayib Bukele. The exodus marks a troubling escalation in El Salvador’s press freedom crisis, with media professionals facing harassment, surveillance, and the looming […]

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Vendetta in Democratic Republic of Congo

A Congolese military court’s conviction and death sentence imposed on former President Joseph Kabila on September 30 highlights the fragile balance between accountability and political stability in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The trial, for charges ranging from treason to war crimes, had all the trappings of a political vendetta, posing a threat to both the rule […]

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World News in Brief: El Fasher siege latest, shock at Michigan church attack, violent crackdown on Madagascar protests

Briefing reporters in New York on Monday, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said the RSF militia’s grip is tightening on the last government-held redoubt, with satellite imagery showing “large groups of people attempting to flee on foot” from peripheral areas. “Local sources report that civilians trying to leave the city have faced violence, harassment and looting […]

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UN Group Warns of Escalation in Transnational Repression in Nicaragua

The UN Group of Human Rights Experts on Nicaragua presented a report to the Human Rights Council warning that the Nicaraguan government has expanded a campaign of repression beyond its borders, pursuing critics in exile through legal, administrative and covert means. The experts documented systematic measures including the arbitrary deprivation of nationality, denial of passport […]

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