Category: Human Rights

OHCHR is calling for more action to end the violence and achieve justice. “While the interim authorities have taken encouraging steps towards addressing past violations, these steps are only the beginning of what needs to be done,” spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheethan told journalists in Geneva. Summary executions and arbitrary killing Since last December, Syria’s interim authorities have established national commissions for transitional justice and missing persons, among other measures.   A draft law on transitional justice has […]

Hong Kong will hold elections for its Legislative Council on December 7, without a single pro-democracy candidate. The Chinese government’s attempts to present the legislature, known as the LegCo, as legitimate hardly fool anyone. Many Hongkongers quietly boycotted the previous election in 2021, resulting in record-low turnout.  Five years into its sweeping crackdown, Beijing has […]

The 2024 forest fires report from the Commission’s Joint Research Centre confirms a longer and more intense fire season.  Major fires have increased every year since 2017, and the 2024 data confirm the upward trend. The 2024 fire season ended with a total burnt area of 383,317 hectares. While this is lower than the 500,000 […]

Speaking on the sidelines of a key international meeting in support of landmine action taking place at UN Geneva, experts in the field explained how shrinking resources in Afghanistan and Nigeria have exposed civilians to unexploded ordnance. They stressed that mine action programmes, often viewed as long-term recovery initiatives, are in fact emergency humanitarian interventions […]

(Washington, DC) – The Trump administration’s latest actions on immigration policy appear to be based on punitive hostility toward people of particular nationalities and carry an unmistakable current of racism as well, Human Rights Watch said today. The administration recently suspended immigration processing for nationals from 19 countries on its existing travel ban list and suspended […]

The once allied Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) have been locked in brutal conflict since April 2023, with the battlefront now shifting to the oil-rich region’s three states. It comes after RSF fighters seized El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, last month following a year-long siege marked by widespread […]

Sacramento — December 2025 — California has unveiled a new state‑run online portal allowing the public to report alleged misconduct by federal agents and officers, marking one of the most assertive state‑level oversight moves in the country. The platform enables residents to file complaints involving federal personnel operating in California, including agents from immigration, border […]

The accord signed today by Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda President Paul Kagame at the White House in Washington, DC, is being heralded as a breakthrough for regional cooperation over confrontation. If implemented with transparency and meaningful participation, it could help stabilize eastern Congo and create the foundations for a durable peace. But […]

Coinciding with the anniversary of the collapse of the former regime, “things are improving,” Mohammad Al Nsour, Chief of the Middle East and North Africa Section at OHCHR told UN News. “Every time we go to Damascus, we can see the change.” OHCHR – blocked from operating inside Syria for many years – now has […]

Gaza — December 2025 — Hamas has announced that it will return the remains of the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza, a development that comes as Israel agreed to reopen the territory’s border crossing with Egypt in a move aimed at easing humanitarian access. The announcement marks a significant moment in the aftermath of […]