🌲 Fleeing, Injured, and Forgotten: Poland’s Border Forest Becomes a Refugee Battleground

Białowieża Forest, Poland – July 2025 – In the dense, marshy terrain of Europe’s last primeval forest, humanitarian volunteers are racing against time to aid refugees stranded along the Polish-Belarusian border, where a four-year crisis has escalated into a humanitarian emergency. 🚧 A Border Fortified, But Not Impenetrable Since 2021, Poland has responded to Belarus’s […]

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Central African Republic: Activists Arrested at Memorial Event

(Nairobi) – Central African Republic authorities arrested activists holding a memorial event for students who died in a high school explosion, Human Rights Watch said today. On June 27, 2025, civil society activists organized a vigil in memory of the students who died in the explosion on June 25 at Barthelemy Boganda High School in […]

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Report reveals significant rise in civilian casualties and rights violations in Ukraine

It covers the period from 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025, during which 986 civilians were killed and 4,807 injured – a 37 per cent increase compared to the same period the previous year. “The war in Ukraine – now in its fourth year – is becoming increasingly deadly for civilians,” said Danielle Bell, […]

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UN Rights Council Rejects Bad-Faith Bid to End Eritrea Scrutiny

Today the UN Human Rights Council firmly rejected Eritrea’s attempt to end scrutiny of its human rights situation. Council members decisively voted down the Eritrean government’s resolution to end the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea and instead renewed the mandate for another year. This vote – […]

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📰 French Journalist Christophe Gleizes Sentenced to Seven Years in Algeria, Press Freedom Advocates Demand Release

Algiers, July 2025 – French sports journalist Christophe Gleizes, 36, has been sentenced to seven years in prison by a court in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria, on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing publications for propaganda purposes harmful to national interests.” The verdict, handed down on 29 June, marks the harshest sentence for a French journalist […]

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UN Human Rights Council hears grim updates on Ukraine, Gaza and global racism

Escalating conflict in Ukraine In an oral update, Ilze Brands Kehris, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, reported a sharp escalation in hostilities in Ukraine. Civilian casualties have surged, with April to June seeing nearly 50 per cent more deaths and injuries compared to the same period in 2024. “More than 90 per cent of […]

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Shelter and safety elude Afghan women returnees from Iran and Pakistan

Since September 2023, more than 2.43 million undocumented Afghan migrants have returned from Iran and Pakistan. Women and girls account for about half of the returnees from Pakistan, while their share among those returning from Iran has been steadily rising, reaching around 30 per cent in June. The escalating pace of returns is straining Afghanistan’s […]

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📰 Rights Groups Demand Release of Detained Zimbabwean Journalist Faith Zaba

Harare, 3 July 2025 – Press freedom advocates are calling for the immediate release of Faith Zaba, editor of the Zimbabwe Independent, following her arrest over a satirical column critical of President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Zaba was charged with undermining or insulting the authority of the president after publishing an article titled “When you become mafia […]

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Azerbaijan Convicts Critics in Relentless Crackdown

On June 20, the Court of Grave Crimes in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku handed down severe prison sentences to a team of independent journalists from Abzas Media, an outlet known for its hard-hitting investigative journalism. Days later, the same court convicted Bahruz Samadov, an outspoken government critic and peace activist. These verdicts fit a pattern of politically motivated arrests and prosecutions […]

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UN Official Warns of Worsening Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza Due to Military Operations and Aid Blockade

UNITED NATIONS — A senior United Nations official has issued a stark warning over the accelerating humanitarian crisis in Gaza, describing the suffering as “unbearable” and condemning what he termed the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people.” Khaled Khiari, UN Assistant Secretary-General for the Middle East, briefed the UN Security Council on Monday, reporting that […]

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