Category: Human Rights

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

ALGIERS, 2 July 2025 — A court in Algeria has sentenced French journalist Christophe Gleizes to seven years in prison on charges of “glorifying terrorism” and “possessing propaganda publications harmful to the national interest”, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The conviction has sparked international condemnation and renewed concerns over Algeria’s deteriorating press […]

As wildfires begin to affect multiple countries across Europe, the EU’s prepositioned fire firefighters have already begun to battle the flames on the ground. In Greece, firefighters from Bulgaria have worked alongside their Greek counterparts in Halkidiki to battle fires this week. Romanian firefighters stationed in southern France have also assisted local French teams in […]

Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine have taken or are considering steps to withdraw from the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction – known also as the Ottawa Convention, after the Canadian city where the process was launched. “These weapons risk causing […]

“In the early morning hours of 13 June, a number of attacks took place in Tehran, and other parts of Iran,” said Stefan Priesner, UN Resident Coordinator in Iran. “Then over the next 12 days there were multiple attacks by either side…we know that there have been at least 627 people killed and almost 5,000 […]