Category: Human Rights

Sweida, Syria – May 2025:In the latest blow to press freedom in Syria, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has strongly condemned a series of violent assaults on seven journalists in the southwestern city of Sweida. The journalists, who had traveled to the region to cover a newly signed local de-escalation agreement, were detained, threatened at gunpoint, […]

In an important step towards protecting online speech, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court on April 29 issued two rulings that provide important clarifications to the country’s Electronic Information and Transaction Law, used to regulate the internet. For decades, government officials and powerful private actors, including companies and religious groups, have brought criminal defamation lawsuits under the internet law to […]

Ambassadors met for an emergency session to discuss the escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Rights chief Volker Türk said he was pained to brief the Council once again on the “catastrophic suffering of people in Gaza,” noting that “the temporary relief of the ceasefire, which gave Palestinians a moment to breathe, has been shattered.”  […]

Major-power cutbacks and delayed payments amidst conflict and insecurity are testing the very principles and frameworks upon which the international human rights infrastructure was built nearly 80 years ago. Human rights need defending now more than ever, which is why the United Nations leadership needs to ensure that its efforts to cut costs don’t jeopardize […]

The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) has issued a strong call for action against the killings of journalists worldwide, revealing that 55 media professionals have been murdered since January 1, 2025. The statement, released on World Press Freedom Day (May 3), underscores the urgent need to protect journalists from censorship, harassment, and violence. Rising Toll of […]

The 28 March quakes killed over 3,800 people and damaged or destroyed more than 55,000 homes across multiple regions, including Bago, Kayin, Magway, Mandalay, Southern Shan, Naypyitaw and Sagaing. Families already displaced by years of conflict now face early torrential rains, extreme heat and rising risk of disease. Nearly 20 million people – more than […]

A group of independent UN human rights experts has issued an urgent appeal for the release of political detainees with disabilities and serious health conditions in Belarus. The call, made on May 5, follows mounting concerns over inhumane detention conditions, lack of medical care, and deliberate mistreatment of prisoners linked to the 2020 presidential elections. […]

Amnesty International has strongly criticized Poland’s new asylum legislation, arguing that it poses a serious threat to human rights and violates international law. The law, enacted in March 2025, allows Polish border guards to reject asylum applications from migrants crossing the Belarusian border without assessing their individual circumstances. Legal and Human Rights Concerns The UN […]

The UK Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling declaring 2023 protest regulations unlawful, delivering a significant blow to legislation that civil liberties groups argued undermined the right to protest and bypassed Parliament’s authority. Legal Challenge and Court Ruling The case, brought by Liberty, challenged the secondary legislation introduced by then Home Secretary Suella Braverman, […]

Viktoriia Roshchyna, a 27-year-old Ukrainian investigative journalist, disappeared in the Russia-occupied part of the Zaporizka region of Ukraine in August 2023. A year later, she called her family from Russian custody. That was the only time they heard from their daughter after her disappearance. During that call in August 2024, Roshchyna told her parents she loved […]