Category: Human Rights

Three years ago today, Lebanese researcher, publisher, and Hezbollah critic Lokman Slim was killed in south Lebanon by assailants who remain unidentified to date. The investigation into Slim’s killing, much like the investigation into the August 2020 Beirut port explosion and other politically sensitive murders in Lebanon, has ground to a halt. Nobody has faced […]

In the heart of Al Qusayr, Homs City in Syria, a resilient family clings to their home despite its battered state, a stark reminder of the ongoing 12-year-long Syrian crisis. Rabiea, a devoted mother, faces the daunting task of caring for her beloved daughter, Momena, who battles cerebral palsy and physical disabilities. Yet, her struggles […]

The incidents, which have surged since early January, are purportedly linked to violations of the Taliban’s stringent dress code for women. The Human Rights Council-appointed experts called on de facto authorities to comply with Afghanistan’s human rights obligations, including under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Taliban crackdown […]

Three ethnic minority residents of Japan filed a lawsuit this week alleging that the police racially profiled them. The lawsuit against the Japanese government, the Tokyo metropolitan government, and Aichi prefectural government, alleges the three were subjected to repeated police identity checks because of how they looked. Each plaintiff is seeking 3.3 million yen (US$22,400) […]

In February 2021, Myanmar’s army overthrew the democratically elected government and seized power in a military coup. The country fell into deep social, political and economic turmoil as the army conducted brutal campaigns against perceived opponents. Since October 2023, fighting between the military and armed opposition groups has intensified and spread across most of Myanmar. […]

Addressing the annual session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the UN chief voiced deep concern over the violence and suffering that has intensified, particularly since the October 7 attack by Hamas and other militants based in Gaza and the subsequent military offensive by Israel. “The death, […]

International attention has focused in recent weeks on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague, as the United Nations’ highest judicial body heard South Africa’s case alleging that Israel is violating the 1948 Genocide Convention in Gaza. While a decision on the merits will likely take years, on January 26 the court issued […]

Kenneth Eugene Smith, 58, was executed in the southern state of Alabama on 25 January.  He had been convicted of murder in 1988.  “Alabama’s use of Kenneth Smith as a human guinea pig to test a new method of execution amounted to unethical human experimentation and was nothing short of State-sanctioned torture,” the experts said […]

(Bangkok) – Members of the exiled Russian-Belarusian rock band Bi-2 face persecution for their public criticism of the Russian government if Thailand deports them to Russia, Human Rights Watch said today. Thai police arrested the seven band members for allegedly performing a concert without the proper work authorizations and later moved them to an immigration […]

Riziki Bagyeraka’s life crumbled in late October last year, when rampaging gunmen from a local rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo stormed into her village in the country’s eastern province of North Kivu. “It was at night, and we all woke up by shouting and gunfire,” she said, sitting on a mattress […]