World News in Brief: Food aid relief for Rohingya, 5 new Security Council members, jailing of Russian poets draws rebuke from rights expert

“The entire Rohingya population” from Myanmar will benefit, according to the UN agency, which increased the value of its monthly food voucher from $8 to $10 per person on 1 January. Until early last year vouchers were worth $12 but WFP was forced to reduce their value in March to $10 because of funding gaps. […]

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Meta: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content

  (New York) – Meta’s content moderation policies and systems have increasingly silenced voices in support of Palestine on Instagram and Facebook in the wake of the hostilities between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The 51-page report, “Meta’s Broken Promises: Systemic Censorship of Palestine Content on […]

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Ukraine: 2024 starts with ‘loss, pain, and anguish’ amid intense Russian strikes

In a statement on Tuesday, UN Humanitarian Coordinator Denise Brown strongly condemned the assaults targeting mostly cities. “For the people of Ukraine, the new year started with loss, pain, and anguish. For the third day in a row, vast aerial assaults by the Russian Federation have caused death – including several children – and destruction […]

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Myanmar: Armed Group Abuses in Shan State

(Bangkok) – An ethnic armed group in northern Myanmar has abducted and forcibly recruited civilians fleeing fighting in Shan State, Human Rights Watch said today. Myanmar’s military also has a long record of using adults for forced labor and recruiting children, but getting recent information about unlawful practices in junta-controlled areas is difficult. The Myanmar […]

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Guinea Massacre Trial Rebounds After Prison Break

Over the past month, Guinea’s landmark trial around the country’s horrific 2009 stadium massacre entered a new phase as seven witnesses, including former high-level government officials, testified. Judges already have heard from each of the 11 accused, including Guinea’s former president, Moussa Dadis Camara, and more than 100 victims, including victims of sexual violence. The […]

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Texas Governor Signs Extreme Immigration Bill

This week, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed three measures into law that will harm migrants, asylum seekers, and communities in Texas. The laws build on Operation Lone Star, the state government’s now almost $12 billion “border security” program that has not been shown to reduce migration. One law duplicates a federal statute known to have […]

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Police Assault Prominent Rights Lawyer in Cameroon

Atoh Walter M. Tchemi, a prominent Cameroonian human rights lawyer, knows firsthand the harassment and threats that comes with his job. But even he wasn’t expecting to be beaten up by the police when he went to meet a client. About 10:30 a.m. today, December 22, Tchemi went to a garage on Mulango Street in […]

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World News in Brief: UN rights chief condemns attacks in Nigeria, WFP supplies looted in Sudan, non-discrimination protections in the US

Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the authorities to conduct prompt, thorough and independent investigations into the attacks that took place on Christmas Eve and to hold those responsible to account in fair trials. The violence occurred in the Plateau state, an ethnically and religiously diverse region, where inter-communal conflict has […]

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Tunisia: Cybercrime Decree Used Against Critics

(Tunis) – Tunisian authorities have sentenced two political opposition activists to prison terms for criticizing the government under a 2022 cybercrime decree, Human Rights Watch said today. Instead of using the decree to address cybercrime, the authorities have used it to detain, charge, or place under investigation at least 20 journalists, lawyers, students, and other […]

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Ethiopia: Prioritize victims amidst legacy of rights abuses, UN office urges

A joint report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission emphasized the need to implement all components of transitional justice equally. These include criminal accountability, truth-seeking, reparations, and guarantees of non-recurrence, involving effective remedies for victims, legal reforms, and reconciliation. One of the recommendations […]

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