UN Experts Urge Pakistan to Halt Afghan Refugee Deportations

GENEVA — United Nations human rights experts have called on Pakistan to suspend its planned mass deportation of Afghan refugees, warning that the policy violates international law and places returnees at grave risk. Under Pakistan’s “Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan,” deportations are set to begin September 1 and now include refugees holding Proof of Registration (PoR) […]

Continue Reading

‘Reparatory justice’ key to ending racism against Africans and their descendants

Doing so is key to dismantling systemic racism that is rooted in legacies of slavery and colonialism, it said. Actions include formal apologies, truth-seeking, memorialisation and education measures, medical and psychosocial support, as well as compensation. Past and present linked For the most part, the report found that amid some rollback of commitments to racial […]

Continue Reading

Zambia: South African Firm Transferring Toxic Lead

(Johannesburg, September 4, 2025) – A South African-owned company is providing access to toxic lead-bearing waste in the Zambian city of Kabwe despite immense health risks for local residents, Human Rights Watch said today. The material derives from waste material at a former mine that has never been cleaned up and has been the source […]

Continue Reading

Amid escalating attacks in Gaza, UN rights chief calls on US to withdraw sanctions against Palestinian rights groups

The measures announced on Thursday target Al-Haq group, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) and Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, in relation to their support of the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, following other sanctions imposed by the US Government in June on renowned […]

Continue Reading

Rights Groups Urge U.S. to End Migrant Transfers to Guantánamo

WASHINGTON — Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on the U.S. government to immediately halt the transfer of immigrant detainees to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, citing reports of “abusive and inhumane” conditions that may constitute ill-treatment. The appeal follows interviews with Venezuelan migrants held at the facility in early 2025. Detainees reported being transported […]

Continue Reading

Extraterritorial Killings: A Legal and Human Rights Crisis

Adapted from jurist.org article by L. Ali Khan and Edited by Ingrid Burke Friedman | JURISTSeptember 5, 2025 States are increasingly engaging in extraterritorial (ET) killings—state-led assassinations carried out beyond national borders—despite clear prohibitions under international law. These actions often bypass judicial oversight, undermining fundamental human rights, particularly the right to life and due process. […]

Continue Reading

Pacific Leaders Should Act Collectively on Climate Relocation

Pacific leaders preparing to gather for the Pacific Islands Forum in Solomon Islands this month have accepted a collective responsibility: to act decisively for the many Indigenous communities already living the sobering realities of climate displacement. Over the last decades, abnormally high “king tides” and storms forced one such community, the Solomon Islander people of […]

Continue Reading

‘A war of atrocities’ – UN human rights investigators warn Sudanese civilians are paying the highest price

“They burned everything,” said one witness of a shelling attack in the Zamzam displacement camp in war-torn Darfur. “They claimed they only wanted to fight soldiers, but they punished the whole community.” The war crimes and human rights violations perpetrated by all parties to the conflict between the military government and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) […]

Continue Reading

Momentum Grows for New Treaty on Right to Education

Momentum is mounting for a new global treaty to secure every child’s right to free education. This week, countries gathered at the United Nations in Geneva to advance negotiations on an optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The proposed treaty would close a gap in international law. The convention guarantees free primary […]

Continue Reading