Category: Human Rights

Men from an anti-LGBT group attacked a bar in Lebanon where a drag event was being held on August 23, while threatening violence against LGBT people. “We stopped the show and had to hide behind the bar, lying down on the floor, breathless,” one of the performers told me. “The police stood on the side, […]

“Jordan was never an oppressive country and will never be one”, said King Abdullah II of Jordan on August 15, just days after he signed into law a draconian cybercrimes bill that will greatly restrict the space for local online debate and public criticism. In response to widespread criticism of the law, the king publicly […]

Since fleeing deadly violence in Myanmar in August 2017, nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees remain completely aid dependent in neighbouring Bangladesh. Sazida is one of them. Like many people who were forced to flee their homes during the military crackdown in Myanmar 6 years ago, Sazida’s family was torn apart. Read on to get to […]

Last week Al Jazeera Balkans published a shocking video of a staff member at the state-run institution Pazarić, outside of Sarajevo, hitting and yelling at a young man with a disability. This led to a public outburst in Bosnia –protests were held and the staff member was fired. But the government’s response to the video […]

(New York) – Thai authorities should immediately and impartially investigate the attack on a Cambodian opposition activist who had sought refuge in Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today. Three Khmer-speaking men beat Phorn Phanna at around noon on August 22, 2023, in Rayong province, causing injuries to his face and chest. Phanna, 40, a member […]

“Given the tensions and divisions arising from the constitutional referendum, the Central African authorities urgently need to engage all actors in a genuine political dialogue aimed at de-escalating the situation”, said Yao Agbetse, the UN Independent Expert on the Central African Republic, at the end of a 10-day visit to the country.  Inclusive talks “Only an […]

Friday, 25 August, marks the sixth anniversary of the start of a massive offensive by Myanmar’s military against the mainly Muslim minority in Rakhine state. Some 10,000 Rohingya men, women, children and newborns were killed, more than 300 villages burnt to the ground, and over 700,000 forced to flee to Bangladesh in search of safety, […]

(Beirut) – Prison conditions in Lebanon have dangerously deteriorated amid the country’s economic crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. Overcrowding has become the norm, health care is subpar, and the government’s failure to pay outstanding bills has endangered the food supply for the country’s prisons. Nearly 80 percent of Lebanon’s prison population is in pretrial […]

The people of Ecuador voted on Sunday to halt all current and future oil drilling in the heart of Yasuni National Park in the Amazon rainforest. This comes after decades of organizing led by a coalition of Indigenous peoples, youth, and activists from across the country. Voters also chose to ban all mining in the […]

That’s the message from the group of eight experts, including Ashwini K.P., the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, who urged Greece on Wednesday to investigate alleged violations against asylum-seekers. They said that they were “particularly concerned” by the failure of the country’s security personnel and coast guard to provide “prompt and effective” assistance […]