Category: Human Rights

The UN Security Council is meeting in New York in emergency session on Iran, amid escalating concern over reports that hundreds have been killed during weeks of nationwide anti-government protests. The meeting was requested by the United States. Demonstrations that began in late December, fuelled by soaring inflation, rising food prices and the collapse of the […]

On January 19, International Criminal Court (ICC) Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan briefed the United Nations Security Council on her office’s ongoing investigation in Darfur, Sudan. Deputy Prosecutor Khan had to attend the briefing remotely after not being granted a visa to brief the Council in person in New York City. That decision came in the wake of […]

From Gambia’s legal team, Jessica Jones highlighted how the Rohingya faced “longstanding denigration” and hate speech from senior and other members of the Myanmar military.  Ms. Jones also referred to a video posted on Facebook in August 2017 featuring a soldier displaying “clear encouragement of genocidal violence against the Rohingya” – actions that would be […]

In a January 26 ruling, a Japanese district court held the North Korean government liable for grave human rights violations against Koreans and Japanese citizens lured to North Korea through its “Paradise on Earth” campaign, ordering it to pay 22 million yen (US$142,000) to each plaintiff. Eiko Kawasaki, now 83, and three others filed the lawsuit […]

Addressing judges in The Hague, Ko Ko Hlaing, speaking as Myanmar’s agent, said his country fully recognizes the importance of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide but firmly denies breaching its obligations under international law. “A finding of genocide would place an indelible stain on my country and […]

As Bhutan’s prime minister Tshering Tobgay tours Europe this week seeking investments in the “Gelephu Mindfulness City” mega-project, European leaders should urge him to release the 30 remaining political prisoners from his country’s notorious jails. The 30 men have been held in cruel conditions for decades, after convictions for “treason” following unfair trials that included […]

The UN advocates for the universal abolition of the death penalty. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by 175 countries, protects the right to life and stipulates that, for countries that have not abolished capital punishment, it be imposed only for the ‘most serious crimes’ in exceptional cases.  OHCHR said the sharp increase in capital […]

Another Trump administration rollback on abortion access goes into effect on February 1, this time for US veterans, including 2.1 million women. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reversed a Biden administration reform that allowed veterans to access abortion care as part of their health benefits package. The rule, published at the end of December 2025, means […]

Volker Türk said he was outraged by renewed overnight attacks that knocked out power and heating in major cities – including Kyiv and Odesa – as temperatures plunged well below zero and civilians bear the brunt of what he described as unlawful assaults on civilian infrastructure. He said the Russian strikes “can only be described […]

January 2026 was meant to be when the government of the Brazilian state of Pará would roll out a new system, initially announced in 2023, to ensure the traceability of all cattle across its vast herd. A system to track cattle from birth is a critical reform to ensure cattle are no longer raised on […]