Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Thursday that Chinese authorities are increasing their pressure on ‘underground’ Catholic communities to join the state-controlled church. The recent intensification includes subjecting clergy to intense political or ideological training. Greater restrictions have also been imposed on religious activities on official church premises, including registration requirements for church services and the [...]

A group of seven UN experts expressed alarm on Wednesday about a new law aimed at repressing LGBTQ+ voices and proponents of human and women’s rights in Belarus. The experts were concerned that this repression would breed further harassment and marginalization of LGBTQ+ individuals, women, and other minority groups: This law represents a dangerous escalation. [...]

Note: This story is part of a series of coverage from the first week of the 2026 UN Women’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). Read Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4. Friday marked the fifth and final day of the first week of CSW70, with panels focusing on young women’s [...]

Amnesty International called the conviction and sentencing of 19 activists participating in a peaceful protest a “travesty of justice,” in a press release on Tuesday. The protest was intended to raise awareness of and to help end human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region.  Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, [...]

Singaporean authorities are scheduled on Thursday to execute a man convicted of importing just over a kilogram of cannabis across the country’s border in a case that has drawn urgent condemnation from human rights organizations, the European Union, and a growing chorus of international observers. Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj, 41, was arrested in 2018 after [...]

A panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Tuesday ordered a federal judge to end his contempt investigation concerning the Trump administration’s Venezuelan migrant deportation flights. In a 2-1 decision, the majority ruled that Chief Judge James Boasberg of the US District Court for the District of Columbia abused [...]

UN experts warned Tuesday that proposed French legislation to target antisemitism, dubbed the PPL Yadan Bill, could jeopardize freedom of expression. The experts stated: “Criminal law should not suppress different views about current or past events, however inaccurate, unpopular, or shocking, unless such expression is intended to incite violence and is objectively likely to do [...]

Note: This story is part of a series of coverage from the first week of the 2026 UN Women’s Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). Read Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. The fourth day of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70) brought together a series of sessions tackling two urgent [...]

The reported executions of four Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) by Russian forces near the village of Veterynarne in the Kharkiv region on April 11 stand as a clear and prosecutable violation of the Geneva Conventions. According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office, Russian forces stormed Ukrainian positions and executed four as-yet unidentified soldiers, deliberately shooting [...]