UN-appointed investigators reported on Thursday that Venezuela’s Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) has over the past decade carried out a pattern of killings, arbitrary detentions, torture, and sexual violence against protesters and political opponents of President Nicolás Maduro. Venezuela entered 2025 under intensified international attention, after a wave of repression followed the July 2024 presidential election. [...]

The social media platform Reddit on Friday challenged Australia’s social media ban for youth under the age of 16  in the country’s High Court. The move came two days after Reddit implemented age restrictions on its website. The legal action seeks a judicial review of Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age (SMMA) law, which took effect [...]

A Pakistani military court sentenced former intelligence chief Faiz Hameed to 14 years imprisonment on charges of espionage and abuse of power, according to a press release by the media and public relations division of Pakistan’s army on Thursday. According to the statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Field General Court Martial found [...]

Editor’s note: This is Day 4 of JURIST’s coverage of Mangione’s suppression hearings. Read Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3. On Day 4 of suppression hearings in the New York state case against Luigi Mangione, Altoona Police Officer Christy Wasser testified that she discovered a pistol, loaded magazine, and suppressor in Mangione’s backpack during [...]

Human rights groups in Taiwan launched a petition on December 8 opposing draft legislation that would eliminate parole eligibility for individuals convicted of murder, attempted murder, or child abuse resulting in death. The petition, which has attracted support from many lawyers and law professors, follows a joint statement filed by the Taiwan Alliance to End [...]

Austrian lawmakers on Thursday voted by a large majority to approve a law banning headscarves in schools for girls under 14, a move that is now facing criticism from experts and human rights groups. The only party to oppose it was the opposition Green Party, which argued that the law is unconstitutional. The ban was [...]

The Ecuadorian government’s financial crimes agency froze the bank accounts of several Indigenous and environmental groups, using secret intelligence information in an apparent effort to silence protests, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday. Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch, commented that the measures in question constitute a misuse of anti-money laundering mechanisms, which [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Tuesday that Tunisian authorities have arrested three prominent activists following a “sham trial.” The organization urged authorities to immediately overturn the “unjust convictions” and release those detained. Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at HRW, highlighted the political significance of the detentions: The arrests of prominent [...]

UN anti-racism experts on Tuesday raised “grave concerns” about ethnically motivated human rights violations in Sudan. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) urged Sudan to act to put an end to these violations and prevent further escalation. The committee issued this decision under “early warning” and “urgent procedures” mechanisms. The experts are [...]

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Tuesday announced a state of emergency following a wave of coups and attempted coups that have destabilized several member countries of the regional bloc. The declaration was made during the 55th session of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council in Abuja, Nigeria, by the president of [...]