The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Monday strongly condemned the 11-hour detention and potential prosecution of two journalists in Macao, calling the move a “disturbing escalation” in the ongoing suppression of independent journalism in China’s special administrative region. According to the news outlet All About Macau, the two reporters were detained for 11 hours [...]

The Pakistan Kissan Ittehad (PKI), a leading farmers’ body, strongly rejected the Punjab provincial government’s recently announced Rs15 billion ($17,609) wheat support package, terming it insufficient and ill-conceived. PKI President Khalid Mahmood Khokhar, addressing a press conference in Multan on Sunday, called for a guaranteed support price instead to shield farmers from mounting financial losses. [...]

The Vietnamese government has significantly escalated its suppression of dissent, increasingly punishing individuals, including ordinary citizens, for peacefully expressing concerns about state policies and public officials, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released today. Titled “We’ll All Be Arrested Soon’: Abusive Prosecutions under Vietnam’s ‘Infringing of State Interests’ Law,” the report highlights the [...]

Amnesty International called on Algerian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release activist and poet Mohamed Tadjadit, who is currently serving a five-year prison sentence for his peaceful expression of dissent. The appeal comes ahead of Tadjadit’s scheduled appeal hearing on April 17, and amid growing international condemnation of his conviction. “The imprisonment of Mohamed Tadjadit [...]

India on Monday strongly rebuked UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk for his remarks on Kashmir and Manipur, calling them “unfounded and baseless.” The sharp response came after Turk, in his global update at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, raised concerns over violence and displacement in Manipur [...]

Thailand Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra claimed on Monday that the deportation of 40 Uyghurs to China was in accordance with human rights standards. Citing photos published by the Chinese authorities, Shinawatra stated her confidence that “China will take good care of this group of people.” “We actually did everything correctly on human rights,” Shinawatra told [...]

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed authorities to begin the immediate enforcement of a law banning the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees on Tuesday. The UNRWA law was passed by the Knesset with broad support, and prohibits the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and bars Israeli [...]

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) strongly condemned the looting of its warehouses in Bukavu, South Kivu, amid escalating violence in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday. The theft of 7,000 tonnes of humanitarian food supplies intended for vulnerable communities has intensified concerns over the growing humanitarian crisis in the [...]

Amnesty International on Tuesday called on Indian authorities to take immediate steps to end ongoing ethnic violence and ensure human rights protections in the conflict-torn northeastern state of Manipur. The statement follows the resignation of N. Biren Singh as chief minister of Manipur. In a statement issued on Monday, Aakar Patel, chair of the board [...]

Libyan authorities announced Monday that they found nearly 50 bodies in two mass graves in the country’s southeastern desert, again driving home the persistent dangers faced by migrants seeking passage to Europe through the conflict-ridden nation. Officials reported that the first mass grave, containing 19 bodies, was found on Friday at a farm in Kufra. [...]