UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday denounced Mali’s sweeping ban on political parties as a “draconian” violation of basic rights, warning that it could further silence dissent and institutionalize repression. Türk called on the transitional authorities to repeal the decree and release any individuals arrested on politically motivated grounds, stating that [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called for the immediate release of Russian journalist Veronika Orlova, who was sentenced to 13 days of administrative detention after filming the aftermath of an anti-Putin protest in Moscow earlier this week. Orlova, a reporter for independent outlet SOTAvision, was arrested Tuesday near Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, where [...]

Human Rights Watch on Friday called for the immediate release of Trinh Ba Phuong, a prominent Vietnamese human rights activist, condemning what it described as an intensifying campaign by the Vietnamese government to silence peaceful dissent. Phuong, who is already serving a 10-year prison sentence under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code for criticizing the [...]

The UK Court of Appeal upheld a ruling Friday that found 2023 protest regulations unlawful, marking a critical blow to legislation that civil liberties groups said undermined the right to protest and bypassed the will of Parliament. The case, brought by the National Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty), argued that then Home Secretary Suella Braverman [...]

A Palestinian envoy accused Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Monday of killing and displacing civilians and targeting humanitarian workers in Gaza, amid mounting international legal scrutiny of Israel’s conduct. Speaking before the court, Palestinian envoy to the Netherlands Ammar Hijazi charged that “Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting [...]

Haiti is facing a humanitarian catastrophe as gang violence intensifies, displacing over 60,000 people in just weeks and pushing the country toward collapse, a United Nations official warned Monday. UN Special Representative María Isabel Salvador told the Security Council that Haiti is “approaching a point of no return.” February and March alone saw over 1,000 [...]

Transnational organized cybercrime groups from East and Southeast Asia are rapidly expanding operations beyond the region, leveraging advanced technologies and strategic relocation to evade growing enforcement pressure, according to a new report published Monday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The report, “Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking [...]

Hundreds of people in northern Ghana, mostly older women, continue to live in fear and extreme hardship after being accused of witchcraft and forced from their communities, according to a new report published Monday by Amnesty International. The report, “Branded for Life: How Witchcraft Accusations Lead to Human Rights Violations of Hundreds of Women in [...]

Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City has been forced out of service following a devastating Israeli airstrike early Sunday morning, amid what UN agencies describe as an escalating humanitarian catastrophe. Until the strike, Al Ahli had been one of Gaza’s few partially functioning hospitals, treating casualties from Israel’s renewed military campaign. Forty patients who [...]

A French court convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen of embezzlement on Monday, imposing on her to a five-year ban from holding public office, and effectively disqualifying her from the 2027 presidential election. The ruling follows allegations that Le Pen and members of her National Rally (RN) party misused European Parliament funds to pay party [...]