Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement Friday condemning the unlawful detention of members of Yemen’s national human rights institution by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC), a major party to the Yemeni war. The National Commission for the Investigation of Alleged Violations of Human Rights (NCIAVHR) is an independent body that investigates violations by [...]

Malaysia’s anti-corruption commission (MACC) on Friday arrested the country’s former Armed Forces chief, Mohamad Nizam Jaafar, as part of the ongoing anti-corruption crackdown within the military. Nizam has been charged with two counts of abuse of power, one count of criminal breach of trust, and one count of accepting gifts; all of which he has [...]

An anti-terrorism court in Islamabad on Friday sentenced seven people for incitement of violence and spread of hatred against state institutions during the May 2023 riots. Those convicted include YouTuber Adil Raja, journalists Wajahat Saeed Khan, Sabir Shakir and Shaheen Sehbai, anchorperson Haider Raza Mehdi, analyst Moeed Pirzada, and former army official Akbar Hussain. All [...]

The Supreme Court of Russia, in a closed-door decision on Friday, designated the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF/FBK) as a “terrorist organization.” The ACF, a US-registered entity, was founded by the late opposition leader Alexeï Navalny as part of his movement against corruption in 2011. On October 22, the Prosecutor General’s Office petitioned the court to designate [...]

Human Rights Watch on Friday condemned the recent sentencing of two former media workers in Kyrgyzstan who were convicted of “public calls for mass unrest,” according to their employer. Joomort Duulatov and Aleksandr Aleksandrov, former camera operators for Kloop, were sentenced to five years in prison.  Duulatov and Aleksandrov, along with six other current and [...]

The Russian Ministry of Justice added Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) to its list of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) deemed “undesirable” in the country on Thursday. RSF Director General, Thibaut Bruttin, said in a statement responding to Russia’s actions that the Kremlin’s message was to continue to gag voices that exposed its censorship and [...]

On Thursday, the High Court division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court dismissed the case against photojournalist and social activist Dr. Shahidul Alam, filed in 2018 under the now-repealed Section 57 of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act. The High Court bench, comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice Tamanna Rahman Khalidi, quashed the case, following [...]

On Wednesday, a Kyrgyzstan court ordered the liquidation of independent broadcaster Aprel TV, terminating its broadcasting and social media operations. The ruling was born out of a lawsuit filed by Kyrgyz prosecutors, citing “negative and destructive” reporting of the government that could undermine its authority.  The court ruled that Aprel TV’s content fell under the [...]

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on Monday released its review of the fifth to seventh periodic reports on Brazil’s state programs under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and its first report under the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. [...]

Human Rights Watch reported on Friday that the fourth UN Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Laos showed little progress over the past five years, and condemned the country’s attacks on dissidents and activists.  HRW criticized the country for not meeting rights obligations in ceasing arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and partial investigations. Containing 271 [...]