United Nations human rights experts on Monday called on Serbia to end the intensifying crackdown on peaceful student demonstrators, urging the government to engage in meaningful dialogue with academic institutions to uphold academic freedom. Experts expressed concern following the Serbian authorities’ targeting of students, educators, human rights activists, and civil society, emphasizing the importance of [...]
A Russian court sentenced journalist Olga Komleva to 12 years in prison on Tuesday for her work with the Anti-Corruption Foundation and the dissemination of false information about the Russian military’s actions. Judge Rafis Nabiyev of the Kirovsky District Court of Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, sentenced Komleva under Article 282.1, part 2 of the Criminal [...]
United Nations independent experts on Monday called on Russia to end long-standing trafficking and forced labor of migrant women, predominantly from Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, in the Golyanovo district of Moscow. Expressing concern over the “credible and well-documented allegations” of trafficking and forced labor, the special rapporteurs stated: “We urge Russian authorities to take immediate and [...]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday expressed alarm over a court verdict imposing a gag order on retired Mexican journalist Jorge Luis González Valdez and the newspaper Tribuna. The CPJ called on Governor Layda Sansores of Campeche state to “immediately cease any judicial harassment” of González Valdez and Tribuna over coverage of her [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday called upon the Jordanian government to immediately reverse a policy that mandates displacing a Bedouin community from the Petra area through forcible evictions. Human Rights Watch deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adam Coogle, stated: Jordan can’t claim to protect Petra’s living heritage while sidelining the community that [...]
The German Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday dismissed a constitutional complaint brought by two Yemeni citizens regarding the United States’ use of a German air base to deploy drones. The Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court, Germany’s highest court, delivered the judgment in the decade-long case. Before the court, plaintiffs had challenged the decisions [...]
The appeal proceedings of 13 individuals, part of Hong Kong’s landmark national security case in which 47 pro-democracy activists were convicted, commenced on Monday. Amnesty International stated the hearing was a “pivotal chance to correct mass injustice.” The court will hear the appeals of 12 defendants who were convicted and sentenced in November 2024. The [...]
A coalition of rights groups urged Guinean authorities on Tuesday to “urgently reveal” the whereabouts of civil society activists Oumar Sylla and Mamadou Billo Bah, who were forcibly disappeared one year ago. Co-signed by 25 Guinean and international human rights organizations, the statement read: We call on Guinean authorities to break their unbearable silence regarding [...]
The United Nations voted to renew the mandate of the independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) on Monday. The UN Human Rights Council adopted the resolution with 29 votes in favor, 15 votes against, and 3 abstentions in its 59th session. The renewal of the [...]
An Algerian court upheld a verdict against French-Algerian writer and critic Boualem Sansal on Tuesday, sentencing him to five years in prison and a fine of 500,000 Algerian dinars (approximately $3,851). The Algiers Court of Appeal upheld the sentence issued by the Criminal Court of First Instance of Dar El Beïda on March 27. In [...]
