Amnesty International on Wednesday urged the Lesotho government to investigate allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings committed during the Lesotho Defence Forces’ (LDF) campaign to confiscate illegal firearms from gang members, dubbed Operation Hard Fist. The operation was launched earlier this year in response to escalating violent crime in Lesotho, and the proliferation of illegal [...]

The Special Prosecution of Kosovo announced Wednesday that it has indicted 45 individuals for terrorism and other serious crimes related to an attack in the northern village of Banjska in September 2023. The charges follow an extensive investigation into an armed incursion by ethnic Serbs that resulted in the deaths of four people, including a [...]

Over 26 human rights organizations, including the Kurdistan Human Rights Network and Center for Human Rights in Iran, issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling for the immediate revocation of the death sentence imposed on Kurdish women’s rights activist Pakhshan Azizi. This sentence, handed down by the Iranian judiciary, has sparked international outrage, with the [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Lebanon and Cyprus of violating the human rights of Syrian refugees with indirect financial support from the European Union (EU) in a report released Wednesday. HRW detailed how both countries intercepted and forcibly returned refugees to Syria in a coordinated effort to prevent them from seeking asylum in Europe. According [...]

Tunisia’s Administrative Court reinstated former minister Mondher Znaidi on Thursday as a candidate in the October 6, 2024, presidential election after upholding his appeal, according to local news. The court’s decision overturns an earlier ruling by Tunisia’s Independent High Authority for Elections (ISIE), which had disqualified Znaidi’s candidacy over alleged insufficient voter signatures. This ruling [...]

The Iraqi Anti-Corruption Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Noor Zuhair and Haitham al-Jubouri, who are implicated in the infamous “Theft of the Century” misappropriation case, local news agencies reported on Tuesday. The case revolves around the misappropriation of an enormous 3.7 trillion Iraqi dinars (about $2.5 billion USD) from tax security deposits. This major [...]

The United Nations Human Rights Office said on Thursday that basic freedoms in Sri Lanka were under threat as the nation prepares to elect a new president in September. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published a comprehensive report on the growing human rights concerns and erosion of democratic [...]

The United States Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it has sanctioned Michel Joseph Martelly, the former president of Haiti, on drug trafficking charges. The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control had imposed these sanctions under Executive Order 14059, which targets individuals involved in the global illicit drug trade. These sanctions freeze assets Martelly may [...]

The UK’s labor government announced Tuesday that it will end the Bibby Stockholm barge contract as of January 2025. The decision not to renew the contract is part of the government’s strategy to clear the asylum backlog and reform the asylum system. The Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Dame Angela Eagle, emphasized the need to [...]

The British Overseas NGOs for Development (Bond) released its latest report on Tuesday, finding that the UK’s civic space remains under pressure after being downgraded in global rankings. The report examines six key UK trends that threaten civil society. These include ever stricter anti-protest laws, protesters being prevented from mentioning motives in court, tone-policing of [...]