A UK court on Thursday sentenced two men for gathering information illegally against Hong Kong pro-democracy activists who are now residing in the country. Justice Cheema-Grubb imposed prison terms of eight and ten years, respectively. In her sentencing remarks, Cheema-Grubb reiterated that the activities of both Chi Leung Wai and Chung Biu Yuen—providing information on [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) issued a report on Wednesday documenting record level attacks against human rights defenders in 2025. The Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders (HRDs) defines HRDs as “people who, individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights in a peaceful manner.” Preliminary [...]

Amnesty International on Wednesday urged Tunisian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release” anti-racism activist Saadia Mosbah and five of her colleagues, and called on the Tunis appellate court to overturn their convictions. Mosbah and her colleagues are affiliated with the anti-racism and rights organization Mnemty (“My Dream”), with Mosbah serving as president. In May 2024, [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday detailed abuses endured by communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul—two cities in the US state of Minnesota—during the occupation of the Twin Cities area by immigration officers. According to HRW, officers terrorized residents, committed widespread human rights violations, and exposed “deeply abusive” tendencies within US immigration enforcement. The statement accompanied [...]

UN Secretary General António Guterres raised the alarm on Wednesday over the abuse of free speech and expression rights for promoting hatred online, that he said is leading to a “surge in real-world violence” against vulnerable groups. Speaking on the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, Guterres warned that such speech is a “tool for [...]

The Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal on Wednesday unanimously upheld a law prohibiting public advocacy for an election boycott. The court held that the law is a justified infringement on the right to free speech. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung found that the law serves a legitimate aim of protecting the legitimacy of elections by [...]

Amnesty International warned on Wednesday that the coastal community of Cedeño in the Gulf of Fonseca, Honduras, is experiencing a human rights crisis resulting from climate change impacts that threaten the population’s livelihoods. Ana Piquer, Amnesty International’s Americas director, said: “The heartbreaking situation facing the people of Cedeño today is the result of years of [...]

A coalition of Canadian civil rights groups on Wednesday called for privacy legislation to regulate the collection of personal information by federal national parties. The appeal comes after Parliament repealed a related law in March. The statement said federal political parties remain left out in the current Canadian privacy framework, allowing them to collect voters’ [...]

The Dutch Parliament on Tuesday passed legislation criminalizing conversion therapy, making the Netherlands the latest country to impose criminal sanctions on actions aimed towards changing individuals’ sexual orientation and gender identity. Tuesday’s legislation, titled Wet strafbaarstelling conversiehandelingen (Act on the Criminalization of Conversion Acts), was approved by the Upper House (Eerste Kamer) with 57 out [...]

French police are using on-the-spot fixed-penalty fines as a new tool for racial profiling, trapping Black and Arab youth in debt reaching tens of thousands of euros, Human Rights Watch, (RE)CLAIM and Maison Communautaire pour un Développement Solidaire (MCDS) said in a joint statement Wednesday. The report documents police issuing criminal fines for alleged noise [...]