Myanmar’s military courts sentenced 14 individuals to life imprisonment in a series of human trafficking cases involving forced marriage, sexual exploitation, and the production of pornographic content, local media reported Saturday. “The president of the military court has sentenced nine Burmese and five Chinese nationals to life imprisonment for selling Burmese women to Chinese men [...]
The UN reported on Sunday that a new wave of armed attacks in northern Mozambique has forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes, deepening an already dire humanitarian crisis and raising urgent questions about compliance with international legal obligations to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian assistance. Between July 20 and 28, at [...]
Slovenia on Thursday banned the import, export, and transit of arms and military equipment from and to Israel, becoming the first European Union (EU) country to do so. According to Prime Minister Robert Golob, the grave human rights violations taking place in the region obligate other states to comply with provisions of international law and act, [...]
Ukraine’s parliament on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation restoring the independence of the country’s leading anti-corruption agencies, reversing a controversial law enacted last week that placed them under the prosecutor general’s control. The new law was adopted by Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, with 331 votes in favor and none opposed. The law reestablishes the autonomy [...]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday urged accountability for the death of Syrian photojournalist Sari Majid Al-Shoufi while reporting on armed combat near the Syrian city of Sweida. Al-Shoufi was a photojournalist for Suwayda 24, a Druze-focused website. Rayan Marouf, the editor-in-chief of the website, said Al-Shoufi was reporting from a site in Taara, [...]
Iranian authorities severed the fingers of three men convicted of theft, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday. HRW Iran researcher Bahar Saba denounced the punishment, stating, “Amputation is torture, plain and simple. Yet Iran persists in carrying out cruel and inhuman punishments that fly in the face of its human rights obligations.” Mehdi Shahivand, [...]
A UN expert criticized the US government on Wednesday for its rollback of sanctions against entities supplying weapons and other support to the Myanmar military junta, finding the move “unconscionable.” Special Rapporteur for Myanmar Tom Andrews explained in his statement that the persons delisted by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control [...]
Amnesty International published a report on Wednesday that revealed alleged failures by Madagascar authorities to protect the indigenous Antandroy peoples from climate-related displacement since 2017, asserting that the failures violate fundamental rights. The report, titled “That Suffering Haunts Me Even Here,” detailed the displacement of the Antandroy as a result of drought-induced famines. According to [...]
On Wednesday, the UN high commissioner for human rights welcomed the ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand while urging both countries to pursue a civil de-escalation process. High Commissioner Volker Türk asserted that it is important for both sides to ensure that victims of the violence receive redress in line with international human rights and humanitarian [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated on Wednesday that Bangladesh’s interim government failed to implement adequate human rights protections, one year after the overthrow of the previous government. The rights group noted that while the current government, led by Mohammed Yunus, has taken some positive steps towards improving the human rights situation, issues of impunity and [...]
