Human trafficking has surged globally, with a 25 percent increase in victims detected between 2019 and 2022, according to a report released on Wednesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The 2024 Global Report on Trafficking in Persons revealed rising child exploitation and forced labor cases fueled by poverty, conflict, and [...]

In a move that has sparked widespread outcry, Niger’s military authorities have arrested Moussa Tchangari, a well-known civil society leader and critic of the government, Amnesty International reported Monday. Tchangari, secretary general of Citizens’ Alternative Spaces (Alternatives Espaces Citoyens, AEC), was taken from his home in Niamey on December 3 by three men in plain [...]

The US government unsealed an indictment Monday charging two former high-ranking officials of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence with war crimes. The indictment accuses Jamil Hassan and Abdul Salam Mahmoud of cruel and inhuman treatment, including the torture of detainees, some of whom were US citizens, at the Mezzeh military airbase prison in Damascus. The [...]

Hundreds of demonstrators in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi were hit with teargas by police on Tuesday as they protested a nationwide swell in gender-based violence and femicide. Marking Human Rights Day, protestors marched toward Parliament to demand justice for victims and, that authorities hold perpetrators accountable by prioritizing investigations and instituting stronger protection mechanisms. On [...]

Germany suspended processing asylum claims for Syrian refugees on Monday following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, with the UK, Greece and Sweden quickly adopting similar measures amid the rapidly evolving situation in Damascus. According to Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge; BAMF), the currently unclear situation in Syria [...]

Environmental organization Greenpeace announced Tuesday that it reached a settlement with British-Dutch oil and gas company Shell, which had sued the group over a protest. The legal dispute stemmed from an incident in 2023 when Greenpeace activists boarded a Shell oil production vessel to demonstrate against fossil fuel extraction and its environmental impact. Shell brought [...]

The UK and Germany agreed on Tuesday to a new joint action plan to tackle people-smuggling. The plan aims to “fight to save lives in the Channel and disrupt the migrant smuggling trade.” It will provide a joint framework between the two countries, which “strengthens operational capabilities of UK and German law enforcement” to tackle [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report on Tuesday detailing allegations of widespread human rights abuses committed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan’s South Kordofan state. The report documents a pattern of violence in the towns of Habila and Fayu between December 2023 and March 2024, including the killing of scores of civilians, [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday criticized the inhumane treatment of migrants attempting to cross into Poland from Belarus, especially criticizing the actions to Polish border guards. According to the organization, Polish law enforcement “unlawfully” pushed migrants back into Belarus, sometimes using violence, while also denying them access to asylum procedures in violation of international [...]

Amnesty International on Monday called upon Chad authorities to “immediately release” the relatives of killed opposition party leader Yaya Dillo Djerou, who remain detained despite being acquitted. The statement urges Chadian authorities to release 10 detained relatives of the Parti Socialiste sans Frontières (PSF) leader. The relatives were acquitted in July following a military assault [...]