UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday urged the international community to implement an arms embargo and targeted sanctions on Myanmar. Türk delivered his statement at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, describing the rights situation in Myanmar as one of the worst in the world with a “litany [...]
A group of independent UN experts on Friday urged the Venezuelan government to account for victims of enforced disappearance in connection with protests around the country’s presidential election in July 2024 and the subsequent inauguration in January 2025. The Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances expressed concern over an increasing number of enforced disappearances, [...]
Drug cartel boss Rafael Caro Quintero pleaded not guilty in a Brooklyn court on Friday to charges related to his involvement in the 40-year-old killing of a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent. Caro Quintero was brought to federal court along with 28 other accused cartel members. He is facing charges for crimes committed as the [...]
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned on Friday that hunger in Sudan’s Zamzam refugee camp could worsen after the agency temporarily paused food assistance to the camp, citing intense fighting and escalating violence. A spokesperson for WFP stated that the agency had no other choice but to evacuate the staff, stressing that residents of [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday urged for imprisoned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan’s call for an end to the organization’s decades-long insurgency against Türkiye to serve as a catalyst to end the systematic misuse of terrorism charges against government critics in Türkiye. Öcalan founded the PKK in 1978. The party waged an [...]
Amnesty International released a report on Friday shedding light on the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education of Indigenous youth across multiple continents. Drawing on more than 80 interviews and surveys conducted between 2021 and 2023, the organization’s findings highlighted systemic inequities, a glaring lack of consultation with Indigenous communities, and a need [...]
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Friday signed into law a bill that removes gender identity as a protected class under Iowa civil rights law. Reynolds stated that the state’s “Civil Rights Code blurred the biological lines between the sexes” in an unacceptable manner, and that the new law will strengthen the state’s efforts to protect [...]
South Sudan’s political leaders are failing their people by enabling impunity, corruption, and systemic human rights violations, warns the latest report from the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Friday. The report highlights persistent patterns of violence, repression, and economic mismanagement, underscoring the urgent need for meaningful reform to prevent further deterioration [...]
Recent criminal law reforms in El Salvador that expand punitive measures against minors violate children’s rights, Amnesty International said Thursday. The amendment, approved February 12, permits adolescents convicted of organized criminal offenses to be transferred to adult prisons, and further access to parole is eliminated, in contravention of juvenile justice standards. The reforms revised the [...]
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday called on Russian authorities to halt legal action against a journalist who criticized the invasion of Ukraine and faces a possible prison sentence of up to 10 years. CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna said the case against journalist Ekaterina Barabash “demonstrate how Russian authorities [...]
