What does Russia leaving the Council of Europe mean?
17/3/2022: The Russian Federation's exit from Europe's top human rights watchdog has been condemned by human rights groups concerned about the impact on victims of the Kremlin's rights abuses. The Council of Europe was formed in 1949 and seeks to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law across Europe.
Source: DW
Russia blocks ships carrying grain exports
17/3/2022: Up to 300 ships have been stopped by Russian forces from departing the Black Sea, leaving one of the key global trade routes for grain virtually blocked. The fertile region is known as "the world's breadbasket." The International Maritime Organization has called for so-called blue corridors to allow the ships to leave the Black Sea without the risk of attack or hitting a mine.
Source: DW
Bangladesh: stop flouting UN rights concerns
17/3/2022: The Bangladesh government should meaningfully respond to UN concerns regarding torture, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killings in the country, Human Rights Watch has said. The US has already sanctioned the country’s Rapid Action Battalion for serious rights violations.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Cambodia: opposition politicians convicted in mass trial
17/3/2022: A Cambodian court has convicted 20 opposition politicians and activists, after an unfair trial in which no credible evidence was brought against the defendants, according to Human Rights Watch. Many activists have fled the country because they fear arbitrary arrest.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Why we must remember Afghanistan
17/3/2022: There was no reference to Afghanistan in US President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech. The chaotic US withdrawal of August 2021 sent Afghanistan’s already flagging economy into freefall. Women’s rights activists have been jailed by the Taliban without explanation. Several have disappeared. Press freedom has undeniably been rolled back.
Source: Inter Press Service
International Court orders Russia to suspend operations in Ukraine
16/3/2022: Although the verdicts of the UN International Court of Justice are binding, the Court has no direct means of enforcing them. Ukraine contended that having falsely claimed acts of genocide against the people of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, Russia implemented a “special military operation” to punish the purported acts.
Source: UN News
Afghanistan: Food insecurity threatens ‘an entire generation’
15/3/2022: People in Afghanistan are today facing a food insecurity and malnutrition crisis of “unparalleled proportions”, according to the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator. Acute hunger in the country rose from 14 million in July, to 23 million in March.
Source: UN News
UN Security Council extends South Sudan peacekeeping mission
16/3/2022: The UN Security Council has voted to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping mission in South Sudan for one more year, calling for political dialogue to prevent the country from returning to civil war. Since independence from Sudan in 2011, the country has seen chronic instability, including a bitter civil war between 2013 and 2018.
Source: DW
Mexico: Shelve regressive bill to curb civil society groups
11/3/2022: A bill being considered by Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies would severely restrict the work of civil society groups in Mexico and violate Mexico’s international legal obligations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have said. The bill would prohibit non-profit organizations from trying to influence laws if they receive funding, directly or indirectly, from foreign governments or corporations.
Source: Amnesty International
Activists vow to take EU to court over forest biomass policies
14/3/2022: International NGOs and their lawyers contend that the European Union is burning forest biomass to produce energy, a policy science has shown to be climate destabilizing, destructive to forests and biodiversity.
Source: Mongabay