Russia and China accused of damaging UN human rights funding
22/10/2025: A new report describes a systematic campaign spearheaded by China and Russia to chip away at the UN’s human rights machinery — particularly targeting investigations into abuses in countries like Venezuela and North Korea — by cutting off UN funding.
Source: PassBlue
Nepal’s Gen Z protests are a call for democratic renewal
22/10/2025: The collapse of the regime in Nepal is a reminder that governments must listen to their citizens. State brutality against peaceful protestors is indefensible and self-defeating. Nothing is more corrosive to a democratic regime than suppressing citizens’ right to peacefully protest.
Source: East Asia Forum
Nobel Peace Prize winner welcomed by UN Rights Office
10/10/2025: Opposition leader Maria Machado has won the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes. The High Commissioner for Human Rights has consistently spoken out in support of her values.
Source: UN News
Mali’s blocked transition: five years of deepening authoritarianism
3/10/2025: The military junta has dismantled Mali’s democratic foundations, five years after seizing power with promises of swift reform. Instead, sweeping decrees have outlawed political parties and dissolved all organised opposition. Civil society groups and independent media have been largely silenced.
Source: Inter Press Service
Vendetta in Democratic Republic of Congo
1/10/2025: A Congolese military court’s conviction and death sentence imposed on former President Joseph Kabila, for charges ranging from treason to war crimes, pose a threat to both the rule of law and the country’s democratic future. The military court tried Kabila in absentia and without defense counsel, in violation of the right to a fair trial under international human rights law.
Source: Human Rights Watch
North Korea: ‘lost decade’ of rights abuses
16/9/2025: A new UN report finds that the North Korean government has increased the use of surveillance, forced labor, and severe punishments over the past decade, maintaining “total control” over its population. The majority of the 19 recommendations made by a Commission of Inquiry in 2014 have not been implemented.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Democracy weakened as press freedom hits 50-year low
11/9/2025: The Global State of Democracy report for 2025 reveals a global trend of democracy under threat, with 54 per cent of countries falling in at least one key indicator in 2024. Freedom of the press suffered its most far-reaching fall in 50 years.
Source: International IDEA
UN human rights chief denounces “glorification of violence”
10/9/2025: Mr Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, has warned that the long-established rules of war “are being shredded”, with virtually no accountability, coupled with a troubling erosion of international law. He reaffirmed that human rights are a beacon of hope in the search for a better world.
Source: Third World Network
No progress in Afghanistan without women’s freedom
8/9/2025: In recent weeks, the walls of the Afghan capital have been plastered with government reminders about its strict interpretation of Islamic rule, replacing colourful murals promoting women’s rights. After four years of Taliban rule women continue to live with fear, deprivation, and many restrictions.
Source: Inter Press Service
Anti-gay law shocks community in Burkina Faso
6/9/2025: Burkina Faso’s minister of justice and human rights has amended a law in order to impose a prison sentence of 2-5 years for those who “promote homosexuality”. The amendment is seen by many as part of a wider push across Africa to promote what are called “family values”, but which oppose abortion and LGBTQ+ rights.
Source: The Guardian