Human Rights

20/11/2024: A Hong Kong court has harshly sentenced 45 prominent pro-democracy figures for involvement in elections for the then-semi-democratic Legislative Council. The Chinese and Hong Kong governments’ crackdown on the democracy movement violates obligations enshrined in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Source: Human Rights Watch

18/11/2024: Satellite imagery, social media footage and resident testimony has revealed a trail of devastation as houses in the Afghan capital have been demolished for development. The six most-affected districts included areas populated by minority communities.

Source: The Guardian

7/11/2024: The results of the 9 October elections in Mozambique remain disputed. International and local observers have noted that the polls were beset by multiple and major irregularities. The president of the Constitutional Council has ordered the National Electoral Commission to produce the results sheets of every polling station.

Source: African Arguments

6/11/2024: The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) faces devastating effects if the Oct. 28 Israeli legislation banning its operations providing health, education and other social services to Palestinian refugees in Israel and the occupied territories comes into effect. During his first presidential term, Trump ended US voluntary funding of UNRWA, straining the agency’s ability to function.

Source: PassBlue

6/11/2024: Human Rights Watch warns that Donald Trump has proposed policies that would weaken democratic institutions that protect fundamental human rights and would lessen checks on presidential authority. Independent institutions and civil society groups must do all they can to hold him and his administration accountable for abuses.

Source: Human Rights Watch

31/5/2024: Three judges handpicked by the Beijing-controlled Hong Kong chief executive have convicted 14 pro-democracy activists and former elected lawmakers under the draconian National Security Law. According to Human Rights Watch, many aspects of the detention and trial proceedings have violated international due process standards, including prolonged pretrial detention and denial of a jury trial.

Source: Human Rights Watch

29/5/2024: A total of 1,153 executions took place in 2023, marking an increase of more than 30% from 2022. The five countries with the highest number of executions in 2023 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and the USA. Iran alone accounted for 74% of all recorded executions.

Source: Amnesty International

11/5/2024: Participants in Mali's national dialogue have recommended extending the military-led transition to democracy by three years. An alliance of political parties and civil society organisations refused to participate in the national dialogue. The substantial delay is likely to deepen concerns about democratic backsliding in West and Central Africa, where there have been eight coups over the past four years.

Source: The East African

10/5/2024: Chad's junta has become the first of the coup-hit countries in West and Central Africa to stage a return to constitutional rule via the ballot box. But the International Crisis Group has said that “several problems in the run-up to the balloting cast doubt on its credibility”.

Source: The East African

4/5/2024: In its annual international report Amnesty International says that African governments continue to be largely indifferent to calls to tackle impunity over human rights, thereby disregarding the rule of law. Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea and Kenya are named in the report.

Source: The East African