Human Rights

23/1/2025: The International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for two senior Taliban officials, accused of crimes against humanity. Since reclaiming power in Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have systematically stripped women of their rights, including barring them from employment, public spaces and education beyond the age of 12.

Source: UN News

22/1/2025: Several of President Trump’s cabinet nominees said they were committed to human rights when testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But Human Rights Watch has pointed to multiple executive orders that threaten to undermine respect for international human rights.

Source: Human Rights Watch

16/1/2025: A total of 361 journalists were behind bars towards the end of 2024, the second-highest number on record, according to a new report released by the Committee to Protect Journalists. China, Israel, and Myanmar were the leading jailers of reporters, followed by Belarus and Russia.

Source: Committee to Protect Journalists

13/12/2024: The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced the transfer of antipersonnel landmines to Ukraine, reversing a longstanding US prohibition. These transfers break years of incremental steps by the US government to align its policy and practice with the 1997 treaty banning antipersonnel mines.

Source: Human Rights Watch

11/12/2024: Human rights organisations around the world have condemned FIFA’s confirmation of Saudi Arabia as hosts of the 2034 World Cup. Amnesty International had already criticized FIFA’s evaluation of Saudi Arabia’s bid as “an astonishing whitewash”, as well as its failure to compensate migrant workers involved in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Source: Amnesty International

10/12/2024: Amnesty has condemned Iran for further erasing the human rights of women and girls through severe penalties relating to compulsory veiling. The new law was drafted in May 2023 in response to widespread defiance of compulsory veiling by women and girls in protest at the death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini.

Source: Amnesty International

3/12/2024: The Taliban in Afghanistan have closed one of the last remaining loopholes in their ban on education for older girls and women by forbidding them from attending institutions offering medical education. In September 2021, the Taliban stopped girls from attending secondary school beyond sixth grade. In December 2022, they banned girls and women from attending higher education.

Source: Human Rights Watch

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