Human Rights

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

3/5/2024: Of the five indicators used to compile the rankings in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, it is the political indicator that has fallen most. The Index reveals a worrying decline in support and respect for media autonomy and an increase in pressure from the state or other political actors.

Source: Reporters Without Borders

19/4/2024: The UN Support Mission in Libya was launched in 2011 to facilitate a political process that would lead to elections. After 18 months as UN special envoy, the Senegalese diplomat Abdoulaye Bathily has been unable to make progress, as the country remains divided by two rival governments.

Source: DW

14/4/2024: It is 10 years since 276 girls were abducted from Chibok secondary school in Nigeria by Boko Haram fighters. Parents and relatives of the girls who remain in captivity say they have been abandoned. Amnesty International says the Nigerian authorities have not learned any lessons or taken effective measures to prevent attacks on schools.

Source: Amnesty International