The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Wednesday voiced deep concern following a ruling by a court in Duhok, Iraq, that ordered Kurdish journalist Omed Baroshky to remain in prison for an additional six months. In commenting on his predicament, CPJ Levant program coordinator Doja Daoud stated: “Omed Baroshky has already faced retaliation for his [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday released a report on the Russian government’s increasing control over internet infrastructure and digital communication across the country. The report, titled “Disrupted, Throttled, and Blocked: State Censorship, Control, and Increasing Isolation of Internet Users in Russia,” details the widespread and systemic censorship being carried out online. It outlines how [...]

UN human rights experts on Thursday pressured the Pakistani government to implement more proactive measures to prevent “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and assaults on cemeteries and places of worship” of religious minorities. “We are shocked at reports of increasing violence against vulnerable communities on grounds of their religion or belief,” experts stated. They claimed mass [...]

UN humanitarian officials reported Tuesday that United Nations staff in the Gaza Strip have been collapsing from hunger and extreme exhaustion, underscoring the deepening humanitarian crisis. The increasing physical toll on aid workers has intensified global concerns over the survival of the civilian population in the war-torn enclave, where access to food, water and medical [...]

A group of independent UN experts on Wednesday called for immediate and impartial investigations into the deaths of individuals held in Belarusian custody for exercising their right to political dissent, expressing concern over what they described as a pattern of repression against opposition voices and civil society in the country. In the aftermath of the [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday commended the decision by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in the case of South African runner Caster Semenya, who challenged regulations imposed by World Athletics, the global track and field governing body, that imposed discriminatory guidelines prohibiting women with Differences of Sex Development (DSD)  from competing in [...]

Amnesty International on Friday condemned a recent amendment to the Cambodian Constitution approved by the National Assembly that permits the revocation of Khmer citizenship, warning that it could be weaponized to silence dissent and leave individuals at risk of statelessness. Amnesty International’s regional research director Montse Ferrer stated: Revoking citizenship often violates human rights, and [...]

Amnesty International on Tuesday reported that women searching for their missing loved ones in Mexico, where over 128,000 people have been forcibly disappeared, are increasingly exposed to violence and reprisals, with at least 16 killed to date. In the report, titled “Disappearing again: Violence and impacts experienced by women searchers in Mexico,” the harrowing toll [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Tuesday criticized the deadly Israeli airstrike on Al-Baqa Café in Gaza that resulted in the death of Palestinian filmmaker and photojournalist Ismail Abu Hatab, and injured freelance journalist Bayan Abusultan.  In commenting on the latest wave of Israeli attacks on civilians, CPJ regional director Sara Qudah stated: “The [...]

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday signed into law a parliamentary bill passed last week that suspends cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog. The “Law on obligating the government to suspend cooperation with the IAEA,” was passed during a parliamentary session and garnered the overwhelming support of the [...]