United Nations experts on Friday condemned the criminal prosecution of 10 members of the Istanbul Bar Association and its president, İbrahim Kaboğlu, as well as the arrest of board member Firat Epözdemir, after the Bar issued a statement calling for an investigation into the deaths of two journalists in a conflict zone. The two journalists [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed alarm Thursday over Italy’s trajectory following a closed-door hearing last week that previewed the European Union’s upcoming 2025 rule-of-law report for the country. HRW condemned the Italian government’s “combative” attitude during the hearing, stating:  In the face of serious concerns about the health of human rights in Italy, Italian authorities [...]

Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that the cabinet’s dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar was “improper” and “unlawful.” The court found the firing lacked valid justification and was based on a “thin and shaky factual foundation.” Expanding on the court’s reasoning, court president Justice Isaac Amit condemned the government’s failure to consult [...]

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday denounced Mali’s sweeping ban on political parties as a “draconian” violation of basic rights, warning that it could further silence dissent and institutionalize repression. Türk called on the transitional authorities to repeal the decree and release any individuals arrested on politically motivated grounds, stating that [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called for the immediate release of Russian journalist Veronika Orlova, who was sentenced to 13 days of administrative detention after filming the aftermath of an anti-Putin protest in Moscow earlier this week. Orlova, a reporter for independent outlet SOTAvision, was arrested Tuesday near Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, where [...]

Human Rights Watch on Friday called for the immediate release of Trinh Ba Phuong, a prominent Vietnamese human rights activist, condemning what it described as an intensifying campaign by the Vietnamese government to silence peaceful dissent. Phuong, who is already serving a 10-year prison sentence under Article 117 of Vietnam’s penal code for criticizing the [...]

The UK Court of Appeal upheld a ruling Friday that found 2023 protest regulations unlawful, marking a critical blow to legislation that civil liberties groups said undermined the right to protest and bypassed the will of Parliament. The case, brought by the National Council for Civil Liberties (Liberty), argued that then Home Secretary Suella Braverman [...]

A Palestinian envoy accused Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Monday of killing and displacing civilians and targeting humanitarian workers in Gaza, amid mounting international legal scrutiny of Israel’s conduct. Speaking before the court, Palestinian envoy to the Netherlands Ammar Hijazi charged that “Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting [...]

Haiti is facing a humanitarian catastrophe as gang violence intensifies, displacing over 60,000 people in just weeks and pushing the country toward collapse, a United Nations official warned Monday. UN Special Representative María Isabel Salvador told the Security Council that Haiti is “approaching a point of no return.” February and March alone saw over 1,000 [...]

Transnational organized cybercrime groups from East and Southeast Asia are rapidly expanding operations beyond the region, leveraging advanced technologies and strategic relocation to evade growing enforcement pressure, according to a new report published Monday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The report, “Inflection Point: Global Implications of Scam Centres, Underground Banking [...]