The Australian government is continuing to probe China for more information on two Australian nationals who have been unable to contact consular authorities for over a month. One of the hostages taken by the CCP is the Australian/Chinese journalist and TV anchor, Cheng Lei, who was working as a business journalist for the Chinese state… … Read more →
French authorities have confirmed that a family of four Kurdish Iranians – Rasul Iran Nezhad, Shiva Mohammad Panah and their two young children – have died as they attempted to cross the English channel. They were among a group of 19 migrants whose boat capsized off the coast of France in a desperate bid to reach British shores. … Read more →
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British-Iranian dual national, who has been arbitrarily detained in Iran since 2016, was yesterday (29 October 2020) issued with a summons and told to “pack her prison clothes” when she returns to court next week. … Read more →
Five Yemeni journalists have been released by the Houthi militia as part of a prisoner exchange coordinated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The five released have been confirmed as Hisham Ahmed Saleh Tarmoom … Read more →
Nineteen-year-old activist Tony Chung has been detained by authorities in Hong Kong after attempting to seek asylum at the US consulate. Chung had previously been released on bail after his arrest in July on national security charges. He was amongst four student activists arrested under the Beijing-imposed law, for allegedly advocating online for an independent… … Read more →
Western governments are being called upon to repatriate nationals who are in detention camps in Northeast Syria. An open letter signed by over 200 academics urges Western governments to take responsibility for their citizens and end the deprivation of citizenship of European nationals. Syria’s al-Hol and al-Roj camps hold over 65,000 people who have faced… … Read more →
On 22 October 2020 the Home Office released its new statement of changes to the immigration rules, providing more detail on the infamous Points-Based Immigration System. Despite the Government stating that these reforms will lead to a “simplified system” … Read more →
Abortions have been ruled unconstitutional by a top court in Poland. This reverses existing laws which normally permit abortions due to foetal defects, and now only cases of rape, incest or threats to the mother’s health will be permissable. These instances only account for 2% of abortions, whereas the now illegal termination due to foetal… … Read more →
In a statement issued by 11 organisations, including Human Rights Watch, following their visit to Turkey between 6 and 9 October to meet with journalists, officials, and others to assess the conditions for media freedom in Turkey, the coalition concluded:
“Turkey’s press freedom crisis is worsening”. … Read more →
On 21 October 2020, during a peaceful demonstration in Lagos, witnesses reported 12 people had been shot dead and many more injured by police. Demonstrators had been protesting against police brutality and the controversial SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) unit over a number of weeks. … Read more →