NEWS ON HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES WORLDWIDE

More than 300 human rights defenders in 31 countries were killed in 2019. Forty percent of them were working on land, indigenous peoples’ and environmental rights, a new report reveals. The report, released by Front Line Defenders (FLD) on Tuesday, details reported violations of detention, sexual violence, torture, disappearance and physical assault against social activists between January … Read more →

The use of UN veto power by Russia and China almost left millions cut off from lifesaving aid in northern Syria. The two countries used their security council authority to veto the extension of Resolution 2165 in December 2019, but at the last minute on 10 January, they and all parties voted for the extension. … Read more →

This Sunday the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Kennneth Roth, was denied entry into Hong Kong, where he was scheduled to launch the organisation’s World Report 2020 report later this week. Roth has said Immigration authorities told him he could not enter the Chinese-ruled city when he landed at Hong Kong International Airport, despite … Read more →

As the US bridges trade relations with China, a Republican Florida Senator, Marco Rubio, warned his government that China shouldn’t be exonerated of its human rights record, despite improved trade relations. Senator Rubio has said that the signing of a U.S-China trade deal will not prevent the United States from criticizing China on its abuses.Sen. … Read more →

This week Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan praised the role of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MİT) highlighting. “We are going through a period in which the world is being restructured. The threats we face increase. Intelligence data are indispensable for a nation’s prosperity, not only in wartimes but also during times of peace.” Erdoğan went … Read more →

The UK has been warned it may face losing its permanent seat on the UN Security Council if it continues to defy the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – the UN’s highest court ruling on the future of the Chagos Islands. The claim has been made by David Snoxell, the former British high commissioner to … Read more →

According to current estimates, nearly 300,000 people have been displaced from southern Idlib since 12 December, with children and women being the most affected. Speaking to reporters in New York, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq said “over half of the displaced, at least 175,000, are children”. The United Nations Security Council were briefed on the … Read more →

The World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report for 2020, which was released on Monday 16 December, says that at the current rate of change, men and women will have pay equality in 257 years. That is 55 more years than the estimate in the previous edition. Worldwide, the average woman’s annual income is … Read more →

Negotiations at Madrid’s UN COP25 Climate Change summit ended on 15 December amidst a sentiment of disappointment. The talks commenced on 2 December and ended with a compromise deal, that saw an agreement reached on increasing the global response to cutting carbon. All participating countries have been requested to prepare a new pledge for next … Read more →

An Amnesty report published on 16 December revealed the extent of crackdowns in Iran in the wake of protests that took place from 15-18 November. The organisation carried out interviews with dozens of people inside Iran who gave details of detainees being held incommunicado, subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, before, during and … Read more →