On 20 February 2019, Egypt executed nine men accused of killing the country’s former top prosecutor, bringing the total of those executed in the country to 15 in less than three weeks. The men were among 28 sentenced to death for the murder of Hisham Barakat, Egypt’s former public prosecutor, who was assassinated when a … Read more →
In the midst of worldwide heated debate raging across about the fate of returning women and children, the families of individuals who fought among the ranks of ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria, the International Observatory of Human Rights introduces the story of a London family trying to find their 3-year-old grandson amongst the … Read more →
On Friday 15 February, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to secure funding for a wall along the southern border with Mexico. Within hours, several organisations had filed lawsuits against the decision, including Public Citizen and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics. Trying to regain momentum after losing a grinding two-month battle with lawmakers over … Read more →
Maria Ressa, a high-profile Philippine journalist and vocal critic of the country’s president, was arrested on Wednesday 13 February in connection with “cyber libel” charges against Rappler, the news site she founded and oversees. Instead of attending an event on press freedom at the University of the Philippines, she spent the night in jail and … Read more →
Seventeen Australian Uyghurs have reportedly been detained in China, as the nation continues its crackdown on ethnic minority Muslims. The Australians, it is believed, are being kept under house arrest, in prison, or in the country’s infamous detention camps, which Beijing claims are “re-education” centres in Xinjiang. The detention came to light after family members … Read more →
A petition has been issued to the government of Canada on the case of Saeed Malekpour, the unjustly detained Iranian-Canadian permanent resident. Saeed has now been imprisoned in Iran for over 10 years on trumped up charges. Initiated by Maryam Malekpour, Saeed’s sister, now a Canadian citizen, the petition calls for his release and reaffirms … Read more →
With less than four years until the 2022 FIFA World Cup kicks off in Qatar, a new report published by Amnesty International on 5 February highlights the country’s record on migrant workers’ rights. While Qatar has finally begun a reform process promising to tackle widespread labour exploitation and align its laws and practices with international … Read more →
A new leaked file reveals that 860 journalists and citizen journalists were prosecuted, arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases, executed in Iran between the revolution of 1979 and 2009. RSF held a press conference in Paris on 7 February to reveal the existence of this leaked file named the ‘Iranian Justice Data’ file that holds … Read more →
On 4 February, Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who has already spent 70 days detained in Thailand, urged a court in Bangkok to not extradite him to Bahrain. Bahrain seeks his extradition after having sentenced him in absentia to ten years in jail for vandalising a police station in 2014 – the same year Hakeem fled … Read more →
As Islamic State attempts to hold onto final shreds of territory in Syria, on the ground reports indicate that militants are using women and children as human shields. The SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) and US-led coalition forces have suspended attacks in response to the use of human shields. They have also created corridors in the … Read more →
