Tag Archives: human rights

The number of civilians and security forces killed in protests in Iraq since last month has risen to 319, the Iraqi Human Rights Commission said on Friday. In a statement released yesterday, the commission said it was able to document the death of these people through official sources, noting that …

The US embassy in Baghdad called on the Iraqi government Wednesday to engage with Iraqis demanding reform and condemned the ongoing “cycle of violence.” “The government of Iraq and the country’s political leaders must engage seriously and urgently with Iraqi citizens who are demanding reform,” the embassy said in a …

Syrian government troops have engaged in fierce clashes with Turkish military forces near Syria’s key border town of Ra’s al-Ayn in the northeastern province of Hasakah – a day after a similar incident claimed the lives of seven Syrian soldiers and left several others injured. Syria’s official news agency SANA …

Funerals for protesters killed after a day of violent protests on Friday were held by grieving relatives in Baghdad and Najaf. Across the country, at least 40 protesters died, as demonstrators vented their frustration at political elites who they say have failed to improve their lives after years of conflict …

Two prominent human rights defenders in Morocco have been targeted using surveillance technology developed by the Israeli-based company NSO Group, according to new research published by Amnesty Tech. Maati Monjib, an academic and human rights activist, and Abdessadak El Bouchattaoui, a human rights lawyer who has represented protesters from the …

More than 1,100 people have been arrested in Egypt since the weekend when a series of massive protests erupted in several cities to demand the resignation of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, human rights monitors say. Gamal Eid, head of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, said on Wednesday that …

Pakistan’s foreign minister told the United Nations human rights forum on Tuesday that India’s military presence in the disputed Muslim-majority territory of Kashmir raised the specter of genocide. India, which stripped Kashmir of its autonomy on Aug. 5, in response accused Pakistan of “offensive rhetoric..of false allegations and concocted charges” …

Planes with former detainees landed in Moscow and Kiev, concluding the long-awaited prisoner swap. The action was hailed as the first step in mending the ‘dead-end’ relations between the neighbors and was praised internationally. Despite many delays and setbacks, the swap finally happened on Saturday. The government plane carrying the …

The United States, Britain, and France may be complicit in war crimes in Yemen by arming and providing intelligence and logistics support to a Saudi-led coalition that starves civilians as a war tactic, the United Nations said on Tuesday. U.N. investigators recommended that all states impose a ban on arms …

Saudi Arabia and its allies have used “double-tap” airstrikes in Yemen, researchers at investigative journalism site Bellingcat have revealed. The tactic sees missiles fired once, then again when aid workers have rushed to the injured. It dramatically raises civilian death tolls and endangers rescuers. Evidence has now been found to …

Pakistan has demanded that Indian actress Priyanka Chopra be stripped of her UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador role, saying that her “support for war” and the Indian government amid heightened tensions in the disputed region of Kashmir make a “mockery” of the position. In a letter addressed to UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta …

Hong Kong- In defiance of a police ban, tens of thousands of black-clad Hong Kong protesters packed into a park and have again flooded the streets of the Chinese territory for the eleventh straight week of anti-government demonstrations. While only a rally at Victoria Park was permitted to proceed on …

The United States imposed sanctions on Four Iraqis including two former Iraqi provincial governors it accused of human rights abuses and corruption, the U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday. The sanctions target Rayan al-Kildani and Waad Qado, and former governors Nawfal Hammadi al-Sultan and Ahmed al-Jubouri, the Treasury said in …

Police in Nigeria has killed two supporters of jailed Muslim cleric Sheikh Ibrahim al-Zakzaky, who were demanding his release in the capital, Abuja, according to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), an organization that he heads. The two, who were members of the IMN, were shot and killed outside the …

At least 40 people have been killed and another 80 injured after an airstrike hit a migrant center east of the Libyan capital of Tripoli early Wednesday, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service Field Medicine and Support Center. Images from the ground showed piles of rubble left where the …

The use of facial recognition in law enforcement takes us one step closer to our dystopian future. When I was a child, I used to dream of growing up to live in a magical world where every move would be monitored by cameras tracking my identity, behavior, and emotions. Just …

The world’s second-most populous country is running out of water. About 100 million people across India are on the front lines of a nationwide water crisis. A total of 21 major cities are poised to run out of groundwater next year, according to a 2018 report by government-run think tank …

Sri Lanka’s president has reinstated the death penalty for drug-related crimes, and signed death sentences for four people, more than 43 years after the country’s last execution. Maithripala Sirisena announced the policy change on Wednesday, in what some critics say is a politically-motivated move ahead of elections later this year. …

Five years after Russia had it’s voting rights removed because of the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly has voted to restore them. The assembly backed the proposal in the face of angry opposition from Ukraine, whose delegation later walked out. Russia had threatened to …

A Vietnamese environmental activist and blogger have been sentenced to six years in prison under the country’s new law that cracks down on online dissent. Nguyen Ngoc Anh, a 39-year old shrimp farmer from the southern town of Binh Dai, was arrested and tried for what state media described as …