A bill before the Russian parliament that would expand the status of “foreign agents” to private persons, including bloggers and citizen journalists, should be a source for serious concern. This legislative initiative would have a detrimental impact on the already restrictive environment for independent journalism in Russia and become a strong tool to silence opposition… … Read more →
As the Impeachment Inquiry against President Trump rumbles on, Ukraine dominates the headlines. But in this moment when Western analysis of Ukraine is obscured by U.S. political squabbles, it is more important than ever to hone in on the lives of the Ukrainian population themselves – and human rights offers an ideal lens with which… … Read more →
On the afternoon of the 12th of October, Hevrin Khalaf was pulled from her vehicle, beaten and shot in an execution style murder on the side of a road, south of the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, also known as Gire Spi. She was also raped, and her body was mutilated. Her murderers were male… … Read more →
On Saturday, London saw the gathering of over a thousand people outside the Lebanese embassy in solidarity with the protestors in Lebanon. Millions of people all across Lebanon have been protesting for the last week. To an unfamiliar spectator, the current crisis in Lebanon may seem as if it has appeared all of a sudden,… … Read more →
Between Saturday 21 September and Wednesday 25 September the seaside city of Brighton played host to this year’s Labour Party Conference. Following a successful fringe event at the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth last week, the International Observatory of Human Rights (IOHR) once again ventured to the south coast to raise issues relating to citizenship… … Read more →
Gone are the days of demagogy in Italy. No more unhealthy anti-migrant propaganda without the courage to find real solutions. No more live videos on Facebook, Twitter posts and interviews released at the seaside between a Mojito and the club. Politics is done in appropriate fora. Two weeks after stepping into power, the new Interior… … Read more →
She wasn’t wearing her Wonder Woman costume that day. Powerless and oblivious to any threat, 8-year-old Agatha Felix was shot in the back – apparently by a police officer – as she rode home in a van next to her mum. The girl died in hospital. She was only eight years old. In her community,… … Read more →
Almost three decades have passed since the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent proclamation of independence by fifteen states. Soviet nationality ceased to exist and most former Soviet Republics adopted their own nationality laws yet the collapse of the USSR is one of the events in recent history that has resulted in… … Read more →
The United Nations Civil Society Conference is a prelude to the UN General Assembly held in New York in September each year. It is shaped as a conversation to bring together representatives of civil society from around the world with senior UN officials, to discuss the challenges of delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) by… … Read more →
In recent weeks and months, thousands, and at times, maybe around a million Hong Kong citizens have come out to march on Hong Kong streets in peaceful protest. On 23 August, a 30-mile human chain was formed by protesters holding hands. Recently, some of the protests have erupted into violence. Why are Hong Kong people… … Read more →
Salam Aldeen has been helping refugees on the Greek island of Lesvos since 2015. He left his home in Denmark on 5th September of that year, his birthday, but more significantly than that – two days after he first saw pictures in the news of a young Syrian boy, Alan Kurdi, washed up on Turkey’s… … Read more →
Earlier this week it was announced that the Saudi Arabian government passed new laws that afford women long overdue rights. Taking effect at the end of August, the new laws permit women over the age of twenty-one to apply for a passport and travel freely without male guardianship and permission. As well as this were… … Read more →
The Philippines may have replaced Brazil for the first time as the most dangerous country on earth for people who defend their land and environment but that does not make the Latin American country a paradise for indigenous people – quite the contrary. The tribes of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest fear they will be destroyed by… … Read more →
One might be mistaken for thinking that slavery in the UK has been confined to the history books, but sadly modern slavery is still a prominent problem in todays world affecting around 40 million people globally. It is also a reality closer to home, just last month we witnessed the UK’s largest modern slavery prosecution,… … Read more →
It all started in December 2018 when thousands took to the streets of Khartoum in protest of Omar Al-Bashir’s oppressive, impoverishing and violent regime. What began as a demonstration against the rising costs of living had rapidly turned into a full-fledged revolution, through which the people were demanding the demise of Bashir’s dictatorship and the… … Read more →
A few weeks ago, social media was painted blue, with the word ‘Sudan’ appearing in every new hashtag. This was the result of news spreading across social media platforms of the large-scale violence against protestors in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. This news dominated Twitter and Instagram as users all over the world sought to raise awareness… … Read more →
The “hostile environment”; a policy that has seamlessly lurched from one controversy to the other. The brainchild of Theresa May’s time in the Home Office likely needs little introduction, but the “hostile environment” is – essentially – the idea that we can drive immigration numbers down by making the United Kingdom a horrible place for… … Read more →
Addis Ababa is a colourful city sinking beneath the mountains into a valley of high-rise buildings under construction, clashing with slums and children grazing goats and lambs while cars wallpapered with pictures of the Virgin Mary roar around and pop up from everywhere. In the ochre and dusty city of Addis the crazy chaos seems… … Read more →
Azerbaijan recently held its 5th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue in its capital city Baku where international leaders and members of the United Nations convened to discuss ways the Muslim-majority secular Republic can continue to strengthen its role as a model for other nations in the highly-volatile region to aspire to and to building a… … Read more →
Ethiopia hosted the main celebration of 26th World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) in Addis Ababa. The celebration was special in that the host country is undergoing political change which included promotion of freedom of the press. Ethiopia, according to Reporters without Borders, ranked 110th in the 2019 World Press Freedom Index; however, it has improved… … Read more →
Ethiopia is at a time when it has to pay the costs of past repression. Even though it is trying to reform politically, it is also facing the consequence of antagonising political relationship. A lot of positive political changes have happened since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was sworn in in 2018. Ethiopia has made peace… … Read more →
The main celebration of World Press Freedom Day 2019 will take place in Ethiopia the 3rd of May. This is one of the biggest surprises for one who knows Ethiopia’s record in freedom of the press. What has motivated UNESCO to host the celebration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia? Dead Ends of the Old Era According… … Read more →
In December 2018, the Clooney Foundation for Justice, founded by George and Amal Clooney, announced a new project called TrialWatch, a global effort to monitor court trials and which aims to create a global justice index, rating countries on the fairness of their trial systems. Working with the Columbia University Law School and the American… … Read more →
A widespread notion persists: that women, when compared with their male counterparts, are more naturally inclined towards peace. A woman is a full circle and within her is the power to create, nurture and transform. Over the years, there has been an increasing need for recognition of women’s efforts in conflict resolution by the international… … Read more →
After the 1979 revolution in Iran, women have been forced to wear the hijab in public. Back then, more than 100,000 women and men took to the streets to protest against the law and opposition to it has never gone away. In 2018, 112 women were arrested in Iran for defending women’s rights, many for… … Read more →
Image Credit: Kiki Machado As a human rights defender and spokesperson for the favela, Marielle Franco was a thorn in the side of the powerful. As a poor, black, lesbian, single mother, she was an affront to Brazil’s evangelical right wing. In life, she was a powerful voice for the oppressed that many reactionaries were… … Read more →
The resignation of Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on 26 February has seen a number of events highlighting Iran’s ongoing poor human rights record leading up to and after the resignation. In an interview with BBC’s Lyse Ducet, Zarif apologised for any “shortcomings” during his time in government and said: “Iran saw human rights… … Read more →
“The internet is changing the way that sex is sold, leading to fresh models of exploitation.” Gavin Shuker MP Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade. The internet and digital technology are fuelling a worldwide growth in human sex trafficking. According to the ILO, 4.8 million individuals worldwide are victims of… … Read more →
Speaking to BBC’s Hardtalk on 17 December 2018, Prof. Gulnur Aybet, a senior advisor to the President of Turkey, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, refuted Stephen Sackur’s question about Turkey being the worst jailer of journalists in the world, on the grounds that she has checked the numbers given by various organisations, including Amnesty International, and… … Read more →
A plot to kill a critical Turkish journalist living in Denmark by a clandestine group tied to the Turkish government exposes the sheer hypocrisy of the autocratic regime of president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has been driving a political campaign to exploit the outrageous murder of Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Hasan Cücük,… … Read more →