UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for sweeping reforms to global institutions during the 18th Building for Resilience, Innovation, Cooperation and Sustainability (BRICS) Summit in New Delhi on Sunday, arguing that the international system must adapt to a world that has changed dramatically since 1945. Speaking to leaders of BRICS member states, Guterres said the world is [...]

Allegations of sexual violence in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) keep making international headlines: a UN mission’s finding of reasonable grounds to believe rape occurred during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks; Nicholas Kristof’s New York Times column detailing accounts of sexual abuse, including alleged gang rape, of Palestinian detainees; a Gaza flotilla activist’s [...]

Amnesty International on Friday accused Zambian authorities of using administrative powers to silence government critics after the passports of six opposition figures, academics and commentators were cancelled on “national security” grounds. The cancellations immediately rendered the documents invalid for travel and identification, while the government has not publicly detailed the specific security allegations against each [...]

Nigeria’s Foreign Ministry on Friday confirmed that two Nigerian nationals have been killed in South Africa, as tensions intensify between the two countries over anti-immigrant protests.  Bishop Taiwo Michael Fakunle and James Uchechukwu Nwankwo were killed in two separate incidents. Fakunle was reportedly murdered at his home in Kensington, Johannesburg, on September 4. The following [...]

A UN expert said Friday that states and other development actors should ensure individuals and communities can actively, freely, and meaningfully participate in economic development decisions by moving beyond symbolic consultations and sharing decision-making power, warning that development cannot be inclusive or sustainable without public participation. UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development Surya [...]

The US Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC)  on Friday ordered the deportation of an Afghan woman, after she reached an agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ). Nazira Haji Zada, accused of assisting her son and son-in-law in planning a foiled 2024 terror plot, admitted that she was an “alien terrorist” as part of the [...]

Amnesty International announced Saturday that Guatemala’s judiciary has closed criminal proceedings against four Indigenous leaders who had been charged over their role in protests during the country’s October 2023 national strike, hailing it as a victory for the right to freedom of assembly. Commending the court’s decision, Astrid Valencia, Amnesty International’s deputy research director for [...]

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) administrator Alexander De Croo on Thursday warned in an interview that frequent drone attacks on the Chernobyl site in Ukraine are “really gambling with the safety of millions of people,” calling for urgent international action to prevent a nuclear catastrophe. Upon visiting the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station, and witnessing firsthand [...]

Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran issued a joint report Thursday charging that Iranian authorities are unlawfully executing protesters and political dissidents on a weekly basis. In what is characterized as a “relentless attack on the right to life,” Iranian authorities have arbitrarily executed at least 59 men [...]