German-Iranian women’s rights activist Nahid Taghavi returned to Germany after being held in arbitrary detention in Iran for more than four years. Her release, announced by her family and Amnesty International on Monday, marks the end of a prolonged and unjust ordeal for the 69-year-old activist. Amnesty International, who campaigned for Taghavi’s release, welcomed the [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), along with 24 civil society organizations, called on newly elected Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake to prioritize press freedom in his administration. The groups, in a letter addressed to the president, called for urgent measures to address decades of violence, intimidation and legal repression faced by journalists in [...]

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday declared that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have committed genocide during the country’s ongoing civil war. This would mark the second genocide Sudan has seen in less than three decades, following the Darfur genocide of the early 2000s. Blinken’s statement outlined atrocities perpetrated by [...]

Supreme Court Justice P.S. Narasimha in an address on Sunday emphasized the importance of safeguarding India’s constitutional institutions from political and external interference during the second Justice E.S. Venkataramiah Centennial Memorial Lecture at the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bengaluru. Delivering a lecture titled “Reimagining Constitutional Institutions: Integrity, Efficiency, and Accountability,” Justice Narasimha [...]

The Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and allied militias have been committing mass sexual violence and perpetrating sex slavery in South Kordofan state since September 2023, according to a report issued by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Sunday. The findings expose a grim pattern of targeted violence, predominantly against women and girls, that HRW says [...]

The Constitutional Court of South Korea commenced its review on Monday of the parliamentary impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The proceedings follow Yoon’s controversial declaration of martial law on December 3, which sparked public outrage and allegations of insurrection and abuse of power. The court announced it will hold its first preparatory hearing on [...]

South Korea’s Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials (CIO) on Monday confirmed it had requested and secured a travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol, following his controversial martial law declaration last week. CIO Chief Oh Dong-Woon announced during a parliamentary hearing that he instructed investigators to file the request, which the Justice Ministry approved shortly [...]

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism, Ben Saul, praised Côte d’Ivoire on Monday for its commitment to hosting over 63,000 asylum seekers fleeing terrorist violence from neighboring countries, as well as its significant investments in the northern region. In a press release following his visit, Saul commended the country’s proactive approach [...]

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) called Monday for the immediate release of prominent Thai human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist Anon Nampa, finding that his detention under Thailand’s lèse-majesté laws violates international law. Anon, known for his advocacy of democratic reforms and criticism of the monarchy, is currently serving a 14-year prison [...]

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of ₹213.14 crore (approximately $25.4 million USD) on Meta Platforms for abusing its dominant position through WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy update. The CCI found on Monday that the update imposed “unfair conditions” on users by making data sharing with Meta’s other applications mandatory, violating the [...]