Ukraine became the 125th state party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday. With the ratification of the Rome Statute, Ukraine gains full participation rights within the ICC framework, which includes voting on budgetary matters and influencing decisions regarding amendments to the statute. Moreover, the ratification strengthens Ukraine’s ability to [...]

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) released a report on Tuesday highlighting Ukraine’s deteriorating human rights situation in the midst of Russia’s ongoing invasion. The findings underscore Russia’s persistent efforts to consolidate its control over occupied Ukrainian territories, revealing a rise in civilian casualties, ongoing executions, and the torture of prisoners of [...]

Zimbabwe abolished the death penalty on Tuesday when President Emmerson Mnangagwa signed the Death Penalty Abolition Act into law. The new law eliminates the death penalty as a sentencing option within the country, aligning Zimbabwe with a global movement that rejects capital punishment. The legislation will further result in the commutation of sentences for approximately 60 [...]

The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday against Russian judge Olesya Mendeleeva due to her involvement in the detention of Alexei Gorinov, an activist who was sentenced to seven years in prison for opposing Russia’s war in Ukraine. The US Treasury Department imposed the sanctions, freezing any assets Mendeleeva may have within US jurisdiction and [...]

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev asserted on Sunday that the recent crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines aircraft was the result of an unintentional missile strike by Russian forces. Aliyev criticized Russia for its alleged desire to cover up the incident, claiming that Moscow delayed acknowledgement of its involvement for several days, further expressing shock at the [...]

Arunachal Pradesh’s Chief Minister Pema Khandu announced on Friday that the state will soon implement the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act, 1978, which has remained dormant for decades. The chief minister’s commitment to reviving the Act marks a significant shift in policy and governance in Arunachal Pradesh, where religious conversions have been a contentious [...]

Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko announced on Saturday that he has pardoned 20 individuals accused of committing “extremist crimes.” Human rights activists have identified these individuals as political prisoners. This latest act of clemency marks the eighth such pardon since the summer of 2024, bringing the total number of political prisoners released to 207. According to [...]

The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) reported on Saturday that at least 112,414 individuals remain forcibly disappeared due to the actions of the Assad regime in Syria, despite the recent releases of thousands of detainees. The SNHR emphasized that these disappearances are not isolated incidents but part of a broader strategy employed by the [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday issued an apology to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane in Russian airspace. During a phone call, Putin expressed his condolences to the victims’ families and apologized that the incident occurred in Russian airspace. Putin noted that Russian air defense systems were being fired at [...]

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Saturday condemned Israel’s military raid on the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, which has rendered the facility non-operational and exacerbated the ongoing health crisis in the region. The WHO described the raid as a “death sentence” for many Palestinians in need of medical care. The organization emphasized that [...]