Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Monday urged member states of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to safeguard the court and combat impunity for international crimes at the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), which meets at The Hague in the Netherlands this week. In a press release, it the organization stressed the necessity to do so [...]

Five humanitarian groups and 77 international civil society organizations on Saturday condemned Ukraine’s suspension of the 1997 Mine Ban Convention, also known as the Ottawa Convention. The organizations stated that the Ottawa Convention does not allow for the obligations of state parties to be suspended, including during wartime. According to Article 20(3) of the Ottawa [...]

UN experts warned on Wednesday that El Salvador is misusing Interpol law enforcement mechanisms to further its political agenda by issuing red notices against two Salvadoran human rights defenders in exile. The experts say that the charges and red notices against Ivania Cruz and Rudy Joya, who are in exile in Spain, “appear to be [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday declared that the proposed Public System of Care, a new care and support system bill submitted by the Mexico City government, does not guarantee the rights and autonomy of people with disabilities and elderly people. Although the draft bill aims to address inequalities in caregiving, it overlooks elements critical [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday urged Nigerien authorities to release three journalists held in pre-trial detention for alleged cybercrimes and accused the government of using cybercrime laws to chill free speech. Moussa Ngom, CPJ’s Francophone Africa representative, condemned the state action and argued that using “cybercrime laws for meaningless accusations provides further [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Columbia Law School’s Prevention of Crimes Against Humanity Project on Monday released a report promoting the adoption of a treaty on crimes against humanity, to ensure effective prosecution of the most serious crimes. According to HRW, “momentum builds” for the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity. [...]

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday warned that the reinstation of the death penalty in Kyrgyzstan would breach international law obligations. Türk declared that the proposals to reintroduce the death penalty as a response to serious crimes should be discontinued. Kyrgyzstan should focus on “ensuring the effective protection of the law and adequate [...]

French prosecutors on Sunday announced the opening of a “war crimes” investigation following the death of French photojournalist Antoni Lallican in southeastern Ukraine, according to the state-owned network France 24. The anti-terror prosecutor (PNAT) declared that the investigation was assigned to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crimes. “War [...]

Syrian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for the ousted president, Bashar al-Assad, a judge announced on Saturday. In a statement to the state-run news agency SANA (affiliated with Syria’s Ministry of Information), the investigating judge said that the charges concern 2011 repression in Daraa, and include “premeditated murder, torture leading to death, and deprivation [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday announced that the trial of 13 law enforcement officers accused of torture and involvement in death in custody is an opportunity for justice over rights abuses in Türkiye. An indictment was issued on February 20, charging “13 members of the gendarmerie of various ranks” with “torture resulting in Ahmet [...]