Amnesty International published a report on Tuesday exposing Russia’s mistreatment of both Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) and civilian captives currently held in detention within Ukrainian territory and Russia. The report determined that Russia’s treatment of detained Ukrainians amounted to war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity. Amnesty researchers interviewed 104 people living in Ukraine [...]

Amnesty International called on Wednesday for an international investigation into Israeli military attacks on healthcare facilities during the Lebanon war, and labeled them as war crimes. Amnesty International’s own investigation focused on four Israeli attacks in Beirut between October 3 and 9, 2024, which killed 19 healthcare workers, wounded 11 more, and destroyed multiple ambulances [...]

Serbia’s opposition lawmakers on Tuesday threw smoke grenades and tear gas inside the National Assembly to support demonstrating students. One legislator suffered a stroke during the chaos and three MPs were injured, and politicians were seen clashing with security on live footage. The opposition members defended their actions, stating that the government had refused to [...]

The Law Commission of Ontario (LSO) and the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Monday released a background report on the ongoing Human Rights Impact Assessment (HRIA) on the development of AI. The report serves as a follow-up review of the LSO and OHRC’s initial 2024 HRIA framework which was created as a tool to [...]

India on Monday strongly rebuked UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk for his remarks on Kashmir and Manipur, calling them “unfounded and baseless.” The sharp response came after Turk, in his global update at the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, raised concerns over violence and displacement in Manipur [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders called Wednesday for urgent support for rights defenders in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor recognized the deteriorating situation in the DRC, stating: “Human rights defenders in the eastern DRC are currently at extreme risk of reprisals for their human rights [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump from firing the Democratic chair of the US Merit System Protection Board (MSPB). Trump had informed Cathy Harris that her position on the MSPB was terminated “effective, immediately” last month. However, Trump failed to provide a reason [...]

The US Supreme Court sided with the city and county of San Francisco on Tuesday in a dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), finding the EPA cannot penalize the city if water quality levels fall below the agency’s standards when the city is, under permit, discharging pollution, including sewage, into the Pacific Ocean. The [...]

UN experts on Tuesday urged Poland to acquit Justyna Wydrzyńska, a human rights defender and abortion rights activist previously sentenced to eight months of community service. Advocating for the protection of human rights defenders such as Wydrzyńska, the experts noted the work of individuals like her “remains one of the few avenues for safe abortion [...]

The UN World Food Program (WFP) will close its southern Africa office following the Trump administration’s recent foreign aid cuts. The decision underscores the broader impact of the administration’s termination of approximately 90 percent of USAID’s foreign aid contracts, a move that has disrupted humanitarian operations worldwide. WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri told the Associated Press [...]