Turkey’s announcement at the weekend that it was withdrawing from the Istanbul Convention, an important regional human rights treaty on combatting all forms of violence against women, highlights wider concerns regarding the human rights situation in the country, notably the shrinking of civic space and the lack of meaningful and democratic participation in decision making.  […]

UN human rights expert Alena Douhan today called on the United States to remove unilateral sanctions which may inhibit rebuilding of Syria’s civilian infrastructure destroyed by the conflict. “The sanctions violate the human rights of the Syrian people, whose country has been destroyed by almost 10 years of ongoing conflict,” said Douhan, UN special rapporteur […]

C’est un dur métier d’être défenseur.e des droits ou avocat.e à Diyarbakir. Pour celles et ceux qui ne la connaissent pas, Diyarbakir est une ville mésopotamienne dont le quartier antique avait été intégré dans l’inventaire du patrimoine culturel mondial avant d’être rasé et carrément bombardé en 2015 par les chars de l’armée et les escadrons […]

UN human rights experts* said they were alarmed by reports that Iranian-Swedish academic Ahmadreza Djalali has reportedly been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution despite widely held findings his trial was grossly unfair and he was tortured.  “We are horrified by the reports that Mr. Djalali is soon to be executed by the […]

In late January 2017, just weeks after Donald Trump was sworn in as commander-in-chief, U.S. troops carried out a raid in the southwestern Yemeni village of al-Ghayil that marked the start of his presidency with bloodshed. The raid, led by dozens of U.S. special forces troops backed by helicopters, allegedly intended to hit Al Qaeda operatives believed to […]

The calls for freedom for imprisoned Palestinian hunger striker Maher al-Akhras are growing as he enters his 92nd day of hunger strike against his imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention. An international day of action and symbolic global hunger strikes is being organized for 28 October, and United Nations Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk called for the immediate […]

Syrians continue to be killed, suffer severe hardships and grave rights violations, despite a relative reduction in largescale hostilities since the 5 March ceasefire, according to the latest findings of the UN Syrian Commission of Inquiry. The Commission of Inquiry’s 25-page report released today documents continuing violations and abuses by nearly every conflict actor controlling territory in […]

Switzerland’s draft anti-terrorism legislation violates international human rights standards by expanding the definition of terrorism, and would set a dangerous precedent for the suppression of political dissent worldwide, UN human rights experts* warned today. They expressed regret at the refusal of the Swiss authorities to change contentious sections of the draft law, now before parliament, […]