HUMAN RIGHTS
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The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Wednesday called for a moratorium on the sale and use of artificial intelligence (AI) systems that threaten human rights until adequate safeguards are in place to ensure the technology will not be abused. “We cannot afford to continue playing catch-up regarding AI – allowing…
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A year after the explosion that rocked Beirut on August 4, 2020, killing 218 people, injuring more than 7,000 and devastating much of the city, the Lebanese investigation into the blast has yielded no credible results. Families of the victims, some of whom are calling for an international investigation, talked to the media about their search…
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Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Istanbul on Saturday for anti-government protests, demanding amid a heavy police presence the reversal of recent decisions by Turkey’s president that affect students, women and the LGBT community. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a surprise decree a week ago ending Turkey’s participation in a landmark treaty aimed at protecting women…
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The U.N. human rights chief on Tuesday urged India’s government to do more to protect human rights defenders, who have come under mounting pressure in recent months in the world’s largest democracy. The office of High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet pointed to three “problematic” laws in India that have variously tightened restrictions on…
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The U.S. government on Friday issued a travel ban Sri Lanka’s army chief, saying there is “credible information of his involvement” in human rights violations during the final phase of the island nation’s civil war that ended 11 years ago, Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said. The army chief, Shavendra Silva, and his immediate…
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The death of a mainland Chinese doctor who was detained by police last month for exposing the coronavirus outbreak has sparked an outpouring of anger and grief among Hong Kongers, who blame the Chinese authorities for covering up the epidemic which has killed over 630 people. Dr. Li Wenliang, 34, an ophthalmologist who worked at…
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Bad blood between one family in China turned an elderly man’s funeral into an ugly one-sided brawl between a group of resentful siblings and the hapless corpse of their father. Three siblings in Jiangsu were so angry at their estranged father that they dragged his corpse out of his coffin and attacked his remains, causing…
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The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a nonprofit organization that promotes press freedom worldwide, has said at least 250 journalists are imprisoned globally. Some of the countries where journalists have been incarcerated are China, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The report, written earlier this December by Elana Beiser, Editorial Director of the CPJ, provides only…
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The United States on Thursday accused Russia of helping Syria conceal the use of banned toxic munitions in the civil war by undermining the work of the global chemical weapons agency trying to identify those responsible. The comments by the U.S. representative to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Kenneth Ward, drew…
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The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, admires Duchess Meghan because she’s a “person of profound humanity.” Welby, has previously spoken out in support of the Duchess of Sussex and recently praised her for being a “remarkable person”. Speaking out about the “totally undeserved” criticism the Duchess has received, he said: “She’s a person of profound humanity…
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Authorities in Laos last week sentenced a woman to five years in prison for criticizing the government on Facebook. Houayheuang Xayabouly, 30, also known by her nickname Mouay, was arrested Sept. 12 after she voiced her concern about the government response to flooding in the country’s southern Champassak and Salavan provinces in her Sept. 5…
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Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Paris and other French cities on Saturday to protest against domestic violence, after more than 130 women are believed to have been killed by their partner or ex-partner in France this year. In Paris, the mostly female activists chanted “Abuser, you’ve had it, women are…
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The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution on the right to development with overwhelming victory, emphasizing an urgent need to make the right to development a reality for everyone. The resolution, jointly proposed by China and the Non-Aligned Movement, stresses that the responsibility for managing worldwide economic and social issues and…
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The United States is considering how it will confront China during the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations next week over its detention of some 1 million Muslims in a remote region, as some diplomats warn that U.S. leadership in global institutions is waning and China’s influence is growing. While the United…
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The United States Senate Judiciary Committee on August 1, 2019, forwarded a bill to the full Senate that would all but shut US doors to Central American refugees, Human Rights Watch said today. The Secure and Protect Act (S.1494), introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham, would transform the Trump administration’s draconian administrative measures into law, preventing Central Americans, particularly children…
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People with albinism face multiple forms of discrimination worldwide. Albinism is still profoundly misunderstood, socially and medically. The physical appearance of persons with albinism is often the object of erroneous beliefs and myths influenced by superstition, which foster their marginalization and social exclusion. This leads to various forms of stigma and discrimination. In some communities,…
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