#human-rights

#human-rights

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered the release of 250 political prisoners on Thursday in exchange for easing sanctions from Washington, according to the US embassy in nearby Lithuania. It is reportedly the largest one-time release of its kind so far, as Belarus is ramping up efforts to normalize ties with the United States.

A number of the players had initially sought humanitarian visas to stay in Australia after concerns they would face repercussions for staying silent during Iran's national anthem at their opening Asian Cup match. Human rights activists have said they may have been pressured to reverse their decisions through threats against their families.

This case represents a troubling development where a tourist, already traumatised by the incident, is being treated as a national security risk over what would ordinarily be considered minor conduct. No harm was intended. Under these laws, he can be kept indefinitely.

The 60-year-old man from London, who has not been named, was on holiday in the Gulf city when he was taken into custody, according to Detained in Dubai. The man deleted the video immediately when asked and meant no harm, yet he still faces charges, Detained CEO Radha Stirling said.

This large-scale and invasive AI-enabled surveillance of public spaces is not legal, necessary or proportionate to the legitimate aim of providing security. History shows us that this is the latest tool used by governments to invade the privacy of citizens and stifle freedom of movement and expression.

Five of the players had slipped their regime minders and were being sheltered by the Australian federal police. Citing sources within the Australian-Iranian community, Nine newspapers reported that the women were receiving support from police. Police have taken them somewhere safe, Hadi Karimi, a Brisbane-based human rights activist, told Nine.

Our government says it wants to stop people from making dangerous and often deadly Channel crossings to seek sanctuary. But its approach is doing exactly the opposite. This government has already put family reunion applications on hold, now it wants to ban a small number of people from leaving conflict zones to continue their education and then claim asylum instead of being sent back into danger.

Mahmoudian decided to help his torturer. He invited the man into his shop, offered him tea, and recruited a co-worker to fix his car. Hours later, when the man was preparing to leave, Mahmoudian reintroduced himself as his former prisoner. Stunned, the man drove away without responding. But he returned to the print shop the next day and asked for Mahmoudian's forgiveness.

Our classrooms are empty because the graveyards are full, said Hossein*, 21, a student at the University of Tehran. It's for them our friends, classmates and compatriots, who were gunned down in front of our eyes, that we decided to boycott the classes. Now in their third day, protests have spread to universities across the capital and the north-eastern city of Mashhad, with videos showing students chanting anti-regime slogans and clashes breaking out between protesters and pro-regime Basij forces.

Guterres stressed that this assault is not coming from the shadows or by surprise. It is happening in plain sight and often led by those who hold the greatest power. He did not mention specific situations although he did voice outrage at Russia's war in Ukraine, where he said more than 15,000 civilians had been killed in four years of violence. It is more than past time to end the bloodshed, he said.

As fears loomed of renewed conflict after Washington carried out a major redeployment of military assets to the region, the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said he thought there was still a good chance of finding a diplomatic solution. He told CBS negotiators would probably meet on Thursday to discuss and try to make a fast deal. Alluding to US assets in the region as potential targets, however, he said: If the US attacks us, then we have every right to defend ourselves.

The so-called democratic backsliding isn't the future: it's the present. This is what Human Rights Watch (HRW) has laid bare in its annual report, released this month. The compilation of human rights violations confirms that we're witnessing the collapse of the global order that was meticulously crafted over decades, amid the apparent passivity of many of its defenders. The new executive director of HRW, 52-year-old Philippe Bolopion,

More than 600 people may be in custody for political reasons, one Venezuelan rights group estimates. Venezuela's acting president has signed into law an amnesty bill that could see hundreds of politicians, activists and lawyers released soon, while tacitly acknowledging what the country has denied for years that it has political detainees in jail. The law, signed on Thursday, in effect reverses decades of denials.

Specifically, it has emerged that Cellebrite's forensic extraction tools were used on his Samsung phone while it was in police custody following his arrest in July 2025. The phone was returned to him nearly two months later, in September, at which point Mwangi found that the phone was no longer password-protected and could be unlocked without requiring a password. It's been assessed with high confidence that Cellebrite's technology was used on the phone on or around July 20 and July 21, 2025.

It's been over a year since Ukrainian forces captured two North Korean soldiers in Russia's Kursk, but the fate of the two men still hangs in the balance as activists accuse the South Korean government of dragging its feet. The two have asked to relocate to South Korea. In the North, they could face punishment for letting themselves be taken alive. "I won't survive [going back]. Everyone else blew themselves up. I failed," one of the soldiers told South Korean newspaper Hankook Ilbo.

Fifteen members of Congress have written to Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, demanding to know what steps the United States has taken in response to the mistreatment of a Palestinian-American teenager who spent nine months in Israeli detention. The letter, led by Senator Peter Welch and first seen by the Guardian, is centered around the case of Mohammed Ibrahim, a Florida resident who was 15 when Israeli soldiers arrested him during a raid on his family's West Bank home in February 2025.

Retirees making up some of the nearly 3,000 people arrested for supporting Palestine Action since the organisation was proscribed have said they feel vindicated by the high court's decision to overturn the ban this week. However, uncertainty remains over whether their trials under terror laws may still go ahead after the government revealed it plans to appeal against the judgment made on Friday by three of the UK's most senior judges.