police state

North Africa

UN rights chief calls on Tunisia to halt repression

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk urged Tunisian authorities to halt their persecution of civil society organizations, journalists, human rights activists and members of the judiciary, who have been subjected to criminal proceedings in retaliation for their criticisms of government policies and the president’s consolidation of executive power. The significant and sustained decline of the human rights situation in the country has ensued since the events of July 2021, when President Kais Saied suspended parliament, dismissed the prime minister, and declared the he would rule by decree. (Image: Grunge Love)

Watching the Shadows

Trump admin has transferred 17,400 to ‘third countries’

The Trump administration has built a network of third-country transfer agreements with more than 30 governments and used them to remove over 17,400 people, in some cases in defiance of federal court orders and after individuals had won their release through habeas corpus, according to data released by Human Rights First and Refugees International. The organizations report that the administration in April re-arrested and forcibly transferred to third countries people who had previously been granted withholding of removal by US immigration judges and had prevailed on habeas petitions challenging the legality of their detention. The report documents an attempted transfer of individuals to Libya last year in violation of a court order then in effect. (Photo: Venezuelan deportees in Honduras. Credit: ICE via Wikimedia Commons)

East Asia

Hong Kong trade unions face ‘structural collapse’

A new report by the Hong Kong Labour Rights Monitor (HKLRM) details how Hong Kong’s labor protections face “profound and alarming structural collapse” as national security surveillance becomes the “new normal” under Chinese rule. The report outlines the developments in administration and policy of the last year, documenting how the workers’ rights movement is facing significant constrains. The “dual pressure of the National Security Law (NSL) and draconian amendments to the Trade Unions Ordinance (TUO),” which came into effect in January 2026, are leading to a “hollowing out of trade unions,” says the report. (Photo: antha26/Pixabay via JURIST)

North Africa

Algeria: dissident poet may face execution

UN rights experts urged the Court of Algiers to stop the trial of Mohamed Tadjadit, noting that the reclassified charges the prominent activist now faces are punishable by death. A poet and human rights defender, Tadjadit is associated with the Hirak movement, which first arose in 2019 in opposition to then-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika and has since evolved into a wider call for political change and greater freedoms. The charges concern Tadjadit’s participation in the #ManichRadhi (I am not satisfied) campaign, which mobilized social media users to express discontent with the government. Between 2019 and 2024, he had been imprisoned multiple times for participating in peaceful protests and exercising his right to freedom of expression. The UN experts stated that the new charges now being brought appear to be based on the same conduct underlying the earlier offenses, raising concerns that the “reclassification” contravenes the prohibition on double jeopardy. They stated that the Court of Algiers must halt the trial now scheduled to open, and drop all new charges that could expose Tadjadit to the death penalty. (Photo: Amnesty International)

North America

BC court upholds conviction of Indigenous land defender

The Court of Appeal for British Columbia unanimously upheld the criminal contempt conviction against Chief Dsta’hyl (Adam Gagnon), finding him in breach of a court injunction by protesting against a pipeline project in the territories of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation. In 2019, the British Columbia Supreme Court issued an injunction banning protests in the construction area of the Coastal GasLink pipeline project. Defying the injunction, Chief Dsta’hyl organized a blockade in an attempt to halt the construction in 2021. At trial, he contended that the protests were necessary to uphold the traditional Wet’suwet’en law of trespass and fulfill his duties as a chief to preserve and protect their yintah (territory). The trial judge rejected the defense, holding that it was an impermissible “collateral attack” on the injunction. Amnesty International declared Chief Dsta’hyl Canada’s first prisoner of conscience. (Image: Front Line Defenders)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: Can we at least 86 the bullshit?

The surreal spectacle of ex-FBI director James Comey surrendering to federal authorities to face charges of threatening Donald Trump over an innocent Instagram post illustrates the line between a mere conservative and an actual fascist. CounterVortex chief ranter Bill Weinberg had a personal run-in with Comey back when he was a federal prosecutor. Later, as FBI chief, Comey was accused of trying to prejudice the electorate against Hillary Clinton—only to be himself targeted by the Trump Justice Department. The absurdity of the latest charges against Comey are obvious to anyone who has worked in the restaurant industry. Trump should indeed be eighty-sixed—through legal and constitutional means, such as impeachment, 25th Amendment invocation, or nullification of his illegitimate election. And, indeed, sent to face war crimes charges at The Hague. In Episode 326 of the CounterVortex podcast, Weinberg says: Yes, #8647! Fuckin’ A! (Screenshot via, inter alia, CNN)

Planet Watch

Podcast: Hungary, Peru & the electoral struggle

In Episode 323 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg offers a comparison of the simultaneous elections in Hungary and Peru—in which questions of democratic norms versus authoritarian rule both stood in the balance. The defeat of long-ruling quasi-dictator Viktor Orbán is being hailed as a blow to the emerging authoritarian bloc in Europe. But the incoming center-right prime minister Péter Magyar may not mean a complete de-Orbánification. In Peru, the outcome is still pending, as the perennial candidate of the hard right, Keiko Fujimori, faces a run-off with a contender from the populist left, Roberto Sánchez. Keiko is the unapologetic daughter of the late ex-dictator Alberto Fujimori; her victory could mean a re-Fujimorification of the country, and a fatal blow to Peru’s deeply troubled democracy. A Sánchez victory, meanwhile, would heighten the social contradictions in Peru—with both opportunities for a more meaningful democracy, and dangers of a backlash from the conservative establishment. (Photo: Anali Marquez Huanca via Facebook)

Planet Watch

Reversal for hard right in Hungary; Peru in the balance

The defeat of Hungary’s quasi-dictator Viktor Orbán in the recent elections has heartened progressive forces around the world—despite the fact that the victorious Péter Magyar is a creature of the center-right. A more stark contest is emerging in Peru, where the right-wing authoritarian presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori faces a run-off with a contender from the populist left, Roberto Sánchez, who has broad support from the traditionally excluded campesinos of the country’s Andean interior. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Europe

Russia: UN experts decry repression of civil society

UN Special Rapporteurs condemned an ongoing strategy by Russian authorities to silence dissent, human rights advocacy, and anti-war expression. They warned that this represents a “systematic dismantling” of civil society under the guise of protecting national security and public safety. Over 343 organizations have been deemed “undesirable,” 1,173 individuals and groups have been designated as “foreign agents,” and 830 organizations and 20,813 individuals have been put on “terrorist” and “extremist” watch lists. This has recently escalated with the targeting of several key Russian human rights organizations, feminist groups and advocates for indigenous peoples. (Photo: Pavel Kazachkov via Wikipedia)

Central America

El Salvador: deportees face ‘enforced disappearance’

Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised concerns that El Salvador’s government is arbitrarily detaining and forcibly “disappearing” Salvadorans deported from the US. HRW reported that between mid-March and mid-October 2025, at least 11 Salvadoran men deported from the US to El Salvador were immediately detained, and denied contact with relatives or lawyers. Interviews with 20 relatives and attorneys revealed that none of the detainees appeared to have been brought before a judge, and in several cases, families were not informed of where the men were held or why they were detained. When relatives contacted authorities for information, officials reportedly refused to provide details, stating they lacked a legal mandate or had no record of the relatives’ connection to the detainees. (Photo: President Nayib Bukele tours CECOT. Credit: Casa Presidencial via Wikimedia Commons)

Greater Middle East

‘Politicized’ trial begins for Istanbul mayor

Istanbul mayor and Turkish opposition leader Ekrem İmamoğlu went on trial, accused of establishing an “İmamoğlu Criminal Organization for Profit” that operated parallel to and was concealed by his official duties. Critics of the trial say that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is politically influencing the proceedings as part of a broader judicial campaign intended to impede the ability of İmamoğlu’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) to function as an effective opposition party, and to prevent İmamoğlu and other CHP officials from exercising their rights to political participation. The case is part of a mass trial involving more than 400 co-defendants, most of whom worked for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, which İmamoğlu has headed since 2019. (Photo: Hunanuk via Wikimedia Commons)

Iran

Iran urged to lift restrictions on internet access

Human Rights Watch urged authorities in Iran to lift restrictions on internet and communication services, citing concerns that civilians will be left unable to access potentially lifesaving information in the midst of the armed conflict with Israel and the US. Back in early January, when widespread protests and severe government repression were intensifying, the Iranian regime had similarly restricted access to internet services, with an estimated 92 million citizens cut off—virtually the entire population. This pattern of blocking reliable access to the internet has been criticized by activists as a form of digital isolation, with similar incidents occurring in 2019 during protests and again in 2022 after anger erupted over the murder of Mahsa Amini. (Image: Wikimedia Commons)