police state

South Asia

Pakistan: Baloch activist gets life sentence

UN experts condemned the sentencing of Pakistani human rights defender Mahrang Baloch to two terms of life imprisonment by a court in Quetta, describing it as a “travesty” of justice and misuse of counter-terrorism laws. Mahrang Baloch is a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which advocates for the rights of the Baloch community in Pakistan. She was convicted alongside another BYC member for the death of a Frontier Corps officer during a July 2024 protest in Gwadar condemning discrimination, enforced disappearances, and unlawful appropriation of local communities’ lands for mining and foreign investment projects. (Photo: The Baloch Circle)

Greater Middle East

Turkish ecological defender faces prison

Amnesty International condemned the conviction in Turkey of environmental activist Esra Işık. The activist was convicted of “resisting a public official to prevent performance of duty” and “insulting a public official,” and sentenced to two years and one month in prison. Işık was detained in March following participation in demonstrations against an extraordinary “urgent” land expropriation decision by the Turkish government, in which over 600 parcels in the Akbelen Forest area were to be seized for expansion of a coal mine. (Photo: Cumhuriyet)

Watching the Shadows

Podcast: Resist digital hegemony! II

Digital technology continues to colonize every sphere of human activity with terrifying rapidity, and Artificial Intelligence portends the actual abolition of humanity. Even the United Nations’ belated and insufficient efforts to put a regulatory regime in place for AI acknowledge that humans face imminent “loss of control” over the technology. There are glimmers of hope, however: teachers engaged in practical resistance to the rollout of AI in school classrooms, and the nationwide protests against the proliferation of data centers. In New York City, the local Luddite Club just held a Summer of Ludd festival—aimed at getting people to disconnect from the digital pseudo-reality that recuperates our very alienation from itself, and to reclaim real life in the public parks and streets. In Episode 335 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg offers a report from Manhattan’s Lower East Side. (Photo: CounterVortex at the Summer of Ludd, Tompkins Square Park, NYC)

Southeast Asia

Extrajudicial killings continue in Philippines

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that authorities in the Philippines continue to conduct extrajudicial killings, with no accountability, as part of the government’s anti-drug campaign. Ten years after then-President Rodrigo Duterte launched his brutal “war on drugs,” serious human rights violations remain ongoing. According to HRW, the number of killings in the anti-drug campaign has reached 1,273 since Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became president in 2022. The report noted a decline in the number of extrajudicial killings compared to rates under Duterte’s presidency, but found that illegal arrests have significantly increased. In 2025, Duterte was arrested under an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for crimes against humanity related to his “war on drugs.” The trial is scheduled for November. (Image: Grunge Love via Flickr)

East Asia

Hong Kong: six years after National Security Law

Human Rights Watch stated in a new report that over the past years Beijing has restructured Hong Kong’s governance in a way that reduces accountability and tightens social control. A “draconian” national security regime is in place, which answers to the Chinese Communist Party leadership rather than Hong Kong’s people. The reshaping has fundamentally changed the institutions of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The new Legislative Council is overwhelmingly comprised of individuals with deep ties to the Chinese state, including 45 people who hold positions in Chinese state-owned enterprises, and numerous former police officers. These changes have been consolidated in the six years since the National Security Law was imposed in June 2020. This law has led to the arrests of protestors, activists and former opposition lawmakers, as well as shutting down numerous pro-democracy news sources. Prominent democracy advocates have been imprisoned, including Jimmy Lai and Joshua Wong. (Photo: HKFP)

Greater Middle East

Repression in Ankara ahead of NATO summit

Amnesty International raised concerns over an absolute blanket ban by the Turkish government on all protests in the capital Ankara ahead of the NATO summit that is to be held in the city next week. The statement also decried the pretrial detention of more than 100 people in the city, including lawyers, academics and activists. Amnesty describes the measures as “excessive” and constituting an attack on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. (Map: CIA)

North America

UN rights chief: investigate deaths in ICE custody

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called for independent investigations into dozens of deaths in US Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody. He urged authorities to take immediate measures to prevent further fatalities as the number of deaths in detention continues to rise. Türk noted that at least 52 people have died in ICE custodysince the beginning of 2025, following President Donald Trump’s return to office and the start of the administration’s expanded immigration enforcement policies. According to official figures, 18 people died in ICE detention during the first five months of this year, with an additional death recorded in June, while 33 deaths were documented during 2025 overall—compared with 11 in 2024. (Photo: ICE via Wikimedia Commons)

North Africa

Tunisia: overturn convictions of anti-racism activists

Amnesty International urged Tunisian authorities to “immediately and unconditionally release” anti-racism activist Saadia Mosbah and five of her colleagues, and called on the Tunis appellate court to overturn their convictions. Mosbah and her colleagues are affiliated with the anti-racism and human rights organization Mnemty (“My Dream”), with Mosbah serving as president. In May 2024, Mosbah and several other activists, including her co-defendants, were arrested on charges of money laundering and “illicit enrichment.” In March, the Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced Mosbah to eight years in prison, while her colleagues were given terms of between one and three years. Rights organizations call the charges a miscarriage of justice, and assert that the investigative judge presiding in the case failed to provide any conclusive evidence that the activists had engaged in illegal financial activities. (Photo: Huda1977 via Wikimedia Commons)

The Andes

Peru: UN protests military ‘impunity’ bill

UN human rights chief Volker Türk urged the government of Peru to refrain from adopting a draft law that grants military jurisdictions the authority to investigate and prosecute possible human rights violations. Türk stressed that human rights violations should be handled by independent and impartial courts, as required by international law and UN standards. Türk warned of potential for impunity and violations of internationally protected rights, such as the right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair trial. (Photo: Protontorniyo via Wikimedia Commons)

North America

HRW: Minnesota ICE raids violated human rights

Human Rights Watch (HRW) detailed abuses endured by communities in Minneapolis and St. Paul during the occupation of the Twin Cities area by immigration officers. According to HRW, officers terrorized residents, committed widespread human rights violations, and exposed “deeply abusive” tendencies within US immigration enforcement. (Photo: Chad Davis)

Iran

Iran: deadly repression in Baluchistan

Iranian security forces violently dispersed protesters in Pashmouki village, Kerman province, within the greater Baluchistan region. Six ethnic Baloch residents, including three women, were detained, and several injured. The protest took place outside a chromite mine in the village, which has been a source of great contention. Iran’s government has been cracking down on unlicensed mines in the region, but residents say they gain no economic benefit from the licensed ones, while they are left to deal with the environmental impacts. Since the mass protests in Iran earlier this year, the Baluchistan region has been flooded with Revolutionary Guard troops. Two Baloch youths in the region were killed by Revolutionary Guards in unclear circumstances within days of the Pashmouki violence. (Map: PCL)

Greater Middle East

Committee to Defend Prisoners of Conscience

Egypt: activists detained for protesting detentions

Amnesty International called on Egyptian authorities to immediately release jailed activists and uphold international law, following the arrest of a group involved in organizing a peaceful protest. Several members of the Committee to Defend Prisoners of Conscience were detained after holding an exhibition called “They Don’t Belong in Prison,” highlighting cases of persons unjustly detained for political reasons. They were charged with “disseminating false news,” and one activist, lawyer Mohamed Abu al-Dayyar, is also facing terrorism-related charges. (Image: Egyptian Human Rights Forum)