A court in Bahrain dissolved the main opposition political party, an act Amnesty International said is a step toward the "total suppression of human rights" in the Persian Gulf monarchy.
Two sisters abused by their family in Saudi Arabia were deported by Turkey—despite their asylum bid and fears they will be tortured or even executed by Saudi authorities.
The latest Amnesty International report on global use of the death penalty shows a decline last year—but China's massive statistics are kept secret and therefore not factored in.
A Philippine lawmaker has filed impeachment proceedings against President Rodrigo Duterte over thousands of extra-judicial killings carried out in the name of his war on drugs.
In response to the mass execution of 15 prisoners in Jordan, human rights groups condemned the hangings as secretive and conducted "without transparency."
The Palestinian high court in Ramallah amended a previous ruling, holding that municipal elections can take place, but only in West Bank and not in the Gaza Strip.
International outrage over the mounting wave of executions in Iran reached another milestone when 12 drug convicts were hanged at Karaj Central Prison outside Tehran.
Bangladesh executed another member of the Jamaat-e-Islami party for crimes committed during the country's 1971 independence war—above the protests of rights groups.
Iraqi authorities carried out the hanging of 36 accused ISIS militants convicted in the 2014 Camp Speicher massacre—but rights groups said the trials failed to meet judicial standards.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein criticized Iran for the mass execution of 20 people this week, calling the action "deplorable."
Amnesty International's annual report on the death penalty again notes an alarming surge in the number of executions worldwide—now reaching the highest total since 1989.
Eight environmental activists arbitrarily detained in Iran in January and February remain in detention eight months later without clear charges, Human Rights Watch said. The organization called upon Iranian authorities to either immediately release them or charge them with recognizable crimes and produce evidence to justify their continued detention. The detained are all members of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. The public prosecutor for Tehran told reporters after the arrests that the detained are accused of using environmental projects as a cover to collect classified strategic information. It is unclear what classified information they could potentially collect, as their organization says it only works to conserve and protect Iran's flora and fauna, including the Asiatic cheetah, an endangered species in Iran. Other sources indicated they have been accused of "sowing corruption on earth," a serious charge that carries the risk of execution. (Image via HRW)
