Riot police used tear-gas and water cannons in Indonesia’s capital on Oct. 8 to disperse large protests against a sweeping new law that rolls back protections for workers and the environment. Hundreds were arrested in Jakarta, and rallies took place in cities… Read moreMass strike against neolib reform rocks Indonesia
Thai authorities on Aug. 19 arrested six activists who took part in ths month’s pro-democracy demonstrations in Bangkok. Among the six activists arrested is lawyer Anon Nampa, who called for reform of the monarchy, marking the second time he has… Read moreThailand authorities arrest pro-democracy activists
Leaders from the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the World Health Organization and the World Wide Fund for Nature joined to issue a stark warning that pandemics such as COVID-19 are a direct result of the destruction of nature caused by human activity…. Read moreDestruction of nature linked to new pandemics
Hundreds of protesters marched in Manila June 12 against “anti-terrorism” legislation that critics fear will give Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte sweeping powers to crush dissent. This was the latest in a series of demonstrations held under the campaign #JunkTerrorBilllNow. The… Read morePhilippines: protests against ‘anti-terror’ bill
Agribusiness and resource companies embroiled in land disputes with rural communities in Indonesia appear to be using the lull in oversight during the COVID-19 outbreak to strengthen their claims to contested areas. Since the first confirmed cases of the disease were… Read moreLand conflicts escalate in Indonesia
Belarusian prisoner of conscience and opposition politician Mikalai Statkevich was released from imprisonment weeks after suffering a stroke. Following his release, Amnesty International reiterated the need for justice for victims of human rights violations in Belarus. Statkevich, imprisoned for his role in the 2020 post-electoral protests, was one of 52 Belarusian prisoners released in September following a deal with the US. Upon their release, Belarusian authorities attempted to deport the 52 former prisoners. While they were being brought to the Lithuanian border, Statkevich forced his way out of the bus, declaring, "I will keep fighting." Statkevich was then detained again and transported to a penal colony. The stroke precipitated his release, but Amnesty stressed that being released due to failing health does not constitute justice. The Belarusian Human Rights Centre Viasna reports that 1,142 political prisoners remain incarcerated in Belarus. (Image: Monument to Belarusian political prisoners in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Source: Паўлюк Шапецька via Wikimedia Commons)
The Hague District Court on March 25 ordered the Netherlands to pay compensation to the relatives of 11 men executed by Dutch soldiers in South Sulawesi in 1946 and 1947, during the 1945-49 Indonesian War of Independence. Ten of the cases… Read moreNetherlands to pay over Indonesia atrocities
Key climate indicators such as greenhouse gas concentrations, global temperatures, ocean heat and sea levels all reached record highs in recent years, according to the World Meteorological Organization's State of the Global Climate 2025 report. The past 11 years have been the warmest on record, with 2025 among the top three. Melting ice, rising seas, and extreme weather are intensifying risks to ecosystems, health, and economies. With the 1.5°C warming limit established by the Paris Agreement nearing, the report stresses urgent emissions cuts. "Every key climate indicator is flashing red," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. "Humanity has just endured the 11 hottest years on record. When history repeats itself 11 times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act." (Image: blende12/Pixabay)
A group of UN experts called on Honduras to halt evictions of campesino, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities taking place under Decree No. 107-2026, also known as the Law for the Strengthening & Protection of the Agro-Industrial Sector. The experts wrote: "We cannot stand by and watch the deliberate closing of every legal door through which a peasant, Indigenous or Afro-descendant family in Honduras can challenge dispossession." They especially condemned evictions at the Garífuna community of San Juan in Tela municipality on the Caribbean coast. Five members of the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) were arrested in the operation, and now face charges of "aggravated usurpation" related to their defense of the community’s ancestral territory. (Map: Wikitravel)
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) filed an application to bring proceedings against Rwanda over decades of war crimes and violence perpetrated in the DRC's east. The case filed with the International Court of Justice cites "abuses attributable to Rwanda over a period extending from 1996 to the present day," including massacres, forced displacement, and other atrocities. The case comes after years of worsening tensions, with the Congolese government repeatedly accusing Rwanda of supporting armed groups operating in the eastern DRC, particularly the M23 rebel army, which has seized large areas of territory in recent years. (Photo: ICJ)
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)
US and Nigerian forces jointly conducted a raid that killed one of the Islamic State's highest-ranking leaders in the country. Abu Bilal al-Minuki was said to be a commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). The strike took place in the Lake Chad area in Nigeria's northeast. Meanwhile, dozens of Nigerian fishermen are feared dead after Chadian forces struck alleged Boko Haram strongholds along Lake Chad, which straddles the border of the two countries. Additionally, at least 100 civilians were killed in a Nigerian government air-strike on a crowded market in bandit-affected northwest Zamfara state, according to Amnesty International. Nigerian authorities have denied the report, but if confirmed, it would be the second air-strike to kill scores of people in a northern Nigerian market in a month. (Map: Wikipedia)
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