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According to the Tiananmen Mothers group, the authorities notified family members of people who lost their lives in the 1989 crackdown that they cannot travel to Beijing’s Wan’an Cemetery or conduct any commemoration in the cemetery. Sarah Brooks, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for Asia, described the ban as “heartless,” saying:

The Tiananmen Mothers were not previously blocked from cemetery visits on the 4 June anniversary, and it is deeply troubling that this year the suppression of Tiananmen commemoration appears to be escalating—reflecting the government’s deep-seated insecurity about people’s demands for accountability.

Ahead of the anniversary, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement commemorating the Chinese civilians who lost their lives for exercising their right to peaceful assembly. He said in the statement: “No amount of censorship can erase the past.” Foreign embassies in China, including those of the UK, Canada and Australia, made similar social media posts to support survivors and families of those who lost their lives in the crackdown.

In a press conference on June 4, Mao Ning, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accused Rubio of distorting historical facts, smearing the Chinese political system, and interfering in China’s internal affairs.

In a June 1 press release, Human Rights Watch (HRW) also reported China’s intensifying efforts to quell commemorative activities. This includes preventing a gathering of the Tiananmen Mothers in December 2025, which has never happened since the group started meeting in 2009. HRW urged the Chinese authorities to permit an independent public inquiry into the killings, and respect the right to free speech and peaceful assembly.

The Tiananmen Mothers is an activist group made up of family members of people who lost their lives in the 1989 massacre and its aftermath. In May, the group urged the Chinese authorities to disclose the full truth of the crackdown, provide compensation for the victims and their families, and hold all responsible parties accountable.

On June 4, 1989, troops and tanks forcefully entered and cleared Tiananmen Square, where thousands of unarmed protesters, mostly students, had established an encampment. The occupation of the square began in April, when students gathered to commemorate the death of liberal Communist Party official Hu Yaobang, and call for political and economic reforms. The Chinese Communist Party called the movement a “political turmoil” that “Western hostile forces” instigated to counter socialism and the party. Hundreds and perhaps thousands were killed in the clearing of the square, with tens of thousands arrested in the subsequent repression across China.

Detained Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-tung has launched a 37-hour hunger strike in jail to commemorate the massacre. She has been in custody since September 2021, facing a charge of “incitement to subvert the state power,” with judgment expected in July. The prosecution has included footage of the annual candlelight vigils commemorating the massacre as evidence in the trial. The annual June 4 vigil in Hong Kong has been prohibited by authorities since 2020.

From JURIST, June 4. Used with permission. Internal links added.

See our last reports on the legacy of Tiananmen Square.

Photo: Hong Kong Alliance via Amnesty International

The project includes the uninhabited Adriatic island of Sazan and several hundred hectares of the Vjosa-Narta Protected Landscape, a sensitive coastal wetland which is home to flamingos, seals and sea turtle nesting sites.

SPAK, the office of Albania’s special anti-corruption prosecutor, confirmed that it has opened an investigation into controversial changes in the area’s protected status and land ownership in 2024, which opened the door to tourism development.

The project is being spearheaded by Zvërnec South Adriatic Development, a company tied to Qatari investors as well as Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. The couple aims to develop a string of ambitious tourism projects in the region that they have dubbed the “Albanian Riviera.” (Greek Reporter, Politico, AP)

Image: Wikimedia Commons

The new laws are included in the state’s Fiscal Year 27 Enacted Budget. They consist of the New York for All Act and the Dignity not Detention Act. With their passage, ICE must have a judicial warrant to enter many public locations, including schools, hospitals, libraries, public parks, and polling locations. Many private locations, including houses of worship, are now explicitly allowed to require ICE to have a warrant as well. State and local employees and agencies are prohibited from sharing personal information with ICE.

The new legislation also more broadly limits cooperation with ICE by state and local employees and agencies. In particular, local governments, police forces and corrections agencies are no longer allowed to enter 287(g) agreements, under which ICE delegates immigration enforcement to state or local officers. “Police officers are taken off their jobs to do civil ICE enforcement, civil immigration enforcement,” said Hochul. “Not fighting crimes, not protecting the city, but to do ICE’s job for them. That’s what we’re ending.”

Local governments may no longer contribute to the cost of operating immigration detention centers, and they must solicit public opinion before changing zoning to allow buildings to be constructed or converted for immigrant detention.

Students’ right to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is explicitly protected under the new laws, which state that students have this right regardless of immigration status. The law also limits the collection and sharing of data related to immigration status. ICE agents will also no longer be allowed to conceal their identity with masks within New York state.

From JURIST, May 30. Used with permission.

Note: The 287(g) program has been expanded by Trump, and is being aggresively embracedin Texas. Massachusetts has already prohibited the program. It has long been met with protest for inviting abuses.

Photo of ICE agents in Minnesota: Chad Davis

Meanwhile, a court in Nairobi has temporarily blocked the Kenyan government from allowing the US to set up a quarantine facility in the country for Americans suspected of exposure to the virus. The US is among a number of countries that have imposed Ebola-related travel restrictions and border closures, despite WHO advice to the contrary.

From The New Humanitarian, May 29. Internal links added.

Photo of displaced persons camp in Ituri: Alexis Huguet/MSF via TNH

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Recommended reading:

“Hasan Piker’s Take on China May Matter More Than His Views on Israel”
by Danny Postel, New Lines

“New Political Litmus Test: Hasan Piker”
by Michael Donnelly, This Small Planet

“The Wrong Stuff: Hasan Piker and the politics of reactionary clickbait”
by Joseph Grosso, Left Critique of the Left

“The real problem with Hasan Piker. Spoiler: It’s not about Israel.”
by Eric Levitz, Vox

Production by Chris Rywalt

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Photo: Xinjiang Judicial Administration via The Diplomat

The resolution calls upon states to comply with the obligations set out by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), giving legal force to the non-binding advisory opinion issued by the UN high court in July 2025. Pursuant to the UNGA resolution, countries now have a duty under international law to take all possible steps to avoid contributing to climate change.

Vanuatu, in collaboration with other Pacific island nations, drafted the proposed resolution earlier this year, urging countries to consider the impacts their greenhouse gas emissions have on small nations. These nations are among those facing the largest burden of climate change, such as extreme weather events, crop failure, and sea level rise, despite their lack of a significant contribution to global warming.

However, following negotiations amongst the states, the text of Vanuatu’s resolution was altered significantly. Notably missing from the adopted draft was the “International Register of Damage” provision, which would have created the duty to maintain a “comprehensive and transparent record” of evidence of damage attributable to climate change.

Nevertheless, under this resolution, states may be required to compensate injured nations for any damage they contribute to in violation of ICJ-mandated climate obligations.

In a statement after the vote, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated that those contributing the least to climate change are “paying the largest price” for its effects. He also indicated the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels, stating:

The science is clear: fossil fuels are the principle driver of the climate crisis. The path to climate justice runs through a rapid, just and equitable transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.

The resolution’s text also affirms that states need to do their part to keep global temperatures from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius, a target set out by the Paris Climate Agreement that would require a rapid decline in fossil fuel emissions to achieve.

Despite an overwhelming 141 votes to adopt the resolution, eight countries were in opposition, including three on the list of the 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters globally: the United States, Russia and Iran. Also voting against were top oil producers such as Saudi Arabia.

Following the resolution’s adoption, Deputy Representative of the United States to the United Nations Tammy Bruce issued a highly critical statement opposing the resolution and challenging its legality. Bruce said that the ICJ’s “unfounded” view that states have a legal duty to prevent global transboundary harm is legally incorrect. He also rejected the notion that “climate change is an unprecedented challenge of civilizational proportions” as politicized and alarmist.

In the US, the Trump administration has vocally opposed the idea that climate change is a serious global issue, and has continued to roll back climate protections within the country. Following Vanuatu’s proposed resolution, the administration pressured the small nation to withdraw its draft due to its potential to “pose a major threat to US industry.”

In spite of the pushback from major emitters, Guterres described the resolution’s adoption as a victory for the planet, calling it an advance for climate justice and for holding states accountable for their actions.

From JURIST, May 22. Used with permission. Internal links added.

Note: The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) issued a similar ruling last year. See our podcast on the ICJ and IACHR rulings, “Meanwhile, the planet is dying….”

Photo: NASA via Flickr

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Image via frgdr Blog. Hebrew lettering in background spells names of places in Europe where Jews were exterminated.

Castro, 94, headed Cuba’s armed forces at the time, and later served as the island’s president.

The seven-count indictment charges all six defendants with conspiracy to kill US nationals. Castro and one pilot, Lorenzo Alberto Perez-Perez, also face two counts of destruction of aircraft and four counts of murder. Only one defendant, Luis Raul Gonzalez-Pardo Rodriguez, 65, is in US custody, awaiting sentencing on an unrelated immigration charge; the rest, including Castro, are in Cuba.

According to the indictment, three unarmed Cessnas left Opa-Locka Airport on Feb. 24, 1996, to patrol the Florida Straits for migrants fleeing Cuba. Cuban MiG jets destroyed two with air-to-air missiles over international waters, killing Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr., Mario de la Peña and Pablo Morales. Prosecutors allege the attack followed months of planning by Cuban intelligence agents who had infiltrated the group.

Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel called the charges “a political maneuver, devoid of any legal foundation.”

The charges extend a Trump administration push to pursue foreign leaders in US courts. In January, US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a raid on Caracas and flew him to New York to face “narco-terrorism” charges. Cuba, a close Maduro ally, said 32 of its personnel were killed in that operation.

Castro’s indictment also lands amid the sharpest US-Cuba tensions in years. Cuba has been on the US “state sponsors of terrorism” list since January 2021; Trump reversed a last-minute Biden effort to remove it shortly after returning to office, and his administration issued sweeping new sanctions this month targeting Cuba’s military-run economic sector and dozens of regime officials. Havana denies sponsoring terrorism.

From JURIST, May 20. Used with permission.

Note: The Brothers to the Rescue group also played a role in the Cuba Five case. The National Security Archives cites declassified FAA documents indicating that the group deviated from filed flight plans and sought to provoke a response from the Cuban military.

Map: Perry-Castañeda Library

CLIP additionally examined the impact of the strikes on the overall flow of drugs, and concluded that conventional and internationally coordinated anti-narcotics operations that cause no deaths are more effective than the boat strikes.

From The New Humanitarian, May 15. Internal links added.

US Coast Guard via Wikimedia Commons