Human Rights

Crisis Group International : The military tide has turned against Huthi fighters in Yemen. Emboldened by recent gains, the Saudi-led coalition has started to push into the centre of the country from Aden, the southern port city taken in mid-July, and may even attempt to capture the capital, Sanaa, further north. To avoid a new and potentially more deadly phase …

A new study by the U.N. aid agency for Palestinian refugees says.that infant mortality rate in Gaza has risen for the first time in more than 50 years, A statement from the UNRWA relief agency released said “The number of babies dying before the age of one has consistently gone down over the last decades in Gaza, from 127 per …

  Bahrain has given permission to the island’s only independent newspaper (Al-Wasat ) to resume publishing after banning it for two days  and after criticism from human rights groups. In a  statement from the Information Affairs Authority they said that the decision had been taken after Al-Wasat’s editors undertook to respect the law on publications. The newspaper suspended on Thursday …

  Authorities in Bahrain shut down the island’s only independent newspaper, according to a government press release. the Bahrain News Agency reported  that  “The Information Affairs Authority has temporarily suspended Al-Wasat newspaper until further notice… due to its violation of the law and repeated dissemination of information that affects national unity and the kingdom’s relationship with other countries,”. No one …

Soldiers Killed Suspect’s Father in Apparent Arrest Attempt Human Rights Watch  (Ramallah) – Family members are challenging the Israeli military’s version of the July 23, 2015 fatal shooting of a 53-year-old Palestinian man. Three family members, who said they were present when Israeli soldiers fatally shot Falah Abu Marya in the chest after shooting and wounding his son, told Human …

Need UN Inquiry Into Unlawful Attacks by Warring Parties Human Rights Watch (Sanaa) – Saudi-led coalition airstrikes that killed at least 65 civilians, including 10 children, and wounded dozens in the Yemeni port city of Mokha on July 24, 2015, are an apparent war crime. Starting between 9:30 and 10 p.m., coalition airplanes repeatedly struck two residential compounds of the …

 nearly 700 put to death in just over six months Amnesty International  The Iranian authorities are believed to have executed an astonishing 694 people between 1 January and 15 July 2015, said Amnesty International today, in an unprecedented spike in executions in the country. This is equivalent to executing more than three people per day. At this shocking pace, Iran …

On Thursday, United Nations Human Rights Committee raised concerns about Canada’s new anti-terror legislation (Bill C-51) saying it could run afoul of international human rights standards. The Anti-Terrorism Act, which passed by the Parliament in June, eases for intelligence officers, border guards and law enforcement officials monitoring and arresting potential terror suspects in Canada. The law also could potentially be …

Joint Statement from Parties, Institutions, Rights Organizations, and Public Figures on the Proposed Counterterrorism Law The undersigned institutions, political parties, rights organizations, and public figures urge the government to delay the issuance of the proposed counterterrorism law, as published in the press, until a broad and genuine social dialogue takes place about its feasibility, its articles, and the ways to …

  King Hamad of Bahrain has pardoned the leading human rights activist “Nabeel Rajab” who is serving a six-month jail sentence. Rajab was imprisoned for allegedly posting offensive tweets about the ministries in the country. He was sentenced in January for posting comments on the social networking site about Bahrain’s interior and defense ministries alleging that many officers serving in the security …