Invoking painful memories of the previous Gambian Government, three environmental activists were killed during clashes that erupted between Gambian paramilitary forces and activists in Faraba Banta, south of the capital Banjul. Activists were peacefully protesting on June 18th against Julakay Sand Mining, a company that many residents argue is destroying
Despite Angola ending the nearly four-decade rule of Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ repressive and violent regime, reports of extrajudicial killings by the Angolan Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) continue to worry human rights groups. Video footage captured by a bystander has been highly circulated on social media and shows members of
Despite revising policies and monitoring activities in their massive fishing industry to safeguard the 300,000 fishing workers, Thailand continues to dodge claims of widespread abuses of slavery, human trafficking, and forced labour. As one of the biggest seafood exporters in the world, the Thai fishing industry greatly relies on low-skilled
The discovery of a mass grave in central Mali amid growing concerns of alleged abuse by military forces is the latest confirmation that the region has reached a crisis point. Local witnesses in the village of Dogo recognized the six bodies as the people who have been arrested and blindfolded
In a pivotal moment for Liberia, the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) has successfully completed its mandate after 15 years of assisting and supporting the nation in its transition from violent conflict to long-lasting peace and democracy. With Liberia now looking to secure a stable future, the United Nations
A new investigation into South Sudan’s violent conflict marred with famine and a trail of atrocities has revealed that Sudan’s political leadership is routing millions of dollars from oil revenues to fund the ongoing four-year civil war. Documents reviewed by Global Witness, an organisation that fights exploration of natural resources,
The notion of the US President Donald Trump meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un has appeared illusory over the past year as tensions over Pyongyang’s growing nuclear and ballistic missile programs have continued to climb. Surprisingly, this has dramatically shifted in recent weeks after a series of inter-Korea meetings
Systematic human rights abuses, proportionate with those committed by the Islamic State, are being committed by al-Shabab militants in Somalia. There are reports of the al-Qaeda-affiliated group extorting huge sums of money from starving villages and forcibly recruiting hundreds of suicide bombers and child soldiers. Despite formerly controlling much of
Satellite images have revealed that the Myanmar Government is bulldozing villages in the Rakhine State in an enormous operation to demolish evidence of human rights abuses against the ethnic Rohingya minority. Human Rights Watch said that at least 55 villages have been erased since late 2017, after nearly 700,000 Rohingya
Libyan gunman and civilian authorities in the coastal city of Misrata have blocked tens of thousands of people from returning to their hometown of Tawergha, after seven years of forced displacement. Reports of armed groups burning their tents in their makeshift desert camps and threatening families with heavy weapons highlight
Nigerian officials have reported that more than 40,000 refugees from the Anglophone Southern Cameroons region have poured over the border to escape the violent atrocities and crackdown by the Cameroonian forces after separatists declared an independent state named “The Federal Republic of Ambazonia.” President Paul Biya fiercely opposes session and
Syrian refugees escaping from the intensifying violence in the north-west region of Syria are facing indiscriminate shots and beatings at the Turkish border. Refugees who succeeded in crossing the border via smuggling routes into Turkey told of Turkish border guards shooting at them, with others reporting of asylums seekers being
Hesham Genena, a former anti-corruption watchdog chief and a leading member of an opposition campaign against President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, was seriously injured during a suspected kidnapping attempt on Saturday, 27 January 2018. Genena was heading to court to protest his sacking as Egypt’s top corruption official when four men
Henrietta H Fore, the Executive Director of the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF) warned that more than 250,000 children in war-torn South Sudan are “at risk of imminent death” from severe malnutrition. “We are very worried that a quarter of a million children are going to be facing death this
A top Turkish official has sounded the alarm over Bashar al-Assad’s latest military campaign on the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib, arguing that it could ignite a “new wave of migration.” Reinforced by immense Russian air power, Syrian troops have quickly advanced on the province since late 2017, triggering a
The unexpected announcement on 3 January 2018 by Ethiopia’s ruling coalition to release political prisoners and close the notorious the Maekelawi detention centre represents an important step in ending Ethiopia’s history of human rights abuses and political oppression. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn called the release of political prisoners – previously
Notable Chinese human rights activist Wu Gan was sentenced to eight years in jail last week on subversion charges. Also known by his online nickname, “Super Vulgar Butcher,” Wu was handed the toughest and longest sentence in a wave of politically driven trials. China recently launched an unprecedented attack on
Human Rights Watch has encouraged the United Nations (UN) to place sanctions on Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over severe and immense human rights abuses in the Riyadh-led coalition’s war on Yemen. In an op-ed published in the Washington Post on Tuesday, the Human Rights Watch’s Deputy UN
United Nations-sponsored peace talks in Geneva, intending to end the Syrian Civil War, have fallen apart, with special envoy Staffan de Mistura admitting that “a golden big opportunity” has been missed. Now in the eighth round of talks, last Thursday’s developments have diminished the Geneva process’ credibility. The deflated special
