Country Report: Costa Rica July 2026
By Juliana Girotto Migrants at the Paso Canoas refugee camp in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on August 9.Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images/FILE Costa Rica is historically regarded as one of Latin America's strongest countries in terms of defending human rights and political stability. Over the past few years, however, several trends have drawn concern from United Nations (UN) agencies and regional human rights groups, such as strain on migrants and refugees, a rollback of protectio
Genocide Watch
Aug 10
Country Report: Japan July 2026
By Genocide Watch Image by Bloomberg via Getty Images Japan has long practiced historical revisionism regarding their Empire-era atrocities. From the late 1800s to 1945, the Japanese Empire committed numerous war crimes against multiple peoples across the Asia-Pacific region. Often referred to as the Asian Holocaust, these atrocities included genocide and other mass atrocities during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Its actions included, starvation, forced assim
Genocide Watch
Aug 10
Of those who don’t get to be Cockroaches
By Zainab Amal August 7, 2026 Image credit: Photo taken by Shaheen Abdulla, July 2026. Photo used with permission. Since 2014, India has been governed by Hindutva ethnonationalism, intensifying decades of structural marginalization of Muslims through state-sanctioned impunity and systematic victimization. This trajectory found its mass expression in 2019, when Muslim students led protests, including months-long roadblocks, against the Citizenship Amendment Act until state bru
Critical Muslim Studies
Aug 10
Putin Is Building A Legal Purgatory For Exiled Russians
By Mike Ekel August 6, 2026 (Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) At the time he fled Russia in September 2022, Aleksandr Menyukov was a witness in a criminal investigation targeting a close friend: a poet whose street readings of anti-war verses were considered a crime. Hundreds of thousands of Russians had fled after President Vladimir Putin that month ordered a military mobilization to shore up the sputtering invasion of Ukraine. But for Menyukov, who provided legal ad
Pakistan's army chief turns on hardline Islamist groups
By: Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid, Mubasher Bukhari and Rick Noack August 6 2026 Police officers in riot gear stand guard as supporters of various religious and political parties attend a protest rally against Geo News over content aired during a program marking the holy month of Muharram, in Karachi, Pakistan, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - When blasphemy allegations against a Christian family prompted a mob of hundreds to as
AFP, AP and Reuters
Aug 7
Country Report: Germany August 2026
By: Alexander Smith Supporters of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) wave flags as they take part in an AfD campaign rally in Hohenschoenhausen, Berlin, Germany, February 22, 2025. Image: Reuters/Christian Mang. Germany’s history of genocide began during its colonial rule of German South West Africa (GSWA), which Germany acquired at the Berlin Conference. Settlers forcibly took indigenous lands, massacred those that resisted German rule, established labor camps, and rape
Genocide Watch
Aug 6
Liberia Ends Primary School Registration Fees
Liberia’s government announced on August 5 the elimination of all school registration fees from kindergarten through grade 6, beginning with the new school year on September 7. The decision removes one of the biggest barriers to schooling for hundreds of thousands of children.
Human Rights Watch
Aug 6
Turkey & Syria pledge closer defence & counter-terrorism
By Mina Aldroubi August 06, 2026 Foreign ministers Hakan Fidan and Asaad Al Shibani condemn Israeli attacks on southern Syria during meeting in Ankara Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara. Photo: Sana Turkey and Syria on Thursday said they will work together to strengthen their defence and counter-terrorism sectors to help “free Syria”. It came during a visit to Ankara by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani, who met
The National
Aug 6
Repression of Minorities in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan
By Sophia Khan and Kristie Moore Protests in Karakalpakstan in 2022. Peaceful protestors had only flags in their hands, but were met with violence (Source: RFE/RL) Central Asia has seen conflict break out frequently, in the form of interethnic violence within divided communities, border conflict over disputed territory, and skirmishes over shared resources. However, in the post-independence period, authoritarian governments and leaders have protected their own interests by us
Genocide Watch
Aug 5
Rise in Neo-Nazism in Contemporary Russia
By Vladimir Kovtun, Alexander Smith, Kristie Moore, and Flora Tu Ultra-nationalists carry flags and banners as they take part in the so-called 'Russian March' in Moscow / Source: Al Jazeera Neo-Nazism has been present in Russian society for decades, emerging in the wake of significant political upheaval and societal change. It has intensified with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. While the Russian government has, at times, prosecuted extremist organizations, it has also toler
Genocide Watch
Aug 5
Country Report: Brazil July 2026
By Renata Lampert Image by AP Photo/Eraldo Peres. Brazil is home to more than 200 million people, of whom 56% identify as Black or Brown. Structural racism remains a major problem in Brazil. Black people account for 82% of the deaths from police operations. Additionally, 79% of murder victims and 53.6% of victims of feminicide are also Black. Recently, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the João Pinhe
Int'l Bar condemns convictions of Cambodian journalists
Cambodia Supreme Court The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) condemns the decision of the Supreme Court of Cambodia to uphold the 14-year prison sentences imposed on journalists Phorn Sopheap and Pheap Pheara, despite accepting an amicus curiae brief submitted by the IBAHRI setting out Cambodia’s obligations under international human rights law. The criminalisation of journalists via the imposition of lengthy custodial sentences for legitimate re
