Special Report: U.S. Kurdish Policy in Iraq
By Michał Jagielski Senior Middle East and Iran Analyst Genocide Watch The flags of Iraq, the Kurdistan Region, and the United States. File photo: Rudaw At various stages, the Kurdish community of Iraq was one of Washington’s most important regional allies. The KDP and PUK joined American wars, opposed the Baathist regime, and stood at the front lines against ISIS. Despite their commitment and immense sacrifices, they never became equals in the eyes of American policymakers.
Genocide Watch
May 6
Genocide Warning: Trump’s Threats Against Iran
April 2026 By Grace Harris US President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference in the White House in Washington on April 6, 2026.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters On April 7, 2026, United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump shared a threat that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again” in a post on Truth Social. This rhetoric goes far beyond threats of traditional warfare and denotes an explicit threat of civilizational devastation. In writing t
Genocide Watch
Apr 28
Mapping Attacks on LGBTQ Rights in U.S. State Legislatures
The ACLU is tracking 525 Anti-LGBTQ bills in the U.S. While not all of these bills will become law, they all cause harm for LGBTQ people. Map Tracker. Credit: ACLU About the Data: How state lawmakers are targeting LGBTQ Rights Overview In the last few years states have advanced a record number of bills that attack LGBTQ rights, especially transgender youth. The ACLU is tracking these attacks and working with our national network of affiliates to support LGBTQ people everywher
ACLU
Apr 27
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Takes Power in Iran
By Juliana Girotto Genocide Watch IRGC military personnel at a military rally in Tehran, Iran, on November 24, 2023. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via AP) Recent evidence suggests that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has consolidated power in Iran. With the IRGC now functioning as the dominant governing authority, the situation in Iran represents a shift from theocracy to militarized rule, with significant implications for civilian protection, political re
Genocide Watch
Apr 26
Special Report: U.S. Kurdish Policy in Syria
By Michał Jagielski Senior Middle East and Iran Analyst Genocide Watch Syrian Kurds protesting outside a U.S.-led international coalition base near the Turkish border in Syria. Photo: Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images A decade after the establishment of CJTF-OIR, it appears that the alliance between the U.S. and the SDF is at an end. Initially, the Kurdish-led forces were the most reliable ally for Washington’s multilayered Syrian policy aimed at countering ISIS and the gr
Genocide Watch
Apr 21
Human Rights Campaign targets Congress on LGBTQ+ rights
An LGBTQ+ rights supporter holds a flag in the hallway outside an Iowa House Judiciary subcommittee hearing, Jan. 31, 2024, at the Statehouse, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File) By MATT BROWN Updated 1:55 AM HST, April 21, 2026 WASHINGTON (AP) — The Human Rights Campaign, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations, is vaulting into the midterms with a $15 million investment targeting Republicans in battleground districts after a series of
AP News
Apr 21
Why the Israeli and US War in Iran is "Not Europe's War"
An Iranian flag is placed among the ruins of a police station destroyed during the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran on March 3. (Vahid Salemi/The Associated Press) Why the Israeli and US War in Iran and Lebanon is “Not Europe’s War” April 17, 2026 By Jeanne Macé and Alžběta Frommerová Since the launch of the Israel and US war against Iran on February 28, 2026, European countries have been exposed to the consequences of a conflict they neither initiated nor sought to
Genocide Watch
Apr 17
Video of Minneapolis Shooting Undermines ICE Account
By Ernesto Londoño, Mitch Smith, Haley Willis, and Robin Stein April 6, 2026 Prosecutors did not watch video of the nonfatal shooting until weeks after charging the wounded man, an official said. Credit: New York Times Almost immediately after an immigration agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan immigrant in Minneapolis this winter, the federal government cast the injured man as an attempted murderer and the agent as the victim of a brutal beating. That version of events began
The New York Times
Apr 10
ICE Arrests Without Criminal Convictions Increased Eightfold
Immigration arrests of people without criminal convictions have increased eightfold under Trump, report says. The rise is related to the steep increase in the number of immigration-related street arrests, according to an analysis using ICE data by UC Berkeley. April 8, 2026 By Daniella Silva An ICE agent's badge in St. Paul, Minn., in December. Bill Angelucci / NBC News Arrests of immigrants without criminal convictions by ICE have surged 770%, while street arrests saw a more
NBC News
Apr 8
Trump threatens genocide: "a whole civilization will die"
Attacks on Iran increase and Israel tells Iranians to avoid train travel as deadline to reopen strait of Hormuz looms By Julian Borger, Dan Sabbagh in Jerusalem and Andrew Roth in Washington A reference to the anti-Trump No Kings protests is left on a building at Tehran’s Sharif University of Technology that was damaged in an airstrike. Photograph: Majid-Asgaripour/Reuters Donald Trump has warned that Iran ’s “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Tehran did not comply wit
The Guardian
Apr 7
Destroying Iran's electric and water supply is a war crime
PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: by WIRED Middle East Staff based on image from Getty Images The Illegality of Trump’s Threats to Destroy Civilian Infrastructure in Iran By Karolina Bonde, Genocide Watch 6 April 2026 On March 21, 2026, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the Islamic Republic of Iran demanding that it reopen the Strait of Hormuz. If Iran did not comply, Trump threatened to “obliterate” Iranian power plants, beginning with the largest one. Days late
Genocide Watch
Apr 6
