Journalists Imprisoned in Vietnam: Families Demand Release
By Quynh-Vi Tran October 9, 2026 Graphic: S.B./The Vietnamese Magazine. Every year, around midnight on Oct. 6, marks the anniversary of the arrest of Phạm Đoan Trang by the Vietnamese authorities in 2020. This year marks six years since I last spoke to her and almost 12 years since we last met. Six years have gone by, and it feels like just a blink. Many people have said to me that she has been in prison for six years, and without advocacy, three more years will pass quickly.
The Vietnamese Magazine
Oct 12
Afghanistan Country Report
Country Report: Afghanistan October 2026 By Holly Swiglo Afghan women wearing burqas, as mandated by Taliban law. (Photo: Faruk Tokluoglu) August 15, 2026, marked five years since the Taliban, an Islamic fundamentalist group, took power in Afghanistan after the United States withdrew its troops from the country. The Taliban has since eliminated all political and civic rights, dissolved representative bodies, and imposed a strict interpretation of Islamic law. Independent jou
Genocide Watch
Oct 12
Jailed activist Umar Khalid wins 2026 human rights award
By Freepress Kashmir - News Desk October 9, 2026 Credit: Freepress Kashmir New Delhi: Former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) scholar and student activist Umar Khalid has been named a recipient of the 2026 Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk, presented by Ireland-based human rights organisation Front Line Defenders in Dublin. Khalid could not attend the award ceremony as he had been in jail for more than six years in connection with the 2020 Delhi violence conspiracy ca
Freepress Kashmir
Oct 11
CNDIH Flags Arbitrary Detentions, Enforced Disappearances
By Breaking Burundi August 21, 2026 CNIDH says its prison visits uncovered widespread violations, including unlawful detention and cases involving civilians held for non-criminal offenses. Martin Blaise Nyaboho says 135 detainees were held beyond legal limits / CNIDH Burundi’s National Independent Human Rights Commission has said violations of human rights persist in the country, citing arbitrary and prolonged detentions, abductions, enforced disappearances and alleged abuses
Breaking Burundi
Oct 9
Mass Trials Put Hundreds in One Dock in El Salvador
By James Wagner October 7, 2026 Lawyers warn that the mass trials of people imprisoned during President Nayib Bukele’s gang crackdown are marred by vague evidence and restrictions on a proper defense. Credit: Alex Peña/Getty Across El Salvador, hundreds of inmates appear in court by video simultaneously for a single, joint hearing. Some lawyers say that they are first meeting their clients on the same day as their trial. And individual anonymous witnesses are testifying again
The New York Times
Oct 9
Human Rights Activist Held in Notorious Vietnam Jail
By Farid Farid October 8, 2026 Australian-Vietnamese democracy activist Tran Hiep is being held in prison on a number of charges. Photo: PR IMAGE PHOTO An Australian human rights advocate is being detained in a notorious jail for political prisoners in Vietnam after he went missing for 11 days. Democracy activist Tran Hiep is jailed at B34 Detention Centre of the Ministry of Public Security in Ho Chi Minh City, according to consular correspondence sent to his wife Chloe Dang
Haiti postpones elections indefinitely amid gang violence
By France 24 October 7, 2026 Haiti has indefinitely postponed elections scheduled for December and February, the electoral council said Tuesday, citing technical and operational requirements as gang violence continues to disrupt preparations. The delay leaves Haitians without a democratic process as authorities struggle to register voters and secure areas needed for the poll. Men of the local defence force stand guard in a cemetery during a funeral service for people killed i
France 24
Oct 8
Persecution of Transgender People in the United States
Special Report, October 2026 By Grace Harris Transgender rights supporters rally outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, US, December 4, 2024. © 2024 Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo. Human Rights Watch In the United States (US), conservative backlash against 2SLGBTQ+ rights movements is producing violent, systemic persecution of transgender Americans. Transphobic ideology and political scapegoating have fueled efforts to deny transgender identities, exclude trans people fro
Genocide Watch
Oct 7
Georgia: Critics Jailed for Online Speech
By Human Rights Watch September 18, 2026 The Georgian Interior Ministry headquarters in Tbilisi, February 2, 2010. © 2010 David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters (Berlin, September 18, 2026) – Georgian authorities are using vague administrative offenses to jail or heavily fine people for online speech, deepening the government’s crackdown on freedom of expression, Human Rights Watch said today. Since June 2026, a new Ministry of Internal Affairs unit has monitored social media and refer
Human Rights Watch
Oct 7
Human rights organizations call on Singapore to drop charges
Morgan Polen September 10, 2026 Credit: Chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Human Rights Watch (HRW), Amnesty International and the World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) on Thursday urged the Singapore government to drop charges against several human rights activists involved in peaceful assemblies in support of Gaza, and to challenge the death penalty. Elijah Tay, Kyal Sin Linn Naing, Dayana Noor Mohamed, Nur Sabrina Kamel, Nurul Afiqah Kamel and Ami
Jurist News
Oct 6
Hong Kong Journalist Arrested On Sedition Charge
Al Jazeera Staff and AP September 30, 2026 Authorities detain media founder over Prince Edward station clash video, as press freedom groups voice concern. Police officers patrol outside the West Kowloon Law Courts Building in Hong Kong [File: May James/EPA] Hong Kong police have arrested an independent journalist on suspicion of incitement by spreading disinformation, local media report. Tang Ho-wing, founder of the online Boom News, was arrested on Wednesday morning, accordi
Al Jazeera
Oct 6
Macao's first national security case raises concerns
Kanis Leung July 29, 2026 Credit: Cherry Au Hon I via AP HONG KONG – When former Macao pro-democracy lawmaker Au Kam San was arrested in July 2025, his family and observers of politics in the Chinese special administrative region were shocked. A year on, little is known about his case, even by his daughter. Au is the first publicly known arrest under Macao’s national security law since its 2009 enactment and critics say his case signals Beijing’s emphasis on security and into
Associated Press
Oct 6
