By: FIDH | International Federation for Human Rights October 12, 2026 The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, together with the undersigned human rights organisations and partners in the SOS-Defenders project, are following the developments of the open hunger strike undertaken by a number of Sahrawi political prisoners from the

The envoy lauds the progress in diplomatic efforts despite the worsening security and humanitarian situation. By AFP Published On 14 Oct 2026 Armed security personnel keep watch during a collective memorial service organised by the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC) and the M23 armed group in Masisi, North Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on January 8, 2026 [Moise Kasereka/EPA] A senior United Nations official has told the Security Council there is a “window of opportunity” f

Eric Nshimiye, an American citizen, says the evidence against him consists of unreliable eye witnesses. By Umar Farooq Published On 13 Oct 202613 Oct 2026 A view of Kigali, Rwanda, on October 13, 2026 [Yuhi Irakiza/AP] Boston, Massachusetts, United States – A United States federal court in Boston has begun hearing the case of a Rwandan-American accused of covering up his role in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Prosecutors say Eric Nshimiye, a 55-year-old father of four and a US

By Bernard Rorke October 13, 2026 An Italian housing rights collective and the ERRC have called on the European Commission to suspend payments to Calabria Region and urgently investigate the chronic mismanagement and alleged misuse of EU funds to reproduce housing segregation, following the scandalous enactment of a “non-existent State of Emergency” that undermines Roma residents’ right to housing. A new report strongly suggests that despite previous commitments to the EU, th

Brazilian Women are being killed at record rates. Now it is a key election issue. October 02, 2026 Jo Griffin As the country heads to the polls, candidates are looking to sway female voters with pledges to tackle femicide. For the mother who has spent 20 years recording the names of 30,000 victims, it couldn’t come soon enough. Ever since her daughter, Priscila, was shot dead by her ex-partner as she left a nightclub in 2007, Regina Jardim has been on a mission to ensure no o

By AFP 13 October, 2026 Men salvage scrap from the rubble of destroyed buildings of the Abu Wadi Bedouin community that were demolished for lack of construction permits, in the village of al-Dhahiyah near Rahat in Israel's southern district on October 12, 2026. (AFP) Approximately 400 people were affected by the demolitions in the Negev desert. Residents say they have nowhere else to go after their homes were destroyed. RAHAT: Under an overcast sky in southern Israel, Bedouin

By Jessica Donati 8 October, 2026 Guinea-Bissau's Prime Minister Ilidio Vieira Te walks to the podium to address the 81st United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City, US, September 25, 2026. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz. DAKAR, Oct 8 (Reuters) - Guinea-Bissau's presidential and legislative elections, scheduled for December 6, will have to be delayed, Prime Minister ​Ilídio Vieira Té told reporters on Thursday, though ‌he did not set a new date for the vote. T

By Rafig Shahbazov 12 October 2026 Photo: Shutterstock Users in Azerbaijan have reported difficulties accessing Instagram and TikTok, claiming the sites only work with VPNs: fuelling speculation that the authorities are restricting access amid protests against hijab restrictions in schools. Users have reported that the platforms were inaccessible from Monday morning, with some complaining about slow connections, feeds failing to refresh, and videos not loading. While outage-m

Dawit Endeshaw, Reuters October 9, 2026 Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos attends a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov following their meeting in Moscow, Russia October 21, 2025. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov/Pool Summary Ethiopian minister says Eritrean troops advanced up to 60 km into Tigray Eritrea accuses Ethiopia of having declared war in bid for sea access More explosions reported overnight near Tigray town of Adigrat Ethiopian Airli

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.

By Mohammed Haddad 12 October 2026 (Al Jazeera) A year into a ‘ceasefire’, Israel restricts access to 65 percent of Gaza and crams 2.1 million people into the rest. Israel has expanded its military occupation in the Gaza Strip in violation of a United States-brokered ‘ceasefire’, forcing Palestinians into an ever-smaller share of the besieged territory, devastated by Israel’s ongoing genocidal war. Nearly two-thirds of Gaza is now under Israeli military control or subject to

By Middle East Eye Staff 12 October 2026 A CCTV screengrab shows the moment King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh was hit in a Houthi strike, 10 October 2026 (Saudi Media Ministry/AFP) Terminals across Saudi Arabia were left in chaos on Monday after repeated attacks on Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport and warnings issued by Yemen’s Houthi group. Several airlines halted operations and over a third of all planned flights in the country were cancelled. Approxima

Troops. Photo: Army By Isah Ojo Troops of Operation Hadin Kai have neutralised over 40 fighters, including a prominent commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province, in a precision air strike on their enclave at Badu Village, south of Gudumbali in Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno State. The Army said the terrorists were neutralised on October 10, 2026, while preparing to launch coordinated attacks on troops operating within Sector 3 areas of responsibility. The a

By Maksym Panchokha October 8, 2026 Credit: Reuters 2026 On Sept. 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian forces had captured Sviatohirsk, a town anchoring the northern flank of Ukraine’s Sloviansk-Kramatorsk fortress belt. Six days later, Brig. Gen. Andrii Biletskyi stood in the town and filmed himself speaking calmly. Even a Kremlin-affiliated military blogger conceded it proved Ukrainian control. A pro-war channel that had posted two “liberation” clips l

By Al Jazeera October 11, 2026 A member of the International Organization for Migration inspects the abandoned wreckage of a boat that capsized off the coast of Djibouti on April 12, 2026 [File: Luis Tato/AFP] At least 139 people, including 15 children, have died and 84 are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Djibouti, according to the United Nations migration agency. In a statement on Sunday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) quoted survivors as s

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

By Gavin Butler and BBC Burmese October 11, 2026 Authorities in Myanmar have been ordered to aggressively fulfil the military's recruitment quotas, leading to corruption, extortion and abductions You do not stay out after dark if you're young and able-bodied in Hpa-An, the capital of Myanmar's southern Karen state. In recent months this has become conventional wisdom. But Zaw Min has no choice. "I worry, but I have to go out to work," says the 26-year-old tuk tuk driver, who

By Danielle Greyman-Kennard October 11, 2026 Lebanese forces seized 500 kg. of explosives allegedly linked to Hezbollah, sparking fears of political assassinations and renewed calls to disarm the group. Credit: The Jerusalem Post Lebanese forces seized hundreds of kilograms of explosives from a vehicle at a checkpoint in Dahr al-Baidar in the Bekaa Valley late last week, according to statements by Lebanese officials, which suggest the two people arrested in connection with th

By AI Jazeera Staff and AFP October 9, 2026 Russia and China block US efforts to expand the Darfur arms embargo to cover all of Sudan amid ongoing conflict. Credit: AFP The United Nations Security Council extended the arms embargo on Sudan’s Darfur region by two months but failed to agree on a US proposal to widen it to the whole country, after permanent members Russia and China opposed it. The 15-member council unanimously adopted Resolution 2830 on Thursday, extending the s

By Afghanistan International October 10, 2026 Credit: Afghanistan International The UN says 1,415 children were killed or wounded in Afghanistan over three years, including 446 killed and 969 injured. The casualties included 1,094 boys, 310 girls and 11 children of unknown sex. According to the UN secretary-general’s latest report on children and armed conflict, the Taliban recruited and used 557 boys during the same period, including children as young as 12. Cases of child r

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

By John Myers Jr. September 23, 2026 Jamaica says its reparations case against Britain has been referred to the United Kingdom’s highest court of appeal for the Caribbean island. Credit: Jess Hurd KINGSTON, Jamaica -- Jamaica’s government announced Wednesday that its reparations case against Britain has been referred to the United Kingdom’s highest court of appeal for the Caribbean island. The unprecedented legal maneuver marks a watershed moment in the fraught historical rel

By UNESCO News October 9, 2026 The National Conference on the Prevention of Femicide brought together public authorities, justice and security actors, civil society, experts, international partners and women themselves in Yaoundé on 24 September 2026. UNESCO/Baboga Sidoine Organized by AWEP Cameroon, the conference sought to strengthen understanding and prevention of the forms of violence that can lead to femicide. Femicide, described as the most extreme manifestation of viol

By: Neha Madhira August 12, 2026 General view of destroyed buildings in eastern Gaza City, on July 19, 2026. (Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images) An ongoing system of surveillance and policing in Occupied Palestine by Israel, aided by Artificial Intelligence (AI), can be traced back to the 2010s, when facial recognition was being “tested” at checkpoints and large information databases through cyber warfare programs. As Israel continues its most recent genocidal ca

By The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights October 9, 2026 © Huseyin Mesal / Anadolu Delivered by Spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights: Shabia Mantoo Location Geneva The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, is concerned by the continuing impact of Israeli military operations on civilians in southern Syria. Some 280 incidents involving armed Israeli incursions into Syria were recorded in September alone, through