ISIS Affiliates Threaten Religious Freedom in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Washington, DC – The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom ( USCIRF ) released the following report on the DRC:   Nonstate Violators of Religious Freedom in the DRC   – Amid ongoing political instability and chronic insecurity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), nonstate armed groups have increasingly targeted religious communities, exploited gaps in governance, and limited civilian protection, particularly in the country’s eastern provinces. Among these actors, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), also known as the Islamic State – Democratic Republic of Congo (ISIS-DRC), presents a particularly alarming threat to freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). In the past two years, the ADF has intensified its operations, waging violent attacks on houses of worship, religious leaders, and communities, which are predominantly Christian. This publication provides an overview of the ADF’s and other nonstate actors’ escalating violations of FoRB, while also examining the DRC and international responses to the crisis.In its 2026 Annual Report , USCIRF highlighted religious freedom violations and U.S. sanctions related to ISIS affiliates or in central, eastern, and southern Africa. USCIRF has also examined conditions in the central region of the continent, including in a February 2023 factsheet  on Central Africa.   ### The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is an independent, bipartisan legislative branch agency established by the U.S. Congress to monitor, analyze, and report on religious freedom abroad. USCIRF makes foreign policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and Congress, intended to deter religious persecution and promote freedom of religion and belief. To interview a commissioner, please contact USCIRF at  media@uscirf.gov .

March 30, 2026 In this episode of Conversations on Genocide, Beth is joined by Michał Jagielski, Senior Iran and Central Asia Team Leader at Genocide Watch, to discuss his recent published ⁠Genocide Alert: Future Consequences of the War in Iran⁠ . Michał provides updates on the contradictory messaging from US officials about the war's objectives and analyzes three possible outcomes: an IRGC military takeover, complete regime change, or regime survival. All scenarios present significant dangers to the civilian population through increased executions, sanctions, displacement, and humanitarian crisis. The conversation highlights how the US, Israel, Iran, and all U.N. member states have the responsibility to protect Iranian civilians and do everything possible to end this war--and how you can take action. Michał Jagielski is a recent graduate of Lund University in Sweden, where he majored in Middle Eastern Studies, defending his master’s thesis on the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s framing strategies in exile. Previously he received his bachelor's degree in Iranian Studies from the University of Warsaw, Poland. Michał has experience working for NGOs and INGOs where he participated in projects focusing on humanitarian aid, advocacy and human rights protection. At Genocide Watch he is co-leader of the Sudan and North-Central Africa Team and leader of the Central Asia Team. He is also a member of the Research Division and Alliance Division and the Middle East and North Africa, and Central Africa Teams. His current research interests include the remnants of colonial mentality in international law and geo-politics, political persecution, state building and resolving generational traumas and prejudices. Streaming on: Conversations on Genocide Amazon Music Apple Music Spotify

In part eight of our Ten Stages of Genocide in India Series , we explain how the eighth process/stage of genocide, Persecution, is occurring in India. Pawan Pandit, a cow vigilante, stops a truck at a road block near Chandigarh, India [File: Cathal McNaughton/Reuters] Persecution is the stage when the state or state-endorsed perpetrators commit destructive acts against a targeted victim group. The group’s human rights are violated through extrajudicial killings, the expropriation of assets, and forced displacement. The group may be segregated into ghettos or deprived of food, water, and health care in displaced persons camps. Persecution may also include cultural genocide, where victims are forcibly converted to a different religion. An example of this is the forced conversion campaign that was carried out by ISIS during the Yazidi Genocide in Iraq. In India, acts of persecution against Indian Muslims have increased since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP came to power in 2014. At the grassroots level, vigilante groups attack Muslims, Christians, and other religious minorities. There has been a sharp increase in extrajudicial killings against Indian Muslims. The courts and police are often complicit in these crimes. The perpetrators are not arrested, or they face only minimal charges. They know they can commit their crimes with impunity. The extrajudicial killings of Muslims have been of special concern in states like Uttar Pradesh that have outlawed cow slaughter. Many of these murders are perpetrated in cases of cow vigilantism . Hindus consider cows to be sacred animals. Under Modi’s government, vigilante “cow protection” groups have mushroomed. Since Modi first came into power in 2014, there have been over fifty lynchings of Muslim men accused of cow slaughter. An incident that illustrates the process of Persecution in India is the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh . He was a Muslim man who was murdered by a Hindu mob in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh in 2015. Based on unsubstantiated rumors, Hindu vigilantes accused Akhlaq of storing and consuming beef. A Hindu mob gathered around his house and brutally beat him to death. The Indian police made initial arrests within a week of the lynching. But they took three months to file charge sheets with a court. Bail was granted to the fifteen men accused of the lynching. Their release was met with public celebrations. In 2016, instead of indicting the killers, the court ordered criminal charges for cow slaughter against Akhlaq’s grieving family. In 2025, the BJP-led state government directed the local court to drop all charges against the killers. The ghettoization of the Indian Muslim population is another sign of Persecution, the early warning stage just before genocide. The state legislature in Gujarat facilitated the persecution of Indian Muslims by adopting and amending the Disturbed Areas Act. The Act was initially intended to stop rushed sales of property during or in the aftermath of mob attacks, euphemistically called “communal violence.” State governments have the power to declare an area “disturbed,” which requires that property sales between religious communities be suspended until the state Collector confirms that the buyer and seller have both exercised free consent for a sale. In practice, the Disturbed Areas Act has become a tool to prevent Muslims from buying houses or apartments in Hindu-majority neighborhoods. The result has been segregation of Muslims into de facto ghettoes. In 2020, the Disturbed Areas Act was amended to increase the punishment for buying or selling property in areas where the state government has invoked the Disturbed Areas Act. The Home Minister of Gujurat, Pradeepsinh Jadeja, explained that the amendment would “keep a check on attempts to cause demographic imbalance”. Muslims from all socioeconomic backgrounds have increasingly purchased property only in Muslim- majority areas in cities like Juhapura. They have stopped buying property in Hindu areas, both for their own safety and because the Act makes Muslims unable to purchase or live in Hindu majority areas. Muslim neighborhoods are stigmatized because they are poor and have substandard public infrastructure . A Muslim resident walks past overflowing open sewage in the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad. | Sam Panthaky/AFP Genocide Watch recognizes the impunity with which vigilante groups carry out violent attacks against the Muslim population, anti-conversion laws in many states, and laws like the Disturbed Areas Act as indicators that Indian Muslims currently face the genocidal process of persecution. Genocide Watch recommends: The Indian government must reform procedures for police in Muslim areas. Many more Muslims should be hired into the Indian Police Service. Police training should include fostering positive community relations between Muslims and Hindus, crowd control, and overcoming religious bias. The Indian government should establish community response teams to investigate complaints about improper conduct of law enforcement agencies. States should repeal their cow protection laws. Following directives from the Indian Supreme Court on lynching and mob violence, states should enact and enforce laws prohibiting mob lynching. The BJP must swiftly and publicly condemn crimes committed by Hindutva vigilante groups and direct police and courts to fully prosecute those involved in vigilante crimes.  Gujarat and other states should repeal the Disturbed Areas Act Read Part One of the series here : The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Classification Read Part Two of the series here : The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Symbolization Read Part Three of the series here :  The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Discrimination Read Part Four of the series here : The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Dehumanization Read Part Five of the series here: The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Organization Read Part Six of the series here: The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Polarization Read Part Seven of the series here: The Ten Stages of Genocide in India - Preparation

Deaths in ICE Custody Are Growing. ‘They Let Him Rot in There.’ The New York Times March 29, 2026 As immigrant detainee deaths have increased, conditions in detention facilities nationwide are coming under more scrutiny. The death of Emmanuel Damas, 56, has galvanized opposition to collaboration between ICE and local and state authorities in Boston.Credit ...Sophie Park for The New York Times   By Jazmine Ulloa Allison McCann  and Emiliano Rodríguez Mega Jazmine Ulloa and Allison McCann reported from New York. Emiliano Rodríguez Mega reported from Mexico City and San José, Costa Rica. It started with sharp pain in a tooth. For about a week, Emmanuel Damas sought treatment while he was being held at an Arizona immigration detention center, several detainees later told his family. But Mr. Damas, who had migrated from Haiti in 2024 under what was then a lawful U.S. program, was given only Ibuprofen, the detainees said. Soon, one of his brothers received a call that Mr. Damas was in a hospital intensive care unit. By the time his relatives were allowed to visit him nine days later, Mr. Damas, 56, was on life support, unable to move or speak but still shackled to a hospital bed. An infection had spread throughout his body, and Mr. Damas had most likely gone into septic shock, according to federal officials and interviews with his relatives. “He could not even blink his eyes,” one of his brothers, Presly Nelson, said in an interview. “There was nothing there.” “They let him rot in there and die like he had no family,” said Presly Nelson, one of Mr. Damas’s brothers.Credit ...Sophie Park for The New York Times He died on March 2 — one of 13 people who have died in federal immigration custody in the first three months of this year, and one of 46 who have died since President Trump took office last year and began his mass deportation campaign, according to death reports  and news releases  made public by ICE. The Department of Homeland Security and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which have been leading the deportation effort, have faced growing scrutiny over agents’ aggressive, militarized tactics on American streets. And the killing of two U.S. citizens in Minnesota this year helped lead to the ouster of Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary. But as her successor, Markwayne Mullin, takes over , the number of people who have died in immigration detention has been drawing more attention. The number of immigrants in ICE custody has nearly doubled in the last 14 months, and the detention centers have been strained by the surge. Notes: The annual death rate is based on each year’s average daily detention population. Sources: ICE Detainee Death Reporting ; ICE detainee death notifications ; ICE Detention Management ; U.C.L.A. Law Behind Bars Data Project ; University of Washington Center for Human Rights . Data on earlier death records reflect information released by ICE through Freedom of Information Act requests made by Andrew Free . A spokesman for CoreCivic, which operates the Arizona detention center where Mr. Damas fell ill, said only that the company takes “very seriously” the death of anyone in its care. “The safety, health and well-being of the people in our facilities is our top priority,” the spokesman, Brian Todd, said. The Department of Homeland Security maintains that detainees are receiving adequate care. In a statement, Lauren Bis, an agency spokeswoman, said Mr. Damas was sent to the hospital on Feb. 19 immediately after he reported shortness of breath and that ICE had “higher detention standards than most U.S. prisons.” American prisons have long had deficiencies of their own in the medical care provided to inmates. Many ICE detention facilities are run by large private companies, such as CoreCivic and the GEO Group, that also operate many prisons. The companies say that they provide round-the-clock medical care and proper diets and that they are subject to government oversight. But a federal lawsuit and more than two dozen interviews with lawyers, detainees and their family members and elected officials depict acute deficiencies that they believe contributed to the deaths. They describe some of the country’s largest immigrant detention facilities as places where disease and illness are rampant and detainees are often denied sufficient food, clean drinking water, medications and medical care. Mr. Damas’s death has galvanized opposition to collaboration between ICE and local and state authorities in Boston, home to the nation’s third largest Haitian population. “It is reprehensible,” said Ruthzee Louijeune, a Boston city councilor who has helped the Damas family obtain records, plan Mr. Damas’s funeral and cope with the fallout from his death. “It is unforgivable that in the United States a man in detention should die from a toothache.” Mr. Damas had migrated from Haiti. Boston is home to the nation’s third largest Haitian population.Credit ...Sophie Park for The New York Times The 33 deaths in 2025 were the most in a single year on record since the Department of Homeland Security started operating in March 2003 and took charge of the nation’s immigration and border security agencies. During the four years of the Biden administration, deaths in custody ranged from a high of 11 to a low of three, averaging about seven a year. During the eight years of the Obama administration, an average of eight deaths a year occurred. Even at 33 deaths last year, the death rate since Mr. Trump took office is still below historic peaks given the record number of people in ICE detention overall. At the start of this year, around 70,000 people were detained, though that figure had fallen slightly as of early February. (ICE has not released updated figures during the ongoing partial government shutdown.) The annual death rate has fluctuated over the years and was at its highest recorded level in 2004, as ICE’s first leaders were developing detention standards and oversight, said Claire Trickler-McNulty, a former ICE official who worked on the standards. The annual rate of deaths had been steadily declining over the past two decades, but spiked in 2020 when many detainees died of Covid-19 . The vast majority of deaths occurred in ICE’s network of nearly 200 detention facilities, though five deaths occurred outside a detention center. An ICE agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez  in Chicago as he tried to evade arrest in his car. Two detainees were shot and killed by a gunman who opened fire  at an ICE field office in Dallas. One person was fatally struck by a truck while fleeing; and another died at a hospital after being arrested. (All were recorded as deaths in ICE custody .) In Congress, the debate has been over reining in ICE’s tactics on the streets. Democrats have held up funding for D.H.S. in an effort to secure reforms, like barring agents from wearing masks and requiring them to obtain judicial warrants. The deaths in detention have prompted calls for congressional investigations, condemnation from leaders of some immigrants’ home countries and at least six lawsuits. And a federal judge has allowed members of Congress to continue to make unannounced inspections of detention sites, over the objections of the Trump administration. Officials critical of the detention practices say ensuring oversight over quality of care will become more urgent as the nation’s detention system expands. Congress has allocated $45 billion for immigrant detention facilities, more than 10 times the previous budget. In Southern California, a coalition of legal groups has filed a class-action lawsuit against homeland security officials over conditions at the Adelanto detention center. The facility, in the Mojave Desert, went from holding three detainees to nearly 2,000 in the past year, according to the lawsuit. In more than two dozen declarations filed with the lawsuit, former and current detainees describe constantly feeling hungry, delirious and ill from rotten food, and lacking access to medication and medical care. The documents also include letters from doctors and lawyers detailing unsanitary conditions and the deteriorating mental and physical health of their clients. Among the families represented are those of Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, and Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, 56, who died within weeks of each other in the fall. In interviews, their relatives said they were frustrated that their loved ones were already in grave condition by the time the authorities had contacted them. Ismael Ayala-Uribe, 39, was working at a carwash when he was detained last summer in Southern California. His mother, Lucia, said the last time she saw her son alive at the Adelanto detention center, he was weak and his skin looked yellow.Credit ...via Ismael Ayala Uribe's family Mr. Garcia-Aviles, a Mexican day laborer who had lived in the country for about 30 years, was picked up in Orange County, Calif., in October. When family members next saw him, he had been hospitalized for more than a week. In an interview, Mariel Garcia and Gabriel Garcia Jr. said their father had bruises, broken teeth and dried blood on his mouth and forehead. In a statement, the Homeland Security Department said Mr. Ayala-Uribe had not been denied medical care, and that, according to an autopsy, he had died after complaining of rectal pain for three weeks. A coroner’s report listed the cause of death as complications from a pelvic abscess, according to his lawyer. The agency said that Mr. Garcia-Aviles suffered cardiac arrest tied to alcohol withdrawal syndrome, and his lawyer said a government autopsy is pending. The families said they have also sought independent autopsies and are waiting for results. “I can tell you that the same questions you have, we have,” Ms. Garcia said, describing her father as a hard-working man who had sacrificed for his family and had no serious criminal history. D.H.S. said he had unlawfully entered the country in 2007 and 2008, and court records show he had six minor offenses related to drinking in public or “performing excretory function in public.” His lawyer said he had been in the process of applying for an immigrant visa at the time of his arrest and had obtained a work permit. Gabriel Garcia-Aviles with his granddaughter.Credit ...via Gabriel Garcia-Aviles's family At the western tip of Texas, three men have died in a sprawling El Paso tent camp holding an average of almost 3,000 detainees. In interviews, undocumented immigrants at the camp reported poor drinking water, medical neglect and restrooms so soiled that detainees asked for disinfectant so they could clean them on their own. The facility has also been wracked by measles outbreaks . Homeland Security Department officials this month said they were replacing the private contractor running the camp. The family of Geraldo Lunas Campos, 55, of Cuba, is considering legal action, their lawyer, Chris Benoit, said. Homeland security officials have classified his death as a suicide, but the El Paso County medical examiner ruled it a homicide , and the autopsy and detainee witnesses suggest that guards choked him. In Massachusetts, Mr. Damas had reunited with relatives in Boston. He had legally entered the United States in 2024 under a Biden-era humanitarian program, and worked for his brothers’ transportation company, they said. But his status had been revoked when the Trump administration canceled the program last year, a development his family said he wasn’t aware of until his detention in Arizona. Mr. Damas, a father of two, was a fan of Haitian kompa music and enjoyed a good party. That was also what landed him in trouble with the authorities, his brothers said. After a family gathering, Mr. Damas was intoxicated and asleep when a neighbor called the police to check on his then 12-year-old son, who had been playing outside alone. Though that issue was quickly resolved, Mr. Damas became agitated with his son and tried to hit him, Mr. Nelson said. Officers arrested Mr. Damas, who had no prior criminal record, according to court records, and charged him with domestic violence. After one of his brothers posted bail, Mr. Damas was taken into immigration custody and shuffled through facilities from New York to Arizona, his relatives said. His brothers said they knew something was wrong when he stopped calling home from the detention center to check in. When his mother last spoke to Mr. Damas, in mid-February, he was in so much pain that he could barely talk, Mr. Nelson said. After Mr. Damas was hospitalized, his brothers spent days trying to obtain permission from ICE to visit him. Like the Garcias and Ayalas, the family has paid for an independent autopsy in hopes of piecing together what happened. “They let him rot in there and die like he had no family,” Mr. Nelson said. Copyright 2026 The New York Times Company

By Larisa Chikanya Photographer: Tchandrou Nitanga/AFP/Getty Images Following June 2025 parliamentary elections, Burundi remains under the consolidated rule of President Évariste Ndayishimiye and the National Council for the Defence of Democracy–Forces for the Defence of Democracy(CNDD–FDD) party. In those elections, the ruling party secured nearly all parliamentary seats, effectively eliminating meaningful political opposition . This political dominance has intensified the suppression of civil liberties, including the exclusion of opposition parties from governance, the curtailing of independent media, and widespread reports of arbitrary arrests and disappearances .  Burundi’s cycles of violence are rooted in colonial manipulation of ethnic divisions between the Hutu and Tutsi populations. Following independence in 1962, successive massacres occurred in 1972 and 1988 and during the 1993–2005 civil war, entrenching collective trauma and mistrust . In 2000, the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement sought to establish ethnic power-sharing and end large-scale killings, but its implementation has eroded over time as CNDD-FDD dominance deepened and opposition spaces shrank .  Targeted violence against opposition members, activists, and journalists has increased, signaling potential escalation if current trends persist. While there have been no reports of mass killings in 2025, the combination of legal and political marginalization, hate speech , and the use of youth militias to intimidate dissenters reflect a pattern consistent with the early stages of genocide.   The June 2025 parliamentary elections consolidated CNDD–FDD dominance, as the party won 96.5% of seats amid widespread allegations of fraud and intimidation . During the election period, observers report a surge in human rights violations, including at least 200 cases of sexual violence, 58 enforced disappearances, 62 acts of torture, nearly 900 arbitrary detentions, and more than 600 extrajudicial executions that were reported by United Nations experts. These acts were often linked to the intelligence service and the ruling party’s youth militia, the Imbonerakure . In August 2025 alone , monitoring by ACAT-Burundi documented 11 murders, seven abductions, and five cases of torture.  Given these developments, continuous monitoring is essential. Key areas of concern include the restriction of political freedoms, targeting of opposition actors, and the use of state or militia violence to consolidate power.Burundi’s trajectory underlines the importance of early warning and proactive measures to prevent the escalation of mass atrocities. To mitigate the risks, it will be crucial to sustain preventative diplomatic engagement, support for local civil society organizations, and vigilance regarding human rights abuses.   Due to the government’s systematic repression of opposition members, the Imbonerakure’s continued involvement in violence and intimidation, and the persistent ethnic and political polarization reinforced by state rhetoric, Genocide Watch considers Burundi to be at Stage 5: Organization . The criminalization of dissent, restrictions on media and civil society, and impunity for past atrocities place Burundi at Stage 6: Polarization . The government’s denial of accountability for crimes committed since 2015, alongside its refusal to engage with international investigations, maintains Stage 10: Denial , sustaining the country’s long-term risk of mass atrocity.   Genocide Watch recommends:   The Government of Burundi should restore political pluralism by reopening civic space and ensuring credible electoral processes.  The Government of Burundi must end arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances, and hold security forces and militias accountable.   Measures to strengthen judicial independence and protect civil liberties are crucial.    Efforts to promote social cohesion between communities, combined with support for survivors of abuse, are vital to rebuilding trust.   The Government of Burundi should cooperate with regional and international partners to address border insecurity and reduce risks that violence could spread to other countries.

12 March 2026 Sondos Asem, Middle East Eye The move adds to an expanding list of governments weighing in on the high-profile Gaza case before the UN’s highest court Iceland and the Netherlands filed declarations to intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Thursday, bringing the number of countries seeking to participate in the proceedings to 18. Both states filed declarations under Article 63 of the court’s statute, which allows countries that are parties to a treaty at issue in a case to intervene in order to present their interpretation of that treaty. The case, brought by South Africa in December 2023, accuses Israel of violating the 1948 Genocide Convention through its military campaign in Gaza since October 2023. During its devastating onslaught, Israel has so far killed over 70,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children. It has also destroyed most of the enclave's homes, hospitals, schools and infrastructure, rendering it largely uninhabitable for its 2.3 million civilians.   South Africa argues that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide, including through killing Palestinians, causing serious bodily or mental harm and imposing conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s destruction. Israel denies committing genocide. But a  UN commission of inquiry  concluded last September that Israel has committed genocide (the gravest crime under international law) in Gaza since 7 October 2023. The UN report’s authors, including legal experts Navi Pillay and Chris Sidoti, told Middle East Eye that the report used evidence and a similar methodology in its analysis to that which will be used by the ICJ. On Thursday, Israel was scheduled to submit its counter-memorial, or arguments in response to South Africa's accusations, after several deadline extensions by the court. The court has yet to announce that Israel has filed its evidence, however. Mass interventions  The new interventions by Iceland and the Netherlands come as a growing number of states seek to weigh in on the interpretation of the Genocide Convention in the case. Under Article 63, interventions have already been filed by Colombia, Libya , Mexico, Palestine, Spain, Turkey , Chile, the Maldives, Bolivia, Ireland, Cuba, Belize, Brazil, the Comoros, Belgium and Paraguay. Palestine and Belize have also sought to intervene under Article 62 of the ICJ statute, which allows states to apply to join proceedings if they believe they have a legal interest that could be affected by the court’s decision. Article 63 interventions do not make intervening states parties to the dispute. Instead, they allow them to submit observations on how the relevant treaty – in this case the Genocide Convention – should be interpreted. In its declaration, Iceland said the Convention must be interpreted in a way that supports its fundamental aim of preventing and punishing genocide. It argued that genocidal intent can often be inferred from patterns of conduct rather than direct evidence. Iceland also said the court should consider whether actions such as deprivation of food, shelter or medical care could constitute conditions of life intended to destroy a protected group, and emphasised the particular vulnerability of children in assessing serious bodily or mental harm. The Netherlands, in its filing, said the court should take into account patterns of conduct and circumstantial evidence when determining genocidal intent. It also argued that forced displacement and the withholding of humanitarian aid could, depending on the circumstances, contribute to acts prohibited under the Convention. Both countries stressed that their interventions were limited to questions of treaty interpretation and did not address the factual allegations in the case. The proceedings are one of the most closely watched disputes ever heard by the ICJ and have drawn an unusually large number of third-state interventions. The court has already ordered Israel in binding provisional measures to take steps to prevent acts that breach the Convention and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, while stopping short of ordering a ceasefire. Israel has been accused of repeatedly violating the court's orders. A final ruling on whether Israel has breached the Genocide Convention could take until 2028, experts have previously told Middle East Eye. © [2026] [Middle East Eye]

10 March 2026 Amnesty International ©Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images Women and girls bear the brunt of collapsing healthcare and mass displacement Medical staff describe an exponential rise in maternal and neo-natal health conditions Women with cancer and life-threatening illnesses facing interrupted or inaccessible care Repeated closure of Rafah crossing further reducing already limited aid deliveries and medical evacuations Over the past 29 months the devastating, multilayered impact of Israel’s ongoing genocide has pushed Palestinian women and girls in the occupied Gaza Strip to the brink, said Amnesty International today. Amid Israel’s deliberate imposition of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza, Palestinian women face compounded and life-threatening consequences that have materialized through ongoing mass displacement, the collapse of reproductive, maternal and newborn healthcare; interruption of treatment for chronic illness, including cancer; heightened exposure to disease and unsafe and undignified living conditions; as well as profound physical and mental harm. "Women in Gaza are being denied the conditions needed to live and to give life safely." Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International These harms are exacerbated by Israel’s ongoing restrictions on the entry into Gaza of items indispensable to the survival of the civilian population including adequate food, medicines, medical equipment and assistive devices, shelter material and equipment necessary for the purification of water and removal of rubble, unexploded ordnance and waste. Israel continues to impose these restrictions amid life-threatening delays on medical evacuations and the suspension of registration of international humanitarian organizations that provide essential services for women and girls. Women have been forced to give birth without adequate medical care, to endure pregnancy and post-partum recovery while displaced in overcrowded and unsanitary sites, and to navigate hunger, disease, and trauma with little privacy, protection, or access to essential services often while caring for others. “As tensions across the Middle East escalate sharply following Israeli-US attacks on Iran, we must not forget Israel’s ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and the brutal price women and girls have been paying. For pregnant women and those breastfeeding, for mothers of babies and young children, for women living with chronic illnesses and disabilities or recovering from life-changing injuries, for the widowed and the many women who have lost loved ones, for women who have been displaced multiple times, for women on their periods, for women who lost their jobs and access to education life has become a daily struggle to survive amid a relentless cascade of catastrophes,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “Women in Gaza are being denied the conditions needed to live and to give life safely. This systematic erosion of their rights to health, safety, dignity and a future is not an unfortunate by-product of war; it is a deliberate act of war targeting women and girls. It is also the foreseeable consequence of Israel’s calculated policies and practices of multiple mass displacement, deliberate restrictions on basic and essential items, as well as humanitarian relief, and two years of relentless bombardment that have devastated Gaza’s health system and decimated entire families.” In its March 2025 report, the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel concluded that Israeli authorities systematically and deliberately destroyed the sexual and reproductive healthcare system in Gaza, amounting to two acts prohibited under the genocide Convention: deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians and imposing measures intended to prevent births. Between 5 and 24 February 2026, Amnesty International interviewed 41 women- all internally displaced- including, eight cancer patients, four pregnant women, and 14 women who gave birth after the so-called “ceasefire”. The organization also interviewed 26 healthcare workers across six healthcare facilities in Gaza City and Deir al-Balah, as well as four staff of international organizations. The catastrophe in the Gaza Strip is multilayered and compounded by devastation upon devastation: ongoing displacement with ongoing air strikes, a devastated and under-resourced health system, and the complete collapse of the economy. The Ministry of Health in Gaza recorded the killings of 630 Palestinians, including 202 children, 89 women and 339 men between the signing of the so-called ceasefire in October 2025 until the end of February, adding to the over 72,000 killed since 7 October 2023. While the immediate threat of famine has eased, hunger remains acute and malnutrition persists, with disastrous long-term negative consequences. With the mass destruction or severe damage to homes in Gaza and with nearly 60% of the total area of the Strip located east of the so-called “yellow line”, which is physically controlled by Israeli forces and Israel-backed local militias, most Palestinians in Gaza continue to be displaced and have lost access to the agricultural food-producing areas of Gaza. On 27 February an Israeli Supreme Court temporarily froze the implementation of a government decision to suspend the operations of 37 de-registered international aid organizations operating in the OPT. However, restrictions and uncertainty over aid access persist with devastating effects on Palestinians especially Palestinian women in Gaza. On 28 February Israel closed all three operational crossings into the Gaza Strip after launching a joint attack on Iran with the United States. The closure halted the already limited flow of humanitarian aid and commercial supplies as well as medical evacuations out of the Gaza Strip. On 3 March, Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom/Karm Abu Salem crossing for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid.” The Rafah crossing with Egypt, which was only partially reopened in early February, remains closed. This whilst Israeli military operations such as shelling, militarized demolitions and airstrikes across the Gaza Strip have continued since the ceasefire agreement, inflicting further human suffering and damage to civilian infrastructure. Collapse of maternal and neonatal health services Throughout the genocide women’s access to sexual and reproductive healthcare has been severely compromised due to Israel’s bombardment, displacement, destruction of reproductive and maternal healthcare services and restrictions on the entry of vital aid and hygiene kits, amidst the decimation of Gaza’s water and sanitation system. According to the WHO and health cluster, almost 60% of all health service points are non-functional, placing immense pressure on the few that remain operational and the fewer that provide emergency obstetric care. Even after the “ceasefire” and improved aid flows, around 46% of essential medicines remain at zero stock, including drugs for inducing/managing contractions, labour and postpartum haemorrhage, anaesthesia and pain management, infections and respiratory conditions, according to the latest MoH reporting. Since the “ceasefire,” UNFPA and partners have delivered significant quantities of maternal and reproductive health medicines and supplies. However, the needs remain significant and are only partially addressed. According to the most recent projections by The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 37,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will also face acute malnutrition and require treatment before mid-October 2026. Medical personnel interviewed by Amnesty International said that even since the “ceasefire”, women who gave birth endured extreme shortages of food, medicines and nutritional supplements during much of their pregnancy and post-partum. They said that most women who come to deliver in hospitals suffer from anaemia because of malnutrition, and from waterborne diseases, vaginitis and other infections because of polluted water and unsanitary conditions. They are often unable to carry out the necessary screening for the women because of the lack of equipment and sometimes they’ve had to resort to using expired anaesthesia. According to medical staff interviewed, Israel’s ongoing genocide has caused an exponential increase in maternal and neonatal health conditions over the past 29 months. These conditions include pre-term births, low-weight babies, weight loss and malnutrition of pregnant and lactating women, pre-partum anxiety and post-partum depression, respiratory conditions during pregnancy due to exposure to cold and increased pollution, respiratory conditions for newborn babies due to, among other causes, preterm birth, insufficient lung development, mothers’ conditions during pregnancy and poor conditions after birth, especially during the cold weather. In the Al-Helou obstetric department, neonatologist Dr. Nasser Bulbol said the number of high-risk pregnancies they receive has significantly increased as mothers’ immune systems have been compromised because of malnutrition: “Displacement conditions have led to infectious diseases, and most women come here under stress, trauma and uncertainty, having suffered multiple displacements, lost loved ones, unable to obtain the nutritious food they require.” The hospital contains 12 incubators, including six for neonatal intensive care, but none of the incubators is equipped with the necessary cardiorespiratory monitors. Neonatal care units across Gaza face similar challenges. For example, the head nurse at the NICU at Shuhada Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, which has 24 functioning incubators, told Amnesty that they have had to reuse single-use medical supplies, including corrugated tubes for use with mechanical ventilators. According to UNFPA, neonatal units across the Gaza Strip are operating at 150–170% capacity, with up to three newborns sharing an incubator. The obstruction and possible suspension of international aid organizations will have a devastating effect on reproductive and neonatal health care. Doctors without Borders or Medecins Sans Frontieres, one of the affected humanitarian organizations, for example, has provided crucial antenatal and post-partum outpatient services and support to hospital maternity and neonatal services for tens of thousands of women and infants since the genocide began, nutritional support to many women with malnutrition, as well as treatment and support for victims of gender-based violence. Medical Aid for Palestinians operate neonatal care, neonatal intensive care, reproductive and obstetric treatment and follow-up at two hospitals in Gaza City – Al-Sahaba and the Patient Friends Benevolent Society – and at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. It also provides counselling and support for victims of gender-based violence. The crucial services provided by aid organizations will not be easily absorbed by an already broken health system, and tens of thousands of women are likely to suffer and as a result the continuity and quality of care they receive will further decline. Dreams of safe and dignified motherhood crushed Amnesty International spoke to pregnant and breastfeeding women living in displacement sites in Gaza City, Al-Mawasi, Deir al-Balah city, and Nuseirat camp. While access to food, personal hygiene and cleaning products –including menstrual pads, shampoo and soap– has improved to some extent since January 2026, some women struggle to afford these products. They also have very limited access to clean drinking water or household water. Most of the new mothers interviewed told Amnesty International they had been urgently seeking but struggling to obtain nutritional supplements during pregnancy. Many had suffered significant weight-loss, with some having been diagnosed with malnutrition and/or anaemia. Hind*, 22, from Jabalia refugee camp that is now almost entirely destroyed and currently displaced in Al-Mawasi, gave birth to a baby boy on 19 January 2026. She told the organization: “I lost a lot of weight; I weighed only 43 Kg and at the field hospital where I gave birth they told me that I am suffering from malnutrition. My baby was born with lung infection in both lungs; he spent several days in the intensive care unit and now is a bit better but still cannot breathe properly on his own and is in an incubator. I am afraid he will get sicker because I live in a tent by the sea and it has been very cold and there is no way to keep warm. I also have another baby aged 18 months and he too has been sick from the cold.” Mariam*, also 22 and displaced in Deir al-Balah, an underweight new mother diagnosed with malnutrition and anaemia, gave birth to her first son prematurely in December 2025. She does not produce enough milk to breastfeed and is now struggling to afford baby formula and keep her baby warm living in a tent without heating. "I am afraid he [baby] will get sicker because I live in a tent by the sea and it has been very cold and there is no way to keep warm. I also have another baby aged 18 months and he too has been sick from the cold." Hind*, 22, from Jabalia refugee camp and currently displaced in Al-Mawasi All the pregnant women interviewed by Amnesty International said they had only received sporadic antenatal care, and many had been unable to adequately shelter themselves and their newborn babies from the exceptionally harsh cold weather and rainstorms during recent winter months. Most women also said that during pregnancy they had been exposed to high level of pollution and especially highly polluting smoke from burning plastic and other materials because they did not have other fuel for cooking or to heat water for washing. In the later stages of their pregnancy and after they gave birth, they found it difficult to cope with the overcrowded, unsanitary makeshift toilets in IDP camps where they are sheltering. A 24-year-old trained nurse who is eight months pregnant told Amnesty International how despite being anaemic, she hasn’t been able to obtain the iron infusion she needs, or access iron-rich food or other vitamins during her pregnancy. She said her infant son died in mid-2024 from an infection after not receiving adequate medical treatment, and that her husband was killed in an attack near their home just before she found out about her current pregnancy. She described the misery of living in a tent while pregnant, being constantly unwell from the cold, and struggling to access the toilets. She is worried about how she will keep the baby safe from viruses in her tent full of sand and bugs, or afford nappies, baby clothes and sanitary pads for herself post-partum. Maysoun Abu Bureik, a senior midwife at Al-Awda hospital, also described the emotional toll on new mothers: “The worst thing is when you have to help a mother who has lost her husband or family. There is nothing you can say or do to support her. She has to run her household, she has to be the emotional support for her baby when she herself is in desperate need of emotional support, and mostly without a proper home to go back to.” Interrupted cancer treatment and medical evacuations Israeli authorities continue to control and severely obstruct the process of medical evacuations even as more than 18,500 Palestinians in Gaza require urgent treatment that is not available there, largely due to Israel’s destruction of the healthcare system. Medical evacuations to the West Bank including East Jerusalem have been almost entirely prohibited since 7 October 2023. Since the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing on 2 February 2026, the UN and partners supported the medical evacuation of 289 Palestinians – along with their families – through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings. While a tangle of bureaucratic and procedural factors can lead to slowing down the medical evacuation process, a major reason for the obstruction remains the severe restrictions and delays imposed by Israeli authorities, including the arbitrary, vague and lengthy approval process, which resulted in preventable deaths and caused enormous suffering. This process has stopped altogether since the beginning of the joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran. Among those worst affected by the obstruction of medical evacuations are female cancer patients. All eight women cancer patients interviewed by Amnesty International said that their treatment had been affected by shortages of medical supplies including chemotherapy drugs. During periods of heavy bombardment hospitals also had to prioritize urgent trauma injuries. "I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and since then I have been displaced on four separate occasions. I could barely move but I also had to carry my children. The combination of displacement and illness kills you." Iman*, a woman receiving cancer treatment at Al-Helou hospital in Gaza City A nurse told Amnesty International, “There is no hospital in Gaza that currently offers radiation therapy. We also suffer from severe shortages of diagnosis equipment. There is not one functioning MRI machine in all of Gaza. Lack of prior diagnosis also means that we have to keep guessing, which risks the lives of the patients and reduces the efficiency of our treatment.” In its overview of the humanitarian response, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed that some laboratory equipment and items necessary for diagnosis and imaging have been deemed “dual-use” by Israeli authorities and barred. A humanitarian aid worker from one of the 37 de-registered organizations told Amnesty International in late February 2026 that they had already had to turn away more than 1,000 patients for non-communicable diseases, such as cancer, as they had not been allowed to bring medical supplies into Gaza since the start of the year. Iman*, a woman receiving cancer treatment at Al-Helou hospital in Gaza City, said her chemotherapy sessions had twice been delayed because the necessary drugs were not available: “When I’m lucky to undergo chemotherapy, I sleep here for one or two days to recover, but then I have to return to my tent, where I have to drink water that is unclean, to shower using water that is unclean, but worst of all, I cannot sleep or rest. I was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, and since then I have been displaced on four separate occasions. I could barely move but I also had to carry my children. The combination of displacement and illness kills you. My name is on the list of medical evacuees, so I’m just waiting.” Nisrine, a 49-year-old mother of seven who was diagnosed with frontal lobe tumor, described to Amnesty International how on top of her cancer diagnosis her mother and bothers were killed in an Israeli airstrike and her home in Shuja’iya was destroyed: “I sank into a severe depression. Constant displacement seeps life out of you; it drains you. The hardest thing is having to start from scratch all over again every single time. For us it’s even worse because we are already physically drained.” Hani Ayyash, former director of the outpatient Clinics of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza City, the only specialized cancer treatment facility in the whole Gaza Strip, was forced to leave his hospital in October 2023 following heavy bombardment. The Israeli military later used this hospital as a military base and blew up some of its facilities in March 2025. “Losing the Friendship hospital hit us really hard, because it was by far the most advanced centre for cancer treatment in Gaza. We also could not recover any of the equipment from the hospital,” Hani Ayyash said. Israeli authorities must remove their unlawful and arbitrary restrictions on humanitarian assistance, including medicine and medical equipment, essential goods and services and their obstruction of medical evacuations. They must ensure an effective and reliable evacuation route into the other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), including East Jerusalem, and into Israel. The Israeli government also must remove restrictions on medical evacuations outside the OPT, when necessary, and guarantee the ability of evacuees to return after completing their treatment if they wish. They must also allow the immediate entry of diagnostic imaging and laboratory supplies and equipment, especially those necessary for the early diagnosis of cancer and other diseases. “Women in Gaza are holding families and communities together under conditions designed to break them. They are the teachers providing schooling to children in tents, the doctors and nurses working in field hospitals often without pay, and the caregivers fighting tirelessly to keep hope alive amidst genocide. Their courage commands immense respect and stands as an inspiration to all of humanity,” said Agnès Callamard. “This human-made catastrophe, which we have all witnessed on our screens, has caused immense suffering. Our action and support are past due! We must stand firmly with Palestinian women and girls in Gaza and call once again on states to take meaningful action to end Israel’s genocide and unlawful occupation, including by ensuring women and girls can access their fundamental rights, and securing a future where all Palestinians can live in dignity.” States must adopt practical measures to exert diplomatic and economic pressure on Israel to end its ongoing attacks, fully lift its unlawful blockade and allow humanitarian organizations to operate freely and safely. They must ensure access to essential maternal and reproductive healthcare and increase support and funding for services that protect women’s economic and social rights and for Gaza’s women-led organizations. *Some of the women have been referred to by pseudonyms upon their request* © Amnesty International

Report by the Montagnards Stand for Justice In a series of highly coordinated security operations on the morning of March 23, 2026, Vietnamese authorities executed multiple raids across the communes of Drai Bhang, Dur Kmăn, and Ea Knuêc. These actions targeted six prominent preachers belonging to independent Protestant house churches. The operations were characterized by a massive deployment of security personnel, tactical utility disruptions, and reported physical assaults on family members attempting to document the proceedings. DAK LAK, VIETNAM — In a series of highly coordinated security operations on the morning of March 23, 2026, Vietnamese authorities executed multiple raids across the communes of Drai Bhang, Dur Kmăn, and Ea Knuêc. These actions targeted six prominent preachers belonging to independent Protestant house churches. The operations were characterized by a massive deployment of security personnel, tactical utility disruptions, and reported physical assaults on family members attempting to document the proceedings. I. Incident Analysis by Sector Drai Bhang Commune (Ea Khit Village) At approximately 6:00 AM, a combined force of over 70 personnel—comprising commune police, provincial officers, and traffic police—surrounded the residences of local clergy. Authorities reportedly severed electrical power to the immediate neighborhood prior to the intervention to minimize external communication and visibility. During this operation, Y Wen Niê and Y Bây Êban were forcibly removed and transported to a local station for interrogation. Witnesses report that family members were targeted for documenting the arrests. H Sêpôra Êban was allegedly struck by officers and her mobile device was seized. Similarly, H Da Êban was reportedly assaulted by three officers while filming; her iPhone XS was confiscated and the screen was intentionally destroyed. Key personnel identified in this sector include Senior Lieutenant Colonel Y Thu Êban (Chief of Commune Police), Major Lê Ngọc Nam, and officers H Tinh Hwing and H Nghiê Êban. Dur Kmăn Commune (Cuê Village) A separate unit of approximately 50 officers initiated a sweep at 5:00 AM. This operation was notable for its rapid execution, preventing family members from effectively documenting the detentions. In this sector, authorities apprehended Y Yương Byă, Y Pôin Bdap, and Y An Hdruê. Notably, Y An Hdruê was apprehended while working in a private agricultural plot. While family members of Y Pôin Bdap attempted to peacefully obstruct the arrest, they were bypassed by the sheer volume of the security force. Local sources identified Nguyễn Anh Tuấn, Y Bhem Ênuôl, and Y Đoan Ênuôl as participating officers. Ea Knuêc Commune (Puôr Village) At 5:30 AM, a contingent of 30 officers targeted the home of Y SăngTi Bkrông. As observed in the Drai Bhang raid, a strategic power outage preceded the arrival of the police, who subsequently took the preacher into custody for questioning. II. Profile of the Targeted Individuals The detainees share a common background of religious and civil engagement. All are members of independent house churches and have a history of participation in civil society training and annual international commemorations, specifically the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief and Human Rights Day. The individuals currently in custody include: Y Wen Niê Y Bây Êban Y An Hdruê Y Yương Byă Y Pôin Bdap Y SăngTi Bkrông III. Conclusion and Human Rights Implications The synchronized nature of these raids suggests a systemic effort by Dak Lak provincial authorities to suppress independent religious leadership. The use of disproportionate force against civilians, the destruction of personal property to prevent documentation, and the targeting of individuals engaged in human rights education raise serious concerns regarding the violation of international religious freedom standards. As of the afternoon of March 23, the six men remain in police custody for interrogation regarding their religious activities. By: MSFJ TEAM

Smoke billows after Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, as seen from Baabda, Lebanon, March 6, 2026. credit: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir Genocide Warning: Lebanon March 2026 By Genocide Watch   Hezbollah is a genocidal terrorist organization. Like its Iranian sponsors, Hezbollah openly declares its intention to destroy the nation of Israel, a policy of genocide.   Since October 7, 2023, Hezbollah has launched over 10,000 attacks against Israel, including nightly missile and rocket bombardments. Many northern Israeli cities, including Haifa, have been hit. Israeli towns near the Lebanese border have been evacuated. Since October 7, over 22 Israelis have died in Hezbollah missile and drone attacks and 16 in Iranian strikes.   In self-defense, Israel has launched strikes on Hezbollah leaders in Beirut and southern Lebanon. According to the Lebanese health ministry, since March 2, 2026, 400 Lebanese civilians have been killed by Israeli bombing. On March 7, 2026, 41 people were killed by Israeli forces in the town of Nabi Sheet .   Israel launched two major invasions of Lebanon in 1978 and 1982. In 1978, Israel withdrew in compliance with UNSC Resolution 425, leaving control to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the South Lebanon Army (SLA). In 1982, Israel occupied southern Lebanon and parts of Beirut. It partially withdrew in 1985, but occupied much of southern Lebanon until 2000.   Since 1977, over 4000 people in Lebanon have been killed by Israel. In the 2006 Lebanon War, over 1,100 Lebanese civilians were killed due to Israeli airstrikes and ground operations. Since 2023, over 3,000 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli attacks. In 2024, Israeli airstrikes killed 492 people, including women, children, and paramedics.   Hezbollah’s civil wars against the government of Lebanon resulted in its control of most of southern Lebanon. In 2026, Israel ordered the evacuation  of the entire area south of the Litani river in southern Lebanon, including 100 villages and towns . The result has been the forced displacement of 700,000 civilians, including 200,000 children . Under international law, civilians do not lose their protected status  if they do not or cannot comply with evacuation orders. A ceasefire deal  with Lebanon in November 2024 committed the Lebanese government to overseeing Hezbollah’s withdrawal from south of the Litani River. But Lebanon was unable to force Hezbollah to disarm and evacuate.  Since the 2024 ceasefire, Israel has maintained control of much of southern Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel have violated the ceasefire  agreement over  10,000 times . Hezbollah continues to launch missile attacks into Israel. Israel continues its bombing and its invasion of Lebanon.   Although Israel may claim self-defense as justification for its war against Hezbollah, it has routinely violated humanitarian law in its conduct of the war. Israel has struck hotels  where displaced people were taking refuge. Israel has bombed Lebanese medical teams and facilities, a violation of Article 24 of the First  and Article 20 of the Fourth  Geneva Conventions. Human Rights Watch has verified that Israel has used white phosphorus in its attacks on residential areas , a war crime under  Protocol III  of the Convention on Conventional Weapons to which Lebanon, but not Israel, is a State-Party.   Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has threatened that Beirut’s Dahiya district will soon “look like Khan Younis ,” a city in Gaza that Israeli bombing almost totally destroyed. This was a declaration of genocidal intent by an Israeli cabinet minister. Hezbollah’s genocidal intent to destroy Israel remains its open policy.   Genocide Watch  considers these early warning signs of genocide to include Stage 1 Classification, Stage 4 Dehumanization, Stage 5 Organization, Stage 7 Preparation, Stage 8 Persecution, and Stage 10 Denial.   Genocide Watch recommends that: The US and other governments should host diplomatic talks to end the Israel – Hezbollah war. Lebanon should sign and ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Hezbollah’s leaders should be captured, arrested, and tried by a Special International Tribunal. Israeli leaders who order war crimes should be charged and tried by a Special International Tribunal. Immediate humanitarian access must be opened to southern Lebanon, to allow for uninterrupted flow of aid, food, medical supplies and unrestricted access by agencies to displaced populations.

A Report by Genocide Watch Photo: GETTY IMAGES The Noise That Replaced the News  There was a time when Indian news media claimed to present an unbiased record of events. Today, the media have dropped this pretense of objectivity. Indian media have been captured by political parties, particularly by the BJP. The media are louder, angrier, and far less interested in informing the public about what really happens.  This is not an accidental drift. It reflects a deeper shift in what the media sees as its role. Increasingly, television news does not investigate; it performs. The format has changed—from reporting that asks questions to presentations that deliver conclusions in advance. News anchors are not there to inform but to support BJP policies. Complex issues are reduced to opposing camps, and viewers are asked, night after night, to choose sides.  Content analyses by institutions such as the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies suggest that Indian television news increasingly prioritizes political confrontation and identity-based framing over substantive policy discussion. Economic distress, public health, and governance receive less sustained attention than conflict-driven narratives.  Channels like Republic TV exemplify this style. Their prime time shows rarely linger on evidence. Instead, they construct binaries: nationalist or anti-national, loyal or suspect. In these frames, there is little room for ambiguity, and none for dissent.  This transformation has unfolded with the political dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party. During protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) , prominent televised debates framed protesters as disloyal to India , rather than as advocates for  non-discrimination. Moderators cast dissent as an aberration that required explanation rather than with recognition of constitutionally protected protest.  Once a shift in framing takes hold, it systematically distorts the news presented to the public.   Hate Speech and the Normalization of Targeting  Language plays a central role in this process. Terms like “ Love Jihad” and “ Land Jihad” have moved from the shadows of Islamophobic RSS rallies into mainstream circulation , acquiring legitimacy through repetition. It is the propaganda strategy of the “Big Lie.” Repeat the Lie relentlessly and unchanged until it is accepted as truth.  This pattern was particularly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coverage of a Tablighi Jamaat gathering in several media platforms accused the gathering as a primary source of the deadly infection. Terms such as “Corona Jihad” circulated widely. In 2020, the Bombay High Court observed that sections of the media had engaged in what it described as “virtual persecution” of members of the Tablighi Jamaat. Investigations by Alt News documented numerous false claims that had already spread widely by the time corrections emerged. By then, the association of Tablighi Jamaat with COVID-19 had already taken root in popular imagination.  Digital platforms amplify these false narratives. Messaging networks such as WhatsApp and Facebook enable rapid circulation of slogans like “Vote Jihad,” reframing democratic participation itselfas conspiratorial. What begins as inflammatory rhetoric, through repetition, becomes a popular assumption.  The Architecture of Silence  What is not reported is as important as what is published. Independent journalism in India has not entirely disappeared. But it operates within tightening constraints. Self-censorship has become the tactic to stay out of trouble.  According to the Reporters Without Borders World Press Freedom Index , India has consistently ranked in the lower levels of press freedom in recent years. India is low in media independence andjournalist safety. Press freedom is weakened by ownership concentration.  Research by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism points to high levels of political bias in India’s media. Audiences increasingly perceive news organizations as aligned with political parties. This perception affects both trust and editorial independence.  Corporate consolidation of media ownership places a smothering blanket over media independence. Media organizations owned by business interests have economic incentives to discourage adversarial reporting.  The result is not direct censorship. The prevalent threat to press freedom is self-censorship. Quiet decisions are made by media owners and editors not to pursue a story, not to ask a question, not to dig deeper to get facts that would embarrass the powerful.  The Price Paid by Journalists  For those who persist in reporting inconvenient truths, the consequences can be immediate.  Journalists such as Prashant Kanojia have faced repeated arrests over online expression. Vinod Dua was charged with sedition until the Supreme Court of India intervened to protect journalistic freedom. Rana Ayyub has faced sustained online harassment, including threats, disinformation campaigns, and financial scrutiny linked to her reporting on communal violence and violations of human rights.  In Kashmir, reporters including Fahad Shah and Aasif Sultan have experienced prolonged detention under stringent laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Investigative journalists like Neha Dixit and editors such as Patricia Mukhim have encountered legal action and sustained pressure following their reporting. Rajdeep Sardesai has faced criminal charges over his reporting.   Together, these cases of intimidation suggest that the risks attached to critical journalism are not confined to isolated incidents. They reflect systematic legal, political, and social pressures thatdetermine what can be reported—and what must be left unsaid.  Data from the Free Speech Collective indicate an increase in legal cases, detentions, and investigations involving journalists in India, particularly those reporting on protests, communal conflict, andcrimes against Muslims.  These are not isolated incidents. They are signs of systematic repression.  The Machinery of Fear  Fear within the media ecosystem is reinforced through both formal and informal mechanisms. Legal actions—defamation suits, regulatory scrutiny, and the use of laws such as the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act—create institutional pressure.  Alongside these official actions, coordinated online harassment campaigns have become routine. Women journalists in India, particularly those critical of the government, face disproportionate levels of online abuse, including threats of rape and violence.   Self-censorship produces a more pernicious effect than direct censorship. Journalists anticipate negative consequences of reporting honestly, so they edit writing that might offend officials in power.Sensitive topics are hidden with soft words or euphemisms. Or they are avoided altogether.  In that deafening silence, official narratives grow louder.  The Shrinking Public Imagination  The cumulative effect of this collective self-censorship is a narrowing of the public imagination. When the same narratives are repeated across television, digital platforms, and political speech, they define the limits of thought. By confining ideas, free speech is silenced.  Surveys by the Pew Research Center indicate rising religious polarization in India, accompanied by increasing majoritarian identification.   Private media are not the sole drivers of these trends. But they play a significant role in reinforcing them.  Empathy does not disappear overnight. It recedes slowly, replaced by suspicion. When minorities are framed as threats and dissenters as disloyal, exclusion becomes ordinary.  The Quiet Resistance  Yet, the picture is not entirely bleak. Independent platforms such as The Wire , Scroll.in , and Alt News continue to report, document, verify, and shine light on falsehood.  Independent Indian media play a critical role in identifying misinformation, including Hindutva narratives that circulate widely before being challenged.   Independent media may reach only a minority. But their role remains essential. They continue to question. They demand verification. They hold open the doors of democracy.  Reclaiming the Space for Truth  This essay is not only about the decline of Indian journalism. It is about the conditions necessary for a free press to survive.  Press freedom is not merely the absence of censorship. It is the presence of conditions that make truth-telling possible—legal protection, economic independence, and institutional support.   Without these protections, journalism cannot function as an early warning system against tyranny.  Without these protections, the signs of division—hate speech, suspicion, the erosion of empathy—become harder to detect, and easier to ignore.  The danger of silenced media is not only that the noise of the destruction of democracy grows louder.  It is that the sounds of the crumbling of democracy become indistinguishable from the news itself.

Masked Russian "Little Green Men" in Narva, Estonia Copyright AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, file Euronews March 19, 2026 By Johanna Urbancik & Franziska Müller A pro-Russian online campaign is casting the Estonian city of Narva as a "people's republic", spreading propaganda and at times calling for violence and sabotage. A flag, a coat of arms, freshly drawn borders – and rhetoric that echoes the playbook of the so-called "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine and Russian-occupied Crimea. On social media, Estonia's third-largest city, Narva, is now being cast as a so-called "People's Republic of Narva". Research by the Estonian anti-propaganda platform Propastop suggests the campaign is built around an alleged separatist narrative, aimed at peeling away the country's Russian-speaking north-east, right along the Russian border. Could Germany's Battletank Brigade be dragged in? If tensions in Estonia were to escalate militarily, Germany's brigade stationed in Lithuania could find itself drawn into the conflict. The Battletank Brigade 45 is based in Pabradė, near Lithuania's border with Belarus – roughly 400 kilometres from Narva – and is intended as a deterrent. While formally deployed in Lithuania, its remit goes beyond national borders: it forms part of NATO's wider effort to secure the alliance's eastern flank, with the Baltic states on the front line. A "People's Republic of Narva" group on Facebook Nico Lange on X In the event of a conflict, "the German presence in Lithuania would, of course, be called upon immediately as reinforcement," said military expert Dr Carlo Masala, a professor at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich, in an interview with Euronews. At the same time, Masala notes that Berlin might opt to hold the brigade in place, wary of the risk of further escalation on Lithuanian territory. 'Are you afraid?' The most prominent Telegram channel so far, "Narva Republic," was set up on 14 July last year and now has more than 700 subscribers. It has only been actively posting, however, since 18 February 2026. Its content mixes calls for armed resistance and sabotage with a familiar narrative: that of a Russian-speaking minority subject to alleged discrimination, alongside claims designed to stoke fears of an Estonian attack on Russia. One post, dated 19 February, cites Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna as saying: "The Estonian army will cross the border and shift the war to Russian territory if the Russian army invades Estonia," before ending with the question: "Are you afraid?" German soldiers with Leopard 2A6 main battle tanks at the Armed Forces Day military parade in Vilnius, 25 November 2023 AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis In context, however, the quote is misleading. In an interview with The Telegraph newspaper, Tsahkna said that, in the event of a Russian attack on the Baltic states, they would take the war to Russian territory and strike in the hinterland, not that Estonia would launch any kind of pre-emptive invasion. Another Telegram post claims the separatists are "in favour of autonomy," warning that if this were denied it could escalate into a "full-fledged armed conflict" and the creation of an independent state within Ida-Viru, the eastern region bordering Russia. Memes designed to unsettle Military expert Carlo Masala does not see an immediate threat, but cautions against dismissing the campaign outright. In his view, it is "part of a psychological warfare campaign." Russia, he argued, is unlikely to open a second front alongside its war in Ukraine and there are no signs of an imminent attack on Narva. Even so, "it should not be taken lightly." What stands out is the blend of memes, dark humour and propaganda, content, Masala said, designed to make people "nervous" and even "hysterical." Among the examples are mock "daily routines" of a so-called "Narva militia," featuring the staged capture of nearby Estonian towns such as Sillamäe and Kohtla-Järve. Memes shared on the Narva telegram channel, Püssi is a town in Estonia Propastop auf X One post lays it out like a timetable: wake-up at 6am, breakfast at 8am, the "storming of Narva" at 9am, followed by lunch and by mid-afternoon, the "capture" of Sillamäe and Kohtla-Järve. The day supposedly ends with concerts by pro-Russian rapper Akim Apatschew and the controversial band Burzum, which has been criticised for its ideological links to National Socialism, before a final "salute" at 10pm. Alongside this, the channel circulates maps outlining a supposed "People’s Republic," complete with newly drawn borders, as well as green, black and white flags. If the situation were to escalate, though, Masala added, NATO's regional defence plans would come into play, provided member states agree. "Initially, the Enhanced Forward Presence in Estonia would take the lead," he explained. At the same time, he added, "the German presence in Lithuania would, of course, be called upon immediately as reinforcement." Still, he stressed that such contingency plans are classified "for good reason," meaning how Estonia and NATO would respond in detail remains uncertain. The so-called 'People's Republic of Narva' Narva sits directly on Estonia's border with Russia and, with around 50,000 residents, is the country's third-largest city. More than 90% of its population is Russian-speaking, many of them Estonian citizens. Much of today's population traces its roots to the post-war period, when families were resettled to the region after the original inhabitants were largely displaced during the Soviet advance in 1944. When Euronews reported from Estonia in 2022, residents said they did not feel discriminated against because of their Russian language. Yet for years, Kremlin-aligned television has sought to frame the Russian-speaking minority as victims. On Russian state channels, including talk shows such as 60 Minutes on Rossiya 1, narratives about "fabricated criminal cases against Russian-speaking compatriots" in the Baltic states are a recurring theme. A bridge straddles Ivangorod, Russia on the left and a border crossing in Narva, 16 June, 2022 AP Photo Estonian intelligence warns of 'coordinated campaign' Estonia's domestic intelligence service believes the activity may be part of a coordinated information campaign. "Such tactics have been used before, both in Estonia and elsewhere," an ISS spokesperson told the Estonian news outlet Delfi. "It is a simple and low-cost way to provoke and intimidate society." According to the agency, the aim is to sow confusion and weaken social cohesion, an assessment that aligns with that of military expert Carlo Masala. In his 2025 book If Russia Wins, Narva serves as a thought experiment. How far would NATO go if Estonia were attacked? "Do we risk a full-scale conflict against potentially 1.5 million Russian soldiers for the liberation of a city of 50,000 inhabitants – one that would always be on the brink of nuclear escalation?" Masala asked during an appearance on the German programme ntv Salon in 2025. Pro-Russian activists on 2 May 2014 in Donetsk (Ukraine) in front of the regional administration building holding a flag of the self-proclaimed "People's Republic" AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka From 'little green men' to the so-called 'People's Republic' The proclamation of a so-called "people's republic" is a familiar ploy. In 2014, pro-Russian separatists, backed by Moscow, declared the self-styled "people's republics" of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's Donbas region. During the occupation of Crimea the same year, Russia deployed the so-called "little green men," soldiers without insignia, to establish control while maintaining plausible deniability. Years later, the Kremlin also used the alleged need to "protect" Russian-speaking populations to justify its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Yet there is no evidence that ethnic Russians faced systematic persecution by Ukrainian authorities, let alone any threat of extermination based on nationality, ethnicity or cultural identity, a finding supported by reports from the Council of Europe, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the OSCE. "The emergence of a 'People's Republic of Narva' narrative lays the groundwork for later claims of oppression and calls for ‘protection’ from Moscow," political scientist Nico Lange wrote on X, warning that such messaging could be amplified domestically as well. According to him, "this propaganda must be exposed, networks of influence dismantled, and Russian intelligence operatives expelled." Copyright © euronews 2026

Kashmiri journalists hold placards during a protest against the high-handedness of Indian forces in Srinagar, Indian Administered Kashmir on 18 December 2019. Journalists took to the streets after some of the journalists were beaten by Forces yesterday while they were covering the student protests in old city Srinagar . (Photo by Muzamil Mattoo/NurPhoto via Getty Images) At the time of Indian and Pakistani independence in 1947, Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state with a majority of Hindus in Jammu and a majority of Muslims in Kashmir. During Partition, Kashmir's Hindu Maharaja chose to remain independent. When Pashtun militias invaded from Pakistan, the Maharaja acceded to the Union of India and India airlifted in troops. Fighting between Pakistani militias and Indian troops ensued. India took a dispute with Pakistan to the UN Security Council, which passed Resolution 47 of 1948 . It called for the withdrawal of Pakistani fighters and the reduction of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir. It also called for a plebiscite to determine Jammu and Kashmir’s future. The plebiscite has never been held. The region remains disputed and divided along the “Line of Control.” Kashmir has witnessed more than three wars between India and Pakistan since 1947. Human Rights Watch has reported that over 50,000 people were killed in Kashmir from 1989 to 2006. The Kashmir State Human Rights Commission has evidence of 2730 bodies buried in over 40 mass graves. The evidence was corroborated by the International People’s Tribunal, which found evidence of 2943 bodies, 87.9% of which are completely unidentifiable . The Peoples Tribunal also documented detailed evidence that establishes the perpetration or complicity of the state armed forces in killings, torture, and "disappearances." No one has been tried for these crimes, creating a situation of total impunity. Relatives of those killed have been denied the right to have a decent burial according to their religious rites. Such policies violate Rule 115 of ICRC Customary International Humanitarian law . They also violate the “right to dignity” guaranteed to all persons under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. There are over 8000 reported cases of state-perpetrated "disappearances" since the 1990s, most of which have not been investigated by any government authorities. The government also uses the Public Safety Act 1978 to detain people without trial for up to two years, a system infamously known as the “ revolving open door detention system ." Repression in India not only grows from the barrel of a gun but also from contempt for the law. In August 2019, the Indian government revoked the autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir granted by Section 370 of the Indian Constitution. Over 300 Kashmiri political leaders were immediately detained and the region was put under a total lockdown. On August 2, 2019, the government imposed a communications blackout and suspended telecommunication and internet services. In some parts of Kashmir, the blackout lasted for 18 months. Amnesty International has documented over 60 arrests of human rights defenders as well as at least 27 arbitrary arrests of journalists since 2019. Human Rights Watch , reports that these arrests of journalists have crippled any freedom of the press. Arrested journalists face abusive police interrogation, curtailment of movement, raids, and physical and mental assault. This has mainly been the result of a 53-page media policy in force since 2020, which grants local and state officials the arbitrary power to decide whether news reports are “fake”, “anti-national” or “legitimate”. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor has called for the Indian government to “address fundamental issues with the country’s anti-terrorism framework and its misuse to silence human rights defenders.” Her report came after the second arrest on March 22, 2023, of the Kashmiri human rights defender, Khurram Parvez by the National Investigation Agency. On 14 March 2022, human rights defender Fahad Shah was charged under the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978 and later ‘ preventively’ detained under India’s sedition laws. Arbitrary detention of those who politically dissent against the government has institutionalized state repression with impunity. Genocide Watch calls upon India to: Permit independent international investigations of human rights violations by police and army in Kashmir. Repeal arbitrary detention laws such as the Jammu and Kashmir Public Safety Act 1978. Free all detained journalists and ensure the protection of journalistic freedom in Kashmir. End internet shutdowns in Kashmir and elsewhere in India. Carry out independent investigations of mass graves in Kashmir and preserve evidence for prosecutions.