By Abid Hussain August 10, 2026 Voting postponed in seven of 11 Poonch division constituencies as boycott calls and violence mar the region’s legislative elections. A man casts his ballot at a polling station during the second phase of elections for the regional Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad, Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on August 2, 2026. Credit: Amiruddin Mughal & EPA in Al Jazeera Islamabad, Pakistan – Voting is under way in the third and final phase of Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s Legislative Assembly elections, but just four of the 11 constituencies originally scheduled to vote are going to the polls due to unrest in the region. More than 800 polling booths in Bagh and Haveli districts of Poonch division in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), as the region is known, opened at 8am (03:00 GMT) on Monday and will close about 5pm (12:00 GMT). About 460,000 people are registered to vote. AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore, who belongs to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), is defending his seat in Haveli. In Bagh, two former prime ministers are in the fray – Sardar Tanveer Ilyas of the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party against Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan of the Muslim Conference. Credit: Al Jazeera Elections in the remaining seven constituencies, five in Poonch and two in Sudhnoti district, were postponed last week over security concerns. Officials said a new polling date will be announced in the coming days. The postponement came after weeks of protests by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a local pressure group demanding the abolition of 12 seats in the regional legislature reserved for displaced Kashmiris living elsewhere in Pakistan. Violence during the JAAC-led protests killed more than 50 people, according to residents and rights groups. The government has not shared an official death toll but said at least seven police and paramilitary personnel have been killed. The JAAC, which has called for a boycott of the legislative elections, was banned by the authorities in June under “antiterrorism” laws. The authorities have also banned international media from reporting from the region. Their reporters were told this month to leave and seek clearance from the government before returning to Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Monday’s vote is the last of the three-phase polls for the 53-member Legislative Assembly. The Mirpur division voted on July 27, and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN), which governs Pakistan, won nine of its 13 seats. The PPP took four. Polling in the Muzaffarabad division and 12 refugee constituencies across the country took place on August 2 with the PMLN winning 15 seats and the PPP six. Election authorities recorded a turnout of 46 percent in the first phase and 53 percent in the second – both below the more than 60 percent recorded in 2021 and 2016. The scaled-back vote reflects months of unrest centred on Poonch division, the JAAC’s stronghold, where an intermittent internet shutdown has stretched beyond 50 days. © 2026 Al Jazeera Media Network

By Sheikh Saaliq and Julhas Alam August 5, 2026 Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrives to attend The Queen’s Dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018. Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas and Pool Photo in AP News NEW DELHI (AP) — Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that she plans to return to her country from exile in India in December despite facing a death sentence in Bangladesh over a bloody crackdown on protesters in 2024. In an audio address at an event in New Delhi marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled her government, Hasina said it was her duty to her people to return voluntarily despite her conviction in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity. In a sharp reaction after Hasina’s address, Bangladesh said it was “outraged” by her open engagement with the media in New Delhi where “she and her henchmen launched venomous vitriol against the State of Bangladesh and her people.” The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement late Wednesday said the event was detrimental to ties between Bangladesh and India and questioned the timing of the event. “On a day when the people of Bangladesh are observing the second anniversary of the July Revolution, this interaction by Sheikh Hasina on Indian soil stands as an affront to the sovereignty of Bangladesh and a grievous insult to the martyrs of the July Revolution,” the statement said. Hasina fled to India in 2024 after student-led protests forced her from power, and she has remained in exile there ever since. In 2025, a Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death on charges of crimes against humanity for ordering a crackdown on the uprising. The United Nations in a report said nearly 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown. Hasina denies any wrongdoing. Bangladesh has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has so far declined to hand her over. “I know that they may put me in jail, or they may kill me, or anything may happen, but still I have to go back,” Hasina said during her address. “Fear cannot decide my duty to the people.” She also called for the ban on her Awami League party to be lifted and for political prisoners to be released. Also on Wednesday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated a memorial museum dedicated to the 2024 uprising. The July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum is housed in Hasina’s former official residence in the capital, Dhaka. The project was launched by the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took office on Aug. 8, 2024, three days after Hasina’s ouster. Yunus joined Rahman at the museum’s inauguration. The museum features audio and video exhibits on the uprising, as well as personal belongings of those killed and newspaper clippings from the time. It also documents alleged political repression during Hasina’s 15 years in power. Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Hasina’s archrival, came to power with a landslide victory in February under a vote overseen by Yunus’ interim administration. Hasina’s Awami League was barred from participating. Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

By Reuters August 11, 2026 Students and unemployed youth in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorer states, launched the protests late last month over the alleged wrongdoing including recruitment test paper leaks. Police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators during a protest in Ranchi, India, on Monday. Credit: Rajesh Kumar and AFP via Getty Images in NBC BHUBANESWAR, India — Police in eastern India used tear gas, batons and water cannon to disperse thousands of youth protesters as they marched on the state legislature in Jharkhand state on Monday over alleged wrongdoing in civil service examinations, TV footage showed. Students and unemployed youth in Jharkhand, one of India’s poorer states, launched the protests late last month over the alleged wrongdoing including recruitment test paper leaks. The protest follows weeks-long youth-led demonstrations in the capital, Delhi, also linked to exam paper leaks, which led to the resignation of the country’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan last month. Police and paramilitary forces used tear gas, pellet guns and batons in Delhi to scatter some 50,000 youth protesters, some of whom clashed with police. The demonstrations were seen as a reflection of their anger over corruption in education, a lack of opportunities and unemployment. The demands of protesters in Jharkhand include an overhaul of the state’s examination system, cancellation of some tests and an investigation by the federal police. The protest began on July 25 and intensified after thousands gathered at a stadium in the state capital, Ranchi. On Monday, they marched on the state legislature, climbing over police barricades, holding placards, waving the national flag and shouting slogans, amid high security. Some pushed against barricades and scuffled with police, who responded by firing tear gas rounds, using water cannon and beating them with batons, TV footage showed. Protesters clashed with police as they marched on the Jharkhand state legislature on Monday. Credit: Yousuf Sarfaraz and AFP via Getty Images in NBC Police said they had to use mild force after some protesters became violent. “We showed minimal aggression for a really short time because they are just students,” Ranchi city police chief Paras Rana told ANI news agency. “I appeal to everyone to be peaceful and not be violent. Your demands are reaching the government, do not show aggression.” The state government — ruled by a regional party opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi — has held talks with the protesters. It said a majority of their demands had been accepted and that it was open to more talks. © 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC

By Juliana Girotto Migrants at the Paso Canoas refugee camp in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, on August 9.Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images/FILE Costa Rica is historically regarded as one of Latin America's strongest countries in terms of defending human rights and political stability. Over the past few years, however, several trends have drawn concern from United Nations (UN) agencies and regional human rights groups, such as strain on migrants and refugees, a rollback of protections for the LGBTQ+ community, a sharp rise in gender-based violence against women, an organized-crime crisis, and a decline in freedom of press under former President Rodrigo Chaves. A significant human rights crisis Costa Rica is facing today is its large refugee population, with over 220,000 pending asylum claims as of 2025 which makes up around 4% of its total population. In May 2025, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned that funding for Costa Rica's asylum claims system was near collapse due to aid cuts from the United States (U.S.) to the UN, causing a 41% budget decrease. Because of these budget cuts, the capacity of Costa Rica to register new arrivals has decreased by 77%. This significant drop in registration capacity is dire, as without documentation refugees cannot legally work, attend school, or gain access to healthcare services. Another area of concern in Costa Rica lies with protections for the LGBTQ+ community. In 2025, former President Chaves removed the government LGBTI Commissioner role which was created to oversee programs in the interests of LGBTQ+ citizens. This administration at the same time repealed an anti-bullying protocol to protect LGBTQ+ youth in schools and an executive decree to eliminate discrimination against LGBTQ+ people within federal institutions. These actions directly reflect efforts by the Costa Rican government to limit protections against discrimination for the LGBTQ+ community. In recent years there has also been an increase in gender-based violence against women in Costa Rica. In 2025, Costa Rica recorded 33 femicides, one of its highest recorded years since 2015. Local civil society organizations working with women have cited this violence as stemming from deep-rooted issues of structural inequalities, patriarchal norms, and inadequate state responses. These statistics display gender-based inequalities in Costa Rica as structural and harmful. Additionally, Costa Rica has recently faced an increase in criminal activity, accompanied by insufficient prisons. In 2025, the national homicide rate in Costa Rica rose to 17 per 100,000. This has largely been caused by drug-trafficking networks, with around 2/3 of the 833 deaths by homicide in 2025 attributed to gang feuds. The government's response to increasing homicides has been to build a maximum-security prison. Human rights monitors have flagged overcrowding and harsh rules as concerns for detainees. This shift in Costa Rica aligns with a broader trend across Latin America, where leaders are becoming inspired by the harsh security legislation enacted by Bukele in El Salvador to crackdown on crime. Although Costa Rica generally allows political freedom, the most recent presidential administrations have put pressure on these rights. Between 2021 and 2026, Costa Rica has fallen from 5th to 38th on the RSF’s World Press Freedom Index. This decline has largely been attributed to President Chaves’s sustained public attacks on journalists and the withholding of state advertising from critical outlets. In March 2025, President Chaves also led a public demonstration demanding the Attorney General’s resignation, which was flagged as pressure on judicial independence. Due to the Costa Rican government's crackdowns on LGBTQ+ rights, freedom of press, and crime, as well as its inaction on refugee rights and gender-based violence, Genocide Watch considers Costa Rica to be at Stage 3: Discrimination. Genocide Watch recommends: The Costa Rican government should guarantee access to asylum processing and non-refoulment for all migrants. The Costa Rican government should strengthen enforcement of protective orders in cases of discrimination and violence against LGBTQ+ people or girls and women. International bodies such as the UN and independent organizations should continue to monitor conditions within Costa Rican high-security prisons, ensuring humane living conditions and access to legal resources. The Costa Rican government should stop placing pressure on critical media outlets and judicial institutions ensure the protection of a free and independent press.

By Genocide Watch Image by Bloomberg via Getty Images Japan has long practiced historical revisionism regarding their Empire-era atrocities. From the late 1800s to 1945, the Japanese Empire committed numerous war crimes against multiple peoples across the Asia-Pacific region. Often referred to as the Asian Holocaust, these atrocities included genocide and other mass atrocities during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Its actions included, starvation, forced assimilation, mass murder, mass rape, ethnic cleansing, sexual slavery, unethical human experimentation, and genocide. Japanese atrocities caused an estimated 19 to 30 million deaths. Imperial Japan transitioned from a fledgling regional power to a colonial empire. Fearing further humiliation at the hands of Western powers, Japan developed a militarist national policy. Rising nationalism weakened democratic rule and Japan became increasingly expansionist as the so-called “divine mission” to unify Asia under Japanese rule became a central imperial ambition. Japanese forces used extreme violence wherever they invaded and committed cultural genocide through mass rape of Korean women and women from other nations. They carried out targeted mass killings against civilians, noncombatants, and prisoners of war (POWs), such as in the Nanjing Massacre (1937-38), the Sook Ching Massacre (1942), and the Manila Massacre (1945). Japanese forces conducted experiments on civilians and POWs to develop biological weapons. They also used chemical weapons. Postwar efforts to remove Imperial ideology from Japan were limited. Authorities never prosecuted some wartime perpetrators; they released others, and some returned to postwar power. Authorities likewise never prosecuted certain crimes. The U.S. government completely exonerated the Imperial family. Japan undertook little comparable to Germany’s denazification. Some still deny the atrocities committed by the Japanese Empire. Influential lobby groups such as Nippon Kaigi promote historical negationism. Japanese officials often portray the country’s colonial past positively. School textbooks systematically minimize Japan’s wartime role. Nationalistic views have grown more prominent despite low favorability and a strong tradition of pacifism. Japanese leaders have issued apologies. Some observers received the Murayama Statement (1995) somewhat positively. Critics described the Abe Statement (2015) as revisionist. Regional critics condemned former Prime Ministers Shinzo Abe and Junichiro Koizumi for their visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which houses the remains of Class A war criminals. Many still believe Japan has not apologized sufficiently. Japan appears to be dismantling its postwar pacifist framework. Reactions in the region have been mixed, especially in South Korea and China. Japanese officials claim their actions are for deterrence alone. In April 2026, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi lifted Japan’s longstanding ban on lethal arms exports, and the Japan Self-Defense Forces joined U.S.-Philippine military exercises as combatants for the first time. Takaichi has also pushed for a revision of Article 9 of the Constitution, in which the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation. A different constitutional revision would allow emergency powers akin to those seen in Japan's militaristic past. The government has also announced the creation of Japan’s first new intelligence agency since World War II. In July, Japan’s Defense Minister declared that Japan could no longer avoid the nuclear weapons debate, setting the stage for a potential Japanese nuclear weapons program. Critics link rising nationalism to measures seen as a right-wing turn aimed at strengthening Japan’s symbolic institutions. Lawmakers banned the desecration of the national flag, seen by some as a violation of freedom of speech. Another reform aims to prevent the end of the imperial line of succession, but maintains the ban on a female emperor. Anti-foreigner sentiment is rising, alongside dangerous rhetoric targeting the Kurdish minority in Japan. Overtourism and alleged abuses have heightened xenophobia. Due to persistent historical revisionism and denialism, nationalism, democratic erosion, and inflammatory rhetoric against specific groups, Genocide Watch considers Japan to be at Stage 3: Discrimination and Stage 10: Denial. Genocide Watch recommends: Japan must adequately address its imperial past by actively remembering and acknowledging its violent actions. Japan must seek reconciliation with affected groups and individuals across the Asia-Pacific region. Japan should recognize its diversity and avoid inflammatory rhetoric against foreigners and domestic minorities. Japanese legislators should reconsider the push for revision of the Constitution’s pacifist Article 9. Japanese government officials should join the Imperial family's boycott of official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine.

By Mike Ekel August 6, 2026 (Credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) At the time he fled Russia in September 2022, Aleksandr Menyukov was a witness in a criminal investigation targeting a close friend: a poet whose street readings of anti-war verses were considered a crime. Hundreds of thousands of Russians had fled after President Vladimir Putin that month ordered a military mobilization to shore up the sputtering invasion of Ukraine. But for Menyukov, who provided legal advice to Russians opposed to the war, the final straw was when he was badly beaten during a police search of his Moscow apartment. In Kazakhstan, he scrambled to renew his passport before it expired, a predicament made worse by the surge of other Russians rushing their own paperwork. He ended up in Poland a few months later with a humanitarian visa. Now life for Menyukov -- and potentially thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Russians living outside the country -- could become much more difficult. Under a law signed by Putin on August 4, doing something as mundane as renewing a passport or notarizing a document like a marriage certificate will be prohibited for expatriate Russians who have been convicted of an administrative misdemeanor or criminal felony by Russian authorities. That could include activists who have worked for foreign-funded organizations, average Russians who speak to so-called undesirable organizations, or people who merely question the astronomical losses suffered by the Russian military in Ukraine. The measure has been dubbed "civil death" among lawyers, right activists, and Russian expatriates who fear it will plunge them into a legal and bureaucratic limbo with little chance of escape. "If I had been in Poland when my [Russian] passport expired, and these restrictions applied to me at that time, I would be denied the right to apply for a new passport," Menyukov said in an interview from Warsaw. "That's how it works. And now, this will become a major problem for Russians." "Russian citizens technically will not lose their citizenship," said Tanya Lokshina, a Russian researcher for Human Rights Watch, the US-based rights group. "They will remain Russian nationals, but without access legal services. It is de-facto statelessness." The goal "is to send a message and impose a chilling effect on society, on both those who left and those who remain in the country," said Gleb Bogush, a Russian lawyer who now lives in Berlin. Russian officials are blunt about their intentions. "Those who have gone abroad and are harming the country are not the opposition; they are traitors, they are criminals," Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the lower house of the Kremlin-controlled parliament, said last week as lawmakers passed the bill. 'A Canceled Citizen' Over more than two decades, Russian authorities have gradually expanded the legal toolbox used to punish dissent, censor independent media, shutter civil society groups, and silence opposition lawmakers. The measures included things like the "foreign agent" law, which punishes individuals and groups that receive foreign funding, and the "undesirables" law, which bans foreign organizations deemed a threat to national security and criminalizes people who work for, associate with, or donate money to such organizations. Since the start of full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian authorities have pushed even more draconian measures. People who post casualty figures or alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine can be prosecuted for "discrediting the Russian armed forces." A Russian who refers to the Ukraine regions that Moscow claims to have annexed as Ukrainian can be charged with undermining Russia's territorial integrity. Now, if you've been convicted of one of six different offenses and are living outside of Russia, you can be effectively stripped of what legal experts say a fundamental right under international law: a citizen's right to consular services. "The strategy is not to deprive [Russian citizens], to strip them of their citizenship. It is to use it as a weapon," Bogush said. "It's yet another brick in building of a system of mini-apartheid: to segregate a certain group of people whom the system considers to be enemies, 'undesirable.'" "A person who has left [the country] for political reasons and has been designated an 'evader' will receive the status of an internally 'canceled citizen,'" said First Department, a group of Russian legal advocates. If you need a marriage certificate or a birth certificate from Russia, for example, that will be impossible. Same if you're in need of a background check to prove to a foreign authority that you haven't been convicted of a crime in Russia. The measures also authorize officials to freeze bank accounts of people, as well as prevent people from selling real estate such as apartments or country dachas or even transferring them to relatives. 'War On His Own Citizens' It authorizes officials to open up bank accounts in the name of a designated person and then effectively manage the account: to receive funds from a state pension which the person is entitled to, for example, and to pay out funds for things like court-ordered fines."This is indeed a civil death law," said Lokshina, whose employer, Human Rights Watch, was designated an undesirable organization last year. "If you do not sit quiet but rather speak up, you get prosecuted sooner or later." Adding further to the legal limbo Russian exiles face is the fact that in many countries, in the European Union or otherwise, authorities are making it more difficult for Russian citizens to obtain documents such as residence or work permits or apply for citizenship. "For many, they also have no real support in the countries where they are. People who are persecuted by the Russian government are also subject to collective suspicion at best in the countries where they live," Bogush said.Passage of the law comes as the Kremlin struggles to keep the war on Ukraine at full throttle while also downplaying the scale of casualties that Russian forces have suffered. The economy is also sputtering, fueling growing discontent. Kremlin experts say authorities are also concerned about next month's parliamentary elections in which a less-than-overwhelming victory for ruling United Russia party candidates would undermine the narrative of national unity. "Putin isn't just escalating the war against Ukraine, he's also escalating the war on his own citizens," Bogush said. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty © 2026 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By: Asif Shahzad, Ariba Shahid, Mubasher Bukhari and Rick Noack August 6 2026 Police officers in riot gear stand guard as supporters of various religious and political parties attend a protest rally against Geo News over content aired during a program marking the holy month of Muharram, in Karachi, Pakistan, July 3, 2026. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo ISLAMABAD/KARACHI, Aug 6 (Reuters) - When blasphemy allegations against a Christian family prompted a mob of hundreds to assemble in Pakistan's teeming metropolis Karachi last month, officers knew they might only have minutes to save the four women and one child who were targeted. Islamic Pakistan has witnessed around 90 blasphemy-linked lynchings since 1990 and many started exactly like this. But as police officer Sanghaar Ali ​Malik and his unit confronted the crowd on a narrow street, Malik recalled he sensed a chance to end the situation peacefully. The deafening chant of "Death to blasphemers!" was in the air, but the main instigators of such riots in the past — Pakistan's powerful fundamentalist groups — were missing, reflecting a ‌military-led crackdown that has cut registered blasphemy cases by roughly two-thirds this year. "No religion allows you to take the law into your own hands," Malik said he told the crowd, quoting verses from the Muslim holy book, the Koran. Surprisingly, even for himself, Malik said in an interview, the people listened. With no instigators whipping up frenzy, they melted away after being assured that police would investigate the case. The country's Islamist groups have long been backed by the powerful military to keep the civilian government in check, and, occasionally, to stoke tensions with hostile nations, analysts say. But the groups have retreated to the shadows after a crackdown that four government and security sources said was overseen by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir. The crackdown, the sources and analysts said, was driven by Pakistan's desire to improve ties and better integrate its ​economy with the West, as Munir builds on a personal rapport with U.S. President Donald Trump. It comes after Islamabad's falling out with the Afghan Taliban, an erstwhile ally that also hands out custodial and corporal punishments for blasphemy. The reasons for the crackdown have not been previously reported in detail. One of the sources, who ​is close to Munir's inner circle, said the military chief was "clear that these Islamist groups and a progressing Pakistan cannot go together." Munir, the source added, was personally involved in ensuring zero tolerance for the fundamentalist groups as he seeks to portray nuclear-armed Pakistan in ⁠a positive light. Pakistan's military did not respond to a request for comment. "The state has learned lessons from past experiences," Talal Chaudhry, minister of state for the interior, told Reuters, referring to the crackdown. "The government and the army are on one page...there has never been this much clarity. That is to crush any group that tries to hold the people or this ​country hostage to its dictates." In one of the most visible effects of the crackdown, the number of registered blasphemy cases has dropped to 13 so far this year, down roughly two-thirds against comparable periods in recent years, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, an independent body. While Pakistan saw over seven blasphemy riots or attacks per year between 2021 and ​2024 on average, there was only one over the past 12 months, according to separate data provided to Reuters by Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a conflict monitoring site. THE SON OF AN IMAM Munir, the latest in a long line of generals who have dominated Pakistani politics, has been at the forefront of revamping the country's image, burnishing ties with the U.S., China and Saudi Arabia. But domestically he faces challenges from crippling insurgencies that feed upon the Islamists, and a shattered economy. Munir is the son of an imam and a deeply conservative Muslim himself, and theology remains ingrained in Pakistan's state apparatus. Yet he is seeking global recognition and support through crypto deals, foreign funds, mediating in the U.S.-Iran conflict and signing a mutual defence deal with Saudi Arabia. In the summer of 2025, Pakistani officials became increasingly worried that the ​fundamentalists' hostility towards France and other European nations was endangering an EU duty waiver for Pakistani products, said two Pakistani government sources. Almost one-third of Pakistan's exports go to the EU and a sudden drop could have thrown its economy into turmoil. The European Commission and Pakistan's commerce ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The Trump administration has also made alleged ​persecution of Christians an issue. The government's religious watchdog, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, recommended last year that Pakistan be re-designated as a Country of Particular Concern because of its blasphemy laws. Pakistan has rejected the designation. Abdul Basit, an analyst at Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, said worsening insurgencies in the country's two most mineral-rich regions of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ‌had likely contributed to ⁠a sense of urgency for Munir, who had pitched investments in the minerals sector to the U.S. government last year. "Religious groups have fallen out of favour," he said. While the militias behind these insurgencies are not directly linked to the newly banned Islamist groups, they've traditionally relied on the same pool of young, radicalised men. "The question will be whether Pakistan is able and willing to maintain this focus," said Elizabeth Threlkeld, director of the Stimson Center's South Asia program. 'SERIOUS THREAT' TO PAKISTAN The largest fundamentalist group, Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, or TLP, which used "Death to blasphemers!" as its rallying cry, was banned late last year. Many of its leaders were sent to jail, its mosques sealed and its bank accounts frozen. A previously unreported government document that paved the way for the ban argued that the group had "turned into a serious threat to Pakistan" by not only harming "internal peace" but also "the country's reputation at the international level." A TLP spokesperson referred to a statement the group released last year, which called the ban illegal and unconstitutional. The government cracked down earlier on other Islamist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammad after pressure from ​the Financial Action Task Force, a global watchdog against terror financing. Basit attributed the latest ​crackdown to soul-searching within Pakistan over its past support for the Afghan Taliban. ⁠Islamabad now accuses the Taliban, in power in neighbouring Afghanistan, of fuelling widening Islamist insurgencies against the Pakistani state. The Afghan Taliban called the accusation "baseless." A spokesman for its foreign ministry declined comment on the crackdown on the TLP, calling it an internal affair of Pakistan. For Pakistan's Christian, Shi'ite and Ahmadi minority groups, the shift has been stunning. Suspects in blasphemy killings — including police officers — were at times showered with rose petals or given red carpet receptions. Many people accused of setting Christian churches or minority Muslim mosques on fire have been publicly lauded. Blasphemy, ​still punishable by death under Pakistani law, has long been so sensitive that even a suspicion could lead to riots and lynchings. Victims' families have rarely seen justice delivered, human rights groups say, because judges and lawyers were too afraid to take ​up their cases. The police officer Malik said he and ⁠everyone else who confronted the crowd in Karachi last month felt "fear in their hearts." The Christian family that was targeted was eventually brought to safety, and an initial inquiry has since found the allegations against them to have been false, Malik said. 'OUR OWN PEOPLE' The TLP was founded in 2015 during the imprisonment of a police bodyguard who had shot and killed a Pakistani governor in 2011 for supporting a Christian woman accused of blasphemy. The bodyguard was convicted and hanged, months after the TLP was set up. Almost immediately, analysts said, suspicions arose that the group's creation had at least in part been overseen by Pakistan's military establishment, including its spy agencies, to keep civilian governments and established political parties in check. After violent TLP-led riots in 2017, then-army chief General Qamar ⁠Javed Bajwa described the ​group's protesters as "our own people." Pakistan's Supreme Court later ordered the spy agencies and military to stay out of politics, but stopped short of conclusively linking them to the TLP. Analysts and former officials however warned that despite ​the ban, the TLP's impact on Pakistani society would not disappear overnight. The initial shock of its supporters that followed the crackdown could still give rise to a backlash. Ihsan Ghani, who was the Pakistani government's counter-terrorism chief at the time of the deadly 2017 TLP riots, said he worried that the group could re-emerge in full strength if its political usefulness changes. "You cannot switch on, switch off something of this scale which you took years ​to nurture as a state policy," he told Reuters. In Pakistan's minority communities, the sudden changes feel too good to be true. Physically, "we are safe," one of the Christian women rescued in Karachi told Reuters. But the fear hasn't yet disappeared, she said. © 2026 Reuters. All rights reserved

By: Alexander Smith Supporters of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD) wave flags as they take part in an AfD campaign rally in Hohenschoenhausen, Berlin, Germany, February 22, 2025. Image: Reuters/Christian Mang. Germany’s history of genocide began during its colonial rule of German South West Africa (GSWA), which Germany acquired at the Berlin Conference. Settlers forcibly took indigenous lands, massacred those that resisted German rule, established labor camps, and raped women and girls. The Herero and Nama peoples led a rebellion, killing approximately 100 German settlers. In response, German General Lothar von Trotha ordered the systematic execution of all Herero and Nama people. Between 1904 and 1907, the German army decimated over 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Nama populations, forever changing the demographics in present-day Namibia. Nazi policymakers later drew inspiration from the Herero and Nama genocide. After World War I, Adolf Hitler seized on rising antisemitism to bring the Nazi Party huge electoral victories. After President Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor in 1933, Hitler established a fascist dictatorship targeting Jews, mentally and physically disabled persons, Slavs and Poles, communists, and other political enemies. By 1945, Hitler’s regime had murdered six million Jews and five million other targeted peoples. Germany’s reconciliation efforts remain incomplete. In May 2021, Germany agreed to pay $1.1 billion in reconstructive funds to the Namibian government, but critics argue that the agreement fails to provide adequate reparations as required under international law. Herero and Nama genocide descendants continue to demand a role in negotiations. Since reunification, Germany has institutionalized Holocaust acknowledgment by building memorials, telling its history in school curricula, and banning Nazi memorabhilia and glorification. Neo-Nazi activity and xenophobia remain serious problems in Germany. According to German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, hate crimes in Germany have doubled over the past decade. Far-right sympathizers have infiltrated Germany’s police force and social media. Antisemitic incidents spiked from 4,782 cases in 2024 to more than 8,000 in 2025, while anti-Muslim incidents hit record-highs. The 40-year separation between East and West Germany left lasting wealth, education, and representation gaps that the far-right exploits. Scholars and political experts warn about Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) – a political party that has seen candidates mimic Nazi slogans, minimize Germany’s role in the Holocaust, and plot to overthrow the government. AfD now polls highest among Germany’s political parties. Germany’s current ruling parties, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), have increasingly adopted far-right positions on migration. They have promised to suspend family reunification for migrants with subsidiary protection and coordinate asylum rejections at the border. This past January CDU/CSU violated the Brandmauer, a firewall against far-right collaboration, to vote with the AfD on an immigration bill. Given the growing influence of right-wing extremist political actors and increase in hate crimes, Genocide Watch considers Germany to be at Stage 6: Polarization. Genocide Watch recommends: The German government must integrate demands from descendants of the Herero and Nama genocide in ongoing and future reparations negotiations. Independent candidates should run for local government in eastern Germany, the AfD’s geographic stronghold, and combat rising far-right extremism without feeding AfD rhetoric. German police and intelligence services must crack down on far-right extremist networks and combat the spread of violent ideologies on social media.

Policy Expected to Expand Access to Education By Jo Becker Classroom at the Buchanan Elementary Demonstration School, Buchanan City, Grand Bassa County, Liberia, January 6, 2026. © 2026 Human Rights Watch Liberia’s government announced on August 5 the elimination of all school registration fees from kindergarten through grade 6, beginning with the new school year on September 7. The decision removes one of the biggest barriers to schooling for hundreds of thousands of children. A recent Human Rights Watch report, “Without Education, There Will Be Nothing,” documents that school registration fees have often placed schooling out of reach or imposed severe hardship, particularly for low-income and rural families. Human Rights Watch found that fees forced many children out of school altogether. Others started years late, attended irregularly, or engaged in child labor to help pay their fees. One-third of Liberian children have never attended school, and only 17 percent completed grade 9. Parents told Human Rights Watch that they went into debt, skipped meals, and made extraordinary sacrifices to pay fees at public schools. Beatrice, a 17-year-old from Nimba County, said she was forced to leave school when her parents could not afford her registration fees. “I felt bad,” she said. “I stayed home and cried when I saw my friends going to school.” Fanell Decontee Dewee, a Liberian youth advocate who conducted peer-to-peer interviews with children for the report, said, “For Liberian children, removing this key financial barrier is a meaningful step toward making primary education more accessible and equitable for all.” If fully implemented, the new policy will help ensure that children can enroll in and remain in school regardless of their families’ financial circumstances. Roberto Cooper Jr., a Liberian child advocate who assisted Human Rights Watch’s research, said, “This is a win for Liberia and an investment in our future. Every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, and succeed.”

By Mina Aldroubi August 06, 2026 Foreign ministers Hakan Fidan and Asaad Al Shibani condemn Israeli attacks on southern Syria during meeting in Ankara Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Ankara. Photo: Sana Turkey and Syria on Thursday said they will work together to strengthen their defence and counter-terrorism sectors to help “free Syria”. It came during a visit to Ankara by Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani, who met his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan. “We are working to resolve the issue of weapons outside of the state control and to combat terrorism,” Mr Al Shibani said during a press conference with Mr Fidan. Mr Al Shibani said Syria and Turkey agreed to protect their shared borders and fight terrorism. “Any threat to Syria is a threat to Turkey,” said Mr Fidan. The Syrian minister said that Damascus is working to “free” the country from terrorism. “We want a free Syria,” he said. The Syrian government that came to power in 2024 has made assurances to world powers that it can keep extremists such as ISIS at bay, despite the militant background of President Ahmad Al Shara and the wider leadership cadre. Turkey has for many years regarded Kurdish groups operating inside Syria as terrorists linked to an insurgency on Turkish soil. Kurdish militias have lost influence under the new order in Syria. Mr Al Shibani also condemned Israeli attacks on Syrian territory. Israel has carried out attacks and incursions in southern Syria since the fall of Bashar Al Assad’s dictatorship in late 2024. “We are working to consolidate stability in southern Syria and stop the repeated Israeli attacks,” he said. Turkey has also condemned Israel’s attacks in Syria, calling them a breach of international law. Mr Fidan said that Israel is threatening Syria's security with its continuing attacks. “Israel must be pressured to respect the territorial integrity of Syria,” he said, adding that Israel is “obstructing any chance of gaining peace”. On ties between Turkey and Syria, Mr Fidan said that “Syria has become more stable and we are working to develop relations with it at various levels.” © 2026 The National

Brazil court orders recognition of Indigenous land and apology for historic atrocities. July 29, 2026 Shanna Hanbury Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna leader Yaiku Suya at an April 2026 public hearing. Image courtesy of Larissa Silva/Rede Juruena Vivo. A federal judge in Brazil has given the country’s government 24 months to recognize the traditional territory of the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna Indigenous people in the northwestern state of Mato Grosso. The court accepted evidence from federal prosecutors that detailed decades of government inaction following massacres, forced displacement and other human rights violations against the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna people. The ruling, issued on June 11 by Federal Judge Pablo Kipper Aguilar in Diamantino, Mato Grosso, also orders the federal government to issue a public apology and pay 10 million reais ($2 million) in collective moral damages. “It has been a very difficult journey,” Yaiku Suya Tapayuna, a leader of the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna people, told Operação Amazônia Nativa (OPAN). “It is a decision we have dreamed about, and we are now celebrating this victory.” In his decision, the judge drew upon decades of evidence of violence against the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna, beginning with a massacre in 1953 involving armed attacks and deliberate poisoning. A dictatorship-era report published in 1967 documented that a nearby rubber tapping business left a sack of sugar laced with arsenic on a riverbank in the Tapayuna area for the Indigenous community to consume. Another poisoning attack occurred in the 1960s with meat laced with tick poison. In 1969, a “poorly planned” official visit organized by the federal Indigenous affairs agency brought in the influenza virus, contaminating the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna people. An account given to national media at the time described, “Indigenous corpses decimated by the flu across the forest, and children nursing from the breasts of their dead mothers.” Survivors of the attacks and influenza virus were forcibly removed from their territory by the government Indigenous agency. According to an account by 13 Indigenous individuals presented as evidence in the case, the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna survivors were transported to the city of Cuiabá in trucks typically used for animals and then put on a plane to the Xingu Indigenous Park, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) east. In their account, the group said they were falsely promised that the removal would be temporary: “They told us we could go because we would soon come back to get our things and return to our land. But they deceived us.” In 1976, the state stopped recognizing the Tapayuna reserve as Indigenous land, claiming that the territory had been abandoned. Shortly after, the state-level Mato Grosso Land Institute began issuing private land titles for the same land. Federal Judge Aguilar cited a parliamentary inquiry commission that described the violence against the Kajkwakratxi-Tapayuna people as a genocide. Aguilar said the historical record documented a premeditated campaign to expel them from their traditional territory. “It gives me great joy to see this trajectory … of our people, with generations fighting for our traditional territory and its demarcation, hoping to live once again on the land where our relatives were left,” Wetaktxi Tapayuna, president of the Tapayuna Indigenous Association, told OTAN. © 2026 Copyright Conservation news. Mongabay is a U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform.

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Thomas Andrews United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia, Thomas Andrews, has called on the Cambodian government to strengthen its protection of fundamental freedoms, saying the Kingdom faces a series of human rights challenges linked to the border conflict with Thailand, transnational cyber scams and upcoming national elections. Speaking at the conclusion of his first official mission to Cambodia at a press conference in Phnom Penh today, Andrews said recent crises also present an opportunity for the government to demonstrate its commitment to human rights through concrete action. “My first mission to Cambodia has left me with deep concerns: for displaced people along the border with Thailand, for those who have been trafficked, and for those who are behind bars having exercised basic freedoms,” Andrews said in a statement released on July 31. He said he had received information indicating that more than 100 people may currently be detained in Cambodia for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly or association. “No one should be behind bars for exercising their fundamental human rights,” he said, adding that he had raised concerns over the detainees’ cases and conditions with government officials and received assurances that authorities would continue engaging with his office as the cases are reviewed. Ahead of Cambodia’s 2027 commune elections and 2028 general election, Andrews urged authorities to expand civic space and ensure the rights of political opposition groups are respected. During his mission, the Special Rapporteur visited four prisons, where he met detained activists, journalists and opposition members. He also travelled to Cambodia’s border with Thailand, where he visited relocation sites housing civilians displaced by the recent armed conflict. Andrews said many residents remained unable to return to their homes in towns and villages affected by the fighting. “It is a matter of international law that those displaced by armed conflict have the right to return to their homes,” he said. “It is imperative that Thailand and Cambodia work together to expedite the return of displaced civilians. They need, and deserve, to go home.” Addressing Cambodia’s ongoing cyber scam crisis, Andrews acknowledged the government’s intensified operations against criminal networks over the past year. However, he expressed concern over what he described as a lack of accountability for senior Cambodian officials allegedly implicated in scam operations, as well as the treatment and protection of trafficking victims rescued from scam compounds. The UN expert also said he was committed to working with the Cambodian government to implement recommendations accepted during the country’s latest Universal Periodic Review. Among the areas identified for future cooperation were reforming laws to better align with international human rights standards, establishing a national human rights institution and advancing legal marriage equality. Despite his concerns, Andrews said his visit also gave him optimism about Cambodia’s future. “My first mission left me with hope for Cambodia’s future, a hope fuelled by my engagements with human rights defenders, journalists, principled political leaders and Cambodian people who are committed to human rights,” he said. Andrews thanked Cambodian authorities for granting him unrestricted access to prisons and border areas during his official visit and said he looked forward to continuing cooperation with the government as he carries out his mandate. Copyright © 2026 Virtus Media Pte., Ltd. (Khmer Times)