New Zealand attorney general, Judith Collins, also said the controversial electoral law reform could disenfranchise Māori. The Guardian July 28, 2025 By Eva Corlett New Zealand attorney general Judith Collins has warned planned electoral laws reform could disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP New Zealand’s prime minister Christopher Luxon has defended his government’s plans to overhaul its electoral laws, despite warnings from his own attorney general the changes could breach human rights law and disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters. The right-wing government last week announced its plan to shake up electoral laws it said were “outdated and unsustainable”, including closing voter enrolment 13 days before election day, reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting and prohibiting anyone from providing free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting station. Since 1993, voters have been allowed to enrol to vote during the two week advance voting period and, more recently, on election day, casting what is called a “special vote”. Luxon told RNZ on Monday the late enrolments had led to weeks-long delays in counting votes. “We want everyone to participate in our democracy … but we need to make sure that people are registered in advance of voting,” he said. But in a report to parliament , the attorney general, Judith Collins, warned the proposal “appears to be inconsistent” with the Bill of Rights, including the right to vote and the right to freedom of expression. Collins noted that during the 2023 general election, there were more than 200,000 special votes cast, including 97,000 people who registered for the first time during the voting period, and nearly 134,000 people who changed electoral districts during the voting period. “This gives some indication of the number of people who may be affected, and the farther out the registration deadline from polling day, the greater the disenfranchising impact is likely to be,” Collins said. Changing the enrolment deadline to one to seven days before polling day would “impose less onerous limits on the right to vote”, she said. Special votes are more likely to come from younger people and areas with larger Māori , Asian and Pasifika communities, and these communities may be more affected by the proposed registration deadline, Collins said. With respect to the blanket ban on prisoner voting, Collins said it would disenfranchise those who have a right to vote “and cannot be justified”. Luxon said the attorney-general has a statutory obligation to examine whether legislation will contravene the Bill of Rights and the government would consider that advice. Collins declined the Guardian’s request for further comment. The proposed changes have drawn ire from opposition parties, who believe the government is weakening democracy. “As a country we should be encouraging voter turnout and making changes to support that – not shutting them out,” said Duncan Webb, Labour’s justice spokesperson. “This is an appalling change that will make it harder for a lot of people to exercise their democratic right.” © 2025 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. (dcr)

By International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov. Photo Credit: Latvian Foreign Ministry Together with several other human rights organisations, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR) has issued two appeals urging Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Japarov not to sign two draft laws recently passed by Parliament that pose serious threats to human rights protection in the country. The  first appeal , signed by Araminta, the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), IPHR, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee (NHC), Freedom for Eurasia (FfE), Physicians for Human Rights, and Amnesty International, expresses deep alarm at the 25 June decision by Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament to dissolve the National Centre for the Prevention of Torture (NCPT) — an independent body mandated to monitor detention facilities and prevent torture in line with Kyrgyzstan’s obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT). Provisions to liquidate the NCPT were added to a draft law on the Ombudsperson’s Office at the final stage of its consideration, without adequate consultation or transparency. This move threatens to dismantle an internationally recognised mechanism that has effectively uncovered abuses, improved detention conditions, and provided vital independent oversight for over a decade. While the NCPT’s responsibilities would be transferred to the Ombudsperson’s Office, it is unclear how this institution would fulfil this function, raising serious concerns that torture prevention could become sidelined and diluted. The NGO signatories urge President Japarov to use his constitutional power to return the draft law for revision and broad consultation, to safeguard Kyrgyzstan’s hard-won progress in preventing torture and protecting detainees’ rights. The  second appeal , signed by Civil Rights Defenders, Freedom for Eurasia, Human Rights Watch, Araminta, IPHR, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom Now, as well as the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, urges President Japarov to return a restrictive draft media law to Parliament for revision and proper consultation with civil society and media stakeholders. The draft law, approved by Parliament in a combined second and third reading on 26 June, grants the authorities sweeping powers to deny media outlets registration, obstruct their work, and close them down without judicial oversight. It differs substantially from an earlier compromise version developed in consultation with the media community and reintroduces problematic provisions that had previously been excluded. The NGO signatories also raise alarm about other recent developments further undermining freedom of expression and media in Kyrgyzstan. These include the 3 July conviction of journalist Kanyshai Mamyrkulova, who received four years’ probation for allegedly calling for mass riots and inciting hatred in Facebook posts critical of the government’s lack of transparency over a border demarcation deal with Tajikistan. Although released, she now faces restrictions on her movement as well as on what she can write or publish online, with violations risking the cancellation of her conditional release. In another worrying case, prosecutors are seeking to halt the independent broadcaster April TV’s activities on social media and revoke its broadcasting license, accusing it of “undermining the authorities” by expressing disapproval through speech, sarcasm, and facial expressions. On 1 July, at least seven current or former April TV journalists were summoned for interrogation on unclear grounds. The NGOs call on the president to use his constitutional powers to help ensure charges against Mamyrkulova and April TV are dropped and to protect freedom of expression in the country. Read the full appeal on threats to freedom of expression and the media Copyright Eurasia Review. (ISSN 2330-717X)

Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva; writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Mark Heinrich Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev attends a plenary session of the Eurasian Economic Forum in Minsk, Belarus June 26, 2025. Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law on Monday prohibiting individuals from wearing clothing in public places that covers their faces, joining a trend in several Central Asian countries to restrict forms of Islamic dress. The text of the law says clothing that "interferes with facial recognition" will be banned in public, with exemptions for medical purposes, in adverse weather conditions and at sporting and cultural events. The legislation, one in a series of wider amendments signed into law on Monday, does not explicitly mention religion or types of religious dress. Tokayev has previously praised the legislation as an opportunity to celebrate ethnic identity in Kazakhstan, a majority-Muslim country and former Soviet republic. "Rather than wearing face-concealing black robes, it's much better to wear clothes in the national style," he was quoted by Kazakh media as saying earlier this year. "Our national clothes vividly emphasise our ethnic identity, so we need to popularise them comprehensively." Other Central Asian countries have introduced similar laws in recent years. Police in Kyrgyzstan have conducted street patrols to enforce their ban on the Islamic niqab face veil, according to local media reports. In Uzbekistan, violating the niqab statute carries a fine of over $250. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon signed a ban on wearing clothing in public that is "alien to national culture." © 2025 Reuters

Investigate, Hold Perpetrators Accountable for Rights Abuses By Mihra Rittmann Security forces set up checkpoints after protests over proposed constitutional changes affecting status of autonomous region of Karakalpakstan's capital Nukus, Uzbekistan on July 06, 2022. © Bahtiyar Abdulkerimov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images There has been almost no accountability for the deaths and grave injuries that occurred three years ago when security forces in Uzbekistan used unjustified force, including lethal force , to disperse mainly peaceful protesters in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan’s autonomous republic. On July 1 and 2, 2022, nearly two dozen people were killed and over 270 people injured—some of them horrifically—by explosives fired by security forces that detonated near or in contact with protesters. In August 2023, two police officers were prosecuted for torture in connection with the Karakalpakstan events. One more was prosecuted for perjury and leaving a person in danger, resulting in his death. To date, no one else has been held accountable for any of the 21 deaths or the many more grave injuries that occurred. The authorities have not acknowledged any responsibility for the excessive use of force. It’s clear that the Uzbek government wants to turn the page on what happened. A parliamentary commission created in July 2022 and tasked by the government with investigating human rights violations during the Karakalpakstan events presented its findings to parliament in December 2024, but has never made its report public. The government’s narrative is that the protesters were responsible for the violence. A total of 61 people were criminally prosecuted for their alleged involvement in the demonstrations, including the Karakalpak lawyer and blogger Dauletmurat Tazhimuratov, who, prior to his arrest, had called for peaceful protests. Tazhimuratov was subsequently sentenced to 16 years in prison . Authorities have ignored Tazhimuratov’s repeated and credible allegations of ill-treatment and torture while in police and prison custody. Earlier this year, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found Tazhimuratov’s detention arbitrary and called on the Uzbek government to release him immediately and pay him reparations. The Uzbek authorities should commence a genuinely impartial and effective investigation into the events of July 2022 in Karakalpakstan to ensure accountability for the deaths of protesters and other grave human rights violations. Authorities should also implement the decision of the UN WGAD and release Tazhimuratov immediately. It is vital that Uzbekistan’s international partners remain focused on the need for accountability for the Karakalpakstan events. Uzbekistan’s economy and society face many challenges, but respect for fundamental human rights—including accountability for arbitrary killings by security forces—is the bedrock on which Tashkent’s partners should build long-term relations with the country. © 2025 Human Rights Watch

By Felix Corley Muzaffar Davlatmirov, Dushanbe, 2020 Credit: Private Seriously ill prisoner of conscience Muzaffar Davlatmirov, a leading Ismaili Muslim khalifa (cleric) from Mountainous Badakhshan, and his relatives repeatedly called for his transfer from prison to hospital. Prison authorities repeatedly denied this, even when his health deteriorated from May. Officials promised Davlatmirov only to “sort things out later”. The 61-year-old died in the labour camp at Yavan in Khatlon Region on 26 June. Officials at the Prisons Department of the Justice Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments did not answer the phone. Nearly three years into his five-year prison sentence, prisoner of conscience Muzaffar Davlatmirov, a leading Ismaili Muslim khalifa (cleric) from Mountainous Badakhshan, has died in prison. He died of poor health in the labour camp at Yavan in Khatlon Region on 26 June after prison authorities repeatedly rejected calls for him to be transferred to hospital, exiled media noted. The 61-year-old had been suffering from diabetes and other complaints. “Davlatmirov was widely known and respected by the local Ismaili people,” independent journalist Anora Sarkorova told Forum 18 after he was imprisoned in 2022 (see below). Davlatmirov’s health appears to have severely worsened from May 2025. “His condition worsened in several areas at the same time: high blood sugar, exacerbation of asthma, difficulty breathing and persistent high blood pressure,” exile news outlet Pamir Inside noted on 27 June, citing informed sources. Despite repeated appeals to the prison administration for him to be hospitalised, officials promised Davlatmirov only to “sort things out later”. Prison authorities did not provide “qualified medical care”, Pamir Inside added (see below). Prison officials have a history of refusing urgent medical care to prisoners of conscience. Prisons are run by the Justice Ministry. Officials at the Prisons Department of the Justice Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called (see below). Similarly, officials of the Justice Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments and Yavan Prison did not return calls from the Tajik Service of Radio Liberty (see below). Telephones at the regime-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office in Dushanbe, as well as the regional branches in Khatlon Region (where Yavan prison is located) and Badakhshan Region (where Davlatmirov was from), went unanswered each time Forum 18 called (see below). Telephones at the regime’s State Committee for Religious Affairs and Regulation of Traditions, Ceremonies and Rituals (SCRA) in Dushanbe went unanswered whenever Forum 18 called (see below). Amid tight regime censorship, news outlets in Tajikistan appear to have made no mention of Davlatmirov’s death (see below). Regime’s tight control of Ismaili Muslim community The Ismaili branch of Shia Islam in Tajikistan is mainly found in Badakhshan in the Pamir Mountains, and the community worldwide is led by the Aga Khan, considered to be a direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Mountainous Badakhshan Autonomous Region (also known from Russian as Gorno-Badakhshan) has seen increasing repression by the regime since its forces killed a local resident in November 2021. The regime keeps tight control over  all exercise of freedom of religion or belief , including by the Ismaili Muslim community. Ismaili Muslims meet for worship in centres (which also host educational and cultural events), prayer houses, or private homes. The two Ismaili centres in Tajikistan – in Khorugh in Mountainous Badakhshan Autonomous Region and in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe – remain open, but only for prayers. Officials have banned the centres from conducting any educational or cultural activities. Officials have also banned Ismailis from holding prayer meetings in homes. Officials announced in 2023 that young Ismailis would no longer be allowed to travel to Britain for education at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. The regime has long tried to prevent people of any faith from travelling abroad for religious education. At a January 2023 meeting in Khorugh, officials insisted that local people  must remove portraits  of the Ismaili spiritual leader, the Aga Khan, which hang in places of honour in homes. Officials had earlier complained of such portraits in the centre in Dushanbe. The Aga Khan IV, the 49th hereditary imam and spiritual leader of the world’s Ismaili Shia Muslims, was not allowed to visit Tajikistan after 2012 – the regime rejected his attempt to visit in 2017 during his Diamond Jubilee visits to Ismaili communities in more than 10 countries. Authorities both in Khorugh and in Dushanbe  obstructed ceremonies in February 2025  related to the Aga Khan IV’s death and the appointment of his son as the Aga Khan V, the 50th imam. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief Nazila Ghanea noted the authorities’ violations of the rights to freedom of religion or belief of Ismailis and tried to find out more during her April 2023 visit to Tajikistan. She visited Mountainous Badakhshan, but was obstructed in her attempts. “As the Special Rapporteur’s visit request had clearly indicated her strong interest in visiting that Province, she very much regrets that the authorities did not facilitate official meetings and she was thus unable to meet the authorities there,” Ghanea noted in her subsequent report, issued on 18 January 2024 ( A/HRC/55/47/Add.1 ). “While her delegation reached out to a range of religious and belief communities and faith-based actors in the Province, it was met with widespread reluctance to speak for fear of reprisals.” Arrested, jailed in 2022 for leading funerals? On 26 July 2022 the National Security Committee (NSC) secret police arrested the Ismaili khalifa (religious leader) Muzaffar Vafonazarovich Davlatmirov (born 6 July 1963) in Khorugh. Just eight days later, on 3 August, Badakhshan Regional Court  handed him a five-year general regime prison sentence  under Criminal Code Article 307-1 (“Public calls for extremist activity”), Part 2 (“committed using the mass media or the internet”). The regime has used this article to target a variety of Muslims. Judge Abdukhanon Nazarzoda, Chair of Badakhshan Regional Court,  refused to explain to Forum 18  in October 2022 why his court jailed prisoner of conscience Davlatmirov. “I do not remember,” Nazarzoda claimed, “the Court has had so many cases recently that I cannot remember all the details.” He also refused to explain why Davlatmirov was arrested on 26 July and swiftly jailed on 4 August. Police Major Azamat Oshurmamadov, who commanded “anti-terrorism” police operations in the region,  refused to tell Forum 18  in October 2022 what exactly Davlatmirov did that led to his jailing. “I do not know of such a person or his arrest,” he claimed. When Forum 18 pointed out that Major Oshmuramadov’s colleagues in the regional government and judiciary know who Davlatmirov is and that he had been jailed, Oshurmamadov put the phone down. Regional government spokesperson Gholib Niyatbekov also refused in October 2022 to state what exactly Davlatmirov did that led to the five-year jail term. “Muzaffar tried to appeal, but they [the court] didn’t accept it,” independent journalist Anora Sarkorova told Forum 18. “Davlatmirov is not an extremist, and did not call for ‘extremist’ activity,” a local person who knew him  told Forum 18 in October 2022 . “Davlatmirov was widely known and respected by the local Ismaili people,” independent journalist Anora Sarkorova  told Forum 18 in October 2022 . She noted that he had criticised the regime’s religious policies, and argued for the preservation of local Pamiri traditions. Davlatmirov also, she stated, criticised the regime’s violent suppression in May 2022 of peaceful protests. The suppression of protest is claimed by the regime to be an “anti-terrorism operation”. Sarkorova commented that the regime did not like the fact that Davlatmirov was respected in the region, and that he could influence people. She thought it was possible that prisoner of conscience Davlatmirov was jailed because he said the janaza (funeral) prayers at the funerals in mid-2022 of three local informal leaders – Mahmadboqir Mahmadboqirov, Zoir Rajabov, and Khursand Mazoriev. The three were killed during the regime’s violent suppression of peaceful protests in the region. The NSC secret police had banned religious leaders from taking part in their funerals. Nearly 3 years in Yavan prison In August 2022, after prisoner of conscience Muzaffar Davlatmirov was sentenced, the Justice Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments sent him to serve his sentence in General Regime Prison YaS 3/6 in Yavan in the south-western Khatlon Region. For months afterwards prisoner of conscience Davlatmirov’s relatives and friends  were not told where he was held . The regime has held in Prison YaS 3/6 many prisoners of conscience jailed for exercising freedom of religion or belief, including: – Protestant Pastor  Bakhrom Kholmatov , until his release in 2019; – Journalist and Muslim  Daler Sharipov , until his release in 2021; – Jehovah’s Witness conscientious objector  Rustamjon Norov , until his release in 2021. “Prisoners in Yavan are very cold,” independent journalist Anora Sarkorova (who visited the prison in 2020)  told Forum 18 in February 2023 . “They ask their relatives to send blankets and mattresses.” She said the food served up to prisoners is inedible. “Relatives buy everything, from food to toilet paper. Prisoners club together to buy kettles.” Prisoners are allowed to call their relatives, but must speak in Tajik so that a warder sitting next to them can understand what they are saying. Death in prison follows denial of “qualified medical care”? Ismaili Muslim prisoner of conscience Muzaffar Davlatmirov died of ill health in General Regime Prison YaS 3/6 in Yavan on 26 June, exiled news outlet Pamir Inside and Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service noted the following day. The 61-year-old had been suffering from diabetes and other conditions for some time. Both he and relatives had requested his transfer to hospital several times since his detention in Yavan. Davlatmirov’s health appears to have severely worsened from May. “His condition worsened in several areas at the same time: high blood sugar, exacerbation of asthma, difficulty breathing and persistent high blood pressure,” Pamir Inside  noted on 27 June , citing informed sources. Despite repeated appeals to the prison administration for him to be hospitalised, officials promised Davlatmirov only to “sort things out later”. Prison authorities did not provide qualified medical care, Pamir Inside added. The United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (known as the Mandela Rules,  A/C.3/70/L.3 ) are explicit about the obligation of prison administrations to tackle prisoners’ health concerns appropriately. “All prisons shall ensure prompt access to medical attention in urgent cases,” Rule 27 notes. “Prisoners who require specialized treatment or surgery shall be transferred to specialized institutions or to civil hospitals. Where a prison service has its own hospital facilities, they shall be adequately staffed and equipped to provide prisoners referred to them with appropriate treatment and care.” Rule 27 adds: “Clinical decisions may only be taken by the responsible health-care professionals and may not be overruled or ignored by non-medical prison staff.” Both  the UN Human Rights Committee and the UN Committee against Torture have both called for Tajikistan to implement the Mandela Rules . In 2022 and 2023, officials from Strict Regime Prison YaS 3/5 in Khujand  repeatedly refused to transfer to hospital  Jehovah’s Witness prisoner of conscience Shamil Khakimov for urgently-needed specialised medical care. The then 72-year-old had multiple medical conditions, including signs of gangrene in his legs, serious eyesight problems, and frequent severe headaches. He was  freed in May 2023 . Prisons are run by the Justice Ministry. Officials at the Prisons Department of the Justice Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments did not answer the phone each time Forum 18 called on 30 June. Similarly, officials of the Justice Ministry’s Department for the Execution of Criminal Punishments and Yavan Prison did not return calls  from the Tajik Service of Radio Liberty . Telephones at the regime-appointed Human Rights Ombudsperson’s Office in Dushanbe, as well as the regional branches in Khatlon Region (where Yavan prison is located) and Badakhshan Region (where Davlatmirov was from), went unanswered each time Forum 18 called on 30 June. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) has found that the Human Rights Ombudsperson does not comply with the  Paris Principles  for national human rights institutions, as among other problems it is not independent of the regime. Telephones at the regime’s  State Committee for Religious Affairs and Regulation of Traditions, Ceremonies and Rituals (SCRA) in Dushanbe went unanswered whenever Forum 18 called on 30 June. Security forces obstruct transport of body for burial Yavan prison released Muzaffar Davlatmirov’s body to relatives for his burial in his home town near Khorugh in Mountainous Badakhshan. They began the 575 km (360 mile) journey by road to Khorugh, which can take up to 9 hours’ driving in summer. However, security forces stopped the car with Davlatmirov’s body at night near Shuroobod, about four hours’ drive from Yavan. The body remained in the morgue until the morning, when it was handed back to relatives. Officials gave no explanation for the delay. However, according to sources, the detention could have been related to President Emomali Rahmon’s visit to Khorugh, which ended on 28 June. “The special services were probably afraid of possible unrest,”  Pamir Inside noted . Relatives buried Davlatmirov in his home village of Tem near Khorugh on 28 June, journalist Anora Sarkorova told Forum 18 on 30 June. News blackout on Davalatmirov’s death? News outlets in Tajikistan appear to have made no mention of Davlatmirov’s death. The monitoring group Reporters Without Borders put Tajikistan at 153rd place out of 180 countries it examined in 2025 for its restrictions on the press. “The government closely monitors content broadcast on the radio, television and the Internet, and access to official information is extremely limited for independent media,” it  noted . “Journalists who do not resort to self-censorship are harassed by the intelligence services and are targets of intimidation and blackmail.” Copyright Eurasia Review. (ISSN 2330-717X)

By Farah Solhi and Hidayath Hisham Photo Credit: Bloomberg Malaysia welcomes ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights’ (AICHR) ongoing efforts to develop human rights declarations, as it reaffirms unwavering commitments to advance human rights in ASEAN. Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hassan said these declarations would highlight the people’s urgent and pressing concerns, especially those who are vulnerable to environmental harm, inequality and instability. The declarations in the making, namely the “ASEAN Declaration of the Right to a Safe, Clean, Healthy and Sustainable Environment” and the “Declaration on Promoting the Right to Development and Peace, Towards Realising Inclusive and Sustainable Development” would address both present and future challenges in a timely and relevant manner. “These efforts are key to advancing human rights and regional cooperation, in support of both the national and international commitments of ASEAN member states. “Our efforts to promote and protect the wellbeing of our people should remain ASEAN-led and ASEAN-owned,” he said in his opening remarks at the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ interface with AICHR representatives today. Mohamad added that efforts to promote and protect the people’s wellbeing should reflect the values and norms of ASEAN member states, while ensuring alignment with the ASEAN Charter and ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (AHRD). He urged ASEAN member states to continue upholding its human rights commitments in realising the vision adopted at the 46th Summit in May, which is “ASEAN 2045: Our Shared Future”.“The aspiration for a resilient, dynamic and people-centred ASEAN will only be meaningful, if the country’s members ensure the rights and dignity of their people. “True regional integration can only be achieved if ASEAN empowers its people so that they may collectively enjoy the fruits of shared prosperity, equitable growth and social justice,” he added. The ASEAN’s Foreign Ministers interface with AICHR representatives was one of the meetings held alongside the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting (58th AMM) held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre from July 8 till 11. On July 6, Foreign Ministry Secretary General Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin told reporters that the 58th AMM is set to see the adoption of five key documents, namely the joint Statement of the 58th AMM; chairman’s statement on the ASEAN Post-Ministerial Conferences (PMC) with 10 ASEAN Dialogue Partners (10+1); the chairman’s statement on the 26th ASEAN Plus Three Foreign Ministers’ Meeting; chairman’s statement on the 15th East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting; and the chairman’s statement of the 32nd ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). Copyright (c) 2025 TMR Media Sdn Bhd (25343-k).

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev meet in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates July 10, 2025. Press Service of Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia/Handout via REUTERS. Felix Light and Nailia Bagirova TBILISI/BAKU, July 10 (Reuters) - The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan held substantive talks in Abu Dhabi on Thursday, their governments said, in what amounted to the most serious direct negotiations yet in a fitful process to end almost four decades of conflict. The two sides said in March they had agreed on the text of a draft peace agreement , but progress since then has been sporadic and slow. The talks between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the capital of the United Arab Emirates were the leaders' first formal meeting since they approved the draft. In statements, the countries' two foreign ministries said Pashinyan and Aliyev had discussed items including the delimitation of their shared 1,000-km (621-mile) border and agreed to continue dialogue at various levels. A senior Azerbaijani government source said the talks took place in a "highly constructive atmosphere." Armenia said the sides had agreed to continue talks on a bilateral basis and that the dialogue had been "result-oriented". A peace deal could transform the South Caucasus, an energy-producing region neighbouring Russia, Europe, Turkey and Iran that is criss-crossed by oil and gas pipelines but riven by closed borders and longstanding ethnic conflicts. Armenia and Azerbaijan, which both won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh - an Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population - broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia. In 2023, Azerbaijan retook Karabakh, prompting about 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Both sides have since said they want to sign a treaty on a formal end to the conflict. Some issues, including Azerbaijan's demand that Armenia change its constitution to remove an indirect reference to Karabakh, are yet to be resolved. Russia, which previously deployed peacekeepers in Karabakh, said it fully supported the diplomatic process and hoped it would bring "predictability, stability and peace to the region." © 2025 Reuters.

Palestinian Pieta --Muhammad Zakariya Ayyoub al-Matouq, a 1.5-year-old child in Gaza, faces life-threatening malnutrition as the humanitarian situation worsens due to ongoing Israeli attacks and blockade. Source: Getty / Anadolu / Getty Images The Double Genocide in Gaza By Dr. Gregory Stanton, Founding President, Genocide Watch   On  October 7, 2023,  Hamas massacred over 1200 civilians in Israel and kidnapped 251  hostages. The hostages were tortured, beaten, or murdered. 20  remain hostage in Gaza.   148 hostages  have been rescued or released, and 75 died or were murdered by Hamas.   Hamas openly declares its  intent to destroy the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. Hamas is a genocidal terrorist organization that must be defeated. Israel’s response to the Hamas assault on its citizens is a military response to what Israelis see as an existential threat reminiscent of the Holocaust.   But defeating genocidal terrorists does not justify  committing genocide against Palestinian civilians.   Israel’s military retaliation against Hamas would be justified as self-defense if it were proportionate and distinguished Hamas combatants from Palestinian civilians.   Israeli leaders have led a  dehumanizing  campaign of anti-Palestinian propaganda that denies any distinction between Hamas combatants and Palestinian civilians. Israeli leaders call Palestinians “animals.” Prime Minister Netanyahu even invoked the Biblical command in Deuteronomy 24 and 1 Samuel 15: 2-3 to kill every Amalekite, a divine order to commit genocide.   Ignoring demands of Israelis to prioritize freeing Israeli hostages , Netanyahu portrays opposition to Israeli bombing in Gaza as a pro-Hamas campaign to destroy Israel itself. Netanyahu claims that the UN, ICC, and protests against Israel’s war crimes are “antisemitic,”  conflating opposition to Israel’s war with antisemitism.   Is Israel committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza?   The crime of genocide is defined in the Genocide Convention.   “Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:(a) Killing members of the group;(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. ​ (a)   Has Israel killed a substantial part of the Palestinian national and ethnic group?   The UN estimates that 58,000  Palestinians and 1500  Israelis have died since October 7, 2023. At least 17,000 of the Palestinian dead were children. To deny these statistics, Israel uses two classic tactics of denial : attack the truth tellers and minimize the statistics. Israel claims Hamas and UN figures are unreliable exaggerations.   Israel allows only Palestinian journalists to report from Gaza. No foreign journalists  have access except on IDF escorted tours. 55 prominent journalists  protested this ban. This policy allows Israel to claim that reports of its war crimes and crimes against humanity come from biased sources, a tactic of denial.   A study published in The Lancet in January 2025  estimated that approximately 64,260 Palestinians died from traumatic injuries in Gaza between October 7, 2023, and June 30, 2024. This figure is 40% higher than the 37,877 deaths reported by Gaza's Health Ministry during the same period. The Lancet study used data from hospital records, an online survey, and social media obituaries to estimate the death toll.   (b) Has Israel intentionally caused serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group?   2 million Palestinians in Gaza are on the brink of starvation . Israel has blocked over   eighty percent of food aid from entering Gaza since the start of the war. Israel claims it has permitted enough food aid, but it is stolen by Hamas. This claim is intended to convince Israelis that Israel is obeying the laws of war. It is not. The truth is that Israel has allowed under twenty percent  of necessary food to be delivered to Gaza.   The Israeli Defense Forces have intentionally targeted  media  and  aid groups . As of July 18, 2025, at least 1,513 humanitarian workers  have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, including 237 UN staff members, primarily from UNRWA.  This includes 126 UN staff members in 2024, marking the highest number in UN history. 15 Palestinian aid workers were found in a mass grave in March 2025, and 12 Doctors Without Borders staff have been killed since October 2023.   (c) Has Israel deliberately inflicted on the Palestinian group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part?   Israeli bombs intentionally target schools ,  homes ,  hospitals , and designated  humanitarian zones . Israel has used  2000-pound bombs  that level entire apartment buildings and throw shrapnel that kills and maims people 360 meters away. Over 174,000, buildings in Gaza have been destroyed and over 19,000 severely damaged.   Over ninety percent (436,000 homes)  of the dwellings in Gaza are uninhabitable.   Israel is blowing up  all remaining buildings in Rafah, where it intends to confine all 1.8 million Gaza residents in a cynically named “humanitarian city.”  They will be screened to exclude Hamas militants. Israeli troops will provide “security.” Palestinians will not be permitted to leave this de facto concentration camp. Forced transfer of a population is a crime against humanity under ICC Statute Article 7(1)(d) .   All hospitals in Gaza have been bombed by Israel on the pretext that Hamas uses them as bases. The UN reports that all Gaza hospitals  lack water, fuel, staff, and medical supplies.   Israel claims that Hamas hides under hospitals and among Palestinian civilians, using them as human shields . Israel’s rules of engagement permit killing twenty civilians for each Hamas fighter killed, the highest “collateral damage” percentage in any modern war. These rules of engagement give Israeli Air Force and IDF troops a license to carpet bomb Gaza and commit war crimes.   Directing attacks against hospitals is a war crime that violates  ICC statute Article 8(2)(b)(ix).   Recognition of Israeli genocide by scholars and the public   In a guest opinion article in the New York Times on July 15, 2025, Dr. Omar Bartov , a renowned Holocaust and genocide expert, noted that many Holocaust scholars have been reluctant to call Israel’s actions in Gaza by the powerful G-word, Genocide.   Many Israelis, American Jews, and Holocaust scholars have refused to believe that Israel’s destruction in Gaza approaches the horror of the Holocaust, which attempted to kill all Jewish people. Popular concepts of Genocide are that Genocide requires the attempt to eliminate a group “in whole.” But the Genocide Convention only requires destruction of a group “in part.”   This misunderstanding of the Genocide Convention is the basis of Bret Stephens’ denial in “No. Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza.” (NY Times, July 23, 2025.)  If Israel is really committing genocide, “why isn’t the death count higher?”   Intentionally killing or starving members of a group because of their group identity is destroying a group “in part.” That is genocide as defined by the Genocide Convention   Genocide is an intentional crime. The perpetrator state must intend to destroy a group “in whole or in part.” Intent can be proven by statements from leaders. It can also be proven by a systematic pattern of the acts of genocide enumerated in the Genocide Convention.   The other tactic in Stephens’ denial is to assert that this is a war, not a genocide. But most genocides occur during wars. War and genocide aren’t mutually exclusive. They often go together. Both are justified by the same dehumanization of the “enemy,” the “other.”   Many Israelis say they have no intention to harm all Palestinians. They only want to defeat Hamas. But Israel’s war in Gaza has gone far beyond a war to defeat Hamas. Most of Gaza has been destroyed. Israel’s bombing has taken over 58,000 Palestinian lives.   Most genocide scholars, in contrast to Holocaust scholars, acknowledge that the Israeli destruction of Palestinians in Gaza is Genocide. Dr. Bartov was at first reluctant to call Israel’s attacks Genocide. But he has now concluded that he “knows it when he sees it,” and Israel is committing Genocide.   Dr. Bartov’s change of opinion has been driven by Israel’s continuing destruction of Gaza, including every hospital, and its intentional bombing of displaced civilians. But for Dr. Bartov and other doubters, the events of the last three months have finally clarified Israel’s intent to destroy a substantial part of the Palestinian population of Gaza.   For three months in 2025, Israel blockaded all food, water, medicine, and fuel to Gaza. Israel closed all food and aid distribution by the United Nations. Israel  refused  to lift restrictions on desperately needed goods and services entering Gaza from the UN and relief NGOs and refused to provide more aid crossings.   The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was established in February 2025 and supported by the U.S. and Israel. It is now the only organization permitted to distribute food in Gaza.   The UN formerly distributed aid directly to Palestinians where they lived. The GHF requires them to walk miles through Israeli gunfire.   Since May, Israel Defence Force snipers have shot and killed over 1000 Palestinian civilians seeking food from GHF distribution sites. Many of those killed were children who were shot in the head or the back.   These murders and the destruction of hospitals and medical clinics  by Israeli Defence Forces are war crimes and crimes against humanity of extermination. They are also acts of genocide.   “Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units, or vehicles involved in a humanitarian or peacekeeping mission” is a war crime under ICC statute Article 8(2)(b)(iii) .   Dr. Bartov and the entire world have been shocked by Israel’s murders of unarmed civilians seeking food.   Under international law, as an occupying power, Israel has a legal  obligation  to provide basic needs to Palestinian people in Gaza and the West Bank. Not only has Israel failed to provide for basic needs, but Israel actively blocks aid into Gaza.   Starvation is the crime against humanity of Extermination under Article 7 (1)(b) of the ICC statute : “the intentional infliction of conditions of life, inter alia the deprivation of access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of part of a population.” Starvation is also a method of genocide.   On 29 December 2023 South Africa brought a case for violation of the Genocide Convention against Israel in the International Court of Justice . On 26 January 2024, the ICJ issued provisional measures  calling on Israel to prevent acts of genocide against Palestinians and do more to help civilians. Instead of abiding by the ICJ’s orders, Israel has increased its persecution and killings of Palestinian civilians.   Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant have been charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court .   Prime Minister Netanyahu states that there will be no end to the war until Hamas is totally destroyed . Such demands for total surrender make ending wars impossible without a total victory by one side.   This war can be stopped only when Hamas releases all hostages and Israel withdraws from Gaza. Meanwhile scores of Palestinian civilians are being killed daily by constant bombing while hundreds are dying of starvation. Any hope for peace between Israel and Palestinians depends on ending this war.   THE ONLY WAY TO STOP WAR CRIMES AND GENOCIDE IN GAZA IS TO STOP THIS WAR.     Published with Creative Commons copyright 2025 Genocide Watch. This article may be copied and republished freely with full attribution to Dr. Gregory Stanton and Genocide Watch and without alteration of any of its language or meaning.   Dr. Gregory H. Stanton  is Founding President of Genocide Watch  and the Alliance Against Genocide . He founded the Cambodian Genocide Project . He was Professor in Genocide Studies at George Mason​ ​ University and was James Farmer Professor in Human Rights at the University of Mary Washington . He was a law professor at Washington and Lee University . In the State Department, he wrote UN Security Council Resolution 955  that established the  International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.  He wrote the rules of the Khmer Rouge Tribuna ​​l. He was President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars . He holds degrees from Oberlin, Harvard Divinity School, Yale Law School, and a Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Chicago.

© UNICEF/Stas Bilyk I A children’s playground in front of a heavily damaged residential building in Saltivka, Kharkiv. (file) 25 July 2025 I   Peace and Security Russian aerial attacks continue to intensify across Ukraine, exacting a rising toll on civilians and infrastructure, senior UN officials told the Security Council on Friday, warning of mounting humanitarian needs amid faltering donor support. “Nowhere is safe in Ukraine,” said Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Europe at the UN Department of Political Affairs. Citing figures from the UN human rights office, OHCHR , he said civilian casualties reached a three-year high in June, with 6,754 civilians killed or injured in the first half of 2025 alone. Russian forces launched over 5,000 long-range munitions against Ukraine so far in July, including a record-breaking 728 drones in a single day. Major cities such as Kyiv and Odesa have been hit by swarms of missiles and drones. Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya echoed those words, saying “there is no safe place left in Ukraine” as the use of explosive weapons in populated areas has left cities reeling. A rehabilitation centre for persons with disabilities in Kharkiv, maternity wards, schools and energy infrastructure have all come under fire in recent weeks. Spiralling humanitarian situation The humanitarian impact is worsening sharply, she continued. “Nearly 13 million people need assistance, but limited funding means we can reach only a fraction of them,” Ms. Msuya warned. As of now, only 34 per cent of the $2.6 billion required for this year’s humanitarian response has been received. Ukraine’s displacement crisis also continues to grow. Over 3.7 million people remain displaced within the country while nearly six million are refugees abroad. More than 26,000 people have newly registered at transit centres since April alone. Strikes in Russia The senior UN officials also expressed concern over reported civilian casualties from Ukrainian drone strikes inside Russia, including in Belgorod, Kursk and Moscow. While the UN could not independently verify these incidents, Mr. Jenča reiterated that “international law clearly prohibits attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. We strongly condemn all such attacks wherever they occur.” Concerns over nuclear safety Attacks near Ukraine’s nuclear facilities have further alarmed the UN. Earlier this month, drone strikes hit Enerhodar, where Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant staff live, and drones have been detected near other operating plants. “Any nuclear incident must be avoided at all costs,” Mr. Jenča said. Political momentum needed While some diplomatic movement continues, including recent prisoner exchanges and talks in Istanbul, UN officials called for intensified political will towards a ceasefire. “The heartbreaking and rising human toll of the past nearly three and a half years of war underscores the urgency of a complete, immediate and unconditional ceasefire,” Mr. Jenča said, “as the first step towards a just and lasting peace.” © 2025 United Nations

African Union Should Press for Investigations, Prosecutions Russian fighters from the Wagner Group in northern Mali in an undated photo posted by the French military in 2022. © 2022 French Army via AP Photo by Human Rights Watch Mali ’s armed forces and the allied Russia-backed Wagner Group have committed dozens of summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men since January 2025. The Malian soldiers and Wagner Group fighters accuse the Fulani community of collaborating with Islamist armed groups fighting to control parts of the country. The African Union should ramp up its engagement in Mali to help protect civilians from abuses by all the warring parties, including by assisting in investigations and pressing for fair prosecutions. (Nairobi) – Mali ’s armed forces and the allied Russia-backed Wagner Group have committed dozens of summary executions and enforced disappearances of ethnic Fulani men since January 2025, Human Rights Watch said today. The Malian army and the Wagner Group, which have carried out joint operations against Islamist armed groups over the past 3 years, appear to have executed at least 12 Fulani men and forcibly disappeared at least 81 others since January, in the context of counterinsurgency operations across several regions of the country against the Al-Qaeda-linked Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wa al-Muslimeen, JNIM). Witnesses said Malian soldiers and Wagner Group fighters carried out abuses against people belonging to the Fulani ethnic group, whom they accuse of collaborating with the JNIM. “Mali’s military junta is ultimately responsible for the summary killings and enforced disappearances by the army and allied Wagner Group fighters,” said   Ilaria Allegrozzi , senior Sahel researcher at Human Rights Watch. “The junta needs to end the abuses, make the whereabouts of those detained known, investigate and hold those responsible to account.” The African Union (AU) should press Mali’s military junta to investigate these serious allegations, fairly prosecute those responsible, and provide redress for victims’ families, Human Rights Watch said. Human Rights Watch interviewed 29 people with knowledge of the incidents by phone between February and May 2025, including 16 witnesses and 7 community leaders, activists, journalists, and international organization representatives. On June 10, Human Rights Watch wrote to Mali’s justice and defense ministers with its findings and questions but has received no replies. Human Rights Watch also received credible reports, corroborated by the United Nations, that the army and Wagner fighters executed as many as 65 Fulani herders and cattle traders from Sebabougou village, Kayes region, in April after rounding them up and taking them toward an army camp. Islamist armed groups, which have been implicated in numerous grave abuses , have long concentrated their recruitment efforts on the Fulani community. Successive Malian governments have conflated the Fulani community with Islamist fighters, putting them at grave risk. On March 30, the Malian military and Wagner fighters entered Belidanédji, Ségou region, and summarily executed at least six Fulani civilians who were fleeing or hiding, witnesses said. “They shot my friend in the chest in front of me,” said a 47-year-old man. “When the soldiers left, we recovered five bodies and evacuated an injured man, but he later died in the hospital.” Malian forces and Wagner fighters carried out an operation in Kourma village, Ségou region, on March 19. A 50-year-old villager said: “They [soldiers] beat them [villagers] with their rifle butts before tossing them into a pickup truck.” He said they detained at least 12 Fulani men. The men’s relatives searched for them in various detention facilities, but the authorities have provided no information about their whereabouts. Human Rights Watch has documented widespread abuses by the Malian army and the Wagner Group during counterinsurgency operations across Mali since 2021. On June 6, the Wagner Group announced that it was withdrawing from Mali after having “accomplished” its mission. Diplomatic and security sources told the media that Wagner fighters would be replaced by the so-called Africa Corps, a paramilitary group under the direct control of the Russian government that was created after the Wagner Group founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in 2023. The announced reframing of the Russian presence in Mali coincided with a string of major attacks by Islamist armed groups and Tuareg separatist groups in June that killed scores of Malian soldiers and some Africa Corps fighters. The AU should ramp up its engagement in Mali to help protect civilians from abuses by all the warring parties, including by assisting in investigations of abuses and pressing for fair prosecutions. This is particularly urgent following Mali’s withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc in January, which deprives victims of abuses of an avenue for redress in the West African regional court. A UN peacekeeping mission withdrew in 2023 at the request of Mali’s military junta, increasing concerns about protecting civilians and monitoring abuses. All parties to Mali’s armed conflict are bou nd by international humanitarian law, notably   Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and customary laws of war. Common Article 3 prohibits murder, cruel treatment, and torture of anyone in custody. Individuals who commit serious violations of the laws of war with criminal intent or are responsible as a matter of command responsibility may be prosecuted for war crimes. The incommunicado detentions documented amount to enforced disappearances, which violate the   International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance , to which Mali is a party. Mali is also a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which has opened an   investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Mali since 2012. “Senior Malian and Russian officials should recognize that they can be held responsible for the crimes committed by their soldiers and fighters,” Allegrozzi said. “Whether the African Union finally presses the Malian authorities to investigate and prosecute abuses, or the International Criminal Court steps in, those linked to current atrocities may face future trials.” For detailed findings, please see below. Conflict in Mali and Russian Involvement Since 2012, successive Malian governments have fought Islamist armed groups including the JNIM and the Islamic State in the Sahel Province (ISSP). The hostilities have resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and forcibly displaced 350,000 more. Mali’s military junta, which took power in a 2021 coup, has relied on the support of the Russia-backed Wagner Group for counterinsurgency operations. Malian authorities have never publicly acknowledged the group’s presence. In December 2021, the junta  said that Russian military instructors were in Mali as part of a bilateral agreement with Russia, but   denied the presence of Wagner fighters. However, Human Rights Watch and others have reported on Wagner Group activities and abuses in Mali. In June 2023, Mali’s foreign minister, in response to a Human Rights Watch report , again denied the presence of any foreign armed group and did not mention the Wagner Group. However, Russian authorities have acknowledged the group’s presence. In May 2023, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov   told the media that the Wagner Group “provides security services” to the Malian government and later said they worked as “instructors.” Army Abuses in Douentza Region Killings and Burning of Homes, Kobou, January 23 On January 23, at about 9 a.m., Malian army forces entered Kobou, a village in a JNIM-controlled area, in six pickup trucks, apparently searching for Islamist fighters. Several witnesses said that during the operation, soldiers killed a 46-year-old Fulani man who was attempting to flee, and summarily executed two others, ages 65 and 75. The bodies of the older men were found blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. The soldiers also burned at least 30 homes, the witnesses said. Most of the villagers fled when the soldiers arrived. “We Fulani all fled because we know that the soldiers will go after us because they see us as jihadists,” said a 28-year-old man. “If you don't flee, the jihadists will kill you because they will say that you helped the soldiers. No one spares us.” A Fulani herder, 35, who lost his 65-year-old father in the attack, said: There was a stampede. I fled, but my father couldn't run because he was too old and weak. He stayed in the house and when the military arrived, they killed him there. When I returned to the village at around 4 p.m., I found his body in the house, blindfolded with his turban and his hands tied. They shot him in the back of the head. A 29-year-old man who lost his brother, 46, in the attack, said: When I saw the soldiers coming, I drove off with my old mother on my motorbike and we hid in the bush.… We heard several gunshots.… When we returned, we found that three people had been killed, including my brother. I found his body with three bullets in the back some 300 meters from the mosque. I also found the body of a 75-year-old man, blindfolded, and shot in the head, outside the mosque. And then I saw the body of another man who was killed in his home. Human Rights Watch analyzed satellite images showing marks from burned structures appearing throughout the village on January 23 and 24. “When we returned to Kobou, at about 4 p.m., there was still smoke and some fire,” the 28-year-old man said. “We put out the last flames and recovered the bodies of the three men killed to bury them in a mass grave at the village cemetery.” Army Abuses in Timbuktu Region Abductions and Killings in Farana, March 26 On March 26, the Malian army arrested, beat, and most likely killed four Fulani men at a riverbank in Farana village, an area where the JNIM operates and attacks security forces. Witnesses said they saw soldiers going toward the riverbank and arrest the men and later found evidence of an attack. “I was resting by the riverside with my brother and three other men when, about midday, soldiers arrived on pickup trucks and armored vehicles,” said a 29-year-old man. He fled but said that when he returned to the river four hours later, he found no bodies but “a pool of blood” and human remains. He said four ethnic Bozo fishermen who witnessed the beatings told him: The soldiers tortured them [the four men] until they couldn't breathe and took the four bodies with them. On the spot, I found a lot of blood and pieces of a brain, an iron bar with traces of blood and human flesh stuck to it. There was so much blood that it was as if 10 cows had been slaughtered there. Another man, 45, whose brother is among the four missing men, said that when he heard that a military convoy was coming to the village, he fled along with almost all local Fulani: “We know that if a soldier spots a Fulani, it’s the end for him.” He said he hid in the nearby bush, and saw the military vehicles go toward the riverside. “They didn’t enter the village, they went toward the river.… I worried because my brother was there.” When the soldiers left, the man said, he went to the riverbank. “I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said. “It was like a slaughterhouse.… There was blood everywhere, human flesh stuck on tree branches, it was horrifying.” The four men remain missing. The victims’ relatives said they searched for them at the nearby Soumpi army base to no avail. Human Rights Watch received a list, compiled by relatives, with the four men’s names, and their ages: 24, 38, 53, and 70. Residents and relatives believe the soldiers targeted the Fulani, accusing them of collaborating with the JNIM. Army and Wagner Group Abuses in Kayes Region Arrests and Killings at Sebabougou, April 12 On April 12, Malian forces and Wagner fighters arrested about 100 Fulani men in the village of Sebabougou, accusing them of collaborating with Islamist fighters. Witnesses, including security sources, said that the soldiers took the villagers to the Kwala military camp, about 30 kilometers away, where they detained and apparently executed many. A UN report corroborated these findings, expressing “outrage at the alleged summary execution of several dozen people … as well as th e enforced disappearance of o thers” in Sebabougou. The Malian armed forces stated on April 28 that they had conducted military operations between April 11 and 15 in several areas, including Sebabougou and Kwala, and had “neutralized … several armed fighters.” Several witnesses said they saw the military and Wagner fighters arrive in Sebabougou at about 8 a.m. in several vehicles, while a military helicopter flew overhead. At the village cattle market, they told everyone to gather outside the residence of the village chief for a meeting. A 32-year-old Fulani man said: People initially went voluntarily, including some Fulani, but others including me stayed at the market. But around noon, the military came back to the market forcing all Fulani to go to the meeting.… I decided to flee, as things didn’t sound right to me. A man in his seventies who attended the meeting said: “Soldiers told us: ‘All those who have ties with terrorists, won’t get away with it.’” He said that the soldiers then rounded up and arrested about 100 Fulani men: At about 4 p.m., they blindfolded the Fulani with their scarves or other clothing and tied their hands behind their back. They took them toward their vehicles parked outside the village and loaded them onto two trucks, then drove off with them toward Kayes. Relatives provided Human Rights Watch with a list containing the names of 65 Fulani men arrested in Sebabougou, ages 30 to 65, who remain missing. Villagers said they were not able to obtain information about the whereabouts of the detained men. One man, 53, whose 40-year-old cousin was detained, said: “From [the time of the arrest], we stopped having any information about our relatives.” A group of family members searched for their missing relatives until April 20 without learning of their whereabouts. On April 21 and 22, they found at least 43 bodies on the outskirts of the Kwala military camp. Although they could not identify the bodies due to decomposition, they believe they belong to men arrested on April 12. One man, 32, said: On April 21, I went to Kwala with five other people and discovered the bodies of thirteen men about seven kilometers north of the military camp. The bodies were scattered and already rotten. The following day, we found 30 more bodies, in the same condition, about 1 kilometer from where we found the 13 others. It was horrifying. Credible sources told Human Rights Watch that at least 25 among those detained were transferred from the Kwala military camp to Bamako central prison, about a week after their arrest. The sources said the 25 were presented before a judge and released in mid-July without charges.  Army and Wagner Abuses in Ségou Region Abductions and Enforced Disappearances at Kourma, March 19 On March 19, the Malian military and Wagner fighters rounded up 12 Fulani men at the cattle market in Kourma, a village in a JNIM-controlled area. Relatives provided Human Rights Watch with a list of the names of the men, ages 22 to 62. The men remain missing. Witnesses said that soldiers and Wagner fighters arrived in the village around 8 a.m., surrounded the cattle market, and started to round up Fulani men. They accused the men of collaborating with the JNIM and severely beat them before driving off with them in a pickup truck toward the town of Sokolo, about 15 kilometers away, witnesses said. A Fulani man, 50, described the armed men as “Malian and white soldiers” in at least six pickup trucks and seven motorcycles. He said he hid in a shop owned by an ethnic Bambara, while his son, 22, was arrested: The soldiers, five Malians and two Russians, rounded up all twelve people near the market gate.… They slapped them, kicked them with their boots and hit them with the butts of their guns and called them “terrorists.” They tore their clothes to blindfold them, tied their hands and feet and then … threw them one by one into a pickup truck like animals. Another Fulani man, 66, whose 25-year-old son was arrested, said that at about 11 a.m., he saw a military pickup truck with about 12 “blindfolded” and “injured” people leaving the market toward Sokolo. The following day, relatives of those arrested said that they reported the incident to gendarmes at the Sokolo military base. A 41-year-old woman, whose son was arrested, said: I found two gendarmes. They refused to allow me access to the camp but listened to me. I explained what had happened in Kourma.… They replied that the people arrested in Kourma were doing well, and that I shouldn’t worry. I asked for proof of that. They told me to sit and wait. I sat on a chair for several hours. They later returned to tell me that they hadn’t received any news and that I had to leave. Killings, Torture, and Incommunicado Detentions at Belidanédji and Molodo, March 30 On March 30 at about 8 a.m., two JNIM fighters, one of whom was armed, entered Belidanédji, a village in a JNIM-controlled area, and beat at least twenty women for not wearing the veil, according to witnesses. “They [fighters] whipped them, slapped them, then told them to cover themselves,” a 45-year-old man said. “They said we refused to submit to Sharia [Islamic law]. We, the men, were powerless, afraid – for us it was a humiliation.” Witnesses said that one hour later, Malian forces and Wagner fighters entered the village in three pickup trucks and at least one armored vehicle. The soldiers reportedly clashed with the JNIM fighters and killed one of them, and then summarily executed six Fulani civilians, ages 35 to 63. “During the fighting, many of us fled, some hid in the rice fields, others jumped into the river,” said a 47-year-old man. “The soldiers then took over the village … [and] started killing people. They didn't try to distinguish between us – they considered all of us to be jihadists.” A 49-year-old man who lost his brother in the attack said he fled Belidanédji when one of the JNIM fighters fired the first shot, but returned to the village at about midday: I found my brother still alive but badly injured in his rice field. He was holding his hand over the bullet wound in his chest. His hand was covered in blood. Some helped me bandage his wound and evacuate him to Diabaly hospital on my motorcycle. But he died two days later. The 47-year-old man said he hid in a rice field, where he witnessed a summary execution and collected the dead: My 58-year-old friend was also hiding there, the military shot him dead. It happened less than 100 meters from where I was. The soldiers saw him, they asked him to stand up and raise his hands and then shot him in the chest.… When the soldiers left, we recovered five [civilian] bodies and helped one man who was seriously wounded.… We buried two men in the village cemetery the same day. The wounded man died after he was evacuated to the hospital and the three others were buried by their relatives in nearby hamlets. Witnesses said the soldiers and Wagner fighters who entered the village were part of a larger convoy, and that more soldiers and Wagner fighters remained outside Belidanédji. They said that the soldiers deployed outside the village arrested two Fulani men, ages 48 and 50, tortured them by severe beatings, and took them to Molodo military base, about 76 kilometers away, where they were held incommunicado in a container for two weeks. Human Rights Watch also received credible information that at least 20 people were summarily executed at the base, including at least 7 captured Islamist fighters, but this information could not be confirmed. Arrests and Killings at Sikere, May 14 In the early morning of May 14, Malian forces, accompanied by Wagner fighters and Dozo militia members, who are predominantly ethnic Bambara, surrounded Sikere, a village in a JNIM-controlled area and populated by Bambara, Rimaïbé—a Fulani subgroup—, and Fulani people. Witnesses said the soldiers and fighters went door-to-door and rounded up all Rimaïbé and Fulani men and took them to a location near the village mosque. They accused them of collaborating with the JNIM and shot dead four men. A 48-year-old man said he was asleep when a Malian soldier and two Dozo militiamen broke into his home, pointed guns at his head, and ordered him to walk to the mosque. He said: When I arrived near the mosque, I found many other men. They blindfolded us with our scarves.… Then they began to accuse us. They said we had undergone training to become jihadists … [and] that our relatives are with the jihadists. A 45-year-old man who was detained said: They accused us of being jihadists and participating in attacks against the security forces. Our village chief told them they had no concrete evidence of that since they had not found any weapons in the village. So, a soldier threatened us: “If ever the jihadists come to attack Ngonado [a Bambara village near Sikere] in retaliation for our presence here today, then we will come back to exterminate you all!” After about two hours in the mosque, the soldiers released all the Rimaïbé men and summarily executed four Fulani men. “We recovered their bodies; they had all been shot in the head,” the 45-year-old man said. “We buried them in a mass grave in the village cemetery.” Villagers provided Human Rights Watch with a list of those executed. Two were 37, one 35, and one 60. Witnesses and residents believe the attack in Sikere was in retaliation against the local population accused of supporting the JNIM. They said that in the weeks before the attack, the JNIM had attacked security forces, Dozo militiamen, and Wagner fighters in the area. © 2025 Human Rights Watch

The ruling Zanu-PF party appears determined to further criminalize dissent in Zimbabwe. Its lawmakers are seen to be trying to entrench legislation that can be used to target those who flag the government's shortcomings. Zimbabwe's ruling party lawmakers are seeking to entrench contested legislation to criminalize dissent. Image: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP Photo/picture alliance by Privilege Musvanhiri Lawmakers from the ruling ZANU-PF party in  Zimbabwe are moving a motion to further criminalize government critics. They're advocating for a comprehensive strategy to promote patriotism and national identity. Proposed measures include formalizing a national ideology, establishing a national institute of ideology and integrating "patriotic" education into the curriculum.  The motion comes on top of the contested Patriotic Act of 2023 , which was seen to effectively closed the door on dissent In Zimbabwe. It makes provision for criticism issues such as provision of health care, basic services and accountability to be judged criminal. The government dismissed criticism, saying the legislation was necessary to hold accountable individuals who threaten "national interests." It said the legislation was modeled on the Logan Act in the US, which bars citizens from engaging in certain unauthorized communications with foreign governments. In Zimbabwe, violations could result in life imprisonment and death, termination of citizenship, suspension from voting or holding public office. Another layer to repressive legislation  In a recent parliamentary debate, ZANU-PF MP Ophious Murambiwa suggested that it should be criminal to speak "evil" about Zimbabwe. "The most important issue is to love our country, let us praise our country in all circumstances, whether in good or bad times, during the night or day," Murambiwa said. The motion has prompted opposition lawmakers and human rights groups to push back harder. "Patriotism is not blind loyalty. It is not empty slogans. True patriots question injustice, challenge corruption and demand systems that serve people not a selected few," Prosper Mutseyami, an opposition MP, said. "Our patriotism must ignite participation, ensuring that every Zimbabwean plays an active role in shaping the future." Human rights activists say its another attempt to silence dissent. "You cannot necessarily legislate patriotism," Nigel Nyamutumbu, the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe programs manager, told DW. "It is a concept that can naturally clamp down on the requisite freedoms. Patriotism is not a legal concept but rather a political nationalist ideology." Activists have in the past been accused of treason and unpatriotic behavior for expressing concerns over human rights abuses, corruption, and governance in Zimbabwe. Abuse of parliament and constitution Citizens have expressed concern over what they fear are attempts to enforce a one-party state. ZANU-PF, with its absolute majority in parliament, is seen to be abusing its authority and violating the constitution. "As parliamentarians we are supposed to uphold the constitution," Gladys Hlatshwayo an opposition MP told DW. "Section 119 of the constitution demands that parliament protects the constitution and democratic governance." In June 2025, Zimbabwe's High Court struck down sections of the Patriotic Act. The court ruled that the drastic penalties prescribed by the Patriotic Act infringed on various sections of the country's constitution. Several civic organizations and a private citizens had petitioned the court, arguing that the legislation was overly broad and vague and had high potential for abuse and misuse. "The most patriotic people are those who hold their government to account. A government must not be seen as the most dangerous institution," Eric Chisora, a political analyst, told DW. "Whatever they [ZANU-PF lawmakers] are doing is unreasonable and irrational. Citizens' rights must be protected." A need for law reforms Political and civic rights activists are calling for the repeal of colonial legacy laws which they say are retrogressive. Laws such as the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act, with provisions have been used to incriminate government critics, date back to Zimbabwe's pre-independence era when they were used to suppress Black majority rule. The activists are concerned over the shrinking of democratic space under Emmerson Mnangagwa, Zimbabwe's president since 2018.  "We are now living in a country where there is no freedom of expression due to the number of pieces of legislation being passed by the ZANU-PF regime," Blessing Vava, executive director of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, told DW. "When you see a government passing repressive laws, just know that it is not a popular government. Zimbabweans must fight to defend the constitution." © 2025 Deutsche Welle

Deported migrants say they were beaten, sexually abused and fed rotten food inside a notorious El Salvador prison. Arturo Suarez, who was held for months in an El Salvador prison after the US alleged he was a member of the Tren de Aragua gang, reacts after his release, in Caracas [Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Reuters] Venezuela has launched an investigation into the role El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and his senior officials played in the alleged torture of 252 migrants who were detained in the Central American country after being deported from the United States. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab made the announcement in Caracas on Monday, as he presented photos and testimonies of some of the men, who said they were beaten, sexually abused and fed rotten food while inside a notorious El Salvador prison. Others were denied medical care or treated without anaesthesia, Saab said, urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Human Rights Council to act. The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the US in March, after US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without due process. The deportations drew fierce criticism from human rights groups and a legal battle with the Trump administration. Family members and lawyers of many of the men deny they had gang ties. Prisoner swap The former detainees arrived near Caracas on Friday following their release in El Salvador, in exchange for 10 US citizens and political prisoners held in Venezuela. Saab said the prosecutor’s office was interviewing the returned migrants. Some of the former detainees have since reunited with their families, but they have not yet returned to their own homes. Several had bruises on their bodies, marks of being shot with rubber bullets, and one had a split lip. Andry Hernandez Romero, a 32-year-old beautician among those sent to El Salvador, said he barely survived the ordeal. “We were going through torture, physical aggressions, psychological aggressions,” he said in a video presented by Saab. “I was sexually abused.” Others spoke of being held in “inhuman cells”, deprived of sunlight and ventilation, and given rotten food and unsafe drinking water while in the El Salvador prison. The men had no access to lawyers or their relatives, and the last time many of them were seen was when Bukele’s government issued photos of them arriving at the prison shackled and with their heads shorn. Apart from Bukele, Venezuela will investigate El Salvador’s Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro and Head of Prisons Osiris Luna Meza, Saab said. Bukele’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the media. Late on Monday, Bukele posted about the return on social media but did not comment on the abuse allegations. “The Maduro regime was satisfied with the swap deal; that’s why they accepted it,” he said on X. “Now they scream their outrage, not because they disagree with the deal but because they just realised they ran out of hostages from the most powerful country in the world.” President Nicolas Maduro, on his TV show on Monday, claimed Bukele had tried “last minute” to prevent the migrants from leaving. “You could not stop the first plane, but for the second plane he put some car on the runway … to provoke either an accident or prevent them from leaving,” he said. Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado labelled the process as an “exchange of prisoners of war” during a television interview on Monday. Venezuela itself faces an investigation by the ICC in The Hague, with similar allegations of torturing prisoners and denying them access to legal representation of political prisoners. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab speaks at a news conference at the Public Ministry in Caracas, Venezuela, on Monday [Ronald Pena R/EPA] © 2025 Al Jazeera Media Network