A bill rushed through Ugandan Parliament opens the door to civilian arrests and military detentions, months before a critical election. Illustration by Matt Haney, GPJ By Nakisanze Segawa and Apophia Agiresaasi | Global Press Journal KAMPALA, UGANDA — In January, Eron Kiiza, a human rights lawyer, represented opposition leader and four-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye in military court. Soldiers blocked his entry and directed him to sit in a different section. Kiiza refused. They forcibly removed him, and minutes later, he was arrested and placed next to Besigye — as a defendant, facing charges of treason. He was convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to nine months in prison. There was no trial, says Kiiza, who is out of prison on bail. The same month, Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled that trying civilians in military court — a practice on the rise in recent years — is unconstitutional . There are anywhere from a few hundred civilians, according to government numbers, to a few thousand civilians, according to lawyers, who are currently in military custody. President Yoweri Museveni said on social media that the January ruling is “wrong,” adding that trying civilians in the military court was a way to protect Ugandans from what he called “criminals armed with guns.” In June, Uganda’s Parliament passed a law allowing the practice, a move critics are calling an act of revenge after the January ruling. They worry the law will stifle political opposition and stoke fear ahead of the January 2026 general elections. Colonel Chris Magezi, acting spokesperson for the Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces, said on television in May that the judiciary is overwhelmed, so trying some cases that threaten national security in military courts is essential. He pointed to a 2023 disarmament in Karamoja, where armed residents were attacking neighbors and conducting raids across the border with Kenya. “There’s an urgent security problem to deal with in Karamoja that should hold,” he said. “In civil courts, when they are released, they go back to the community and commit crimes again.” ‘A one-man show’ The law allows the court-martial of civilians in cases of suspected treason, as well as cattle rustling, murder, aggravated robbery and more. But critics say the law opens the door to widespread civilian arrests. Nkunyingi Muwada, a member of Parliament for Kyadondo East, says the bill is Museveni’s attempt to dismantle the court system and create a new system within the military courts to remand opposition politicians and activists. “It’s obvious that this bill is in preparation of 2026 election,” Muwada says, adding that Museveni wants the political realm to remain “a one-man show.”Sarah Bireete, executive director for Centre for Constitutional Governance, a regional constitutional watchdog, says the bill’s hurried passage didn’t allow for public participation. “The clerk to Parliament sent an advert one day before the bill was tabled,” she says. “We were required to analyze the bill and file in a matter of hours. We submitted memorandum hoping to be invited to the committee. We were never invited.” Opposition supporters from the 2021 general elections have been in court since then . “The regime wants this same court in place for the same purpose,” Bireete says. Security or oppression? Civilians are concerned that the law makes them vulnerable. Namukasa Khadija, a Wakiso resident, says she’s debating whether to participate in the upcoming elections. “I saw the arrest, the brutality against opposition supporters, especially Bobi Wine supporters, by the armed forces in the last 2021 elections,” she says. “I saw the brutality against journalists in the recent Kawempe North election, and I don’t know if I am ready to attend any political rally in the 2026 elections because I don’t think it will be safe.” Others, though, are confident the law will promote national security. Anthony Akol, a member of Parliament for Kilak North, says the bill will protect Ugandans from armed robberies and those who use military attire to commit crimes. “The law is good,” he says, “but the problem is that citizens of Uganda don’t trust this government.” He, like Magezi, points to Karamoja. “Some who have guns and use them to rob people and others put on army uniform and try to steal from people,” he says. “I have no problem if such a person is arrested.” Kiiza, the human rights lawyer, says the bill’s main purpose is to deny Ugandans involvement in what should be a fair, democratic election. “Political activists and opposition supporters will be arrested and remanded to prison without trial,” he says. “This only happened because the military started to engage in politics.” © 2025 Global Press Journal

Ochepo Benjamin, one of the surviving Policemen, receiving medical treatment at Benue State University Teaching Hospital (BSUTH) Makurdi. Genocidal Massacres Surge Despite President Tinubu’s Visit to Makurdi in June By Ekani Olikita (Makurdi) Fulani Terrorists have killed 50 Christian Residents, 10 Security Operatives across 4 communities in Guma County after President Tinubu’s Visit to Benue State According to Barr Franc Utoo, a native of Yelewata and a researcher at the University of Central Oklahoma, United States, the victims who gruesomely murdered across Yelewata, Udei Ukohol and Daudu include pregnant women whose foetuses were also removed and mutilated by the Jihadists Nigerian President, Bola Tinubu visited Benue State, had a security and an interactive town hall meeting with political, traditional, religious leaders and youth of the State on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, following the massacre of more than 200 Christian residents of Yelewata and displaced persons (IDPs) who relocated to the community for safety on Friday June 13 and Saturday, June 14, 2025 Despite Tinubu’s marching order to security chiefs to crush terrorists responsible for attacks, Kidnappings and killings in Benue State, daily killings have continued unabated across the state, especially in Guma communities. Fulani Terrorists have intensified Attacks after Tinubu’s Visit — Barr Utoo Speaking in a phone interview with TruthNigeria from Oklahoma on Wednesday, July 15, 2025, Barr Franc Utoo, an indigene of Yelewata, painted a Heart-wrenching picture of what is going on in Yelewata and other neighboring communities such as Udei, Ukohol and Daudu. “Aftermath of President Bola Tinubu’s visit to Benue state on June 18, following the Yelewata massacre of June 13 and 14, 2025, Fulani terrorists have intensified their attacks on Tiv communities in Yelewata, and neighboring communities of Udei, Ukohol, and Daudu, in Benue State. The militants seem determined to leave no day without bloodshed, with over 50 people, including 10 security agents, farmers, pregnant women and their foetuses, brutally killed and numerous homes and barns reduced to ashes by arson. I have been in touch with my people at home and we have been taking statistics”. Correlation between Ceaseless Killings and National Events— Utoo Barr Utoo went further to ask mind-boggling questions on the shocking connection between the endless killings by Fulani Jihadists and the demise of Buhari. “Disturbingly, there appears to be a grim correlation between these attacks and national events. The only days these communities reportedly found a reprieve from the killings and bloodshed were on Sunday, July 13 – the day the news of the death of former President Muhammadu Buhari (a Fulani Tribesman) broke and on Tuesday, July 15, 2025, when he was laid to rest. “Did these terrorists take a break to mourn? Will they continue their attacks after the mourning period? “This stark observation raises troubling questions about the motives and coordination behind the ongoing Fulani terrorist attacks in our land. This coincidence calls for deep reflection”, Utoo said Barr Utoo to Present at Washington Press Club July 24 Regarding the conspiracy of silence from world leaders, including President Donald Trump, Barr Utoo said he would have been invited to present at a Press Conference in Washington DC on Thursday, July 24, 2025 “I have been invited to address the world on what has happened, still happening and will happen in Benue State if Insecurity persists in the state,” Utoo added. I lost 80 Blood Relatives and Friends at Yelewata–Barr Utoo “At least 30 of those killed in the Yelewata Massacre of June 13 and 14, 2025 were my relatives and 50 were my friends. Three of my Church Members at St. Joseph Catholic Church Yelewata, who gave first, 2nd, 3rd Bible Readings and 8 choir members present during my Thanksgiving Mass on Sunday, January 12, 2013, were all killed”, Utoo said. Andy Nomsoor, Udei Community Youth Leader and son of Late Agundu Nomsoor who was brutally murdered in his rice farm on Friday, July 4, 2025, confirmed the killing of more than 50 residents of Yelewata, Ortese, Igbam, Ukohol, Udei and Daudu, including 10 Security Operatives since President Tinubu visited Benue State. “There have been daily attacks and killing of our people by Fulani militia. So far, our communities have recorded more than 50 persons, including my father, since the Yelewata Massacre and President Tinubu’s Visit” “My father, Nomsoor Agundu was brutally slashed to death in his rice farm on Friday, July 4, 2025. My younger brother who accompanied my father and narrowly escaped death, narrated that, about 15 Fulani terrorists who were going from farm to farm, shot my father and slashed his body to pieces. The Wake was held on Thursday, July 17 and he was buried on Friday, July 18, 2025” “10 Security personnel were also killed by Fulani terrorists while protecting our people, including seven police officers and three members of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), a paramilitary police force trained for riot and Counter-terror operations. These police personnel were killed in three separate attacks on Sunday, June 29, on Monday July 7, Tuesday July 8, 2025—along Daudu-Ukohol Road, along Daudu road and in Udei Community respectively”, Nomsoor said. Security Survivors Recall Ambush Inspector Ochepo Benjamin, one of the security Commanders, in an interview with TruthNigeria from his hospital bed, described the July 8 attack: > “We were ambushed by a group of about 200 well-armed Fulani terrorists near the burning houses. We were outnumbered and outgunned. Our land can never be taken from our people. I will return to the battlefield once I recover.” Similarly, S.C. Raymond Tamde recounted how he barely survived: > “I survived by God’s grace. They shot me in my hand, leg, and stomach. I passed out in my own blood. Later, I crawled to the expressway where I was rescued. © Newspaper WordPress Theme by TagDiv

By Edith M. Lederer, July 18, 2025. Birds fly behind a Turkish military guard post with a Turkish, left, and Turkish Cypriot breakaway flags next of a U.N buffer zone in divided capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias) The United Nations chief said Thursday that he would have liked more results from his meetings with the rival leaders of divided Cyprus , while the Turkish Cypriot leader said he was “very, very upset” that there was no agreement on opening four new border crossings. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the meetings “constructive” and pointed to progress on four of the six initiatives that the leaders agreed to in March. He cautioned, however, that “there’s a long road ahead .” The Mediterranean island was divided in 1974 when Turkey invaded following a coup by Athens junta-backed supporters of uniting the island with Greece. Only Turkey recognizes a Turkish Cypriot declaration of i ndependence, and it maintains more than 35,000 troops in the island’s northern third. Negotiations between the rivals have been stalled since 2017 . When asked whether he would start a new round, Guterres responded that there is more to be done before any negotiations. The current talks are “complex,” he said, stressing the very different views of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots on a solution. “I think we are building, step by step, confidence and creating the conditions to do concrete things to the benefit of the Cypriot people,” the secretary-general said.The agreed-upon, U.N.-endorsed framework for a peace deal has been a reunified Cyprus as a federation composed of Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot zones. Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar has been demanding a two-state deal ever since his 2020 election. He faces reelection in October and says he’s running on the same two-state platform with Ankara’s full backing. Tatar told reporters after the meeting that “unless our sovereign equality and equal international status is reaffirmed, we will not resume formal negotiations for the resolution of the Cyprus problem.” Greek Cypriots reject any agreement that would formalize partition, fearing Turkey would seek to control the entire island in light of its demand to maintain a permanent troop presence and military intervention rights in Cyprus. Turkey also insists the minority Turkish Cypriots should have veto rights over all federal government decisions. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides told reporters in Greek afterward that the results were in the right direction. “Yes, there could have been better results if there was the necessary political will, but I believe that, given the circumstances before us, we had significant results,” he said. The meeting also included the foreign ministers of guarantor countries Turkey and Greece and a United Kingdom deputy minister. Despite differences on the future of Cyprus, the rivals have made some progress on trust-building measures. Guterres told reporters that four initiatives had been achieved: creating a technical committee on youth; initiatives on the environment and climate change, including the impact on mining areas ; the restoration of cemeteries; and an agreement on demining, where technical details still need to be finalized. He said discussions will continue on opening four new crossings between the Greek and Turkish sides of the island and on solar energy in the buffer zone between them, which is patrolled by a U.N. peacekeeping force. Tatar accused Christodoulides of preventing the announcement of the four border crossings on Thursday by insisting that one of them go through the buffer zone, which he called unacceptable to Turkish Cypriots. He also sharply criticized Greek Cypriots for pursuing legal action over the sale of properties in the Turkish Cypriot north, saying the moves “are certainly damaging to the relations of the two peoples and are aimed at damaging our economy and our tourism.” Property rights are a deeply contentious issue in Cyprus. A recent boom in construction of luxury villas and apartments in the north has prompted Cypriot legal authorities to take a more assertive stance toward realtors and developers to discourage what they say is the large-scale “illegal usurpation” of Greek Cypriot land. Guterres said the meeting also produced an understanding on a consultative body for civil society engagement, exchange of cultural artifacts, an initiative on air quality monitoring and addressing microplastic pollution. The secretary-general said Tatar and Christodoulides agreed to meet with him in late September during the annual gathering of world leaders at the General Assembly and to hold another informal meeting later in the year. ___ Associated Press journalist Menelaos Hadjicostis in Nicosia, Cyprus, contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

Romania's top court struck down a challenge brought by President Nicusor Dan against a bill seeking harsher punishment for antisemitism and hate speech after a divisive election in which the far right gained ground. An annual report released by the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania said the country's election season was marked by a sharp increase of hate speech. Photo: Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images The Romanian parliament amended the legislation in June; the new version of the law banned the glorification of fascist leaders and increased prison sentences for promoting antisemitism and xenophobia on social media.  The centerist president took the steps after a tumultuous election period in Romania, in which NGOs noted an increase in hate speech against minorities, including Jews, Roma and Hungarians.  The proposed law also included increased penalties for membership in organizations deemed racist.  Objections were raised after the parliamentary vote by President-elect Dan in May. In his view, the law does not clearly define who is a fascist. And this, he argues, could lead to abuse by the courts.  However, his complaint was rejected by Romania's Constitutional Court on Thursday.  Wartime fascist leaders  In early July, pro-Russian politician Calin Georgescu, the winner of Romania's annulled November 2024 presidential election, was charged by the Romanian prosecutor's office with promoting fascist ideology, as well as the cult of those convicted of war crimes . He faces up to three years in prison.  An annual report released by the Elie Wiesel National Institute for the Study of the Holocaust in Romania on Wednesday said the country's election season was marked by a sharp increase in hate speech and aggression against Jewish, Roma, Hungarian and LGBT minorities, while also noting authorities were more actively enforcing legislation.  Romania cancelled a presidential election in December after allegations of Russian interference – denied by Moscow – in favour of far-right contender Calin Georgescu, who was later banned from running in the May re-run and has since been sent to trial for promoting Romania's wartime fascist leaders.   He has denied all wrongdoing.  Romania had one of Europe's most violent antisemitic movements of the 1930s, the Iron Guard, known for political assassinations and pogroms. The country was an ally of Nazi Germany until August 1944, when it changed sides. © 2025 Telewizja Polska S.A. w likwidacji

Adriana Metz Romero is the sister or the recently-identified 'Grandchild No. 140', forcibly taken from his mother in 1977. © Luis Robayo, AFP Nearly five decades after he was born in a dictatorship-era detention center and snatched from his mother, a Buenos Aires man has become the 140th person identified as one of Argentina's hundreds of "stolen grandchildren." DNA tests confirmed the birth identity of the 48-year-old introduced by the Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo activist group Monday simply as "Grandchild No. 140." The group has worked for decades to trace the whereabouts of young activist women who were arrested and "disappeared" by Argentina's 1976-1983 military dictatorship, and the now-adult babies they bore in captivity. Nearly 500 infants are believed to have been taken, many given to childless people close to a dictatorship keen to have them raised as regime loyalists. The identity of "Grandchild No. 140" was not revealed at a press conference held by the Grandmothers to announce the happy breakthrough. But among those present was his older sister, Adriana Metz Romero, who works with the Grandmothers and tearfully told reporters she could not wait to meet her sibling in person. "Now I know where my brother is!" she said, sitting with a black-and-white photo of their parents: Graciela Alicia Romero and Raul Eugenio Metz, left-wing activists snatched by authorities in December 1976. Romero was 24 years old, mother to a 1-year-old daughter, and five months pregnant at the time, according to the Grandmothers. She gave birth to a son on April 17, 1977, while held at a clandestine detention center known as "La Escuelita" in the port city of Bahia Blanca. She was tortured there, according to witness testimony. Neither Romero nor Metz was heard from again. The Grandmothers said Romero's long-lost son was finally found thanks to an anonymous tip. "We decided to call him to find out if he would agree to a DNA test. He agreed, and it was confirmed that he is my brother," said Metz Romero, who has had initial contact with him via video call. She was herself raised by her grandparents. Founded in 1977, the Grandmothers group takes its name from the Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires where women defied the dictatorship to hold protests demanding information on the whereabouts of their loved ones. The dictatorship during the so-called  "dirty war"  was notorious for human rights violations. At least 30,000 people were killed by the military, some tossed out of airplanes into the ocean after being tortured. Thousands more were simply tortured as the dictatorship chased "subversives," real and imagined, and moved to stifle any dissent whatsoever. In 2023, a plane that was used by Argentina's junta to hurl dissident mothers and nuns to their deaths from the sky was finally returned to Argentina after being discovered in Florida. Argentina's current libertarian President Javier Milei has claimed the death toll from the "dirty war" was lower. The Grandmothers have accused Milei of defunding their research in his quest to slash public spending. In June, the group went to court to demand protections for the National Genetic Data Bank — which helped in this case but has been left largely "paralyzed" by budget cuts, according to the Grandmothers. Leader Estela de Carlotto, herself reunited with a lost grandson decades after her pregnant daughter disappeared, made another appeal for support Monday. "Thanks to perseverance and constant work ... they (stolen grandchildren) will continue to appear, but the search cannot be done alone," she said at the "Space for Memory," a former torture center converted into a memorial site in the capital. "It was the state itself, through state terrorism, that facilitated the abduction of these children, so it must now facilitate the search for them," said the 94-year-old. "These 300 people who still need to be found are part of our society and must be able to exercise their right to identity," she added. In 2014, an  Argentine woman was reunited with her grandson  who was stolen as a baby. The man's mother, a university activist, was executed in a clandestine military jail in August 1978, two months after she had given birth. And in 2010, an Argentine man who was kidnapped at birth finally  met his father  after a 33-year search. Copyright ©2025 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

New Zealand presents itself as a global leader on Indigenous rights, but its refusal to engage with key United Nations mechanisms is drawing serious concern. Te Ao Māori News July 17, 2025 By Te Aniwaniwa Paterson Julia Whaipooti at the UN in Geneva Julia Whaipooti (Ngāti Porou) is in Geneva, Switzerland for the 18th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), as the Tatau-Urutahi of the NZ Human Rights Commission. During its visit in 2019, the EMRIP made recommendations in support of the development of a national plan of action to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). The NZ government has not responded to the EMRIP’s request for a follow-up visit. Te Ao Māori News reached out to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and ministers Winston Peters and Tama Potaka, none responded. Commission urges UN to visit despite govt silence Whaipooti encouraged the UN not to be deterred by the government’s inaction and to proceed with an informal follow-up visit, saying the need is urgent. She was also a panelist at this year’s discussion on regional human rights institutions in achieving the aims of UNDRIP. “One year ago I reported the Commission’s concerns about the winding back of human rights in Aotearoa. Matters have not improved since and the New Zealand government continues to undermine indigenous peoples’ rights,” she stressed. Wider UN concern around international human rights processes In April, Māori leaders met with high-level officials at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues , highlighting breaches of Indigenous rights in Aotearoa, including the Treaty Principles Bill, the proposed referendum on Māori wards, and the disestablishment of the Māori Health Authority. Following that meeting, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Albert K. Barume, sent an allegation letter to the New Zealand government. This week, Deputy Prime Minister David Seymour came under fire for dismissing the letter as “an affront to New Zealand’s sovereignty” while also breaching confidentiality. He Puapua and the politics of UNDRIP implementation After the EMRIP visit in 2019, the He Puapua Report was commissioned by the NZ government and conducted by the Ministry of Māori Development (Te Puni Kōkiri) to achieve the goals set out by the UNDRIP. He Puapua was leaked to the public in 2021 by the opposition parties (National and ACT). Following the 2023 election, the National Party’s coalition agreement with NZ First included the line item “Stop all work on He Puapua. Luxon has said that, as Foreign Affairs Minister, he expects Winston Peters to engage with the UN. For many Māori, this will raise alarms as in his party’s Pukekohe Policy, NZ First promised to formally withdraw NZ from the UNDRIP . Peters has also claimed Māori were not indigenous. Global advocacy: “When the government is not listening” Whaipooti said over the decades, the United Nations has played a significant role, and that many Māori have taken the global stage. “When the government is not listening, or when the Waitangi Tribunal makes recommendations that the government ignores and doesn’t implement, this is another lever that we can go to,” she explained. “It’s a powerful position for us to have a Māori Chair of EMRIP,” Whaipooti said regarding Valmaine Toki, who is the EMRIP Chair. “We should be proud that we are represented over there.” © 2024 Copyright Māori Television Service. All rights reserved

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) today publishes a new briefing paper , ahead of the 13th European Union (EU)-Vietnam human rights dialogue, which is scheduled to be held on 21 July 2025 in Hanoi. Fédération Internationale des Droits Humains July 17, 2025 © FIDH The briefing paper, jointly produced with the Vietnam Committee on Human Rights (VCHR), highlights key political and human rights developments since the previous European Union-Vietnam human rights dialogue, which was held in July 2024. Such developments include the alarming trend of arrests, unfair trials, and harsh prison sentences against members of civil society, including human rights defenders, bloggers, as well as environmental and worker rights advocates. According to FIDH-VCHR’s documentation, between July 2024 and June 2025, at least 21 individuals, (including four women), were arrested on politically motivated charges. During the same period, at least 17 were sentenced to prison terms of up to 12 years on such charges. They include some of Vietnam’s most prominent dissidents. In addition to these arbitrary arrests, over the past year, the Vietnamese government has continued to adopt extensive legislation that limits the exercise of key civil and political rights, in violation of its binding obligations as a state party to the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Read the briefing paper here . COPYRIGHT © 2025 - FIDH : International Federation for Human Rights • credits

First-instance verdict sentences two former members of the Bosnian Serb military police to a total of seven years in prison for inhumane treatment of civilians detained in the eastern town of Rogatica in 1995. Marija Tausan, July 21, 2025 Slavisa Djeric in front of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Photo: BIRN. In a first-instance verdict delivered on Monday, Bosnia’s state court sentenced two former members of the Military Police of the Bosnian Serb Army, VRS, Slavisa Djeric and Nenad Ujic, to three and four-year prison terms respectively. Both were found guilty of abusing Bosniak civilians held in the “Rasadnik” detention facility in Rogatica between July and December 1995. Zoran Neskovic, Panto Pantovic and Pero Despet were acquitted of all charges. Djeric and Ujic were also cleared of several other counts in the indictment. Judge Zoran Bozic said the court had found “beyond reasonable doubt” that Djeric and Ujic committed the acts as perpetrators or co-perpetrators. They were convicted for multiple counts of physically and psychologically abusing detainees from the Zepa, Rogatica, and Srebrenica areas. Ujic was specifically found guilty of inhumane treatment of a protected witness identified as M-3. According to the verdict, he “threw the victim onto a bed, pulled out a knife and slashed his neck, leaving a visible scar”. Another victim testified that Djeric inflicted the most severe beatings he suffered in the camp, describing them as worse than any other abuse at Rasadnik. As mitigating factors, the court accepted that both men were relatively young at the time, had no prior convictions and are now family men. Judge Bozic said the reduced sentences still met the purpose of punishment, arguing the “consequences were not severe or far-reaching”. The court acquitted the five men of 15 other counts in the indictment, including the alleged inhumane treatment and killing of Zepa’s wartime imam and local presidency head, Mehmed Hajric. The panel ruled that the key witness, identified as M-2, gave an inconsistent testimony that was not corroborated by other evidence. Neskovic was cleared of failing to prevent or punish the abuse as commander of the Rasadnik facility. The judges concluded there was insufficient evidence to prove he had knowledge of the mistreatment described in the charges. In other instances, the court said it relied solely on written witness statements without further corroboration, found witness identifications unreliable, or dismissed testimonies as vague and imprecise. Prosecutors had already dropped several charges during the trial, including one accusing Djeric and Ujic of forcing two detainees to engage in sexual acts, an allegation qualified as rape under international law. The court imposed travel restrictions on Djeric and Ujic. Only Djeric was present in court for the verdict. The accused were exempted from covering court costs and victims were advised to seek compensation through civil proceedings. The trial began in July 2022. The verdict is subject to appeal before the Appellate Chamber of the Bosnian state court. Copyright BIRN 2015

Ensure Accountability, Adopt Meaningful Security Force Reform Angola's Rapid Intervention Force during a protest against the rise in fuel prices and transport costs in Luanda, July 12, 2025. © 2025 Julio Pacheco Ntela/AFP via Getty Images By Human Rights Watch (Johannesburg) – Angolan police used excessive force and carried out arbitrary arrests while dispersing peaceful protesters in Luanda, the capital, on July 12, 2025, Human Rights Watch said today.  Police unnecessarily fired tear gas and rubber bullets and assaulted protesters, injuring several people. They also detained 17 protesters, some of whom were released only after legal intervention.  The government should promptly and impartially investigate the use of force and the arrests, and appropriately discipline or prosecute those responsible, regardless of rank. “Angolans should be able to peacefully protest government policies without being met with excessive force and other violations of their basic rights,” said Ashwanee Budoo-Scholtz , deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to open an impartial investigation into these abuses, and hold those responsible accountable.” Hundreds of people   participated in the protest, which began in the São Paulo neighborhood and was slated to end at Largo 1º de Maio, a symbolic space in downtown Luanda. Youth movements and civil society organizations called for the protest following the government’s decision to raise fuel prices and eliminate subsidies for public transport without any public consultation. “The protest … was a legitimate way to express dissatisfaction with the Angolan government’s insistence on applying anti-social policies,” said Simão Afonso, a lawyer who helped obtain authorization for the demonstration and provided legal assistance to detainees. “The repressive response by the national police is deeply regrettable. … The state does not fulfill its legal obligations concerning citizens’ rights, freedoms, and fundamental guarantees.” The  spokesperson for the Angolan Police General Command said on July 12 in a statement to the media that the police intervention in the march “aimed to maintain public order and tranquility, since the protesters did not follow the route.” Aidilson Manuel, an activist and spokesperson for the protest, said they organized the protest in line with government requirements: “On July 10, we submitted a letter to the Luanda provincial government notifying them about the protest. We also delivered the same letter to the Provincial Police Command, which called us to discuss the route. The police suggested a different route than the one we had proposed. Official approval arrived on July 11 around 4 p.m., and it was favorable.” Despite the official authorization, the police dispersed the protesters with tear gas and batons as soon as the group approached Largo 1º de Maio. “Without any prior warning, the crackdown began brutally,” Manuel said.  Manuel said that four people were seriously injured: “One was hit directly in the face by a tear gas canister, causing a deep cut that required surgery. Another suffered a serious injury to the mouth and needed urgent medical treatment. Two other protesters suffered fractures and extensive injuries after being assaulted by police officers.”  The police spokesperson said that two people were injured as a result of the protests. But the   media reported that at least nine people were injured. Angola is a party to the  African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the  International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights , which obligate the government to respect and protect the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the Guidelines for the Policing of Assemblies by Law Enforcement Officials in Africa provide that officers may only use force when strictly necessary. When using force, law enforcement officials should exercise restraint and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offense and to the legitimate objective to be achieved. The 2020 UN Guidance on Less-Lethal Weapons in Law Enforcement provides that tear gas should only be employed when necessary to prevent further physical harm and should not be used to disperse nonviolent demonstrations. Human Rights Watch has  previously documented instances in which Angolan security forces have used excessive force against peaceful protesters and arbitrarily detained them. Calls by Human Rights Watch and other organizations for meaningful and concrete security force reforms have resulted in some   attempts to meet international human rights standards. However, the continued use of excessive police force during protests shows that the measures taken thus far have been inadequate, Human Rights Watch said. “The police use of excessive force against peaceful protesters is part of broader security force problems in Angola,” Budoo-Scholtz said. “The government needs to adopt and enforce comprehensive reforms within the security forces to ensure that police officers uphold the law and are held accountable when they abuse protesters’ rights.” © 2025 Human Rights Watch

A spokesperson for the southern African nation says UN will repatriate five men to their home countries, but agency says it has not been contacted Matsapha correctional complex in Eswatini, where five migrants from the US are reportedly behing held in solitary confinem ent. Photograph: AP Five migrants deported by the US to the small southern African country of Eswatini, under the Trump administration’s third-country program, will be held in solitary confinement for an undetermined time, an Eswatini government spokesperson says. Thabile Mdluli, the spokesperson, declined to identify the correctional facility or facilities where the five men are held, citing security concerns. She told the Associated Press th at Eswatini plan ned to ultimately repatriate the five to their home countries with the help of a UN agency. Mdluli said it wasn’t clear how long that would take. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) – the UN agency tasked with ensuring migration is managed in a way that respects human rights – said on Thursday it was not involved in the removal of the migr ants from the US and has not been contacted to help send them back home. “As always, IOM stands ready to support Member States, upon request and where operationally feasible, in line with its humanitarian mandate,” an official from the organisation told Reuters. The men, who the US says were convicted of serious crimes and were in the US illegally, are citizens of Vietnam, Jamaica, Cuba, Yemen and Laos. Their convictions included murder and child rape, according to the US Department of Homeland Security said. US officials also said the men’s home countries would not take them back. Local media reported the men are being held at the Matsapha Correctional Complex, outside the country’s administrative capital of Mbabane, which includes Eswatini’s top maximum-security prison. Their deportations were announced by the department on Tuesday and mark the continuation of president Donald Trump’s plan to send deportees to third countries they have no ties with after it was stalled by a legal challenge in the US . The US state department’s most recent human rights report on Eswatini – an absolute monarchy – pointed to “credible reports of: arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government”. There were credible reports that some political prisoners were tortured in detention, according to the state department. Prison conditions overall varied, though facilities were plagued with overcrowding, disrepair, poor nutrition and ventilation and unchecked prisoner-on-prisoner violence. The Trump administration has been seeking to make deals with countries across the globe to accept immigrants that the US cannot easily deport to their home countries. Though other administrations have conducted third-country removals, the Trump administration’s practice of sending immigrants to countries facing political and human rights crises have raised international alarm and condemnation. Earlier this month the US completed deportation of eight other immigrants to South Sudan – a country beset with political instability and a hunger crisis. Prior to landing in South Sudan, the deportees were diverted to a US military based base in Djibouti, where they had been held in a converted shipping container for weeks. More than 200 Venezuelan men that the Trump administration deported to El Salvador – most of whom had no criminal histories in the US – also remain incarcerated in the country’s notorious mega-prison Cecot, where detainees have reported facing torture. There have been no details on why Eswatini agreed to take the men, and Mdluli, the government spokesperson, said “the terms of the agreement between the US and Eswatini remain classified”. Eswatini has said it was the result of months of negotiations between the two governments. South Sudan has also given no details of its agreement with the US to take deportees and has declined to say where the eight men sent there are being held. Last week Tom Homan, the US border tsar, said he did not know what has happened to the eight men deported to South Sudan.

BBC News  By Benedict Garman, Matt Murphy & the Visual Journalism team 18 July 2025   Much of Gaza is being destroyed by Israeli Defense Forces in controlled demolitions...credit BBC News Israel has demolished thousands of buildings across Gaza since it withdrew from a ceasefire with Hamas in March, with entire towns and suburbs - once home to tens of thousands of people - levelled in the past few weeks. Satellite images show massive amounts of destruction in several areas which Israel's military command claims to have under "operational control".Large swathes of it have been caused by planned demolitions, both to already damaged buildings and ones that appeared largely intact. Verified footage shows large explosions unleashing plumes of dust and debris, as Israeli forces carry out controlled demolitions on tower blocks, schools and other infrastructure.Multiple legal experts told BBC Verify that Israel may have committed war crimes under the Geneva Convention, which largely prohibits the destruction of infrastructure by an occupying power. An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson explained (lied) that the IDF operated in accordance with international law; that Hamas concealed "military assets" in civilian areas, and that the "destruction of property is only performed when an imperative military necessity is demanded".   The scale of destruction can be clearly seen in the city of Rafah, near the border with Egypt. In recent weeks, Israeli forces and contractors have leveled large swathes of Rafah. An analysis of damage by academics Corey Scher and Jamon Van Den Hoek found the destruction in Gaza since April has been most concentrated in the region. Controlled explosions, excavators and bulldozers have obliterated whole areas. In July, Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz outlined plans to establish what he called a "humanitarian city" over the ruins of Rafah, with an initial 600,000 Palestinians being confined there. The plan has been widely condemned. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the BBC that the proposal would be "interpreted as being akin to a concentration camp". Israel claims its military has "operational control" over large areas of the Gaza Strip which are now militarised zones or have been under evacuation orders . credit... The New York Times BBC Verify has identified footage of infrastructure being demolished  in 40 locations since the ceasefire ended in March. Video footage shows schools - like this school in Tel al-Sultan  - being levelled, along with residential and municipal buildings. Tel al-Sultan was one of Rafah city's most vibrant neighbourhoods. Its densely packed streets were home to Rafah's only specialised maternity hospital and a centre caring for orphaned and abandoned children. Similarly, demolitions are now under way in the adjacent Saudi neighbourhood - once home to the city's largest mosque and several schools.One  verified clip showed a tank moving along a street in Rafah while a digger works by the side of the road. Israeli demolitions are also visible in other parts of the strip which appear to have avoided heavy damage during earlier bombardments.The farming town of Khuza'a is located about 1.5km (0.9 miles) from the Israeli border.Before the war the town had a population of 11,000 people and was known for its fertile farmlands and crops such as tomatoes, wheat and olives. Satellite imagery from May shows many of the buildings in the town remain standing.  credit  Planet Labs PBC Satellite images showed that much of the area had already been heavily damaged by Israeli bombing and artillery fire, but dozens of buildings had withstood the barrage.But by 13 July the destruction had escalated, with even the shells of damaged buildings swept away and entire blocks torn to the ground. The hospital is one of a handful of buildings left standing.                                                                                                    The IDF says it demolished 1,200 buildings in Khuza'a, which it alleged were part of "terror infrastructures" run by Hamas.A similar story emerges in the nearby town of Abasan al-Kabira, where about 27,000 people lived before the war. Photos taken on 31 May and 8 July indicate that an extensive area was swept away in just 38 days. credit Maxar credit Maxar Israel has created extensive "security zones" and corridors separating parts of Gaza, and has destroyed large numbers of buildings along and near these routes. Its latest corridor separates western from eastern Khan Younis, including Khuza'a and Abasan al-Kabira.Also since early in the war analysts have suggested that Israel has been attempting to create deep "buffer zones" by destroying buildings near to the border, but some of the areas flattened recently are deep into Gaza. In Qizan Abu Rashwan - an agricultural settlement about 7km from the Israeli border - virtually every structure left standing has been demolished since 17 May. One video we verified showed a controlled explosion levelling a cluster of tower blocks.BBC Verify presented the IDF with a list of places in which we documented demolitions and asked it to provide specific military justifications. It did not do so."As has been widely documented, Hamas and other terrorist organizations conceal military assets in densely populated civilian areas," an IDF spokesperson said. "The IDF identifies and destroys terrorist infrastructure located, among other places, within buildings in these areas." Several human rights lawyers who spoke to BBC Verify suggested the campaign could amount to war crimes.Eitan Diamond - a senior legal expert at the Diakonia International Humanitarian Law Centre in Jerusalem - said there was little justification under the Fourth Geneva Convention, the document which generally covers the protection of civilians in wartime."International humanitarian law prohibits such controlled destruction of civilian property during armed conflict, except under narrow conditions of absolute military operational necessity," Mr Diamond said.                                                                                                  "Destruction of property because of concerns or speculations about its possible future use (for example, that it will be used to launch attacks in the future) falls well outside this exception."Professor Janina Dill, co-director of Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law & Armed Conflict, said an occupying power must administer a region for the benefit of the population - which she said was "incompatible with a military approach that simply makes the territory uninhabitable and leaves nothing standing". But some analysts have sought to defend the IDF’s campaign.Many of the buildings the IDF has demolished had already been left in ruins by shelling and air strikes, said Prof Eitan Shamir, director of the BESA Center For Strategic Studies in Israel and an ex-official with the Ministry of Strategic Affairs. He told BBC Verify they posed a safety risk for returning civilians, especially "during winter rains when they are more likely to collapse". Prof Shamir also alluded to tactical concerns."The area is a combat zone," he said. "Even when a building has been entered and cleared by the IDF, once the Israelis exit it, the terrorists often return to plant bombs or hide inside to shoot at them." There is no sign of a let-up in the pace of the demolitions. Israeli media reported last week that the IDF had received dozens of D9 bulldozers from the US, which had been suspended under the Biden administration. And BBC Verify identified dozens of adverts posted to Israeli Facebook groups which were offering work in Gaza to demolition contractors. The majority of the posts have been shared by recruiters since May. Many of the ads specify areas of Gaza where the work will occur, such as "the Philadelphi Corridor" and "the Morag Axis" - both areas controlled by the IDF.When approached for comment by BBC Verify, one contractor replied: "Go [expletive] yourself, you and Gaza." One analyst - Adil Haque of Rutgers Law School - suggested that the IDF’s demolitions could be seeking to create a "security zone" that it could "permanently control".                                                                                                     Other analysts say the demolitions could be clearing the ground to develop the proposed "humanitarian city" in Rafah. Efraim Inbar - President of the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security - suggested they could be seeking to encourage Palestinians to leave the strip entirely by increasing "the strong desire to emigrate". Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu previously told a group of MPs in a closed-door meeting widely reported in Israeli media that the IDF was "destroying more and more homes" leaving Palestinians with "nowhere to return to".  For Gazans, the devastation has been intense.Moataz Yousef Ahmed Al-Absi from Tel al-Sultan said his home had been swept away.                                                   "I had just moved into my home a year before the war started, and I was incredibly happy with it, holding high hopes for my future. Now, it's been completely destroyed," he said."After losing everything, I no longer have a home or a shelter." Video credits @YinonMagal/X, @Philipp27960841/X and Abu Ali Express/Telegram Additional reporting Mohamed Shalaby More on this story A month into Gaza's new aid system – killings and chaos is routine Gaza's largest functioning hospital facing disaster, medics warn Outrage builds over plan to force all Gazans to southern city Copyright © 2025 BBC.  The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

BY  MARÍA TERESA HERNÁNDEZ Rogelio Goiburu, a member of Paraguay's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, looks at skeletal remains found at the National Police Special Forces headquarters in March 19, 2023 (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz, File) ASUNCIÓN, Paraguay (AP) — Despite being ousted in 1989 after a 35-year reign of terror , during which 20,000 people were tortured, executed or disappeared, some Paraguayans feel as if Gen. Alfredo Stroessner never truly left. “This is probably the only country in which the political party that supported a dictator, once he is gone, remains in power,” said Alfredo Boccia, a researcher of Paraguay’s history. “That’s why scrutiny took so long, most disappeared were never found and there were barely trials.” Disappearances are a known phenomena in Latin America. The numbers in Argentina and Chile might have gained the most visibility, but thousands more have vanished elsewhere under dictatorships and armed conflicts. Paraguayans with missing loved ones face a unique struggle, though. While Stroessner has been long gone, his legacy remains a roadblock to their searching. Rogelio Goiburu’s hair has turned white while looking for his father. His search has spanned 47 years, and he has no intention of giving up, perhaps thanks to his father’s teachings. “Dad trained us on survival,” Goiburu said. “He prepared us to eternally fight Stroessner’s regime.” Experts say Stroessner’s control was unchallenged by other military strongmen in the region. He served as Paraguay’s president, leader of his conservative Colorado Party, commander of the armed forces and chief of police. Stroessner was not overthrown by enemies, but by his in-law, and the military members involved were affiliated with his party, which has ruled practically uninterrupted since. Paraguayans’ lack of criticism toward the party for its role in the country’s dark past were as palpable as ever in 2018, when Mario Abdo was elected president. The Colorado candidate was son of Stroessner’s personal secretary and served as a pallbearer at the dictator’s funeral in Brazil, where he died in 2006 without being convicted of any crimes. The Colorado Party’s dominance makes accountability elusive. Various streets in Asuncion are named after military leaders. Few of those responsible for crimes have faced trial, and public schools avoid mentioning the dictatorship during history lessons. Santiago Peña, who won the 2023 presidential elections , was aide to cigarette tycoon and former President Horacio Cartes, leader of the party despite being accused of corruption by the United States. The Colorados got Peña more than 40% of the votes, won 15 of the 17 governorships up for election and Congress’ majority. “Paraguayans now vote for the party freely,” Boccia said. “For those of us who fight for memory, that battle was lost.” Each missing person counts Goiburu was named director of historic memory at the Ministry of Justice, but has no budget at hand. By his own means or raising funds, he has filled in the blanks about the fate of his dad and other disappeared people, earning the trust of retired police officers and military commanders who confessed to him alone how bodies were disposed. Unlike Argentina, where various efforts to find disappeared people are government-funded, Paraguay doesn’t have a genetic data bank, so Goiburu relies on Argentinian forensic anthropologists to analyze and safekeep the DNA samples he gathers. And as opposed to Mexico, where mothers searching for their children regularly exhume remains, only one major excavation has been done in Paraguay. It was led by Goiburu, between 2009 and 2013, and out of the 15 bodies found, only four were identified. Paraguayan search efforts have also proved challenging, as some belittle victims’ claims for justice. While 30,000 Argentinians disappeared in a less than a decade-long dictatorship, around 500 people vanished in Paraguay amid the 35-year regime. Regardless, relatives argue, does it take more than a missing person to shatter a family? “Every disappearance attacks the right to mourn,” said Carlos Portillo, who interviewed thousands of victims for the Truth Commission . “There’s no culture which doesn’t have a ritual for mourning. A disappearance is the denying of this ritual, and that’s why it’s impossible to let go.” Before Alzheimer’s hit, Goiburu’s mother reserved a plate and an empty chair at their Christmas table for her missing husband. And until her death in 2024, she never stopped looking for him. “Having a disappeared doesn’t mean that a loved one simply left,” said Celsa Ramírez, a former militant of the Communist Party who was imprisoned between 1975 and 1978, and searches for her husband, Derlis Villagra. “It means he was detained, tortured, killed and disappeared. That should weigh heavily on society.” No communists allowed Goiburu’s father, Agustín, was a doctor and leftist political leader. Before he fully engaged in politics, he lived with his wife and children in the countryside, often treating patients for free. “People paid him with eggs, a banana, a couple of hens,” said Goiburu, who became a doctor like him but gave up on medicine to search for his remains. His dad once was among the Colorado Youth. When Stroessner took power in 1954, dozens had hope, guessing a firm hand would stabilize the country after a war against Bolivia. But a brutal repression emerged. Amid the Cold War, and supported by the U.S., Stroessner made communism into Paraguay’s No. 1 enemy. He decreed communist activities as “punishable” and eventually targeted all opponents as leftists. “They used to call me ‘the bishop of the red cassock,’ meaning I was a communist,” said bishop Melanio Medina, who presided over the Truth Commission. “Only those who didn’t speak out were welcomed.” Goiburu’s father became a target for refusing to cooperate with the dictatorship. The military often transferred executed or tortured prisoners in hospitals, forcing personnel to issue false death certificates to cover up their crimes. In other cases, doctors oversaw torture sessions at detainment centers and advised torturers on the level of harm they could inflict. Few like Goiburu’s father openly challenged military orders, but other subtle endeavors rose. Resembling Chile’s Vicariate of Solidarity , a handful of religious leaders created a multifaith group called the Churches Committee in 1976. “A lot of people disappeared, but we didn’t have any details,” said Spanish Catholic priest José María Blanch, who headed the committee. “Therefore, religious organizations began visiting prisons.” Aside from food and clothing, the group provided legal advice for prisoners, financial support for those freed and information for families with loved ones detained. Rosa María Ortiz, who joined the committee in 1977, said that she used to visit Asuncion’s main detention center and lie to the chief officer, arguing that the bishop sent her to check on prisoners so she could find out what became of them. As the repression worsened, under the pretext of providing vaccines or books for inmates, personnel drew lists of the prisoners and updated those registers as possible. “We didn’t even though about providing spiritual accompaniment,” Blanch said. “These were matters of life and death.” More than a father Federico Tatter is a friend of Goiburu who shares his ails. Their fathers had opposite backgrounds — Tatter’s was a member of the military who rebelled against the dictatorship — but shared a common destiny: Both disappeared after being detained in Argentina, where several opponents of Stroessner fled to protect their families and continue their militance. According to the Truth Commission, most cases of Paraguayan disappearances during the 1970s happened in Argentina, presumably amid Operation Condor , a coordinated effort among South American dictators to hunt down and eliminate opponents across borders. In October 1976, Tatter was on his way back home in Buenos Aires when he noticed soldiers raiding his house. He met his father’s eyes while soldiers escorted him out. “I’m the last family member who saw him,” Tatter said. He’s uncertain of what happened next. Goiburu learned about his dad’s disappearance through a neighbor. He was detained in a street in Parana in February 1977 and transferred to Asuncion. Afterwards, the trail goes cold. “Most Paraguayans don’t realize that many of the things we can do nowadays are thanks of our parents’ battles,” said Ricardo Flecha, a singer and human rights activist. “Those fights are what allow us to have at least a modest space where we can now speak out.” Paraguay’s opposition did hold power once — from 2008 to 2012 — but some old fears remain. “I found two skeletons that are currently at the morgue under judicial protection,” Goiburu said. “I’m certain about their identities, but relatives won’t give me a blood sample to verify because they don’t want anyone to know they were communists.” Goiburu himself leads a cautious way of life, scarcely keeping written records of his findings, though there’s a writing project he would love to undertake: a book about his dad. “I dream of him every week,” he said. “More than my old man, he was my friend. I need him as a friend.” Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.