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Human rights

Human rights
Latest news, features and analysis on human rights, with a focus on civil liberties in Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia.
A firing squad chair (left) and an electric chair are seen in Columbia, South Carolina. The death penalty is normally carried out at the state level, but the federal government can also seek execution for certain crimes. Photo: South Carolina Department of Corrections via AP
United States

Trump Justice Department adds firing squads for federal executions

Electrocution and gas are also being added as methods, after the US president called for an expansion of the use of the death penalty.

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Britain

UK bill to allow assisted dying fails as parliamentary time runs out

Indonesia

Is Indonesia’s blasphemy law for religious protection or political purpose?

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Americas and the Caribbean

Shackled and shaved: El Salvador holds mass trial for hundreds of gang members

President Nayib Bukele – the self-described ‘world’s coolest dictator’ – publicises the largest mass trial yet of his gang crackdown.

Alleged gang members during their mass trial at El Salvador’s CECOT. Photo: Reuters
The Philippines

‘Vindication’: ICC chamber rules case against Rodrigo Duterte to proceed

Duterte’s lawyers argue that the crimes against humanity case targeting him should not proceed as the Philippines is not an ICC member.

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Nepal

Nepal minister quits amid financial scrutiny after just weeks in office

Home Minister Sudan Gurung was a key figure in the Gen-Z protests last September that toppled Nepal’s previous government.

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Singapore

UN alarmed by Singapore executions for drug-related offences

UN rights chief Turk said drug-related offences not involving loss of life did not meet the ‘most serious crimes’ standard by international law.

Singapore at sunrise. The death penalty is mandatory in Singapore for drug trafficking above certain quantities, such as 500g (1.1 lb) of cannabis or 15g of heroin. Photo: Shutterstock
France

French activists sue ‘deceptive’ laughing gas suppliers

A road safety group is seeking a ban on Chinese and Polish companies behind a firm that markets the gas from operating in France.

Myanmar

Why Myanmar’s token amnesties are ‘no cause for celebration’

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is now due for release in 2043 – provided she survives to the age of 97.

Hungary

Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ law breaches EU rules as court ruling hailed as ‘historic’

The European Court of Justice rules that the rights of transgender and non-heterosexual individuals in Hungary have been infringed upon.

People carry a Rainbow flag at the Budapest Pride parade held in Hungary’s capital last year. Photo: AFP
Malaysia

‘Some make it, some die’: why more Rohingya risk sea escapes to Malaysia

Dwindling food aid and growing desperation force thousands of refugees in Bangladesh to undertake perilous sea crossings to Southeast Asia.

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Rohingya refugees wait to be rescued from the hull of their capsized boat in waters off west Aceh in 2024. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Indonesian rights body, military clash over reports of Papua civilian killings

The National Human Rights Commission said 12 people had been ‌shot dead during an operation against separatists in central Papua.

Cambodia

Video | Cambodian man deported to Africa by Trump administration

Pheap Rom was among 20 men sent to Eswatini under Trump’s ‘third country’ deals.

Britain

UK’s counterterror police probe another London arson attack

The fire in Hendon on Friday follows another arson attack on a synagogue in nearby Finchley on Wednesday.

Police on Saturday cordon off the area outside of the business following an arson attack in Hendon, north London. Photo: AFP
Aung San Suu Kyi

Video | Myanmar frees thousands of prisoners, including former president

Newly-elected president Min Aung Hlaing also commuted all death sentences and released 4,300 prisoners to mark the Thingyan New Year.

Released prisoners look out from a bus after it came out from Insein Prison, as relatives gather around it searching for their loved ones, during an amnesty to mark Myanmar’s new year in Yangon on April 17, 2026. More than 4,300 prisoners were slated for release on April 17 to mark Myanmar’s Thingyan new year, one of the country’s many public holidays when forgiveness orders are regularly announced. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)
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Myanmar

Myanmar frees Win Myint, cuts Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison term in amnesty deal

Newly elected president Min Aung Hlaing also commuted all death sentences and released 4,300 prisoners to mark the Thingyan new year.

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Iran

Jailed Iranian Nobel winner ‘critical’ after heart attack

Supporters say the life of 2023 peace laureate Narges Mohammadi is at ‘immediate and irreparable risk’ in an Iranian prison.

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Africa

Sudan enters 4th year of war as ‘abandoned crisis’ grows

The war has pushed parts of Sudan into famine and the UN says about 34 million people, or almost two of every three Sudanese, need help.

A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong retiree gets 1 year in jail for seditious social media comments

Raymond Chong, 61, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court to knowingly publishing 53 seditious Facebook posts that denigrated central and local authorities.

South Korea

What is really behind South Korea’s diplomatic row with Israel?

Lee Jae Myung’s clash was about more than human rights, analysts say – it was about energy security and sending a message to Donald Trump.

Africa

At least 200 feared dead after Nigerian air strike hits busy village market

Nigerian Air Force launches investigation into civilian casualties at Jilli Market as it targeted jihadists.

Nigerian Air Force officers display ammunition next to a fighter jet in 2017. Photo: AP
Middle East

Israeli bombardment kills infant in Lebanon during father’s funeral

The air strike took place on Wednesday amid hopes that the US-Iran ceasefire would apply to Lebanon, as Israeli strikes killed more than 350.

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A Lebanese soldier next to a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua
India

Fish and vegetarianism major flashpoints in India’s West Bengal election

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has promoted dietary restrictions as part of its Hindu nationalist agenda.

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Indonesia

Indonesian activists target Myanmar’s president in genocide case against him

The complaint seeks to hold Min Aung Hlaing accountable for international crimes in an Indonesian court, following recent legal changes.

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Japan

Japan’s deportation drive strikes fear into asylum seekers, foreign residents

Rights groups warn the government’s push to remove more undocumented migrants clashes with its duty to protect refugees.

The Tokyo Immigration Bureau. Japanese authorities have ramped up the Zero Illegal Foreign Residents Plan to cut the number of undocumented foreign residents. Photo: Shutterstock
China-Latin America relations

Brazil blacklists China EV giant BYD for its slave labour conditions

Government officials said staff were working excessively long hours while being kept in degrading circumstances in their accommodation.

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BYD’s electric vehicle factory’s construction site in Camaçari, Brazil, in December 2024. Photo: Reuters
France

France’s Sarkozy challenges conviction over alleged Libya funding

He was found guilty in September of criminal conspiracy and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Middle East

1 dead after gunmen open fire outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul

The two other assailants were captured with injuries.

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