The Law Society of British Columbia warned Feb. 2 that the provincial government's intention to amend the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) may erode judicial independence and improperly constrain the power of the courts. The proposed amendment would limit the role of the judiciary in matters related to DRIPA's implementation.

Hundreds of Danish veterans and supporters staged a silent march on Jan. 31 from the historic Kastellet fortress to the US Embassy in Copenhagen as part of a "No Words" mobilization to protest recent US rhetoric that organizers said demeans Denmark's combat contributions alongside American forces.

The Hague District Court ruled on Jan. 28 that the Netherlands has failed to meet its international obligations on climate change. The court ordered the government to adopt adequate measures to better protect Bonaire, a Dutch Caribbean island, within 18 months.

Police and prosecutors from Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname announced Jan. 22 the arrest of nearly 200 individuals in a transnational operation to combat illegal gold mining in the Amazon.

UN experts on Jan. 26 cautioned against the escalating use of arrests and criminal proceedings against agricultural trade union activity in France, after authorities detained 52 farmers during peaceful protests in Paris earlier this month.

Amnesty International on Jan. 22 called on Kazakhstan to immediately drop criminal charges against 19 activists affiliated with the local Atajurt human rights movement who face up to 10 years in prison for participating in a peaceful protest near the nation's border with China. Marie Struthers, Eastern Europe & Central Asia director at Amnesty International, condemned the case as a misuse of criminal law to silence dissent, stating:

The UN Human Rights Office raised alarm Jan. 19 over a "sharp hike" in the number of executions globally in 2025. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk articulated the report's key concerns, stating:

My Office monitored an alarming increase in the use of the capital punishment in 2025, especially for offences not meeting the "most serious crimes" threshold required under international law, the continued execution of people convicted of crimes committed as children, as well as persistent secrecy around executions.

This threshold is established by Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil & Political Rights. The increase primarily came from executions for drug-related offenses in a small number of retentionist states. These are countries that continue to retain capital punishment, as opposed to the growing number of abolitionist states. which do not employ the death penalty.

US immigration enforcement faced mounting scrutiny Jan. 23 from international officials as well as congressional Democrats following a detainee death ruled a homicide by a county medical examiner in Texas. The disturbing development comes amid a dramatic spike in deaths in Homeland Security custody.