Jurist

Iranian officials named for crimes against humanity

Amnesty International on Sept. 18 named 87 Iranian security and Interior Ministry officials who it says should face criminal investigation for crimes against humanity committed during the 2022 crackdown on the Woman Life Freedom protests, and urged the UN Security Council to refer Iran's situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Criminalization of peasant seed systems threatens global food supply

The global food supply is under threat from laws that criminalize the sale and exchange of traditional peasant seed varieties, a group of UN experts said Sept. 16. In their latest report to the Human Rights Council, the UN Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas indicated that almost all of the world's food comes from seeds and that traditional systems supply 70 to 90 percent of the seeds sown in many countries.

Potential US 'war crimes' seen in Iran

The UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran on Sept. 14 called on all parties to immediately cease hostilities and comply with international humanitarian law following reported US air-strikes that killed and injured civilians in southern Iran.

Guatemala drops charges against indigenous leaders

Amnesty International announced Sept. 12 that Guatemala's judiciary has closed criminal proceedings against four indigenous leaders who had been charged over their role in protests during the country's October 2023 national strike, hailing it as a victory for the right to freedom of assembly. 

Alien Terrorist Removal Court orders first deportation

The US Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) on Sept. 11 ordered the deportation of an Afghan woman, after she reached an agreement with the Department of Justice (DoJ), waiving her right to appeal. Nazira Haji Zada, accused of assisting her son and son-in-law in planning a foiled 2024 terror plot, admitted that she was an "alien terrorist" as part of the deal. The order marked the first-ever use of the secretive and controversial ATRC.

Iran execution wave violates international law

Human Rights Watch and the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran issued a joint report Sept. 10 charging that Iranian authorities are unlawfully executing protesters and political dissidents on a weekly basis.

Honduras: halt evictions of indigenous communities

A group of UN experts called on Honduras Sept. 4 to immediately halt evictions of peasant, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities taking place under Decree No. 107-2026, also known as the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-Industrial Sector, Energy Projects, Tourism, Livestock & Small Agricultural Producers. The experts wrote: "We cannot stand by and watch the deliberate closing of every legal door through which a peasant, Indigenous or Afro-descendant family in Honduras can challenge dispossession." 

Philippines: drop charges against indigenous protesters

Human Rights Watch urged Philippine authorities on Sept. 3 to drop charges against 11 indigenous rights protesters arrested during a police operation to clear an anti-mining blockade in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya province.

Syndicate content