An Iraqi militia, backed by the government, executed four men suspected of having ties to ISIS, Human Rights Watch reported Dec. 18. Because the men were never tried, HRW claims their executions constitute war crimes. The human rights organization said that although the executions took place in November, the Iraqi government has still not condemned them. It also reported that members of the Iraqi security forces witnessed at least one execution and did nothing. The men were killed in a village outside of Mosul during the militia's operation to retake that city. HRW named the Hashad al-Jabour militia, an alliance of Sunni tribes, as the organization that carried out the executions. Hashad al-Jabour is part of the Popular Mobilization Forces, a militia group given legal status to fight ISIS.

The Turkish government has been silencing the media on a massive scale to prevent scrutiny or criticism of the government's "ruthless crackdown" on its enemies, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report Dec. 15. The report was based on interviews with journalists, editors, lawyers, and press freedom activists, and a review of court documents relating to the prosecution and imprisonment of journalists. According to HRW, since the failed coup in July, the attack on critical journalism has "accelerated...denying Turkey's population access to a regular flow of independent information from domestic newspapers, radio, and television stations about developments in the country." The report stated that Turkey was abusing the criminal justice system to prosecute and imprison journalists on false charges of terrorism, insulting of public officials and crimes against the state. HRW also documented physical attacks on journalists, interference with journalistic independence, government takeover or shutdown of private media companies and critical television stations.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on Dec. 13 accused  Syrian pro-government forces of going door-to-door and systematically killing civilians in at least four neighborhoods of the re-taken city of Aleppo. The killings have reportedly resulted in at least the deaths of 82 civilians, including 13 children. The situation on the ground is causing residents to take to social media to relate what is happening and give good-byes to friends and loved ones. The commissioner pleaded with the international community to act to call a halt to the stopping the killing of civilians.

The UK government said Dec. 12 it will use its terrorism laws to ban a neo-Nazi group, marking the first time such a step has been taken. The move would make it a crime to be a member of, wear insignia, or work with the National Action, as it would fall under the umbrella of a terrorist organization. While the group rose to prominence for its anti-Semitic and xenophobic stances, they recently began to encourage their members to use violence. The terrorism act provision is being used because the group used their now deleted social media to encourage lone wolf acts and showed members training for battle. Additionally, the group praised the murder of progressive MP Jo Cox and adopted her accused killer's court statement as its official slogan. ("Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.") The measure to ban the group is subject to Parliamentary approval.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel delivered a letter (PDF) to US president-elect Donald Trump Dec. 7 signed by several US mayors warning of the potential economic losses Trump could cause if he repeals Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). DACA allows undocumented young immigrants to remain in the US if they arrived before they turned 16 and are currently working, pursuing higher education or serving in the military. The letter, which was signed by the mayors of New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco among others, warned that repealing DACA could result in a loss of $9.9 billion in tax revenue over four years and $433.4 billion in US gross domestic product over 10 years. Emanuel wrote:

A group of UN human rights experts called on the Chinese government Dec. 6 to investigate the disappearance of a prominent human rights lawyer. Jiang Tianyong has been missing since Nov. 21, after he visited the family of another human rights lawyer who has been detained since a "crackdown" on political dissidents last summer. UN experts are concerned that Jiang has been detained, possibly while traveling on a train bound for Beijing following his visit with the detained lawyer's family in Changsha. In February 2011 Jiang was detained for two months by Chinese authorities, during which he claims to have been beaten and tortured. Human rights activists claim that the crackdown in China is part of a larger effort to silence political dissidents. Jiang rose to prominence for his involvement in high profile cases, defending human rights activists, legal activists, HIV/AIDS sufferers, Tibetan protesters and other vulnerable groups.

Egypt's Supreme Constitutional Court on Dec. 3 upheld a law that effectively bans protests. The law requires individuals seeking to protest to inform the interior ministry, at least three days prior, of any public gathering with more than 10 people, allows security forces to break up unapproved protests with water cannons, tear gas, and birdshot, and imposes up to five years of jail time for violation of various protest restrictions. The lawsuit had contended the law violated Article 73 of the Constitution, which provides for the "right to organize public meetings, marches, demonstrations and all forms of peaceful protest while not carrying weapons of any type, upon providing notifications as regulated by law." Despite upholding the law generally, the court did find unconstitutional a provision that allows the interior ministry to deny protest requests. In response to the ruling, human rights lawyer Gamal Eid said, "There isn't a court in Egypt that has mercy on the people."