South Korea and the EU condemned North Korea's contribution of military arms and personnel to Russia as illegal under international law in a joint statement on Nov. 5. The statement follows recent reports that Russia has deployed North Korean troops in its war against Ukraine. According to a White House press briefing, over 3,000 North Korean soldiers were moved to Vladivostok in October, and underwent training at sites in eastern Russia. This was the first dispatchment of an estimated 12,000 North Korean troops said to be readied for deployment to fight Ukraine. South Korea and the EU maintain that the deployment violates multiple UN Security Council (UNSC) resolutions as well as Russian obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine concluded Nov. 5 that Russian authorities have committed torture in Ukraine, constituting a crime against humanity. The commission's report confirmed that torture practices were widespread in all Ukrainian provinces under Russian control, and in Russia's detention facilities. The commission collected testimonies from civilians who had been detained in Russian-occupied Ukraine and prisoners of war who had been held in Russia. These testimonies described a "brutal admission procedure" to promote a climate of fear in the detention facilities. The report documented the use of sexual violence during detention, as well as the practice of torture during interrogation, including severe beatings, electric shocks, and burns to body parts.

Supporters of Bolivia's former president Evo Morales took more than 200 soldiers hostage on Nov. 2. The Bolivian Foreign Ministry reported that the activists occupied three military facilities in the region of Chapare during protests. The statement accused them of possessing weapons and ammunition. At least 30 police officers are reportedly injured, and more than 50 protesters were arrested last week.

The Commission of Detainees & Ex-Detainee Affairs, a Palestinian prisoner rights organization, and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club reported in statements on Oct. 28 that Israeli prison staff have brutally assaulted Marwan Barghouti, a Palestinian political leader and member of the Central Committee of Fatah.

The government of the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe extended a territory-wide curfew on Oct. 25, applying from 7 PM through 6 AM, after a strike by workers at the EDF-PEI power plant shut down the island's electricity supply. The power plant at Pointe Jarry, is run by the Insular Electricity Production unit of national utility Electricity of France. The order marked an extension of the curfew imposed the previous day "to prevent the risk of public order disturbance in the context of the general power outage."

The national police force of Bolivia announced that they had arrested 44 protesters on Oct. 25, after supporters of of former president Evo Morales set up more than 20 roadblocks on highways across the country to prevent his arrest. The police accused protestors of committing various crimes, including attacks on transportation security, usurpation of functions, criminal association, armed robbery and terrorism. In a press conference, Minister of Government Eduardo Del Castillo condemned the the protesters' use of dangerous weapons, including dynamite, assault rifles and shotguns. He noted that 14 officers have been injured and one is undergoing surgery.

Over 40 human rights groups have warned Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk against implementing his plan to temporarily suspend the right to claim asylum. Among the groups are Amnesty International, several asylum law organizations, and the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation. In an open letter on Oct. 14, the organizations stressed that the fundamental right to asylum is binding on Poland under international law, as the country has ratified the Geneva Convention, and under EU law as provided by Article 18 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. Additionally, Article 56 of the Polish Constitution enshrines the right to asylum. Acknowledging that "[w]e live in difficult times of war and conflicts breaking out all over the world," the statement nonetheless asserted that fundamental rights, as the core values of Europe, are not subject to discussion or restriction.

The Estonian parliament, the Riigikogu, on Oct. 16 officially recognized the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union in 1944 as an act of genocide. The statement passed in the 101-seat body with 83 votes in favor and eight abstentions. The decision comes at a time of renewed focus on Russia's ongoing policies in Crimea, which the Riigikogu linked to Soviet-era atrocities. The statement