Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported June 30 that authorities in the Philippines continue to conduct extrajudicial killings, with no accountability, as part of the government's anti-drug campaign. Ten years after then-President Rodrigo Duterte launched his brutal "war on drugs," serious human rights violations remain ongoing.

UN human rights experts on May 29 called on Brazil to ensure full justice, accountability and reparations for victims and families affected by the 2006 "Crimes of May." They warned that continued impunity worsens the suffering of victims and perpetuates systemic racism and police violence. The experts said the killings and "enforced disappearances" should be recognized as serious crimes against human rights.

In its latest annual report released May 12, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) found that the armed conflict in Colombia saw the "worst humanitarian consequences" of the past decade in 2025. The number of people killed or injured by explosive devices rose by 34% to 965, overwhelmingly non-combatants. The number of individual disappearances doubled to 308. Violations of international humanitarian law documented by the ICRC reached 845 cases, while figures for displacement and "confinement" doubled. According to the Comprehensive Victim Support & Reparation Unit (UARIV), at least 235,619 people were displaced individually in 2025, while 87,069 were displaced in mass displacement events, and 176,730 remained "confined" in communities under siege by armed actors. (TNH, ReliefWeb)

"Hondurasgate"—an apparent plot involving Israel, the United States, and former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández (JOH) to destabilize Latin America's progressive governments through disinformation—has thrust Israel's ties to the region back into the spotlight. The scandal emerged ahead of a diplomatic visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog to Central America as part of a push to consolidate alliances with the region's right-wing leaders. 

Amnesty International on May 14 called on the Philippines to apprehend Sen. Ronald dela Rosa, expressing deep concern over reports that he fled the Senate building to evade an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant.

Amnesty International Philippines executive director Ritz Lee Santos III stated: "We are deeply alarmed at the obstruction of justice and chaotic scenes witnessed at the Philippines Senate… It is hugely concerning that fellow Senators and others appear to have assisted him in evading arrest and in delaying the execution of the arrest warrant—effectively facilitating his escape for now."

The Trump administration has built a network of third-country transfer agreements with more than 30 governments and used them to remove over 17,400 people, in some cases in defiance of federal court orders and after individuals had won their release through habeas corpus, according to data released May 5 by Human Rights First and Refugees International.

Clashes broke out May 4 in Syria's southern as-Suwayda (Suweida) province between the central government's Internal Security Forces and Druze armed groups affiliated with the region's self-declared "National Guard." Fighters from the Guard's "501 Knights of Hamza" battalion attempted to advance toward government lines in the governorate's western countryside under heavy cover fire, including from truck-mounted machine-guns and rocket-launchers. Government forces responded with mortar fire. (TNA)

A grand jury in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on April 29 indicted 10 current and former Mexican officials for importing large amounts of drugs into the United States, along with related offenses. The officials include the current governor of Sinaloa state, Rubén Rocha Moya, as well as a Sinaloa deputy attorney general, a former Sinaloa secretary of public security, a former deputy director of the Sinaloa State Police, and a federal senator.