FIACAT: In September-October 2025, ahead of the AU-EU human rights dialogue on 7 October, twenty civil society experts convened to discuss the current far-reaching and unprecedented changes taking place in the global human rights landscape and what meaningful actions the two institutions, their member states and their partnership can take...

Amnesty International: For too long, citizens, especially older women, have been victimized by witchcraft accusations in Ghana. This deeply rooted practice has led to untold suffering, discrimination, and violence. Act now to urge the President  John Mahama to sign the Anti-Witchcraft Bill into law to protect these vulnerable individuals. What’s...

Sonke Gender Justice: As the world approaches the 2030 deadline for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), African feminist movements, youth advocates, policymakers, and grassroots organisations are coming together for a historic convening to accelerate progress on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and gender equality across the continent. The...

Amnesty International: Kenyan authorities systematically deployed technology-facilitated violence as part of a coordinated and sustained campaign to suppress Generation Z-led protests between June 2024 and July 2025 against corruption and the introduction of new tax legislation, a new Amnesty International report shows.  The report, “This fear, everyone is feeling it”: Tech-facilitated...

A nonprofit human rights organization in Nigeria, Lawyers Alert has launched a campaign tagged “HealthNotHarm”, a strategic initiative aimed at reshaping national discourse on safe termination of pregnancy and advancing reproductive justice in Nigeria.  The President of Lawyers Alert, Rommy Mom said the campaign is about justice, dignity, and the...

Tunisian authorities have increasingly escalated their crackdown on human rights defenders and independent non-governmental organizations (NGOs) through arbitrary arrests, detention, asset freezes, bank restrictions and court-ordered suspensions, all under the pretext of fighting “suspicious” foreign funding and shielding “national interests,” Amnesty International said today. In an unprecedented step six NGO...

Women Beyond Walls: Women are the fastest-growing prison population worldwide, often locked up for low-level drug offenses tied to poverty, coercion, or survival. In this minisode, Marie Nougier from the International Drug Policy Consortium talks about moving beyond punitive drug laws that harm women and what  compassionate, evidence-based alternatives could...

Language used maybe offensive to some readers  Thousands of NYPD records secured by the rights groups detail expansive and unlawful surveillance of protesters, and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour communities.  Records obtained by Amnesty International and the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights...

On a Tuesday afternoon in July, a magistrate sits inside a local prison in Malawi. A remandee stands before him and begins to share his story: he was arrested for stealing goods valued at 50 000 kwacha (30 USD), but the complainant never appeared in court. The prisoner has spent...

In the Sahel, repression is intensifying. Human rights defenders and journalists are being silenced under the pretext of national security. A region of hope and resilience The Sahel, a vast region connecting West and Central Africa, is a land of hope and solidarity. Its committed youth, resilient communities, and human...

World Cities Day 2025 celebrates “People-centred Smart Cities”—a vision worth pursuing and one that requires that we explore what it means to truly center people in our vision of the future.   The smart city narrative promises elegant solutions: sensors, algorithms, and data analytics making cities more efficient, sustainable, and livable....

In light of the prolonged arbitrary detention of Luis Pacheco and Héctor Chaclán, Indigenous representatives of the 48 cantons of Totonicapán, who will today have been deprived of their liberty for six months, Ana Piquer, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said:  “Today marks six months since Luis Pacheco and Héctor...

The sentencing of three land defenders criminalized by Canada sends a chilling message about the threats facing people and Nations on the front lines of the struggle for Indigenous rights and environmental justice.  On Friday, a British Columbia judge handed down sentences for three Indigenous land defenders who were arrested...

INTERVIEW Fighting for human rights in silence S. is a lawyer. She works to defend the rights of women and children, notably through her work in the Association of Women Lawyers of Burundi and the Burundian Coalition of Human Rights Defenders. She is incarcerated from February 2023 to April 2024...

Prison might be part of her story — but it is never the whole story. Proving what we’ve long known: with the right post-prison support, women don’t go back. They rebuild. Find out how From Now works and why it needs to grow. We’re proud to launch a new WAGEC report that proves what...

OTTAWA, Canada – October 28, 2025 – The Global Centre for Pluralism is pleased to announce the three winners of the 2025 Global Pluralism Award, recognizing their extraordinary work to bridge profound divides and build more inclusive societies in regions grappling with conflict and discrimination. The winners are part of a...

The Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) has today written to His Excellency Prof. Arthur Peter Mutharika, Chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation, raising urgent concerns about the deteriorating democratic space in Tanzania as the country approaches its general elections on 29 October 2025. In the letter, authored...

The United States still incarcerates 614 people for every 100,000 residents, more than almost any other country in the world. Women in particular are incarcerated in the U.S. at a rate of 112 per 100,000. This may seem relatively minor, but it’s a scale of women’s incarceration that remains higher than...

This essay reflects on the brutal realities of incarceration, particularly for Indigenous women in Australia. It begins with the tragic death of Selesa Tafaifa, who was killed in custody, highlighting the inhumanity of the prison system. The authors, both formerly incarcerated, discuss how their personal experiences in prison fuel their...

Advocates, ministers and lawyers gathered in Sydney this week to back reforms that keep women out of prison and families together.  At Parliament House this week, the Keeping Women Out of Prison (KWOOP) Coalition launched a new strategy to cut the number of women in NSW prisons by addressing the systemic factors...

Chinese courts are systematically weaponizing vague national security and public order laws to silence human rights defenders, Amnesty International said today in a new report exposing the judiciary’s central role in sustaining the Beijing authorities’ crackdown on fundamental freedoms. “China’s leaders like to play up a message of international cooperation and commitment...

There’s a hidden side to our justice system — one that punishes people not for what they did, but for what they don’t have. Across the country, states are using their courts to squeeze revenue from the people least able to provide it. This isn’t a glitch in the system....

Joint Statement by the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) and the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA). Press freedom in Southern Africa is increasingly under threat, and one way it is undermined is through Strategic Litigation against Public Participation (SLAPP). Although freedom of expression is not an absolute right and can...

A new criminal justice wave has formed in Hawaii and California. Where will it go next? Ending prison for teens might seem like a pipe dream in the age of Donald Trump. But when it comes to girls, who are less likely than boys to commit violence, this fantasy could...