Various human rights organisations came together to sound the alarm on the inadequacies of the recent UN Convention Againct Cybercrime. The joint statement begins with: "We, the undersigned organizations, remain deeply concerned that the UN Convention Against Cybercrime (UNCC) will facilitate human rights abuses across borders. As some states head...

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...

In many Caribbean communities, rising violence has eroded public trust in law enforcement. Imagine a police officer in Trinidad and Tobago who walks the bustling community of St. James three times a week, stopping by corner shops, checking in with elders, and taking time to talk with the young people on the...

On 1–2 September 2025, the African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum (APCOF), the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria (CHR), and the Dullah Omar Institute (DOI) (the Amici Applicants) represented by Lawyers for Human Rights, will appear  before the High Court of South Africa, Western Cape Division, seeking consent to be admitted as amici...

The prints have travelled from Art Basel Miami to the World Urban Forum in Cairo. This proves that when those most affected drive the conversation, the impact reaches far beyond galleries to influence policymakers.

Partners for Dignity & Rights: On June 3, 2025, several advocates working on housing, homeless/houseless and poverty issues in the United States met with civil society staff of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights and Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing, Balakrishnan Rajagopal,...

OSF: Last June, Malaysian authorities burned the homes and boats of members of the Bajau Laut, an indigenous community in Malaysian Borneo whose livelihoods are inextricably linked to the sea. This destruction left families without shelter, and with few ways to support themselves. After videos of the displacement went viral, the Malaysian government...

Multiple custodial killings in Guna District, Central India, have become disturbingly normalised, prompting the Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project (CPA Project) to investigate local policing patterns. Their report, "Everyday Policing in Guna, Madhya Pradesh," analysed 20,705 arrest records from 2019 to 2024 across 18 police stations using publicly available...

SALC: As outlined in international human rights treaties and the constitutions of most African countries, freedom of expression is a fundamental right. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirm that every individual has the right to hold opinions and to impart...

LONDON, 29 July 2025 – Women Beyond Walls, the podcast exploring the human stories behind women’s incarceration, today launches its second season with the powerful story of Teresa Njoroge — a mother, banker, and now justice advocate, whose wrongful imprisonment in Kenya transformed her life and mission.  Hosted by human...

The Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status releases short explainer video about the recent case in Malawi that declared criminal defamation as unconsitutional. The case was supported by campaign members, the Southern Africa Litigation Centre, under the umbrella of the Campaign.

SALC: On 16 July 2025, the High Court of Malawi delivered a landmark judgment in a Constitutional case, declaring Section 200 of the Penal Code, which criminalises defamation, unconstitutional. The claimant argued that the provision violated his right to freedom of expression, protected under Section 35 of the Constitution, and...

The Caribbean Centre for Human Rights (CCHR) proudly announces the release of Breaking the Chains: The Fight for Justice Beyond Colonial Laws, a bold and transformative publication aimed at catalysing legal reform and promoting human dignity across the Caribbean. This limited edition work is more than a book, it is...

GENEVA (17 June 2025) – UN experts* today welcomed a decision by the United Kingdom to repeal the Vagrancy Act, a law that has long criminalised homelessness and rough sleeping in England and Wales, by Spring 2026.  “This is a long overdue, highly commendable step,” the experts said. “The decision...

Rough sleeping will be decriminalised next year under government plans to scrap a 200-year-old law. Ministers are planning to scrap the Vagrancy Act, which outlaws rough sleeping in England and Wales. The law was introduced in 1824 to deal with rising homelessness, but Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has called...

On Tuesday 25 March, the Court of Appeal of Trinidad and Tobago allowed the appeal of the Attorney General in the case of Jason Jones v. Attorney General of Trinidad and Tobago (2018), thereby overturning the 2018 High Court ruling that had decriminalised consensual same-sex sexual activity. The 2018 ruling found...

Over 740,000 women and girls are held in prison worldwide. Women continue to make up a minority of the global prison population at 7%. However, women’s incarceration is growing at a faster rate than men, up 60% since 2000 compared to 22% for men. Around 19,000 children are living in...

Poverty, abuse and discriminatory laws are driving a huge rise in the number of women in prison globally, according to a new report [supported by the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty and Status]. With the rise of the far right and an international backlash against women’s rights, the research said...

In November 2023, Lawyers Alert (LA) in collaboration with the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) provided critical legal and technical support to homeless individuals and informal traders whose shanties were demolished by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. This initiative was part of a broader campaign for...

Amnesty International, APCOF and Suaram organized this two-day workshop in Bangkok to strengthen alliances, including within the Campaign, and counter the rising criminalization of protesters and human rights defenders. The workshop was part of a year-long project conducted with a sub-grant from the Campaign. The event was attended by 18...

Prison Insider: People in prison across the world are among the most marginalised part of the population. Many have physical or mental health problems and experience difficulties relating to addictive behaviour, cut ties, poverty or periods of homelessness. Upon their release, they are often in precarious situations and stigmatised and...

Lawyers Alert: The Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed 12 March for judgment in suit seeking to stop Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, and the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) from arresting and prosecuting Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs) in Abuja. The judge, James Omotosho, fixed the date on Monday,...

A two-day convening on "Decriminalizing Poverty and Status" took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on January 24-25, bringing together diverse voices from across South Asia to discuss the discrimination and marginalisation of social groups within and by the legal system. Under the umbrella of the Global Campaign to Decriminalise Poverty...