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Human rights

Human rights
Latest news, features and analysis on human rights, with a focus on civil liberties in Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia.
Papuan separatist rebels pose with Phillip Mark Mehrtens, whom they took hostage in February 2023. Photo: West Papua Liberation Army/AP
Indonesia

Indonesian rights body, military clash over reports of Papua civilian killings

The National Human Rights Commission said 12 people had been ‌shot dead during an operation against separatists in central Papua.

Cambodia

Video | Cambodian man deported to Africa by Trump administration

Britain

UK’s counterterror police probe another London arson attack

Aung San Suu Kyi

Video | Myanmar frees thousands of prisoners, including former president

Newly-elected president Min Aung Hlaing also commuted all death sentences and released 4,300 prisoners to mark the Thingyan New Year.

Released prisoners look out from a bus after it came out from Insein Prison, as relatives gather around it searching for their loved ones, during an amnesty to mark Myanmar’s new year in Yangon on April 17, 2026. More than 4,300 prisoners were slated for release on April 17 to mark Myanmar’s Thingyan new year, one of the country’s many public holidays when forgiveness orders are regularly announced. (Photo by Sai Aung MAIN / AFP)
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Myanmar

Myanmar frees Win Myint, cuts Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison term in amnesty deal

Newly elected president Min Aung Hlaing also commuted all death sentences and released 4,300 prisoners to mark the Thingyan new year.

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Iran

Jailed Iranian Nobel winner ‘critical’ after heart attack

Supporters say the life of 2023 peace laureate Narges Mohammadi is at ‘immediate and irreparable risk’ in an Iranian prison.

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Africa

Sudan enters 4th year of war as ‘abandoned crisis’ grows

The war has pushed parts of Sudan into famine and the UN says about 34 million people, or almost two of every three Sudanese, need help.

A Sudanese man pulls a donkey cart filled with water for sale in Port Sudan on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong retiree gets 1 year in jail for seditious social media comments

Raymond Chong, 61, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court to knowingly publishing 53 seditious Facebook posts that denigrated central and local authorities.

South Korea

What is really behind South Korea’s diplomatic row with Israel?

Lee Jae Myung’s clash was about more than human rights, analysts say – it was about energy security and sending a message to Donald Trump.

Africa

At least 200 feared dead after Nigerian air strike hits busy village market

Nigerian Air Force launches investigation into civilian casualties at Jilli Market as it targeted jihadists.

Nigerian Air Force officers display ammunition next to a fighter jet in 2017. Photo: AP
Middle East

Israeli bombardment kills infant in Lebanon during father’s funeral

The air strike took place on Wednesday amid hopes that the US-Iran ceasefire would apply to Lebanon, as Israeli strikes killed more than 350.

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A Lebanese soldier next to a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua
India

Fish and vegetarianism major flashpoints in India’s West Bengal election

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has promoted dietary restrictions as part of its Hindu nationalist agenda.

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Indonesia

Indonesian activists target Myanmar’s president in genocide case against him

The complaint seeks to hold Min Aung Hlaing accountable for international crimes in an Indonesian court, following recent legal changes.

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Japan

Japan’s deportation drive strikes fear into asylum seekers, foreign residents

Rights groups warn the government’s push to remove more undocumented migrants clashes with its duty to protect refugees.

The Tokyo Immigration Bureau. Japanese authorities have ramped up the Zero Illegal Foreign Residents Plan to cut the number of undocumented foreign residents. Photo: Shutterstock
China-Latin America relations

Brazil blacklists China EV giant BYD for its slave labour conditions

Government officials said staff were working excessively long hours while being kept in degrading circumstances in their accommodation.

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BYD’s electric vehicle factory’s construction site in Camaçari, Brazil, in December 2024. Photo: Reuters
France

France’s Sarkozy challenges conviction over alleged Libya funding

He was found guilty in September of criminal conspiracy and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Middle East

1 dead after gunmen open fire outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul

The two other assailants were captured with injuries.

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Gun violence in the US

Video sheds light on Minnesota ICE shooting after charges against men collapsed

Authorities initially accused 2 Venezuelan men of beating an ICE officer during a chase and scuffle in Minneapolis in January.

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Police officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting in Minneapolis, Minnesota on January 14. Photo: AP
Afghanistan

Afghan mother demands answers after son dies in Pakistani hospital bombing

Human rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the March 16 strike on a drug treatment centre that killed 411.

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Africa

DR Congo to receive third-country deportees from US under deal

Kinshasa to receive US-funded deportees as the Trump administration expands controversial migration agreements across Africa.

United States

US court reinstates US$656 million judgment against PLO and Palestinian Authority

Following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling, judges revive a decade-old verdict for American victims of terror attacks in Israel.

The Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse on Foley Square, New York, where the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals is headquartered. Photo: AP
US, Israel war on Iran

Rights groups raise alarm after Iran executes 2 more opposition group members

The hangings are the latest targeting members of the banned People’s Mojahedin of Iran after four others were executed earlier in the week.

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People protest outside the US State Department on Monday to highlight the executions of MEK members in Karaj, Iran. Photo: AP
Scams and swindles

Cambodia’s high-stakes war on online scam compounds

Cambodia has vowed to stamp out the scam compounds on its soil by month’s end – but perpetrators remain drawn to the potential for huge profits.

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Malaysia

Malaysia drops appeal on abducted activist’s case, family still seeks answers

Rights group Suhakam says the police Special Branch was involved in the disappearances of Raymond Koh and another activist, Amri Che Mat.

Malaysia

‘Feels unreal’: Indonesian grandma freed from Malaysian death row flies home

Ani Anggraeni spent nearly 15 years in prison for drug trafficking before her death sentence was commuted and she was later pardoned.

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Ani Anggraeni is seen in prison last year. Photo: Handout
United States

Trump fires Pam Bondi as US president’s frustration with bad news grows

Attorney general’s removal follows the ouster of Trump’s homeland security and border patrol chiefs amid a wave of negative headlines.

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US Attorney General Pam Bondi and US President Donald Trump on Monday. Bondi was fired on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
Middle East

Surging ‘Jewish terrorism’ in West Bank condemned but goes unpunished

Tel Aviv-based INSS reports an increase in settler attacks since the start of the Iran war, along with a rise in ‘the severity of the acts’.

US-China relations

China targeted in US birthright citizenship debate, but court justices sceptical

China benefiting from ‘birth tourism industry’, top litigator claims, with Trump in attendance – a historic first for a sitting president.

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