Rights watch

Rights watch

A round-up of human rights stories from around the world.

Verdict delayed as ailing Chinese rights lawyer refuses to ‘confess’, plead guilty | Radio Free Asia

Li Yuhan is thought to have been targeted for defending prominent rights lawyer Wang Yu during a 2015 crackdown.

Israel extends detention of Palestinian French rights lawyer | Al Jazeera

Israel has renewed the detention of Palestinian-French human rights lawyer Salah Hammouri, who has been held without trial since March and has not been charged.

Austria’s Volker Turk appointed UN human rights chief | EURACTIV.com

The United Nations General Assembly yesterday approved the appointment of Austria’s Volker Turk as the next UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Belarus: Court verdicts against human rights defenders alarmed OSCE | European Interest

Following verdicts against a number of human rights defenders in Belarus in a trial held behind closed doors, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) expressed alarm about the increasing repression of human rights defenders in the country as well as the lack of fair trial guarantees.

Human rights groups condemn torture in Lebanese prisons | ABC News

International human rights groups have condemned acts of torture in Lebanese prisons following the death of a Syrian refugee in detention and urged authorities to transfer the investigation into his death from a military to a civil court.

UK: Ministers ‘repeatedly warned over Rwanda’s human rights records’ | Morning Star

UK government ministers had been repeatedly warned about Rwanda’s poor refugee and human rights record, including cases of asylum-seekers being “illegally deported” to Afghanistan, the High Court has heard.

Sri Lanka’s economic crisis a consequence of past impunity for rights abuses, economic crimes | The Hindu

Linking Sri Lanka’s past record on human rights record to its current economic crisis, the UN Human Rights Chief said “impunity” for human rights abuses, economic crimes, and corruption was the “underlying” reason for the country’s collapse.

Trans activists left over 60 bottles of piss outside the EHRC | VICE

Trans activists have left over 60 bottles of piss outside the offices of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to protest the government watchdog’s policy on trans access to public facilities.

Clashes in northern Ethiopia despite peace pleas | France 24

Among the latest to express concern amid renewed hostilities between Ethiopian government forces and Tigrayan rebels was the UN-appointed International Commission of Human Rights Experts on Ethiopia.

UN says 173 civilians killed in South Sudan clashes | Al Arabiya News

Scores of civilians were killed in political clashes in South Sudan between February and May this year, a UN report has said, with women and children subjected to brutal assaults, including gang rape.

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