The United Nations human rights chief has demanded an international investigation into North Korea’s human rights record. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay issued a statement Monday calling the human rights situation in North Korea “deplorable,” and saying that a year after Kim Jong Un became the country’s new supreme leader, there is […]
UN Official Calls for Probe of North Korea’s Human Rights Record
Posted January 14th, 2013 at 6:05 am (UTC-5)
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Vietnam Jails 13 Activists on Subversion Charges
Posted January 9th, 2013 at 6:15 am (UTC-5)
A Vietnamese court has given lengthy jail sentences to 14 rights activists convicted of plotting to overthrow the communist government. Following a brief two-day trial, the defendants received sentences Wednesday ranging from three to 13 years in prison. Another defendant was given three years of house arrest. The court in the northern Vietnamese province of […]
Russian Activists Support US ‘Magnitsky Act’
Posted December 17th, 2012 at 2:15 pm (UTC-5)
Russian rights activists say they will draft a list of Russian human rights violators, after the United States passed a law last week that imposes sanctions on such individuals. Ex-Soviet dissident and leader of the Moscow Helsinki Group for Human Rights, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, announced the creation of a new group that she says will investigate […]
Pakistani Military, Taliban, Blamed for Abuses in Northwest Region
Posted December 13th, 2012 at 12:50 am (UTC-5)
An international rights group is blaming Pakistan’s armed forces and the Taliban for human rights abuses, including arbitrary detentions, torture and unlawful killings, in the northwestern tribal region. In a report released Thursday, Amnesty International said millions of Pakistanis are affected by a “legal wilderness” in the region near the Afghan border. The rights group […]
Police Detain Protesters in Azerbaijan’s Capital
Posted December 10th, 2012 at 4:00 pm (UTC-5)
Azerbaijan police on Monday detained at least 30 protesters in Baku who tried to hold a rally demanding the right to freedom of assembly and the dissolution of parliament. The unsanctioned protest in the capital of the oil-rich Caspian state was timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day. Police officers quickly detained protesters at […]
Clinton Warns of Backsliding in Eastern Europe, Central Asia
Posted December 6th, 2012 at 12:25 pm (UTC-5)
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has issued sharp criticism for a number of Eastern European and Central Asian nations, saying they are backsliding on democratic reforms. In a meeting with human rights activists in Dublin Thursday, Clinton warned that Russia is trying to “re-Sovietize” Eastern Europe and Central Asia by creating a regional trade […]
China Imprisons Local ‘Interceptors’
Posted December 2nd, 2012 at 11:50 am (UTC-5)
China is denying reports that a Beijing court has imprisoned 10 men for illegally detaining citizens who tried to lodge complaints with the central government. Chinese media reported Sunday that 10 officials from central Henan province hired men to stop petitioners from airing their grievances in Beijing in an effort to cover up abuses. In […]
China Imprisons Local ‘Interceptors’
Posted December 2nd, 2012 at 5:10 am (UTC-5)
Chinese state media are reporting that a Beijing court has imprisoned 10 men for illegally detaining citizens who tried to lodge complaints with the central government. Under China’s “petitioning” system, people can request that the central government investigate abuses by local officials at a complaints office in the capital. However, Beijing’s Chaoyang District Court found […]
Russia Bans Pussy Riot Video Online
Posted November 29th, 2012 at 6:20 pm (UTC-5)
A court in Moscow has ruled that Internet websites must remove video footage of a Pussy Riot band performance in which they protest against President Vladimir Putin. The court ruled Thursday that the video set in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior is too extremist, and ordered “restricted access” to it. Two members of the […]
HRW Urges Pakistani Judges to Halt Criticism Bans
Posted November 27th, 2012 at 9:10 am (UTC-5)
Human Rights Watch is urging judges in Pakistan to stop using their power to try to prevent the media from airing criticism of the judiciary. The group says that, in the past few months, the high courts in Islamabad and Lahore have issued orders directing the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to ensure anti-judiciary […]
