negative court ruling
Tuesday 6.12.2022 Qatar - Latest Developments -
As Qatar hosts the FIFA World Cup, human rights organisations draw attention to its dismal human rights record
Head of Qatar’s World Cup organising committee, Hassan al-Thawadi, accused teams who wanted to wear the OneLove armband at the World Cup of sending a “very divisive message” to the Islamic and Arab world; The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) documents the grave violations committed against foreign workers; a Resolution of the European Parliament urged FIFA and Qatar to compensate widespread abuses that migrant workers suffered while building the 2022 World Cup infrastructure; the Qatar Criminal Court of Appeal upheld the life sentences handed down to a number of human rights activists Read more
Thursday 1.12.2022 Guatemala - Latest Developments -
Attacks on Guatemalan human rights organisations and justice operators
On 19th October 2022, the Attorney General’s Office raided the family house of Leily Santizo, a former prosecutor with the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG). The raid took place in execution of an arrest warrant against Santizo for alleged obstruction of criminal proceedings. Read more
Thursday 24.11.2022 Fiji - Latest Developments -
Conviction of lawyer and recent legal changes further erodes civic space in Fiji ahead of elections
In recent months, ambiguous amendments to media laws have been passed that could affect the independence of the media, while electoral law amendments have raised concerns about privacy rights. Further, a senior lawyer was found guilty of contempt for correcting a spelling error, violating the right to freedom of expression. Read more
Tuesday 22.11.2022 Austria - Latest Developments -
Palestinian activists face lawsuit and ban; climate activists threatened with SLAPPs
In December 2021, after long and intense protests by climate organisations and scientists, the ‘Lobautunnel’ project was put on hold by climate and transport minister Eleonore Gewessler. Nonetheless, the Municipality of Vienna threatened to initiate court proceedings against individual protesters - some of them minors - scientists and civil society organisations involved in the demonstrations against ‘Lobautunnel’. Separately, a member of BDS Austria is being sued for defamation by the municipality of Vienna over a social media post. This case sheds light on the underlying hostile context for Palestinian rights advocates in Austria, Read more
Tuesday 22.11.2022 India - Latest Developments -
Government agencies used to silence dissent in India as its rights record is scrutinised at the UN
In recent months we have continued to see raids and investigation of NGOs, detention of human rights defenders, journalists and protesters, restrictions on journalists and disruption of protests Read more
Tuesday 15.11.2022 Philippines - Latest Developments -
Despite UN scrutiny, activists continue to be criminalised by the new Philippines administration
Over the last five months, human rights defenders have continued to be arrested on fabricated charges while the terrorist financing law has been used to persecute activists. Journalists have also been targeted for their work. Read more
Tuesday 4.10.2022 Cambodia - Latest Developments -
Authorities continue to harass NagaWorld union strikers and criminalise activists and opposition members in Cambodia
In recent months, the harassment and attacks against the NagaWorld casino workers’ union has persisted. Communities involved in land disputes faced harassment while travelling to the capital. Five forests activists were convicted, while the convictions of other activists were upheld. The harassment and prosecution of the opposition has persisted. Press freedom continues to be at risk in Cambodia and there has been slow progress on the Access to Information Bill. Read more
Friday 23.9.2022 Indonesia - Latest Developments -
Crackdown on activists and protests persist in Indonesia while draft criminal code revisions could further curtail dissent
In recent months, civil society groups have raised concerns about invasive content moderation regulations and digital attacks as well as harassment and intimidation of journalists. The criminalisation and harassment of Papuan activists persist as well as excessive force by police around protests in the restive region. Excessive force has also been documented around protests against fuel price hikes. Activists have also raised concerns on the trial around a deadly crackdown on a protest in Paniai in 2014. Read more
Wednesday 21.9.2022 Vietnam - Latest Developments -
Civil society urges the UN to reject Vietnam’s bid for the Human Rights Council as it continues to arrest and jail activists
In recent months the authorities have jailed activists for their activism, including a prominent environmental activist on tax evasion charges, a minority rights activist for his reporting, and a blogger. Human rights defender Pham Doan Trang lost her appeal against a nine-year jail sentence. Other activists have been charged with anti-state propaganda for their online activism. A new decree orders technology firms to store user data onshore which could be used to further criminalise online dissent. Despite this, the government is seeking membership of the UN Human Rights Council for the term 2023-2025.
Read more
Monday 19.9.2022 Japan - Latest Developments -
Japan introduces tougher penalties for defamation, court ruling a setback for LGBTQI+ rights
In recent months, concerns have been raised around amendments to the penal code imposing tougher penalties for criminal defamation and the ruling by a court in Osaka that the ban on same-sex marriages does not violate the constitution. Further, there have been protests against the 2030 Winter Olympics and a state funeral for the former Prime Minister. Read more
