Iraqi forces said Tuesday that they recaptured Mosul’s train station, once one of the country’s main rail hubs and the latest in a series of key sites retaken from jihadists. The forces launched a major push last month to oust the Islamic State group from west Mosul, taking back a series of neighbourhoods as well … Read more
Iraq’s interior ministry is holding over 1,200 men and boys suspected of ties to jihadists in “horrendous conditions” without charge at facilities south of Mosul, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday. Iraqi forces are fighting to retake second city Mosul from the Islamic State jihadist group, recapturing its east before setting their sights on the smaller … Read more
Iraqi security forces have seized control of more than a third of west Mosul, a commander said Sunday, after a week of steady gains in their battle to retake the city from the Islamic State group. Fierce fighting has shaken Mosul in recent days as thousands of US-backed Iraqi soldiers and police battle to reclaim … Read more
Iraqi forces have retaken more than a third of west Mosul from the Islamic State group, a commander said, as Baghdad’s troops fought Sunday to advance deeper into the city. Iraqi forces launched the operation to recapture west Mosul — the most populated urban area still under IS control — on February 19, retaking a … Read more
Iraqi paramilitary forces announced Saturday that they had discovered a mass grave at Badush prison near Mosul containing the remains of hundreds of people executed by the Islamic State group. IS reportedly killed up to 600 people after seizing the jail in 2014, and was also said to have held hundreds of kidnapped women from … Read more
The US state of Arkansas is racing to execute eight death row inmates in 10 days next month to beat the expiration date on a hard-to-get drug used in lethal injections. Death penalty opponents have denounced the rush to execute, with the New York Times saying it was for a reason “as mundane as it … Read more
Amnesty International on Thursday accused the Saudi-led Arab coalition battling rebels in Yemen of using banned cluster munitions in raids on residential areas. The Brazilian-manufactured munitions were fired in a February 15 attack on three residential districts and agricultural land in Saada province of northern Yemen, a stronghold of the Shiite Huthi rebels, it said … Read more
Rights groups on Wednesday urged the UN Security Council to impose “targeted sanctions” on Burundian officials over alleged human rights violations there, in an open letter published online. The letter, penned by Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) among others, was published on the eve of a meeting of the UN’s top decision-making … Read more
Nigeria’s military on Wednesday announced it would look into alleged human rights abuses by troops, including in the fight against Boko Haram, despite having previously dismissed such claims. The chief of army staff, Lieutenant-General Tukur Buratai, said a special board of inquiry would look into allegations such as those made by Amnesty International and pro-Biafra … Read more
Bahrain’s justice ministry said Monday it filed a lawsuit to dissolve a secular opposition party, the state-run news agency said, months after the country’s main Shiite opposition party was banned. The justice ministry “has filed a lawsuit requesting the dissolution of the National Democratic Action Society (Waed), in light of Waed’s serious violations of the … Read more
Facing a White House which has been unrelenting in its attacks on the media, news organizations are struggling to find the right balance in covering President Donald Trump’s administration. Reporters and media groups are increasingly finding they are part of the story, after Trump’s denunciation of “fake news” and his branding of media groups as … Read more
A UN chemical weapons watchdog is examining allegations of eight toxic gas attacks in Syria since the beginning of this year, according to a report released Friday. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons is tasked with investigating allegations of such attacks in Syria after the government joined the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2013. … Read more
Photos showing hundreds of prisoners in a Philippine jail sitting naked while being searched for contraband have triggered accusations of further rights abuses in President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs. The inmates of the Cebu provincial jail were woken before dawn on Tuesday, herded into the jail’s quadrangle and forced to strip while anti-drug … Read more
German Chancellor Angela Merkel starts a two-day trip to Egypt and Tunisia on Thursday, part of her push to limit migrant flows to Europe through North Africa, especially chaos-torn Libya. Since the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has lacked a national government, which has made it the main gateway for African migrants heading for … Read more
Rights groups on Tuesday criticised a controversial new child marriage law in Bangladesh which allows children as young as 14 to be married off by their parents. Parliament passed the Child Marriage Restraint Act on Monday night, replacing a law dating back to the British colonial period. The new law keeps the minimum marriageable age … Read more
nternational Rights Group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), has accused the Ethiopian government of turning back on its public promise to undertake reforms and to address the tense political climate in the country. HRW’s latest position is contained in a piece authored by its Senior Researcher for the Horn of Africa, Felix Horne, in reaction to … Read more
Russia and the United States were headed for a clash at the UN Security Council on Monday as Moscow prepared to veto a draft resolution that would impose sanctions on Syria. The council will vote Tuesday on the text drafted by the United States, Britain and France that would punish 11 Syrians and 10 entities … Read more
The sinkhole that could be the largest mass grave in Iraq’s latest conflict is barely visible from the road, nothing more than a small depression behind a desert ridge near Mosul. The place known as the Khasfah (an Arabic word for a crack or a hole that opens up in the ground) was once a … Read more
The United States will on Monday claim its seat at the UN Human Rights Council under the new presidency of Donald Trump, whose election has provoked deep concern over the body’s future. Over its 11-year history, the council has come in for criticism, including allegations that it has, at times, been co-opted by rights abusers … Read more
Israel will stop issuing work visas to Human Rights Watch staff, the NGO said Friday, with the Jewish state accusing the group of being “fundamentally biased” against it. The New York-based watchdog, which has written critical reports about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, applied months ago for a visa for its Israel and Palestine … Read more