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Authorities continuing ‘intimidation’ including separating children from their parents, despite pledge to end collective punishmentChina continues to unlawfully target the families of activists and dissidents, despite a pledge to end the practice of collective punishment, a Chinese human rights group has said in a report.The persecution, which includes intimidation and harassment, forced evictions, travel bans, criminal proceedings against family members and preventing children from...

Proponents of legislation for bloc say it will take away far-right arguments but critics claim the oppositeThe European parliament is to vote on Wednesday on sweeping new laws to overhaul its migration policy amid renewed criticism that it is feeding the agenda of the extreme right rather than protecting vulnerable people.Ylva Johansson, the home affairs commissioner who was the driving force behind the legislation,...

Released detainees include some jailed for political reasons and is UK ally’s biggest amnesty since Arab springBahrain has unconditionally released more than 1,500 prisoners, including political detainees, in the biggest royal pardon since the 2011 Arab spring uprising.The amnesty followed years of campaigning inside the country and by international human rights groups but came as a complete surprise to activists. Continue reading...

Eleven found guilty of crimes against humanity after trial that heard testimony on torture, rape and forced disappearances A court in Argentina has convicted 11 former military, police and government officials of crimes against humanity committed during the country’s last dictatorship in a sprawling trial that heard, for the first time, about atrocities suffered by trans women.The three-year case focused on the forced disappearances,...

Ministers under growing pressure to act amid signs Israel intends to ignore UN ceasefire resolutionParliamentary pressure is building on the UK government to ban arms sales to Israel, amid signs that Israel intends to ignore the UN security council resolution passed this week calling on all sides to commit to a ceasefire.A letter signed by more than 130 parliamentarians to the foreign secretary, David...

Human Rights Law Centre says bill ‘deliberately separates families’ and risks non-compliance with obligations under refugee conventionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastLegislation that would force hundreds of non-citizens to facilitate their own deportation or face imprisonment has been rushed through the lower house, despite warnings it breaches human rights...

Special rapporteur will tell human rights council Israel’s actions ‘reveal an intent to physically destroy Palestinians as a group’A UN human rights expert will deliver a report on Tuesday saying that Israel has carried out acts of genocide in Gaza and should be placed under an arms embargo.Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, said in her report...

Exclusive: new role created after Guardian uncovered allegations against company’s security guardsA vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya that supplies most British supermarkets is advertising for a human rights manager to address its “human rights challenges” in the wake of allegations of killings and violence by its security guards.The job advert says the candidate will need to “develop a detailed action plan to...

Civil liberties network says in states where far-right parties influence power, rule-of-law deterioration risks becoming systemicThe rule of law is declining across the EU as governments continue to weaken legal and democratic checks and balances, a leading civil liberties network has said, highlighting in particular a sharp rise in restrictions on the right to protest.Berlin-based Liberties said in its annual report, compiled with 37...

Voters told to swamp polling stations all at once and spoil ballots, after two days of dye attacks, fires and Ukrainian cross-border strikesRussians vote in final day of presidential election – live updatesCritics of Vladimir Putin and his Kremlin regime have called for massive protests at Russian polling stations on Sunday, the final day of a presidential election that is guaranteed to cement his...

Revised corporate sustainability directive, first agreed in December, draws criticism from environmental campaignersEU countries have slashed the scope of a law to make companies hunt down human rights abuse and environmental harm in their supply chains.The EU’s corporate sustainability directive, which was agreed in December but nearly scuttled after a minor coalition partner in the German government withdrew its support, was approved by member...

Debate has begun on Article 23 – legislation designed to bring laws closer to those of mainland ChinaHong Kong’s government has released the draft text of a new national security law that would further tighten control on the city and bring its laws closer in line with mainland China.The law, known as Article 23, is a domestic piece of legislation defining and penalising crimes...

Outgoing president confers honour on presumed successor, Prabowo Subianto, who is accused of human rights violationsHuman rights experts have condemned a decision by Indonesia’s outgoing president to award the rank of honorary four-star general to his presumed successor, Prabowo Subianto, a controversial figure accused of human rights violations.Prabowo, 72, a former son-in-law of the dictator Suharto and a special commander under his regime was...

Judges urged to keep proceedings as open as possible in case relating to Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffreyAllegations that UK police and intelligence spied on investigative journalists to identify their sources will be heard by a secret tribunal on Wednesday, with judges urged to ensure as much as possible takes place in open court.Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey asked the investigatory powers tribunal (IPT)...

Salvatore Mancuso was taken into police custody and is expected to cooperate with investigation into war crimes in 1990s and 2000sA Colombian warlord found responsible for more than 1,500 murders and cases of forced disappearance has been returned to his native country after serving a drug-trafficking sentence in the United States and being denied several requests to be sent to Italy, where he also...

Fears Maduro government is trying to shut down scrutiny after lawyer is arrested and UN human rights office shut downHuman rights groups are calling for the Venezuelan government to halt a crackdown on civil society after it jailed a prominent lawyer and then banished a UN human rights office from Caracas for criticising her arrest.The arrest of the 57-year-old lawyer and military expert Rocío...

Campaigners to appeal after court declines to block export licences despite concerns about human rights breaches in Gaza warThe high court has dismissed a case urging the suspension of UK arms sales to Israel.The legal challenge against the UK Department for Business and Trade was launched in December by the Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network (Glan). Continue...

President-elect Prabowo Subianto has human rights abuses to answer for, says mother of student shot at 1998 protestEvery Thursday for the past 17 years, in searing heat and pouring rain, Maria Catarina Sumarsih has stood outside the Indonesian presidential palace, demanding justice for her son. He was shot dead in 1998, when authorities opened fire on student protesters as they called for an end...

Foreign minister claims local office of UN high commissioner for human rights supported impunity for coup plottersVenezuela’s government has ordered the local UN office on human rights to suspend operations, giving its staff 72 hours to leave, after accusing the office of promoting opposition to the South American country.The foreign affairs minister, Yván Gil, announced the decision at a news conference in Caracas on...

Rosalind Croucher tells Senate panel anonymous letter from employees was ‘disappointing’ and they had been reminded to stay ‘impartial’Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe president of the Australian Human Rights Commission has denied that staff have been sanctioned over expressing pro-Palestinian views, after staff wrote a letter stating the commission’s response on the Israel-Gaza war was inadequate.Guardian...

Witnesses claim victims shot ‘execution style’ during house raids after clashes between government forces and Fano rebelsEthiopian government troops went door-to-door killing dozens of civilians last month in a town in the country’s Amhara region, according to residents, who said the bloodshed took place after clashes with local militia.The killings in Merawi appear to be one of the deadliest episodes in Amhara since a...

EU diplomat Johan Floderus’s sister calls on Sweden to start speaking up loudly to demand his releaseThe family of a Swedish EU diplomat imprisoned in Iran for more than 663 days fear he will be given a death sentence or life imprisonment within the coming days after prosecutors sought the maximum sentence in his case.“I ask how can this be happening? He is my...

Ahmad Khalefa, human rights lawyer of Palestinian heritage, released to house arrest after organising anti-war protestA prominent Israeli human rights lawyer of Palestinian heritage has been released to house arrest after spending 110 days in prison for organising a peaceful protest against the war in Gaza.A supreme court judge ruled on Wednesday that Ahmad Khalefa, 42, a lawyer working with Human Rights Defenders Fund,...

People may be exposed to abuses such as torture and degrading treatment in Rwanda, says watchdogEurope’s leading anti-torture watchdog has called on the government to process asylum claims in the UK rather than sending people to Rwanda because of the risk they may be exposed to human rights abuses there.In a report published on Thursday, the Council of Europe’s committee for the prevention of...