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Human rights

Human rights

Latest news, features and analysis on human rights, with a focus on civil liberties in Hong Kong, mainland China and Asia.

Filipino policemen (from left) Jeremiah Pereda, Arnel Oares and Jerwin Cruz attend a Senate inquiry in Pasay City on August 24, 2017. Photo: EPA

The Philippines

Philippine court upholds murder verdict in Duterte’s drug war case

While the ruling has been hailed as a win for human rights, it may not have much impact on Duterte’s ICC case, legal analysts say.

25 Dec 2025 - 2:53PMvideocam

Hong Kong society

Opinion | Hong Kong’s new legislators must strengthen child protection laws

25 Dec 2025 - 9:30AM

Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands reparations, apology

25 Dec 2025 - 8:46AM

Former Singapore lawyer and human rights activist M Ravi dies

The 56-year-old was a vocal advocate for the LGBTQ community and supported the abolition of the death penalty in the city state.

24 Dec 2025 - 2:00PM

M Ravi (right) was widely known for taking on human rights cases in Singapore. Photo: Facebook/MRaviLawMyanmar

Pulled story on Trump immigration crackdown accidentally airs on Canadian app

The ‘60 Minutes’ segment on migrants sent to a notorious El Salvador mega-prison was quickly removed, but copies have spread online.

24 Dec 2025 - 8:04AM

US-China relations

‘Missing’ 6-year-old Yuanxin and father reunited, then deported together to China

Activist says separation from son pressured dad to accept deportation so they could be together, despite fear of returning to homeland.

23 Dec 2025 - 5:10AMvideocam

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Trump administration triples ‘self-deport’ stipend to US$3,000

The limited-time offer includes a free flight and requires use of the CBP Home app before the end of the year.

22 Dec 2025 - 10:14PM

US officials oversee a deportation flight at Fort Bliss, Texas in February. Photo: Department of Defence/AFP

Did ‘political’ reasons postpone ‘60 Minutes’ report on El Salvador prison?

CBS delayed its CECOT prison report, where the US has sent hundreds of migrants, citing more reporting and sparking outcry over censorship.

22 Dec 2025 - 9:38PM

Sudan war drags on as drone attack kills 10 in Darfur market

The conflict has split Sudan in two as the army controls the north, east and centre while the UAE-backed RSF dominates Darfur and parts of the south.

21 Dec 2025 - 11:26PM

31 Malaysians repatriated from Myanmar job scam syndicate

The job scam victims rescued from a Myawaddy job syndicate return home safely after intensive diplomatic negotiations and a 26-hour land journey.

20 Dec 2025 - 10:55PMvideocam

People from China, Vietnam, and Ethiopia – believed trafficked and forced to work in scam centers – sit masked in detention after their February release in Myawaddy, eastern Myanmar. Photo: AP

Israel-Iran conflict

Man executed in Iran for spying for Israel tortured to confess: rights group

The 27-year-old, arrested while taking pictures of a military headquarters, was accused of executing over 200 similar assignments for Mossad.

20 Dec 2025 - 2:57PM

Israeli air defence systems intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv early on June 18. Photo: AFP

Israel-Gaza war

UN declares Gaza famine over, but ‘situation remains critical’

Meanwhile, Oxfam says hunger in Gaza remains ‘appalling and preventable’, accusing Israel of blocking aid from humanitarian agencies.

19 Dec 2025 - 10:36PM

UN says Sudan’s RSF killed 1,000 civilians in horrific 3-day attack on camp

New report details three days of terror at the Zamzam displacement camp in April, citing mass executions and gang rapes.

19 Dec 2025 - 3:11PM

Are Myanmar hospital air strikes a bid to ‘intimidate’ voters ahead of poll?

The junta has been emboldened to strike as China, Russia and the US are looking the other way to serve their own interests, analysts say.

19 Dec 2025 - 5:31PMvideocam

People check a hospital that was hit by a military air strike in Mrauk-U in Myanmar earlier this month. Photo: AP

Accidents and disasters in China

How will Jimmy Lai’s conviction affect China-UK ties, Starmer’s planned visit?

Outcome of ex-media tycoon’s Hong Kong trial poses stern test for Labour government’s balancing act with Beijing, observers say.

17 Dec 2025 - 11:17PMvideocam

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to visit Beijing and Shanghai in late January. Photo: EPA

War and conflict

War-torn Sudan tops global humanitarian crisis watch list for third year

International Rescue Committee highlights a stark concentration of human suffering in a small number of countries in latest rankings.

17 Dec 2025 - 1:42PM

Singapore court dismisses challenge to mandatory death penalty for drugs

Singapore’s High Court rejects first constitutional challenge in 15 years to decades-old law as executions rise; activists may appeal.

16 Dec 2025 - 7:10PM

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Aid cuts causing millions of refugees ‘unnecessary pain’: UN

‘The sudden, drastic, irresponsible and short-sighted collapse of foreign assistance’ has inflicted ‘so much unnecessary pain in its wake’.

15 Dec 2025 - 11:58PMvideocam

Sudanese refugee children stand at sunset in a transit camp amid the conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Army, in November. Photo: Reuters

No contact with Iran Nobel winner laureate arrest, supporters say

Narges Mohammadi, the 2023 Peace Prize laureate, was detained on Friday alongside dozens of activists and may face national security charges.

15 Dec 2025 - 10:06AM

Security or freedom? Japan’s proposed anti-spy laws raise human rights concerns

Prime Minister Takaichi’s plans to tighten spying and secrecy rules could be used to stifle free speech and media freedom, analysts say.

14 Dec 2025 - 10:01AMvideocam

6 UN peacekeepers killed in Sudan drone strike blamed on RSF paramilitary group

The victims were all Bangladeshi nationals working at a United Nations logistics base in Kadugli.

14 Dec 2025 - 5:46AM

Protesters take part in a rally in support of the Sudanese Army and against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces in Merowe on Saturday. Photo: EPA

Belarus frees 123 prisoners in exchange for US sanctions relief

Peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova and 121 others have been released by one of Russia’s key allies.

13 Dec 2025 - 10:38PM

Tatsiana Khomich holds up a picture of her detained sister Maria Kalesnikava after accepting a prize on her behalf in 2022. Kalesnikava is one of those now due to be released by the authorities in Belarus. Photo: Reuters

Israel-Gaza war

‘My future is paralysed’: Gaza amputees desperate to walk again

The World Health Organization estimates there are some 5,000 to 6,000 amputees from the Israel-Gaza war, 25 per cent of them children.

13 Dec 2025 - 3:08PMvideocam

Iran detains Nobel Prize winner Narges Mohammadi in ‘brutal’ arrest

The activist’s brother says she was beaten on the legs, held by her hair and ‘dragged down’ by security forces personnel.

13 Dec 2025 - 4:18AM

US judge blocks ICE from re-detaining Abrego Garcia

The order comes less than a day after Kilmar Abrego Garcia, previously wrongfully deported to El Salvador, was released from immigration detention.

12 Dec 2025 - 10:29PM

Kilmar Abrego Garcia (centre) arrives for a rally prior to his check in at an ICE field office in Baltimore on Friday. Photo: EPA

Judge orders release of Salvadorean who was wrongfully deported by Trump admin

The case has highlighted the president’s hardline immigration stance, with officials saying Abrego Garcia will never again be free in the US.

12 Dec 2025 - 7:15AMvideocam

Kilmar Abrego Garcia attends a protest rally at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore in August. Photo: AP

Opinion | Australia’s social media ban offers a path between excess and inaction

For policymakers elsewhere, Canberra’s approach to children’s social media use isn’t a model to copy but one to learn from.

11 Dec 2025 - 5:30AMvideocam

Venezuela’s Machado urges global fight for democracy after Nobel win

The Nobel laureate, barred from travel and forced into hiding by her home country, missed the ceremony in Oslo to receive the Peace Prize.

10 Dec 2025 - 9:14PM

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