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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.
Hamas militants accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross head to east of Gaza City to search for the bodies of hostages on Thursday. Photo: AP
Israel-Gaza war

Hamas tightens grip on Gaza despite Trump’s ceasefire plan

Hamas reasserts control in Gaza with price controls and fees, raising doubts over Trump’s transition plan and its promise to disarm and step down.

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Malaysia

Meet the Muslim trans woman whose 50-year-old secret reshapes Malaysian history

IPO

Morgan Stanley faces US scrutiny over Zijin Gold’s Hong Kong IPO

South Korea

Seoul’s backing of UN resolution tests limits of inter-Korean dialogue

Lee Jae-myung’s liberal government defies expectations of a retreat, in a move likely to trigger an angry reaction from Pyongyang.

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People look at pictures of North Koreans missing in North Korea during an exhibition in Seoul, South Korea, in October. Photo: EPA
Italy

Did ‘war tourists’ pay to kill civilians for sport in Sarajevo?

Wealthy would-be snipers are alleged to have paid six-figure sums to shoot precision rifles from Bosnian Serb army positions.

Israel

Israeli settlers torch West Bank mosque sparking US concern

Israeli settlers torched a mosque, defacing it with hateful graffiti, prompting rare condemnations from officials amid rising tensions.

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Bangladesh

‘Judicial mockery’: Bangladesh’s Hasina slams trial as verdict nears

Former PM defends crackdown after protests ‘darkened into mob violence’ and calls trial a political hatchet job driven by her rivals.

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Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attends a discussion at the Munich Security Conference in 2024. Hasina has taken refuge in India after student-led protests forced her from office in August 2024. Photo: dpa
Malaysia

Malaysia launches fresh probe into activists’ abductions after court ruling

Police have formed a new investigation team while they seek to overturn a high court decision that faulted them for both disappearances.

The Philippines

‘Test the waters’: rumoured ICC plan to arrest Duterte ally grips Philippines

The ombudsman’s revelation of an arrest warrant may be a calculated risk to test the waters on possible reactions, analysts say.

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South Korea

Hundreds of South Korean workers to sue ICE over raid at Hyundai-LG plant

About 200 detainees seek compensation and plan to sue for racial discrimination, human rights violations, and excessive force during the arrests.

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Detainees are made to stand against a bus before being handcuffed, during a raid by federal agents in Ellabell, Georgia, in September. Photo: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Reuters
Indonesia

Why Indonesia’s hero status for ‘successful autocrat’ Suharto splits opinion

Supporters laud his three-decade rule for drastically cutting poverty, saving Indonesia’s economy and delivering national pride.

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Indonesian President Suharto, in full military uniform, salutes an armed forces’ parade on October 5, 1997. Photo: AFP
United States

US Supreme Court rejects appeal to overturn same-sex marriage ruling

The court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, denied Kim Davis’s appeal after she refused to issue marriage licences to a same-sex couple.

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France

French court frees ex-president Sarkozy from jail pending appeal

Sarkozy was granted early release from prison just weeks into a five-year sentence for 2007 campaign plot to raise campaign funds from Libya.

Bangladesh

Malaysian firms accused of exploiting Bangladeshi workers in wage dispute

The workers are seeking unpaid wages and compensation for 431 Bangladeshi labourers allegedly exploited by two Malaysian companies.

Bangladeshi workers who were employed by Malaysian companies protest in front of the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Monday. Photo: AP
Indonesia

Video | Indonesia names Suharto national hero despite protests

The new title has sparked wider concerns about historical revisionism in the country under Suharto’s former son-in-law, Prabowo.

Indonesia names Suharto national hero despite protests
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Indonesia

Outcry as Suharto named Indonesia’s national hero despite rights abuse claims

The new title has sparked wider concerns about historical revisionism in the country under Suharto’s former son-in-law, Prabowo.

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Africa

Malian woman who posted on TikTok is abducted and publicly executed

Mariam Cisse, who had 90,000 followers, was kidnapped and shot after her abductors accused her of collaborating with the army.

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Israel-Gaza war

Israel confirms receiving remains of soldier killed in 2014 Gaza war

The return of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin’s remains closes an 11-year chapter that has haunted both his family and the nation.

Supporters wearing T-shirts and holding banners with the image of Israeli soldier Hadar Goldin outside the National Centre of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv. Photo: EPA
Crime in China

China quietly curbs abuse of detention procedure linked to suspect deaths

New guidelines on supervision, approval and execution of ‘residential surveillance at a designated location’ leaked online.

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Indonesia

Elephant tramples Indonesian girl to death as human-wildlife conflict escalates

The real issue is not the endangered animals – it is the loss of their habitat, conservationists say.

Israel-Gaza war

Palestinian death toll passes 69,000 as Israel-Gaza truce allows body recovery

As part of the US-brokered deal, Israel has released the remains of 15 Palestinians for each Israeli hostage returned.

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A Palestinian family sits around a fire amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Friday. Photo: AFP
Africa

Hundreds face treason charges in Tanzania after presidential poll protests

Police have also issued arrest warrants for some of the top opposition officials days after President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s landslide win.

Tanzanians charged with treason for alleged involvement in last week’s violent protests arrive at the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam on Friday. Photo: Reuters
Africa

‘Like a jungle’: inside the eSwatini prison holding US deportees

Africa’s last absolute monarchy has agreed to accept deportees in exchange for US$5.1 million to bolster its migration system.

Africa

Sudan’s paramilitaries agree to US-backed humanitarian ceasefire proposal

Announcement comes after Sudan’s RSF was accused of mass killings in the captured city of El-Fasher.

Ukraine war

Ukraine jails Russian soldier for life for killing POW in first such ruling

Kyiv has repeatedly accused Moscow’s forces of killing POWs after they have surrendered in battle.

Captured Russian soldier Dmitry Kurashov attends a court hearing in the city of Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, on Thursday. Photo: EPA
Malaysia

Malaysia to appeal against damages ruling for families of abducted activists

The high court found the government and police had failed in their duties over the disappearances of Pastor Raymond Koh and Amri Che Mat.

Malaysian activists Raymond Koh (left) and Amri Che Mat. Koh was abducted in February 2017, while Amri went missing in November 2016. Photo: Facebook
Africa

Mass graves, blood stains: satellite images point to horrors in seized Sudan city

Analysis of imagery shows mass graves being dug near a hospital and a mosque, raising alarm over the scale of the carnage in El-Fasher.

Japan

Japan’s welfare crackdown has foreign residents in its sights

New rules threaten non-renewal of visas if foreign residents do not pay their health insurance premiums and pension contributions in full.

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