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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.
A Myanmar police officer stands guard during the Union Solidarity and Development Party’s election campaign on the final day of campaigning in Naypyitaw on Friday. Photo: EPA
Myanmar

‘Lost my future’: Myanmar’s ‘charade’ election dims hopes of diaspora

The junta’s phased election starting on Sunday has been slammed as a ploy for its generals to stay in power.

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Venezuela

Venezuela ‘frees 99 prisoners’ detained after 2024 election protests

Middle East

Blast in Syria kills 8 at mosque targeting Alawite minority in Homs

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Africa

The brutal life of child recruits under a shadowy African rebel group

Kidnapped, drugged and forced to loot, survivors detail life inside the ADF’s hidden forest camps in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A charred wreckage of a truck following an attack by Islamic State-affiliated Allied Democratic Forces rebels, in the town of Ntoyo in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, in September. Photo: Reuters
Myanmar

Stay or go? Rohingya see no way out of predicament as Myanmar heads to poll

Myanmar’s phased election, set to start on Sunday, is likely to be steered by the same leaders responsible for driving the Rohingya out.

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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.

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Hong Kong society

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

The city’s children need better legal protection from cruelty, sexual grooming and internet advances.

There is a pressing need to criminalise the sexual grooming of children on the internet, along with sexual messaging. Photo: Shutterstock
Africa

Algeria brands French colonisation a crime, demands reparations, apology

France’s rule over Algeria from 1830 until 1962 remains a sore spot in relations between the two countries.

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Singapore

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.

Donald Trump

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.

Police officers keep watch on new inmates at the CECOT facility in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in March 2023. Photo: El Salvador Presidency Press Office via AFP
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.

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Yuanxin, the six-year-old son of Chinese asylum seeker Fei Zheng, whose separation by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late 2025 sparked national attention and public outcry. Photo: Handout
United States

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.

United States

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.

Africa

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.

A Sudanese refugee girl from Darfur rests beside a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) tent inside the Touloum refugee camp, on the outskirts of the town of Iriba in Wadi Fira province, eastern Chad, on November 30. Photo: Reuters
Malaysia

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.

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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.

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.

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Africa

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.

Fire and smoke at Zamzam camp near the besieged Darfur city of El-Fasher in April, where Sudan’s RSF carried out an attack that killed hundreds. Photo: Maxar Technologies via AFP
Myanmar

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.

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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.

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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.

A Sudanese refugee girl who fled from El-Fashir city, Sudan, at a transit camp in eastern Chad. Photo: Reuters
Singapore

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.

People gather next to the Merlion statue at the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade in Singapore. Officials say Singapore’s death penalty helps keep the city among the world’s safest. Photo: AFP
United Nations

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’.

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Iran

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.

Japan

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.

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Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks to the media in Tokyo on Monday. Photo: Kyodo/Reuters
Africa

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.

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

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.

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.

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