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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.
Cambodian Pheap Rom poses for picture at a restaurant in Phnom Penh on March 30, 2026. A Cambodian refugee long-settled in the United States, ex-convict Pheap Rom, remains bewildered at how he wound up behind bars in the African nation of Eswatini for months after being swept up in Donald Trump’s deportation blitz. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP) / To go with ‘Cambodia-Eswatini-US-Migrants-Rights-Crime’ Focus by Suy Se and Matt Surrusco
Cambodia

Video | Cambodian man deported to Africa by Trump administration

Pheap Rom was among 20 men sent to Eswatini under Trump’s ‘third country’ deals.

Britain

UK’s counterterror police probe another London arson attack

Aung San Suu Kyi

Video | Myanmar frees thousands of prisoners, including former president

Myanmar

Myanmar frees Win Myint, cuts Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison term in amnesty deal

Newly elected president Min Aung Hlaing also commuted all death sentences and released 4,300 prisoners to mark the Thingyan new year.

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Aung San Suu Kyi attends a press conference at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo on October 9, 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE
Iran

Jailed Iranian Nobel winner ‘critical’ after heart attack

Supporters say the life of 2023 peace laureate Narges Mohammadi is at ‘immediate and irreparable risk’ in an Iranian prison.

Africa

Sudan enters 4th year of war as ‘abandoned crisis’ grows

The war has pushed parts of Sudan into famine and the UN says about 34 million people, or almost two of every three Sudanese, need help.

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Hong Kong courts

Hong Kong retiree gets 1 year in jail for seditious social media comments

Raymond Chong, 61, pleaded guilty at West Kowloon Court to knowingly publishing 53 seditious Facebook posts that denigrated central and local authorities.

The court knocked six months off Raymond Chong’s 18-month sentence in recognition of his guilty plea. Photo: Jelly Tse
South Korea

What is really behind South Korea’s diplomatic row with Israel?

Lee Jae Myung’s clash was about more than human rights, analysts say – it was about energy security and sending a message to Donald Trump.

Africa

At least 200 feared dead after Nigerian air strike hits busy village market

Nigerian Air Force launches investigation into civilian casualties at Jilli Market as it targeted jihadists.

Middle East

Israeli bombardment kills infant in Lebanon during father’s funeral

The air strike took place on Wednesday amid hopes that the US-Iran ceasefire would apply to Lebanon, as Israeli strikes killed more than 350.

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A Lebanese soldier next to a building destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in Beirut, Lebanon, on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua
India

Fish and vegetarianism major flashpoints in India’s West Bengal election

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party has promoted dietary restrictions as part of its Hindu nationalist agenda.

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A labourer inspects a Hindustan Ambassador yellow taxi, transporting fish at a wholesale market on January 30, in Kolkata, West Bengal state, India. Photo: AFP
Indonesia

Indonesian activists target Myanmar’s president in genocide case against him

The complaint seeks to hold Min Aung Hlaing accountable for international crimes in an Indonesian court, following recent legal changes.

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Japan

Japan’s deportation drive strikes fear into asylum seekers, foreign residents

Rights groups warn the government’s push to remove more undocumented migrants clashes with its duty to protect refugees.

China-Latin America relations

Brazil blacklists China EV giant BYD for its slave labour conditions

Government officials said staff were working excessively long hours while being kept in degrading circumstances in their accommodation.

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BYD’s electric vehicle factory’s construction site in Camaçari, Brazil, in December 2024. Photo: Reuters
France

France’s Sarkozy challenges conviction over alleged Libya funding

He was found guilty in September of criminal conspiracy and sentenced to 5 years in prison.

France’s former president Nicolas Sarkozy returns after a break during his appeal trial over charges he sought Libyan financing for his 2007 election, at the Palais de Justice courthouse in Paris on Tuesday. Photo: AFP
Middle East

1 dead after gunmen open fire outside Israeli consulate in Istanbul

The two other assailants were captured with injuries.

Gun violence in the US

Video sheds light on Minnesota ICE shooting after charges against men collapsed

Authorities initially accused 2 Venezuelan men of beating an ICE officer during a chase and scuffle in Minneapolis in January.

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Afghanistan

Afghan mother demands answers after son dies in Pakistani hospital bombing

Human rights groups have called for an independent investigation into the March 16 strike on a drug treatment centre that killed 411.

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Samira Muhammadi holds up a photograph of her son, Aref Khan, who was killed by a Pakistani airstrike that struck a drug rehabilitation centre on March 16.Photo: AFP
Africa

DR Congo to receive third-country deportees from US under deal

Kinshasa to receive US-funded deportees as the Trump administration expands controversial migration agreements across Africa.

United States

US court reinstates US$656 million judgment against PLO and Palestinian Authority

Following a 2025 Supreme Court ruling, judges revive a decade-old verdict for American victims of terror attacks in Israel.

US, Israel war on Iran

Rights groups raise alarm after Iran executes 2 more opposition group members

The hangings are the latest targeting members of the banned People’s Mojahedin of Iran after four others were executed earlier in the week.

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People protest outside the US State Department on Monday to highlight the executions of MEK members in Karaj, Iran. Photo: AP
Scams and swindles

Cambodia’s high-stakes war on online scam compounds

Cambodia has vowed to stamp out the scam compounds on its soil by month’s end – but perpetrators remain drawn to the potential for huge profits.

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Illustration: Davies Christian
Malaysia

Malaysia drops appeal on abducted activist’s case, family still seeks answers

Rights group Suhakam says the police Special Branch was involved in the disappearances of Raymond Koh and another activist, Amri Che Mat.

Malaysia

‘Feels unreal’: Indonesian grandma freed from Malaysian death row flies home

Ani Anggraeni spent nearly 15 years in prison for drug trafficking before her death sentence was commuted and she was later pardoned.

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United States

Trump fires Pam Bondi as US president’s frustration with bad news grows

Attorney general’s removal follows the ouster of Trump’s homeland security and border patrol chiefs amid a wave of negative headlines.

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US Attorney General Pam Bondi and US President Donald Trump on Monday. Bondi was fired on Thursday. Photo: Reuters
Middle East

Surging ‘Jewish terrorism’ in West Bank condemned but goes unpunished

Tel Aviv-based INSS reports an increase in settler attacks since the start of the Iran war, along with a rise in ‘the severity of the acts’.

A Palestinian boy looks at a burnt vehicle following a reported attack by Israeli settlers in Jalud village, south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. Photo: AFP
US-China relations

China targeted in US birthright citizenship debate, but court justices sceptical

China benefiting from ‘birth tourism industry’, top litigator claims, with Trump in attendance – a historic first for a sitting president.

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Myanmar

Why Myanmar top general’s exit is window dressing to cement military rule

Min Aung Hlaing, who has resigned from the armed forces, is set to get approval from the military-allied parliament to become president.

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