Tag Archives: rights

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | An Egyptian blogger famed for his satirical videos on YouTube and Facebook has been arrested, his family said on Monday. Shadi Abuzeid was detained at home on Sunday, his sister Rula told AFP. “Lawyers told us that Shadi was currently held by the state security …

Buea, Cameroon | AFP | They call it a “dirty war” — a silent conflict in Cameroon’s anglophone region marked by near-daily attacks by separatists and a brutal army backlash that shows no sign of abating. Over the past eight months, scores of police, soldiers and civilians have died in …

Paris, France | AFP | Detained Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, will be awarded UNESCO’s World Press Freedom Prize, the United Nations’ cultural body said Monday. Shawkan was arrested in August 2013 as he covered deadly clashes in Cairo between security forces and supporters of ousted …

Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Egypt’s military operations against an affiliate of the Islamic State group in North Sinai is threatening to spark a humanitarian crisis, Human Rights Watch said on Monday. The offensive launched on February 9 “has left up to 420,000 residents in four northeastern cities in urgent …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The lower house of Burundi’s parliament has voted to allow security forces in the politically tense nation to conduct night raids without a search warrant. The draft law changing the criminal code was passed late Wednesday in the lower house, with 90 votes in …

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Equatorial Guinea called Wednesday for national human rights institutions to replace international organisations across Africa, after facing accusations of a bloody crackdown following a failed coup bid last year. “I will propose the creation of human rights institutions in each African country”, longtime President …

Paris, France | AFP | Ten international rights groups called on French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday to pressure Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman over his country’s bombing campaign in Yemen. Macron is expected to host Prince Mohammed for a three-day trip to France starting Sunday, the latest stop in …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Amnesty International on Tuesday called on authorities in Mali to investigate extrajudicial killings following the discovery last week of a mass grave containing six bodies. The rights group said it had collected evidence that “the six bodies found in a mass grave on 25 March had …

Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan Thursday, saying tearfully that it was “a dream” to come home for the first time since she was airlifted to Britain after being shot in the head by a Taliban gunman more than five years ago. The 20-year-old …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States warned Friday that it was losing patience and again threatened to quit the UN Human Rights Council after the Geneva-based body adopted five resolutions condemning Israel. US Ambassador Nikki Haley said in a statement that the council was “grossly biased …