Media Coverage

France has opened its first trial into officials from the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad with three top security officers tried in absentia for complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Paris Criminal Court was on May 21 hearing the cases against the officials for...

The leaders of Norway, Ireland and Spain have said their countries will formally recognize Palestine as a state next week for the sake of “peace in the Middle East,“ prompting Israel to immediately recall its envoys. Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said on May 22 that a two-state solution...

José Rubén Zamora has spent nearly two years locked in a dark 16 by 13-foot cell in a Guatemalan prison, allowed only one hour a day in the sunlight. The journalist’s money laundering conviction was tossed out, and last week a judge finally ordered his conditional release to await a new trial. But...

For years, the African National Congress rose above politics in South Africa. It was a movement dedicated to freeing Black people from the oppression of white minority rule and to the lofty principle of democracy, equality and a better life for all South Africans. That has been difficult for the ANC...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's office has requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defense chief, and for three Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ICC's founding Rome statute combined with jurisprudence...

A Russian playwright and theatre director accused of “justifying terrorism” have told a Moscow court that they are innocent on the first day of their trial over the staging of an award-winning play. The arrest of director Yevgeniya Berkovich and writer Svetlana Petriychuk in May last year sent shock...

Fighting between the Myanmar military and the Arakan Army (AA) has escalated in the western state of Rakhine in recent days, putting thousands of mostly Muslim Rohingya who live in the area at increased risk. Based on interviews with Rohingya activists who have spoken to witnesses in Buthidaung...

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said on May 18 that he will ensure all political parties are free to operate if he unseats President Nicolas Maduro in a July vote, and he urged the military to uphold the country's institutions as intended by the constitution. Gonzalez, a former...

Tunisian authorities have arrested at least nine people amid escalating government actions in recent weeks to muzzle free speech, prosecute dissent, and crack down on migrants and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said on May 17. Tunisian authorities should respect and protect space for independent...

Palestinians are marking 76 years of dispossession on May 15, commemorating their mass expulsion from what is today Israel, as a potentially larger catastrophe unfolds in Gaza where over a quarter of the population has been displaced by fighting in the last few days alone. Israel has been pressing...