Human Rights Updates

Urgent actions and news from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, International PEN, Front Line Defenders and Survival International. Submissions and asks always welcome!

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Tunisia: Harsh Sentences for Rights Defenders

New Convictions Amid Drastic Closing of Civic Space

(Beirut) – Tunisian courts sentenced eight human rights defenders to prison terms and fines in recent days for charges connected to their human rights work, including two prominent women who were handed harsh sentences, Human Rights Watch said today.

On June 26, 2026, a Tunis Court of First Instance sentenced Sihem Bensedrine, the former president of the Truth and Dignity Commission, to 25 years in prison and a joint fine with several other defendants of approximately 1.8 billion Tunisian dinars (about US$600 million). Three days earlier, a Tunis appeals court sentenced Saadia Mosbah, president of the antiracism association Mnemty (“My Dream” in Tunisian Arabic), to eight years in prison and a fine of 122,000 dinars (about $41,400). It sentenced five other Mnemty members to prison terms ranging from one to three years, some of which were suspended.

“The harsh prison sentences and astronomical fines are another devastating blow to human rights defenders and all those fighting to preserve what remains of Tunisia’s civic space,” said Bassam Khawaja, deputy Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “By targeting leading human rights figures, the authorities are crushing their demands and quashing the quest for social justice in Tunisia.”

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Thailand: Investigate Marine Barracks Brutality

Conscripts Allege Being Beaten, Whipped, Burned

(Bangkok) – Thai authorities should criminally investigate the alleged torture and ill-treatment of conscripts in the Royal Thai Navy’s Marine Division, Human Rights Watch said today. The Thai government and military should end the longstanding practice of hazing and other brutality against conscripts and prosecute wrongdoers according to the law, regardless of their rank.

On June 22, 2026, Private Panuwat, whose full name has been withheld for security reasons, alleged in a media interview that on May 30, a group of senior conscripts had beaten him and other conscripts, stripped them naked, whipped them with belts, and burned them with hot wax and a cigarette lighter in a hazing activity at the 1st King's Guard Infantry Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, Marine Division in Chonburi province. The Royal Thai Navy soon announced disciplinary measures against those allegedly responsible but did not open a criminal investigation.

“The ordeal Private Panuwat and other conscripts experienced shows that the Royal Thai Navy keeps breaking its promises to end torture and other brutality in the barracks,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities need to protect conscripts by fully investigating and criminally prosecuting all those responsible for such heinous hazing, including officers who permit this to happen under their command.”

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UN Human Rights Council Opaquely Closes Rights Complaint Against Tajikistan

Transparency, Participation Needed to Shed Light on Tajik Rights Abuses

At the current session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC), a closed meeting about human rights in Tajikistan curiously appeared on the agenda. Held in response to a complaint submitted under an opaque procedure of the Human Rights Council, there is no public information about the meeting, which only compounds the grave human rights situation in Tajikistan.

Tajikistan is among the most repressive states in Central Asia, with high numbers of journalists and public figures jailed for their opinions on government policies, hundreds of nongovernmental organizations closed, systematic repression of ethnic minorities in the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast province, and the government actively engaged in transnational repression. Tajikistan has officially banned several political movements and parties as “extremist,” with members serving lengthy prison terms or hunted down wherever they flee.

The Pamiri ethnic minority in Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast continuously faces severe, systematic repression. Following protests in May 2022, the security forces carried out mass arrests and used deadly force against peaceful protestors, leaving approximately 40 people dead. More than 200 residents were prosecuted behind closed doors and received long sentences, including at least 20 human rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists who were critical of the government’s actions, such as journalist Ulfatkhonim Mamadshoeva and lawyer Manuchehr Kholiknazarov.

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Indonesia: Surge in Abuse Against LGBT Students

Attacks During Pride Month Celebrations Highlight Need for Government Action

(London) – Harassment and attacks against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) university students in Indonesia escalated during the June 2026 Pride Month celebrations, Human Rights Watch said today. At least 10 public universities have recently adopted discriminatory regulations and are curbing student media coverage and social media discussions around gender and sexual diversity, undermining freedom of expression.

The administrators of these universities should take immediate steps to protect academic freedom and freedom of expression. The government should review and revise laws and policies that facilitate attacks on LGBT people.

“Indonesian authorities are looking the other way during an upsurge of attacks on LGBT university students and others,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Indonesia’s universities are contributing to the problem by discriminating against students on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.”

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Egypt: Refugees, Asylum Seekers Arrested, Deported

Amend New Asylum Law in Line with International Standards

(Beirut) – Many refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt, mostly from Sudan and South Sudan, have faced a months-long campaign of arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, and deportation, Human Rights Watch said today. Egyptian authorities are arresting refugees and asylum seekers whose residency permits have expired due to the government’s prolonged administrative delays, including people with valid UNHCR cards.

Refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt are required to renew their residency permits with the government annually, but due to government backlogs, some people are being given renewal dates as late as 2028, leaving them exposed to these abuses. At the same time, refugee status determination, long handled by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Egypt, is due to be transferred to the government under the 2024 Asylum Law. However, the government has yet to implement the law’s bylaws, and UNHCR also faces a backlog in processing asylum applications.

“Refugees and asylum seekers in Egypt are losing their residency status because of bureaucratic delays, and are being jailed and deported for lacking the very documents the government has failed to provide,” said Michelle Randhawa, senior refugee and migrant rights officer at Human Rights Watch. “Detaining asylum seekers and refugees simply because their documents expired due to the government’s administrative delays is both arbitrary and draconian.”

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Japan Should Reject Myanmar Junta’s Call for Development Aid

Don’t Ignore Military’s Poor Record on Rights, Humanitarian Assistance

Khin Khin Soe, the spokesperson for Myanmar’s military-controlled parliament, urged the Japanese government on June 30 to resume development aid to the country. At a news conference in Naypyidaw, Myanmar’s capital, the spokesperson said “ordinary citizens will suffer” from Japan’s continued suspension of new aid.

Japan suspended development assistance—support for long-term government projects, not urgent humanitarian aid—to Myanmar after the February 2021 military coup.

The spokesperson’s expressed concern for the wellbeing of Myanmar’s people bears no relation to the junta’s actions. Since the coup, the junta has committed widespread and systematic human rights abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, and attacks on civilians that amount to crimes against humanity and war crimes. Myanmar’s military misused Japan-funded civilian vessels in 2022 to transport soldiers and weapons in embattled Rakhine State. Human Rights Watch research also found that a military-owned conglomerate benefited financially through Japan’s Bago River Bridge Construction Project.

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Sahel Countries’ Withdrawal From ICC Betrays Victims

Governments Should Urge Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger to Reverse Decision

Niger on June 18 and Burkina Faso and Mali on June 24 notified the United Nations secretary-general of their respective decisions to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The withdrawals take effect in one year.

The three military juntas provided similar reasons for their withdrawal in their notifications to the UN. Niger accused the court of being “misused and exploited” and Burkina Faso claimed the court is “becoming a selective and politicized tool.” However, the three governments did not mention the increasing international condemnation they are facing for atrocities committed by their security forces and their widespread repression of human rights.

In January 2025, the three countries had left the Economic Community of West African States regional bloc, depriving victims of grave abuses possible redress in the West African regional court

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Burkina Faso Forces Closure of UN Human Rights Office

Departure Ends Independent International Presence in Country Rife with Abuse

After months of silence from Burkina Faso’s military junta, the United Nations Human Rights Office announced on June 30 that it would permanently close its operations in the country, ending its ability to monitor, document, and report on human rights abuses at a time when conflict continues and violations are rampant.

The government suspended the UN Human Rights Office’s local operations in February just weeks after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk urged authorities to end the repression of civic space and abandon plans to ban political parties. The UN Human Rights Office subsequently sought clarification on the duration of the suspension numerous times but received no response.

During a June 30 meeting with the Resident Coordinator Maurice Azonnankpo in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso’s capital, Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré accused international organizations of behaving like “super police,” saying they had overstepped the country’s sovereignty.

The UN Human Rights Office has operated in Burkina Faso since 2019, expanding into a fully mandated country office in 2021 under a host-country agreement signed with the government. With offices across the country, the UN monitored abuses, supported victims and human rights defenders, advised authorities, and helped create one of the few remaining channels for dialogue on human rights. Its departure means there will no longer be an independent international presence documenting what is happening in the country where abuses are widespread. An April report by Human Rights Watch documented war crimes, crimes against humanity by all parties to the conflict, and the government’s ethnic cleansing of the Fulani community.

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Hungary’s Sovereignty Protection Office Abolished

Move Ends Fidesz-Era Entity Which Targeted Independent Media and Civil Society

Hungary’s parliament voted overwhelmingly on June 30 to abolish the Sovereignty Protection Office, an institution created by the previous Fidesz government to target independent journalists, civil society organizations, and academics receiving foreign funding. The move—which awaits the signature of Hungary’s President—is a positive step towards restoring the rule of law and a rights-respecting culture in Hungary.

The Sovereignty Protection Office, created under a 2023 law, investigated people and organizations the Fidesz government alleged were acting on behalf of foreign interests. It operated with limited oversight, using its authority to target and harass organizations critical of Fidesz rule, among them the NGO Transparency International Hungary and the investigative journalism outlet, Átlátszó.

The European Commission had opened an infringement case before the Court of Justice of the European Union over the Sovereignty Protection Office. The Court has not yet ruled on the case, but its advocate general published their opinion in February concluding that the office’s mandate infringes on EU fundamental rights and finding that its investigative powers “have a chilling effect and may lead to self-censorship by journalists and/or publishers and press organisations.”

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Amnesty International UK Urgent Action: Protect the Bille residents in the Niger Delta

230 emails have been sent. Help us get to 500

The residents of the town of Bille, in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, are continuing to face a serious health emergency.

Bille is a coastal community that is located on an island in the mouth of the Niger Delta and is only accessible by boat. Fishing is one of the community’s main industries.

Since October 2025, methane gas has been bubbling up in nearby rivers and swamps and is now affecting a significant amount of the town’s drinking wells. Bille’s school children have been forced to move to another community for safety.

In April, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission visited Bille to launch an investigation into the leaks and has ordered oil companies operating nearby to find a solution.

While this is a positive development, little has been done to identify and stop the leaks - research into methane leaks in other parts of the world have linked them to poorly decommissioned oil and gas wells.

The Government of Nigeria has a duty to protect the residents of Bille from potentially lethal methane leaks, including any which may be caused or contributed to by private actors, such as oil companies.

Write to the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to demand that they protect the residents of Bille now.

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Amnesty International UK Urgent Action: Release paediatrician and hospital director Dr Hussam Abu Safiya

7,876 emails have been sent. Help us get to 10,000

On 27 December 2024, the Israeli military raided Kamal Adwan hospital in Mashrou’ Beit Lahiya and arbitrarily detained its director, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya, along with other medical staff and patients.

UPDATE: On 16 June 2026 Israel’s Supreme Court upheld the latest detention order against him, which would keep him in detention until at least October. Since 3 June, Dr. Abu Safiya has been held in solitary confinement while continuing to be denied access to adequate healthcare.

The December 2024 raid not only forced the last major functioning medical facility in North Gaza governorate out of service, but also silenced one of the most prominent voices highlighting the decimation of Gaza’s healthcare sector.

During Israel’s military campaign and its ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has arbitrarily detained and forcibly disappeared hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers without charges or trial. Health workers have been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, held in detention or subjected to conditions amounting to enforced disappearance.

The destruction of Gaza’s health sector is a key tactic in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. Some of the tools currently used by Israel’s military as they commit genocide have been provided by the US software company, Palantir. In 2023, NHS England awarded a £330 million contract to Palantir to provide a new data platform. Due to its role in human rights abuses, including the ongoing genocide, Amnesty’s message is clear – No Palantir in our NHS.

We stand in solidarity with Palestinian healthcare workers and patients who continue to endure unimaginable violence, and we demand accountability for the systematic dismantling of Gaza’s healthcare system. We call for an end to the unlawful detention and mistreatment of medical personnel, and for full accountability for those responsible.

Demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all detained health workers. Pending their release, they must ensure their protection from torture and other ill-treatment and provide him, and other detained healthcare workers, adequate healthcare.

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Amnesty UK Urgent Action - Release arbitrarily detained British national Ahmed al-Doush

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Saudi authorities arrested British national Ahmed al-Doush, a senior business analyst with Bank of America, on 31 August 2024 at the airport in Riyadh as he was returning to the UK after visiting Saudi Arabia with his wife and children.

The Specialized Criminal Court (SCC) sentenced him to 10 years in prison on 12 May 2025, shortened to eight years on appeal in June 2025, and then to five years in April 2026. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) recently concluded that his detention is arbitrary under international law and that he should be immediately released.

Ahmed al-Doush is currently held in al-Hair Prison in the capital Riyadh. As a result of restrictions by prison authorities on what he can share with his wife during his phone calls with her, she has not received detailed information about his court proceedings, including evidence against him or the charge sheet, trial judgment or appeal judgment, nor updates on prison conditions or his health.

During interrogations, he said to his family that he was told that if not for his social media activity, he would be home with his family. Notably, his X account has only 37 followers and a total of four posts. In his first hearing in late January 2025, after nearly five months of being denied access to a court, the judge told him that charges would be issued for using social media to spread fake, untrue and damaging news against the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and that he was accused of having a relationship with an individual who threatened the Kingdom's national security.

Ahmed al-Doush’s mental well-being has deteriorated significantly in prison - write to the Minister of Justice to demand he be released immediately.

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US: Haitians Set to Lose Protections, Risk Return to Violence

Supreme Court Decision Leaves Hundreds of Thousands at Risk Amid Haiti Crisis

(Miami) – The Trump administration’s move to terminate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitians has triggered widespread fear among Haitian communities in Florida of family separation, job loss, and deportation to a country engulfed by violence and a humanitarian crisis, Human Rights Watch and Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center said today. The US Supreme Court’s June 25, 2026, decision allowing the termination to move forward has made those concerns immediate and sharp, leaving hundreds of thousands of Haitians at risk of losing protection.TPS is a mechanism under US law that allows the executive branch to grant people of designated nationalities who are already in the United States the right to live and work in the country for a finite period, because conditions in their home countries are too dangerous to return people to. The Trump administration had moved to terminate TPS for Haitians, arguing that country conditions have improved and that the country’s “breakdown in governance” makes Haiti unable to control migration. A federal district court had temporarily blocked the termination on February 3, 2026. The Supreme Court reversed that order, allowing the termination decision to take effect while litigation continues.“Without TPS protections, Haitians risk being sent back to one of the world’s most devastating human rights crises,” said Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “Congress should act swiftly to preserve TPS protections for Haitians and prevent that from happening.”

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Lebanon/Israel: Framework Agreement Betrays Victims of War Crimes in Lebanon

Limits Right to Seek Justice; Prolongs Massive Displacement

(Beirut) – The Israel-Lebanon framework agreement signed in Washington on June 26, 2026, threatens to betray war crimes victims in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch and five human rights and press freedom organizations said today. Parts of the text appear to be aimed at preventing victims of serious international crimes from seeking justice before international forums. Others seem to acquiesce to the prolonged and indefinite forced displacement of tens of thousands of residents of vast swathes of southern Lebanon occupied by Israeli forces.The agreement comes following months of hostilities resulting in immense civilian harm, including as a result of war crimes, violations of international humanitarian law, and gross human rights abuses. Yet, Clause 13 of the agreement commits the governments of Israel and Lebanon to the cessation of “all hostile or adverse actions in international political or legal fora.”To the extent that this agreement is interpreted to prevent Lebanon and Israel from having recourse to international courts, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ), it would contradict the countries’ international legal obligations to pursue accountability for serious international crimes committed on their territories. The agreement does not appear to commit Israel to halt any initiatives in international forums against Hezbollah.Clause 3 further violates international law and the prohibition of forced displacement, conditioning the return of residents to specified zones along the border, currently occupied by Israel, to the “successful disarmament of non-state armed groups and dismantlement of their infrastructure.” Under international humanitarian law, people must be allowed to return once hostilities have ended or the reasons for their displacement cease to exist.

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NATO Convenes in Ankara as Erdogan Crushes Opposition

Rights, Democracy, Rule of Law at Stake

Turkey is preparing to host the July NATO summit with the Western alliance firmly focused on keeping its most eastern member on side. The increased geopolitical capital that Turkey has enjoyed since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and tumultuous developments in the Middle East is proving convenient cover for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to jail and remove political rivals and critics at home. Just under two weeks before the summit, police in Ankara rounded up over 200 people right after the authorities announced draconian bans on all demonstrations and public gatherings. Erdoğan is able to count on there being barely a murmur from the country’s European partners. 

As heads of state assemble in Ankara, the jailed Istanbul mayor and main opposition Republican People’s Party presidential candidate, Ekrem İmamoğlu, will be preparing to defend himself before a court at the remote high-security prison where he has been held since March 2025. 

Prosecutors allege İmamoğlu had turned the Istanbul municipality he ran into a criminal organization – a “many-tentacled octopus,” says the indictment, adopting Erdoğan’s own description. The prosecutors have piled on multiple corruption charges against İmamoğlu and over 400 co-defendants, which could spell hundreds of years in prison for the mayor if convicted, and in the meantime remove him from politics.  

Weeks of trial hearings so far demonstrated only that the evidence is heavy with hearsay testimony lacking in material proof that money actually changed hands for corrupt enrichment. And a growing number of those in the dock are complaining that prosecutors twisted their arms with promises of release in return for providing unsubstantiated information against the mayor and others, in some cases even threatening to detain their relatives unless they complied.  

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Sudan: UN Human Rights Council Holds Landmark Session to Prevent Atrocities in El Obeid

Concrete Action to Protect Civilians, Advance Accountability is Key

The UN Human Rights Council held an emergency session today on the imminent risk of atrocities in and around Sudan’s El Obeid, a city in North Kordofan. The session follows an appeal by rights groups for the Council to exercise its prevention mandate by meeting in anticipation, rather than the aftermath, of another round of devastating atrocities in Sudan’s conflict.

The UN Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan has reported an increasing and apparently indiscriminate barrage of Rapid Support Forces (RSF) drone attacks in and around El-Obeid, noting that “hospitals, markets, schools, and residential areas have also reportedly been struck, causing civilian casualties and disrupting essential services.”

These reports are eerily reminiscent of the weeks preceding the RSF’s assault on El Fasher, which the UN Fact-Finding Mission concluded bore the “hallmarks of genocide.” The RSF’s modus operandi is clear: it must be stopped.

The session witnessed increased calls for action to address external support for the RSF, notably by the UAE, whose support to the RSF has been spotlighted again in recent months. UN actors and states called on those providing military support to the RSF to stop, and to use their influence to prevent further atrocities, clearly alluding to but failing to call out the UAE explicitly.

Both the Fact-Finding Mission and the UN Human Rights Office said they are investigating the role of external actors and the war economy fueling atrocities in Sudan, and the High Commissioner highlighted the need for greater scrutiny of “foreign players […] benefiting from the carnage.”

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EU Should Build on Hungary’s Recommitment to ICC

European Union Should Speak Out Forcefully for International Justice

With Hungary's reversal of its decision to leave the International Criminal Court (ICC), the European Union has an opportunity to extend the significance of this moment for international justice well beyond Budapest. EU leaders should state clearly and with one voice in the conclusion of the upcoming June 18-19 European Council meeting that their support for international justice and the ICC is consistent and unwavering.

References to the ICC in European Council conclusions, the statements issued after the quarterly meetings of the EU heads of governments, have been limited in recent years. This is entirely out of step with a court that is pursuing justice for atrocities globally, from Ukraine to Sudan to Palestine, and as it faces threats and attacks from powerful actors, such as Russia and the United States.

Hungary has formally notified the United Nations secretary-general that it will remain a party to the ICC treaty, the Rome Statute. Hungary’s membership was due to end on June 2, following the former Fidesz government’s decision in 2025 to withdraw.