International Community Ramps Up Action on Venezuela Crisis

One year into the most recent series of protests and a humanitarian crisis with no end in sight, international groups have called for action to help protect Venezuelans. A complex political and economic crisis in Venezuela has left millions without access to basic services and resources, prompting UN agencies and human rights groups like Human Rights Watch to speak up and urge action.

India Cracks Down on Human Trafficking

The Indian Union Cabinet has cleared the long-awaited Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, which proposes an imprisonment of 10 years to life term for those trafficking humans for the purpose of begging, marriage, prostitution or labour, among others. The bill will become a law once cleared by both houses of Parliament.

I Am a Migrant: Integrating Through Syrian ‘Hummus’

Khaled left Syria in 2015, when his country was already in its fourth year of war. He is 27 years old and can clearly remember what his life was like then in Damascus: a happy life, with a happy family, in a happy country.

Washington’s Ambiguity Equals De Facto Sanctions On Teheran

Over the last few months, the United States’ rhetoric on the Iran nuclear agreement has been ambiguous, creating an uncertain environment for investors. With John Bolton, President Donald Trump has now appointed a national security adviser who is actively seeking to leave the Iran deal.

Conflicts Force Up Global Hunger Levels

Largely driven by conflict, the number of hungry people has dramatically increased around the world, reversing decades of progress, according to a new report.

Chemical Weapons in Syria? Time for Outrage

US Defense Secretary James Mattis dropped a political bombshell last week when he said the U.S. has no evidence to confirm reports that the Syrian government had used the deadly chemical sarin on its citizens.

El Salvador’s Shameful Treatment of Women Who Miscarry

Mayra Veronica Figueroa Marroquin (34) was released from prison earlier this month after serving time for what she argued was a miscarriage. Her sentence was reduced from 30 years to the 15 years she had already spent behind bars.

Poland Sues Argentine Newspaper Under New Holocaust Law

Can an official historical truth be universally imposed in defence of a nation's reputation? Poland believes that it can, and launched a crusade against those who accuse the Polish State or citizens of complicity with the Holocaust. An Argentine newspaper was its first victim.

Sexual Abuse Where UN Chief has No Jurisdiction to Act

As sexual harassment charges in the UN system keep piling up, the UN Secretariat has a new administrative problem on its hands: accusations of sexual abuse in the New York office of the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC) whose members are elected by the 193-member General Assembly – but not answerable either to the Secretary-General or the President of the Assembly.

The Dark Chapter of Zimbabwe’s History That Won’t Go Away

With Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa just concluding a 100-day timeline to address what he considered the country’s most pressing issues, which focused on economic revival, human rights activists have their own timeline.

A New Low for Security Council as Russia Takes Syrian Human Rights Off the Table

There is nothing controversial about saying the UN Security Council has failed Syria. Diplomats have openly admitted it, journalists have written about it, human rights organizations have declared it - several times over in the past seven years. But what happened this week was deplorable and unacceptable, even by the very low standards we now have for the Council when it comes to Syria.

A Pledge for Parity

With March marking Women’s History Month, the debate over gender-based discrimination couldn’t have reached its new peak at a more critical time.

Dowry Death or Murder?

Dowry deaths rose from about 19 per day in 2001 to 21 per day in 2016. It is indeed alarming that the rise in dowry deaths is unabated despite greater stringency of anti-dowry laws. In 1961, the Dowry Prohibition Act made giving and taking of dowry, its abetment or the demand for it an offence punishable with imprisonment and fine or without the latter. This was an abysmal failure as dowries became a nationwide phenomenon, replacing bride price. More stringent laws followed. The Criminal Law Amendment Act in 1983 inserted a new section (498-A) to deal with persistent and grave instances of dowry demand and such offences were punishable with imprisonment extendable to three years. As cases of brutal harassment and dowry deaths continued to rise, another Act was passed in 1986, relating specifically to the offence of dowry death.

Icc Could Face New Tide of Opposition from Asia

The establishment and adoption of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Rome on July 17, 1998 could be regarded in every respect as a difficult one, like a Caesarean birth.

Water Stress Poses Greatest Threat to MENA Region

This year, World Water Day, celebrated annually on 22 March, is themed “Nature for Water”, examining nature-based solutions (NBS) to the world’s water problems.

Struggle vs Terror

“One man’s terrorist,” goes the received wisdom, “Is another’s freedom fighter”. But this is foggy thinking, the kind of value assumption that justifies whichever side one feels sympathetic towards. The assumption that terrorist violence is a component of most liberation movements and revolutions bears examination.

Male Survivors of Sexual Violence Suffer in Silence Due to Stigma

In the Central African Republic, 45-year-old “Theodore” was captured by an armed group in February 2017 during an attack on his village of Mingala in the country’s southeast. He was taken with 21 other men to a nearby ad hoc rebel military base and locked up in a house-turned-prison guarded by six armed men.

Rohingya Crisis May Be Genocide, UN Officials Say

In the wake of persistent violence against the Rohingya community, UN officials have expressed growing fears that genocide is being incited and committed in Myanmar.

We Must Protect the Future for Palestinian Refugee Girls

As people across the globe marked International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8, the safe and secure education and possibilities for the future of millions of young girls and women who are Palestinian refugees across the Middle East remained in danger.

Syria’s ‘Human Catastrophe’

Despite calls for a ceasefire, violent clashes have continued and humanitarian access remains limited in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, leaving the international community extremely concerned. Since the Syrian government intensified its attacks in recent weeks, more than 700 civilians, many of them children, have been killed in Eastern Ghouta.

In Latin America “Me Too” Doesn’t Always Mean the Same Thing

From the Argentine slogan "Ni una menos" (Not one [woman] less)" to Colombia’s “Now is not the time to remain silent”, activism against gender violence has grown in Latin America since 2015, with campaigns that have social and cultural differences from the "MeToo" movement that emerged later, in 2017, in the United States.