radiofree.asia

Author: Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor

  • Iranian protesters sentenced to death were tortured, says Amnesty report

    Two teenagers and 31-year-old man were subjected to torture including rape and beatings and denied fair trial, says group

    The alleged torture of three young Iranian men facing the death penalty has been detailed in a report by Amnesty International that raises deep concerns about the country’s judicial system.

    One of the men, Mehdi Mohammadifard, was raped by prison guards and severely beaten, the rights group said. Amnesty said it had learned that Mohammadifard suffered anal injuries and rectal bleeding that required treatment in a hospital outside the prison where he was being held.

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  • Family of executed British-Iranian national ‘prevented from seeing body’

    Alireza Akbari’s sister and daughter went to cemetery to collect his remains but were told he had already been interred

    The Tehran-based family of the executed British-Iranian dual national Alireza Akbari have been prevented from seeing his body or burying him in the grave in which he had asked to be laid to rest in Shiraz, his birthplace, family members have told the Guardian.

    Akbari was executed for spying for M16, charges he vehemently denied and for which there is no substantive evidence, save a confession extracted under torture.

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  • Protesters gather at Iranian prison in attempt to stop ‘imminent executions’

    Alarm raised after two men found guilty of running over police officer are moved to solitary confinement

    Protesters have gathered outside a prison near the Iranian capital in an attempt to prevent the rumoured imminent execution of two young detainees found guilty of running over a police officer in a car during protests in November.

    Footage posted on social media showed the mother of one of the men, 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou, pleading for her son outside Rajaei-Shahr prison in Karaj, a satellite city west of Tehran. She said it had been established that her son had not been at the scene when the police officer died.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti arrested after criticism of death penalty

    Detention of one of Iran’s most famous performers sign state wants to crack down on celebrities who challenge regime

    Taraneh Alidoosti, one of Iran’s most famous actors, has been detained by security forces in Tehran days after she criticised the state’s use of the death penalty against protesters.

    She had previously posted a picture of herself on her Instagram page in which she was not wearing the hijab and holding a piece of paper reading “women, life, freedom” – the slogan that has come to encapsulate the fight against the current Iranian regime.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Top Iranian footballer arrested ahead of Wales match for ‘spreading propaganda’

    Detention of Voria Ghafouri, former captain of Tehran club Esteghlal, seen as warning to World Cup team

    Iranian security forces on Thursday arrested one of the country’s most famous footballers, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic and seeking to undermine the national World Cup team.

    Voria Ghafouri, once a captain of the Tehran club Esteghlal, has been outspoken in his defence of Iranian Kurds, telling the government on social media to stop killing Kurdish people. He has previously been detained for criticising the former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iran protests: UN council votes to investigate human rights abuses

    Official says country is in ‘fully fledged human rights crisis’ as fact-finding mission launched

    The UN’s human rights council has voted overwhelmingly to set up a fact-finding investigation into human rights abuses in Iran, where an estimated 300 people have been killed and 14,000 arrested since protests began 10 weeks ago.

    At a special session convened by Germany in Geneva the HRC voted by 25 to six to set up the inquiry, with 15 abstaining. The vote is regarded as a significant victory for human rights defenders, since a mechanism now exists to file evidence of abuses by the state, making the possibility of prosecutions in international courts more likely.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK investigation to examine human rights abuses in Kazakhstan

    Commission to focus on detention of journalist and political leader Zhanbolat Mamai after nationwide protests

    The state of human rights in the vast, mineral-rich central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, including the continued detention of opposition leaders, is to be formally examined by senior UK parliamentarians including the former director of public prosecutions Lord MacDonald.

    He will lead an independent investigation into the detention and treatment of Zhanbolat Mamai, the leader of the unregistered opposition Democratic party in Kazakhstan.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Iran: deaths reported as security forces open fire on protesters in Zahedan

    Crowds in Mahabad also fired on during rally held after funeral of protester Ismail Mauludi

    Iranian security forces have opened fired on protesters in Zahedan a month after a massacre that killed scores of people in the restive south-eastern city.

    Crowds were also fired on in Mahabad, another city with a long history of resistance against the regime, in renewed deadly violence at the end of the sixth week of unrest sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini on 16 September.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Cracks appear among Iran elite as senior figure calls for hijab policing rethink

    Prominent conservative politician Ali Larijani warns against ‘rigid response’ after month of unrest

    The first cracks have started to appear among Iran’s political elite over the country’s month-long women-led protests, with a senior figure calling for a re-examination of the enforcement of compulsory hijab law and an acknowledgment that the protests have deep political roots, and are not simply the product of US or Israeli agitation.

    The call for restraint came from Ali Larijani, a former speaker of the Iranian parliament and an impeccable establishment figure. His tone contrasted with a continued uncompromising line on Wednesday from the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, parliament and security forces, as well as concerted efforts to undermine the credibility of the family of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died after being arrested by morality police last month, sparking a wave of protests across the country.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Gunshots and blasts heard at Mahsa Amini protests in Iran

    Government officials struggle to end demonstrations sparked by death in police custody of Kurdish woman

    Gunshots and explosions were heard in the Iranian Kurdish city of Sanandaj on Monday as the protests over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini continued to unfold across the country and for first time spread to Iran’s crucial oil industry.

    Government officials are struggling to end the protests led by young Iranians, especially women, previously regarded as uninterested by politics.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UN vote to ignore human rights abuses in China leaves west in dead end

    Result not to debate its own damning report shows many states are unwilling to take sides in power struggle between China and west

    In a display of raw Chinese political power, the UN has voted to turn its back on a report written by its own human rights commissioner that accused Beijing of serious human rights abuses and possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang province.

    The 47-strong UN human rights council meeting in Geneva voted on Thursday by 19 to 17 to reject an American-led call for a debate on the report at the next human rights council in spring. Eleven countries abstained. A simple majority was required.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘Women, life, liberty’: Iranian civil rights protests spread worldwide

    Demonstrations in string of major cities in solidarity with protests sparked by death of Mahsa Amini in police custody

    Worldwide protests are being held in solidarity with the growing uprising in Iran demanding greater freedom and protesting against the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by Iranian morality police.

    Demonstrations under the slogan “Women, life, liberty” are taking place in many major cities, including Rome, Zurich, Paris, London, Seoul, Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney, Stockholm and New York.

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  • Nine foreign nationals arrested in Iran as protests and violence continue

    Detainees accused of being ‘agitators’, as death toll rises and tribunal says 2019 repression was crime against humanity

    Iran’s ministry of intelligence has said that nine foreign nationals have been arrested in a round up of “agitators” allegedly linked to a wave of anti-government demonstrations that have now reached their third week. It said the detainees included nationals from Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands and Sweden.

    In a lengthy statement on Friday, the ministry also accused the US of trying to break the Iranian government’s control on the internet.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • West weighs calling for China Uyghur abuses inquiry at UN

    Battle over influence at Human Rights Council, with Beijing warning of ‘politicisation of human rights’

    Western powers are weighing the risk of a potential defeat if they table a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council calling for an independent commission to investigate alleged human rights abuses by China in Xinjiang.

    The issue is a litmus case for Chinese influence at the UN, as well as the willingness of the UN to endorse a worldview that protects individual rights from authoritarian states.

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  • Anger among MPs as Chinese vice-president to attend Queen’s funeral

    Wang Qishan to be at service despite banning of Conservative MPs due to complaints about Chinese repression

    The Chinese vice-president, Wang Qishan, is to attend the Queen’s funeral in a move that has prompted complaints from a group of British Conservative MPs that have been banned from travelling to China due to their campaigns against Chinese repression.

    Wang will be the most senior Asian political leader to attend the service at Westminster Abbey and among the representatives of authoritarian states, a grouping that also includes Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, the president of Egypt. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is expected to lead a delegation to London, although his attendance at the funeral has not yet been confirmed.

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  • Prosecutors urged to examine French role in Egyptian airstrikes on civilians

    NGOs want investigation into border counter-terrorism operation that allegedly ended up bombing suspected smugglers

    Two international NGOs have asked French prosecutors and the UN to investigate the French state’s involvement in Egypt allegedly committing crimes against humanity in a secret military operation on the Egyptian-Libyan border.

    A 2021 leak appeared to show how French officers complained they were being asked to facilitate Egyptian airstrikes, codenamed Operation Sirli, on the Egyptian-Libyan border, even though the original counter-terrorism purpose had been subverted by the Egyptian military into taking out vehicles containing nothing more than contraband. Dozens are estimated to have been killed or injured.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Turkey should face international court over Yazidi genocide, report says

    Exclusive: Investigation by group of prominent human rights lawyers also criticises Syria and Iraq

    Turkey should face charges in front of the international court of justice for being complicit in acts of genocide against the Yazidi people, while Syria and Iraq failed in their duty to prevent the killings, an investigation endorsed by British human rights lawyer Helena Kennedy has said.

    The groundbreaking report, compiled by a group of prominent human rights lawyers, is seeking to highlight the binding responsibility states have to prevent genocide on their territories, even if they are carried out by a third party such as Islamic State (IS).

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK urged to act after UN panel rules detention of Briton in India ‘arbitrary’

    Jagtar Singh Johal has been detained since 2017 and allegedly tortured, accused of helping to fund assassination plot

    The UK is under pressure to insist India release Jagtar Singh Johal, a British citizen, after a UN working group ruled he had been arbitrarily detained by India and his detention lacked any legal basis.

    Boris Johnson apparently raised the case when he met the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, last month and provided a written note of consular cases, but Foreign Office ministers have not confirmed whether they regard his detention as arbitrary.

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  • West plans to tie Afghan teacher aid to girls’ education pledge

    Funds will go only to those provinces where girls are in school if Taliban renege on promise, diplomats say

    The west is planning to incentivise the Taliban to abide by their promise to allow girls to be educated by providing funding for teachers’ salaries only in provinces in which the pledge is met.

    The Taliban claimed this week the group would allow girls of secondary school age to be educated from March, the start of the next school term. Sceptical diplomats said they would need more than verbal assurances, with physical and budgetary evidence of preparations being required.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Uyghurs subjected to genocide by China, unofficial UK tribunal finds

    Independent report says crimes include torture and the systematic suppression of births

    Uyghur people living in Xinjiang province in China have been subjected to unconscionable crimes against humanity directed by the Chinese state that amount to an act of genocide, an independent and unofficial tribunal has found.

    Hundreds of thousands and possibly a million people have been incarcerated without any or remotely fair justification, the tribunal’s chairman Sir Geoffrey Nice QC said as he delivered the tribunal’s findings in London. “This vast apparatus of state repression could not exist if a plan was not authorised at the highest levels,” Nice said.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • JCB failed to do checks over potential use of equipment in Palestine

    UK government watchdog finds lack of due diligence over human rights in occupied territories

    JCB, the British tractor firm, has been found by a UK government watchdog to have failed to carry out due diligence human rights checks over the potential use of its equipment to demolish homes in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT).

    The watchdog ruled: “It is unfortunate that JCB, which is a leading British manufacturer of world-class products, did not take any steps to conduct human rights due diligence of any kind despite being aware of alleged adverse human rights impacts and that its products are potentially contributing to those impacts.”

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Global activists gather at Rome G20 to demand tougher action on China

    Counter-meeting attendees urge leaders not to let China off hook over human rights abuses in return for climate cooperation

    Legislators from around the world have gathered on the fringes of the G20 summit in Rome to protest against the presence of the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, and urge leaders not to let China off the hook over human rights abuses in return for Beijing’s cooperation on the climate crisis.

    Many of those at the Rome counter-meeting have been banned from travelling to China as punishment for campaigning against Chinese repression in Xinjiang.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Drop Chinese investments, MPs and peers tell parliament’s pension fund

    Letter from 137 lawmakers urges fund to drop stakes in firms accused of human rights violations or linked to Chinese state

    A cross-party group of more than 137 parliamentarians, including 117 MPs, have called on parliament’s pension fund to disinvest from Chinese companies accused of complicity in gross human rights violations or institutions linked to the Chinese state.

    The signatories include Lisa Nandy, the shadow foreign secretary, and former Conservative cabinet ministers Liam Fox, Iain Duncan Smith and Lord Tebbit. Others include the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesperson, Layla Moran, and shadow foreign affairs minister Stephen Kinnock. The Conservative MP David Amess was also a signatory, one of his last political acts before his death on Friday.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Muslim foreign ministers to make women’s rights plea to Taliban

    Ministers from Muslim-majority nations to travel to Kabul to discuss women and girls schooling ban

    Foreign ministers from several Muslim-majority countries are planning to go to Kabul in part to urge the Taliban to recognise that the exclusion of women and girls from education is a distortion of the Islamic faith.

    The proposal has the support of western diplomats who recognise that calls from them concerning universal values are going to have less traction with the Taliban than if the call comes from leaders of largely Islamic states.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Taliban assure UN over safety and security of humanitarian workers

    Written assurances also say aid agencies will be able to operate independently of government and will be free to employ women

    The Taliban have given the UN written assurances on the safe passage and freedom of movement for humanitarian workers operating in Afghanistan, the UN under-secretary for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, has told a UN fundraising conference in Geneva.

    Reading extracts from the Taliban undertakings, Griffiths said he had also received the assurances that aid agencies would be able to operate independently of the government, and would be free to employ women.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • PM accused of deliberate ‘strategic void’ on China to prioritise trade

    UK government ‘ambiguous’ on policy despite China’s clear threat to the west, says report

    Boris Johnson has been accused of avoiding a clear strategy on China for fear it will force him to make difficult decisions that put human rights ahead of enhanced trade with the world’s second largest economy.

    The allegation of a “strategic void” is made in a major report on the future of UK-China relations by the House of Lords’ international and defence select committee.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK must match rhetoric with action on China’s treatment of Uyghurs, say MPs

    Foreign affairs committee calls for import ban on products from Xinjiang, where it says there is ‘industrial-scale forced labour’

    Britain must act to stop China’s atrocities against Uyghur Muslims by banning the import of Chinese cotton and solar panels from Xinjiang province, as well as by announcing that no government officials will attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing, a report by MPs says.

    The chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, said that without action the UK would be allowing China “to nest the dragon deeper and deeper into British life”.

    Related: France investigates fashion brands over forced Uyghur labour claims

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Boris Johnson criticised for meeting Bahrain’s crown prince

    Human rights groups accuse PM of ‘putting trade over torture’ in seeking deal with Gulf state

    Boris Johnson has been accused of putting trade before torture after he met senior Bahraini officials in Downing Street to discuss a free trade deal with the Gulf states.

    Neither the Foreign Office nor Downing Street advertised the meeting with the country’s prime minister, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, in advance, with one official citing security concerns.

    Related: Bahrain to execute two activists despite concerns over torture

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • US and Canada follow EU and UK to sanction Chinese officials over Xinjiang

    It is the first time for three decades UK or EU has punished China for human rights abuses

    Britain and the EU have taken joint action with the US and Canada to impose parallel sanctions on a senior Chinese officials involved in the mass internment of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province in the first such western action against Beijing since Joe Biden took office.

    The move also marked the first time for three decades the UK or the EU had punished China for human rights abuses, and both will now be working hard to contain the potential political and economic fallout. China hit back immediately, blacklisting MEPs, European diplomats and thinktanks.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Civil servants rebuked for leak of Raab remarks on trade with rights abusers

    Foreign secretary told staff UK intended to trade with countries with poor rights records

    Civil servants have been scolded after the British foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, was revealed to have told staff the UK intended to trade with countries with poor human rights records.

    Philip Barton, the permanent secretary at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), said Raab had been speaking “openly and candidly” to Whitehall workers on a call with thousands of them on Tuesday.

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    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.