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Category: Human Rights

  • Israeli attack on the Global Solidarity Flotilla sparks furious protests

    Israeli occupation forces have attacked 13 boats from the Global Solidarity Flotilla as they headed towards the Gaza Strip. The flotilla is carrying activists and humanitarian aid aimed at breaking the blockade imposed on the Strip for years. Overnight, the flotilla organisers confirmed that 30 other boats are still sailing towards Gaza, despite the Israeli attack.

    Flotilla attack sparks widespread global anger

    The Israeli attack has sparked widespread anger in several countries around the world. Emotional mass demonstrations in Europe, including Greece, Spain, Sweden, Belgium and Italy, have spread organically. In Germany, protesters closed the main train station. Meanwhile, in Geneva, Switzerland, there were widespread calls for demonstrations. In Britain, hundreds of people are expected to take to the streets of London and marched to the Prime Minister’s residence, chanting slogans condemning the attack.

    The protests also spread to Latin America, with marches in Mexico and Argentina, while regional governments condemned the attack in the strongest terms. In Turkey, a demonstration in Istanbul quickly took hold.

    Official condemnations and diplomatic moves

    At the official level, reactions condemning the Israeli attack poured in, with Bolivian President Luis Arce describing the attack as “brutal” and “a flagrant violation of international law,” stressing that “silence is complicity” and calling for global mobilisation to confront “this new brutality.”

    In a notable diplomatic escalation, Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the expulsion of all remaining members of the Israeli diplomatic mission in his country, considering what happened to be an “international crime.” He also revealed that Israel had detained two Colombian women while they were aboard the flotilla in international waters and demanding their immediate release.

    This move is an extension of Colombia’s hardline stance, having previously severed diplomatic ties with Tel Aviv in 2024 in protest against the war on Gaza, while maintaining limited consular representation.

    For its part, the French Foreign Ministry announced that it was closely monitoring the movements of the Steadfast Fleet, stressing that the safety of French citizens participating in the convoy was a “top priority.”

    Venezuela condemned the Israeli attack as “cowardly piracy” and a systematic means of starvation and extermination, noting that “the real threat to world peace is Zionism,” which it described as “a racist colonial ideology that violates international law.”

    For its part, the Chilean government expressed its deep concern, considering the interception of the ships a violation of freedom of navigation and the law of the sea, and called on Israel to respect international humanitarian law and protect the fleet’s crews and volunteers.

    The Iranian Foreign Ministry also condemned the attack, calling it an “act of terrorism” and a “flagrant violation of international law,” asserting that the occupation continues its policies of ethnic cleansing, which must be held accountable internationally.

    Arab positions: Calls for criminalisation and urgent action

    In Tunisia, Hamma Hammami, secretary-general of the Workers’ Party, called for escalating popular pressure, including surrounding the US embassy in the country, demanding the immediate criminalisation of normalisation and asserting that what happened was “a crime that began in Tunisia,” in reference to the participation of Tunisian activists in the flotilla.

    In Algeria, the Algerian Coordination for the Support of the Palestinian People called for urgent official action by the government and the need to intensify diplomatic efforts to confront repeated Zionist attacks and support the Palestinian right to end the siege and occupation.

    Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Guardian News

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Visions of resistance: women fighting to save their homeland – in pictures

    The theme of this year’s Women By Women exhibition, Rooted in Resistance, is to showcase images of women defending their land and communities from destruction – by powerful people and corporations or the climate crisis. The pictures, taken by female photographers from Nepal, Cambodia, Brazil and Nigeria, will be on show at the Oxo Gallery in London from 9 to 12 October

    Continue reading…

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

  • Koa Tackles Chocolate Industry Waste with ‘World’s First’ Cacao Fruit Shots

    4 Mins Read

    German startup Koa has launched three vitamin shots made from cacao fruit juice, valorising a key chocolate industry sidestream and providing additional income for farmers.

    Koa, a Cologne-based startup upcycling waste from chocolate production, has unveiled a trio of juice shots made from cacao pulp.

    The startup is looking to tackle the challenges brought by climate change and what it calls “outdated practices” within the industry, which have sent prices soaring to all-time highs – with no end in sight for now.

    The new products, which it will showcase at the Anuga trade fair (October 4-8), are a range of vitamin shots utilising a largely wasted part of the cacao fruit. The aim is to reduce food waste and create a second income for the smallholder farmers it works with in Ghana.

    Why Koa is targeting chocolate industry waste

    koa cacao juice
    Courtesy: Agyeman Duah

    Human-caused climate change has caused global cocoa stocks to slump to their lowest levels in a decade. Last year, it added six weeks of days above 32°C in over 70% of cacao-producing areas across several African countries, with extreme weather and crop diseases hitting plantations hardest in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two largest producers of the crop.

    These two countries have lost over 85% of their forest cover since 1960. Scientists have additionally warned that cocoa trees are threatened, and a third of them could die out by 2050, which could lead to a global chocolate shortage.

    Koa has previously suggested that some of the chief reasons Ghana’s farmers struggle to uphold their yields in the face of the climate crisis are poverty (about a quarter of its population lives below the poverty line) and a lack of training in sustainable agriculture.

    Founded in 2017, it works closely with smallholders to reduce on-farm food waste, generate extra income, and bring new ingredients to the food industry.

    Speaking of waste, an estimated 70% of the cacao fruit is thrown away during chocolate production, including the pulp (which makes up a quarter of the fruit) and the outer husk. According to Koa, the industry loses around five million tonnes of pulp alone annually. Valorising these byproducts helps increase outputs and income, and lower overall emissions.

    Plus, cacao is a superfood that contains flavonoids and regulates blood pressure, prevents clots, and enhances blood flow to the brain and heart – so utilising the discarded parts contributes to healthier diets too.

    “In a world full of things we cannot influence, it is rare to discover something with such a massive impact as the cocoa fruit. It is one of those simple things within our control that has the potential to change the world,” said Koa co-founder and CEO Anian Schreiber.

    Koa’s cacao juice shots help farmers financially

    koa cacao juice
    Courtesy: Agyeman Duah

    Koa has been working with Ghanaian cocoa farmers to create a unique processing method that utilises also utilises the fruit pulp, which it describes as having a fresh, tropical flavour unlike chocolate. It’s a natural source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

    The Cocoa Fruit Shots come in three flavours: Koa Pure (the base cacao fruit flavour), Koa Boost (with ginger, tulsi, lemon and yuzu) and Koa Energize (with cold brew coffee, maca, chilli and lime).

    The shots are vegan and have no added sugar, and each serving supplies the daily recommended intake of vitamin C. They’re available at retailers in Germany and on Koa’s website for €2.65 per 60ml bottle.

    By making use of cacao pulp, Koa is creating an additional income for Ghana’s farmers, who now earn nearly twice as much of a premium as they do under the Fairtrade programme, and over six times more than the Rainforest Alliance, totalling €376 per extra tonne of cacao.

    External studies have exhibited the model’s impact on cocoa farmers, 96% of whom say their lives have improved due to the additional revenue stream. Koa, which has raised $25M to date, also operates a cacao fruit factory in Akim Achiase in East Ghana, which generates income for 10,000 farmers.

    The startup is working with ETH Zurich and Swiss chocolate manufacturer Felchlin to make a chocolate bar made completely from cacao fruit. The process involves mixing the outer shell with the pulp to form a sweet cocoa gel that can replace sugar, which is blended with a cocoa mass made from the beans.

    Other companies innovating with the cacao fruit include Blue Stripes, Cabosse Naturals, CaPao, and Pacha de Cacao. Even Nestlé is looking to cut waste by creating a novel chocolate-making technique that uses up to 30% more of the cacao fruit.

    The post Koa Tackles Chocolate Industry Waste with ‘World’s First’ Cacao Fruit Shots appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Moroccans Take To The Streets In Largest Protests In Years

    Demonstrations swept through 11 cities in Morocco over the weekend, with thousands protesting the government’s corruption and expenditure policies. The government has been slammed for prioritizing international sporting events over basic public services, including health care, education, and employment. Although anti-government protests calling for reform have been on the rise in the Maghreb nation during the past few months, the current rallies are marked by participation of groups representing a wide spectrum of social and political backgrounds, and from different ages.

    The voices of students blended together with those of trade unionists, and families, forming a holistic protest scene, and reflecting a unifying spirit. This in turn confirms that daily social justice concerns are not confined to a single group, but is rather a popular demand. However, young “leaderless” organizers calling themselves the Gen Z 212, are believed to have organized the nationwide protests via social media networks.

    The post Moroccans Take To The Streets In Largest Protests In Years appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israel is recruiting Palestinian families to form armed gangs under threat of airstrikes if they refuse

    Israel intelligence has repeatedly been trying to recruit Palestinians in Gaza to form armed gangs. There have been reports of the Israeli Security Agency, or Shin Bet, approaching community elders from prominent Palestinian families in Gaza, pressuring them to form local armed groups, and to manage aid distribution, police neighbourhoods, fight Hamas, and pass on information to the occupation.

    Israel recruiting armed gangs in Gaza to turn Palestinians against each other

    Yesterday, in the southern neighbourhood of Gaza City called Tel Al-Hawa, houses belonging to the Abu Hasira family were bombed after they refused recruitment attempts by the Israeli occupation to become part of the operations against their fellow Palestinians.

    A Palestinian, called Motassem Baker, has also spoken of the pressure his family have been facing from the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), who guaranteed their security in their homes if members of his family joined the armed gangs which are backed by the occupation.

    Baker said:

    Yesterday, the elder of our family left after deciding, along with the rest of the family, to abandon their homes in Western Gaza. This came following a phone call in which he was asked to stay, with a promise of safety, on the condition that the family’s sons act as a militia like ‘Abu Shabab’ and commit to the army’s policies.

    Palestinians who reject the occupation’s advances pay a heavy price

    But his family chose to reject the occupation’s offer. They left their homes, preferring to sleep on the streets rather than betray the Palestinian community. Just hours after the refusal, Israeli occupation forces bombed the family block, committing a massacre against Baker’s cousins.

    The aim is to divide Gaza into clan-controlled regions, blocking the emergence of a unified Palestinian leadership, or the foundation of a future Palestinian state. When these Palestinians refuse to collaborate, the Israeli occupation retaliates with brutal airstrikes: In the al-Sabra area of Gaza City, 30 members of the Doghmush family were killed, with at least 20 more still under the rubble, near Al-Shati camp.

    Yasser Abu Shabab, a gang leader and convicted criminal thought to have links to Isis, is an Israeli occupation collaborator and head of the Popular Forces. This is an Israeli occupation-backed criminal gang, operating in the Rafah area and armed by Shin Bet . It has been responsible for systematic looting of humanitarian aid bound for Gaza’s starving population, and also forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza.

    Occupation weakening the social cohesion of Palestinian community in Gaza

    The Israeli occupation has openly confirmed that local clans and gangs opposing Hamas have been “activated” and armed on the recommendation of security chiefs, justifying this as a means to “save the lives of Israeli soldiers”. This policy has profound social and humanitarian consequences, as it not only intensifies lawlessness in Gaza, but also undermines traditional sources of authority and unity.

    Traditionally, local families and community leaders have been stabilising forces that maintained order and resolved disputes. But now weapons and external backing are involved, these groups become competing power centres, fueling internal rivalries, spreading violence, and weakening unity in Palestinian society.

    Since late 2024, the occupation has not only approached influential Palestinian families, offering support and arms in exchange for their opposition to Hamas and cooperation in new political arrangements, but has also deliberately assassinated Hamas government personnel as part of a concerted campaign to create a social and political vacuum in Gaza. This vacuum is then filled by armed groups and looters.

    Hamas has responded by establishing special units tasked with combatting the rise of these gangs, but such forces have repeatedly come under direct attack by Israeli drones and military units, underlining the Israeli occupation’s active protection and encouragement of criminal chaos.

    Shin Bet has used blackmail and coercion to recruit individuals, forcing them to act as informants or agents within Gaza. These agents engage in looting and trespassing, often with explicit orders to target resistance members and contribute to general lawlessness, and the proliferation of weapons among these groups has only made the violence and mistrust worse.

    Israel is breaking Gaza’s social fabric by recruiting armed gangs

    Gaza is being pushed into intentional disorder, as once tightly-knit families grounded in loyalty and solidarity are being undermined by outside forces and internal conflicts. Those who refuse recruitment, such as the Baker family, face the certainty of airstrikes, while those collaborators accepting the occupation’s offers of ‘safety’, lose all credibility among their people.

    Israel’s policy of arming clans, gangs, and criminal networks in Gaza erodes the foundations for any stable political future. By dismantling traditional leadership structures and fueling rivalries between clans, the Israeli occupation is creating a fragmented landscape where no credible authority can emerge. This fragmentation undermines prospects for a unified Palestinian state and prolongs instability, ensuring that any post-genocide arrangement will only be shaped by manipulation from outside forces.

    Feature image via Al Jazeera English/Youtube. 

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza is colonialism dressed up like foreign diplomacy

    Although US president Donald Trump has aided and abetted the Gaza genocide, he has now proposed a 20-point plan for the Strip, which he claims will restore peace and economic stability to the enclave. But his plan – which the Israeli occupation has agreed to – is nothing more than a colonial project which is completely disconnected from the realities on the ground.

    Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza: biased towards Israel

    Hamas is now said to be studying the proposal “in good faith”, but other resistance groups in Gaza have expressed concern, with Palestinian Islamic Jihad saying the plan is a “recipe to blow up the region”, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a leftwing group, saying it:

    will impose a formula of surrender on the resistance and our people.

    But the much hated Palestinian Authority, which the vast majority of Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza believe to be corrupt, has agreed to the proposal, which will see it undergo a reform programme, the details of which are so far unknown.

    Starmer supports Trump’s plan, having said:

    All sides must now come together to bring this initiative into reality.

    However, the plan not only fails to address the ongoing Israeli occupation – which is the root cause of the genocide, instead focusing on security measures benefiting Israel – but also offers no guarantees for Palestinian self-determination or rights. Without addressing these points, Trump’s plan is doomed to fail.

    There is also no stipulation for the withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza, only a gradual withdrawal with no set timeline. Netanyahu has already claimed they will remain in Gaza, stating on X:

    Instead of Hamas isolating us, we turn the tables and isolated it. Now the entire world is pressurising Hamas to accept the conditions we set-the release of all hostages, while the IDF stays in most of the enclave.

    Trump’s Gaza plan: Hamas to demilitarise and Palestinian population to ‘de-radicalise’

    Trump’s plan not only talks about the “establishment of a process to de-radicalize the population”, but demands Hamas demilitarise, so it “does not pose a threat to its neighbours” – meaning the Israeli occupation.

    Resistance is all Palestinians have, and they have a legal right to defend themselves against their occupier, under international law. Hamas was formed as a reaction to the illegal occupation, and without occupation there would be no need for such a resistance group. Demilitarising means Palestinians will be unable to defend themselves the next time Israel carries out its genocidal actions against Gaza’s population.

    According to Hani Al Masri, director of Palestinian NGO Masarat – The Palestinian Centre for Policy Research & Strategic Studies:

    The only clear, binding, and immediate component of the plan is the release of Israeli prisoners, within 72 hours of a ceasefire coming into effect, and the provision of humanitarian aid.The rest of the clauses are vague and require negotiation, with no timelines or guarantees- serving the Israeli position.

    The proposal stipulates that after the Israeli prisoners are released:

    Israel will release 250 life sentence prisoners plus 1,700 Gazans who were detained after October 7. For every Israeli hostage whose remains are released, Israel will release the remains of 15 deceased Gazans.

    GHF ‘death traps’ to continue?

    Trump’s plan states that immediately after the prisoner swap has taken place, aid will be:

    distributed – without interference from either side – by the United Nations and the Red Crescent, along with other international organizations not associated with either Israel or Hamas.

    This could mean the GHF aid distribution sites, which are nothing more than ‘death traps’ run by US mercenaries and Israeli occupation forces, may continue distributing aid if Trump’s plan is implemented.

    According to the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza, as of 30 September, 2567 starving aid seekers have so far been killed, and 18,873 injured in Gaza.

    ‘No guarantees’ Netanyahu will not reactivate his ‘genocidal war’

    Mustafa Barghouti is a Palestinian doctor, activist, and politician, who co-founded the Palestinian National Initiative.

    He told the Canary:

    Israel failed in conducting the ethnic cleansing in Gaza, but they have destroyed it completely. They should have been forced to pay reparations for the inhuman destruction they have caused. It is important to stop the genocidal war and to alleviate the humanitarian suffering but Trump’s plan ignores the Palestinians and the root cause of the conflict which is the Israeli occupation and apartheid. The plan is full of mines that can explode the whole situation. There are no guarantees that Netanyahu will not reactivate his genocidal war after he gets back the Israeli captives. The Israeli troops will stay in Gaza for a long time and there are no guarantees of full withdrawal.

    Under Trump’s proposal, Gaza would be run on a daily basis by a ‘technocratic’ Palestinian administration made up of individuals without ties to any political faction. Palestinians would have no say in this leadership, which would instead be appointed by the ‘Board of Peace’ an international body created to carry out the ‘peace plan’, which would be responsible for guiding the plan’s implementation and coordinating efforts among key regional and global leaders. This ‘Board of Peace’ would not only be headed and chaired by Trump, but also another war criminal, Tony Blair, who led Britain into an illegal war which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and caused widespread devastation, but has never faced justice for his crimes.

    Blair’s backing of Trump’s proposal, raises serious concerns about the credibility and intentions behind the plan of the president, who recently – along with Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner – had wanted to ethnically cleanse Gaza of its Palestinian population and turn the Strip into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East’. Kushner has now been involved in a behind the scenes meeting with Netanyahu and White House envoy Steve Witcoff, which lasted more than six hours, in which Netanyahu managed to negotiate several changes to the proposal concerning the Israeli occupation forces withdrawal from the Strip.

    Plan will undermine potential for independent Palestinian state

    A critical problem with this plan is its failure to secure meaningful self-determination for Palestinians. Despite references to Gaza governance reform, the plan does not guarantee a sovereign Palestinian state or provide a clear path toward political independence, and this interference of foreign powers – foreign powers who have been quick to recognise the state of Palestine in recent weeks – is described by Barghouti as the ‘worst mine’.

    He said:

    The worst mine is the imposition of foreign rule on Palestinians in Gaza, which will separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and undermine any potential of an independent Palestinian state.

    Hamas has been given “three or four days” to respond by Trump, after which Trump has pledged to give Netanyahu full backing:

    to do what you would have to do.

    In response, Netanyahu warned:

    But if Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accept it and then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself.

    Trump’s proposal: illegal under international law

    Shahd Hammouri is an international lawyer and senior legal consultant at Law for Palestine, who has also acted as a legal consultant on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion on the Legality of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine.

    She told the Canary that Trump’s proposed Gaza plan violates the basic principles of international law, including the ICJ’s 2024 Advisory Opinion on the illegality of the Israeli occupation, and the provisional measures and findings in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. States accepting this plan would be in breach of their own international obligations, because a new form of occupation would be unlawfully imposed on the population of Gaza, while coerced agreements are considered invalid.

    Hammouri said:

    The proposal to install a temporary foreign governance body that introduces a security regime constitutes a new form of foreign occupation, violating the Palestinian right to self-determination. The inclusion of some Palestinian representatives does not negate the body’s fundamentally foreign and imposed character, while agreements signed under physical duress are void under international law. Leveraging military superiority to inflict excessive suffering- which has crossed the threshold of a genocide – upon a colonized population under illegal occupation constitutes such duress. Any agreement reached under these conditions should be legally invalid.

    Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza does not meet the requirements of international law, nor the fundamental conditions for a just and lasting peace. By leaving the Israeli occupation in place, denying Palestinians the right to self-determination, and imposing foreign control over Gaza’s governance, the plan effectively entrenches the very structures that fuel the perpetual conflict.

    Coerced agreements reached under conditions of mass displacement, siege, and ongoing military pressure carry no legitimacy, while the absence of binding guarantees on Israel renders the plan unenforceable. Unless the core issue of occupation is addressed, any arrangement – however it is presented – will remain unstable, unsustainable, and in violation of international law.

    Feature image via CBS News/Youtube. 

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Starmer to rethink human rights law to tackle ‘Farage boats’

    Starmer blames Brexit for surge in numbers of small boat crossings but defends UK’s membership of ECHR

    Keir Starmer has said he will look at how international law is being interpreted by British courts in an effort to tackle small boats, which he branded “Farage boats” because of their increase in number since Brexit.

    Speaking after the Labour party conference, the prime minister signalled his unhappiness with how the European convention of human rights was being interpreted by judges making decisions about deportations.

    Continue reading…

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

  • UN Secretary-General’s 2025 report highlights reprisals against human rights defenders

     Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights © Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2024 licensed under CC BY 2.0

    On 24 September, 2025, the United Nations (UN) Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights (ASG), presented the annual report of the UN Secretary-General (UNSG) on intimidation and reprisals against those cooperating with the UN. The report highlights allegations of acts of intimidation and reprisals committed from May 2024 to April 2025, as well as updates on cases from previous reports.

    Reprisals are acts of intimidation, harassment or retaliation against individuals or groups for cooperating with the UN. The annual report includes both newly documented cases from the reporting period and follow-up information on situations previously highlighted, such as changes in detention conditions, judicial or administrative measures, or recurring patterns of intimidation. see also: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140603192912-22083774–crime-should-not-pay-in-the-area-of-international-human-rights

    The UNSG report warns that “more than half of the States reviewed continue to enforce or adopt laws on civil society, counter-terrorism and national security that have the effect of deterring or obstructing cooperation with the United Nations”. In some cases, new or amended legislation has further tightened restrictions on NGOs, complicating their registration and operations, and creating additional obstacles to meaningful civil society engagement with the UN. This trend is particularly pronounced in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), where more than 6 out of 10 cases of reprisals are linked to counter-terrorism or security measures.

    https://ishr.ch/latest-updates/hrc60-un-flags-repression-of-human-rights-defenders-including-by-human-rights-council-members

    https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/09/ensuring-safety-those-who-engage-united-nations-essential

    UN Report Lists Saudi Arabia Among States Accused of Intimidating Rights Defenders

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • UK accused of ‘stark injustice’ as woman from Montserrat refused free NHS care

    Cherry Brown, 69, a British overseas territory citizen, was left sleeping rough after being sent to England for treatment

    The UK has been accused of a “stark injustice” for failing to provide health services and humanitarian support to citizens of British overseas territories after a woman from the Caribbean island of Montserrat was refused free NHS care and left homeless.

    Council officials found Cherry Brown, 69, sleeping rough in a park in Swanley, Kent, in April. Brown had been funded by the Montserratian government – whose budget is largely subsidised by the UK – to travel to England to receive treatment from the NHS that was not available at home.

    Continue reading…

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

  • My calls and emails to family in Afghanistan go unanswered. The Taliban’s internet shutdown has left us all helpless | Shadi Khan Saif

    From the safety of Australia, I watch in despair as my loved ones in Kabul navigate this digital darkness – a calculated effort to silence dissent

    The internet was my lifeline, a slender thread connecting me from Australia to my family in Afghanistan, bridging continents and time zones.

    But that bridge has crumbled.

    Continue reading…

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

  • Slovakia marks ‘dark day’ as LGBTQ+ rights rolled back in parliament

    Amendment to constitution stipulates that male and female are the only recognised sexes and makes adoption nearly impossible for same-sex couples

    Recent changes to Slovakia’s constitution mark a “dark day” for the country, LGBTQ+ campaigners have warned, describing measures such as the recognition of only two sexes as part of a wider rollback of human rights and rule of law in the central European country.

    On Friday, Slovakia’s parliament passed an amendment that included measures targeting LGBTQ+ rights in the country, from stipulating that male and female are the only recognised sexes to making it nearly impossible for same-sex couples to adopt children.

    Continue reading…

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

  • One Dead, Nearly 100 Arrested: Heavy Repression Of Protests In Ecuador

    A week since protests began in Ecuador against the decision by Daniel Noboa’s right-wing government to eliminate the diesel subsidy, nearly 100 people have been detained and one person was killed by police repression. The nationwide protests kicked off after Marlon Vargas, president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), Ecuador’s most important social movement, called on all sectors of society to take to the streets and reject the move by Noboa.

    On September 28, the news broke that 46-year-old worker Efraín Fueres died during the protests in Cotacachi, in the province of Imbabura. According to CONAIE, Fueres was killed by the military after being shot three times. “We demand truth, justice, and reparations. This state crime will not go unpunished. There is no turning back or forgiveness for state crimes,” CONAIE wrote on X.

    The post One Dead, Nearly 100 Arrested: Heavy Repression Of Protests In Ecuador appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • ICE Agent Who Attacked Woman in Courthouse Has Been Reinstated

    An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who threw a woman to the ground in front of her two children in a New York City courthouse is back on the job, less than a week after the attack occurred, according to a post on X by the city’s comptroller Brad Lander. “Court-watchers confirm this cruel ICE agent has been reinstated,” Lander wrote. “Last week, in the briefest moment of…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Led by Tlaib, Lawmakers Demand Trump Administration Protect Flotilla to Gaza

    In an effort led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), almost 20 Democratic lawmakers have called on the Trump administration to guarantee safe passage of the flotilla sailing to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid. “The law is clear: any attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla or its civilians is a clear and blatant violation of international law,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Secretary of…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Trump’s Proposal to “End the Gaza Conflict” Condemned as “Colonial Abomination”

    On September 29, the White House released a 20-point plan to “end the Gaza conflict,” which includes the creation of a “Board of Peace,” headed by President Donald Trump, that will temporarily govern Gaza. The board will be made up of other “heads of State to be announced, including Former Prime Minister Tony Blair,” and will “set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Nobel laureates blast death of Iranian Somayeh Rashidi in prison as ‘state murder’

    The death of a female Iranian political prisoner in hospital following a series of seizures has sparked outrage from Iran’s two Nobel laureates and right groups who have labeled her death a state-sponsored murder. Somayeh Rashidi died after several days in hospital following her transfer from Qarchak Prison near Tehran, Iran’s judiciary-affiliated Mizan news agency reported on Thursday.

    Rashidi, born in 1983, was detained in April for allegedly writing anti-government graffiti slogans in Tehran’s Javadieh district.

    Nobel Peace laureates Narges Mohammadi condemned her death in custody, describing it as part of a pattern of abuse in detention. “This devastating loss of Somayeh Rashidi is not an accident but the result of a systematic policy of neglect and cruelty inside Iranian prisons,” Mohammadi said in a post on X.

    Rights groups and activists including Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi had previously raised alarm about Rashidi’s deteriorating condition, highlighting her urgent need for medical attention.

    Iran International reported earlier this month that Rashidi’s condition had severely declined, with doctors holding little hope for her recovery.

    Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who faced a death sentence and torture in prison but was ultimately released, called Rashidi’s death a deliberate act to suppress dissent. “Such deliberate disregard for political prisoners is an example of silent, systematic suppression and elimination of dissenters. Why should anyone be arrested for graffiti?” Salehi posted on X. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/05/25/vaclav-havel-international-prize-for-creative-dissent-2024-goes-to-iranian-hip-hop-artist-uyghur-poet-and-venezuelan-pianist/]

    Former political prisoner and women’s rights defender Hasti Amiri said Rashidi’s case showed deliberate neglect.

    Sources speaking anonymously to Iran International alleged that security officials pressured Rashidi’s family to describe her hospitalization as a suicide attempt, intensifying accusations of a cover-up.

    Qarchak deaths mount

    Human rights groups including the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) have publicly called for the closure of Qarchak, describing it as “one of the darkest symbols of systematic human rights violations in the Islamic Republic.” Rashidi death comes less than a week after another prisoner, Maryam Shahraki, died in Qarchak last Friday. According to Norway-based rights group Hengaw Organizattion, three women have already died in this facility this year due to lack of adequate medical care — Jamileh Azizi on September 19, Shahraki on September 13, and Farzaneh Bijanipour on Januar

    https://www.iranintl.com/en/202509253807

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Ukrainian human rights defender Maksym Butkevych wins CoE’s 2025 Václav Havel Prize

    2025 Václav Havel Prize awarded to Ukrainian journalist and human rights defender Maksym Butkevych

    The thirteenth Václav Havel Human Rights Prize – which honours outstanding civil society action in defence of human rights – has been awarded to Ukrainian journalist and human rights defender Maksym Butkevych. The prize was presented at a special ceremony on the opening day of the autumn plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on 29 September 2025

    Mr Butkevych is a co-founder of the Zmina Human Rights Centre and of Hromadske Radio. Despite his lifelong pacifism, he volunteered for the Ukrainian Armed Forces at the start of the 2022 Russian invasion and became a platoon commander. Captured and sentenced to 13 years in prison by Russian forces, he endured over two years of harsh imprisonment before being released in a prisoner exchange in October 2024. He remains a powerful symbol of courage and resilience in defence of justice and freedom.

    The two runners-up for the 2025 Prize are Georgian journalist Mzia Amaghlobeli and Azerbaijani journalist Ulvi Hasanli. Both of them are currently detained in their home countries.

    Opening the ceremony, PACE President Theodoros Rousopoulos said it was no coincidence that all three shortlisted candidates this year were journalists. Urging the immediate release of Ms Amaghlobeli and Mr Hasanli, he said: “Your voice may be silenced, but your testimony is heard loud and clear.” The President – himself a former journalist – also thanked all three candidates for their courage in opposing authoritarianism and for acting as role-models for a whole generation of journalists and human rights defenders: “Governments should not be afraid of the truth,” he declared.

    For more on the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize, and its laureates, see: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/awards/7A8B4A4A-0521-AA58-2BF0-DD1B71A25C8D.

    IPS at this occasion published a post critical of the lack of follow up to free the laureates:

    The Václav Havel Prize is an important international recognition for those who stand up for human rights and against autocracy, but while recognition through such awards and solidarity matters deeply, it is not enough. The Council of Europe must match its willingness to recognise the courage of human rights defenders with efforts to stand courageously up to autocrats and dictators, even and especially those within its own membership ranks.

    For PACE leadership and members, the recognition given to human rights defenders through the Václav Havel Prize must be matched with tireless, persistent and coordinated action to put pressure on the other political bodies of the Council of Europe. This includes adopting resolutions demanding the release of imprisoned laureates; organising visibility campaigns within PACE through side events, exhibitions and public initiatives; building stronger connections and networks with families of prisoners; and consistently deploying all available diplomatic tools to keep political prisoners at the forefront of European media and diplomacy.

    At the same time, CoE leaders, including the Secretary General and Commissioner for Human Rights (currently Alain Berset and Michael O’Flaherty, respectively), must put the release of political prisoners at the top of the organisation’s priority list. These leaders have important public platforms that must consistently and relentlessly raise the profile of human rights defenders at risk. Leaders must work to mobilise member states to apply pressure for the release of political prisoners.

    Finally, Council of Europe member states – signatories to the European Convention on Human Rights – need to recognise that the continued detention of human rights defenders poses a great risk to the long-term credibility of the institutions. Member states – on their own and through the organisation’s powerful Committee of Ministers – have to use all tools at their disposal to address the rising cases of political prisoners and crackdowns against civil society across the broader region. The Committee of Ministers needs to put enhanced enforcement pressure on member states regarding the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights on fundamental freedoms. These judgements, after all, often affect the fate of political prisoners.[https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy-and-society/prizes-without-freedom-risk-becoming-trophies-of-hypocrisy-8573/]

     Last year’s winner 

     Václav Havel Prize film

    https://www.coe.int/en/web/portal/-/2025-v%C3%A1clav-havel-prize-awarded-to-ukrainian-journalist-and-human-rights-defender-maksym-butkevych-1

    https://www.kyivpost.com/post/61106

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Comedians slam Saudi Arabia’s attempt to whitewash its crimes with ‘world’s largest comedy festival’

    Laughter is the kind of wholesome and unifying thing the world needs more of. But not when it serves to whitewash the war crimes of dictatorial regimes. And that’s why comedians are calling out their peers’ participation in the “world’s largest comedy festival” in Saudi Arabia.

    As the Canary has reported, the chauvinist Saudi regime commits countless human rights abuses. It has strong links to the non-state terrorism of groups like Al-Qaeda and Daesh (Isis/Isil). It created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis in Yemen via a brutal bombing campaign, leading it towards Earth’s worst famine in a hundred years. And it played a key role in the destructive escalation of the Syrian civil war. Indeed, before the US-Israeli genocide in Gaza, Washington’s lucrative support for Saudi Arabia was possibly the best proof that the empire had no interest in human rights or democracy in the world.

    Now, Saudi rulers want us to just laugh about it all.

    Don’t laugh at the regime, though…

    Comedian Atsuko Okatsuka rejected an offer to help whitewash the Saudi regime’s crimes. And she shared an image showing the type of censorship performing comedians would have to submit to:

    Indeed, organisers fired comedian Tom Dillon after he “joked on his podcast about Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record”. He had transparently said “they are paying me enough money to look the other way”. Other comedians, meanwhile, joined Okatsuka in rejecting high-value offers.

    High-profile comedians like Jimmy Carr, however, have accepted offers to perform. This is despite Carr defending freedom of speech and his ability to “joke about anything“. Carr has apparently tried to keep this performance under the radar.

    Other big names performing include Dave Chappelle, Jack Whitehall, Bill Burr, and Chris Tucker. There seems to be a notable lack of female performers, though, which is very much on brand for a country that has institutionalised the misogynistic treatment of women.

    Saudi Arabia comedy festival: whitewashing an execution spree

    Human Rights Watch (HRW) has pointed out that:

    In 2025, the Saudi government has been on an execution spree to crush peaceful dissent, including speech.

    By early August, Saudi authorities had executed more than one person per day, including “peaceful activists and journalists”.

    Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), however, seems to be hoping that his aggressive bankrolling of “high-profile events featuring major international artists, celebrities, and sports figures” will whitewash his regime’s abuses.

    HRW researcher Joey Shea said performing comedians who don’t call out Saudi Arabia’s abuses:

    risk bolstering the Saudi government’s well-funded efforts to launder its image

    She added that the comedy festival is:

    just one small example of how, over a longer period of time with enough of these events, with enough of these high profile investments, this whitewashing strategy is incredibly effective.

    A number of comedians have slammed their peers for participating. Zach Woods took a satirical shot, saying:

    Name one comedian who hasn’t whored themself out to a dictator

    He added, sarcastically:

    Ugh, what a cock block Human Rights Watch is for comedy!

    Referring to co-headliner and sexual predator Louis CK, Woods’s video carried the title:

    Louis CK AND the Saudi Royal Family! Who could ask for more?!

    @zachwoods

    Louis CK AND the Saudi Royal Family! Who could ask for more?!

    ♬ original sound – Zach Woods

    Comedian David Cross, meanwhile, commented:

    I was not offered the gig but it should go without saying that there’s not enough money for me to help these depraved, awful people put a “fun face” on their crimes against humanity.

    He added:

    I am disgusted, and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing. That people I admire, with unarguable talent, would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for…what, a fourth house? A boat? More sneakers?

    And he said:

    I don’t understand how being rich can make someone such a whore. Poor people desperate to improve their (or their families lives), sure. Still not acceptable but I can understand the desperation to put food on the table. But this? I mean, it’s not like this is some commercial for a wireless service or a betting app. This is truly the definition of “blood money”. You might as well do commercials for Lockheed Martin or Zyklon B.

    The only way people may forgive performing comedians, he suggested, is if they use their platform to take a shot at the regime with a comment like:

    Alright, so it’s great to be here. I’m gonna be killing it tonight! But in the good way! Straight up. No MbS.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Mass slaughter in Gaza stands apart from other genocides, Chris Sidoti says – ‘People cannot escape’

    Australian human rights expert who was on UN commission of inquiry labels Israel’s strategy a failure that ‘has not brought peace and has not destroyed Hamas’

    “The people of Gaza have absolutely no way to escape the killing: they are literally a captive population.”

    Chris Sidoti knows the brutality of conflict too well, his experience investigating international crimes is devastatingly comprehensive. But he sees a categoric difference in the violence in Gaza.

    Continue reading…

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

  • International athletes call for FIFA and UEFA to suspend Israeli clubs and national team

    Nearly 50 prominent athletes of various nationalities and backgrounds, including France’s Paul Pogba and Morocco’s Hakim Ziyech, have signed an official petition calling on FIFA and UEFA to ban all Israel clubs and national teams from international competitions, citing what they described as:

    war crimes and systematic violations against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

    FIFA and UEFA see calls to ban Israel from international competitions

    The initiative, launched by the Athletes 4 Peace coalition, emphasised that the signatories, despite their different affiliations and beliefs, are united in their conviction that sport should be an advocate for justice and humanity, not a tool for normalising human rights violations.

    According to the French website RMC, the list includes big names in the world of sports, most notably French star and 2018 World Cup winner Paul Pogba, Moroccan Hakim Ziyech, Dutchman Anwar El Ghazi, and Malian duo Cheikh Diabaté and Cheikh Doucouré. British boxer Zach Shealy and coach Nigel Pearson also signed, along with former English cricketer Moin Ali and his compatriot Ajaz Patel, rugby player Ellis Makani, and equestrian champion Khadija Malah.

    Official petition and mounting pressure

    The New Arab reported that the athletes had submitted an official petition to FIFA and UEFA. It demands that FIFA and UEFA bar the occupation from participating in tournaments, in a move similar to the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine.

    This demand is in line with previous calls by eight UN experts. On Tuesday 23 September, they called on the international and European federations to take a similar stance. Meanwhile the British newspaper the Times previously revealed that a number of European clubs have expressed their refusal to face Israeli teams and have begun to address UEFA to find a legal mechanism to prevent this.

    Actions by sports federations and bodies

    Recently, the possibility of a vote within UEFA to suspend the participation of Israeli clubs and the Israeli national team has been raised as a legal measure in response to growing criticism of Israel’s continued participation amid the situation in Gaza.

    Turkey has also taken a clear stance. The president of the Turkish Football Federation Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu has called on FIFA and UEFA to take action, saying that the time has come to take strict measures against Israel’s participation in the game.

    Several media outlets and sports analysts have joined the growing calls to stop Israel’s participation. They have argued that sport cannot remain silent in the face of human rights violations.

    International and Arab positions

    The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom noted in a previous report that US pressure prevented the suspension of the occupation’s membership. However, at the same time, it pointed out that UEFA is considering options that could lead to the exclusion of the occupation’s clubs and national team from continental competitions.

    In 2024, Arab football associations, including Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), sent a joint letter to FIFA demanding that it bar the occupation’s national team from participating. This move prompted FIFA’s disciplinary committee to open a formal investigation into the occupation’s violations and discrimination.

    Palestinian call to speed up decision on Israel’s FIFA/UEFA ban

    The Palestinian Football Association issued a statement formally demanding the suspension of Israeli sports teams and players from international competitions until Israel stops its crimes in the Gaza Strip.

    The statement stressed that allowing Israel to participate in sports while continuing its systematic violence undermines the foundations of justice and the principles on which international sports federations are based.

    Feature image via screengrab.

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israeli bombing isolates Al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City

    Ismail al-Thawabta, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, announced that the Israeli army directly targeted Al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City with two missiles, trapping patients and medical staff inside and preventing them from entering or leaving. He emphasised that the siege imposed on the hospital is exacerbating the suffering of hundreds of civilians trapped inside.

    Israel bombs Al-Helou Hospital in Gaza City

    According to eyewitnesses speaking to Anadolu Agency, Israeli forces are currently stationed around the hospital, located in the Al-Nasr neighborhood west of Gaza, as part of their ground deployment across several key axes within the city. This comes amid continued aerial and artillery bombardment and the bombing of residential buildings and civilian facilities, as part of Israel’s ongoing efforts to impose control over the city and displace its residents.

    Al-Thawabta explained that doctors and patients at Al-Helou Hospital are living in “tragic” conditions amid a state of panic and fear, after the occupation cut off the hospital’s internet and communications network in order to isolate it from the outside world and stop the provision of humanitarian medical services to civilians. He stressed that targeting medical facilities constitutes:

    a full-fledged war crime and crimes against humanity.

    It adds to a long series of violations against the health sector in Gaza since the outbreak of the siege.

    Destroying hospitals and rendering them out of action

    The media official revealed that since the start of the genocide on 7 October 2023, the Israeli army has destroyed or rendered 38 hospitals completely out of service. This is in addition to targeting 96 healthcare centers and destroying or damaging 197 ambulances. It has led to the near complete collapse of the health system in the sector.

    At the same time, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that Israeli drones bombed the vicinity of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Gaza’s largest hospital. It confirmed initial assessments indicating that it is difficult for patients to reach the complex as a result of the continuous bombing. The ministry added that it had lost contact with medical staff inside the hospital for hours, raising serious concerns for the lives of both staff and patients.

    The ministry pointed to the seriousness of the health situation inside Al-Shifa, where Israel has trapped 12 newborns in intensive care units, with no possibility of transferring them or providing them with the necessary medical supplies due to the bombing and siege.

    Doctors and local officials warn that the continued targeting of hospitals and health infrastructure in Gaza threatens an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. It’s at a time when the number of wounded and displaced persons is increasing and the most basic health and humanitarian care is lacking.

    Feature image via screengrab.

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • ‘She didn’t realise how dangerous it was’: London-bound student held in China over Tibet support

    Zhang Yadi was due to begin a degree in the UK but the activist vanished on holiday amid tensions over Dalai Lama

    As Zhang Yadi toured remote villages in the Chinese province of Sichuan last year, she updated her friends with messages and photos of lush forest landscapes, colourful streets and locals wearing traditional Tibetan clothing.

    The largely Tibetan parts of the province have become a popular tourist destination for holidaymakers. But the 22-year-old, on a break from her studies in Europe, told friends she was saddened by what she saw.

    Continue reading…

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

  • Israel prepares to intercept the Gaza humanitarian flotilla as it approaches the coast of Gaza

    On Monday, the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing to break the siege on Gaza announced that it was only a few days away from reaching the shores of the Strip. It confirmed that its ships would enter the “high-risk zone” within two days.

    Humanitarian flotilla nearing the shores of the Gaza Strip

    The Global Sumud Flotilla, a component of the international coalition, said on its Instagram page that:

    Our lead vessels, OHWAYLA & ALL IN, are now just 366 nautical miles from Gaza, with an estimated arrival in 3 to 4 days.

    The statement explained that:

    Our fleet now stands at 44 vessels, strengthened by the recent launch of two new boats sailing towards the fleet.

    It added:

    In just two days, the flotilla will enter the high-risk zone. Our determination is absolute, but this is the moment where your global vigilance and solidarity are needed most.

    The fleet continued, saying:

    Join us. Stop the Genocide. Keep your eyes on Gaza.

    In this context, the official Israel state channel Kan reported on Sunday that Israel is preparing to intercept the ships coming as part of the international flotilla, in a move that could repeat the scene of the takeover of the ships Madleen and Handala in June and July.

    Israel making military preparations to intercept the flotilla

    This comes amid Israel’s military preparations to intercept the Global Sumud Flotilla. The Israeli broadcaster said that the naval commando unit had carried out field exercises in recent days, allegedly to:

    minimize harm to participants while taking control of ships at sea.

    On Friday, the Maghreb fleet revealed that unidentified military aircraft had flown over its ships for the second time in a week while in Greek territorial waters.

    Dozens of ships have been sailing towards Gaza for days, loaded with vital humanitarian aid, especially medical supplies, in an attempt to break the 18-year Israeli blockade. On board these ships are more than 500 activists and solidarity supporters from 40 countries, and multiple continents.

    This is the first time that dozens of ships have sailed together toward Gaza, at a time when the 2.4 million residents of the Strip are experiencing a suffocating humanitarian disaster. Israel has tightened its blockade since 2 March by closing all crossings and preventing food, medicine, and aid from entering, exacerbating the famine despite the accumulation of relief trucks at the border.

    Feature image via Al Jazeera/Youtube.

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Activists just smashed up the site of another F-35 part supplier enabling Israel’s genocide

    Early on Friday 26 September, activists targeted the Glasgow site of Walker Precision Engineering: smashing its windows and coating its interior with paint.

    Walker Precision Engineering holds contracts with Israel-arming multinational arms manufacturers Leonardo and Thales, as well as BAE Systems.

    Precision Engineering: activists target supplier to arms manufacturers

    Walker Precision Engineering are also a member of Scotland’s military-industry lobbying body ADS Scotland. ADS Scotland has met 52 times with Holyrood MSPs since October 2023. It has pressured the Scottish and UK governments for increasing state powers to surveil and criminalise anti-genocide and anti-Zionist protestors.

    Leonardo is a key UK contributor to the F-35 fighter jet construction. The UK industry supplies 15% of their total components. Crucially, the UK government has made these components exempt from its Israeli ‘arms embargo’. This has left 91% of all UK to Israel military exports intact.

    Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) has described F-35s as:

    the UK’s most significant arms supplies to the Israeli military.

    Israel has used them to drop the 2000 pound bombs which have flattened Gaza, and murdered up to 680,000 Palestinians (as of September 2025). Leonardo’s production facility in Edinburgh is the supplier of the F-35’s laser targetting system.

    The supply chain of Israel’s genocide

    Thales is a French arms manufacturer with facilities in Glasgow. Thales produce the UK ‘Watchkeeper’ drone, through a joint venture with Israeli arms company Elbit Systems. It’s based on Elbit’s Hermes 450, which Israel has used extensively to attack Gaza.

    In 2017, Walker Precision Engineering purchased a Basildon-based military assembly centre from Leonardo. It owns this through its subsidiary ‘Walker Guidance Systems’, who supply “critical airborne and guidance products” to Leonardo. In 2023 Leonardo spent £16m on supplies from the Basildon site. In 2017, Walker Precision Engineering also secured £4m of investment from the Business Growth Fund (BGP) to expand the Carmyle site’s supply networks with Thales.

    The activists’ statement read:

    We have targeted Walker Precision Engineering for its complicity in the genocide of Gaza, that Israel has been charged with by South Africa and 11 other countries in the International Court of Justice. We won’t rest whilst efforts to annihilate Palestine are being knowingly enabled by companies on our doorstep. Every business that is part of this supply chain, including Walker Precision Engineering, shares responsibility for, and profits from, this genocide. By carrying out this action, we are directly responding to calls from Palestine to stop the flow of arms and technology from Scotland to Israel. Walker Precision Engineering has blood on its hands and will remain a target until it ceases all business with Leonardo and Thales.

    Feature image supplied. 

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Human Rights Group Visits Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Calls for His Release

    Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has lost about 55 pounds since Israeli forces abducted him in December, and is suffering from a serious case of scabies, according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), which visited him last week. The renowned pediatrician was given a new pair of clothes for the first time on September 25, the morning of his visit with…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Labour plans to consult on use of live facial recognition before wider roll-out

    Policing minister says government will ‘put some parameters’ around its deployment in England

    Labour plans to consult on the use of live facial recognition (LFR) technology before expanding it across England, the new policing minister has told the party’s annual conference.

    Sarah Jones, a Home Office minister, said the government would “put some parameters” over when and where it could be used in future.

    Continue reading…

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

  • Israel’s educide in Gaza sees academics forced to sleep in cemeteries with their children

    In the heart of a cemetery in Khan Yunis, Dr Raghad Hamad, an academic at Al-Aqsa University, lay on the cold ground with her family. She fled northern Gaza to escape Israel’s bombing, only to find herself among the graves, trying to turn a concrete wall into a shelter and the open sky into a roof that would protect her children from fear.

    She hugged her children and hid there trembling, as if she wanted to convince them that life is possible even in the presence of death. Her scene was not just a fleeting moment, but a painting that encapsulates deep human suffering, where the search for safety becomes a daily battle and the right to shelter becomes an unattainable dream.

    Gaza’s educide: life alongside death

    The cemetery was not just a place to sleep, but a harsh symbol of the paradox of Gaza. When the living find their only refuge among the dead, death itself becomes a refuge from a harsher life. The image of Raghad and her family among the gravestones has become a symbol of a life under siege, embracing death in order to survive.

    It is a moment where symbolism and reality merge, where the living become neighbors of the dead, and where death becomes more merciful than displacement in the open. This scene encapsulates the meaning of the place: Gaza, searching for life, finds itself forced to share it with the dead.

    University halls: now the graveyards of Gaza’s minds

    Raghad was not just a displaced person; she was a university professor with advanced degrees who had dedicated her life to building minds and graduating new generations. Today, she sits on the soil of cemeteries instead of university halls, and embraces her children instead of her students. The irony here is even more painful. The guardians of knowledge have become refugees searching for the most basic necessities of survival.

    This loss is not hers alone, but represents the collapse of an entire society. When the academic and medical elite are displaced, the future is shattered. Future generations are robbed of their right to education, health, and knowledge. The tragedy of Gaza does not stop at human beings, but extends to the loss of human knowledge, which is the cornerstone of any renaissance.

    A cry that sums up the story

    We found no home and no tent; all we have left are graves.

    With this short sentence, Raghad summed up her story. Her few words conveyed what dozens of reports could not: a muffled cry that sums up the journey of displacement and betrayal. It transformed her individual experience into a collective testimony to the magnitude of the tragedy.

    From lecture halls to graveyards, the distance between knowledge and death was reduced to a single moment. Here, the story needs no exaggeration or embellishment. It suffices to be told as it is, to serve as irrefutable evidence of the cruelty of war and silent testimony to the pain of an entire nation.

    Human knowledge buried under the rubble

    Dr. Raghad’s story does not stop at the borders of Gaza, but goes beyond them to pose a question to the world: how can knowledge live among the dead? When academia is displaced to the graveyards, the loss is not only to a besieged society, but to all of humanity, which sees human knowledge buried alive under the rubble.

    This is not just a story of displacement, but a mirror of the fate of minds in conflict zones. Raghad’s story has become a global cry against the death of education and the displacement of talent, and against a future stolen from the hands of children and students. It is a testimony that exposes the world’s silence and confronts it with the truth: Gaza is not only losing its homes, but also its minds.

    Feature image via Middle East Eye/Youtube.

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • When cancer becomes good news amid Israel’s genocide in Gaza

    In Gaza, where the smell of gunpowder mixes with the moans of the sick and the cries of the displaced, writer and poet Amal Abu Assi penned one of the most brutal and painful testimonies of genocide, a testimony in which cancer of the body intersects with the cancer of occupation.

    Israel’s occupation and displacement: more cruel than cancer

    Amal Abu Assi said that the tumour that doctors had been warning her about for years had finally made itself known. But the shocking irony is that she did not feel the impact of this news as she did when she received the news of her forced displacement from northern Gaza to the south. There, amid the ruins of her dream and her home, she realised that illness might be easier on the heart than uprooting a person from their land.

    She wrote with pain:

    I understood the meaning of displacement very well when the news of my cancer was easier on my heart than the news that I had to move to the south, leaving my lofty dream standing alone in northern Gaza.

    Thus, she weighed illness on one side and displacement on the other, discovering that Israel’s occupation is more cruel than cancer, and that uprooting a person from their land and their dreams is more painful than removing a tumour from their body.

    Gaza: a city fighting death on more than one front

    Her words are not just a passing confession, but a mirror of the reality of an entire people being pushed into the open. Amal asks herself with painful sincerity: should she rejoice that her steps are now closer to heaven, bringing an end to this long tragedy? Or should she grieve because she does not yet know how many steps remain, nor when the door of life will close?

    Amal Abu Assi, whose body shares the pain of her bleeding land, sums up the tragedy of all Gazans: between the destruction of homes, the loss of dreams, and the absence of security, there is no longer any difference between death from a tumour inside or a shell outside.

    She concluded with a cry that every Gazan knows:

    Only those who have experienced the harshest degrees of oppression, grief, and injustice can understand this pain. Only the people of Gaza can understand this pain.

    It is the testimony of a woman, but it is also the testimony of a nation. Amal Abu Assi, with her exhausted body and full heart, presents a concentrated image of Gaza as a whole: a city fighting death on more than one front, insisting, despite the bleeding, to remain alive, witnessing, and resisting.

    Amal Abu Assi: a testimony that transcends the individual

    Amal Abu Assi’s story is not just a tale of a cancer patient in a genocide. It is a testimony of an entire nation, a testimony of the bleeding of the body and the bleeding of the land, of a woman whose body shares its pain with her city. She writes from the heart with the fire to document a complex human moment: a moment in which illness becomes a minor detail in the face of the loss of homes and dreams.

    With her sincere pain, Amal sums up the image of Gaza: a city clinging to life despite the rubble, hunger, cold, and disease. Her words do not belong only to a personal experience, but echo collectively for all those who have lost their homes, their dreams, and their security.

    Amal Abu Assi, writer and poet, no longer writes only literary texts, but also a testament to her homeland, an elegy to life, and a new statement of resilience.

    Featured image supplied

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Three-quarters of Gaza’s children are suffering from malnutrition – with virtually no families left food secure

    New data released by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) shows that children in the Gaza Strip are facing “extremely dangerous” humanitarian conditions, with Israeli military operations continuing for the second consecutive year and an accompanying severe shortage of food, medicine, and psychological care.

    Growing hunger and widespread malnutrition among Gaza’s children, says IRC

    A rapid needs assessment, which covered 469 displaced families in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and parts of Khan Yunis, revealed that one in three children under the age of three had not eaten anything in the 24 hours prior to the survey.

    Nearly three-quarters of families with young children reported clear signs of malnutrition, while only 1% of families were classified as food secure.

    The report noted that families are forced to skip entire meals or reduce food portions, with an almost complete absence of protein, vegetables, and fresh fruit.

    Rise in injuries and amputations

    In parallel with the food crisis, the IRC has observed a 48% increase in child protection cases in recent weeks.

    The report stated that most injuries among children are caused by shrapnel, with a notable increase in amputations. It is estimated that there are around 4,000 children with amputated limbs in the Gaza Strip since the start of the genocide, which is the highest rate in the world relative to the population.

    Senior vice president for crisis, recovery and development at the IRC Kieran Donnelly said:

    These are children who have lost limbs, who wake up screaming from nightmares, who no longer feel safe even within their own families. Our teams are doing everything they can to support them, but without safe access and basic supplies, their recovery is at risk of stalling.

    The report noted that children who have lost family members show more severe psychological symptoms, including anxiety, nightmares, fear of being alone, and sudden outbursts of aggression.

    The organisation’s teams have also observed an increase in some children resorting to begging or child labour, while others cling to positive activities such as drawing and playing to mitigate the effects of trauma.

    Severe shortage of humanitarian services

    The IRC confirmed that prosthetics and rehabilitation are virtually non-existent in the sector, while psychological support for children is almost non-existent.

    The near-total blockade on humanitarian access also hinders the delivery of basic supplies, while safe spaces are overcrowded and the education system is on the verge of collapse due to worsening hunger and malnutrition.

    The committee concluded its report by calling for the opening of urgent and unconditional humanitarian corridors to allow access to food, healthcare, and protection for children, stressing that an immediate ceasefire remains a prerequisite for protecting them from further harm and ensuring the continuation of relief operations.

    Feature image via BBC News/YouTube.

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.