Robert Jenrick has demanded that prospective Conservative candidates should either promise to support leaving the European convention on human rights or stand down.
As the party continues to debate whether to pledge to withdraw from the international agreement, the shadow justice secretary said he would get candidates “to sign a contract to say they actually stand for Conservative values”.
There is a UN convention for exactly this kind of horror: the convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. When will the world act on it?
Raji Sourani is the coordinator of the Palestinian legal team at the international criminal court (ICC)
Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide in Gaza. That is the conclusion of a UN commission report. Since the release of the report last week, Palestine has finally been recognised as an independent state by the UK and a number of other countries. In his announcement at the weekend, Keir Starmer called the death and destruction in Gaza “utterly intolerable”. This recognition comes too late and is still conditional, but has the UK government indeed now stopped tolerating Israel’s devastation of Gaza? Has anything changed for the people there who are being starved and bombed? Far from it.
Even as the UN publishes the findings of its independent commission, and a flag is raised outside the Palestinian mission in London, mass displacement and killing continues to take place in Gaza City as Israel attacks. As a lawyer who has spent my life believing in the rule of law, this makes me wonder: will Gaza’s destruction also bring with it the death of international law?
Raji Sourani is the director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the coordinator of the Palestinian legal team at the international criminal court (ICC) and a member of South Africa’s legal team in the genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice (ICJ).
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
A skilled and persuasive human rights lawyer who fought for civil liberties in the face of over-reaching anti-terror law
As a leading authority on counter-terror legislation, Conor Gearty was incensed at the way anti-terror laws are so often enacted to stifle debate and intimidate protest.
The Labour government’s banning of Palestine Action, he argued, was “preposterous”. He told a podcast for Prospect magazine that the then home secretary, Yvette Cooper, had fallen back on the “usual claim they make in a tight corner”, that “‘you have no idea what I know’ … They calculated the ban would produce not much of a reaction.”
Brexit removed many checks and balances from the UK government. That’s why leaving the European convention on human rights would be a huge risk
‘Humbug”, and “a half-baked scheme to be administered by an unknown court”. Nigel Farage or Robert Jenrick attacking the European convention on human rights (ECHR)? No – Herbert Morrison, leader of the Commons, and William Jowitt, lord chancellor in Clement Attlee’s postwar Labour government, respectively, both arguing that Britain should not accede to the convention.
Labour was suspicious, fearing that it would prevent nationalisation. It did not. Today, Conservatives and Reform UK fear that it will frustrate immigration control. It need not.
Many of 1 million residents say they will not leave as they do not believe al-Mawasi humanitarian zone is safe
The Israeli military has killed at least 41 people in Gaza, including 12 aid seekers, over the last 24 hours as it continued to order the population of Gaza City to evacuate before its planned offensive.
The evacuation orders were accompanied by intensified Israeli bombing of the city, the Israeli military interspersing orders with announcements of high-rise towers they had bombed.
Campaign group accuses Isaac Herzog, arriving in UK next week, of aiding and abetting indiscriminate killing in Gaza
Pro-Palestine activists have requested that an arrest warrant be issued against Israeli President Isaac Herzog for alleged war crimes ahead of his arrival in the UK this week.
Herzog is accused of aiding and abetting the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza in the request to the director of public prosecutions filed by the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign group.
The UK hasnot concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, nor that any of the British-made parts for F-35 jets sold to Israel have directly led to breaches of international humanitarian law, ministers have told parliament.
Ministers have also rejected calls for an independent audit of UK arms sales, but admitted they were not in a position to say if Israel’s assault in Gaza had led to any breaches of humanitarian law owing to the complexity of the fighting terrain.
Petition, drafted by human rights lawyers, says war crimes were committed during British occupation of Palestine
A group of Palestinians will serve a legal petition asking the UK to take responsibility for what they call “serial international law violations”, including war crimes committed during the British occupation of Palestine from 1917 to 1948, the consequences of which it says still reverberate today.
The 400-plus page document, drafted by human rights KCs, details “incontrovertible evidence” of the UK’s unlawful legacy.
Rights groups in Gaza and Ramallah had asked international criminal court to investigate Israel over genocide claims
The US has imposed sanctions against three Palestinian human rights groups that asked the international criminal court (ICC) to investigate Israel over allegations of genocide in Gaza, according to a notice posted to the US treasury department’s website.
The three groups – the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Ramallah-based Al-Haq – were listed under what the treasury department said were ICC-related designations.
Peace deal cannot be ‘negotiated away’ by British political figures who want to quit ECHR, says Irish deputy PM
Northern Ireland’s peace deal cannot be “negotiated away” by British political figures who want to see the UK quit the European Convention of Human Rights if elected, the Irish tánaiste has warned.
The ECHR is an integral part of the 1998 Belfast Good Friday agreement and withdrawal would remove those foundations of peace, according to Simon Harris, Ireland’s deputy prime minister.
Jamie Raskin says Farage is ‘a Trump sycophant’ before UK politician addresses the House judiciary committee in Washington
Kemi Badenoch is probably hastily redrafting her PMQs script in the light of Angela Rayner’s statement about underpaying her stamp duty. She has got less than half an hour to craft the right questions. And she will probably want to ask about the economy, and hate speech laws, too.
And while we are talking about Blair-era Labour aides, Peter Hyman, who wrote speeches for Tony Blair and later worked for Keir Starmer in the run-up to the general election, has launched a new Substack blog. It is called Changing the Story, which tells you quite a lot about what he thinks is going wrong with No 10. Here is an extract from his first post.
Starmer is an ‘opportunity’ prime minister forced to become a ‘security’ one. And that’s why the government’s narrative is seen by some to be elusive.
Let me explain.
I remember well Tim Allan’s leaving drinks at Number 10 in the earlyish Blair era. In his fulsome farewell speech Tony Blair noted only half jokingly “Tim’s even more right wing than me..”
The same Tim Allan who as head of Portland had a contract to polish Vladimir Putin’s reputation?
Lawyer who was an authority on lawsuits against nation states, advising on General Pinochet’s human rights abuse case in 1998
For a lawyer who specialised in the arcane area of law known as “state immunity”, Hazel Fox was a remarkably influential figure. Her chosen subject is increasingly the cause of courtroom and political clashes. Fox, who has died aged 96, was one of the foremost authorities documenting the interaction between domestic and international legislation as aggrieved parties attempt to sue foreign governments for alleged torture, murder or financial misdeeds.
Her volume The Law of State Immunity, published in 2002 and already into its third edition (updated by her successor Prof Philippa Webb), analyses the cases through which the traditional, absolute freedoms enjoyed by states to engage in diplomatic relations have come under mounting pressure to give ground to other demands in an ever more interconnected world.
Human Rights Watch says US military personnel could face criminal prosecution for assisting Israel’s war in Gaza
Human rights groups and activists who protest against continued US support for Israel have focused primarily on the flow of US weapons, warning that continuing to send weapons to a state which has been documented using them in probable war crimes makes the US complicit.
However, this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted another facet of US military support for Israel: military cooperation and intelligence sharing.
New York, August 25, 2025—Hong Kong authorities should ensure the right of journalists to work freely and renew the work visa of Bloomberg reporter Rebecca Choong Wilkins, who is among at least 8 journalists whose work visas and entry into the city have been denied since its 2020 National Security Law, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
Choong Wilkins, a British national who reports on government and economy in Asia, confirmed in an X post on August 23 she will be leaving the city after six years, after The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Hong Kong revealed a day earlier that her visa renewal had been denied.
“The weaponization of media visas is a common tactic used by governments who seek to suppress the truth,” said CPJ Asia-Pacific Regional Director Beh Lih Yi. “Hong Kong authorities should explain any denial of work visas or entry and establish a transparent mechanism in their decision-making processes. Arbitrarily denying a journalist’s right to work is against press freedoms that are protected under Hong Kong’s Basic Law.”
A Bloomberg News spokesperson told CPJ the outlet is working through the appropriate avenues to resolve the matter and declined to elaborate on the journalist’s visa status.
Choong Wilkins joins fellow Bloomberg reporter Haze Fan, a Chinese national; AP photographer Louise Delmotte; freelance Japanese journalist Yoshiaki Ogawa; and photographer Michiko Kiseki on a growing list of press members who have been denied work visas or entry into the city since Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in mid-2020. Several media outlets were closed and journalists have been arrested.
Hong Kong’s Immigration Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment on Choong Wilkins’ case.
Lemi Limbu, who was convicted of murdering her daughter, has severe intellectual disabilities and ‘absolutely should not be in prison’, say campaigners
Pressure is mounting on the Tanzanian government to release a woman with severe intellectual disabilities who has been in prison awaiting execution for 13 years.
Lemi Limbu, who is now in her early 30s, was convicted of the murder of her daughter in 2015. A survivor of brutal and repeated sexual and domestic violence, she has the developmental age of a child.
Use of cameras at Notting Hill carnival could have ‘chilling effect’ on people’s rights, says equality regulator
Scotland Yard’s plan to widen the use of live facial recognition technology is unlawful because it is incompatible with European laws, the equalities regulator has claimed.
As the UK’s biggest force prepares to use instant face-matching cameras at this weekend’s Notting Hill carnival, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said its use was intrusive and could have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights.
The court ruling on the Bell hotel does not just legitimise anti-immigrant sentiment; it also risks erasing a whole category of people
When the high court ruled this week that the Bell hotel in Epping could no longer be used to house asylum seekers, the triumph of anti-migrant zealots looked a little unwarranted, or at least premature. Nigel Farage hoped loudly that the ruling would provide “inspiration to others across the country”. Tabloids and GB News called it an all-caps VICTORY, while Epping locals popped champagne on the hotel’s doorstep.
Meanwhile, the ruling itself felt impermanent and technical more than principled. The judge ruled that Somani, the company that owns the Bell, had not notified the council of its intended use; it was hardly an endorsement of the general proposition, memorably spelled out by Robert Jenrick recently, that “men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally” pose an active threat to his daughters. And while the victory calls were resounding, there was no answering message of defeat from those who support asylum seekers – nobody thinks hotels are a sound and humane way to accommodate refugees. Liminal, often squalid, eye-wateringly expensive for the Home Office, they hardly scream “welcome”.
Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist
Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan.
“You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2015, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential sources of independent news. But a recent government crackdown—spurred by the outlet’s critical reporting on the 2022 anti-government protests—threatens its survival.
In January 2024, 36 of Azattyq’s journalists were denied accreditation following a court ruling that fined the outlet for allegedly spreading “false information”—a charge the newsroom disputes. Although RFE/RL later reached an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the accreditation process resumed in the spring, reprieve was short. A few months later, Kazakhstan enacted new laws broadening authorities’ powers to deny or revoke accreditation and banning foreign media from operating without accreditation, which press freedom advocates believed were aimed primarily at Azattyq. In July 2025, after CPJ spoke to Doorov, Azattyq again faced mass denial, as the Ministry rejected accreditation for its 16 journalists.
This comes as the outlet, which has a 2024 web audience of nearly 20 million, has been plunged further into jeopardy due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts and the risk of RFE/RL’s closure.
In an interview with CPJ, Doorov—speaking from RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague—talked about Azattyq’s influence, how clashes with authorities increased as the outlet became more popular, persisting under pressure, and the fate of independent journalism in Kazakhstan. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Demonstrators on February 13, 2022 hold photos in remembrance of those killed during the country-wide Bloody January protests in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Photo: Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev)
How has Radio Azattyq evolved over the years?
When I joined in 2015, Azattyq had already shifted from shortwave broadcasts to digital journalism, experimenting with video content and live streams to reach younger audiences.
By the early 2020s, our website had about nine million visits per month. But as our popularity grew, so did government control. We started feeling that the authorities were creating barriers for us.
The culmination of our (work) OK was seen during the Bloody January protests in 2022. For about 10 days, Kazakhstan was cut off from the internet. It was extremely difficult to operate as we almost lost connection with our reporters. I remember sitting in the office [in Prague], trying to call each one for updates and typing news manually to inform the public. That month alone, our website and YouTube channel reached 100 million views. This event showed how important Radio Azattyq had become in Kazakhstan.
We began collecting the names of victims after the protests, while officials withheld this information until September 2022, six months afterward. In June, we launched the special project “Qandy Qantar Qurbandary”(Victims of Bloody January) and published a book sharing the stories of citizens killed after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s order to “shoot without warning.” That year, [major] problems with authorities began.
How have authorities responded to Azattyq’s growing influence?
In fall 2022, we reported on a Swiss NGO investigation revealing that President Tokayev bought expensive artwork for the U.N. office in Geneva from his son’s mother-in-law. After that, users in Kazakhstan began experiencing difficulty accessing our website. Investigations by our specialists in Prague and Washington, D.C. confirmed the website was being throttled.
In October that year, we experienced difficulty with getting accreditation for the first time. We are registered as the representative office of a foreign media outlet RFE/RL, and under Kazakh law, we should be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Radio Azattyq gained acclaim after sharing the stories of stories of citizens killed during 2022 anti-government protests after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, pictured here, gave an order to “shoot without warning.” (Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via Reuters)
Afterward, we were taken to court for “spreading false information” (after) one of our articles described the Collective Security Treaty Organization [a Eurasian military alliance of which Kazakhstan is a member] as a Russia-led organization, which is how foreign media usually portrays it.
In January 2024, we received a written explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially denying accreditation to all 36 of our journalists. We appealed that decision in court, arguing that all journalists should not be punished for one supposed mistake. Moreover, we did not accept that it was a mistake. Later it ended with a mutual agreement between the Ministry and RFE/RL leadership: they will issue accreditation, and we will revoke our lawsuit. And we did.
What was the reaction last summer when the Ministry of Information introduced its new media law concerning the accreditation of foreign journalists?
Some media experts in Kazakhstan called it the “Azattyq law” because it seemed designed against Azattyq, making it almost impossible to get accreditation for its journalists.
The new law issues accreditation only for one year and requires foreign journalists to submit all their articles from the past six months that mention Kazakhstan. Although we complied, recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they will accredit only six to eight Azattyq journalists. For the rest, they need another two months to review after already taking two months. One journalist was denied accreditation for violating the law.
They referred to Article 30, Part 4 of the new media law, which prohibits foreign journalists from engaging in professional activities without appropriate accreditation. What are dozens of our journalists supposed to do during those two months?
There are traps everywhere—it has become extremely difficult for us. I think that other foreign media do not have this problem.
What role does Azattyq play in Kazakhstan’s media landscape?
This is an important question. We felt the answer last February when our accreditation issues became public. Many respected independent media in Kazakhstan issued editorials in support of us. I was shocked, especially considering the competition existing among us.
Now, as we face the possibility of closure—not just in Kazakhstan but RFE/RL in general following USAGM’s decision to terminate funding—Kazakh media are again showing their support. As Orda [local independent media] recently wrote, even Azattyq’s competitors want us to continue operating because from what I understand, we are a protection for the local media community.
For example, when we report on a major corruption scheme it becomes easier for others to continue the topic and dig more. And if authorities contact them, they can point to us and say, “Azattyq already reported on this.”
Our closure would almost mean the end of independent journalism in the country, unfortunately.
What motivates you to keep leading the newsroom despite prolonged uncertainty and pressure?
It is the young journalists on our team who keep me going. The way they view problems surprises me. Since our team consists of different age groups, we have very interesting conversations. Sometimes I see clashes of ideas. That is the part I enjoy most, every day. These young journalists are powerful in their reporting, and their ideas often uplift the entire team.
Do you foresee more restrictions for independent journalism in Kazakhstan?
Yes. It has already become difficult for journalists to work, and it is not just happening in Kazakhstan. This is a global trend. The new restrictive laws are adopted not only in one country, they are being copied. For example, Russia’s “foreign agents” law might soon appear in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan has it, and Tajikistan is trying to implement it. Autocratic authorities are learning from each other on how to limit freedom for journalists.
CPJ’s emails to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the new media law and the ongoing lack of accreditation for most Radio Azattyq’s reporters did not receive any response.
Radio Azattyq director Torokul Doorov says it is “very difficult” for journalists not to become activists in the face of “unfairness and injustice” in Kazakhstan.
“You just want to start screaming,” says Doorov, who joined the Kazakh arm of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in 2015, and the outlet grew to be one of Kazakhstan’s most influential sources of independent news. But a recent government crackdown—spurred by the outlet’s critical reporting on the 2022 anti-government protests—threatens its survival.
In January 2024, 36 of Azattyq’s journalists were denied accreditation following a court ruling that fined the outlet for allegedly spreading “false information”—a charge the newsroom disputes. Although RFE/RL later reached an agreement with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the accreditation process resumed in the spring, reprieve was short. A few months later, Kazakhstan enacted new laws broadening authorities’ powers to deny or revoke accreditation and banning foreign media from operating without accreditation, which press freedom advocates believed were aimed primarily at Azattyq. In July 2025, after CPJ spoke to Doorov, Azattyq again faced mass denial, as the Ministry rejected accreditation for its 16 journalists.
This comes as the outlet, which has a 2024 web audience of nearly 20 million, has been plunged further into jeopardy due to the Trump administration’s funding cuts and the risk of RFE/RL’s closure.
In an interview with CPJ, Doorov—speaking from RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague—talked about Azattyq’s influence, how clashes with authorities increased as the outlet became more popular, persisting under pressure, and the fate of independent journalism in Kazakhstan. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Demonstrators on February 13, 2022 hold photos in remembrance of those killed during the country-wide Bloody January protests in Almaty, Kazakhstan. (Photo: Reuters/Pavel Mikheyev)
How has Radio Azattyq evolved over the years?
When I joined in 2015, Azattyq had already shifted from shortwave broadcasts to digital journalism, experimenting with video content and live streams to reach younger audiences.
By the early 2020s, our website had about nine million visits per month. But as our popularity grew, so did government control. We started feeling that the authorities were creating barriers for us.
The culmination of our (work) OK was seen during the Bloody January protests in 2022. For about 10 days, Kazakhstan was cut off from the internet. It was extremely difficult to operate as we almost lost connection with our reporters. I remember sitting in the office [in Prague], trying to call each one for updates and typing news manually to inform the public. That month alone, our website and YouTube channel reached 100 million views. This event showed how important Radio Azattyq had become in Kazakhstan.
We began collecting the names of victims after the protests, while officials withheld this information until September 2022, six months afterward. In June, we launched the special project “Qandy Qantar Qurbandary”(Victims of Bloody January) and published a book sharing the stories of citizens killed after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s order to “shoot without warning.” That year, [major] problems with authorities began.
How have authorities responded to Azattyq’s growing influence?
In fall 2022, we reported on a Swiss NGO investigation revealing that President Tokayev bought expensive artwork for the U.N. office in Geneva from his son’s mother-in-law. After that, users in Kazakhstan began experiencing difficulty accessing our website. Investigations by our specialists in Prague and Washington, D.C. confirmed the website was being throttled.
In October that year, we experienced difficulty with getting accreditation for the first time. We are registered as the representative office of a foreign media outlet RFE/RL, and under Kazakh law, we should be accredited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
Radio Azattyq gained acclaim after sharing the stories of stories of citizens killed during 2022 anti-government protests after President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, pictured here, gave an order to “shoot without warning.” (Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Bobylev/Pool via Reuters)
Afterward, we were taken to court for “spreading false information” (after) one of our articles described the Collective Security Treaty Organization [a Eurasian military alliance of which Kazakhstan is a member] as a Russia-led organization, which is how foreign media usually portrays it.
In January 2024, we received a written explanation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially denying accreditation to all 36 of our journalists. We appealed that decision in court, arguing that all journalists should not be punished for one supposed mistake. Moreover, we did not accept that it was a mistake. Later it ended with a mutual agreement between the Ministry and RFE/RL leadership: they will issue accreditation, and we will revoke our lawsuit. And we did.
What was the reaction last summer when the Ministry of Information introduced its new media law concerning the accreditation of foreign journalists?
Some media experts in Kazakhstan called it the “Azattyq law” because it seemed designed against Azattyq, making it almost impossible to get accreditation for its journalists.
The new law issues accreditation only for one year and requires foreign journalists to submit all their articles from the past six months that mention Kazakhstan. Although we complied, recently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said they will accredit only six to eight Azattyq journalists. For the rest, they need another two months to review after already taking two months. One journalist was denied accreditation for violating the law.
They referred to Article 30, Part 4 of the new media law, which prohibits foreign journalists from engaging in professional activities without appropriate accreditation. What are dozens of our journalists supposed to do during those two months?
There are traps everywhere—it has become extremely difficult for us. I think that other foreign media do not have this problem.
What role does Azattyq play in Kazakhstan’s media landscape?
This is an important question. We felt the answer last February when our accreditation issues became public. Many respected independent media in Kazakhstan issued editorials in support of us. I was shocked, especially considering the competition existing among us.
Now, as we face the possibility of closure—not just in Kazakhstan but RFE/RL in general following USAGM’s decision to terminate funding—Kazakh media are again showing their support. As Orda [local independent media] recently wrote, even Azattyq’s competitors want us to continue operating because from what I understand, we are a protection for the local media community.
For example, when we report on a major corruption scheme it becomes easier for others to continue the topic and dig more. And if authorities contact them, they can point to us and say, “Azattyq already reported on this.”
Our closure would almost mean the end of independent journalism in the country, unfortunately.
What motivates you to keep leading the newsroom despite prolonged uncertainty and pressure?
It is the young journalists on our team who keep me going. The way they view problems surprises me. Since our team consists of different age groups, we have very interesting conversations. Sometimes I see clashes of ideas. That is the part I enjoy most, every day. These young journalists are powerful in their reporting, and their ideas often uplift the entire team.
Do you foresee more restrictions for independent journalism in Kazakhstan?
Yes. It has already become difficult for journalists to work, and it is not just happening in Kazakhstan. This is a global trend. The new restrictive laws are adopted not only in one country, they are being copied. For example, Russia’s “foreign agents” law might soon appear in Kazakhstan. Kyrgyzstan has it, and Tajikistan is trying to implement it. Autocratic authorities are learning from each other on how to limit freedom for journalists.
CPJ’s emails to Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the new media law and the ongoing lack of accreditation for most Radio Azattyq’s reporters did not receive any response.
Many of his supporters hoped the prime minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed
From a retired British colonel to a Catholic priest, half of the 532 people arrested in Parliament Square were 60 or older. Many believe they had a greater share of responsibility to take in defending the right to free speech
In recent weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested for taking part in demonstrations organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries. Their alleged crime is calling for an end to the ban against Palestine Action, which has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Yvette Cooper, the home secretary.
One striking detail among those detained is their age. Half of those arrested at the largest protest yet, in Parliament Square in London on Saturday, were 60 or older. Some said they had taken part to give a voice to younger people who have more to lose by breaking the law, some simply felt they must challenge the government’s stance.
EHRC calls for clearer guidance for officers to avoid a ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression
The UK’s official human rights watchdog has written to ministers and police expressing concern at a potentially “heavy-handed” approach to protests about Gaza and urging clearer guidance for officers in enforcing the law.
In the letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the perception that peaceful protest could attract disproportionate police attention “undermines confidence in our human rights protections”.
Protesters arrested for supporting Palestine Action should not be prosecuted until a legal challenge to a ban on the group has been heard, organisations including Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch have told the attorney general for England and Wales.
In a letter to Richard Hermer KC, also signed by Friends of the Earth, Global Witness and the Quakers, they say proceeding with charges or trials before the judicial review, which is expected to be heard in November, would raise significant legal and moral questions.
US state department says Labour government ‘repeatedly intervened to chill speech’ online after Southport attack
The Trump administration has accused the UK of backsliding on human rights over the past year, citing antisemitic violence and “serious restrictions” on free speech.
The annual US state department assessment, which analyses human rights conditions worldwide, highlighted laws limiting speech around abortion clinics, as well as the way government officials “repeatedly intervened to chill speech” online after the 2024 Southport attack.
The phrase “Rule of Law” (ROL) is frequently referenced in the major media but seldom defined. Google calls it “a principle under which all persons, institutions and entities are accountable to laws that are: [P]publicly promulgated, [E]equally enforced [and] [I]independently adjudicated.” To me, the rule of law means the legal protection of democratic institutions and individual human rights. It puts legal guardrails on abuses of power against institutions and individuals.
Globally, the ROL is represented by the United Nations, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Criminal Court (ICC), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and by the Second and Fourth Hague Conventions of 1899, the Fourth Hague Convention of 1907 and the Genocide Convention of 1948.
Domestically, we rely on the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court interpretations to express the Rule of Law. Enforcement relies on adherence to law by individuals and institutions that hold power and by the acceptance by ordinary citizens. In the present environment, the major ROL breaches have occurred in the mass deportations of immigrants, in the punishment of free speech, and in the breakdown of congressionally created government bodies.
Not surprisingly, such gaps in legal norms have facilitated dark money, flawed elections, kidnappings, the deportation of immigrants without due process, and open corruption.
Internationally, the demise of legal rules is most evident in the Israel/Gaza conflict. Up to now, there has been only limited legal accountability for the war crimes of Hamas in its brutal October 7, 2023 attacks on Israeli civilians and for Israel’s continuing genocidal retribution (a 22-month campaign that has taken more than 60,000 lives (mostly women and children). The failure of the ICJ to issue a final determination of “genocide,” the pledge of some members of the ICC not to enforce arrest warrants against top Israeli officials, and U.S. complicity by providing lethal arms and diplomatic cover to Israel reflect a blanket repudiation of the international legal order that the U.S. helped establish in the last century.
The IDF’s current campaign is causing mass starvation, beginning with the most vulnerable (infants, young children and the elderly). According to a July 29 article in The Guardian, “More people in Gaza died of starvation in just over 11 days than in the previous 21 months of conflict.” Once famine takes hold it leads to mass starvation, unless adequate food and water become available.
Moreover, Israel’s war crimes under the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 as amended and the Genocide Convention of 1948 have included the targeted killings of medical personnel and journalists, and the devastation of hospitals, universities, mosques, and churches.
Domestically, the rule of law has collapsed on several fronts. In some recent court cases (such as executive branch refusal to obey a court order to abort the deportation of immigrants to San Salvator’s torture prison), the White House has ignored federal court decisions. Such actions amount to an attack on the fundamental democratic principle of checks and balances. It has also led to the emergence of an all-powerful presidency.
The ongoing punishments of pro-Palestinian protesters are blatant attacks on the free speech protection of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The kidnappings and detentions of foreign-born university students and faculty who protest the Gaza genocide make a mockery of free speech and due process protections.
Efforts by the Texas legislature to redistribute voting districts (with an avowed aim of capturing five new Republican seats) are normalizing illegal gerrymandering prior to the upcoming mid-term elections. As such reordering threatens to disenfranchise large numbers of people of color, they erode public confidence in the electoral process.
Disregard of court judgments, thuggish kidnappings by masked ICE agents, military deployments to quell peaceful civilian protests, and the widespread absence of due process in deportation cases are the most egregious examples of an overall disregard of legal limits by the executive branch.
The march to authoritarianism is unconstrained by legal norms. The president’s almost daily tweets and executive orders have become the phony equivalent of “law.” They lack constitutional foundation and often change direction according to executive whim. Legal breaches are increasingly ignored.
So, what is the societal impact of the ROL’s demise? Most significantly, inequality: powerful people lord over the weak, the wealthy crush the poor and middle class with inflation, and the president repeatedly asserts the assumed superiority of white males. No wonder that our immigrant neighbors are in terror of ICE, that the LGBT community fears discrimination and that the rest of the country quakes over what may be coming next.
The populist right sees the European convention as a soft target in a longer campaign to degrade democratic checks and balances
Most British citizens have little contact with human rights law, which is as it should be in a mature democracy. Widespread anxiety about basic freedoms is a feature of more repressive regimes.
Many people will only have heard of the European convention on human rights (ECHR) in the context of the last Conservative government’s failed attempts to dispatch asylum seekers to Rwanda, or in a handful of incidents where convicted criminals or terrorist suspects have avoided deportation to jurisdictions where they might face inhumane treatment. Such cases are amplified by politicians who are hostile to the whole apparatus of human rights law. The Strasbourg court that adjudicates on breaches of the ECHR is denounced as an enemy of British sovereignty.
More than 200 have been arrested for alleged support of Palestine Action – and hundreds more are expected to protest on Saturday
At 81, Deborah Hinton, a former British magistrate who was honoured by the late Queen Elizabeth II for services to the community, seems an unlikely terrorist suspect. In the quiet town in south-west England where she lives, much of her retirement is spent walking along the cliffs, raising funds for the nearby cathedral choir, and supporting local charities.
But last month she was detained in a police cell for seven hours, fingerprinted and had a DNA swab taken from her mouth. It was the first time she had ever been arrested, and the experience left her “in a state of trauma” and “shaking uncontrollably”. She could face a jail sentence of six months under UK terrorism legislation.
Washington, D.C., August 8, 2025—Qatari authorities should reconsider the implications of an amendment to the country’s cybercrime law, which could be used to prosecute journalists, photojournalists, and bloggers for doing their jobs, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday.
On August 4, Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani approved an amendment to a 2014 cybercrime law that adds a new provision that criminalizes publishing or circulating photos or videos of individuals in public places without their consent. Violations are punishable by up to one year in prison, a fine of up to 100,000 Qatari riyals (about USD$27,500), or both.
“While the amendments are being framed as a measure to protect individual privacy, the vague and overly broad language poses a serious threat to press freedom,” said Sara Qudah, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program director. “Criminalizing the publication of images taken in public spaces risks silencing journalists and undermining their ability to report on matters of public interest.”
Qatari authorities have previously used the cybercrime law to suppress critical reporting. In May 2021, blogger Malcolm Bidali was forcibly disappeared and later charged under the cybercrime law with spreading false news. He was eventually allowed to leave the country after paying a significant fine for his reporting on migrant rights.
CPJ emailed the Qatari Embassy in Washington, D.C., for on how Qatari authorities plan to mitigate the risks that the new cybercrime law amendments pose to press freedom but did not receive a response.
She was arrested after planning to run against Paul Kagame. It’s time democracies woke up to the true nature of his regime
Rémy Amahirwa is the oldest son of Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza
When I see the “Visit Rwanda” logo stitched on to the jerseys of famous football clubs like Arsenal or printed in glossy travel magazines, I feel a rush of pride for the natural beauty and warm hospitality of the country of my birth. Yet, I wonder whether the tourists being courted truly understand the darker side of Rwanda. This side has torn my family apart for nearly two decades; it is the reason my mother sits behind bars, once again, as a political prisoner.
My mother, Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, is a political activist who first returned to Rwanda from exile in 2010. Our family had a stable and comfortable life in the Netherlands for many years, but my mother could not stop thinking about her native Rwanda and was deeply troubled by the events unfolding there. The president, Paul Kagame, heralded as the man who stopped the 1994 genocide, was quietly becoming yet another strongman on the African continent. My mother could not silently watch from the sidelines in Europe as Rwanda’s citizens lost their freedoms and suffered persecution.
