In a span of several weeks, human rights activists throughout the North Caucasus have been targets of violent attacks and intimidation. On January 17, 2018, the offices of Memorial Human Rights Center in Ingushetia were torched and destroyed by unidentified masked men. Memorial is one of the most prominent and effective human rights organizations in…
The Office of UN High Commission for Human Rights is seeking applications for the recently vacated position of the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. The Special Rapporteur undertakes fact-finding country visits; serves as the public face for the thematic mandate; tracks alleged violations of the rights to freedom…
On January 8, 2018, the U.S. Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) issued a statement of concern regarding the recent invasive security measures and harassment undertaken by the Chinese government against the Uyghur ethnic minority living in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The CECC noted the exponential increase in security forces, arbitrary arrests, and the systemic, “involuntary collection…
Profiles of seven additional political prisoners have been added to our Set Them Free Azerbaijan spotlight page. Unfortunately, this expansion reflects the escalating measures taken by the Azerbaijan government to suppress human rights defenders, journalists, and religious minorities. One of the most notorious examples is the arrest of Afghan Mukhtarli in May 2017. An investigative journalist, Afghan has written…