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May 15, 2024

Letter Urging Meta to Maintain CrowdTangle Tool Through Upcoming Elections

The undersigned civil society organizations and researchers urge you to fulfill your civic obligations by maintaining the full functionality of CrowdTangle beyond Inauguration Day through at least January 31, 2025, to ensure this vital tool can be used to ensure the integrity of this important election cycle.
May 15, 2024

A Human Rights Guide to the 2024 European Elections

Between 6 and 9 June 2024 voters in all 27 EU member states will go to the polls to elect 720 members of the European Parliament. These will be the first European elections since Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic, and conflicts in Ukraine and in the Middle East that have polarized Europe.
Members of the European Parliament sit in the plenary chamber of the European Parliament during a vote. Among other things, MEPs will vote today on a free trade agreement with Vietnam.
May 15, 2024

Gambia: Landmark Swiss Conviction of Ex-Official

A Swiss court’s conviction of the former Gambian Interior Minister Ousman Sonko for crimes against humanity is monumental for Gambian victims of atrocity crimes during the rule of Yahya Jammeh. The verdict is a major achievement for Switzerland’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for grave crimes committed abroad.
Exterior of a court building
May 14, 2024

Victims of Vietnam’s Formosa Toxic Spill Deserve Justice

In April 2016, Vietnam experienced one of the worst environmental disasters in its history when Formosa Ha Tinh Steel, a subsidiary of the Taiwan-based Formosa Plastics Group, discharged toxic chemical waste off the coast of Ha Tinh province, killing millions of fish and destroying the livelihoods of fishing communities.
Vietnamese activists hold a photo of dead fish allegedly killed with toxic chemicals during a protest to urge Formosa Plastics Group to take responsibility for the cleanup in Vietnam, August 10, 2016, in Taipei, Taiwan.
May 14, 2024

Thai Youth Activist Dies in Custody

Thai anti-monarchy activist Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, 28, died in custody in Bangkok today while on a hunger strike she began in January.
Pro-democracy protesters during a mourning ceremony for Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom, a Thai political activist, outside the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on May 14, 2024.
May 14, 2024

15 Years Since Sri Lanka’s Conflict Ended, No Justice for War Crimes

Lakshmi remembers when the guns finally fell silent in Sri Lanka, in May 2009. She had been sheltering in a shallow hole in the sand – what passed for a “bunker” for the hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians huddled on the beach. For weeks they had endured continual bombardment in an area the military had declared a “no fire zone”.
Women hold portraits of family members who went missing during Sri Lanka’s civil war that ended in 2009, during a demonstration in Colombo.
May 14, 2024

Maldives: Presidential Commission on Deaths and Disappearances must disclose findings of investigations to victims’ families and the public

We, the undersigned organisations, call on the Commission on Deaths and Disappearances (DDCom) in the Maldives, newly elected President Mohamed Muizzu, and the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives to ensure that DDCom’s findings are revealed to the victims’ families and made public before it is set to be dissolved later this month. While we appreciate the decision of the President to extend the dissolution of DDCom until 31 May 2024 at the request of the families of the victims, the truth about the fate of the victims must be provided to over 20 families who have awaited justice through the DDCom. Furthermore, we call on the Human Rights Commission of the Maldives to intervene in this grave matter and ensure the families are provided with the findings of the DDCom investigations.