Human Rights

Human rights advocate Mary Lawlor has taken up her post as UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Ms Lawlor has decades of experience in human rights, having helped to grow Irish-based NGOs as a previous director of Amnesty International in Ireland and a founder of Front L

Patrick Corrigan, Northern Ireland programme director at Amnesty International, argues against a return to "business as usual" after the coronavirus pandemic is over. Amid the rising death toll, the dangers faced by our front line workers and the wider dislocation for a society dealing with COVID-19

Saudi Arabia has carried out its 800th execution since the reign of King Salman bin Abdulaziz began five years ago. Human rights group Reprieve said the rate of executions has doubled under King Salman's rule, despite Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman insisting the kingdom intends to "minimise" the n

A new book about Northern Ireland human rights lawyer Kevin Boyle is being promoted online in a "virtual book tour" because of the coronavirus pandemic. The recently-released book, "Are You With Me? Kevin Boyle and the Rise of the Human Rights Movement" by former CNN correspondent Mike Chinoy, explo

Egyptian prosecutors and judges are turning a blind eye to children as young as 12 being arrested, forcibly disappeared and tortured, human rights campaigners have said. A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Egyptian rights group Belady documents abuses against 20 children between the ages of

Human rights advocate Mary Lawlor has been appointed as UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. Michel Forst, the current special rapporteur, is stepping down after six years in the role.

A new report published by Amnesty International today shows how the Saudi Arabian authorities are using a counter-terrorism court – the Specialised Criminal Court – as a weapon to systematically silence peaceful opposition in the country. Charges used in proceedings in the court fre

Four of Ireland's main political parties have committed to all eight election demands issued by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL). The group challenged all parties to commit to its eight "human rights asks", which cover issues ranging from abortion access to hate crime and image-based sex

The UK's refusal to allow the inhabitants of the Chagos Islands to return to their homeland is a crime against humanity, an eminent international lawyer has said. Speaking in Edinburgh, Philippe Sands QC criticised Britain's failure to abide by a judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

Ireland's judge at the European Court of Human Rights has been elected as one of five section presidents. Síofra O'Leary began her two-year term as head of the court's fifth section at the start of the year.

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Festival (NIHRF) has officially launched its 2019 programme of events, taking place across Belfast and Northern Ireland from Sunday 8th to Saturday 14th December.

A tool that aims to make the UK’s human rights records transparent and the government accountable has been launched. HumanRightsTracker.com allows civil society organisations, academics, parliamentarians and legal professionals to learn about the UK’s human rights duties under UN treatie

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, has met with human rights chiefs in Dublin with discuss the impact of Brexit on the Good Friday Agreement.

A group of 16 young people, including Swedish school strike activist Greta Thunberg, have brought a legal complaint to the UN over five countries' inaction on climate change. The children, all under 18 and one as young as eight years old, have brought a petition against Argentina, Brazil, France, Ge

A decision by South Wales Police to equip officers with mobile facial recognition technology, via an app, has been condemned by human rights group Liberty. The force’s new use of technology comes while the case against their use of facial recognition, brought by Liberty client Ed Bridges, is y