Articles
- GHRD Team
- 19 December 2025
- World
- GHRD Team
- 17 December 2025
- Africa, Cameroon
- Elections, Repression
Cameroon’s 2025 election extended Paul Biya’s 43-year rule amid allegations of fraud, repression, and killings. Opposition leaders rejected results, protests erupted, and security forces used lethal force. Longstanding authoritarianism, Anglophone conflict, mass arrests, and international concern underscore a deeply flawed electoral process and worsening human rights crisis, nationwide instability persists.
- GHRD Team
- 15 December 2025
- Climate Crisis, Climate Rights, Youth Empowernment
Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) highlighted the link between climate action and human rights at The Hague Talks on December 15, 2025. Discussions addressed climate change as a human rights and security issue, emphasizing the need for ethical responses to systemic inequalities. Key points included the risks of ignoring ethical considerations in climate strategies, critiques of profit-driven economic models, and the role of youth in climate justice. GHRD advocates for climate actions that promote equality and involve affected communities in decision-making.
- GHRD Team
- 12 December 2025
- Asia, Pakistan
- Child Marriage, Forced Conversions, Minority Rights
Sindh continues to face alarming human rights challenges, particularly affecting young girls from marginalised and minority communities. Despite existing laws, child marriage and forced religious conversions remain widespread due to weak enforcement, political resistance, poverty, and entrenched social norms. This article outlines the structural causes behind these violations and highlights the urgent need for stronger protections, accountability, and coordinated efforts to safeguard vulnerable girls in the region.
- GHRD Team
- 12 December 2025
- Europe, Italy
- Femicide, Gender Based Violence, Legal Reform
Italy has taken an important step in combating gender-based violence by officially recognising femicide as a distinct criminal offence punishable by life imprisonment. Passed on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the law reflects years of activism and marks a turning point in how the country addresses systemic violence against women. GHRD welcomes this milestone and its potential to enhance justice and prevention.
- GHRD Team
- 12 December 2025
- World
- Child Poverty, Children's Rights
Child poverty is a significant yet overlooked issue, impacting millions globally despite legal frameworks that recognize it as a violation of human rights. The article emphasizes that poverty affects not only the economic well-being of children but also their development and future opportunities. Various international treaties, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, obligate governments to ensure every child’s access to essential needs like nutrition, education, and healthcare. The persistence of child poverty, particularly in the EU where over 20 million children are at risk, highlights the gap between laws and actual conditions, urging a need for political accountability and effective resource allocation to improve the lives of affected children.
- GHRD Team
- 10 December 2025
- Europe
- European Parliament, European Union (EU), Youth Empowernment
The event at the European Parliament on December 10, 2025, focused on youth empowerment, addressing challenges such as misinformation and digital media manipulation. Experts emphasized the need for media literacy and effective regulatory frameworks, like the Digital Services Act, while noting gaps in current laws. Concerns about a child protection crisis related to social media’s impact on minors were discussed. The EU aims to empower youth through inclusion and active participation in decision-making, highlighting the significance of youth empowerment for the future of European democracy.
- Alejandra Martínez Otero-Saavedra
- 10 December 2025
- Alejandra Martínez Otero-Saavedra
- 10 December 2025
- Europe
- Balkans War, History, International Humanitarian Law
The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s reactivated nationalist tensions and led to the war in Bosnia. During the siege of Sarajevo, reports emerged of so-called “human safaris,” in which foreign individuals allegedly paid to shoot at civilians from the surrounding hills. Italian writer Ezio Gavazzeni brought these allegations to justice, and testimonies and documents from the Hague Tribunal have reinforced calls to investigate the case. In 2025, the Milan Public Prosecutor’s Office opened a formal investigation into possible intentional homicides linked to these events.
- GHRD Team
- 8 December 2025
- GHRD Team
- 5 December 2025
- GHRD Team
- 4 December 2025
- Child Poverty, Children's Rights, Right to Dignity
As the European Union prepares a new Anti-Poverty Strategy, child poverty remains one of the most pressing and persistent challenges facing the Union. Affecting nearly one in four children, poverty undermines not only material well-being but also children’s fundamental right to dignity. In this interview, Dutch Member of Parliament Esmah Lahlah reflects on the long-term consequences of child poverty and explores how law and policy at national and EU level can break entrenched cycles of disadvantage.
- GHRD Team
- 3 December 2025
- Kuwait, Middle East
- Statelessness
The Bidoon population of Kuwait live in a system that denies them their basic rights while framing them as “illegal” in their own homeland. Deprived of citizenship, essential services, and political participation they face barriers across education, healthcare, and employment. This article therefore examines how state policies have engineered a humanitarian crisis that continues to shape every aspect of Bidoon life.
- GHRD Team
- 2 December 2025
- Africa, Sudan
- Genocide Prevention, Humanitarian Crises
At this ASP side event in The Hague, panellists examined the devastating human rights situation in Sudan, including mass displacement, targeted violence against women and girls, and the challenges of documenting atrocities amid repression and internet shutdowns. The discussion emphasised the need for coordinated accountability efforts, action against complicit external actors, and stronger support for Sudanese civil society.
- GHRD Team
- 2 December 2025
- Africa, Sudan
- Genocide Prevention, Humanitarian Crises
During the ICC Assembly of States Parties, Global Human Rights Defence (GHRD) convened a panel of leading legal and human rights experts to assess the escalating atrocities in Sudan and the growing accountability gap. Speakers examined the ICC’s limited jurisdiction, the role of external actors, the collapse of humanitarian access and the urgent need for coordinated international action to prevent further mass violence.
- GHRD Team
- 29 November 2025
- Middle East, Palestine
- Genocide, Humanitarian Aid, War Crimes
The conflict that escalated after the attack in Israel on October 7th, 2023, has brought intolerable suffering to Gaza for two years now. Even with the ceasefire agreement in October 2025, the humanitarian crisis is still catastrophic.
- GHRD Team
- 26 November 2025
- Africa, Sudan
- Ethnic Instrumentalisation, Humanitarian Crisis, Minority Rights
In the wake of recent violence in Sudan, it is crucial to examine the historical and political roots of the marginalisation of non-Arab communities, highlighting how current conflicts are deeply linked to the country’s colonial past and ongoing internal political fractures.
- Alejandra Martínez Otero-Saavedra
- 25 November 2025
- World
- Female Leadership, Gender Equality, Women's Rights
The persistence of violence against women remains a global concern, yet it represents only one dimension of a broader reality. Across historical and contemporary contexts, women have developed complex emotional and cognitive competencies that have mediated crises and contributed to social resilience in measurable ways. Understanding these capacities as empirically grounded forms of leadership, rather than as culturally assigned roles or innate attributes, allows for a more accurate assessment of women’s contributions to social stability and collective recovery.
- GHRD Team
- 24 November 2025
- Israel, Middle East, Palestine
- Armed Conflict, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Human Rights
The conflict between Israel and Palestine, rooted in over a century of historical and ideological disputes, has evolved with technological influences, particularly the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in military operations. Recent uses of AI, such as the AI Decision Support Systems (AI-DDS) by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) in the Gaza Strip, have enhanced targeting and surveillance capabilities. However, these developments raise significant legal and ethical concerns related to International Humanitarian Law (IHL), which aims to protect those not participating in hostilities. This article explores whether the employment of AI in warfare aligns with IHL principles, focusing on its implications within the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, despite Israel not having ratified crucial IHL protocols.
- GHRD Team
- 23 November 2025
- Africa
- Civil Society Crackdown, Freedom of Expression, Human Rights
This article examines Tunisia’s escalating crackdown on civil society, where NGOs and human rights defenders face arbitrary detention, financial restrictions, and legal harassment. It highlights a broader decline in democratic freedoms and increasing state control under the pretext of national security. The situation raises serious concerns about shrinking civic space and violations of fundamental rights.
- Alejandra Martínez Otero-Saavedra
- 19 November 2025
- Middle East, Palestine
- International Humanitarian Law, Security Council
In recent months, international diplomacy around Gaza has intensified, yet conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate. While world leaders announced new political initiatives, displacement and humanitarian collapse have persisted across the Strip. The contrast between renewed diplomatic efforts and the reality faced by civilians has only deepened, underscoring the fragility of current negotiations and the failure of existing mechanisms to halt the violence.