human rights

A U.S. citizen has been sentenced to two and a half years in a Thai prison after translating a banned biography of the country's King online.

Human Rights Watch has called on Yemen's government to ban child marriages, claiming it threatens girls' access to education, harms their health and keeps them second-class citizens.

Prosecutors in Philadelphia announced Wednesday they had decided to stop efforts to execute Mumia Abu-Jamal, who has been on death row after being convicted of killing a police officer 30 years ago.

More than 20,000 children are putting their lives at risk by working in gold mines in Mali, according to a report by Human Rights Watch.

Slut Walk co-founder Sonya JF Barnett and comedian Shabana Rehman are among the people who agreed to pose nude for a calendar in support of Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, the Egyptian blogger who triggered controversy across the Arab World last month for posting nude pictures of herself on Twitter to protest against Islamic sexism in her country.

The results of Democratic Republic of Congo's presidential election have been delayed amid fears that new violence could erupt in the country.

The head of the Syrian National Council has warned Iran and Hezbollah that their continued support of President Bashar al Assad will jeopardise their relationship with Damascus once the government is overthrown.

Hollywood actress Hilary Swank has said she regrets her controversial decision to accept a six-figure sum to appear at the 35th birthday celebrations of Chechnya's autocratic dictator, Ramzan Kadyrov.

The United Nation's has called on the Vietnamese government to close down rehabilitation centres for drug users and sex workers, calling them "counter-productive."

Cherie Blair demanded more representation for women in the Parliament and boardrooms, sanctioned by law to ensure gender equality in the country.

The case of a Tunisian actress who posed semi-nude for a local magazine has underlined a growing trend in the Arab world for activists to use their bodies as part of a political or social protest.

While this year will be remembered as the year of the hacktivist, it was in South America that cyber activists sprang up to protest against human rights violations, corruption and restrictions on internet freedoms.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn his extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over alleged sex crimes, a High Court judge ruled on Monday

The number of women prisoners, sentenced for crimes such as ‘fleeing home’ or ‘extra marital affairs’, has increased from 350 to 600 over the last two years, a new U.N. report has said.

Yates, who resigned from his post in the Met Office in July following his alleged role in the News of the World phone-hacking investigation, has been asked to overhaul the police service to ensure its procedure meets international human rights standards, reported the Daily Telegraph.

The Ikwro research, carried out between July and November, reveals the collective figures for the first time in the UK as gathered by 39 police forces for honour-based violence.

The Bush family is continuing its health awareness African trip despite Amnesty's international calls for the former President's arrest over human rights violations.

A South African human rights organization has announced its intention to file a law suit against Qatar and its broadcaster Al-Jazeera after a journalist was deported from the Gulf state because he was HIV positive.

Aung San Suu Kyi, has insisted that Burma's advances towards democracy are real and that trusting the government's promises is a risk worthwhile taking, ahead of Chatham House Prize win on Thursday.

A small church in Kentucky voted to ban interracial couples from joining its congregation, triggering arguments of race between its members.

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, the Egyptian blogger who stirred a controversy last month by posting pictures of herself naked on Twitter in protest against Islamism, had dismissed rumours that she was beaten up in Tahrir Square, and said she is hiding in fear for her life.

Laurent Gbagbo, Ivory Coast, former president has been charged with murder, rape, persecution and inhuman acts by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The restaurant chain Nando's has drawn the ire of a militant group over its latest advert.

Aliaa Magda Elmahdy, the Egyptian nude blogger, was allegedly beaten up by an angry crowd in Tahrir Square, Egyptian TV claims.

The Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) has won Friday's elections in Morocco, taking the most seats in parliament, final polls confirm.

Wikileaks has postponed the launch of its new online submissions system and has announced that the new website will unveiled on December 1.

A United Arab Emirates court, on Sunday, convicted and sentenced five political activists, after they were found guilty for "publicly insulting" the Gulf state's leaders by calling for protests. The five, arrested in April, have been on trial since June.

A U.N. human rights panel said it had received reports of massive human rights violations in Syria, including the detention and mutilation of children.

Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has spoken out against the pro-democracy uprisings in the Arab world.

Militias groups that have emerged during the Libyan conflict are illegally detaining thousands of people, including women and children, who they say are "enemies of the state", according to a U.N. report.