News headlines for “Human Rights Issues”, page 27
Consent Ignored, Convictions Rare: Pakistan’s Courts Under Fire
- Inter Press Service

KARACHI, Pakistan, January 8 (IPS) - As 2026 dawns, women in Pakistan are left grappling with a stark reality: rape and marital rape continue to be misinterpreted by judges in the country’s highest courts.
Myanmar vote a ‘facade’ to entrench military rule, independent rights expert says
- UN News

An independent human rights expert has urged the international community to reject the electoral process organised by Myanmar’s military government, after the first round of voting revealed widespread coercion, exclusion and violence.
Human Rights Council elects Indonesian candidate President for 2026
- UN News

The UN Human Rights Council – the world’s principal defender of vulnerable people worldwide – has elected an Indonesian diplomat to be President for 2026 in a first for the country.
Maternal Deaths Spike in War-Torn Ukraine
- Inter Press Service

BRATISLAVA, January 7 (IPS) - “It was an emergency caesarean section when the life of the pregnant woman was at risk. We did the operation with just flashlights and no water, and against a backdrop of constant explosions,” says Dr Oleksandr Zhelezniakov, Director of the Obstetrics Department at Kharkiv Regional Clinical Hospital, in eastern Ukraine.
West Bank: UN report warns of ‘systematic asphyxiation’ of Palestinian rights
- UN News

A sweeping UN human rights report released on Wednesday concludes that in the occupied West Bank, Israel is violating international law prohibiting racial segregation and apartheid, warning that the discriminatory practices have accelerated dramatically since late 2022 amid growing violence, repression and impunity.
Bombing and Ballots, Myanmar’s Contentious Election
- Inter Press Service

YANGON, Myanmar and BANGKOK , January 6 (IPS) - With thousands of civilians killed in years of civil war and over 22,000 political prisoners still behind bars, no one was surprised that early results from Myanmar’s first but tightly controlled elections since the 2021 coup show the military’s proxy party speeding to victory.
Venezuela’s people must be heard, insists UN human rights chief
- UN News

Responding to the seizure of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro by the United States, UN human rights chief Volker Türk on Tuesday reiterated deep concerns that the military operation undermined fundamental protections for sovereign countries.
When Democracy Freezes, Autocrats Rise
- Inter Press Service

VIENNA, Austria, January 5 (IPS) - Consider our political systems not merely as battlegrounds of passions, ideologies and economic interests, but as systematically functioning arrangements of interactions, akin to game theory. In recent decades, we have witnessed the dissolution of large homogeneous groups into numerous subgroups — a patchwork of minorities.
Security Council Divided on United States’ Venezuela Action
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS & JOHANNESBURG, January 5 (IPS) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed deep concern about the immediate future of Venezuela.
Maduro seized, norms tested: Security Council divided as Venezuela crisis deepens
- UN News

The UN Security Council met on Monday against a sharply altered diplomatic backdrop, following US strikes on the Venezuelan capital and seizure of President Nicolás Maduro.

