Human Rights

Yesterday, China sentenced Yang Hengjun to death. But a minor tweak in a press conference transcript from years ago sheds light on a potential reprieve, writes Bang Xiao.

As US troops are killed in a drone strike on a military base in Jordan, Israeli citizens block humanitarian aid from entering Gaza.

Human rights groups are urging the federal government to take "concrete" steps to help prevent the genocide of Palestinians after the International Court of Justice's ruling that South Africa's allegation against Israel is "plausible".

The governor of Alabama Kay Ivey says prison officials have put to death Kenneth Smith, completing the first execution using asphyxiation by nitrogen gas.

The US Supreme Court denies convicted murderer Kenneth Smith's request to stay his execution by nitrogen gas, the nation's first execution using the method which is scheduled for Thursday.

A police campaign raising awareness to human trafficking focuses on teachers, parents and fellow students as they're "often the first to see the signs" of forced marriage — the most common form of the crime.

A new study finds the 98 per cent of Australians with access to reliable drinking water want to help the remaining 2 per cent going without. 

Israel's military actions in Gaza are acts of self-defence against Hamas and "other terrorist organisations", the legal advisor for Israel's foreign ministry says at the opening of the second day of hearings at the World Court.

Human Rights Watch warns of an authoritarian slide across the region in its latest annual world report. Still, there were several milestones in 2023, particularly across LGBT rights and same-sex marriage.

A continent away from the war in Gaza, South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians and pleaded with the United Nations’ top court on Thursday to urgently order a halt to the country’s military operation.

The Vladimir Putin foe serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism, appears in court from the remote Arctic penal colony where he was sent in December.

Advocates are calling for changes to the NT prison system as inmate numbers continue to soar, and after two incidents in two weeks at the Alice Springs Correctional Centre.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is at risk of suicide if the UK High Court next month rejects his final appeal against extradition to the US, his lawyer warns.

Plans to execute a convicted murderer by asphyxiating him with nitrogen may amount to "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" or even torture, experts say.

A court in Bangladesh has sentenced Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to six months in prison for labour law violations for what he says is a crime he did not commit.

Israel's Supreme Court has struck down a highly disputed law passed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing government that rolled back some of the high court's power and sparked months of nationwide protests.

With nowhere to turn domestically, families of victims killed in the Philippines' bloody war on drugs hope the International Criminal Court investigation will bring justice. 

A Moscow court sentences two poets to years-long prison terms after they were convicted of "inciting hatred".

Indonesian students storm a convention centre housing hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Banda Aceh, demanding they be deported.

The jailed Russian opposition politician confirmed his arrival at the IK-3 penal colony north of the Arctic Circle, which is considered Russia's toughest prison. 

The White House's war talk has evolved as the world's sympathies have been shifting from Israel to Gaza. But America's words are proving to mean little without action, writes Brad Ryan in Washington DC.

The UN is investigating whether the "rules of war" have been broken by Israel and Hamas. But what qualifies as a war crime? 

A Russian court says it has asked the country's prison system to provide information on Mr Navalny's whereabouts, after it was revealed his lawyers had not been able to make contact with him for almost two weeks.

Activist and former newspaper owner Jimmy Lai is facing court in Hong Kong on national security charges. His son, Sebastien Lai, believes it will be a "sham trial".

As Finland again shuts its border to Russia, Putin serves a reminder he is not afraid to pressure other states with promises of a military base near the border as he stands accused of a "hybrid operation" against the Baltic state.