Human rights

Five years after Taliban takeover, Afghan women remain trapped in deepening rights crisis

The Afghan women who spoke to The Media Line said that words could hardly capture the hardships they have endured in exile, while their loved ones continue to face difficult conditions back home.

 Women wearing burqas pause at the side of a road in Kabul, Afghanistan October 26, 2021.
 People gather during protest on January 8, 2026 in Tehran, Iran.

Iran executes man convicted of running over police during January protests

 Taliban soldiers celebrate on the second anniversary of the fall of Kabul on a street near the US embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, August 15, 2023.

Taliban celebrate ‘victory day’ five years after seizing power in Afghanistan

A noose with mock flowers displayed during a demonstration by Franco-Iranian associations, including the Committee to Support Human Rights in Iran (CSDHI) against the capital punishment in Iran, a day after the World Day Against the Death Penalty, in central Paris on October 11, 2025.

Iran executions return to near-daily pace as war distracts world from domestic repression


European Parliament demands Pakistan free 13-year-old Christian girl in forced marriage, conversion

Shahbaz was married to her abductor in March, despite most provinces requiring a person to be at least 18 to marry.

Rubaha, 8, watches from the entrance of her home as a buffalo is held down for sacrificial slaughter in celebration of Eid al-Adha in the Walled City of Lahore, Pakistan, June 8, 2025.

A globalizing terror war has blinded the West. Finally an international response from its victims

More recently, Batoul Suleiman Alloush was kidnapped from her university campus in Latakia, Syria. She also won't help from organizations in the West created to save people just like her.

Terrorists from Palestinian Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades stand guard on the street during an Eid al-Adha celebration in Gaza City, May 27, 2026; illustrative.

Iran used 'white phosphorus incendiary' in drone attack, Kurdish dissident group claims

“Based on eyewitness observations, medical examinations, and extensive fires caused at the targeted site, the munitions employed in the drone attack are believed to have contained white phosphorus."

Unexploded ordinance, an artillery shell containing white phosphorous, is detonate

EU expands Russia sanctions over cybercrime, surveillance and rights abuses

VKontakte and several Russian surveillance firms were added to the EU sanctions list over alleged ties to the FSB and the repression of government critics.

 A Russian flag is seen on the laptop screen in front of a computer screen on which cyber code is displayed, in this illustration picture taken March 2, 2018.

Damascus yet to keep pledge to respect rights of detainees, UN inquiry team says

Despite Damascus’s pledge, the members noted that families still struggle to find relatives held in custody and many detainees face long periods of detention without judicial review.

Kafr Sousa security complex after it was emptied following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, Syria December 15, 2024.

‘He never became a firefighter’: Abolfazl Jahedi, killed in Iran’s protest crackdown - interview

Abolfazl Jahedi, an 18-year-old from Tehran, dreamed of studying firefighting and serving his country by saving lives before being killed by regime security forces in January.

Abolfazl Jahedi

Iranians testify to ‘Post’ how regime murdered loved ones in January massacres

Estimates state 35-40,000 were killed by the regime’s security forces after protests erupted on December 28.

everal thousand people gather during a demonstration against 'the regime of the ayatollahs in Iran' on January 25, 2026 in Brussels, Belgium.

Iran executes more than 100 people in June alone, human rights group claims

Iran’s execution toll has reached at least 370 this year, with more than 100 killings reported in June alone, according to a Iranian human rights watchdog.

Fans holds the banner reading 'Stop Execution in Iran' before the FIFA World Cup 2026 Group G match between Belgium and IR Iran at Los Angeles Stadium on June 21, 2026.

Turkey's detention of anti-NATO protesters raises questions ahead of summit - explainer

The arrests came just before the July 7-8 NATO summit, which is bringing leaders from all 32 member states to Ankara, including President Donald Trump.

A NATO flag flies at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on September 12, 2025.

When the couch turns away from October 7 - opinion

The Freud Museum London is hosting an event on how to talk about Gaza and Israel. It is worth asking who was invited to talk, and who was not.

 The aftermath of Hamas's Nova music festival massacre in Re'im, southern Israel, on October 7, 2023. Picture taken November 2, 2023