Human rights

This handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency on Aug. 18, 2026, shows Judge Fakhr al-Din al-Aryan (C) during the sentencing of Wassim al-Assad.

In first, Lebanon to hand over former Syrian general to Sharaa government

The decision comes as Syria's new authorities move to prosecute former regime figures over alleged crimes committed during the country's civil war.

Bashar Al Assad

Syrian court sentences Bashar al-Assad, brother to death for war crimes

Ousted President Bashar al-Assad and his younger brother Maher al-Assad were both sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes along with several other defendants.

This photograph shows a banner featuring photos of Iranian protesters allegedly killed by the regime during a demonstration at the Ergife Palace Hotel to condemn the silence of Western governments in the face of the growing wave of Iranian political executions, in Rome, on July 16, 2026.

Iran hangs 2 over alleged Mossad ties as executions mount: What to know

Rights groups have warned that Iran may step up executions with the resumption of the war in the region.

FADEL itani / AFP via Getty Images

'Obliterated entire families': Amnesty calls for investigating Israeli strikes in Lebanon as war crimes

Amnesty International has accused Israel of committing war crimes in Lebanon by wiping out entire families and killing children.

Latest News

Iran’s hard-line judicial chief Mohseni Ejei gets second term: What to know

Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

Culture

FIFA rejects Egypt, Iran objections, allows Pride flags at World Cup match

A fan waves a Pride flag before the game between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers at Lumen Field on June 3, 2023, in Seattle, Washington.

Syria opens trial of Wassim al-Assad, cousin of ousted president: What we know

Defendant Wassim al-Assad appears before the Fourth Criminal Court during the opening session of his trial in Damascus on June 24, 2026.

Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (C) arrives at the parliament ahead of a confidence vote on a new government, Baghdad, Iraq, Oct. 27, 2022.

Iraqi PM tries to assure skeptics of anti-corruption initiative

The new Iraqi prime minister says there will be no tolerance for human rights abuses in battling corruption.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan speaks to the press at the White House on Nov. 10, 2022, in Washington, DC.

US alarmed by death sentence, sham trials of protesters in Iran

National security adviser Jake Sullivan warned of consequences if Iran's repression of peaceful protesters continues.

PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images

US woman detained in Saudi Arabia released amid guardianship battle

US citizen Carly Morris has been released from a Saudi prison, but says she's still unable to leave the kingdom with her young daughter.

Ahmad lies in his hospital bed on his sixth day of treatment at Halba's government hospital in Akkar.

Lebanon begins vaccination campaign as cholera cases soar

The crisis-hit country’s collapsing water and sewage infrastructure has opened a breeding ground for waterborne illness.

Activists play football during a symbolic action by LGBT+ associations in front of the FIFA museum in Zurich on Nov. 8, 2022.

Qatar World Cup ambassador says homosexuality is 'haram'

Qatar’s human rights record is under scrutiny in the lead-up to the World Cup, particularly regarding the treatment of LGBTQ people and laborers.

Participants wave Israeli and pride flags during the annual Pride parade, Jerusalem, Aug. 2, 2018.

Netanyahu’s new coalition makes Israeli LGBTQ community anxious

Leaders of the LGBTQ communities are afraid that the religious partners of Prime Minister-to-be Benjamin Netanyahu will curtail the rights achieved after long battles and campaigns.

Egyptian activicts Mohamed Adel (L), Ahmed Douma (C) and Ahmed Maher (R) stand in the accused dock during their trial on December 22, 2013 in the capital Cairo. An Egyptian court sentenced three activists who spearheaded the 2011 uprising against Hosni Mubarak to three years in jail for organising an unlicensed protest, judicial sources said. It was the first such verdict against non-Islamist protesters since the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi in July, and was seen by rights groups as part of a wideni

Ahead of COP27, Democrats push Biden to confront Egypt on human rights

A group of lawmakers want President Joe Biden to use the climate conference to press Egypt for improvements in its dire human rights record.

A participant faces riot policemen wearing a rainbow flag during a pride march in Istanbul, on June 26, 2022.

Turkey’s LGBTQ community alarmed over Erdogan’s ‘family’ vision

Rights activists in Turkey fear a rise in homophobic discrimination and hate crimes as Erdogan vocally stigmatizes the LGBTQ community.

Iranian security forces intensify raids on girls' schools

Parents outraged by latest actions to suppress protests, as students heckle government official.

Ahmed Abu Markhiya

Palestinian man decapitated over sexual orientation in the West Bank

Palestinians were shocked at the gruesome killing of a young Palestinian gay man, whose body was found decapitated near the city of Hebron in the West Bank.

Workers hang their laundry out to dry on the railings of their labor accommodation, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, May 27, 2022.

UAE touts new domestic workers law

The UAE, like other Gulf countries, has faced criticism for its treatment of foreign workers.

United Arab Emirates

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Iran protests put Turkish government in tight spot

As their Western partners strongly react to the Iranian protests, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his administration remain curiously quiet.