Month: August 2020

On Thursday, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified the president of the UN Security Council and reporters about the Trump administration formally drafting a UN resolution 2231 that sought to reimpose all UN sanctions on Iran due to Iran allegedly violating the 2015 nuclear deal. The UN resolution 2231 states the rules of the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers. However, the US had withdrawn from this nuclear accord, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), on May 8, 2018. Even after withdrawing from the nuclear accord, the US claims it has rights to the process called ‘snapback’. The snapback process allows a country part of the deal to reimpose sanctions on Iran. The US claims its right over this process by stating that it was initially part of t...

Mohammad Haziz, a 16-year-old boy, who was shot by Israeli soldiers near Deir Abu Meshal village in occupied West Bank, on late Wednesday, has succumbed to his wounds. Mohammad's cousin, Muhanna Matar, in conversation with local Palestinian media said that Israeli soldiers had set up an ambush near a bypass road and shot Mohammad. Matar said that Mohammad was detained while still bleeding. Mohammad was among three Palestinians shot by Israeli soldiers on allegations of possessing incendiary materials and tyres that the three wanted to set on fire. "Israeli forces thwarted an operation near the village of Deir Abu Meshal when they spotted a cell in possession of materials to ignite Molotov cocktails and rubber tyres that they intended to ignite in order to harm civilian vehicles...

9 people lost their lives during clashes between Ethiopian security forces and protesters in Oromia. The protests sparked when authorities refused to release a detained opposition politician and a media magnate. Protests started through a social media campaign, where people demanded the release of a well known Oromo opposition leader Bekele Gerba and a journalist Jawar Mohammed who were detained after the killing of an iconic Oromo singer, Haacaaluu Hundeessaa. In a statement by Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), "Deaths have also been reported in 13 different locations in the Oromia region, which surrounds the capital Addis Ababa." EHRC condemned such acts and is alarmed by the loss of lives during protests in Oromia. EHRC called upon authorities to refrain themselves from...

A prominent female activist, Reham Yacoub was gunned down and three others were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their car in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, on Wednesday. This was the third incident this week in Iraq where gunmen targetted anti-government political activist after one activist was killed and four others had their car fired upon in a separate incident. Reham had been an active activist since 2018 and had led various women's marches. After the assassination of an activist Tehseen Osama, a fresh series of protests took place for three days where protesters lobbed rocks and petrol bombs into governor's house while the police retaliated by opening fire upon them. Condemning Yacoub's murder, The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor in a statement ...