Video evidence shows multiple arrests after regime launched new draconian campaign against women and girls Harrowing first-hand accounts of women being dragged from the streets of Iran and detained by security services have emerged as human rights groups say country’s hijab rules have been brutally enforced since the country’s drone strikes on Israel on 13 April. A new campaign, called Noor (“light” in Persian), was announced the same day the Iranian regime launched drone attacks against Israel, to crack down on “violations” of the country’s draconian hijab rules, which dictate that all women ..read more

Rights chief also warns Britain will be ‘judged harshly by history for its failure to help prevent civilian slaughter in Gaza’ The UK has been accused by Amnesty International of “deliberately destabilising” human rights on the global stage for its own political ends. In its annual global report, released today, the organisation said Britain was weakening human rights protections nationally and globally, amid a near-breakdown of international law ..read more

His sister says the only person he ever presented a serious threat to was himself, yet he was given an indeterminate sentence for stealing a car. The psychological torture was impossible to endure When Tommy Nicol told his sister Donna Mooney about his prison sentence, she didn’t believe him. It was May 2009 and he had stolen yet another car. Nicol was a petty criminal, always nicking motors, and was rarely out of jail. “He said: ‘They’ve given me a 99-year sentence.’ I said: ‘That’s ridiculous.’ I thought he was confused.” Over the next few years, Nicol occasionally mentioned the sentence in ..read more

There is no evidence for the government’s claim that deportations will ‘stop the boats’ The capitulation of the House of Lords over the government’s Rwanda bill was predictable – even if some opponents had hoped against hope that peers might force a climbdown. As of now, UK law states that Rwanda is a “safe country”, making it possible for ministers to send asylum seekers there. The shameful course of action embarked on late last year, after the supreme court ruled the deportation policy unlawful, has thus concluded. Two years after Boris Johnson first announced the plan, Rishi Sunak is set to ..read more

Prime minister announces increase to UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2030 in speech about security UK to boost defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, Sunak says Rishi Sunak has said that the deaths of five people who were crossing the Channel in the early hours of this morning underlines the need to stop the boats. Speaking to reporters on his plane to Poland, he argued that there was an “element of compassion” in his Rwanda policy because it is intended to stop people smuggling. He said: There are reports of sadly yet more tragic deaths in the Channel this morning. I think that is just a re ..read more

Spokesperson says some bodies allegedly had their hands tied while others were bound and stripped Middle East crisis – live updates The UN human rights chief, Volker Türk, has said he was “horrified” by reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies at two of Gaza’s largest hospitals. Palestinian civil defence teams began exhuming bodies from a mass grave outside the Nasser hospital complex in Khan Younis last week after Israeli troops withdrew ..read more

Commissioner expresses grave concern after Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy passes parliamentary stages The Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog has condemned Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda scheme, saying it raises “major issues about the human rights of asylum seekers and the rule of law”. The body’s human rights commissioner, Michael O’Flaherty, said the bill, expected to be signed into law on Tuesday after passing its parliamentary stages on Monday night, was a grave concern and should not be used to remove asylum seekers or infringe on judges’ independence ..read more

Succession of legal challenges and parliamentary hurdles have prevented Rwanda deportations policy from being implemented Q: Do you think you will be able to implement this without leaving the European convention of human rights? Sunak says he thinks he can implement this without leaving the ECHR. If it ever comes to a choice between our national security, securing our borders, and membership of a foreign court, I’m, of course, always going to prioritise our national security ..read more

Historic hearing will receive submissions from people whose human rights have been affected by climate change Julian Medina comes from a long line of fishers in the north of Colombia’s Gulf of Morrosquillo who use small-scale and often traditional methods to catch species such as mackerel, tuna and cojinúa. Medina went into business as a young man but was drawn back to his roots, and ended up leading a fishing organisation. For years he has campaigned against the encroachment of fossil fuel companies, pollution and overfishing, which are destroying the gulf’s delicate ecosystem and people’s li ..read more

Four men were jailed for life in 2017 for planning terrorist attack in UK after elaborate undercover police operation “It’s 40 years since the Birmingham and Guildford pub bombings … and the question that gets asked [is]: ‘Could you imagine this [a police stitch-up] ever happening again?’ My reply is that it already has. This is the case in which it happened.” The case referred to by Gareth Peirce, who represented the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four, was that of four Muslim men, who she is also acting for, jailed for life for planning a terrorist attack on UK soil after an elaborate undercov ..read more