A week of protests in Istanbul has seen thousands take to the streets after the mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the strongest political opposition to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were jailed on Wednesday, March 29. Imprisoned on corruption charges and accused of terrorism, İmamoğlu claims that his arrest is politically motivated; the arrest strategically took place just a few days before his party was expected to formally nominate him as their presidential candidate.
On March 8th, International Women’s Day, the UN called once more on the Taliban to lift their restrictive bans on women’s rights.
The Taliban also shared a message on March 8th without acknowledging the day’s significance on social media platform X. Chief spokesman of the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, shared on his official account that “the dignity, honor, and legal rights of women were a priority for the Islamic emirate," the term describing the Taliban’s government.
On January 20, President Trump announced an executive order to freeze US foreign aid for 90 days. The order to halt most USAID operations is devastating for millions of people who rely upon the donor and the thousands of employees forced on leave and at risk of losing their jobs permanently.
On January 10, 2025, after over a decade in a detention center in Thailand, Uyghur detainees were asked to sign “voluntary return” documents, signaling a potential impending deportation. UN experts urge Thai authorities to halt the possible deportation of the 48 Uyghur men back to China. The experts claim that if deported, these men face a significant risk of “torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”.
On January 8, 2025, after more than 630 days in prison images of Belarusian political prisoner Viktor Babaryko were released. Babaryko is one of Belarus's most famous political prisoners who ran a powerful campaign against the authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 elections. Following the polls Babaryko was arrested, accused of “laundering funds obtained by criminal means” and sentenced to 14 years of prison without the possibility of an appeal.
