Syndicated Content

By Tara Conlan

Motoring show makes gesture after hearing of country’s threat to punish gay sex with death by stoning

Support for LGBT rights has come from a surprising quarter after Top Gear sprayed two cars used in filming in Brunei in rainbow colours in opposition to the country’s threat to make homosexuality punishable by stoning to death.

Thought to be the first time the BBC Two motoring programme has shown solidarity with the LGBT community, the move appears to back the claim made by the new lineup of Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris that they would bring a “different vibe” to the …read more

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Tens of thousands of people dressed in black call for complete withdrawal of suspended bill

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By plummerc

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Original content available at: Human Rights First

By Chris Patten

China’s power grab via a new extradition bill must be opposed by governments around the world, especially Britain’s

It took something out of the ordinary to provoke a million people in Hong Kong to take to the streets to demonstrate against proposed new extradition rules. Roughly one-sixth of the population demonstrated peacefully: families, young and old, lawyers, academics, students, professionals and manual workers.

What caused such an outpouring against a piece of legislation? Quite simply, the people of Hong Kong – not British, but Hong Kong Chinese – have seen their government connive with the Communist regime in Beijing to …read more

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By Jon Swaine in New York and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington

Exclusive: Yana Peel co-owns NSO Group that licensed Pegasus software to authoritarian regimes

A leading human rights campaigner and head of a prestigious London art gallery is the co-owner of an Israeli cyberweapons company whose software has allegedly been used by authoritarian regimes to spy on dissidents, the Guardian can reveal.

Yana Peel, the chief executive of the Serpentine Galleries and a self-proclaimed champion of free speech, co-owns NSO Group, a $1bn (£790m) Israeli tech firm, according to corporate records in the US and Luxembourg.

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By Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo

Reporters discovered Carlos Luis Malatto, accused of five counts of crimes against humanity, in Messina

Human rights groups have expressed outrage after a former Argentinian army officer accused of committing murder and forced disappearances during the 1976-83 military dictatorship was found enjoying a beach holiday in Sicily.

Reporters from la Repubblica discovered Lt Colonel Carlos Luis Malatto in a tourist village in the province of Messina, even though he is currently on trial in Rome for crimes committed in Argentina, which is also seeking his extradition.

Related: 40 years later, the mothers of Argentina’s ‘disappeared’ refuse to be silent

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By Emma Graham-Harrison and Lily Kuo

With controls tightening over Chinese society, many Hong Kongers feel the need to protect their right to dissent

In Hong Kong, people have most of the freedoms of a democracy except the right to choose their leaders. The city’s last British governor, Chris Patten, described it as a place that enjoyed “liberty without democracy”.

That has made protests particularly important as a political tool and an expression of Hong Kong identity. For more than half a century, the people of Hong Kong have been taking to the streets to force distant authorities – first in Britain and later in Beijing – …read more

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By Emma Graham-Harrison and Lily Kuo

With controls tightening over Chinese society, many Hong Kongers feel the need to protect their right to dissent

In Hong Kong, people have most of the freedoms of a democracy except the right to choose their leaders. The city’s last British governor, Chris Patten, described it as a place that enjoyed “liberty without democracy”.

That has made protests particularly important as a political tool and an expression of Hong Kong identity. For more than half a century, the people of Hong Kong have been taking to the streets to force distant authorities – first in Britain and later in Beijing – …read more

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By Amy Remeikis

Jane McAdam of the Kaldor Centre for refugee law argues for seven principles to inform new policy and overturn ‘draconian’ laws

Australia can reset and reform its refugee and asylum seeker policy by looking to its past successes and best current practice from around the world, a leading refugee law study centre has found, to create a “principled and pragmatic” approach.

The University of New South Wales Andrew and Renata Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law has examined best practice refugee policy throughout the world, crafting seven principles as a foundation for “a more positive, long-term approach” to how Australia …read more

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By plummerc

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Original content available at: Human Rights First