The UN Committee against Torture has found that Morocco violated the Convention Against Torture in the case of Abdelmoula El Hafidi, a Sahrawi human rights defender who was subjected to degrading detention conditions.
ISHR has urged UN human rights experts on freedom of assembly and torture to publicly address the unlawful use of metallic pellet guns by India’s law enforcement against protestors taking part in the peaceful ‘Sansad Chalo’ protest organised by the Cockroach Janta Party on 20 July 2026.
The granting of bail to Kashmiri human rights defenders Khurram Parvez and Irfan Mehraj marks an important step after years of arbitrary and unlawful detention, but it does not end the serious concerns surrounding their cases.
‘It’s important that those who work on [human rights] are able to not become frustrated when things don’t go our way. That we have the energy to carry on, to understand that we are a part of something bigger.’
'I really want to help build a future where Black women and girls can live and really thrive, not merely survive.'
Decriminalisation is a human rights imperative, but how we achieve it and who leads it matters
This webinar aims at training civil society organisations in submitting cases of human rights violations to the United Nations Special Procedures, as well as strengthening collaboration between human rights defenders and the Special Procedures.
On 22 June 2026, India’s Ministry of Home Affairs adopted the 'Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules', granting the Indian government sweeping new powers to police the activities, operation, management and leadership of non-governmental organisations receiving foreign funding.
ISHR is deeply concerned by the deteriorating health of Sahrawi human rights defender Naâma Asfari, who has been on an indefinite hunger strike since 8 June while detained in Kénitra prison, in Morocco.
While they acknowledged the interlinkages between human rights, peace and security, and the importance of adequate and sustainable financing of the Human Rights Council, UN Member States decided to maintain the Council’s position as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly.
