Human rights
Within our section on human rights, we cover overlooked and underreported struggles across the globe. Our unflinching reports, investigations and in-depth features seek to expose human rights abuses carried out by states and corporations.
Here we highlight the stories of those standing up to the might of authoritarian regimes, transnational corporations and wealth to fight for the planet, and the people who inhabit it.
'I now understand how genocides happen'
Surgeon Ghassan Abu-Sittah talks to Bethany Rielly about healthcare as resistance and his experiences in Gaza’s besieged hospitals.
With all eyes on Gaza, Morocco strengthens its hold on Western Sahara
Maxine Betteridge-Moes reports from the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria, where people say their decades-long resistance is being ignored.
'The poppy trade sustained the British empire'
Indian author Amitav Ghosh talks to Graeme Green about colonialism and the current opioid crisis.
Uganda's anti-gay law is a license to discriminate
Sophie Neiman reports from Kampala, where activists are waging a bitter legal battle to overturn Uganda’s harsh anti-gay law.
Gazan para-cyclists deliver aid on bikes
With their dreams of competing at the Paris Paralympics shattered, the Gaza Sunbirds have pivoted to a full blown aid operation. Maxine Betteridge-Moes reports.
A 'seed change' in Greece
Greece’s new marriage equality law is a historic win for LGBTQI+ rights, but the far-right is never far at bay. Moira Lavelle reports.
Africa's pandora's box
Conrad Landin asks whether South Africa’s historic genocide case against Israel could lead to a reckoning at home.
‘They want to erase us’
Sophie Neiman speaks to people putting everything on the line to overturn Uganda’s harsh new anti-gay law.
Tackling Canada’s opioid crisis
Karin Goodwin reports from Vancouver on how reconnecting with their Indigenous culture is helping women heal.
Letter from Shapajilla: The Storyteller
Stephanie Boyd reports from an Amazonian village where traditional ways of life are changing with modern times.
Agony Uncle: Am I contributing to gentrification?
‘I was pushed out due to rising rents; now I'm inflicting the same on others. What should I do?’ Our in-house ethics advisor chips in.
Migrant deaths: tragedy – or murder?
Nanjala Nyabola asks why migration policies have become so deadly, and what it will take to change them.
Housing is a circus
A new aerial cabaret show explores the housing crisis and the debts of home. Amy Hall reports.
Spotlight: Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso
Grace Livingstone talks to filmmaker Ivey-Camille Manybeads Tso about racism and the power of people coming together
Vaccines alone won’t stop malaria
Malaria vaccines are welcome, but they won’t be enough to stop its disease, argues Rosebell Kagumire.
The Ogiek won reparations, now they want results
One year after a court ruling, the Ogiek are still waiting for reparations. Amy Hall reports on a case that could change the lives of Indigenous people across the region.
Choose your scapegoat
As Uganda passes its anti-gay law, Rosebell Kagumire decries the way faltering governments make scapegoats of their most marginalized citizens.
Returning Indigenous ancestors home to New Zealand/Aotearoa
For centuries, museums have held human remains as artefacts. Hana Pera Aoake explored what can be learned from the programme driving the push to bring Māori and Moriori ancestors home?
Africa is beginning to hold social media companies to account
A court case shows the continent’s demand for social media companies to be accountable for their impact offline, columnist Resebell Kagumire writes.
On your watch
Asma Hafiz reports on the intrusive surveillance being forced on often lower caste sanitation workers in many Indian cities.
Out of the shadows
Our new columnist Rosebell Kagumire illustrates the dangers faced by migrant workers in the Gulf States.
What if…we decolonized mental health services?
Husna Ara rethinks our collective response to distress.
The caste factor
Nilanjana Bhowmick's thoughts on the long shadow of caste.
‘They’ve never experienced being a refugee’
Who is better placed to cover forced migration than refugees themselves? Bairbre Flood reports on the journalists putting refugees’ voices at the heart of the conversation.
Climate change? It’s everyone’s problem
It’s naive to assume that rich countries will escape the impacts of a changing climate, argues Nanjala Nyabola.
Standing firm against fracking
The Mapuche people in Argentina are saying no to an influx of transnationals trying to frack their lands. Grace Livingstone reports.
The war in Ukraine has hit Africa’s food security
Russia’s invasion has triggered cost rises and staple shortages. Ugochi Anyaka-Oluigbo examines the crisis faced by low-income countries.
Switzerland wants to deport a boy with half a heart
Danieli is trying to access life-saving surgery – but his family could be forced to leave before he is able to get it. An outrageous situation, says Amy Aves Challenger.
‘As long as the world keeps running, we’ll be here’
Branded as terrorists by President Erdoğan’s hardline regime, LGBTQI+ people in Turkey are finding ways to express themselves and build solidarity, writes Tuğçe Özbiçer.
Abandoned: Abolition in education
England’s schools funnel its most marginalized young people towards the criminal justice system, writes Zahra Bei. But educators and young people are reimagining what’s possible.
Trapped in wait
The UK’s asylum process consistently fails LGBTQI+ asylum seekers, and it’s only set to get worse as the government pushes through its draconian Nationality and Borders Bill. Amy Hall speaks to someone stuck in the system
Inside the ‘arsenal of peace’
As volunteers prepare aid for Ukrainian refugees, Simone Lai reports from Italy’s largest arms factory – which still works 24-hours a day, but for social justice.
A child’s right to be forgotten
Roxana Olivera tells a cautionary tale of her dogged attempts to get an abusive, intrusive photograph – taken without its subject’s consent – removed from the internet.
Must we ration compassion?
Europe’s response to accommodate people fleeing Ukraine illustrates how sanctuary for all refugees is possible. Jun Pang and Nadia Hasan write.
Migration: Europe’s Achilles’ heel
Europe’s moral imagination does not go as far as ensuring the safe movement of people, writes Nanjala Nyabola.
The interview: Muhanned Qafesha
Human rights activist Muhanned Qafesha talks about the life-and-death battle to defend Palestine from illegal demolitions and settlements.