Colombia’s government and the left-wing National Liberation Army (ELN) rebel group have hailed progress in their efforts to end decades of armed conflict in the South American nation, as a second round of peace talks concluded in Mexico City.

The negotiations come as part of an effort by President Gustavo Petro—the country’s first left-wing leader and former M-19 rebel—to reach peace or surrender deals with armed groups and bring “total peace” to Colombia. On Friday, Norway and Mexico, which have served as facilitators in the negotiations, hailed their progress.

Mali’s interim government has postponed a constitutional referendum, a key step on the country’s path toward elections meant to restore democracy after a military takeover in 2020.

Tunisia’s government is seeking to allay growing international concerns about a surge of discrimination against sub-Saharan Africans, as the European Union warned Monday against hate speech targeting people fleeing conflict and poverty. 

Britain on Wednesday announced a package of sanctions against what they described as “global violators of women's rights” based in Iran, Syria, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan. The asset freezes and travel bans were introduced on International Women's Day, applying to four individuals, including military figures accused of overseeing rape.

Cambodia’s government has accused Western countries of political interference and arrogance after foreign diplomats expressed concern over a 27-year prison sentence handed to popular opposition leader Kem Sokha after his conviction for treason in what was described as a highly politicized trial.

Concerns are mounting over the World Food Programme’s (WFP) decision to slash food support for the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh due to a funding crisis.

Colombia and Ecuador have launched a joint alert system meant to protect Indigenous Awa communities from attacks by armed groups in the border region between the two countries.

As illegal business activities like mining encroach into areas that Indigenous communities call home, violence and intimidation by armed groups and criminal organizations have often followed. Colombian ombudsman Carlos Camargo said Awa communities have suffered killings, forced displacement, and the threat of landmines. Children are also a target for recruitment by the armed groups.

Prosecutors in Burundi have charged 24 people with engaging in same-sex acts and inciting homosexuality in others, part of a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights that has been criticized by the United Nations. Police arrested 17 men and seven women as they attended a seminar organized by an HIV/AIDS charity in the capital, Gitega, in late February, a Burundian activist told French news agency AFP this week.

Thirty-eight countries at the UN Human Rights Council on March 7, 2023, condemned the pervasive obstruction and interference with Lebanon’s domestic investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion at Beirut’s port, Human Rights Watch and Legal Agenda said today. Lebanese authorities should urgently act to carry out badly needed judicial reforms and remove other obstacles undermining the domestic investigation into the explosion.

Rights groups are urging members of parliament attending this year’s Inter-Parliamentary Union in Bahrain to use the assembly to raise concerns about the “dire state of political freedom” in the Gulf country.

Bahrain has been accused of widespread crackdowns following pro-democracy protests in 2011, and opposition politicians, along with activists, bloggers, and human rights defenders, remain in prison over their roles in those demonstrations and more recent protests.