Since the Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, the regime has put in place a series of policies severely restricting independent media and giving it all but total control over news outlets and their content. Kobra Moradi is a lawyer and researcher working with Afghanistan Human Rights and Democracy Organization and author of the recent report, Afghan Media Under the Taliban: Restrictions and Violations. ICTJ sat down with the author to learn more about what impact these restrictions have had on journalists and the free press, and the important role media can still play in such a repressive regime. 

ICTJ is more than two decades old. At the time it was established, many of those who contributed to transitions in Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, South Africa, and the former Yugoslavia saw the value of a specialized organization that could draw from diverse national experiences to provide expert advice to victims’ groups, civil society, governments, and international actors. Since then, the organization has continuously evolved, accumulating a wealth of experience and knowledge, and consolidating a leadership position in the field.

The United Nations envoy for Yemen said on Monday he was encouraged by intensified efforts for an expanded truce deal but stressed they should seek an inclusive process for a sustainable political settlement.

A UN-brokered truce deal agreed in April and rolled over twice delivered the longest stretch of relative calm that has largely held since its expiry on Oct. 2, though the two sides stepped up an economic war.

The German and Dutch foreign ministers on Monday condemned the deportation by Russians of thousands of Ukrainian children, calling it a deliberate policy of cruel and inhumane abductions that is tearing families apart.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said German and Dutch ministers will work together with organizations including the United Nations and International Criminal Court (ICC) on the issue.

Several members of the United Nations Security Council have urged the Taliban to end its repressive treatment of women in Afghanistan, as the group continued to impose restrictive policies on their education and work.

Brazil’s Supreme Court has agreed to investigate whether former president Jair Bolsonaro incited the far-right mob that ransacked the country’s Congress, top court and presidential offices, a swift escalation in the probe that shows the ex-leader could face legal consequences for an extremist movement he helped build.

The French and German foreign ministers on Thursday hailed the success of the Ethiopian peace agreement signed last year, ending two years of brutal war, on a joint visit to Addis Ababa.

The trip by France’s Catherine Colonna and Annalena Baerbock of Germany began a day after Tigrayan rebels announced they were starting to hand over their heavy weapons, a key component of the November 2 deal.

Forces from Ethiopia’s Amhara region who fought in support of federal troops during the two-year civil war in neighbouring Tigray have withdrawn in line with an African Union-backed ceasefire, the army says.

The withdrawal is a key step toward implementing the agreement reached on November 2. Another key component is the disarmament of Tigrayan forces, who began to hand over their heavy weapons on Wednesday.

The UN human rights chief says the flurry of death sentences handed down following the outbreak of civil unrest in Iran amounts to “state sanctioned killing,” with executions being used to strike fear into the population and stamp out dissent. 

The Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights said on Monday that at least 109 protesters now in detention have been sentenced to death or face charges that can carry capital punishment. 

A Liberian man convicted of 22 counts of war crimes including rape, murder, and an act of cannibalism is seeking to overturn the judgement at an appeal trial in Switzerland’s Federal Criminal Court, where he also faces new charges of crimes against humanity.