Human Rights
latest news & developments
Santos warns against the comfort of silence
Delivering the 24th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Cape Town, Nobel laureate Juan Manuel Santos warned that government silence in the face of injustice erodes international law…
Gates Foundation faces reckoning over AGRA
The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food has backed calls by African faith leaders for the Gates Foundation to pay reparations after its agricultural initiative failed to…
![Power of dialogue: Former Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos often invokes the words of Nelson Mandela: “The most powerful weapon is [the ability] to sit down and talk.” Photo: UN](https://images.newsteam.io/image/1280/2Bq28FuGKoMVMVtuu1xLTE5KYM5GnP5JkeVA18VrYHyF17r29DFvr7vksezynQh3ZmV9EqE8aV3rBwqTrfur3evm6EqQXWZPzmJBYqcz8c38fV7q4rHwfKxtMbwhUDMqTYEbtnb7UKkFz5Jz3fFGTDV)
The dangerous price of silence
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Juan Manuel Santos brings vital lessons from Colombia’s peace process to Cape Town as he delivers the 24th Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture.
SAHRC warns Gauteng water crisis is about failing infrastructure, not a lack of water
A landmark SAHRC inquiry reveals that Gauteng's severe water outages stem from collapsing municipal infrastructure, massive leaks, and systemic institutional failures rather than…
Moving People, Caring for People: The Journey to an Inclusive South Africa
ACSA Chairman Irvin Phenyana explores how connecting Transport Month and Mental Health Awareness Month reveals the need for dignity, compassion, and accessibility for…
Thirty years later: The struggle for intersex children’s bodily autonomy continues
Decades after activists first protested against medically unnecessary cosmetic surgeries on infants, the South African Human Rights Commission is championing bodily autonomy and…
UN inquiry finds Israel continued genocide in Gaza after ceasefire
A United Nations inquiry chaired by Indian jurist Srinivasan Muralidhar reports that Israel continued genocidal acts in Gaza following a ceasefire, citing systematic attacks…
New Report Calls for Hundreds of Trillions in Reparations Over British Colonial Environmental Damage
A groundbreaking report presented at the University of Lagos calls for trillions of dollars in reparations from the UK, highlighting the massive, long-term environmental…
Bronkhorstspruit crisis highlights SA’s water service failures
The SAHRC and Wits have launched the Water Rights Tracker, revealing that 107 of South Africa's 144 water services authorities are in a poor or critical state as infrastructure…
Eugene de Kock blames NPA for failure to prosecute apartheid-era crimes
Testifying at the Khampepe Commission, former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock accused the National Prosecuting Authority of criminal negligence for failing to seek his…
Shrinking Civic Space: Why protecting the right to organise matters
As activists gather for the Rights and Remedies School, South African civil society faces an increasingly hostile environment marked by political delegitimisation, lawfare, and…
Eugene ‘Prime Evil’ de Kock testifies at Khampepe Commission
Former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock is testifying before the Khampepe Commission, shedding light on apartheid death squads and the failure to prosecute unresolved crimes.
Madlanga calls for corruption to carry a higher price
Delivering the Oliver Tambo Memorial Lecture, retired Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga urged institutions to make corruption hazardous and unprofitable while…
Stop the smear campaign
SAJBD National Director Wendy Kahn responds to Ebrahim Fakir, rejecting collective blame and calling for unity between Jewish and Muslim South Africans.
Nobel laureate outshines a day of intolerance
Durban-born human rights champion Dr Navanethem 'Navi' Pillay has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, delivering a timely and powerful message of justice, inclusion, and human…