Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to support us with a small monthly donation via Patreon or PayPal.

Photo: Tony Webster via Wikimedia Commons

After five weeks of war, the US and Iran on April 8 agreed to a two-week ceasefire brokered by Pakistan. Its basic details, however, and to what extent it will be implemented, are surrounded by uncertainty. A main sticking point is the question of whether Lebanon was included in the deal. Iranian and Pakistani officials are insisting it was, but the US and Israel say that it wasn’t. Meanwhile, Israel has continued to carry out devastating attacks on Beirut and other parts of Lebanon.

The shaky ceasefire is based on a 10-point plan to end the war sent by Iran to Washington in the final hours before a deadline set by US President Donald Trump. If Iran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump threatened on April 7 that a “whole civilization will die tonight.” Since the ceasefire began, some vessels have begun to trickle through the strait, but Iran is maintaining its chokehold on passage. The fate of the ceasefire could be decided in the coming days as US and Iranian officials head to Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, for peace talks.

Israel’s position on the question of whether Lebanon was part of the US-Iran ceasefire was made painfully clear on April 8, as Israel unleashed a massive series of attacks on Beirut and throughout the country. Many of the strikes targeted densely-populated civilian neighborhoods, killing at least 303 people, by the latest count. Hospitals now struggling to deal with the influx of casualties were already working on power supplied by emergency generators, with supplies dwindling.

On April 9, Israel issued an evacuation order for the Beirut neighbourhood of Jnah, which includes two hospitals, Rafik Hariri University Hospital and al-Zahraa, that are treating the injured. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said there is nowhere to evacuate patients to, and urged Israel to reverse the order. While various aid groups and leaders urge for the inclusion of Lebanon in the truce, and issue conflicting statements, Lebanese civilians are once again left to wait, search for survivors, and mourn the dead.

From The New Humanitarian, April 10

Image: Pixabay

The UN resident coordinator in Cuba, Francisco Pichon, said the humanitarian situation has reached a critical point following the US oil blockade imposed in January. He added that the population remains in need of urgent humanitarian aid despite an oil shipment from Russia in late March that the US administration chose not to interfere with.

Pichon explained that disruption of the country’s electricity system has further exacerbated the crisis, resulting in interruptions of essential services such as health care and water access. Electricity shortages have forced medical authorities to postpone over 96,000 surgeries and delayed immunization for thousands of children. Officials also noted that vulnerable groups, including elderly citizens, people with disabilities, and women, are the most affected by the humanitarian crisis.

Decreases in available energy, combined with the destruction from Hurricane Melissa, have significantly hindered humanitarian assistance from the UN and its partners. In response, the UN has created a targeted Action Plan to address the urgent needs of Cubans, focusing on delivering humanitarian aid in priority sectors such as health care, water, sanitation, and food security.

The Action Plan includes steps to transition toward sustainable energy sources and reduce oil dependence, such as the installation of solar power and the reinforcement of water pumping infrastructure.

Pichon said the UN continues to cooperate with national authorities and the private sector in Cuba to identify logistical solutions that guarantee the viability of aid operations, but that additional funding is still required to fill the $68 million gap in the UN budget.

Cuba has long experienced an economic crisis and energy shortage that have worsened over time due to US economic sanctions and oil embargo, which include the imposition of trade tariffs on third countries that send oil to the island nation. The blockade has triggered an energy emergency, given that Cuba currently relies on imported oil from Mexico and Venezuela.

The UN has condemned the US action, describing it as a “unilateral economic coercion” and a violation of international law.

Amid the tightening sanctions, Cuba has experienced repeated natural disasters, including hurricanes and earthquakes, resulting in significant infrastructure damage, destruction of homes, and the displacement of thousands.

From JURIST, April 7. Used with permission.

See our last report on the crisis in Cuba.

Photo: Виктор Пинчук via Wikimedia Commons

In related news, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week that he and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa hope to see 80% of Syrian refugees in Germany return to Syria in the coming three years. Merz’s call for Syrians to “go back to their homeland,” which came after his meeting with al-Sharaa in Berlin, drew condemnation from human rights monitors who pointed to continued violence and insecurity in Syria. (TNH, Jurist)

Photo: Sara Creta/TNH

In a statement run by Mehr and quoted in The New Arab, the local Jewish community condemned the bombing. “We, the Jews of Iran, condemn the brutal attacks carried out by the American-Zionist enemy against our dear homeland and the Rafi-Nia synagogue,” the statement said, adding that the Jewish community stands “alongside the people and the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” prepared to defend the country “until our last breath.”

A representative of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told Middle East Eye that the IDF “regrets the collateral damage to the synagogue and emphasizes that the strike was targeted at a senior military target within the regime’s armed forces, not at any place of worship.” The representative identified the target as a neraby “emergency headquarters” of Iran’s joint military command, and added that a review would be launched.

Iran has the third-largest Jewish population in the Middle East after Israel and Turkey, with a 2016 census placing the number of Jews at just over 9,000. However, some members of the community believe the real number is higher. The community maintains some 30 synagogues, as well as schools and kosher facilities, mostly in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz. Judaism is one of Iran’s legally recognized “minority religions,” alongside Sunni Islam, Zoroastrianism and Christianity, with each represented in parliament.

According to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) 3,600 Iranians have been killed since US-Israeli bombardment began in late February, including at least 1,665 civilians.

Screenshot via JTA

These claims were quickly refuted by Iran’s Kurdish opposition parties. “We did not receive any weapons during the time of the demonstrations in Iran,” Hejar Berenji, stateside representative of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) told Fox News.

Siamand Moeini, a senior leader in the armed Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), similarly denied the report. “We as PJAK, as I know, have not received anything. As for others, I cannot answer,” he told Middle East Eye.

Hana Yazdanpanah, foreign representative for the Iraq-based Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), which has a wide following in Iran, told Middle East Eye that their fighters only have their “old Kalashnikov[s] that we fought ISIS with for five years and the weapons they abandoned after its defeat.” She added: “We have received no single weapon from the US at this time.”

Mohammed Nazif Qaderi, a senior official of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), told the Kurdish news agency Rudaw: “Those statements made are baseless and we haven’t received any weapons. The weapons we have are from 47 years ago, and we obtained them on the Islamic Republic’s battlefield, and we bought some from the market.”

Immediately after the US and Israel launched their air campaign against Iran in late February, Tehran embarked on a barrage of missile and drone attacks against Kurdish targets in northern Iraq. Iranian drone strikes targeted KDPI camps in the Koya district, along with a KDPI headquarters in Erbil province. (AW)

Image: Middle East Forum via Wikimedia Commons

The CED announced that since it began monitoring the situation in 2012 it had received “well-founded indications that enforced disappearances in Mexico have been and continue to be committed as crimes against humanity.” The findings included the ongoing discovery of clandestine graves, with an estimated 4,500 graves found, containing over 6,200 bodies and 4,600 sets of human remains. This contributes to a total of approximately 72,000 unidentified human remains found by authorities or self-organized citizen search committees.

The CED stressed that it did not find evidence of a government policy to commit enforced disappearances. Even if many disappearances are committed by criminal groups, however, the committee found substantiated information suggesting direct participation or acquiescence by public officials in many cases. In response to Mexico’s assertion that such incidents should not be classified as enforced disappearances in the absence of state policy, CED chair Juan Albán-Alencastro stated: “International law does not require crimes against humanity to occur nationwide or be orchestrated at the highest levels of government. What matters is the scale, the pattern of the attacks, and the targeting of civilians.”

The current figures on the Mexican government registry indicate that at least 132,828 people are currently missing, although this figure may be incomplete. Regardless, the CED found that “the magnitude of the registered cases underscores the gravity of the situation.” The committee added that the situation has not substantially improved since the committee visited Mexico in 2021.

The CED request invoked Article 34 of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. This provision enables the committee to bring the matter to the attention of the UN General Assembly when they have well-founded indications of systemic enforced disappearance. Albán-Alencastro expressed hope that this will result in substantive change, stating:

The Committee reaffirms its commitment to continue cooperating with Mexico through its different procedures. The procedure of article 34 is intended to facilitate timely cooperation and support so that the State Party can strengthen its response, protect victims and families, and prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

The Mexican government rejected the CED’s report as “biased and dismissive” of institutional advances in recent years.

The International Federation for Human Rights, which submitted evidence to the CED, welcomed the report, however. The organization expressed hope that the Mexican government’s rejection “will evolve into a dialogue with victims’ groups and civil society.”

Enforced disappearance occurs when an individual is taken by state officials or others acting on behalf of the state, who then deny knowledge of the individual’s whereabouts. This practice often targets human rights defenders, witnesses and lawyers, to repress political opposition. Rights groups have consistently issued warnings related to the enforced disappearance crisis in Mexico, including Amnesty International’s recent report on violence against women searching for their disappeared loved ones.

Media voices have also criticized Mexico’s “war on drugs” as contributing to the current situation, saying that militarized enforcement has enhanced collaboration between criminal groups and the government, and “ignited an explosion of human rights abuses linked to state forces and criminals—particularly disappearances.”

From JURIST, April 4. Used with permission. Internal links added.

See our last report on Mexico’s human rights crisis.

Photo via Twitter

Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Production by Chris Rywalt

We ask listeners to support us with a small monthly donation via Patreon or PayPal.

Composite image via GIGA. Gen Z protesters in different countries use appropriated image from One Piece manga. Fair use rights asserted

In Iran, approximately 2,345 people have been arrested on charges related to “national security.” Many of these, as well as more arbitrarily arrested during the January protests, are being held in harsh conditions and incommunicado detention. The state has also cut internet access to prevent external sharing of information. Three protesters were publicly hanged in March after being convicted of “waging war against God” based on “confessions” obtained under torture. Many more are at imminent risk of execution.

Diana Eltahawy, Amnesty International’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, issued a statement stressing the grave nature of this situation:

It is unconscionable that even as the population is reeling from conflict and mass bereavement amid the ongoing aerial bombardment by Israel and the USA, the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran continue to weaponize the death penalty to eradicate dissenting voices and further terrify people.

The wave of repression and arbitrary detentions extends across the Midlle East. In Bahrain, activist Sayed Mohammed al-Mousawi died in custody in March after suspected torture. Human Rights Watch has also decried Bahrain’s blanket ban on protests.

In Qatar and the UAE, authorities have announced hundreds of detentions for sharing information showing the impact of strikes. In Kuwait, authorities imposed a new decree of imprisonment and steep fines for anyone who “undermine[s] the prestige of the military” or works toward eroding public trust in the armed forces. In Jordan, at least four government critics have been arrested. For example, Omar Awad was taken from the streets by security forces without explanation and has been denied contact with his family and lawyers.

In Palestine, Türk warned of similar trends. Israeli authorities have detained 200 Palestinians on the occupied West Bank since the US-Israeli war on Iran began, including for posting on social media, or on suspicion of “incitement” or “glorifying the enemy.” Rights groups have also reported a rise in direct violence by Israeli forces and settlers. One school principal in Dura, outside Hebron, was physically assaulted and had his home vandalized by Israeli authorities in response to a post he reportedly published in support of Iran. Israel has also recently passed legislation providing for a death penalty to apply selectively to Palestinians for particular crimes.

Türk summarized the increased restrictions on rights, stating:

We are witnessing a sharp securitisation of civic space across the region, with severe restrictions imposed by governments on people exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Waves of arrests and broad clampdowns, mostly on vaguely defined accusations, have had a deeply chilling effect on people, many of whom are already living with uncertainty, fear and anxiety.

Türk called on states to respect their obligations under international human rights law related to freedom of expression and assembly, ensuring access to legal counsel, due process, and a fair trial.

From JURIST, April 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.

Image: Pixabay

HRW said international law makes a clear distinction between areas where use of lethal force is lawful, explaining:

Outside of armed conflict, the deliberate, lethal use of force is only lawful when strictly necessary to protect life. Suspected criminals are not otherwise lawful targets for these deliberately lethal US strikes, and no information has been released to the public showing that any of the people targeted and killed posed an imminent threat to the life of any person.

The statement came in response to an announcement from the Pentagon’s Southern Command on March 25 that the US carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a boat allegedly engaged in drug trafficking. The strike killed three individuals, and was the 47th such strike the US has carried out on boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific since September 2025, resulting in 163 total deaths.

The US has persistently built up military assets in the Caribbean amid recent tension with Venezuela, culminating in January’s Pentagon raid on Caracas in which President Nicolás Maduro was captured and brought to the US to stand trial. President Donald Trump and other US officials argue that the continuing strikes on small vessels have saved thousands from overdose deaths, but commentators and human rights organizations have noted the lack of evidence backing these claims.

From JURIST, April 2. Used with permission. Internal links added.

US Coast Guard via Wikimedia Commons