Thomas Probert

Restitution row: how Nigeria’s new home for the Benin bronzes ended up with clay replicas The public display of artefacts looted by British colonial forces at the new Museum of West African Art was supposed to be the crowning glory of a decades-long restitution effort. What went wrong?

Restitution row: how Nigeria’s new home for the Benin bronzes ended up with clay replicas

✍ 7TH EDITION OF DRAW ME THE ABOLITION : REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN ! ✍

To mark the 23rd World Day Against the Death Penalty, young people from around the world are invited every three years to take part in the international graphic poster competition ‘Draw Me Abolition’.

@afd-france.bsky.social

Another important statement from the UN Special Rapporteur on torture in favour of a new global treaty to regulate the trade in law enforcement equipment

#Torture-FreeTrade

Another important statement from the UN Special Rapporteur on torture in favour of a new global treaty to regulate the trade in law enforcement equipment

#Torture-FreeTrade

(Which is finally coming out in hard copy in a few weeks!)

global.oup.com/academic/pro...

Always a pleasure to listen to Albie Sachs, this evening in conversation with @abbottkingsley.bsky.social at the @icws-sas.bsky.social

His passion for the struggle is infectious, and we were delighted that he contributed a moving dedication at the start of our Oxford Handbook of Peaceful Assembly

Some people here love to dismiss ‘sportsball’ but S. African teams being banned from international competition was an important factor in ending Apartheid because it made their crimes real for non-political folk.

Useful reminder from Peter Kellner on the problems we refuse to acknowledge are getting better, and the politics of hopelessness that this breeds

open.substack.com/pub/kellnerp...

CPS guidance is here. Includes section on ECHR Freedom of Expression. www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidan...

“We believe the progress states have made in their discussions means that the international community can now move to negotiating a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems” – our Policy Manager @elizabethminor.bsky.social takes the floor at #CCWUN

Not sure I agree with @chrisgiles.ft.com over the delay of tax rises - especially if it implies delay in spending on improving services - but overall this is a much better analysis of the UK's fiscal state than most of the rest you'll read

I go. I try. And I will keep trying, even though it feels like a losing battle. Because I remember the whole point of the far-right astroturfing of social media is to make it feel like a losing battle, to make us give up.

Anyway, a few snippets on small boat crossings and immigration.

This is a very lengthy piece, but a very interesting journey…

‘This is lawfare’: Kenya ‘weaponising the law’ to silence critics and protesters Those swept up in mass arrests of demonstrators in July faced punitive bail terms and draconian charges under terrorism laws

Using draconian penalties from broadly-cast counter-terrorism legislation to restrict basic protest rights? We should know by now where this leads

EU: Welcome changes to the EU’s Anti-Torture Regulation should inspire more ambitious global efforts against torture – European Institutions Office On 31 July, the European Union (EU) extended the scope of goods covered by its pioneering Anti-Torture Regulation, strengthening its region-wide measures preventing the transfer of law enforcement equ...

📢 Last week the EU expanded its pioneering Anti-Torture Regulation, adding more equipment used for torture and other ill-treatment to the trade ban and control lists – a key move to protect detainees, protesters and human rights defenders.

🎉🇪🇺 🎉
Great news from the EU as it significantly strengthens its measures preventing the transfer of law enforcement equipment to those who would use it for torture & other ill-treatment.
🔗: omegaresearchfoundation.org/news/europea...
#torturefreetrade

The arrest of Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri in Germany, wanted by the ICC, marks a significant step toward accountability for grave international crimes in Libya. Authorities should transfer him to the Hague without delay. www.hrw.org/news/2025/07...

UK ban on Palestine Action at odds with international law, says UN rights chief Volker Türk says the Home Office proscription restricts right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly

UK ban on Palestine Action at odds with international law, says UN rights chief - www.theguardian.com/politics/202... "says the Home Office proscription restricts right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly" you'd think #starmer the lawyer would understand that, but no...

What a ‘Spiral of Silence’ Can Do to a Democracy Protests show people they are not alone in caring about an issue.

“The fact that organized protest can break the spiral of silence, and correct our impressions of what other Americans think, is one of the most immediate and important values of protesting in the first place. Scientists have [shown] protests update our impressions of what other citizens believe.”

This heat wave mortality graphic tells quite the story.

Europe needs to get over itself and start rolling out air conditioning.

Signs posted today inside the State Department read:

"Colleagues, if you remain: RESIST FASCISM, Remember the oath you vowed to uphold"

"Here sat America's experts on democracy, human rights...and more. You've just released them and hundreds of their colleagues into the wild"

1/I’ve obtained a farewell note a person in the human rights bureau sent out to his colleagues after being fired from the State Department today. A few tidbits from it:

"By framing the ICC as separate mechanism for condemning & adjudicating the legality of military actions, esp in situations where States disagree with the UNSC's decisions, States seek to amplify broader efforts at UN reform & secure a definitive outcome beyond the political compromises of New York"

If Labour cared about stopping Reform they’d implement proportional representation before the next election

Ollie took his research to a new level by actually playing for @authorscc.bsky.social over the weekend!

LESSONS FOR KENYANS AND POLICE AFTER JUNE 25TH BLOODY PROTESTS - Amnesty Kenya Despite a November 2024 court ruling that found previous interference unconstitutional, the Communications Authority mis-stepped again

"While public attacks on private businesses, government offices, courts and police stations must stop, the [Interior Cabinet Secretary's] 'shoot-to-kill' directive risks further eroding public trust in the police, licences extrajudicial killings and will trigger more unlawful violence."

Homelessness on the Rise in Finland - Y-Säätiö Asunnottomien ihmisten määrä on kääntynyt kasvuun. Nyt asunnottomien määrä kasvoi Helsingissä, vaikka asunnottomia asutettiin vuoden aikana vaikuttava määrä.

Sadly the current right-wing coalition government in Finland has cut the funding for the nation’s “Housing First” success story, & homelessness is now on the rise again. That just reinforces the fact that such programs work, if political ideology doesn’t stand in the way. ysaatio.fi/en/news/home...

Finland ends homelessness and provides shelter for all in need - scoop.me In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Why? The country applies the "Housing First" concept agains homelessness.

“In Finland, the number of homeless people has fallen sharply. Those affected receive a small apartment & counselling with no preconditions. 4 out of 5 people affected make their way back into a stable life. And all this is CHEAPER than accepting homelessness.”

It costs a lot less to house people.