Pull to refresh
Logo
Daily Brief
Following Why Ranks Sign Up
Volker Türk

Volker Türk

Austrian lawyer

Appears in 4 stories

Born: 1965 (age 61 years), Linz, Austria
Nationality: Austrian

Notable Quotes

"It is deeply troubling that despite multiple reminders, warnings and appeals, parties to the conflict in Sudan continue to use increasingly powerful drones to deploy explosive weapons with wide-area impacts in populated areas." — March 2026 statement

Terrorist acts should be confined to criminal acts intended to cause death or serious injury or to the taking of hostages. — Statement on UK proscription, July 2025

The ban limits the rights of many people who have not themselves engaged in any underlying criminal activity but rather exercised their rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. — Statement on UK proscription, July 2025

Stories

Drone warfare transforms Sudan's civil war into a daily toll on civilians

Force in Play

Repeatedly condemning both sides for civilian drone casualties

Sudan's civil war has entered a new phase defined by drone strikes that hit markets, hospitals, and roads nearly every day. On March 26, two strikes killed at least 28 civilians—22 at a market in Saraf Omra, North Darfur when one hit a parked oil truck, and six along a road in Kordofan. The market strike ignited part of the market, and an infant was among the 22 dead.

Updated May 30

UK courts test boundaries of terrorism law against protest groups

Rule Changes

Called for UK to rescind proscription

On February 13, 2026, Britain's High Court ruled the government acted illegally when it banned Palestine Action as a terrorist organization—the first to overturn a UK terrorism proscription. The three-judge panel said the group's tactics of breaking into factories and damaging military aircraft were criminal but did not meet the terrorism threshold, calling into question more than 2,700 arrests and 250 charges under the Terrorism Act.

Updated May 29

Iran's deadliest protest crackdown since the 1979 revolution

Force in Play

Leading international condemnation of crackdown

Iran's 2022 uprising killed roughly 500 people over several months. The current one has killed at least 6,842 people (possibly more than 30,000) in just over five weeks; leaked documents reveal Supreme Leader Khamenei approved a premeditated crackdown blueprint months in advance.[1][2]

Updated May 23

Trump’s 2025 national security strategy revives Monroe Doctrine and pivots U.S. power to the Americas

Force in Play

Leading international critic of U.S. drug‑boat strikes

On December 5, 2025, the Trump administration released a 33-page National Security Strategy declaring a Trump Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. The document formally revives the 19th-century idea of the Western Hemisphere as a U.S. sphere of influence and promises to reassert American preeminence across the Americas.

Updated May 10