Country Expert Database: New Findings from 120+ Countries

This Week 12 country expert database update refreshes findings across the 120+ country coverage and closes the Q1 2026 rolling weekly review series. West African LGBT criminalisation, Middle Eastern political imprisonment, and Central American state-of-exception dynamics dominated this reporting period. See Week 11 update and Q1-Q2 aggregate.[1]

The database aggregates practitioner casework across UK, US, Canadian, and EU jurisdictions and provides rolling snapshots of protection landscape evolution.

Nigeria — Week 12

Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act 2014 continues to be enforced. Boko Haram/ISWAP — Northeast continuing operations. Middle Belt farmer-herder conflict. Niger Delta militants — legacy cases. Biafra secession — IPOB/MASSOB. FGM prevalence — significant regional variation.

Cameroon

Anglophone crisis continues — Northwest and Southwest regions. Ambazonian separatist groups. Government military operations documented. Boko Haram/ISWAP in Far North. Journalists targeted; diaspora activism monitored.

Ghana

Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill passed February 2024 — presidential decision pending through 2026. Practical implementation uncertain but effect on LGBT population significant. Diaspora asylum claims increasing.[2]

Senegal

Post-March 2024 Faye/Sonko government — political tensions persist. Casamance situation ongoing. Journalist freedom concerns. Reduced grant rates as country conditions stabilised but individual cases continue.

Iraq

2024 LGBT criminalisation law in force. Yezidi genocide legacy claims. Nineveh Plains Christian communities. Kurdistan Region dynamics. PMF/Hashd-related concerns.

Egypt

60,000+ political prisoners continuing. Muslim Brotherhood affiliations. Journalist prosecutions (RSF Reporters Without Borders documentation). LGBT prosecutions continuing. Coptic Christian mob violence patterns.

Yemen

Continuing civil war 11 years on. Houthi vs internationally-recognised government. Southern Transitional Council dynamics. Child soldier concerns. Bahá'í persecution under Houthi. Article 15(c) civilian claims strong.

Saudi Arabia

Women activists — Loujain al-Hathloul, Salma al-Shehab (34-year sentence), Manahel al-Otaibi (11-year). Vision 2030 reforms partial — male guardianship informal. LGBT death penalty available. Bahá'í persecution. Shia community discrimination.

Q1 2026 Weekly Series Summary

Q1 Cross-Country Patterns

LGBT criminalisation expanding — Ghana bill, Iraq law, Uganda, Nigeria continuing. Political prisoner situations persistent — Egypt, Belarus, Russia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela. State-of-exception governance — El Salvador, Honduras, Ecuador. Armed conflict civilian claims — Yemen, Sudan, Ukraine. Women rights profiles — Saudi, Iranian hijab, Nigerian FGM, Central American femicide. Diaspora activism creating risk — global pattern. Facial recognition surveillance — Iran, China, Russia expanding.

What Changed in Q1

Iran — Hijab Law facial recognition expanded to universities. Russia — Article 207.3 prosecutions escalating. Belarus — Tikhanovsky release; prisoner exchange dynamics. Sudan — famine declarations; ~13.7M displaced. Honduras — post-Castro government transition. Iraq — LGBT law implementation. Ghana — LGBT bill uncertainty continues. Afghanistan — Taliban women's speech restrictions expanded.

New Case Law Q1 2026

UK — updated CG Iran (post-hijab law). Canada — updated NDP on Sudan. US — Ninth Circuit decisions on Central American PSG. ECJ — post-Migration Pact preliminary rulings.

Q2 2026 Preview

Q2 weekly series (Weeks 13-24) will continue rolling coverage with anticipated deep-dives on:

South Asia — Afghanistan post-2021 women, Pakistan Ahmadis. Southeast Asia — Myanmar Rohingya continuing. Central Asia — post-Rakhmon transition scenarios. Latin America — Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua updates. Cross-cutting — trafficking, women's PSG, LGBT expansion.

Q1 2026 database confirms accelerating trends — LGBT criminalisation expanding, political prisoner situations persistent, state-of-exception governance normalising, surveillance intensifying, diaspora targeting intensifying. Weekly updates matter — country conditions move faster than annual CG updates capture.
Q1 2026 Country Expert Database Close

Conclusion

The Week 12 country expert database update closes Q1 2026 with focus on West Africa, Middle East, and Central American updates. Cross-Q1 patterns — LGBT criminalisation, political prisoners, state-of-exception, armed conflict claims, women's rights profiles, surveillance intensification, diaspora targeting. Weekly cadence continues into Q2. See our companion Week 12 insights hub, Week 11 database, and Q1-Q2 aggregate.