The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples James Anaya on Monday urged the government of Kenya to respect the rights of the Sengwer indigenous people, who are facing eviction from their native home in the Embobut Forest in western Kenya. Kenyan authorities have been assembling nearby to enforce evictions ordered by the [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on Monday upheld the conviction and sentencing of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab for his attempted bombing on an American aircraft. Abdulmutallab was sentenced to life in prison in February 2012 after pleading guilty to all charges stemming from an unsuccessful attempt to detonate a bomb in his [...]

A judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Monday refused to halt the execution of convicted Ohio murderer Dennis McGuire, who is scheduled to die by the administration of a never-before-tried drug that may potentially inflict pain. Ohio no longer has access to its former execution drug, pentobarbital, since [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Mohamed Ali Samantar , former Somali prime minister, who was ordered to pay Somali torture victims $21 million in 2012. The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit had upheld the district court’s dismissal of Samantar’s claim that, as a foreign official, he had [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday in two cases. In NLRB v. Noel Canning the court will decide: (1) whether the president’s recess-appointment power may be exercised during a recess that occurs within a session of the Senate or is instead limited to recesses that occur between enumerated sessions of the Senate; and [...]

US Ambassador Stephen Rapp called Sunday on Sri Lanka to investigate rights abuses by security forces during its civil war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) . After visiting Sri Lanka on a fact-finding mission, Rapp heard eyewitness accounts of serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law. Rapp affirmed that [...]

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to rule in Horne v. Isaacson , bypassing its opportunity to rule on Arizona’s new ban of abortions at 20 weeks of pregnancy. In 2012, the state defended the statute by arguing that this stricter regulation would reduce the fetus’ likelihood to feel pain and decrease health risks [...]

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan signed the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act into law on Monday, prompting condemnation throughout the international community. The law bans same-sex marriage and criminalizes homosexual associations, societies and meetings and carries a punishment of up to 14 years imprisonment. Though sodomy is already a crime in Nigeria, the law marks a [...]

The Liberian Supreme Court on Friday barred Justice Minister Christiana Tah from practicing law for six months, according to Liberia’s state radio, after being found guilty of contempt. The ruling cited Tah’s decision to grant “compassionate release” to journalist Rodney Sieh, who was jailed last year in connection with a libel case, as the reason [...]

South African President Jacob Zuma on Monday stated that the governing African National Congress (ANC) will not condone political violence. The statement came as 30 of his supporters , three minors and 27 adults, were expected to appear in the Nkandla Magistrate Court for throwing stones at members of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) near [...]