Counsel for Kenyan politician Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to drop the charges against his client for lack of evidence. The request came amid the withdrawal of charges against Francis Muthaura on Monday. The prosecution filed a notice last week to withdraw charges against Muthaura due to lack of evidence [...]
Vermont’s House of Representatives on Friday approved a bill that would require out-of-state employers to provide the same health care coverage to same-sex couples as employees with an opposite-sex spouse. The bill was approved almost unanimously in a 139-5 vote. Under the new bill, Vermont employees in a civil union or same-sex marriage working for [...]
Israel must cease all settlement activity and immediately withdraw settlers from the Palestinian territories, according to a UN expert speaking before the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Monday. Christine Chanet presented a report published in January that had been commissioned by the UN Human Rights Council “to establish an independent international fact-finding mission investigate [...]
A federal judge on Thursday struck down a Missouri health insurance law that required insurers to issue policies without contraception coverage if individuals or employers objected for religious or moral reasons. Judge Audrey Fleissig for the US District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri ruled that the law conflicts with the Patient Protection and [...]
The Omani Appeal Court on Sunday granted bail to eight out of 11 political protestors charged with “illegal gathering with the intention of provoking a riot” and “blocking the flow of traffic” under Oman’s penal code. Omani authorities detained the men in June for participating in peaceful sit-ins in Muscat that sought the release of [...]
Police in Zimbabwe arrested a prominent human rights lawyer on Sunday, along with four other officials from the prime minister’s political party. The arrests came just a day after the country voted in a constitutional referendum calling for increased protections from human rights violations. Human rights lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa is being charged with obstructing or [...]
The US Senate Judiciary Committee has approved a bill to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices capable of holding more than 10 rounds. Passed Thursday on a party line vote of 10-8, the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 would prohibit the sale, transfer, importation and manufacture of 157 specifically named military-style assault [...]
Egypt’s criminal court on Saturday acquitted former ministers of tourism and housing, Zohair Garanah and Ahmed al-Maghrabi, of charges of corruption. Both men were charged with profiteering and illegally selling state-owned land during their time as ministers under former president Hosni Mubarak . Garanah was originally convicted of corruption charges and sentenced to three years [...]
More than 130 UN member states on Friday agreed to adopt new measures to prevent and eliminate violence against women and girls in a document produced at the conclusion of the 57th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women in New York City. The document, called the Agreed Conclusions, condemns violence against women [...]
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Friday appealed the results of Kenya’s 2013 election to Kenya’s Supreme Court. Kenya’s election commission declared Uhuru Kenyatta , son of Kenya’s first president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the winner of the nation’s 2013 presidential election earlier this month. Odinga has accused electoral authorities of “electoral theft” and stated that [...]
