A UN rights expert on Saturday urged an independent investigation into sectarian violence taking place in the Myanmar state of Rakhine. After spending a week in Myanmar, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tomas Ojea Quintana, warned that democratic reforms will not be successful in the country unless the [...]

A Kansas judge on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the state’s new abortion clinic regulations after state officials asked that they be upheld without a trial. The state argued that they have a rational reason for enacting the new regulations in that they were put in place to protect the health and safety [...]

A military commissions judge at Guantanamo Bay announced Thursday that he will hear oral arguments regarding allegations by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that the government censored discussions about torture during the trial of the 9/11 defendants. The order stated that because neither side objected to counsel for the ACLU and the other 14 [...]

The American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capitol (ACLU) filed suit in federal court on Thursday arguing that a provision of a new law designed to stop insider trading by members of Congress and federal employees violates these employees’ privacy and freedom of speech rights. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for [...]

Former president of Mongolia Nambar Enkhbayar was convicted Wednesday on graft charges and sentenced to four years in prison. The Sukhbaatar district court also ordered the confiscation of more than 30 million tugriks (USD $22,206) of Enkhbayar’s property. Enkhbayar, who maintains his prosecution is politically-motivated, was arrested in April and charged with corruption and abuse [...]

The Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday postponed the confirmation of charges hearing in the case against former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo until the issue of his fitness to stand trial is resolved. Three medical evaluations of Gbagbo fitness were submitted on July 19, around three weeks after the [...]

Two independent UN human rights experts noted Roma Holocaust Remembrance Day on Thursday by calling on the international community to find solutions to the persistent exclusion of Roma denizens from larger society in all countries. “Pharrajimos” is observed each August 2 in remembrance of the approximately 3,000 Roma and Sinti who were killed on that [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday expressed concern about draft legislation that would criminalize homosexual behavior in Liberia . The bill provides for fines and imprisonment for up to five years for “seduc, encourag, promot another person of the same gender to engage into sexual activities” in what [...]

The UN General Assembly passed a resolution on Friday criticizing the Syrian government for increasing its use of heavy weapons and calling on both sides of the conflict to stop fighting. The non-binding resolution, which passed by a vote of 133-12, also chastised the UN Security Council for failing to take decisive action to curb [...]

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Friday urged Sudan to initiate an investigation into allegations of excessive force by government security forces against protesters in Darfur Tuesday resulting in eight deaths and more than 50 injuries. The OHCHR urged the government to “promptly launch an independent and credible investigation [...]