The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Thursday sentenced former Rwandan Minister of Youth and Sports Callixte Nzabonimana to life in prison after finding him guilty of charges related to the 1994 Rwandan genocide . Nzabonimana was accused of planning, leading and participating in the mass murder of the Tutsi population in Rwanda while [...]
The California Senate voted 23-13 Wednesday to approve a bill that would ban psychotherapies aimed at changing the sexual orientation of minors. According to supporters, the underlying reason for the legislation is that homosexuality is not a disease and should not be treated as such. Moreover, therapies and efforts to reverse homosexuality were found to [...]
The Tunisia Judges’ Union went on strike Wednesday to protest a decision by Justice Minister Noureddine Bhiri to fire more than 80 judges. According to the head of the Judge’s Union, Raoudha Abidi, the judiciary’s open-ended strike will not end until Bhiri reverses his decision to terminate the judges’ employment and allows the fired judges [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Gabor Rona, International Legal Director of Human Rights First, explains that federal judges will continue to strike down terrorism laws that are overly broad…
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a summary judgment in favor of Philip Morris, Inc. , finding that the plaintiffs were barred from recovery due to a settlement in a state lawsuit from 1998. The plaintiffs sued Philip Morris in 2001 for using false and misleading labeling on their Marlboro “light” cigarettes alleging that [...]
Director General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) , Irina Bokova , expressed her concern Tuesday over the murder of Somali journalist Ahmed Addow Anshur, who was killed last week. Anshur was shot in Mogadishu, Somalia, but the perpetrator is still unidentified and at large. According to the National Union of Somali [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN) on Wednesday filed a petition seeking to eliminate a proposed ballot initiative that would amend the Minnesota Constitution to require citizens to present photo identification in order to vote. If allowed to proceed, the initiative will appear on the ballot in the upcoming November election. In a [...]
A Pakistani doctor who helped the US government find Osama Bin Laden was convicted last week for his association to a militant group in Pakistan, not for his ties to the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) , as was originally reported. A court document released to the press indicates that Dr. Shakeel Afridi was sentenced [...]
Twenty-five gay and lesbian couples filed two lawsuits on Wednesday against Illinois Governor Pat Quinn challenging the constitutionality of the state’s same-sex marriage ban. The lawsuits are supported by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois (ACLUI) and gay rights group Lambda Legal . Currently, Illinois law only allows marriage between a man and a [...]
Iraq’s human rights situation remains fragile , the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) reported Wednesday. Iraq is currently transitioning from a decade-long dictatorship and its underlying armed conflict and violence to a peaceful democratic system. UNAMI recognized some improvements towards such a system, but it discovered that there are still areas which seriously endanger [...]
