The Missouri House of Representatives on Thursday voted 119-38 in favor of legislation restricting late-term abortions and imposing penalties on doctors who fail to comply with the new restrictions. The legislation, which is slated to become effective at the end of August, bans abortions of “viable” fetuses. The legislation would provide some exceptions, permitting abortions [...]
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Friday held a debate and adopted the outcomes from its Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the US. The review provided the US with 228 recommendations in 10 different areas regarding human rights policies and practices. Harold Hongju Koh , a representative of the US Department of State (DOS), [...]
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a state of emergency throughout the country on Friday. The state of emergency will last 30 days and gives security forces greater powers to maintain order and also includes a ban on citizens carrying arms in public. There is also a possibility that the state of emergency includes a [...]
Gabor Rona : “Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is committing atrocities against his people. His armed forces, police and mercenaries have been reported to be systematically targeting civilians in a misguided attempt to quell public demonstrations for democratic reform. A week ago, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said this to reporters in Los Angeles: “I [...]
The UN peacekeeping operation (UNOCI) in the Ivory Coast on Thursday denounced the shelling of a market in the capital Abidjan which killed 25 to 30 civilians and injured scores more, calling it a possible war crime. In the statement, UNOCI condemned the use of violence against civilians: The authors of these abusive acts, which [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Haider Ala Hamoudi of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law says that even though Decision 88 may be troubling, Iraqi Constitutional Law is far from settled and that competing authorities must now recalibrate their efforts … Not long ago, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court issued a decision, published in early 2011, that [...]
A judge for Wisconsin’s Dane County Circuit Court on Friday issued a temporary restraining order blocking the state’s new Budget Repair Bill . Judge Maryann Sumi’s order blocked the law from being published , one of the procedural steps towards enacting it. The lawsuit over the bill alleges that Republican legislators did not follow the [...]
US immigration enforcement agencies are overly reliant on a flawed detention system, according to a report released Thursday by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACH) . The IACH investigated six immigrant detention centers based throughout Arizona and Texas. The report expresses concern over increased use of detention by the US government, citing a doubling [...]
International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo warned Libyan government officials on Friday that war crimes prosecution could result for any indiscriminate attacks against civilians in Benghazi. Last week, the UN was called upon to impose a no-fly zone over Libya in response to reports that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had been using aircraft [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled Friday that the display of the crucifix in public schools in Italy does not violate Article 9 or Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights . Article 9 is a right to freedom of religion, while Article 2 of Protocol No. [...]
