Extrajudicial killings by police threaten over-all security in Rio de Janeiro, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a 109-page report released Thursday. HRW says officials have “not done enough” to address these executions ahead of the summer Olympics. An estimated 8,000 people have been killed by police in Rio de Janiero in the past decade—645 [...]

Democrats in Congress called for hearings in the wake of police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile , two black men, earlier this week. Congressman and House Judiciary Committee member, Cedric Richmond from Louisiana, the state in which Alton Sterling was killed, stated: I’m not sure if legislation comes out, but hopefully a hearing [...]

Amnesty International (AI) on Thursday urged Chinese authorities to “end their ruthless assault against human rights lawyers and activists.” This call to Chinese officials comes just before the one-year anniversary of a massive police crackdown within the country, which led to the targeting of an estimated 248 activists and lawyers. Of those detained, 17 still [...]

The Supreme Court of Canada on Thursday rejected an appeal by the Attorney General of Canada asking the court to review a lower court decision instructing the country to reconsider revocation of a former-Nazi’s Canadian citizenship. Helmut Oberlander, a 92-year-old Ukrainian man who claims he was forced to translate for the Ek 10a, a Nazi [...]

The German parliament unanimously passed a law Thursday expanding the definition of sex crimes, making any form of nonsensical sexual contact a crime. The new “no means no” law protects victims of sexual attacks who withhold consent yet do not physically resist the attack. The old law required victims to physically resist in order to [...]

Poland’s Parliament approved a bill Thursday that would unblock the Constitutional Tribunal, which has been the subject of controversy since last year. The measure was introduced by the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) and passed 238-173 in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament. It will next proceed to the Senate, and then to [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a package of controversial anti-terror bills on Thursday. These bills were drafted earlier this year as a response to the 2015 attacks in Paris and the bombing of an A-231 jet liner in Egypt. This package places high penalties on individuals found guilty of engaging in or financing terrorism including [...]

A federal judge in Buenos Aires froze the assets of former Argentinian president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Wednesday. The action comes in association with the charge against de Kirchner for fraudulently manipulating the economy during her final months in office. Kirchner is charged with conspiring to sell USD $17 billion in futures contracts using an [...]

The US Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana on Wednesday announced an investigation into the recent police killing of a black man, Alton Sterling, which was recorded on video. Sterling was shot and killed by police officers Tuesday outside a Baton Rouge convenience store where he was selling CDs. US Attorney Walt Green [...]

The Obama administration imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Wednesday, taking the unusual step of placing the country’s leader Kim Jong Un and 10 other officials on a blacklist for human rights abusers. The sanctions would bar US individuals and businesses from dealing with Kim and the other officials named and would freeze any [...]