Government signatories to the Paris Agreement will meet in Bonn next week and are intent upon discussing human rights issues with the plan. UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and environment, John H. Knox, stated Friday that this meeting will be, “he first test of States’ commitment to the principles of the Paris Agreement.” During [...]
The Senate Armed Services Committee approved a measure that would permit detainees at Guantanamo Bay to plead guilty for their crimes through video conferencing, and would also allow the transfer of detainees to third-world countries to reduce the population of the prison. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2017 (NDAA) was approved on [...]
The Supreme Court of India upheld a set of defamation laws Friday, finding them to be constitutionally valid. The laws were challenged by opposing politicians as an impediment on free speech. The ruling recognized a legitimate interest of the state to restrict free speech to protect from “defamatory or libelous speech or expression,” saying “here [...]
Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed two pieces of legislation restricting abortion into law on Thursday. The two laws, SB 205 and SB 363 , prevent the issuance or renewal of health center licenses “to abortion clinics or reproductive health centers performing abortions located within 2,000 feet of a K-8 public school” and prohibit dilation and [...]
The UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) , a body of independent experts, released closing remarks to its fifty-seventh session Friday, expressing concern about the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against Palestinians. Last week the CAT engaged in dialogue with Israeli officials about the use of excessive force, especially against minors. The CAT also [...]
Armed opposition groups in Syria are committing war crimes around the Sheikh Maqsoud district of Aleppo city, Amnesty International (AI) said Friday. The human rights group found that these armed opposition groups are routinely carrying out attacks that indiscriminately target civilians and civilian sites, resulting in murder and destruction in the area. AI has greatly [...]
The US Supreme Court upheld a stay of execution for Alabama inmate Vernon Madison on Thursday. In a 4-4 order, the court upheld the stay issued by the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit . Madison had argued that he was mentally incompetent due to several strokes and vascular dementia. Based upon precedent [...]
The UK Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously rejected claims by approximately 600 Iraqi civilians that they were extrajudicially detained and physically abused by British forces. The suit, brought by 14 “lead claimants” representing approximately 600 civilians against the Ministry of Defence , alleged that between 2003 and 2009, British forces abused and unlawfully detained Iraqi [...]
The Florida American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Marion County school district on Thursday, challenging their bathroom policy as anti-transgender. The complaint was filed after a school suspended a student for using a different restroom than that required under the policy. The school district’s policy, adopted as Resolution No. 16-001 , [...]
A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Thursday in favor of House Republicans in a challenge to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) . Judge Rosemary Collyer found that the Obama administration is illegally spending money to fund subsidies under the act without congressional approval: This case [...]
