The UN Security Council on Thursday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the political violence and killings currently afflicting Burundi. The violence began in the wake of President Pierre Nkurunziza announcing that he would seek a third term in office, which he was voted into in July. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that had held that California’s death penalty system was unconstitutional . The appeals court held that the excessive delay between sentencing and execution did not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Ninth Circuit Judge Susan [...]
The Ukrainian Parliament approved a resolution Thursday that recognizes the mass deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide. On May 18, 1944, under orders from Josef Stalin, more than 180,000 indigenous people were deported from Crimea on the grounds that the Tatar people had allegedly collaborated with Nazi Germany during World War II. Tatar [...]
Recent state-drive reforms within China’s judicial system have failed to cease the practice of torturing suspects in order to force confessions, according to a report released Wednesday by Amnesty International (AI) . Since 2010, the Chinese government has been scrutinized over human rights violations. AI said Chinese lawyers are finding their attempts to assist clients [...]
UN human rights expert Victoria Tauli-Corpuz expressed concern Thursday about the situation faced by the indigenous people of Honduras, specifically in connection with their land and natural resource rights, their lack of access to justice, education and health, and the general environment of violence and impunity affecting their communities. In her end-of-mission statement , she [...]
The US Holocaust Memorial Museum voiced support for the Yazidi community in Iraq on Thursday and said that the Islamic State (IS) militants committed genocide against the Yazidi people. The atrocities witnessed by the museum’s Simon-Skjodt Center for the Prevention of Genocide “Bearing Witness” team took place between June and August 2014 and are denounced [...]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed two bills on Wednesday in order to expedite the distribution of medical marijuana to citizens with critical health conditions. Though statewide medical marijuana distribution will begin in January, the governor and lawmakers acknowledged that at-risk patients may require immediate relief “to avoid suffering and loss of life.” Cuomo expressed [...]
The Constitutional Court of Spain on Wednesday suspended Catalonia’s secession resolution following an appeal by the Spanish central government asking the court to review the resolution. Earlier this week the Catalan Parliament passed the resolution to begin secession from Spain, declaring that the decision is not subject to constitutional rulings and hoping to establish a [...]
The Ukrainian Parliament approved legislation Thursday to protect individuals from sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace, removing the last barrier to EU visa-free travel into the country. The bill failed several times before receiving 234 votes, surpassing the requisite 226 votes needed to pass through parliament. The bill will amend the country’s labor code to [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Tendayi Achiume of UCLA School of Law discusses how the media’s disproportionate focus on the European dimensions of the plight of Syrian refugees… For four years, much of the world has ignored the Syrian refugee crisis. In light of this, recent media attention on the plight of Syrians seeking refuge in Europe [...]
