UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani on Wednesday urged the international community to prepare itself for the “massive displacement and humanitarian crisis” that could come as a result of civilians fleeing the fighting in Yemen, stating that they must prepare for a worst case scenario. The crisis, unless [...]
An analysis by Human Rights Watch (HRW) of the Tunisian government’s new draft counterterrorism law released Wednesday suggests that the law as drafted could potentially lead to serious human rights abuses. The law would permit extended incommunicado detention, weaken due process guarantees for people charged with terrorism offenses, and allow the death penalty for anyone [...]
The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in two separate decisions that courts cannot prohibit parolees from using medical marijuana when used for medical purposes under the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act (AMMA). The AMMA was passed by the legislature in 2010, and both plaintiffs obtained registry identification cards because of medical conditions for which doctors prescribed [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) filed suit Tuesday accusing the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) of collecting records of the organization’s telephone calls to foreign countries. The DEA attempted to make the existence of a mass surveillance program confidential until January, when a federal judge ordered the government to disclose additional information about the program. The [...]
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on Tuesday signed a bill that bans all forms of dismemberment abortion unless necessary to protect the life or health of the mother. The bill was approved by the Kansas legislature near the end of March. Kansas is the first state to ban this type of procedure, typically used to perform [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit ruled Tuesday that Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt may join a lawsuit that seeks to compel the state of Missouri to unseal details on its execution methods. This decision reverses a lower court ruling that found that the magazine publisher did not have standing to join [...]
A former Guantanamo Bay detainee was arrested Tuesday in connection with the murder of Ugandan Senior Principal State Attorney Joan Kagezi last month. Ugandan citizen Jamal Kiyemba was apprehended along with three others in the Ugandan Capital of Kampala by a joint operation of the Ugandan Police Force and US military troops. Kiyemba, who was [...]
JURIST was nominated Tuesday for a prestigious Webby Award as the best Law website of 2015. Called the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times and presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences , the “Webbys” are the leading international awards honoring excellence in interactive design, creativity, usability and functionality on [...]
A judge for US District Court for the Southern District of Texas declined Tuesday night to lift an order he issued in February temporarily blocking the executive immigration actions authorized by President Barack Obama . US District Judge Andrew Hanen issued two orders Tuesday night, the first rejecting the government’s motion to stay his February [...]
The UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Rita Izsák, called on the countries of the world Wednesday to focus on human rights struggles of the Roma people and to take action to end discrimination and racism. Wednesday marks International Roma Day. Izsák urged nations to protect minority rights as set out in the UN Declaration [...]
