The US Department of Defense (DOD) on Wednesday announced the transfer of five Guantanamo detainees. Four of the men went to Oman and one to Estonia , the first time each nation accepted Guantanamo prisoners for resettlement. Their release is the latest effort of the Obama administration to expedite the closing of the detention center. [...]
Amnesty International (AI) called Thursday for the release of three anti-slavery activists who were jailed in Mauritania. One of the jailed activists is prominent opposition politician Biram Ould Dah Ould Abeid, who was the runner-up in June’s presidential elections. The former presidential candidate is also the president of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the [...]
Authorities in Burkina Faso must investigate the use of excessive force by the military against peaceful anti-government protesters last year, Amnesty International (AI) urged in a report issued Thursday. The report investigated the force used by the presidential guard known as Regiment de Securite Presidentielle (RSP) and the military during the protests in Ouagadougou and [...]
Pakistani lawmakers on Thursday passed a resolution and rallied outside parliament to protest the publication of images of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad in French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo , which was attacked by extremists last week. Pakistan and other Muslim nations have condemned last week’s attack, which killed 12 people at the magazine’s office in Paris, [...]
The National Rifle Association (NRA) has filed a lawsuit against the city of Pittsburgh, alleging local gun laws violate a state law that restricts local regulation of firearms and ammunition. 18 Pa CS § 6120 states “No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, [...]
Amnesty International (AI) released satellite images Thursday that allegedly show the destruction of more than 3,700 buildings in the Nigerian towns of Baga and Doron Baga. The Nigerian government claims the death toll from these attacks, carried out by Islamic militant group Boko Haram , is around 150. AI, however, claims the death toll is [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Thursday rejected a complaint filed by Yevgeny Dzhugashvili against the Russian Novaya Gazeta newspaper for allegedly committing libel against his grandfather, Josef Stalin. The case concerns two articles published by the opposition newspaper regarding the execution of prisoners in the Polish Katyn war in 1940, the first [...]
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a $40 billion funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security on a 236-191 vote, which included amendments to repeal two key facets to President Barack Obama’s immigration action. The first amendment, passed on a 237-190 vote, is to block a 2014 executive order preventing the deportation [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Pauline Wein, Valparaiso University Law School Class of 2016, discusses why sex workers should be paid even though their work is illegal…Suppose your employer fails to pay you for work you have done. The US Department of Labor states that your employer owes you back pay and that you can file suit [...]
The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases Wednesday. In Mellouli v. Holder the court heard arguments on whether the government should be required to prove a connection between a conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia and a controlled substance as defined by congress in order to justify removal of a permanent resident [...]
