The Hong Kong police department on Friday cleared the main government compound of pro-democracy supporters who occupied the area in protest. It is reported that supporters were subdued with pepper spray and 60 arrests were made. The pro-democracy protesters and supporters are a part of an movement titled Occupy Central . Occupy Central is a [...]
California Governor Jerry Brown on Saturday signed into law on a bill which will prohibit schools from suspending students without proving the pupil willfully defied teachers and administrators. The bill specifically eliminates schools’ authority to suspend pupils from kindergarten through third grade and the authority to expel a student from kindergarten through twelfth grade. California [...]
The president of Spain’s Catalonia region signed a decree today calling for a referendum on secession and independence from Spain , inciting confrontation from Spain’s central government in Madrid . In a statement after the ceremonial signing, President Artur Mas , emphasizing Catalonia’s “right to decide its political future,” announced that the independence vote would [...]
An Indian court on Saturday sentenced Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa Jayaram to four years in prison for corruption in a case that was filed 18 years ago. Special Judge John Michael D’Cunha held Jayaram “guilty of amassing wealth disproportionate to known sources of her income” under Sections 109 and 120 (b) of the Indian [...]
An Egyptian court on Saturday has postponed the verdict in the retrial of former president Hosni Mubarak until November 29 due to the large amount of evidence. The verdict in the case was originally scheduled to be announced today, however, Judge Mahmoud Kamel al-Rashidy instead announced the postponement during court. Mubarak, his former security chief [...]
The newly appointed UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Prince Zeid bin Ra’ad on Thursday decried the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) for its recent killings and human rights violations of women in ISIL-controlled areas in Iraq. He specifically condemned ISIL’s public execution earlier this week of Sameera Salih Ali Al-Nuaimy, a [...]
The American Justice Center on Thursday filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of anonymous survivors against India Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York for human rights abuses stemming from the religious riots in Gujarat in 2002. Modi was chief minister of Gujarat when Hindu [...]
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon released a video statement for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Core Group Ministerial Event on Thursday calling for an end to transphobia and homophobia . The UN has led by example in this arena, introducing measures to ensure fairer treatment of gay and lesbian UN staff and their families, [...]
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and a number of UN officials on Thursday urged global leaders to abolish the death penalty. In in a presentation and accompanying report entitled “Moving Away from the Death Penalty,” UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson stated: All human rights rest on the right to [...]
US Attorney General Eric Holder announced his resignation from the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday. Holder, appointed in February 2009, was the first African-American to hold the position of Attorney General in the US and has had one of the longest terms as Attorney General. In his remarks on Holder’s resignation, US President Barack [...]
