Search Results for: international

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday assented to the Preventing and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill, which criminalizes the offenses of hate crimes and hate speech in the country. According to the president’s office, under the new law, a hate crime is found “if a person commits any recognised offence under [...]

Australia and Tuvalu released a joint statement Thursday announcing new commitments to improve security relations and remove the veto power Australia previously had over the tiny island nation’s security relations with other countries. The announcement addressed the implementation and interpretation of the Falepili Union, a bilateral treaty which was entered into on November 9, 2023 [...]

The mandatory use of CBP One to seek asylum in the United States violates the United States’ and Mexico’s international human rights and refugee law obligations, according to a report published by Amnesty International on Thursday. The rights group found that CBP One, a mobile application designed to process individuals seeking asylum, cannot be the [...]

China on Wednesday sought to solicit public opinion on draft regulations aimed at regulating its rapidly growing lithium battery industry. The rules, proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, are designed to curb unchecked expansion and promote sustainable and high-quality development within the sector.  The proposed regulations address several key issues facing China’s lithium [...]

Attacks by Islamist armed groups and ethnic militias in Mali violate international humanitarian law and are apparent war crimes, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report released Wednesday. One such attack in January 2024, by an Al-Qaeda-linked Islamist armed group, killed at least 32 civilians, including 3 children and setting fire to over 350 [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on Thursday that ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity are occurring in El Geneina, Sudan. The events are labeled as “among the worst atrocities against civilians so far in the current conflict in Sudan.” The Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are responsible for the attacks committed against the Massalit ethnic minority. [...]

The presumption of innocence is a fundamental principle underpinning the right to a fair trial. This may be broadly understood as a fundamental human right, but its protection is far from universal. Since retaking control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban has made the systematic punishment of women and girls a core part of its [...]

Sri Lankan security forces continue to impose abduction and torture on Tamil civilians, a Wednesday report from the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) revealed. The report analyzed the statements of 123 Tamils (aggregately detained for a total of 139 times) who were unlawfully detained by Sri Lankan security forces between 2015 and 2022, all [...]

Syrian and international human rights groups and victims’ associations called upon the French government to support the independent investigation against Bashar Al-Assad on the 2013 Syrian chemical attack in a joint statement published on Wednesday. The 39 organisations, among which the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression and Amnesty International, saluted international efforts [...]

A class action complaint filed this week accuses New York prison officials of holding disabled inmates in solitary confinement in violation of state law. Solitary confinement has been a core feature of the US penal system since the 18th century — dating back to the earliest state prisons, where the inmates seen as most depraved [...]