Search Results for: US religion

A Pakistani court on Saturday sentenced former prime minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to seven years in prison for violating a marriage law when they wed in 2018, officials and a lawyer for the couple said.  The prosecution asserted Khan and his wife violated Islamic law, which says that a woman must [...]

Australian police stated at a press conference on Friday that their investigation into a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside the Sydney Opera House last October did not find any evidence of protesters allegedly chanting “gas the Jews”. However, the investigation did say other antisemitic slogans were used. The demonstration took place following the Hamas attack on Israel [...]

On August 15, 2021, Taliban forces seized Kabul, bringing an end to the era of the internationally sponsored Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (IRA), and reviving the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) in its place. While the Taliban’s approach to issues of rights remains unchanged, their control over Afghanistan is virtually unchallenged for now, fostering inevitable [...]

The year 2024 is an important one for Sri Lanka. It is a presidential election year, and a resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council to gather evidence of international crimes for use in future prosecutions is due for renewal. After the public ousters of the former-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2023, Ranil Wickremesinghe [...]

Three foreign-born Japanese residents have filed a statement of claim against the Japanese national and local governments for the alleged police practice of racial profiling. Each of the applicants sought damages of 3.3 million Japanese Yen. The three applicants are Pakistani, African-American and Pacific Lander respectively, who also are either Japanese citizens or permanent residents. [...]

The Centre for Information Resilience (CIR) has released a report about military airstrikes in Myanmar. Their research details the impact of these airstrikes on churches in Chin, Myanmar’s only majority Christian state. The report, released Tuesday, shows a correlation between areas that have been placed under martial law by the ruling military junta and are [...]

A federal judge ruled Sunday that Mississippi officials can create the planned state-run court in Jackson, the state capital, where the majority of residents are Black, despite objections from the NAACP. The decision is part of a more significant legal battle over Mississippi’s expansion of state power in Jackson, which the NAACP has sued against. [...]

Pope Francis on Monday showed concern when discussing the crackdown of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua. Official news outlet Vatican News quoted that as of Monday, Nicaraguan authorities have arrested at least 14 priests, one bishop and two seminarians over the past week. The Vatican News also reported the 26-year sentence of Bishop Rolando José Álvarez [...]

A UK government report released Wednesday detailing the discriminatory policy used to decide which asylum seekers can be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge was subsequently deleted from the government website. Although the policy discriminated against asylum seekers on the grounds of age and sex, the government stated this discrimination was justified under provisions in [...]

Every December 10th, international lawyers, governments, and advocacy groups commemorate Human Rights Day. This marks the day in 1948 when, improbably, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted in Paris by a nascent United Nations General Assembly under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt. This year, as the Declaration turned 75, I found myself in [...]