Search Results for: United Nations

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) ratified Friday the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The DRC’s ratification of the Optional Protocol, which will enter into force on May 26, 2024, represents a significant step toward strengthening the prevention of torture and ill-treatment in [...]

Members of the Palestinian Civil Defense, an emergency response group in Palestine, called on the United Nations and the international community to conduct an independent investigation of mass graves at Gaza’s Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals in a press conference on Thursday. The officials also called for a halt to the fighting and for a surge [...]

The Hong Kong Legislative Council unanimously passed the Safeguarding National Security Bill recently. Both the Chinese National People’s Congress Standing Committee and the Hong Kong government have stressed that this enactment is a constitutional duty conferred on the government under Article 23 of the Hong Kong Basic Law, which serves as Hong Kong’s mini-constitution. The [...]

Marissa Zupancic is JURIST’s Washington DC Correspondent, a JURIST Senior Editor and a 3L at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She’s stationed in Washington during her Semester in DC. Today I attended oral arguments at the US Supreme Court for Trump v. US, a case concerning whether a president has absolute immunity after they [...]

The US Department of State released its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices on Monday, amidst the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, or UDHR. The report emphasized “several new commitments, including to renew investments around the world in democracy and human rights, to help protect human rights defenders online, [...]

Recent Afrobarometer survey data (Round 8, 2019-2021) paints a stark picture with 86% of Kenyans and 93% of Ghanaians expressing intolerance towards the LGBT community. This high level of intolerance exists despite the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guaranteeing non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. Furthermore, across Africa, laws criminalizing consensual same-sex sexual activity remain commonplace. [...]

The US Supreme Court heard oral arguments Monday on whether enforcing public camping ordinances against unhoused people without adequate shelter is cruel and unusual punishment and, therefore, prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution. The case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, originated in southern Oregon. The central question before the court revolves around the [...]

The United Nations Refugee Agency’s (UNHCR) Cyprus spokesperson Emilia Strovolidou urged the country on Friday to stop forcibly pushing away Syrian refugee boats arriving from Lebanon in violation of international human rights law and the principle of non-refoulment, according to reports from the Associated Press and European human rights group EuroMed Rights. Strovolidou said authorities’ [...]

Axios reported Saturday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to announce sanctions against the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) battalion “Netzah Yehuda” for human rights violations in the West Bank, according to three informed sources. The battalion is a special IDF unit mainly comprised of ultra-Orthodox soldiers. According to the report, the sanctions [...]

The Biden administration reportedly sent over 70 Haitians back to their homeland on Thursday amid the nation’s ongoing struggle with gang violence. The move was met with condemnation from human rights organizations, like the Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA), which condemned the move as “intentional violence.” The HBA and nearly 500 other human rights organizations previously [...]