Iraq criminalizes same sex relationships and transgender individuals
The Iraqi Council of Representatives passed a law Saturday criminalizing same sex relationships and transgender individuals. The law has garnered widespread criticism from human rights groups and diplomats across the world. The Anti-Prostitution and Homosexuality Law amends a previous law from 1988. It provides prison sentences and fines for most of its offenses. Anyone convicted [...]
Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers on Friday approved a new legislative bill, endorsed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that will allow the state to confiscate any property or proceeds resulting from criminal activities, a spokesperson for the cabinet told local media. Under the new law, known as the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), the [...]
DRC ratifies Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture
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 [...]
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, [...]
A referendum to remove Albanian mayors in four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo failed on Sunday following low turnout. The Central Commission of Elections of Kosovo declared that until 15:30 only 203 citizens voted in the referendum, with around one percent turnout at the end of the process. The referendum comes at heightened tensions between [...]
Oklahoma House passes controversial immigration bill criminalizing 'impermissible occupation'
The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed House Bill 4156 on Thursday by a vote of 77-20, which proposes the creation of the criminal act of impermissible occupation, targeting individuals who willfully enter and remain in Oklahoma without legal authorization to be in the United States. Under the provisions of HB 4156, impermissible occupation is defined as [...]
US issues new sanctions on entities backing extremist settlers in the West Bank
The Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed new sanctions Friday on multiple entities that back extremist settlers in the West Bank, including the Mount Hebron Fund and Shlom Asiraich. These sanctions were a response to both the Mount Hebron Fund and Asiraich’s involvement in fundraising campaigns for violent extremists Yinon [...]
US appeals court rules against former Republican consultant in foreign election contribution case
The US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled against former Republican campaign consultant Jesse R. Benton on Friday, upholding Benton’s conviction for allegedly funneling $100,000 in campaign donations from a Russian businessman to his consulting firm. Of the $100,000, Benton was convicted of keeping $75,000 of the donation for himself and giving the [...]
