An investigation published by Reuters on Friday revealed that a secretive committee of high-ranking officials in Ethiopia has been committing human rights violations in order to eliminate the Oromo Liberation Army- Oromo Liberation Front (OLF-OLA) insurgency group. Reuters interviewed over 30 sources, revealing the committee’s existence for the first time on record. The committee, called [...]
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Democratic Nullification of Criminal Cases: A Case for Imran Khan — and Possibly Donald Trump
Can a country’s citizens nullify the criminal cases that a popular leader faces by handing them an electoral victory in the general elections? This question raises issues that could prove pivotal to the political processes in Pakistan and the US, pertaining respectively to their former prime minister Imran Khan and former President Donald Trump. Its [...]
HRW: Pakistan authorities should ensure peaceful transition of power after elections
Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged Pakistani authorities Monday to ensure a peaceful transition of power following the country’s parliamentary elections, encouraging all political parties to uphold democratic norms and cooperate with an independent investigation into alleged election irregularities. HRW claimed the national parliamentary elections that took place February 8 were “marred” by authorities’ widespread violations [...]
WSJ: missing UK businessman convicted and being held for espionage in China
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an exclusive report Thursday revealing that UK businessman Ian J. Stones, who spent decades working in China and disappeared from public view in 2018, was actually convicted of espionage and is being held by the Chinese government. The Financial Times questioned Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Wang Wenbin about the [...]
Explainer: The Israel-Hamas War and the International Criminal Court
The current conflict engulfing Israel and Palestine raises significant issues of international law and policy. This is part one in an anticipated two-part series that will discuss some of the relevant legal questions before the International Criminal Court (ICC; Part I) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ; Part II). With both courts located in [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Lithuania liable on Tuesday for assisting the US with the torture of a man from Saudi Arabia at Detention Site Violet, a secret CIA prison in Lithuania, in 2005. The court found that Lithuania violated several provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights against the applicant [...]
Guinea-Bissau President Umaro Sissoco Embalo issued a decree Monday dissolving the opposition-led parliament, following “the seriousness of the events of November 30 and December 1” which the president described as an “attempted coup.” The decree, which came into force immediately, states that the events “constituted an attempt to subvert the constitutional order, resulting through this [...]
Sudan's Rapid Support Forces Militia Must Be Stopped: A Brief History of Atrocities
The conflict that erupted in April between the Sudanese National Army and the Rapid Support Forces wreaked havoc on Sudan, and has ultimately taken an appalling toll. Thousands were killed and millions displaced. Buildings were burned and infrastructure lay in ruins, instilling fear of a spiraling descent into a full-scale civil war. Even before the warfare [...]
Australia journalist detained in China released after three years
Prominent Australian journalist Cheng Lei was released Tuesday by Chinese authorities and reunited with her family in Australia after being detained in China since August 2020. Lei was formally arrested in 2021 following allegations by Chinese officials that Lei had been illegally supplying Chinese state secrets overseas whilst working as a news anchor for the [...]
Russia court rejects appeal of Wall Street Journal reporter in espionage case
A Russian court dismissed an appeal Tuesday from Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in pre-trial detention for more than six months on allegations of espionage, ruling that Gershkovich will continue to be held in jail. According to Russian state-affiliated news source TASS, the court “considered the appeal of Gershkovich’s defense [...]