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 [...]
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Russia journalist's home searched in probe of prominent exiled colleague
The media outlet Fontanka.ru reported Friday that their journalist, Ksenia Klochkova, had her home searched by police in connection with a criminal investigation against journalist Andrei Zakharov. Zakharov left Russia in December 2021, having stated that he faced unprecedented surveillance after being designated as a foreign agent. Fontanka.ru indicated that on Friday around 9 a.m., [...]
US House passes bill forcing ByteDance to divest from TikTok under threat of ban
The US House of Representatives voted 360–58 Saturday to pass a sanctions bill that includes a provision forcing Chinese company ByteDance to divest from popular social media app TikTok, which would be banned in the US if ByteDance does not comply. The bill, formally entitled the “21st Century Peace through Strength Act,” designates TikTok as [...]
US Senate votes to reauthorize controversial surveillance law with changes
The US Senate voted 60–34 early Saturday to reauthorize and amend controversial intelligence legislation known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), just after the provision expired at midnight. Section 702 authorizes federal intelligence services to collect data from non-US “persons reasonably believed to be located outside the to acquire foreign intelligence [...]
US House of Representatives reauthorizes controversial surveillance law
The US House of Representatives passed on Friday a two-year reauthorization of an expiring warrantless surveillance law that had been stalled earlier in the week. The passed bill extends a contentious provision called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA. Wiretapping for national security investigations involving Americans or individuals within [...]
Shamima Begum, a young woman who left the UK as a schoolgirl to join ISIS in Syria, has recently lost an appeal to regain her British citizenship. This decision, leaving her effectively stateless and in a Syrian detention camp, has sparked renewed debate. In this interview, JURIST speaks with Professor Ben Saul, a UN expert [...]
New York City to pay $17.5M settlement to Muslim arrestees forced to remove hijabs
New York City settled a class-action lawsuit on Thursday that was brought by two Muslim women against the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) policy for removing their head coverings for arrest photos. The women filed a motion on Friday with presiding Judge Analisa Torres of the US District Court for the Southern District of New [...]
UN Human Rights Council calls for aviation fuel embargo against Myanmar
The UN Human Rights Council adopted resolutions Thursday to call on UN member states to refrain from supplying jet fuel to the Myanmar military. The council also extended the mandates of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran and Myanmar and the independent international fact-finding mission on Iran. All members from [...]
US State Department expresses concerns over convictions of rights advocates in Vietnam
The US State Department expressed concern regarding the recent convictions of ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates in Vietnam on Monday. The statement highlighted the convictions of five individuals since January 2024 and called on the Vietnamese government to uphold freedoms of expression, association, and religion or belief. One of the cases mentioned in the statement [...]
Third Mississippi 'Goon Squad' member sentenced for involvement in assault of Black men
The third of six members of the Mississippi deputy group who referred to themselves as the “Goon Squad,” Daniel Opdyke, was sentenced Wednesday to 17 and a half years in federal prison for his involvement in the torture of two black men. In January 2023, six members of Mississippi law enforcement entered the home of [...]