Search Results for: freedom assembly

The Council of Europe’s Venice Commission released an opinion Tuesday criticizing Hungary’s recent sovereignty protection law as a potential threat to free discourse. In light of its analysis, the Venice Commission ultimately recommended that the law be repealed. The opinion centers around Hungary’s Act LXXXVIII on the Protection of National Sovereignty, adopted in December 2023. [...]

The Civil Liberties Union for Europe (Liberties) published its Liberties Rule of Law Report 2024 on Monday, in which the organization raised concerns about the declining state of the rule of law and weakening democratic checks and balances across the EU. Liberties, headquartered in Berlin, is a non-governmental organization (NGO) that promotes civil liberties for [...]

The Kaluga Regional Court said Friday that it kept a Russian national suspected of being a member of the “Freedom of Russia” Legion, a paramilitary group of former Russian soldiers who now fight on behalf of Ukraine, in custody for two months on suspicion of terrorism. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested the unnamed individual. [...]

The American Library Association (ALA) announced on Thursday that censorship demands and book ban attempts in public libraries and schools hit a record high in 2023. The ALA documented 1,247 demands to ban 4,240 different books. This is a 65 percent increase from 2022, when 2,571 books faced censorship demands. In 17 states, book ban [...]

The Deflagration Accident Disposal Headquarters of Hebei Province, China, issued a statement on Thursday apologizing for blocking media correspondents from reporting on an explosion that occurred in a four-story building located in Hebei Province, near Beijing, China, while pledging to actively establish a robust communication platform with the media and protect journalists’ rights. Following the [...]

Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations, does not shy away from tough questions. Though many in a position such as his might shy away from argument, Rae seems to relish the opportunity to engage in some intellectual sparring. It was in this context that I requested an interview as Canada grapples with multiple [...]

To date, America’s greatest contribution to the world has been its Constitution. The importance of this document far surpasses such other cultural achievements as the Moon landing, the telephone, GPS, rubber vulcanization, and Henry Ford’s mass production lines. It is more important, even, than Gone With the Wind, and the hamburger — even though this [...]

The Associated Press (AP) reported that a Pakistani court sentenced a 22-year-old student to death and gave a teenager life in prison on Monday under the country’s blasphemy laws. The 22-year-old student’s lawyer, Aslam Gujar, told the AP that Junaid Munir had been sentenced to death last week. The charges come as a result of [...]

The plight of women’s rights in various countries reflects a complex interplay of legal, cultural and societal norms that significantly disenfranchise women and girls, threatening their human rights and dignity. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Syria, and Nigeria present challenging environments where women’s rights [...]

The El Salvador legislature approved President Nayib Bukele’s request to extend the state of emergency, which has been ongoing for two years, for 30 days. The approval by the 147th plenary session marks an extension number 24 since the decree was declared. Speaking after the approval, Ernesto Castro, president of the assembly, said, “Defending the [...]