Rethinking 'An Eye for an Eye': A Journey Towards Death Penalty Abolition
At its core, the death penalty feeds one of the basest desires known to humankind: the craving for revenge. The 3,200+ members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty” — a group I co-founded — along with millions of other death penalty abolitionists across the world have demonstrated time and again in recent years how [...]
Russian human rights activist Oleg Orlov has been sentenced to two and a half years in a prison colony, his organization, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Memorial, announced Tuesday. Orlov was convicted under Article 280.3 of the Russian Criminal Code, which prohibits the discrediting of the Russian armed forces. The charges arose from an article he [...]
UK antisemitic incidents at all-time high following the outbreak of Israel-Hamas war
British charity and advisory body, the Community Security Trust, released a report Thursday finding that antisemitic incidents were more common in 2023 since the group began tracking incidents in 1984. In 2023 there were 4,103 reported events, almost double the previous 2021 record of 2,255. Community Security Trust linked the 147-percent rise in anti-Jewish hate [...]
Following a Parliamentary vote Monday, Senegal will delay the West African nation’s presidential election until Dec 2024. After 12 years in office, President Macky Sall recently confirmed he would not run for another term. However, he submitted a bill to the Parliament to postpone the election. In his announcement, Sall cites that the constitutional judges approving [...]
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 US government has again desecrated the memory of the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the latest example of the Biden administration having broken its promise to work to end the death penalty, it announced its intention to seek a federal death sentence against Peyton Gendron, the 19-year-old who horrifically murdered 10 [...]
Killings of transgender activists trigger demonstrations in Mexico
The Attorney General’s Office of Mexico City confirmed the death of transgender woman activist and politician Samantha Gómez Fonseca on Monday from gunshot wounds. According to Yaaj, an LGBTQ+ human rights organization in Mexico, Samantha’s killing was part of recent violence against trans women in the country. Transgender activist Miriam Nohemí Ríos also died in a [...]
Australia criminalises Nazi salute and public displays of terrorism
Federal legislation criminalising the public display or sale of Nazi and terrorist group symbols came into effect in Australia on Monday. The legislation criminalises the Nazi salute and public display of Nazi symbols, including the Nazi double sig rune “Schutzstaggel” and the Nazi Hakenkreuz. These offences are punishable by up to 12 months in prison. [...]
A dedicated advocate for LGBTQ+ rights in Uganda was stabbed Wednesday and is in critical condition in hospital. The brutal assault comes as attacks on LGBTQ+ people in the country have surged following the implementation of a harsh anti-homosexuality law. Steven Kabuye, a champion for LGBTQ+ rights in Uganda, posted the video to his X [...]
A federal court sentenced a West Virginia man, Hardy Carroll Lloyd, to 78 months in prison on Wednesday for obstructing the Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue shooting trial. The sentencing includes the possibility of supervised release after three years. Lloyd previously admitted to intentionally interfering in the federal hate crimes trial for Robert Bowers, who shot [...]
