Search Results for: 2016-04-06

This article is the second in a series covering attacks on the rule of law. The rule of law is a political philosophy premised on the promise that all citizens, leaders, and institutions are accountable to the same laws, guaranteed through processes, practices, and norms that work together to support the equality of all citizens [...]

The Organization of American States’ (OAS) was presented with a crucial opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to democracy last month, as its Permanent Council turned its attention towards Haiti. The nation’s current crisis is one that is directly connected to the actions taken by members of its ruling Tèt Kale party (PHTK), which for the [...]

It is a dangerous time to be a judge in America. Retired Wisconsin judge John Roemer was killed at his home in June 2022. That same month, US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh narrowly avoided a kidnapping and possible assassination attempt. These incidents follow in the wake of an assassination attempt on U.S. District Court [...]

Recently, Thailand passed an important human rights law following significant pressure from many parties including NGOs, victims of torture, relatives of the dead and missing, and investigative journalists. On 24 October 2022, the King signed into law the Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearances Act which Parliament enacted on 26 August 2022. This [...]

“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the entire Torah; the rest is commentary…: Rabbi Hillel, Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a Israel’s continuous support for Donald J. Trump represents a grim irony of Jewish history. Even before the latest revelations concerning this former president’s anti-Semitic outbursts (that is, his [...]

In 2002, when President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in Turkey, defeating Kemalist hegemony, there was a glimmer of hope in the West for the overwhelmingly Muslim country. However, the experience of Turkey over the past 20 years is one descending into an authoritarian regime with clampdowns [...]

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of President Biden’s speech criticizing the Supreme Court’s rejection of Roe v. Wade is that he gave the speech at all. Presidents historically have wisely refrained from commenting on Supreme Court decisions. Biden’s delivery of the speech on the very same morning that the Court delivered its opinion in Dobbs [...]

Mexico’s Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation Tuesday ruled that minors who are victims of rape can access abortions without their parents’ consent or without filing a report. In a 10-1 decision, the court rejected claims brought by the Aguascalientes and Baja California state governments which contended that the ‘Official Mexican Standard for family, [...]

The Saudi Arabian government has released blogger and human rights activist Raif Badawi on Friday after a ten-year prison sentence, his wife Ensaf Haider confirmed. Badawi founded an online forum, “Free Saudi Liberals,” that encouraged discussions about secularism and liberal religious practices. His writings were also critical of the Islamic clergy. He was arrested in [...]

“Whose house is of glass, must not throw stones at another.” – George Herbert Bangladesh has taken an increasingly regressive approach on human rights in the last few years. In December 2021, allegations surfaced online that the Inspector General of Bangladesh Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) officers engaged in violations of international law, one being the [...]