New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced Wednesday her intention to rubber-stamp the state legislature’s Medical Aid in Dying Act (MADA), which will allow terminally ill patients to request a medically assisted death. Hochul praised the bill as an advancement of individual liberties and recalled her experience with her mother, stating: New York has long been [...]

A UN human rights expert on Wednesday welcomed the recent release of several prisoners convicted in connection with protests following Belarus’ disputed 2020 presidential election.  They also cautioned that the move should not be read as a broader improvement in the country’s human rights situation. Nils Muižnieks, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights [...]

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday expressed concern over the recent escalation in hostilities between Thailand and Cambodia, and the danger posed to civilians. “I am alarmed by reports that areas around villages and cultural sites are being struck by fighter jets, drones, and artillery,” Commissioner Volker Türk said. Earlier in [...]

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overruled a lower court ruling on Wednesday, allowing US President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard in Washington DC to continue for now. The three-judge panel reversed US District Judge Jia Cobb’s November 20 decision, which disallowed Trump from deploying troops to DC to [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) welcomed on Thursday the news that significant progress has been achieved globally towards strengthening children’s rights. HRW praised various measures adopted by in several countries to protect children’s right to education. However, it stressed that an international treaty remains necessary to complement the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child [...]

The Italian Court of Cassation confirmed on Wednesday the acquittal of Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini in the Open Arms case. Since it was handed down by the court of last instance, the decision is final. It rejects the appeal presented by the Prosecutor’s Office of Palermo, which requested the annulment of the acquittal [...]

The UN Human Rights Office published a report on Thursday detailing their findings of atrocities committed during a three-day offensive by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on the Zamzam camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) in Sudan. The UN deems this conduct to amount to violations of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights [...]

At least 22 ethnic Teke civilians were killed in late November when militia fighters attacked a village in the western Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest episode of intercommunal violence that has plagued the region since 2022. The massacre in Nkana village—located in Kwamouth territory, Mai-Ndombe province, just some 75 kilometers northeast of the capital [...]

Satellite imagery analysis reveals widespread evidence of systematic mass killings and body disposal by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in El Fasher, Sudan, following the paramilitary group’s capture of the North Darfur state capital in late October, according to a report released this week by Yale University researchers. The Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian [...]

A coalition of nine international human rights organizations on Wednesday called on Kazakhstan to end its crackdown on independent media after authorities raided a newsroom, detained journalists, and pressured reporters over their coverage. Police searched the offices of independent news outlet Orda.kz on Dec. 1 and detained editor-in-chief Gulnara Bazhkenova, who was placed under house [...]