Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Thursday that North Korean officials committing sexual violence against women is so common that it has come to be accepted as part of ordinary life. “Sexual violence in North Korea is an open, unaddressed, and widely tolerated secret,” said Kenneth Roth, HRW’s executive director. “North Korean women would probably say [...]
Abraham Edgardo Ortega, the former executive director of financial planning at Petróleo de Venezuela, SA pleaded guilty Wednesday in US federal court to conspiring to commit money laundering. In a hearing in a Florida district court, Ortega admitted to accepting over $17 million worth of bribes as payment for allowing a ring of former Venezuelan officials and [...]
Meaza Ashenafi, a prominent East African women’s rights activist, has been appointed President of Ethiopia’s Federal Supreme Court, becoming the court’s first female head. She has worked as a judge and legal adviser in Ethiopia since 1992. In 2014, Ashenafi was the subject of a documentary film called “Difret,” in which as a lawyer she [...]
The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s office claimed Wednesday that Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was strangled and then dismembered as soon as he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist critical of the royal family who went missing after entering the Saudi consulate on October 2. The Saudis initially denied culpability, but then [...]
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ordered on Wednesday that boards of elections in Ohio must count 2018 midterm votes from certain Ohio residents who were previously purged from state voter rolls. In Ohio, voters who fail to cast a ballot for two years will have notices repeatedly sent to them. If they [...]
The Supreme Court of Arkansas struck down a section of its death penalty statute on Thursday, holding that it violated appellant Bruce Ward’s right to due process and equal protection under the US and Arkansas constitutions. Ward was tried and convicted of capital murder in 1990 and sentenced to death. He was scheduled to be [...]
Robert Bowers pleaded not guilty during a preliminary hearing on Thursday to the 44 federal charges he faces for the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The shooting left 11 people dead and six people wounded, including four police officers responding to the scene. Local coverage reported that Bowers’ federal public defenders [...]
The South Korean Supreme Court ruled 9-4 Thursday that males could reject compulsory military service on conscientious or religious reasons, and that they could choose instead to complete “alternative” service. Yonhap, South Korea’s news agency, reported that the ruling stated “punishing (conscientious objectors) for refusing the conscription on grounds of religious faith, in others words, [...]
Austria announced Wednesday that it will not sign the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, following suit with the US and Hungary. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said that Austria fears the compact will lead to “a human right to migration.” The Compact’s human rights purpose states: “we ensure effective respect, protection and fulfillment of the [...]
The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Tuesday condemning attacks by armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Resolution 2439 documents particular concern for the plight of Ebola-stricken areas in the African nation. Citing concerns for government and independent armed groups in the region, the resolution calls for a cessation of violence in the region [...]
