A coalition of California voters and the state’s Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday challenging the legality of Proposition 50’s congressional redistricting maps. The lawsuit argues that Proposition 50 constitutes unlawful racial gerrymandering in violation of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. The suit targets 16 congressional districts that, according to the complaint, legislators have [...]

UN Secretary-General António Guterres pushed for unity and respect for ceasefire agreements in a press conference at the Second World Summit for Social Development in Qatar on Tuesday.  Guterres responded to journalists’ questions on the ceasefire by calling on all involved countries to cooperate, while confirming the UN’s engagement. He stated: We have been very [...]

UN experts expressed concern on Tuesday about Indonesia’s continued disregard for the fundamental rights of its Indigenous peoples. They urged the Indonesian government to recognize Indigenous peoples and to work with them to develop an inclusive and sustainable national development strategy. Despite having voted in favor of adopting the UN Declaration on the Rights of [...]

UN human rights experts raised concern on Tuesday over “repeated and systematic lethal attacks” by the US military against vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, which they said could constitute war crimes under international maritime law. Three UN special rapporteurs stated that the attacks “appear to be unlawful killings” that lack any “judicial or [...]

Amnesty International and the Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC) intervened Monday on behalf of Zambian residents in an appeal of a case against a South African mining company. South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal is hearing the case, which concerns allegations of severe lead poisoning in Kabwe, Zambia, caused by British-owned mining giant Anglo American. [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) raised alarm on Wednesday over a spike in cholera cases in Haiti’s West department. The rights group emphasized “the urgent need for coordinated, long-term action to restore basic water and sanitation systems.” Haitian health authorities have already recorded “2,852 suspected cholera cases, 186 confirmed cases, and 48 deaths” from January 1 [...]

Voters in six states Tuesday approved sweeping constitutional amendments that restrict voting access, limit judicial discretion on bail, and constrain future legislative authority, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic flexibility and due process protections. The most significant rule-of-law implications emerged in election administration and criminal justice. Texas voters approved a citizenship voting requirement with [...]

Chief Judge John McConnell for the US District Court of Rhode Island ruled Tuesday that the Department of Transportation (DOT) cannot require states to cooperate with federal immigration authorities in order to receive federal transportation funding. The case was brought by 20 Democratic state attorneys general in May, claiming that the DOT and other federal [...]

Moldovan authorities must swiftly investigate death threats sent to an investigative journalist following her public interview with a well-known political figure, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Monday. Journalist and television host Mariana Rață shared threatening messages she received on social media following her online interview with Renato Usatîi, leader of populist Partidul Nostru [...]

The NAACP’s Virginia Chapter on Monday sued the Virginia Board of Elections for rejecting college students’ applications and same-day registration provisional ballots. The complaint stated that application and registration requirements are unduly cumbersome for college students, effectively hindering their right to vote: On too many college and university campuses in Virginia, however, the right to [...]