UN rights experts on Monday condemned the executions in Egypt of nine men convicted on the basis of evidence allegedly obtained under torture, and expressed their disapproval of Egypt’s disregard of the legal system. Egyptian authorities executed nine men on February 20 “even though an appeal and a petition to halt their execution were before [...]
A US appeals court on Tuesday reopened a $1 billion lawsuit by Palestinians claiming more than 30 pro-Israel American entities and individuals are liable for alleged war crimes and support of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The complaint alleges that the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to expel [...]
The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a driver’s refusal of a breathalyzer test cannot be used as evidence against them in a criminal trial. In Elliot v. State the court unanimously found that a person’s right against self-incrimination under Article I, Section I, Paragraph XVI of the Georgia Constitution prohibits admission in a [...]
A federal appeals court on Friday held that the Trump Administration cannot deny funds to Philadelphia because of its status as a “sanctuary city.” In September 2017 Philadelphia was denied funds from Byrn JAG, a federal grant used to fund criminal justice programs. The fund distributes over $80 million in awards each year, and since [...]
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday proposed new rules to improve the interoperability of electronic health information. The rules, issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), are designed to increase choice and competition while promoting [...]
UN rights experts on Wednesday urged the UK not to use security and terrorism-related legislation to prosecute a group a peaceful protesters who attempted to block a deportation flight. In March 2017 a group of 15 protesters cut through a south-east England’s airport perimeter fence and “secured themselves around the nose wheel and the wing [...]
President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Saturday announced that Russia would suspend its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in response to the US suspension of the treaty a day prior. The INF Treaty, a principle act of the Cold War disarmament pacts, required the destruction of US and Soviet ground-launched ballistic and cruise [...]
UN human rights experts on Wednesday called for a probe into the collapse of a tailing dam in Minas Gerais, Brazil, that killed nearly 60 people and left hundreds missing. The disaster occurred on January 25 and is the second such incident involving the same company in the past three years. The experts urged the government [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet Jeria on Wednesday said an international investigation is needed to address the killing of Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. During a press conference for the seventieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Bachelet was questioned whether “she has asked for the evidence in [...]
A human rights law group on Monday released a report that called for a criminal tribunal to be established, or granted jurisdiction, to investigate international crimes committed against Rohingya Muslims. The Public International Law & Policy Group (PILPG), contracted by the US State Department to investigate crimes against Rohingya Muslims, undertook a comprehensive human rights [...]
