Jelena Aparac, the Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, said Thursday the US federal authority’s reduction of its dependence on private prisons is an “encouraging step” but urged the US to also end outsourcing of detention centers holding migrants and asylum seekers. President Biden ordered the US Department of Justice [...]
Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) called Tuesday for an inquiry into the killing of Ethiopian journalist Dawit Kebede. Individuals found Kebede and his friend, Bereket Berhe, shot dead in a car on January 19 in Mekelle, the capital of the Ethiopian region of Tigray. Kebede was a journalist [...]
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced Thursday that it is imposing sanctions on 28 individuals, including former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former National Security Advisor John Bolton and former White House strategiest Steve Bannon for violating China’s sovereignty. The sanctions prohibit the individuals from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. In [...]
Peruvian police used unnecessary and excessive force during protests between November 9 and November 15 last year, according to a Tuesday report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). The protests concerned the legitimacy of interim president Manuel Merino after Congress voted to impeach President Martín Vizcarra over bribery charges. The [...]
The Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Lahore, Pakistan sentenced Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, leader of the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), to five years in prison for terror financing on Friday. The Punjab Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested Lakhvi on January 2, 2021 for running a medical dispensary to collect and disburse funds for terrorist activities. The ATC [...]
Indonesia released Abu Bakar Bashir, the leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah (JI), from prison on Friday. Bashir is responsible for orchestrating a terrorist attack that killed 202 people in Bali in 2002. JI allegedly has a connection with Al-Qaeda and both groups were responsible for the 2002 bombings. JI is also responsible for a [...]
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Thursday that plaintiffs cannot recover punitive damages from the state when a law enforcement officer uses excessive force. Punitive damages are awarded as a way to punish the defendant and to deter that same conduct in the future. The Iowa Tort Claims Act (ITCA) prohibits an award of punitive damages [...]
President of Burundi Evariste Ndayishimiye Thursday pardoned four journalists who were imprisoned for “attempting to undermine state security.” The Head of the Information and Communications Division for the Office of the President, Willy Nyamitwe, tweeted Thursday that Ndayishimiye “has favorably responded” to a letter from journalists Agnès Ndirubusa, Christine Kamikazi, Egide Harerimana, and Térence Mpozenzi requesting a [...]
President Trump announced 26 new pardons on Wednesday, including full pardons for his longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairperson Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner, the father of White House senior advisor Jared Kushner. The US Department of Justice in November 2019 found Roger Stone guilty of obstruction of a congressional investigation, five counts of [...]
Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, has expressed dismay at China’s treatment of human rights defenders and lawyers, claiming they continue to be charged, detained and tortured under the guise of national security concerns. “Since the so-called ‘709 crackdown’ began on July 9, 2015, the profession of human [...]
