The Council of the European Union (EU) released on Monday another package imposing sanctions on individuals and entities accused of enabling Russia’s indiscriminate attacks on Ukraine, marking the 16th sanction package since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The updated sanction package now lists an additional 48 individuals and 35 new entities, raising the [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday urged South African authorities to thoroughly investigate the assassination of an openly gay imam last week, demanding the country determine whether the killing was a hate crime and uphold its commitment to protecting all residents, including the LGBTQ+ community. HRW stated: South African authorities should intensify efforts to bridge [...]

Human Rights Watch reported Tuesday that successive governments in Guatemala have failed to meet their obligations to girls facing forced pregnancies due to sexual violence. The right’s organization’s new 85-page report focused on several obligations, including access to abortion, healthcare, education, financial support, and justice. HRW interviewed 31 representatives of civil society organizations, 41 government [...]

Kazakhstan’s parliament considered a “foreign agent” law proposal on Wednesday, with member of parliament Irina Smirnova arguing that there is a need for a law that clearly identifies and marks organizations that are financed by foreign sources. Smirnova claimed that foreign donors are masking their political interests under “media support,” “human rights protection” and the [...]

The European Court of Human Rights ruled Tuesday against the Russian Federation for violating the right to freedom of expression through fines, prosecution of individuals, and blockage of news outlets. The actions target the publications of “undesirable news” concerning the war in Ukraine. The ruling described how soon after the Russian Federation commenced a full-scale [...]

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday directing the Department of Justice (DOJ) to pause future  investigations and enforcements under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), and review all existing ones. The FCPA was established in 1977 to outlaw the practice of bribing foreign government officials to assist in obtaining or retaining [...]