UN Secretary-General’s Office issued a statement Sunday expressing “solidarity with the people of Myanmar and their democratic aspirations for an inclusive society and the protection of all communities, including the Rohingya.” The statement was issued to mark the one-year anniversary of the military coup that toppled Myanmar’s democratically elected government. In the aftermath of the [...]

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sentenced 51 individuals to death Saturday in relation to the 2017 murder of two UN experts. Zaida Catalán, a Swedish-Chilean citizen, and Michael Sharpe, an American citizen, were members of the Group of Experts on the DRC. They had been appointed to investigate the violence [...]

Egypt’s Supreme State Security Criminal Court Saturday sentenced to death 10 Muslim Brotherhood members who were “convicted of forming armed terrorist groups to carry out hostile operations against police facilities and personnel.” State news agency Middle Eastern News Agency (MENA) reported on the verdict on Sunday. According to MENA, the defendants, whose identities and pleas [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Monday urged the Congress of the Republic of Guatemala to reject a bill that stigmatizes the trans community and “limits children’s and adolescent’s access to rights, education, and health.”  According to HRW, the legislature should instead address the violence and discrimination faced by LGBTQI+ individuals in the country. Over 20 lawmakers [...]

The US Supreme Court Monday rejected a challenge by Republicans to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s proxy voting rules introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The rules allow a member of the House to designate another member as a proxy. The proxy may cast the floor votes of members who are unable to physically attend [...]

Guinea’s junta leader Mamadi Doumbouya Saturday announced the establishment of an 81-member National Council of Transition (CNT) to serve as the country’s parliament and legislate during the transition leading up to elections. The transition began on September 5, 2021, when former President Alpha Condé was ousted by a coup d’etat.  In a decree read out [...]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy Saturday issued a decree imposing sanctions on Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(L)au and six of its representatives, including its founder Wolf D. Prix. The firm has been designing an opera and ballet theatre in Sevastopol, the largest city in Crimea. The procedure for imposing sanctions on the architecture firm was commenced [...]

Germany’s Ministry of Justice Monday announced a draft law for the repeal of a Nazi-era law that prohibits the dissemination of information on abortion. Section 219a of the German Criminal Code prohibits the advertisement of abortion for pecuniary benefit. This includes the dissemination of material on abortion services and the means and risks of abortion. [...]

The Council of the European Union Monday imposed sanctions on seven more individuals and three entities for serious human rights violations, repression of civil society and democratic opposition, and undermining the rule of law in Nicaragua. On October 14, 2019, the Council issued a regulation concerning restrictive measures in view of the situation in Nicaragua [...]

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar Thomas Andrews Monday said that Myanmar’s military must halt its attacks on the town of Loikaw. In a message on Twitter, Andrews wrote: “Min Aung Hlaing must immediately halt the air and ground attacks that junta forces have unleashed on Loikaw, Karenni State, lift the blockade of [...]