According to a report released Monday by a UK human rights group, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia executed 184 people last year, the most in a calendar year since the group began monitoring executions six years ago. Reprieve, a London-based organization that litigates on behalf of death-row prisoners around the world, announced the figure and [...]

U.S. Congressman Bennie Thompson joined with eleven advocacy groups on Tuesday in calling upon the Department of Justice (DOJ) to open an immediate investigation into the conditions in Mississippi prisons. A twenty-three page letter addressed to Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the DOJ Civil Rights Division alleged violations of prisoners’ rights and safety, noting [...]

Mexican authorities announced Monday that an estimated 61,637 Mexicans have disappeared amid the country’s drug war. A previous analysis in April of 2018 put the figure at just 40,000. The figure was calculated based on analysis of data from state prosecutors. While the cases which were analyzed date back as early as the 1960s, more [...]

The state prosecutor of Sudan, Tagelsir al-Heber, announced the launch of an investigation into the crimes committed in the Darfur region under former President Omar al-Bashir. Al-Bashir has already been arrested by the Sudanese government for corruption and has been under the watch of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for human rights crimes committed in [...]

Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović said Tuesday that Albania’s proposed anti-defamation legislation, expected to pass this week, is incompatible with freedom of expression. Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) states, “Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and [...]

The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia passed Bill 41 on Tuesday, which adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). British Columbia is the first Canadian province to adopt UNDRIP and is home to the second largest population of First Nations people. The new legislation will require that indigenous peoples contribute to [...]

The US House of Representatives voted 417-1 Wednesday to pass legislation supporting Hong Kong protesters. Th Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act aims to place sanctions on individuals who have committed human rights violations in Hong Kong. It would also require an annual review by the State Department to ensure that Hong Kong maintains [...]

A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sentenced Frederic Masudi Alimasi to life in prison on Tuesday after a two-month trial. Alimasi, also known as Kokodikoko, is head of the Raia Mutomboki, one of the most powerful militia groups operating in the Eastern DRC. He and four others were arrested in April [...]

Human rights groups filed a criminal lawsuit in Argentina on Wednesday, alleging that the government and military of Myanmar, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, have committed crimes against humanity and genocide against the ethnic Rohingya minority. The Rohingya are a Muslim minority group in the Buddhist majority nation, residing largely in Rakhine state, [...]

The Gambia filed a case against Myanmar with the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday alleging that Myanmar has committed genocide against the Rohingya ethnic group, in violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The Gambia claims that the Myanmar military has committed, and continues to commit, [...]