The United Nations human rights office Friday confirmed over a thousand civilian casualties in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s invasion of the country but noted the actual toll is likely much higher. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded a total of 1,006 civilian casualties, including 331 killed and 675 [...]

The European Union voted unanimously on Friday to introduce a broad range of legal protections for refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine — an announcement that came on the heels of accusations by UN officials and human rights activists of racial discrimination against refugees of color. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees [...]

The US Supreme Court Friday unanimously ruled in favor of the FBI in Federal Bureau of Investigation v. Fazaga, holding that the state secrets privilege used to block the disclosure of information that the government finds harmful to national security is not displaced by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The lawsuit was filed in [...]

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Friday adopted a resolution to establish the Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which aims to investigate the Russian Federation’s alleged human rights violations against Ukraine. After holding a moment of silence for Ukrainian victims, UNHRC members passed the resolution overwhelmingly in a 32–2 vote. Among the 32 countries voting [...]

The US Supreme Court Friday upheld the death sentence for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the two brothers responsible for the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Tsarnaev was originally sentenced to death in 2015 for the attack, which killed three people and left hundreds seriously injured. However, in 2020, a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals [...]

Over 900 international law, environment and peacebuilding experts and 156 organizations Thursday warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine poses “profound risks” to the environment of Ukraine and the greater European region, in addition to the risks the conflict poses to the sovereignty and human rights of the Ukrainian people. The letter released Thursday first stated [...]

President Joe Biden Thursday signed a bill into law prohibiting employers from forcing arbitration agreements upon victims of workplace sexual assault and harassment. Originally introduced in 2017 by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Lindsey O. Graham(R-SC), the bill passed with bipartisan support last month.  The act amends the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) to render invalid and [...]

A US federal district court Thursday unsealed the first ever criminal indictment involving a violation of sanctions stemming from the 2014 Russian interference in democratic processes in Ukraine. The indictment alleges that John Hanick, a US citizen, violated sanctions and made false statements in connection with his work for Russian oligarch Konstantin Malofeyev. Malofeyev was [...]

A Jefferson County Circuit Court jury on Thursday acquitted Detective Brett Hankison, a former Louisville Metro Police Department detective, of all three counts of felony wanton endangerment in connection with the March 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor.  Hankison was charged with felony wanton endangerment after he deliberately and blindly fired his gun into Taylor’s apartments [...]

The US Supreme Court ruled 8-1 Thursday in Cameron v. EMW Women’s Surgical Center that Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron can defend the state’s controversial law restriction abortion. HB 454 bans dilation and evacuation (D&E) abortion procedures, the most common method of abortion in the second trimester. The law was challenged by EMW Women’s Surgical [...]