The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (UN Commission) reported Thursday that a rise in violence and atrocity crimes is disrupting South Sudan’s conflict resolution trajectory as the country is set to hold its first elections since independence. Under the authority of President Salva Kiir and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement In-Government (SPLM-IG) [...]

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court (STF) on Wednesday unanimously expanded the scope of the landmark Maria da Penha Law (Law 11.340/2006), ensuring women are protected from gender-based violence not only in domestic settings but also in public, professional, political, and community spaces. The STF ruled that protective measures under the law apply to all forms of [...]

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk raised concerns Wednesday about arrests and detentions of opposition members surrounding Zambia’s elections on August 13. Türk stated that “arrests and resulting court proceedings…must be fully consistent with international human rights standards, as well as Zambian domestic law.” He continued: “All detainees must be notified…of the reasons for their [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday condemned the US for its latest sanctions against Tomoko Akane, the president of the court, and Abdoulaye Seye, senior trial lawyer at the Office of the Prosecutor. The court reiterated its steadfast commitment to upholding accountability and protecting victims of international crimes. The court’s statement described the sanctions [...]

The human rights watchdog Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) released a report on Tuesday finding that forced labor persists on sugarcane plantations in the Dominican Republic (DR). CAL called for the US to impose an import ban in response to the findings. The alleged labor abuses include issues concerning both working and living conditions. Workers reported [...]

A Russian court sentenced politician Lev Shlosberg to 11 years and one month in a penal colony on charges of “discrediting” the Russian military and spreading “false information,” Amnesty International said on Monday. Marie Struthers, Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia director, called the charges “blatant reprisals for exercising his right to freedom of [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Thai authorities Monday to halt the deportation of ethnic Karen villagers from Thailand’s Phetchaburi province to Myanmar, citing grave risks to their safety if returned, and urging their immediate release from immigration detention. HRW reported that Thai security forces on Aug. 10 raided the Karen community living within Phetchaburi’s [...]

Canadian rights groups on Monday filed an urgent challenge to the constitutionality of Ontario’s mandatory cash bail policy. The challenge argued that the provincial policy violates the Charter rights to the presumption of innocence and to reasonable bail, as well as the rules of Canadian federalism. The Criminal Lawyers’ Association and the Canadian Civil Liberties [...]

United Nations experts warned on Monday that the UK’s revisions to the Equality Act 2010 risk discriminating against and excluding transgender people. The UN human rights experts warned that the updated Code of Practice essentially advises service providers that “a women’s service must either exclude transgender women or admit men” and vice versa. The experts [...]

Security forces in Morocco prevented nearly 300 “irregular migrants” from crossing into the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, and arrested hundreds of other would-be migrants in the city of Fnideq, northern Morocco, on Saturday, according to local media. The actions occurred amid a persistent migration crisis in the region. According to a Moroccan security source, authorities [...]