A UN expert on Monday warned that the dismissal of Nigeria’s Chief Justice by President Muhammadu Buhari violated international human rights standards on independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers. The president of Nigeria suspended Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen on January 25. The president insisted that he had acted in compliance with an [...]
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday condemned Egyptian authorities for the execution of three Muslim Brotherhood members. The three men were sentenced to death last year following their confessions related to the 2014 killing of a judge’s son in Mansoura. These confessions, though, were reportedly extracted through torture, which included electrical shocks and beatings and threats [...]
UN experts on Friday urged action against attacks on people with albinism leading up to Malawi’s elections in May. This declaration comes on the heels of the killing of one person and the separate abduction of a baby. Discrimination against people with albinism has been a problem in the past in Malawi—150 cases of these [...]
An Egyptian parliamentary committee on Tuesday gave preliminary approval to constitutional amendments that would allow President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to remain in office until 2034. Many Egyptian opposition parties have expressed their disapproval and have reportedly formed a coalition against the proposed changes. Egypt’s Conservative party said in an official statement on Wednesday that it [...]
Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, announced on Thursday that there was prima facie evidence that the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey in October was planned and perpetrated by officials of the State of Saudi Arabia. Callamard was in Turkey investigate the murder from January 28 [...]
Former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil was sentenced to 13 more years in prison following his conviction in a graft case. According to the case, Lula accepted bribes from construction companies in the form of a USD $235,000 home renovation in exchange for awarding the companies government contracts. Lula denied any wrongdoing [...]
A Russian district court in Oryol on Wednesday found a Danish Jehovah’s Witness guilty of organizing the activity of an extremist organization and sentenced him to six years in prison. The 46-year-old Jehovah’s Witness, Dennis Christensen, was detained by armed police during a police raid on a local prayer meeting he was leading in May [...]
The Republic of Macedonia on Wednesday signed an accession agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This begins the process of Macedonia joining NATO, which must now be finalized via ratification by current member states. Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty calls for unanimous approval from member states after the receipt of accession documents. [...]
Former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo and political leader Charles Ble Goude were released on bail to Belgium Tuesday after being acquitted last month on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. In 2010 Gbagbo lost the presidency and was accused of starting a civil war by refusing to cede the [...]
Myanmar’s parliament voted Wednesday to set up a committee to discuss proposed amendments to the constitution. This vote comes one week after the National League for Democracy (NLD) submitted an emergency proposal to parliament detailing suggested amendments to the constitution. The suggestions were offered on the basis that the 2008 constitution is undemocratic. The vote [...]
