Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday called for a 60-day period of martial law, which would curtail public demonstrations, suspend elections and potentially implement required military service. The decree comes amid escalating tensions with Russia. This past weekend the Ukrainian Navy reported that sailors from three of its ships had been arrested by Russian forces [...]
Voters in Taiwan voted against same-sex marriage in a referendum that took place during local elections Saturday. The referendum asked voters whether they thought that marriage in their civil code should be defined as between one man and one woman, and a majority voted that it should. Voters also voted to have a different process [...]
A district court in the Indian capital of New Delhi on Tuesday handed the death penalty to a man convicted of participating in the 1984 anti-Sikh pogrom. This is the first death sentence to be awarded in any case related to the 1984 violence, which saw 3,000 Sikhs killed across northern India in the aftermath [...]
Amnesty International (AI) reported on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia is arbitrarily detaining and torturing human rights activists. According to the report, Saudi authorities have been arbitrarily detaining activists, including women, in the Dhahban Prison since May. The activists are reportedly subjected to torture, including electroshock and flogging, “leaving some unable to walk or stand properly.” AI said several activists [...]
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) approved a settlement Tuesday between the government of Honduras and the family members of Escaleras Mejia, a famed Honduran environmentalist. Two men murdered Escaleras Mejia on October 18, 1997, in a politically motivated assassination to prevent him from being elected mayor of the Tocoa Municipality in the elections [...]
UN Human rights experts on Wednesday said Italy’s proposed tightening of immigration rules will have a serious impact on migrants’ lives and urged the government to reverse course. According to the experts, the proposed Decree-Law on Immigration and Security, which is likely to be passed later this month, lowers protection standards, infringes constitutional and human [...]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday urged Turkey to end the pre-trial detention of Selahattin Demirtaş, a co-chair of the Kurdish separatist Peoples’ Democratic Party. The Turkish government lifted parliamentary immunity in May 2016, ending special protections for politicians. Demirtaş was arrested on November 4, 2016, and has been in pre-trial detention [...]
The Singapore Parliament passed a bill on Monday amending the Legal Aid and Advice Act to simplify financial determinations for providing legal aid and make it easier for individuals to receive aid. Originally, individuals applying for legal aid had to pass a means threshold based on their disposable income and disposable capital, including an evaluation of [...]
The US Federal Reserve fined French bank Societe Generale USD $81.3 million on Monday after the bank violated US sanctions against Cuba. According to the Federal Reserve: The Bank lacked adequate transparency, risk management, and legal and compliance review policies and procedures to ensure that activities conducted at offices outside of the United States, primarily though the [...]
Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Sunday confirming that the former president Alan García requested political asylum in the Uruguayan embassy just hours after a judge prohibited him from leaving the country. Garcia allegedly accepted bribes from Odebrecht, a Brazilian construction company, in exchange for government contracts to build the Metro Line [...]
