International Criminal Court Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda reported Monday that a preliminary examination into the situation in the Philippines had found a “reasonable basis” to believe that the crimes against humanity of murder, torture and the infliction of serious physical injury and mental harm were committed between July 2016 and March 2019. The report follows [...]

The International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor said Friday that a preliminary investigation has found that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed in Ukraine, justifying the opening of an investigation. The preliminary investigation was opened in 2014 when the Ukraine lodged a declaration under [...]

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called Monday on Nigerian officials to release children detained in connection with Islamist rebel group Boko Haram. In September 2019 HRW reported that the Nigerian military has arbitrarily detaining thousands of children for their alleged involvement with Boko Haram. HRW reported that more than 3,600 children were detained by Nigerian armed [...]

New Zealand’s Chief Ombudsman Peter Boshier released on Monday a report identifying breaches of the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Auckland Prison. The report follows an eight-day unannounced inspection of Auckland Prison, the country’s only maximum-security facility, which took place between January and February. Boshier wrote the report [...]

Mastercard may be required to pay up to 14 billion pounds ($18.5 billion) after the UK Supreme Court allowed a class action lawsuit to go forward Friday. The lawsuit, which covers 46 million UK adults, was initially blocked by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on grounds that the class action case would be too complex [...]

New Zealand’s Director of Human Rights Proceedings, Michael Timmins, announced Sunday that the parties to a sexual harassment proceeding have reached a settlement recognizing the right of all workers to a workplace that is free from sexual harassment. Although most details of the settlement are confidential, Timmins said in a press release that a female [...]

The Constitutional Court of Austria found the ban on assisted death unconstitutional on Friday as a violation of an individual’s right to self-determination. The decision came after various affected stakeholders, including two terminally ill individuals, requested removal of the provision. Section 78 of the Criminal Code of Austria made the act of “assisting suicide” a criminal offense. [...]

The Constitutional Court of Austria ruled Friday that the ban on wearing headscarves in elementary schools is unconstitutional as a violation of the principle of equality in connection with an individual’s right to religious freedom. Section 43a of the School Education Act of 1986 prohibited the wearing of any ideological or religious clothing involving the [...]

The national civil registry of Bolivia recognized for the first time on Friday a same-sex civil union after a two-year legal battle between the applicants, a gay couple, and the administrative authorities. The case stemmed from an application by David Aruquipa and Guido Montaño, who had applied to register their relationship as a “free union” [...]

In a report submitted Thursday to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Together, the Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights, called for changes to Scotland’s compulsory religious instruction law. The report cites 30 areas of concern identified by the participants of a series of webinars and surveys conducted by Together in an effort [...]