The Criminal Court of Appeal of the Republic of Armenia on Monday released former president Robert Kocharian from custody, saying he was unconstitutionally taken into custody in 2008. According to Kocharian’s lawyer, Ruben Sahakyan, the court’s decision hinged on article 140 of Armenia’s Constitution . Specifically, the constitution declares that: “during the term of his or her powers and [...]
Several leaders of the outlawed Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to life in prison on Sunday by the Cairo Criminal Court on charges of incitement to murder and violence. Among the sentenced, include head Mohamed Badie, Mohamed al-Beltagi and Essam al-Erian. Badie and other prominent leaders of the party were previously convicted and sentenced to life [...]
The UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) and the UN Human Rights Office released a joint report on Monday advising Somalia to take precautions to ensure that the human rights violations that occurred last year would not have a negative impact on their peace efforts or future elections. According to UNSOM, these violations had a direct [...]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein warned in an interview with The Guardian on Monday that Trump’s attacks on the press are “very close to incitement to violence.” Zeid fears that the current President’s designation of the press as an “enemy of the people” could have dire consequences: We began to [...]
The Supreme Court of Costa Rica on Thursday found the country’s ban on same-sex marriage unconstitutional and discriminatory. This decision follows opinion given just seven months ago by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that same-sex couples have the same rights to marry as any opposite-sex couple.< The decision is a significant one for Costa [...]
UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced Wednesday that former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet will succeed Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights . Bachelet completed her second four-year term as the Chilean president earlier this year. Upon her initial election in 2006, she became the first female to assume the Chilean [...]
UN human rights experts urged the government of Nicaragua Thursday to stop repressing voices that are critical of the government after “100 days of unrest in which at least 317 people have been killed and 1,830 injured.” The experts stated that “eports indicate that there has been an increase in targeted repression, criminalisation and alleged arbitrary [...]
Venezuela’s pro-government National Constituent Assembly voted unanimously to strip two members of the opposition-controlled legislature of their immunity accusing them of playing a role in the attempted assassination of President Nicolás Maduro. The move comes after the Venezuela Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the two lawmakers, Julio Borges and Juan Reuesens, on Wednesday. The [...]
UN human rights experts expressed concern Thursday about the increase in attacks against human rights defenders in Guatemala. The experts reported that 11 human rights defenders in Guatemala were killed between May 9 and July 27, 2018. The killings were “of an unusually violent nature—four suffered fatal cuts by bladed weapons, including cuts to their [...]
The Argentine Senate on Thursday rejected a bill that would have legalized abortion in a 38-31 vote after a debate that lasted for more than 16 hours. The measure had passed in the Chamber of Deputies two months prior to the vote, making it the first abortion legislation to successfully make it out of the lower house. [...]
