The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority announced Thursday that it would comply with a Peshawar High Court order to ban the social media video-sharing app TikTok by directing internet service providers to block access. Chief Justice Qaiser Rashid Khan banned the platform because it violated Pakistan’s constitutional provision ensuring the upkeep of citizens’ social and moral welfare, according to [...]
Scottish lawmakers proposed a bill Friday that would incorporate four UN human rights treaties into Scottish law, offering children greater human rights protections in domestic courts. The bill is set to undergo parliamentary elections and would include the following UN conventions: the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESC), the Convention on the Elimination [...]
Poland’s ruling nationalist party announced a new law Thursday banning LGBTIQ people from adopting children even if they are not in a same-sex relationship. Polish law already prohibits same-sex couples from adopting. This proposal would require local authorities to investigate single people interested in adoption to ensure they are not cohabitating with a same sex-partner. [...]
The Libyan parliament validated Wednesday an interim government mandated to reunite the fractured country after a decade of war and administer the December elections under an UN-backed peace plan. Abdulhamid Dbeibah, a billionaire businessman, was selected as an interim prime minister at a forum held by the United Nations in Geneva last month. Dbeibah submitted his [...]
The US Department of the Treasury sanctioned the two adult children of commander-in-chief of the Myanmar military, Min Aung Hlaing, on Wednesday in response to the continued violence by military forces against protesters. In a press release, the Treasury Department labeled Min Aung Hlang as the leader of the military coup against Myanmar’s democratically elected [...]
A UN expert urged the Security Council Wednesday to take action on allegations of human rights violations in North Korea. Tomas Ojea-Quintana, the UN Special Rapporteur for North Korea, spoke at the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council, where he stated that such claims should be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) [...]
Amnesty International reported Thursday that the Myanmar military (the Tatmadaw) is increasingly adopting lethal tactics and weapons, ordinarily employed on the battlefield, against peaceful protesters of the February coup. Officers are reported to be using weapons such as semi-automatic rifles, sniper rifles, and light machine guns, which are not appropriate for policing. These are coupled [...]
Mexico’s Chamber of Deputies voted Thursday to decriminalize marijuana. The measure was approved by a vote of 315 to 128, with 23 members abstaining. The law will allow any adult to smoke marijuana with certain restrictions. These restrictions include a cap on possession that would make it illegal to possess more than 28 grams of [...]
The European Parliament on Thursday declared the EU an “LGBTIQ freedom zone.” The resolution was adopted by a vote of 492 to 141, with 46 members abstaining from the vote. The move is in direct response to Poland and Hungary’s growing repression of LGBTIQ rights. Same-sex relationships do not enjoy legal recognition in Poland. In March 2019, [...]
JURIST EXCLUSIVE – A law student filing for JURIST in Myanmar was among a group of lawyers and law students who earlier this week went to deliver supplies to detainees held by authority of the military junta in Mandalay Central Prison (“Ohbo”). All are young people arrested after peaceful protests against the February 1 military [...]
