Romania’s Parliament passed a law Tuesday that will prevent COVID-19 patients from leaving hospitals. From February through June, Romania’s government used cabinet decrees to hospitalize those who were infected and to quarantine or home-isolate those thought to have been exposed to COVID-19. In early July, Romania’s Constitutional Court determined the government could not enforce mandatory [...]
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced sanctions against Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov on Monday due to human rights violations dating back more than a decade. Pompeo said the State Department has “extensive credible information that Kadyrov is responsible for numerous gross violations of human rights dating back more than a decade, including torture and [...]
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) on Tuesday announced the indictment of two hackers, Li Xiaoyu and Dong Jiazhi, for attempting to steal COVID-19 research. Both hackers currently work for Guangdong Province International Affairs Research Center in China. The indictment alleges that the two have been stealing terabytes of data over the course of 10 [...]
Physical violence and abuse toward child athletes persist in Japan, according to a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report released Monday. Although recent reforms and public perception hint that the abuse was in decline, the report uncovered “an alarming level of ongoing physical abuse in sport.” The report describes a sense of helplessness surrounding the abuse. [...]
Iran’s supreme court on Sunday suspended the execution of three men convicted following the November 2019 anti-government protests. The Revolutionary Court in Tehran had in February 22 convicted the three men of moharebeh (waging war against God), and “destroying and setting fire to public property with the aim of confronting the political system of the [...]
The UK announced Monday the suspension of the country’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong for an indefinite period. This comes in response to the Hong Kong National Security Law recently enacted by China. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that the law is a “clear and serious violation” of the UK-China Joint Declaration and China’s [...]
A three-judge panel at the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday decided that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial would begin hearing its first witnesses in January 2021. The court, presided over by Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman, decided to hear witnesses and take evidence three days a week. Netanyahu, now the longest-serving Israeli Prime Minister, had in [...]
New Philippines anti-terror legislation took effect Saturday after approval by President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this month. It has been widely criticized for giving overreaching powers to the Philippines government, curbing free speech and targeting peaceful dissent. It provides for warrantless detention of suspects for up to 24 days, surveillance for up to 90 days and [...]
A Turkish court has sentenced Germany-based journalist Deniz Yucel to jail for 2 years and 9 months for terrorism-related propaganda charges. The sentence was imposed in absentia, as Yucel has not been present in Turkey for his trial. Yucel’s lawyer, Veysel Ok, claims the court sentenced Yucel for spreading propaganda about the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s [...]
The UK Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that Shamina Begum, 20, who joined ISIS at age 15 can return to the UK to appeal her revoked British citizenship before the Special Immigrant Appeals Commission (SIAC). The Secretary of State denied Begum’s leave to enter the UK to pursue her appeal before SIAC in June 2019. [...]
