The Court of Appeals of Versailles on Friday upheld and amended a lower court order limiting the types of goods Amazon can deliver during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon has faced criticism for not to prioritizing shipments of essential items, and for failing to protect the health and safety of its employees. After the lower court [...]
The trial of two Syrian government agents began Thursday at a court in Koblenz, Germany. The two men, Anwar R. and Eyad A., allegedly worked for the Syrian General Secret Service. The indictment against Anwar accuses him of overseeing a prison in which, from 2011 to 2012, more than 4,000 prisoners were tortured and sexually [...]
The state of Missouri filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Chinese government and its top institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Emergency Management and the People’s Government of Wuhan City, over their role in the outbreak of the novel coronavirus. The lawsuit states that Missouri is seeking recovery for “the [...]
Amnesty International released a global report on the judicial use of death sentences and executions Monday, finding that death sentences decreased worldwide last year. The report includes 20 countries and covers January to December of 2019. Overall, confirmed executions decreased by 5 percent from 2018. In 2019 there were approximately 657 executions. Amnesty explained this [...]
The UN Security Council on Friday called upon Yemen’s warring factions to end their five-year civil war due to the spread of COVID-19. “Yemen cannot face two fronts at the same time: a war and a pandemic,” said UN Special Envoy Martin Griffiths. “We can do no less than stop this war and turn all [...]
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele defied the Supreme Court Wednesday after the nation’s highest judiciary issued an order for his administration to respect COVID-19 related rulings. In March the El Salvador government responded to the COVID-19 outbreak by ordering all citizens to undergo a mandatory month-long lockdown. Individuals found violating this order have been arrested [...]
Amnesty International on Thursday expressed human rights abuse concerns over emergency COVID–19 responses across Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Amnesty accused governments of broadening and abusing their police powers through emergency–pandemic measures intended to suppress political dissent, freedom of expression, and civil society. Daniel Balson, advocacy director for Europe and Central Asia at Amnesty, referred [...]
In a letter to the European Commission revealed Thursday, ministers of France, Germany, Italy and Spain proposed that a “binding mechanism” be added to the upcoming New Pact on Asylum and Migration to distribute asylum seekers. The proposal is an attempt to keep asylum reform on the agenda during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal states [...]
The German Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld citizens’ right to hold political protests after a group of activists in the state of Hesse petitioned the court with a document titled “Strengthen health instead of weakening fundamental rights – protection against viruses, not against humans.” The protesters hoped that the court would allow them to gather [...]
Turkey’s parliament passed legislation Thursday allowing its sovereign wealth fund to assist companies in distress. The legislation will help the country survive the impact of COVID-19 by allowing the Turkiye Wealth Fund to send money in firms considered to be of strategic importance. The government will prevent excessive price increases by companies within the country. [...]
